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…*Sneaks into the room and begins glancing around*… …*Decides to just go for it & start talking. To a room full of incredibly amusing strangers. Hopes to be at least somewhat as amusing as all the other cool kids* Hiya folks. Eu sou Chamegu. But you can call me JahTeoI am not Brazilian.Oh, the tragedies of life.Right? Better to start late than wait till the next challenge and end up forgetting when it starts, right? Not that I did such a thing and forgot when this one started. No, not I... I’m an ex-capoeirista who used to be fairly flexible and able to do some supposedly awe-inspiring moves and play beautiful games. Never got into really good shape though (translate: nothing resembling six-pack), and was always lacking in stamina. Then I tweaked my back due to some completely unrelated adult activities & allowed it to become an excuse to do nothing. Which led to losing flexibility, strength, fun moves, and ma belly getting even pudgier. Plus spinal pain when I bend over. *le sigh* The good news is, Chiropracter-san says I mainly just need to limber up my spine with lots of stretching after warming up my body. So I’m hoping going to get into a drop-dead-sexy, super-flexible, able-to-outrun-the-fluffball, capoeira-playing shape. With no back pain. Basically, be in such great shape that I can do anything I want & be able to healthily recover from injuries accrued adventuring. There, totally logical progression, right? Here’s my current stats: (just so I can one day say that this is where I started, not that I expect them to change this time around)a -Neck 14" -Shoulders 44†(?)-Chest 35.5"-Bicep 10.5"-Waist 32.25-Hips 37"-Thigh 21.5" Main Quest:Become an invincible assassin-monk. With a happy fluffball. Missions:Exercise & stretch 3 times a week. Specifically, do a variation of the body weight exercise routine twice a week and drag myself to Capoeira on whichever evening is my evening off.Wake up at the same time every day. Its my first step towards a regular sleep schedule. Hello 5am!Hike the poor, depressed fluffball (aka Sofie) thrice a week. Bonus points for real mountains, but the hill next door will be acceptable. She’s not picky. Life Quest:Keep ma house tidy. It makes me feel less crazy. And it is far from tidy atm... Motivation:To looking great at some hotsprings.To making all the boys jealous. To energy, strength, mobility and virility!To capoeira!To being a better pup ownerTo proving to my (human) other-half that it is do-ableCheers! & if I can ever get the picture uploader to cooperate, I'll throw in pic's of the pup too.

After a whirlwind of activity towads the end of the last challenge, I am back! I'm really trying to be more consistent, and follow through with my challenge this time. I named this challenge threa with that in mind. What good is a hammer strike that lands weakly? How much of the motion is wasted if not enough force is applied at the end? Sure, I have made progress, but it has been so much slower than it could have been, and this is something that is a reoccuring theme in my life, and something I am really trying to change. Am I in a good place at this point in my life? Yeah, sure. But had I applied myself more strongly in the past, things would have gone much easier for me academically, professionally, as a martial artist, and in my general health. So here's what I have been up to. The Bad Yeah, that promotion I was all but assured of before? Almost impossible at this point. Turns out that position is probably going to not exist anymore...I really don't blame my higher ups, i was not their fault. It just sort of came down the line as one of the things we are going to have to do in order to save money. Oh, and as part of that plan I have been temporarily assigned as a front desk security person until new enrollment of students start again. In what I can only describe as an academic nightmare, my university counselor told me that I had been given bad information by her predecessor and my graduation will have to wait at least an extra semester ending in winter semester rather than the summer. Oh, and I got really sick from a stomach virus for nearly a week. That sucked too. The Good Well, I still have a job! And through some HR wizardry I am still getting my regular pay for basically sitting around and messing with a computer up front. I have recently gotten caught up with Homestuck due to this (Any other fans? I know you are out there...) Sometime in May or June when we start enrolling again I will go back to my normal job as a career exploration instructor and to be honest, that is where my heart is. Although working as a counselor would be a smart career move, this particular position is not my favorite. I would mostly be doing schedules and evaluations which are about as much fun as having one's nails removed. I do not mind waiting it out, finishing my schooling, and finding the right place for my career to go from there. I got a lot done last challenge. I attended my first anime convention (as a chaperone no less! A chaperone in cosplay!) ran a nighttime 5k, and went to a religious retreat that was on my bucket list which I feel deeply influenced my spiritual life. I even got down to my goal weight of 185, although that was more due to the stomach bug than anything. Still, a win is a win and I ain't nowhere near finished. The Plan 3 Modified Beginner Bodyweight workouts a week (Starting next week, I am swamped with term papers this week) +2 STR, + 2CON At least 12 capoeira classes from now until the end of the challenge +2 STA, +2 STA Floss! Floss? Yes, Floss! That can be a goal. Shut up! +2 CHA, + 2 CON Conquering the mighty Acadaemon, All classes B or higher +3 WIS This is gonna be one of those 'Do it more than talking about doing it' challenges for me, I may not be online as much as I have been in the past. So if I do not post on you all's challenge threads, just know it ain't for any lack of love. I am proud to be a monk, and grateful to be part of this community. Now then, as Dr. Who would say and Gabriel would quote... Allons-y!

Found Nerd Fitness a few weeks back, and finally committed today to make myself accountable. Here's my back story: Born overseas in Japan, moved to the US... Moved every year since birth, up until I was about 5 years old. As a result, my older brother was born in California, I was born in Japan, and my younger brother was born in Vermont. Each about 2 years apart. Finally settling down in NY. Then moved back to Japan in Middle school for a few years. I used to spend every other summer in California with my mom's family or in Japan with my dad's family. I also went to weekend school, so I never had time for sports growing up. Now I'm settled down in Los Angeles Area and i'm loving it. I was raised as a road warrior, and as a result never got into the groove of a stable lifestyle. But I hit my moment of change in January 2012. I weighed in at 195 lbs and 5'8". I was happy but still unhappy if you know what I mean. For years, my weight fluctuated anywhere from 170 to 185, taking me on a weight and health roller coaster. I got tired of it... So i decided to change..... I trained and trained and trained, until in June 2012 I came in 170 lbs and lost 2-3 inches on my waist. Since then I was able to maintain my current weight of 170, dropping my body fat % by 5-6% over the past year. Today, i find myself in the situation where I'm losing my motivation. With no where to turn... I decided to do some research... being a NERD and all... I felt it was the logical solution... then... I FOUND NERD FITNESS!! I loved the blogs and the view on fitness here. Until now, I never really felt like i bonded with that "fitness" group. fitness to me is fun and a life style, not who's got more weights or who can grunt the loudest. If I was to pick a class... I guess it would be MONK? Because of my love for Capoeira. It's the one form of martial art that puts music / dance / martial arts all into one neat flowing form. It's beauty is in its ability to always change and adapt. Much like myself growing up. I look forward to our journey together! P.S. If there's anyone else that plays Capoeira... I would love to connect

Hey, Sorry, I'm late, but here's the plan: Goal 1: Do 3 sets of my circuit training routine on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Goal 2: Be able to do 15 push ups by the end of the challenge. Goal 3: Follow my paleo-inspired, 90% vegan nutrition plan all of the time, 1 cheat-meal per week. Goal 4: Find a fitness group/friend to do fun exercises or cool things like climbing/capoeira/parkour together. Meet him/her/them (at least) once a week. Goal 5: Write 1 sentence / 20 words in English, every day. - Correct grammar and spelling, of course. This is my routine: Monday: lunges Wednesday: Friday: I will post my nutrition plan later.

Quest Log (4/15/13 - 5/27/13) As mentioned in my introduction, I'm taking part in my first ever Six Week Challenge with the Monks. I think I've come up with an acceptable set of goals for the next six weeks. I will post an update at the end of each week, on Sunday evening. 1. Attend Capoeira class 1x per week (STR - 1) • (STA - 2) • (CHA - 2) Ever since watching Only the Strong ~20 years ago, I've wanted to learn Capoeira. I made a VHS copy from Blockbuster and watched it repeatedly with longing as Mark Dacascos taught a group of inner city kids the gravity defying Brazilian art. I even tried to emulate some of the moves I saw in the movie, only to realize that the only way to master them was through instruction. Eight years ago, when I was at UCLA, I finally took a class through the student gym. It was was one of the most fun classes of my life, despite the fact that I couldn't move my body the next day. Sadly, complications prevented me from continuing with it. I gave it another go a few years ago, attending another class, and had fun again, but I wasn't ready to commit to it. The school was kind of far from home, and after working all day, the last thing I wanted to do was extend my time away from home, so I regretfully gave up on it. However, the World Cup is coming up next year in Brazil. I fully intend to go to the World Cup, and one of my goals in life (as you'll see in my soon to be posted Epic Quest) is to participate in a Capoeira roda in Brazil. I want to look like I know what I'm doing, and want at least a year of practice under my rope belt, so I'm going all in and finally committing to Capoeira. I found a school highly rated on Yelp near the train station from which I commute to work, and they have a beginner class on Tuesdays and Thursday evenings. Since I have regular school on Tuesday nights, I'll be attending their Thursday night Beginner Capoeira class or their Saturday afternoon All Levels class. 2. Complete the following bodyweight workout 3x per week. (STR - 1) • (STA - 1) • (CON - 2) - 10 pushups x3 - 10 chair squats x3 - 10 leg lifts x3 - 3 pull ups x3 My girlfriend currently makes me do 30 pushups and 30 sit-ups when I get home from work. She drops me off at the train station nearly 2 hours before she has to be at work, so she spends that time at the gym in her building, and in exchange, I have to do that short exercise routine when I get home. I complain to no end, but I actually enjoy it as it has been helping. I've been wanting to ramp it up a bit, and these are the exercises from The Definitive Guide to Parkour for Beginners, although I've decreased the number of reps of pull-ups. I can't do 30 pull-ups, so I'm going to stick to trying for 9 total. 3. Successfully perform a roll or a cartwheel. (DEX - 3) These two things are essential to the practice of Capoeira, but I've never been able to do them. I felt like a loser in elementary school when everyone could do a cartwheel except for me. I just tried to do one now and I still couldn't do it. I think a lot of it is simply fear of letting go of my grip on the ground. By forcing myself into a situation (Capoeira classes) where I'll have to do them in order to progress, I'm hoping I can overcome my fear. A video will be recorded at the end of each week showing my progress on this goal. 4. Complete ZC short story. (WIS - 3) As I mentioned in my introduction, I want to be a writer. There's a short story I've been working on for roughly two years now. It was meant to be for a friend's birthday, as she specifically asked for it. However, I haven't made much progress on it. I have a page or so of random notes for it at the moment. I won't elaborate on what ZC means, as I don't like to share my work or the ideas they're based on until they're finished, but I think with discipline, 6 weeks is plenty of time to write a short story. Bonus if i finish it before my friend's birthday (05/05/13). The plan of attack is to spend one hour per day (no more, no less) working on it. Even if I don't make any progress in that hour, I can't spend any of that 60 minutes doing anything else. Game on, broheim.