realbrickwall

15 minutes of ab focus? I think I would cry. So, please put a workout log for that as soon as you can so that I can attempt to do the same and bring the manly tears. *needs core so badly*

Quadrupedal movements. Precision jumps. Basic bodyweight. Rolls and falls. All things you can adjust to any level and do on the ground. We have a lot of resources for all of them, but I'm not awake enough to cherry-pick the very best ones right now, but that's the sort of thing you should check around for. Don't worry if you're not able to do wall runs and vaults right off the bat. Those take a high level of fitness. I know I can't do them yet. I promise you that working on your basics and exercising will bring you up to that level if you're patient.

I wear an Indy-style fedora, which I've had...5 years now? It was originally quite brown, but it's gotten very much a brownish-grey. While I'm here in Japan, I'm wearing a straw fedora that's a similar style. I've been told that it suits me. I've been told this by people who adamantly say that people should stop wearing fedoras because most people don't look good in them. In fact, I have never encountered a single person who has had anything negative to say about it, with the sole exception of "you look cool, but you kind of look like you stepped out of a movie". I'm not super-handsome or anything (except to myself), but I own that hat, in every sense of the word. So, uh, fedoras FTW.

Some yoga poses are especially good for curing back pain if you do them frequently over an extended period. 1 2 3 Good luck with it. Back pain sucks!

Oh. Then I guess I'll do that, then. Also, I got a tumblr. I'll be putting a lot of my creative writing on there, so you can all get proof that I'm doing it. http://realbrickwall.tumblr.com/ (also putting this on the top of the page)

I'll admit that a class with extended grappling practice is always good. However, there's a reason teachers exist: effort, without guidance, is significantly reduced in its efficiency and efficacy. Think of a teacher as the rifling in your barrel. Sure, without one, you're still gonna do a lot of work just firing, but you'll find yourself pants-wettingly outclassed by people with the advanced technology. In short, I think you should try to find a class where you are instructed and corrected by people who know what they are doing. Correcting an error in, say, something as small as the form of your punch can take years of trial and error, and that's if you even realize you're doing something wrong. Instruction cuts that time down to weeks. Learning to do an entirely new technique can take half a lifetime of focus. Instructors can simply hand techniques down to you. It sounds like what you have is not an instructor, but rather, an exercise leader. And while you're gaining way more from going to the class than you would by just sitting at home, you're still not making as much progress as you could

The hilarity of that mental image is directly dependent on the central housing of the gaydar array in the human body.

Okay, so, I've been doing rolls for a fairly decent chunk of my life. By which I mean nearly half. Needless to say, I've always felt I was pretty decent at them. However, for the most part, I practiced in controlled environments. Pads, or grassy areas at most. I was always fine. Grass could be a little rough for extended periods of practice, but not really that bad, even if I was doing dive rolls or rolls from height. Well, today, I felt I should start making my practice more regular, but it was dark, so I tried to use the nearby gymnasium, which has no pads. Only a basketball court. OW! I tried it a few times. I even tried it from kneeling. It hurt. It felt like I was being punched multiple times in rapid sequence by a toddler. Am I doing something wrong? I know rolls are supposed to be used on any surface, including concrete and asphalt. Sure, the primary purpose is to avoid snapping your legs, but I worry that my form is wrong and I could hurt something else. So, uh, is it normal for rolls on unforgiving surfaces to be somewhat uncomfortable? Or do I need to check my form?

Currently, the novel series "The Dresden Files" (not to be confused or even associated with "The Dresden Dolls") is considered to be the model of urban fantasy. I'd guess it's actually probably not the best, but it's still really good, and it's REALLY easy to find and find people to discuss it with. Kind of a good way to get into the genre. I'm thinking my NNWM novel will be urban fantasy, so, hey, maybe you can look forward to it.

Hey. Heeeeey. You wanna write? You wanna write a loooot? (Okay, enough being weird. That's the NF NaNoWriMo thread. A lot of us are doing writing-based Life Goals. Come join the talks, if you like)

My diet is basically as bad as you can possibly get without just carrying around a root beer float constantly. Okay, that's a huge exaggeration. But, basically, I don't get to do my own grocery shopping OR cooking, the people who do get to do it care nothing for my opinion (besides, we're poor, so asking for moar meat would be silly). I'm trying to lose fat, so I basically try to keep myself from stuffing myself at any given meal, but it's basically a shitload of rice, noodles, and potatoes for any given meal, and my meat portion is ALWAYS limited (sometimes we have superb vegetable options, at least). And my situation will not be changing until late November. So, uh, I guess I'm kinda screwed, eh?

My best is 2, but I've yet to repeat the feat. I can, however, do 1 pretty much on-demand.

Try to keep up. If you can't, ask for help. If he doesn't give it to you, then he's not instructing you. If he's not instructing you, don't pay him to do so. Also, ask your classmates. Anyone with a black belt has both the knowledge and the obligation to help trainees learn. And, besides, many of your classmates are probably simply quite used to having to help people keep up with this guy.

Except ALL my workouts have been like this since the end of the last challenge. Argh. Also, NNWM rules say that you can't have work done beforehand. I don't like taking the easy way out of things, anyway.

Pre-challenge workout update! Warmup: 10 burpees 5 inverted rows 90-second jog Workout: Assisted pistols 5x3 - I'm trying to fix my forms with the assistance. It's...progressing. But I'm still disappointed in myself. Incline one-arm push-ups 1x4 plus one set of 3 - Better than last time, especially now that my form is correct Box jumps (approx. 2 feet) 5x3 - Okay, stair jumps. It's the only stable surface of any significant height in the "gym"! Pull-ups 1x4 plus one Time Lord Hollow holds 2x25secs arms down, plus 1x10secs arms out - honestly, I did these to failure every time. It was supposed to be 30-30-15. I suck I think yoga took my lunch money. Today I couldn't even get into lotus pose. I've been doing it for weeks now. I don't know what's up. I actually managed to hold an advanced frog pose for like two seconds. I tried to get back up in it, but then my elbow just folded under me in the wrongest way. I'm fine, but as you can reasonably assume, I decided to call it a day at that point. Today is one of those days where I feel like I'm getting nothing done at all. Bleagh.

All your pics must now be in a suit and tie MINIMUM. Black tie, tuxedo, and white tie are also acceptable.

So, I sat down to do some writing today. It took me nearly an hour to bang out about 1000 words. Okay, NOW I'm scared. But, hey, I can still do it.

That sounds more like a Monk slogan.

Scrivener sounds great for more serious long works, but, honestly, I have no intention of taking NaNo seriously. Once I finish NaNo, I'll probably take a week or two off writing, then actually be all "i r srs and this r srs novl". And then after many months of work I'll think about taking my first REAL novel to a publisher and then I'll try to get screencaps of the faces they make. Not that my NaNo novel is going to suck. I'm actually really good at writing stream-of-consciousness style. But even a good writer needs lots of editing, and editing takes even more time. I only want to be a little burned out at the end, not dead. So, yeah, plot holes and inconsistencies ahoy.

You haven't seen Blasto, the Hanar Specter? "This one does not recall whether it has used its entire heat clip. This one wonders if you are feeling lucky."

Dat timing and control.

Good luck on handstands, sir. I am still working on them. I managed to get from two to five seconds last time (inconsistently, even). Please be sure to practice every day and WORK ON YOUR ABS.

Hurr hurr Moby Dick hurr hurr.

For NaNo, I'm thinking of tackling Urban Fantasy. Maybe. I'm not sure yet. And, dude, realism is overrated. Add in plenty of comedy and you're good to go. Also, check my challenge for my attack plan. Maybe you'll like it!

I'm sure I can find some cool places to do crow here in rural Japan. I just need a photographer. Or to figure out how to make my camera have a timer.