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Howdy, y'all! Getting in early on this one as I'm taking off to the beach in a couple hours and I don't know if I'm going to get the chance to post on time. In keeping with the last challenge, I made a point of redistributing my training tasks to win back some much needed time. I applied that the past week as follows: Monday: Simple and Sinister, Farmer's Walks Tuesday: Straddle Planche progression, Side Lever progression Wednesday: Rope Climb progression, Single Leg Squat progression, Manna progression Thursday: Hollow Back Press progression, Front Lever progression Friday: Simple and Sinister, Farmer's Walks Saturday: Handstand and Neck work Sunday: ??? It all sounds like a lot and very heavy until you realize that at this point it's just planks and push ups and inverted rows and super basic things at this point. But I tried it out and, uh, it worked like gangbusters! Everything's done really fast; nothing takes more than 20-30 minutes and I hit enough of my body to feel good for having done it. I've even been able to retain my qigong practice, although that too has changed some. Shi Yan Lei, whose work I'm following, wants like 5 different stances in addition to the qigong, as part of a combined program of qigong and kung fu. Well, I've already got enough leg work in my kung fu program as it is, and only 2 of the stances he provides show up in the qigong movements, so there's no real reason for me to faff about and waste more effort. And the thing is, the training workload as it was distributed last challenge had some substantial effects on my ability to get after the non-training portions - the meditation and the writing. So I want to attack those problems again, but this time with this new set up, just to see how it goes. For those who didn't follow along last time, it goes like this: Goal 1: Training Like it says on the tin. Qigong is going to happen as it does; I actually want to try to get to 3-4 times a week, which I think will be quite doable. This was another one of those things that suffered under the prior load, but really it's more a matter of being an opportunity than something I'm going to pursue aggressively. Goal 2: Meditation Gonna shift this goal a little bit and set a time of 2 minutes as my minimum. To be clear, even if I miss this goal, I'm still going to take my deep breaths at bed time and get some benefit. So it's not an either/or situation by any stretch. I just want to challenge myself to do more, and having a hard standard that I won't wiggle out of will help. Maybe. Or maybe I'll be lazy again. IDK. Goal 3: Writing I found a more detailed version of the Snowflake Method. I think I'm going to use this one, since it has a more integrated approach to character profiling and stuff like that. The old 6-step program on Reedsy that I referenced before was a good starting point, but it was also looser in a way that I had a hard time connecting with. I still think I can use their character profiler as a way to construct a dossier on my characters for reference, but it's hard to use for the planning stages, at least for me. My figuring at this point is, plan out -> write the damn thing -> fill out dossiers afterward with the information I develop. But we'll see. 1st step is to follow the plan. Those are my goals this time. It works out to being mostly a repeat of the last challenge. There is some stuff I want to do/get into, but I don't really have a realistic way of approaching that just yet, so that'll be something that hums along in the background. No worries. T-minus a couple days. See y'all when I do!

The game continues: The town of Metroville, grateful for having once again been saved from destruction in the hands of evil villains, wanted a special way to honor Elastigirl . The town’s mayor created a game with Elastigirl as the heroine. Game play allows the player to take on the role of Elastigirl, and therefore tap into her superpower of Tenacity. In order to win the game, the player will have to accomplish many feats. This will require tenaciousness and determination. The evil foes- Shiny Object Distraction, It’s Too Hard and You’ll Never Make it- will be constantly throwing their weapons. But, if the player sticks with the game long enough, they will be able to eventually win the trophy and Unleash the Power of Tenacity. I have been working on the main quest of this goal for 3 challenges. I decided that I needed to tap into my tenacity in order to keep me motivated to stick with it another challenge. I have broken the big goal down into many smaller goals. I may (most likely) not reach the Final level by this challenge, but I will get closer. Game Objective : Swing 44# lb KB 100 in 5 min: 5 reps, each side,35# TGU in 10 minutes Level 1 : 35# 100 one handed swing 6 min- badge-COMPLETE Level 2: 35# 100 one handed swings in 5 min-badge and unlock prize-Yoga socks-COMPLETE Level 3: 30# 5 reps TGU in 10 minutes-badge and prize unlocked-lacross ball-COMPLETE Level 4: Beserker Round- 30# 5 reps TGU in 10 minutes, 1 minutes rest and 35# 100one handed swing 5 minutes- Beast trophy and unlocked prize- starry night socks Level 5: 3 full 35# TGU-badge Level 6: 5 full 35# TGU- badge and unlock prize-yoga stretching band Level 7: 5 full 35# TGU reps in 10 minutes badge and unlock prize-juggling balls Level 8: 44# 100 one hand swings 10 minutes-badge and prize mug Level 9: 44# 100 one hand swings 8 minutes-badge Level 10: 44# 100 hand swings 5 min-badge and prize-TBD Final Level-35# 5 reps TGU in 10 minutes, 1 minute rest and 44# 100 one handed swing in 5 minutes-mug Game Win badge *Due to nature of game play, some higher levels of one kind (swings or TGU) may be reached before another. This is allowed by the rules. In order to win the final Level all prior levels must be complete. A unique feature of this game is its frequent reminders to the player of the importance of tenacity. During game play, motivational quotes will often flash on the screen. The player can then hurl them at the villains who are trying to throw the player off the path. My Goals Goal : Fuel: Track food 5 days a week- one of those day must be a weekend- hit calorie, protein, and potassium Track water and drink at least 6 glasses a day( 5 days a week doesn't need to be a weekend day) Goal: Deep Breathing Practice box breathing 6 times a week 3 minutes a day http://www.livestrong.com/article/74944-box-breathing-technique/ Life: Continue morning routine: Been doing this for several challenges now. Last challenge it really finally started to be habit. I want to continue this so I have the accountabilty. Morning: Read Bible, Dishwasher empty, walk, breakfast with timed computer play Chair cushions; Failed on this seemingly easy one last challenge. No procrastination this time. They must be purchased by week 3 Side goal :Cartwheel practice once a week. If I'm enjoying it, I'll do it more. If not, no loss. Idea stolen borrowed from Obax's crow challenge. Special notes and addendum: I am going to be gone the very first week of the challenge. I'll start my challenge next week, and the first official week some stuff may happen (or it may not) No kettlebell will be happening, but I will hopefully get some bodyweight work in.

The actual quote from Firefly is "You're like a trained ape. Without the training." but I want to be better than that and be like the trained ape that actually has the training. Main quest: Like all of my other challenges, my main quest is to improve my kicks. To be more specific, my side thrust kicks have always been my main goal but I need to add roundhouse kicks to this goal because they need help too. 1 - Mobility: Cheechoe's hip routine is going to be the main focus here but I also want to add the resets to make my hips work better. The goal is to do both of these at least 4 days each week.2 - Back to basics: Do 2 full Karate workouts at home each week in addition to my Karate class. Before the Karate workout do a strength movement and at the end of the workout do a core/ab movement. (modified 8/14/14) 3 - Karate specific: Total of 1000 kicks and punches per week. Life quest: Spend more time with my wife Spending the time walking with the Typhoon and doing something fitness related while doing it really helps put my mind in a better place and it also helps loosen up my hips. Walk 5 days a week.