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Well, I wanted to try to continue story stuff, but the moratorium on spoilers at this point means that I can't risk it. Yet. I'll hold it until 1/18. Maybe in the meantime that'll help me figure out how to integrate storytelling with the epic quest. Basically, the epic quest this time is to spend the year more fully integrating martial arts into my life. I already do a lot of different training on a day by day basis, but I get a lot of different things from my sensei to do. And I want to take each of these challenges and just add one more piece to the puzzle to complete my training. Why? Reasons. I like the training that I do now and its ability to prepare me in general for a lot of different things. And I hate the feeling of being behind where I want to be in my training. I want to move farther along, and instead of flipping out and feeling like I'm stalled out, I'd rather be able to further. Since the best I know to do is to keep touching base, the most realistic way to improve is to give myself more things to practice daily. Yeah, it'll never get me a six pack or in the octagon, but the events of the past year have made such ideas seem small and unimportant. I have bigger fish to fry. So, starting point. While I was away, I managed to get to the point where I hit the Simple part of Simple and Sinister - full routine at 53 pounds. And I managed to lose 13 pounds of excess tissue last year by letting my training be my training and letting my diet be my diet and work in conjunction with it. The folks did their best to make me gain it back (Kishi, we don't think you have the weight to lose!) and they made a pretty valiant effort at it... but I still finished 7 pounds down. Measurements indicate it's a net loss of excess tissue, and not the lean stuff that makes me stronger and better. Very good. So, let's keep this simple. Continue GPP Training I don't do well training for fat loss or flashy, look-good-naked type goals. I do well looking to develop skills and attributes. GPP for me means continuing to work with the kettlebell I have until I can get a heavier one - crazy expensive, unfortunately, but that's what you get when you have to ship 70 pounds of metal. The other two parts of it are greasing the groove with pull ups and push ups, and working toward freestanding handstands and pistol squats. This isn't necessarily easy, but as a matter of practice it is pretty easy to do and keep up with day by day. Non-Write One Page Per Day Defined as 250 words per day. Pretty self-explanatory. But at the same time, I can't always write. I want to still do at least one thing per day to keep in contact with the manuscript and keep that thing going. Work Shadowboxing Back In to Rotation So when I was practicing with the kettlebell, it was easy for me to work shadowboxing into the routine. I kept myself fresh and if I got tired, I shadowboxed as a means to refresh myself. That's no longer necessary from a GPP perspective, though - I go from lift to lift super-easily. So the real trick is to figure out how to work this in elsewhere, which I mean to have figured out and running by the end of the challenge. 64 Fluid Ounces of Water Per Day Pretty self-explanatory. This is on top of everything else I drink in a day. Just to keep it simple. Okay guys. Let's get to work.