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Slight adjustment to hobby categories this time around. Goals: Exercise: Weights, cardio, PT, and Kenpo. Languages: French, Russian, and Japanese. Crafting: Practice Kenpo knives, 3rd pair of work pants, Mjolnir. It seems like less than last time, but if I have two craft projects going, my brain goes wonky and neither end up getting done in a timely fashion. This also doesn't show that I've rediscovered the joys of reading (although my tastes have changed drastically), and that the garden will be rearing its head soon. So I suppose the focus of this challenge is discipline in crafting and, as always, finding balance.

The last challenge got me finishing old projects and starting a new trade: thermoplastics. I've figured out that I do best when focusing on one thing at a time (freaking, surprise there, eh?), so while I still am allowed my 4 hobbies, each one will have one focus only. Sewing: Finish the blue skirt, then start another pair of work pants. Exercise: Solidify PT and Kenpo practice. Languages: One module of French or Russian per day, maintain Japanese at lunch. Thermoplastics: Make a new bracer, practice painting on the prototype. For a lot of my life, I would try to get into everything, and ended up not finishing much and feeling overwhelmed. Throw it all out, start over, cycle continues. While doing grad school on top of a full-time job, I found out I get a lot more accomplished by limiting myself to 4 hobbies (gardening is on hold til spring), and having one thing on my "To Do" list per day. If I get more done, great, but there's no pressure to do it, so I'm more willing to work on it. I still want to do everything, get into everything, learn everything, but I can't argue that I've accomplished a lot more by focusing on one thing to completion. Sewing is pretty straightforward - finish one, start the next. I've let PT slide a bit lately, and my body forcefully reminded me that that's dangerous. I'm going to try changing from a M-Th workout schedule, with PT on the weekend, to a split week schedule with PT mid-week and on the weekend. Kenpo practice is a goal of 10 minutes a day, fit in wherever possible, and no pressure if not. Similarly, I've not been keeping up on French and Russian, so one module a day, maybe 5-10 minutes. Thermoplastics is the fun part. I made a prototype bracer, to see how it's done, and I was pretty happy about how it turned out. There are a couple bubbles and rough patches, but I thought they'd be covered over by priming and painting. I was wrong: Don't get me wrong, it looks spiffy and I'm proud of it, but those bubbles on the top and middle layers bother me. I was trying out different heat settings when I made those layers, and they got too hot, too fast. If it was just that, I might try to ignore it, but there are some other issues that I think I can make better on a second go 'round. So, back to the crafting table!

Joe Lewis is certainly a legend in the martial arts community. Not to mention being a champion kickboxer. He wrote an article for Black Belt, Top 10 martial arts for self defense Linky here The Short List, in no particular order: Kyokushinkai Karate Outlaw Tai Chi Bando Kajukenbo Chinese Kenpo Okinawa-Te Judo Aikijutsu Kickboxing Boxing What do you think? Agree, Disagree? Feel some particular art is missing? Discuss