Search the Community

Honestly, I didn't plan this, it just kind of happened on its own. Hello! I'm Kishi, sometime GL of the Monks and newly itinerant wanderer. Nice to meet you. I've wandered into the Assassin's Den because I'm trying to learn how to play with movement, and I hear y'all the best around for that kind of thing. Specifically: I am learning myself how to juggle. Why? Because I want to. And also because it's got a lot of benefits that should in theory carry over to martial arts. My situation is thus: I have settled down at a local academy that teaches both BJJ and kickboxing; it bills itself as a Muay Thai school but it is, in fact, Dutch-style kickboxing, which means less knees and elbows and more long combinations whilst standing in the pocket. I enjoy it very much. It's a new set of challenges, and coming from my background it's a lot to adjust to. But there's a problem: we have a space that is too small for the amount of students that we have. So we can't actually spar, which means that as much as we drill and drill and drill, it's actually really hard to develop the skills I need to develop myself further. Since I can't get what I need at school, I'm on my own. And my belief is that the attributes required to juggle - hand-eye coordination, mental processing, relaxation, fluidity of motion, etc. - will have carryover to my main thing. It's no replacement for sparring or anything like that, but perhaps when the time comes I will find that I'm a little sharper than I thought. And worst case, I'll have some fun along the way. As far as goals go, I'm more of a process guy. Ideally, I'd like to pick up a three ball cascade: But I don't have a deadline for it. The journey will get me there when it does. The real trick is showing up. So my goals will be as follows: Goal 1: Juggle 10 Minutes A Day Most likely to be done as two five minute sessions at different times of day. Half credit for one session, full credit for both. Goal 2: Shadowbox Mostly with the idea of staying up on the balls of my feet and keeping my pelvis scooped so that I have tension in my stomach. This is opposed to my Shotokan upbringing, which is big on these long, fencing-style lunges. They can work together. But they won't if I don't put in the work to make them. Goal 3: Grappling To be broken up again between standing work and ground drills. Half credit for one, full credit for both. Goal 4: Clean 1 thing per day So, I've had an issue with my place which is that I have entirely too much stuff. I don't like it. I don't like the lack of space and I don't like how it makes this place feel. I want to be rid of as much of it as I can. In the past, I've tried to go through an entire box of stuff, but that turned out to be too much. Gonna try again with this and see about getting rid of just one thing per day, with the idea being hopefully to finally start clearing some space out. Rewards Because I find that I like them, especially those things that help me get better at what I want to do. 80%: Juggling Balls. I decided to start with tennis balls. That was... a choice. By showing up to practice, I will unlock tools that will make the whole thing easier. That'd be dope. 90%: New Rashguard. Something like this. I like the design, and I could use more. But definitely make sure it's white, because it's a signifier of rank, and I'm crazy, but not stupid enough to show a rank I haven't obtained. I'd get beat up for that. 95%: Djembe Drum. Another thing that would help my martial arts and also make me a more expressive human being. Drumming is a good way to study rhythm, which is better than speed. Depending on how much space I clear out, there's a whole range of options to choose from. Nothing too fancy, though. I'm not looking to master it. I just want to play. And... yeah. That'll do it. I'll make my round to everyone as I can. See y'all when I do!

Okay, so, uh. First off: Happy Holidays y'all! Whatever it is you celebrate this time of year, I hope it rocks socks. Y'all probably noticed I disappeared from the forums for a while. Kind of related to the heart thing, but not on account of anything that actually happened. Kind of got in my head about it for a while, and the last month's been a pretty transitionary period with return to the office and new school and... just a lot. With everything going on I found myself just rolling with it; I didn't make a conscious decision to step away, but it happened anyway. OTOH, I got stress-tested. (it was stressful! But I passed! Cardiologist isn't worried about me and I'm due for another appointment in April). I've had to return to the office, where I found that I can really neatly do all the things I struggled to do at home in terms of writing and napping and meditating. All that time spent out there, however, has made balancing all the disparate elements of my training a little hairy. That's not anything new. It's been a lot, really. And taking care of all that caused me to neglect the forums here instead. I don't think that's fair of me to have done, but I also think it's arrogant of me to assume that I'm really that necessary to the goings-on around here. Either way, done is done. I'm back. I'll try not to drift again. As far as goals go, a lot of it is down to schedule and time-management. Stuff I tried to work on but didn't stick. I'm paying a price for that now. I'm also trying to figure out what effective balance looks like, mostly because I don't want to fall into that martial artist's trap where I live to train and neglect everything else that needs to be done. So, in the spirit of the holidays, just gonna take it easy and make a goal of getting down to bed by midnight. That's it. That's my one goal. I'm not saying that everything else will manage itself necessarily, but I feel like the earlier I get to bed, the more time I have, and the more time I have, the more opportunities I can take to get done what I want to. It's also the one thing that's really challenging me right now. Like I said, the office structure takes all the challenge out of the other stuff. It presents its own challenges in turn, but an early-to-bed, early-to-rise challenge probably will do more to address that than anything else. And if it won't, well, the only I know to find that out is to try. I'll be around to y'all as I can. Wish you well.

Hello, my name is Hatter and I'm a commitment-phobe. 😄 This is the third challenge in a row I've procrastinated because I didn't want to set goals haha. This time, the procrastination was disguised as a week of figuring out the right challenge theme. 🙈 But you know what, I've decided that I'm officially bored of overthinking and doubting. 😉 I have two goals: Art daily and train daily. Very simple. 😄 The biggest challenge will be my day job as there are lots of things happening, including crunch time for the project I'm leading. While fixing everybody else's problems. 🙄 Oh and we also got a curve ball that we'll be restructuring our teams from next week. I'm expecting the worst, but I refuse to let my work continue to be an energy sinkhole. Art daily Finish foundations course Daily painting workout Train daily Priority 1: Climbing - for the next 3 months until my local gym membership expires. My mini goal is to figure out that board style. Priority 2: Handstands - because classes are starting on Tuesday! I really wish I had done some more prep haha, it's going to be a sad return. 😛 Priority 3: Things that are supposedly good for me - stretching, running, core, strength training...

Placeholder so I won’t procrastinate further. (I swear there’s a point to the challenge title that’s more than an excuse to post banana gifs)

"Ahhh... Thank you, I greatly appreciate your assistance." The Figure replied after staying in place for what seemed like an eternity as Red1263 struggled with Gravity magic. "Oh! It looks like you've gotten errr something... of a handle on it." Red1263, still floating in midair and trying to contain the sudden boost of Gravity magic. His replies are through strains and grunts, "Oh yeah... Totally... Got it... I'm just dandy..." "Huh... may I offer a suggestion?" "... Yeah?... I'm all... ears." A sinister smile comes across the Figure's face as his eyes light up! "How about weee... Fight!" "... Beg pardon?" "What are you doing?!" Red1263 cried out as he was able to stop himself from slamming into the walls. "I am trying to help you with this! I'm not here to fight you!" "Exactly! I heard somewhere that the best way to learn is under intense, life threatening pressure! Take this! Gravita!" "No! No one says that! Ever!" Red1263 says as he stops himself again, mid air. But judging by the look in the Figure's eyes, as he lifts himself and starts to fly towards Red1263, his words fell on deaf ears. 'Crap! Guess I have no choice!' He thinks to himself, "Wait! At least tell me who you are!" The Figure stops in mid air, "Oh!... I guess I never introduced myself! How silly of me! I am the Gravity Knight!" Let's see you handle this! Attack with a silent roar! Gravitaga! Goals! Pull-ups: I have to get this one! He's moving too fast for me! Goal: 5 Pull-ups consecutively Weighted stance: Ha! Let's see you try to handle this! Adding Weight/Difficulty to my routine: Monday: Work on shortening my 1-mile time Be able to run the trail twice without stopping/taking a break Wednesday: Pull-ups, Farmer's Walks, Elevated Push-ups, seated Bicep curls (), Friday: Weighted shadowboxing. Speed drills Handstands: Huh, why is the ceiling getting closer to me? Begin Handstand practice by following this Tuesdays and Thursdays Goal: 1 min wall handstand.

Hey, everybody *waves* I'm brand new here and this is my first challenge. It coincides nicely with me buying a FeetUp Trainer for myself, so I'm going to challenge myself to practice inversions every day. At the beginning, I'll just be making sure to use the stool and do 2 inversions per day, holding around 20-30 seconds. I'll probably check back in with this after a week or so to see if I've progressed enough to add another element to this. There are videos and yoga instructions specific to the stool I have that I might commit to doing a few times a week on top of this, pending how I'm progressing. Also would love to hear if anyone else has a FeetUp Trainer or enjoys inversions in their workout routines! I think this lines up with the Druids guild(?) but I'm still learning how all of this works, so feel free to call me out if I'm not doing this right. Looking forward to getting started on my first challenge tomorrow! (I actually already did my first inversions yesterday and today, and it's going great.)

HELLO ALL-GUILD DARLINGS! Merry Liftmas! Your friendly neighborhood flipperdoo here with fewer flips unfortunately, but activity a-plenty. I'm planning on running my first half marathon on December 12 or 13 (depending on which day looks to have better weather)! That's it. That's the goal. Hahah. Just kidding, just kidding. There will be other goals. WHAT ARE THEY? TBD.

Hiya fellow Assassins, I have been busy with Kirsty's handstand coaching group the past couple of months. Quite a lot of technical work under the hood (mostly from shoulders to abs ha ouch) and quite a few light bulb moments as well. But I missed you guys! I still have a week to complete on my current programme and after that, I will change a little bit my HS practice programming, trying a less is better approach with strength as per her advice. I'm going to reduce press work to just twice a week (bent and straight arms), and keep 1 or 2 sessions for play and possibly a Zoom class. This challenge will be about the play bit (I have been getting technically challenged enough by Kirsty ). Because it's play I don't want to constrain it too much obviously. But there are some improvisation exercises that I used to do on silks that I would like to try in handstands. The improvisation game is based on Laban's 8 efforts. Each week I will pick up a polarity from 3 categories: direction: direct/indirect weight: strong/light speed: sudden/sustained (NB: I'm leaving the flow category out, 3 factors are enough to think about.) and I will explore the combination (what Laban calls an effort) while in handstand. There are 8 possible combinations that are named as follows: punch / press / dab / glide / slash / wring / flick / float. For instance a punch is a direct movement, strong and sudden, while press is also a direct and strong movement, but it is sustained. Here is a little diagram: I should be able to cover 5 of those during this challenge. There is no expectation of having to produce something that works / looks good. From previous xp on silks, most of it usually doesn't but it can lead to some new inspiration here and there. So I just have to DO IT and trust the process. Worse case scenario, nothing interesting comes out of it but I get to balance odd shapes on my hands. That's it! It's small and focused, with an update at least once a week (not sure I can do more than that theses days, life is just oddly busy). Next update should be around next week-end. Have a good challenge everyone!

Hello fellow Assassins, HS PUPETTRY I will start with the creativity goal which should be much more entertaining than pike presses I want to create a short feet-puppet HS routine! I had this idea while working on close tuck HS a few months back and I decided to see how far I could take it about a week ago or so (cf battle log starting from here). A few issues have come up, like where I should to put the puppet's face so that it's visible enough in a straight HS and doesn't get destroyed on kick-up / bail... Progress has been made and I've started shaping a training puppet over the last week-end, and even balanced a wee bit with it! For this challenge I'd like to reach a first milestone, which would be a 20-30s routine, no music / no voice over / no fancy story Just the foundation: working on some leg movement upside down with one or two puppets on my feet. I will start with just one puppet and if I can take both in the air that will be great. For the puppets part, I want to make one more training prototype, still using old socks. I have nicer newer stripey socks but I'm reluctant to sew / glue / cut into them on my first attempt... I'm pretty sure I will make mistakes (I already screwed an old one up). At some point I'd like to test things like foot-controlled flapping wings/arms maybe. But that's clearly for a later, more advanced, engineering stage I will keep it simple for now. But happy to hear ideas and advice, I'm making some changes on the bird following Mad Hatter's advice. For the HS part, I'm planning to work with puppets at least twice a week and more if I can, whether as part of my existing workouts or in short separate sessions. I will work mostly on: tuck HS, endurance, movement discovery (what works with puppets and what doesn't). I'll report regularly on progress and make a final video by the end of the challenge – whether it works out or not. I might end up with a video 100% full of bloopers but hey it IS a challenge! HSPU TRAINING NB: It's funny: there is HSPU in HS PUPPETRY (ok never mind ) I will continue my previous challenge and prep myself for HSPUs: The road is long and arduous. I'm currently finishing off Phase 1 – Level 1 (2 more weeks). Same as last challenge, 2 workouts a week and I'll just log my reps/sets/holds for the main exercise. This will be mostly strength work with loads of iso and eccentrics. I'll keep my other practice in my battle log (more handstand, a bit of flexibility, some pull). Have a good challenge everyone!

Well I got instant-killed last challenge by a sudden bout of depression. I guess the good thing I'm getting out of this is the realization that I am not who I used to be, and that I should treat myself as a different person. I can't just skip breakfast and get abs again, or do a 40 kg TGU on a whim. That person lives only in our memories; this guy has to start from scratch. CODING I've got a scheduled course going. It's good to have structure. I also have a total time tracker for time spent coding. I want to target 35 hours of coding a week, which is roughly an extra hour on the weekdays. It's not seeming as confusing as it initially was. PROTEIN Mistake last challenge was having a large protein jump AND the hour workout, which were both huge adjustments starting from nothing. I need to treat myself like a complete newbie, so I'll start with a double-scoop protein shake in the morning. HANDSTANDS Handstands have been my main nemesis, in gymnastic movements. I can't seem to get it, but I also haven't put in any regular practice for more than a few weeks, like, ever. I'd like to make it as painless as possible, and establish an MED of 10 HS Tuck-ups, and 10 Wall Facing-Away Partial Handstands. WEEK 1 Sunday, 10 - did not start. I just banged my hoe all day. Monday, 11 - 2.5 hours of code, check on the protein, no handstands. Tuesday, 12 - 8 hours of code (system did not log 2), protein was in, only got the 10 HS Tuck-ups done. Wednesday, 13 - logged 5 hours, drank protein first thing, but no HS. Thursday, 14 - barely got an hour of code in. System logged 8, so I have 5 to make up for. Got the protein, got the HS. Friday, 15 - 2 hours of code. Protein check. HS missed. Saturday, 16 - 6 hours. Protein check. HS missed. WEEK 2 Sunday, 17 - 3 hours code, drank protein, missed HS. Monday, 18 - 3.5 hours code, drank protein, did HS. Tuesday, 19 - ??? Wednesday, 20 - ??? Thursday, 21 - ??? Friday, 22 - ??? Saturday, 23 - ??? WEEK 3 Sunday, 24 - ??? Monday, 25 - Handstands Tuesday, 26 - missed HS and protein Wednesday, 27 Thursday, 28 Friday, 29 Saturday, 30 WEEK 4 Sunday, 31 Monday, 1 Tuesday, 2 Wednesday, 3 Thursday, 4 Friday, 5 Saturday, 6 WEEK 5 Sunday, 7 Monday, 8 Tuesday, 9 Wednesday, 10 Thursday, 11 Friday, 12 Saturday, 13

After years in the wilderness (lifting weights in my local gym), undergoing countless horrifying ordeals (queuing for the one decent bench press, getting annoyed as the awesome gymnastics rings setup is used for crossfit classes), as the outside world burns I have returned to my spiritual home: The Guild of the Assassins. Whilst others may be lamenting their lack of a squat rack, the assassins know that all that one requires is the weight of their own body (plus maybe a pull-up bar and a few other bits of equipment) to maintain and even increase their strength. Solitary confinement is all too easy an excuse to allow laziness to take hold and for personal well-being to be discarded so I call upon my fellow assassins to bear witness to my attempts to not just keep in shape but to improve myself and be reborn in the forge of the fires of this insufferable pestilence. As you may be able to tell from my challenge title, in the intervening years I've also been learning 日本語 so for this returning challenge, my goals shall centre around learning from the Japanese chapter of our illustrious order: 忍者 (ninja). I aim to become more balanced, both physically and mentally, return to testing myself on my beloved gymnastic rings, and take my language studies to the next level. Goal 1: Regain my physical balance. At one time I could happily hold a wall handstand for a minute as was even making some progress with supporting myself away from the wall. Recent attempts however have revealed that 40 seconds upside is a challenge for me. My first goal therefore is to practice handstands every day with the aim of being able to consistently hold a 1 minute wall handstand by the end of the challenge. Goal 2: Regain my mental balance. Like with my handstands, at one time I was achieving great success with maintaining a consistent daily mediation routine but this has slipped in the last year. To regain my composure, my second goal is to spend at least 5 minutes a day meditating using the Calm app. The daily 'Calm' meditations are around 10 minutes so I'll try to do those most of the time but if I get pressed for time (unlikely at the moment) I'll make sure I do at least 5 minutes sitting quietly. Goal 3: Back on the rings. Pretty simple really, just create a new workout to be done 3 times a week using my gymnastic rings. I'll look through various sources including the NF rings course and Overcoming Gravity and put together a new routine. Previously, as I would have to be out of the house to got to work by a specific time each day, my workouts had to be kept to under 30 minutes so that i could do everything I needed in the morning. Now that things are much more time flexible, I want to incorporate and proper warm up, skills section, main workout and then decent cool down/ stretching session. My goal is to create this, then test and modify it over the next few weeks so that I have a sustainable workout to see me through however long we are confined inside our houses. Goal 4: Take my studies further by spending 15 minutes a day reading 日本語 text. Along with my anki flashcards and my (now online) tutorials, if I start reading some Japanese every day, I'm sure this will help both my grammar and vocabulary but also improve my reading speed. I was given a variety of dual language texts for Xmas so it's about time I started working through them. Even if I only manage to get through one sentence a day, as long as I feel like I really have a good understanding of it, then I will be satisfied. I also have some traditional folk tales (including some ghost stories) as well as the 4,500 sentences from Tofugu to work through. Those are my goals then. 1. Daily handstands 2. Daily meditiation 3. Create, refine and implement a new rings-based workout 4. Daily reading

For the last two months I've been experimenting with this thing called commitment and I kinda like it. Instead of trying to do all the things at once, never improving, I'm currently focusing all my attention on handstands. With a side of acro/free running for funsies. I want to try the same with hobbies, instead of getting paralyzed by all possible options I'm going to learn to draw! Laser focus - Handstands Straddle flexibility 1x/week - Because I miss being the bendy one in class. It will also help with my handstand lines and maybe one day, dare I say it, presses? Core 1x/week - Because I discovered I can barely do a clean invert anymore. Prehab 1x/week - My left biceps have started twitching near the elbow and I'm taking it as a sign to take better care. Mix it up 1x/week - I've been really focused on getting my basics up to scratch to start my Handstand Factory (which should hopefully be dropping this challenge!!!) and while I'm definitely not bored, it's good to switch things up! Ideas are dynamic moves (things I can think of at the top of my head are cartwheels, walkovers, maybe macacos), yoga style arm balancing, backbending... Tuck and straddle jump practice every session - I JUST unlocked the mechanics of these, I'd love to get them comfortable enough to use them as alternatives to the single leg kick up. It might look a lot of goals, but we're really talking an extra 45 minutes a week for the first three goals, 10-20 minutes here and there. The last two I'd do anyway. I'll still be posting details of my classes and training sessions in my handstand battle log to keep it all in one place, but I'll do the tracking here. Laser focus - Drawing Finish an illustration! Very simple goal, a few weeks back I wrote a sort of marketing blog post for a side project that begs for an illustration. I made a doodle, but I've no clue how to turn it into an illustration yet. So there will be a lot of learning to draw, figure out a (simple!) style to draw it in, learning to use my shiny new drawing iPad... For this goal there will be no scheduling or hours, instead I'm simply going to make it my focus, same as with handstands. When I go training I do handstands, when I have spare time I draw? This approach might be a complete flop but let's see! Bonus - Digital consumption Last challenge I introduced very strict rules for digital consumptions, no social media, no YT, no screens past 8 pm, no movies, shows or games... These might seem a bit draconian, but zero week really reminded me how great they are! Admittedly, this week was quite the exception as I've been working A LOT to try to finish a project, and consequently my enthusiasm and energy to do anything else plummeted and I found myself doing a lot of mindless "catching up", i.e. consuming mainly a lot of mindless digital junk instead of really taking the time to rest properly and now I feel like garbage as a result. So I'm going to go back to those rules, more or less. YouTube in order to learn is fine, as long as it's not underpants collecting. The occasional movie is fine. But more or less the same as before. It's great to be back with the assassins proper! Let's do eeeet! Pew pew!

Unlocked a big milestone this morning I have been training HS on parallettes for nearly a year now. My shape still needs work but I'm so so so happy Thanks to everybody who helped me out here, the forum has been so useful in this progress. The journey continues! Video below:

Last challenge was lovely but rather wishy washy and I didn't really challenge myself. I got into a pretty good headspace though with plenty of outdoor time and mindful chill time. This challenge however is about getting shit done and taking action on some of the things that have been on my ignored epic quest list for the longest time! ||| Physical ||| I've been using my elbow injury as a poor excuse to not train much lately, even though I could've done plenty enough really. Honestly I've just been enjoying all the down time and feeling recovered since I'm not climbing 4 times a week. But now I'm itching to get back to it properly! Because of my elbow I'll have to go a bit free form, but you can expect to see the usual - climbing, handstands, backbends, rings and pole/floor flow. Deliverable: Do all 22 6 minute floor flow sessions at least once Experiments: Time box one hour for training in the morning, unless I go swimming Gratitude meditation/get psyched before training |||| Creative ||| I used to love to draw but I don't know how to art anymore and I want to relearn. Using baby steps so I don't rage quite because I suck. Deliverable: Complete all anatomy sketch exercises from my workbook Experiment: Doodle on longer public transport trips instead of reading/dicking around on my phone ||| Mental/Eating ||| I talked a little about my somewhat disordered relationship with food at the end of my last challenge. This challenge I'm going to take some first steps to fix it. The steps are all about enjoying food, making it plentiful and avoiding the biggest binge habit trigger, in a very roundabout way in order to not make it feel like I'm restricting. Deliverable: 10 new recipes from my cookbooks Experiments: No grocery shopping straight after work (when poor choices are made) Batch cook on Tuesday/Thursday (remote working days) New challenge wheeeeeee!

Fall is fast approaching, it's getting darker and rainier and I'm slowly getting the urge to go find an nice cozy cave to hibernate in. But instead I'm going to embrace the change of season by channeling three oh so trendy Scandinavian concepts, Finnish sisu, Danish hygge and Swedish lagom. Go outside in nature, even when it's cold and rainy Be brave and keep up with morning swims for as long as possible Fight the schnooze, keep up with morning movement Don't avoid hard stuff (like potential job applications) Make my house more enjoyable - fix the things that annoy me, replace plants I killed, make kitchen more enjoyable place to cook etc Reduce phone/laptop usage, cozy up with a book instead, or even a hobby thing Cook and eat food that makes me happy and content Not my strong suit for sure. Keep up with Nerdwarts classes (backbends, handstands, climbing) but with a more consistent workload. (I wanted to add plan a deload, but I might be forced to because my forearm niggle is now forcing me to take at least the day off) Do some prehab work/Cirque Physio Start work on unfucking my eating habits (more on this later) and start eating in a more balanced way. Read intuitive eating. Similarly to last time these "goals" are pretty fluid in content, it's more about the mindset. I'm planning on keeping this a two month challenge, but will see. It's all an experiment.

I changed all my goals about a week ago so this challenge will just be more of the same. For anyone new - basically I'm on a quest to fit in as many fun things as possible without breaking myself. Climbing is by far my biggest activity at the moment, but I dabble in hand balancing, pole dancing/aerial and flexy training/back bending. Oh and now I'm experimenting with rings to get a little stronger for climbing. Morning movement - Get all my non-climbing fun activities done before work GMB Rings 1 prep - 2-3x/w depending on recovery Kick butt at Nerdwarts - The most important goal. I'm playing chaser on the Quidditch team (legzzz) and taking the following classes: Astronomy == Backbends 1-2x/w (ideally) Herbology == Handstands 3+x/w (ideally) Flying == Climbing 3-4x/w

Ohai! Last challenge was a full on adulting challenge so now I'm swinging around 180 degrees with this un-challenge. Un-goals Climbing Just a reminder to have fun and try hard. Try all the jumpy jumps! Fun stuff Do it! Preferably daily buuut whatevs. Backbends, handstands, crow PvP. Maybe take out my slackline or hula hoop. STUFF! Go outside Already doing a great job of this, but max out the current weather, because this is Finland, and winter is coming. Ice cream diet Because an ice cream a day keeps the doctor away? Ok maybe not, but I do want to use my cute little single portion ice cream maker. HAPPY CHALLENGE EVERYONE!

I've just come back from a 7-month amazing travelling adventure in Latin America [details in first spoiler]. But I fail at following my challenges while travelling, so I've been mostly out of the NF scene since 2017 Now that I'm back at home (at my parents' house) it's time to set some fitness goals and start taking them seriously again I miss the gymnastics and calisthenics days of 2014-2015 but my goals have also changed a little since then! [details of my NF journey are in the second spoiler]. One problem is that I don't know what level I am at anymore with handstands, pull-ups etc., so it'll make me go crazy to chase achievement-based goals right now, so I'm just going to focus on getting out there and being active. Goal #1: Move and Train again: I'm stealing this one from Mad Hatter. The aim in to collect as many Mad Hatter Points (MPs) as possible during the challenge by doing various movement and training. 1MP: short unstructured movement (short bike ride, couple sets of push-ups, etc.) 2MP: more substantial workout 3MP: proper serious training, high intensity or with specific drills Hopefully I can do something with 2MP on average every day on average. Prepare to laugh at me as I massively miss this Maximum points available is 60. Goal #2: Assassin Training: And so I can't cheat goal #1 by just doing a billion sit-ups, I want to do each of these types of training at least once: gymnastics rings handstands hurdling climbing / bouldering longer run hill sprints weightlifting 3 points available for each of these (Maximum 20) Goal #3: Wim Hof Method: Some people on the forum (zenLara, annyshay, ...) have been experimenting with the, and I now have a reasonably good understanding of the Science behind it. If you want me to explain a little then just ask, but Wim Hof's (inadequate and inaccurate) explanations are on his website. It basically involves a breathing technique that causes temporary hypoxia, and taking cold showers. Other features in the full course include ice baths, yoga exercises and some meditation guidance. I've just come back from several months in the tropics, so I'll need to get used to coldness again haha... I'm not prepared yet to buy the full course (perhaps soon) but I want to get a regular schedule now of doing at least the breathing and the cold showers. 1 point for a cold shower 1 point for doing the breathing exercise (5 minute total retention as a minimum, so 2-3 rounds) 1 point for every new thing I try based on this method (Maximum 40) Goal #4: Bonus List: I just couldn't do a challenge without a "bucket list" type of challenge, so here are some bonus things I want to achieve in the next month: (8 points) learn Stairway to Heaven on the guitar (8 points) compose a new piano cover (4 points) record this new piano cover (6 points) plan professional project for travel at the end of May (6 points) create and memorize a system for decimal digit memorization (6 points) write 5 new articles on the website I maintain: World Mental Calculation (Maximum 30) And yes, the total points available add up to 150. There's no way I'm getting such a high score, so I'll award 1 stat point for every 12 challenge points. Also looking forward to seeing where the NFers are at after half a year not following you! Good luck everyone!

Safe on the other side of the ravine, Vixen decided to make camp. Building the fire was no problem, and soon a pot of water was boiling merrily away for tea, but putting up the tent was a bit more of a struggle. "If only I had someone else to help me," Vixen grumbled, before clapping her hands together in delight. That was it! She'd struggled on the vines because she didn't know what she was doing, so why not invest in some help? Before you could say 'product placement' Vixen had signed up to the NF rings and handstands courses and was flicking through the pages on her phone. The terrain ahead of her though... hills and mountains. She wanted to learn how to swing on a vine, but for the road ahead, what she really needed was a Ranger. She looked back down at the phone in her hand. Time for a team up. So I'm still going to be working on my goals from last month, but I'm also going on a walking holiday in North Wales over Easter, so I wanted to incorporate that into my story, heh. My Ranger is one of my BFFs, she's working on her mountain leadership qualification, and she's agreed to do some truly gnarly ridge walking with me. It's still too cold to climb outside. In my soft southern opinion. Hang Glide When I was little I said this was my life ambition. I've decided to actually just do it this year. Because there's no time like the present. Hang glide this year was my 2018 New Year's Resolution. E-mail to ask when the deadline is for booking in June Book onto a tandem hang glide session in June Become a Gymnastic Ring Aficionado I'm on the last level of the bodyweight path in the NF Academy, and I'm ready to take it to the next level. I've just bought the NF rings and handstands course, so time to work that out. Read through both courses Create a workout plan Strength train x3 a week (except for holiday week) 1 2 3 Become Proficient at Aerial Hoop Hoop is my new favourite thing in the world. I love it. I want to do it MORE. Schedule classes for the month except for holiday week Practise once a week 1 2 3 Write First Draft of a Story Another one of the things I always said I would do. I went on an OU creative writing course last year, now to start putting it into practice! Vixen is a character in one of my WIPs, btw. Schedule in one writing session a week (except for holiday week) Write once a week 1 2 3 Find a New Job My other half is a doctor, and we will be moving for his work in August. I'm trying to put in the groundwork now, so I can find a new job that I like! Job interview prep - read their websites - familiarise yourself with their research - answer the sample questions S gave you Apply for at least one other job Complete Care Certificate SIDE QUEST: The Misty Mountains Going to Snowdonia with a crowd of my bestest buddies, and I want to go walking with my favourite Ranger/Hobbit Make a kit list Finalise travel plans Find two really challenging walks that I want to do Liaise with the Ranger about how feasible they are WALK

I got about three weeks, right? Wim Hof 6-7/week - 2HEA 1CON Self-defence 2/week - 1BER 1DEX Cross-country running/uphill sprints 1-2/week - 1STA Abs 1-2/week - 1STR Wall walks and handstands prep 5/week - 1DEX

I need something new and shiny to kickstart 2018, so I got myself a brand new battle log! I have a whooole bunch of shinies to chase this year, it's going to be great. My plan is to screw the four week SMART goal framework and chase them on my own terms, i.e. inefficient and haphazard, but with gusto. Everyone keeps telling me you can't do everything at once - to that I say pfffft. Here are things you can expect from this log Handstands Climbing Aerial Pole Flow Acrobatics Flexy things Strengthy things ??? Oh and fooood! Goal thingies 2018 Because what's new year without setting way too ambitious goals? Fitness goals The big theme for the year is to improve my freedom of movement. Upside downness Handstands every day yo! Yup, the whole year. (2/365) Flooow I have a bunch of Marlo Fisken flow videos. I want to master them Scary stuff This is a big one, I'm such a scaredy cat and I've developed a bunch of weird mental hangups this past year Tuck and straddle jump to HS Forearm stand HS to bridge Back walkovers HS forward roll Honestly, pretty much any kind of tumbling Some kinds of pole HS Heel kips Topping out when climbing Stop hurting myself Less fun but oh so necessary. A little more focus on prehab won't hurt me. Other Some other more or less vague goals Climb 3 6cs Become strengthier (better push ups, moar pull ups) Run a little Play on my new toy - an indoor aerial rig Don't take things so seriously Other goals Cook 100 new recipes (0/100) Read 50 books (1/50) Travel somewhere cool To contradict the last goal I also want to increase my savings by €10000 Use my hands more Get a non-movement based hobby I really don't expect to nail many of these goals, but that's not what new year's is about right?

OKAY! So, last challenge was a keep-on-keepin-on kind of challenge. I'm gonna mix it up and see how it goes this time, which means zero week = experimentation time! I've been thinking I'll try a monthly theme. This month: JUST SAY NO. I want to be more aware of all the stuff I let into my life (both physical and emotional) and I want to say no to more of it. I don't need to help that random recruiter on LinkedIn! I don't need to go check out that sale! NO. And now, draft one of my quests: Q1: Daily salads! I'm tired of eating freezer lunches at work, so I'm planning a daily salad (see last challenge for details). My goal is to eat salads four of five work days. Q2: Skill practice/flexibility work I'd like to eventually tackle the GMB Elements course, but my major concern at this point is the time investment (daily workouts are not my current jam). I currently stretch after workouts (so, approx 3 times per week). I'd like to add one session of stretching & skill practice. I'm thinking hamstring stretches (maybe the splits challenge but without the challenge part) and/or handstand work. Mostly I just want to start building some fun exercise into my schedule. Q3. Social media ramp-down I check social media more than I'd like to. This week I want to just *track* how much I time I spend on facebook & twitter (using TimeStats chrome extension). Q4. TBD! Possibly something to help me remember my monthly theme, or possibly not. We'll find out soon enough!

Slacked off on the first challenge period, but here we are. Inversions every day. Come one, come all. @Mad Hatter @WhiteGhost @zenLara @otterbyte @Grandkai_NL @Norgaard @Sea Level

Main Wolverine’s goal: being The Wolverine. Fight. Train. Expose yourself to cold. Eat like a horse. Breath. New stuff Handstands!

Think about your life for a minute and try to picture what you need more of. If you guessed anything besides handstands, take a few minutes to fix your priorities and then keep guessing until you get the right answer Ok, now that we are all on the same page, this thread is for handstand and handstand prep accountability. Not all of us can do handstands, but we can all do things that get us closer. No matter where you are in your handstand journey, post whatever work you are doing to the thread so we can help and support each other to make the world a better place. Because a world with more handstands is a better world