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Kind of inspired by @Red1263. And I like the vibe of this one. Even though it is a monastery, and a separated space, it doesn't feel as isolated as the other fantasy pieces do where the monastery is built in the mountains. That is, it doesn't feel as removed from day to day concerns as the other pieces tend to. I like it for that. Feels truer to life somehow. Also, I like the feeling that it mixes East and Southeast Asian aesthetics for a real fantasy vibe. But that's just me tho. Anyway, howdy, y'all! Welcome to another challenge. Peace and be welcome. Last challenge, things went really great. I stopped leaning so much on caffeine and got really sensitive to it as a result, and I ranked up to a blue belt in BJJ, which caught me by surprise, and I advanced in my writing to the point that I'm writing prose on my novel, and... I just feel good. Good enough that I feel like I can make some significant changes in my life this year, things that I want for myself. This was my wishlist as I was able to articulate it to myself: I want to get my freaking apartment cleaned up finally. I want to lose a significant amount of weight, because I have a significant amount to lose. I want to graduate to pain free movement. I want to complete a draft of the novel and get it before some beta readers. I want to go to therapy. I want to start dating again. But you might notice that my topic and my tags, along with my tendency to only do one goal for a challenge, kind of makes it sound like I'm not getting after any of these. I beg to differ. It's been my observation that nothing exists in isolation; rather, everything relates and exists within a context. Training exists in a context with sleep and nutrition, and these exist in relationship with job and income and privilege, and these exist in a social context within which I have to live and move and have my being. It sounds like highfalutin nonsense, but what it basically boils down to is I can't change one thing without changing a whole bunch of other things at the same time. In this case, a movement goal helps me get after the clean up goal, the weight loss goal, and the pain free goal, because my place is messy enough that it interferes with my movement I weigh enough that it impacts my joint health (although it also provides free resistance too, so it's not like it's all bad) moving pain free is dope So, big ol' wind up. What does it all mean? Well, those of you what know me or followed me for a while know I've got a tendency to mix and match stuff from a lot of different trainers/training philosophies, but it's only been in the past month or so that I've really come to internalize the concept of "Junk Volume," or Bruce Lee's maxim of "Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless, and add what is specifically your own." I thought for a long that what I was doing giving myself an opportunity to express my body in a lot of different ways, and maybe that was true, but I wasn't being truthful with myself in terms of why I was doing what I was doing. Truth is, I was mad at myself for developing obesity, and I've been punishing myself for it, working beyond my ability to recover, and really failing to develop the attributes that I actually want for myself. That's not to say I don't want cool shit like front lever rows or heavy kettlebell snatches or long-distance heavy rucking or things like that, but I don't want them at the expense of pain free movement or the ability to do striking and grappling well into old age, and I suspect that that's what I've been doing. So after a lot of thought, I've elected to go with Ben Patrick/Knees Over Toes Guy's programs, specifically with the goal of building toward the BJJ strength program that he put together along with Nsima Inyang. As I mentioned to @The Most Loathed, I've been listening lately to Dr. Mike Israetel, a jiujiteiro/bodybuilder/Dr of Sports Physiology, and I eventually stumbled across one of his videos from some years ago where he talks about blending strength work and grappling, and he specifically recommends that there be as much separation between these as is possible so that they don't interfere with each other. And you might not think that a knee/body rehab program would count as bodybuilding/strength work, but Mr. Toes has personally said that he considers his work to be a mix of bodybuilding and yoga, specifically because he seeks to develop "strength at length." 7 weeks in, I think that claim is worth taking seriously, especially since I do have a feeling that my martial arts and my strength work have been in conflict with one another. So, what is my goal? My goal is to get myself to the point that I'm doing my strength work 4-6 hours before I go out to the mats. This will mean doing my strength work in the AM, and doing mat time at night. Night time mat time isn't going to be an option all the time, however, and my scoring for the challenge is going to account for that. Knees Over Toes (KOT) program presently runs Monday to Friday. Saturday and Sunday are rest days. Night training is only available Monday, Thursday, and Friday. Saturday and Sunday are noon and morning, respectively, but it doesn't matter, because those are rest days. Therefore, Monday, Thursday, and Friday training will each be worth half a point. So KOT is half a point, and mat time is half a point. Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday trainings are each worth a full point, because only one kind training is available to do on those days if I assume that the goal is for these to harmonize with one another rather than interfere with one another. Half points are still possible on days where I follow one program and not the other when I could have feasibly followed both. I will bias toward KOT because of its rehab benefits and its carryover to more of my life than mat time. If you followed me last challenge, you might recall that I could have a potential obstacle in that the building's washing machine busted, but I'm pleased to report that my landlord actually took care of this in a timely fashion and I have laundry facilities restored on the premises. So that's good news. Making this work is going to mean getting to bed earlier and getting up earlier, something that I've allowed to slip. It's also going to mean balancing my work-life balance a bit since I'm cleared for OT with the job right now and I need to work as much as I can/they'll let me before it cuts off at the end of the month again. Not sure how it's going to bear out since our legislators can't budget for shit these days, so I might get more next month and I might not. Just gotta be like water, I guess. But hey, here we are, on time for once. Cool. Looking forward to seeing how this one goes.

Going to start my daily log here tomorrow. This post is a place holder.

Here is a short video on the origin of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a Brazilian martial art that can trace its roots back to Japanese Judo. It is predominantly a grappling martial art. Supposedly self-defense Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu includes striking and disarms, but I've only practiced what would be considered sport bjj. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was popularized by the Gracie family and most people often think of all BJJ practitioners to tracing their lineage back to the Gracies, but this is untrue. Another influential line would be the Luiz Franca line, whose standout student was Oswaldo Fadda. BJJ reached world wide recognition when Royce Gracie won the first Ultimate Fighting Championship defeating larger opponents. It has since become pretty much a pre-requisite for those looking to compete in Mixed Martial Arts.

Have any of you ever thought about or implemented balance exercises as a Monk, during your strength training / fitness days? After talking to a trainer at the (fitness) gym, I've been thinking about it. It sounds like a good idea to do so as a Monk (grappling/BJJ), but I was wondering if any of you had any experience with this and maybe some good tips on specific kind of balance exercises. Balance is not something that is really explicitly trained at the dojo I used to go to, however I just moved to a new place and am still browsing new dojo options while I work on my strength/stamina.

I'm at the stage in judo now where club practices aren't enough to get by and I need to do a bit of independent training on judo specific skills. In regular practice I find that I get most development from target driven randori. Get a throw from cross grip, foot work only, defend for 1 minute etc I have access to bands for uchi komi but I don't have a mat set up for break falls. But not to restrict this to uchi komi and to involve some useful movement drills too. Does any one have advice on how I would structure an independant session on skills?

A man has traveled across the NerdFitness universe, coming under the tutelage of other clans to learn necessary skills, in order to find himself. Adventurers. Rangers. Scouts. Assassins. Warriors. Druids. Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is specifically your own. (Lee) Finally, a Monk has come home. THE QUEST 1. Science: Watch and study Demian Maia's Science of Jiu-Jitsu vol. 1-6. (+4 WIS) 2. Lonely Man Grip: Execute 25 gi pull-ups 6 days a week. (+2 STR, +2 DEX) 3. Compete: Participate in 2 grappling competitions. (+2 DEX, +2 STA) War educates the senses, calls into action the will, perfects the physical constitution, brings men into such swift and close collision in critical moments that man measures man. (Emerson) SIDE QUEST Read On The Warrior's Path by Daniele Bolelli. (+3 WIS) THE MOTIVATION That belt looks like it needs more blood on it.