[JediNickD] World 5 Level 4: "This is the Way."

[JediNickD]

Welcome back for another episode of The Exciting Adventures of JediNickD! It was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away that I joined this site and started my first challenge.  World 1 was my first extended stay through 22 challenges.  I took a hiatus from NF and came back with a new direction for my goals where I warped to World 2, which I defeated in a Boss Fight slaying some mighty big goals. In World 3, I continue to develop my fitness, getting my body in the best shape of my life, even with the Degenerative Disc Disease, Arthritis, Disc Fissures, and more.  Through physical therapy exercises and karate, I have maintained my core and back muscles to ease the pressure off my spine, but in the end I defeated World 3 by transforming my life into a new form.  With chiropractic care healing my spine, reaching the high ranks at karate, blazing through the new Toastmasters education program called Pathways, and working to complete Novice rank at IJRS, World 4 was something new everyday.  I have moved over to the Monks to reach for more diversity in my workouts and culture as my focus has been more on my karate training in the recent months.  As I actively take on more responsibility of coaching, mentoring, and teaching in all aspects of my life, I can see a different me forming on World 5.

 

I just keep on L-I-V-I-N, fight the good fight lightin' it up, and level up my life! 

 

Challenge Lesson:  "This is the Way"  

 

Spoiler

 

I thought hard about doing a Rise of Skywalker quote.  I started writing about it and I just don't like anything they did.  It was a movie.  And things happened.  Fans should be happy that it had stuff they liked in it.  It was fun, at times.  It had creativity, at times.  Other times it was a rehash of other films.  It was suppose to be the conclusion of the Skywalker saga.  Luke and Anakin were not in the movie.  We did get a few lines from Force Ghost Luke.  As a conclusion to the Skywalker saga though, it sucked with none of the themes or storylines from any of the other movies.  Instead, it turned out to be a conclusion to the Palpaltine saga, and that should have already been concluded in Return of the Jedi, unless they were going to address stuff from the Prequel trilogy between Palpaltine and Anakin.  They did not.  Instead, everything with Palpaltine revolved around the two new characters: one a Skywalker descendant, the other a Palpaltine descendant.  Then, there is the stupid Sith dagger, Rey's stupid parents, the stupid Sith armada and super cannons, the stupid subplots with C3PO, Chewie, Hux, and Poe.  I'm just going to try to forget this movie. 

 

This is the way.

 

 

 

My Main Quest and Mission:

My mission is to be the best Jedi I can be. My main quest is always to enhance my overall health, fitness, and knowledge to be prepared for whatever challenges life could throw at me. As a Jedi, I need to be able to help people, whether that is a life threatening situation or just a charitable one. There is no boss level in Jedi training, there is only tomorrow.

 

I'm using Habitica and Excel to track a ton of things, so I may make some changes below to better integrate them, but I'm sticking to the basics drawn to 5 Weeks.

 

World 5 Level 4 Challenge:

FITNESS:

• Cardio: Speed and Stamina - 400 min total, 80 weekly.  Track time and distance. 

  STA +1
   

• Walking: Fortify the Spine - 1250 min total, 250 weekly. 
  CON +1
   

• Exercise: HIIT Lifting and Bodyweight - 400 min total, 80 weekly. 

  STR +1, STA +1
   

• Flexibility: Stretching and Physical Therapy - 700 min total, 140 weekly.  

  DEX +1
   

• Karate: Training and Practice - 1250 min total, 250 weekly.  Track progress towards belt.  Track improvement on all material. 
  DEX +1, STR +1
   

DIET:

• Lean Body - Track weight. Complete measurements before or during Week 1 and again during or after Week 5.  Looking to maintain 150 lbs or less while shrinking my waist and building muscle.
  CON +1
   
• Keep on cutting out the crap - No CheezIts, limit snacking at work, cut down portion sizes.  Drink more water.  Track fruit and veggies for 5 cups a day.
  CON +1

 

LIFE:

• Get Stuff Done - Complete 115 Hours of various Chores and Maintenance, with at least 23 hours each week.  Chores and Maintenance are the following areas (goal hours for challenge)
  • Dishes (16), Laundry (10), Cooking/Cleaning/Dusting/Vacuuming/Trash/Other (32), Yard Work (2), Animal Care (24), Home Renovation and Auto Maintenance (10)

          WIS +1, CHA +1
 

• Epic Quest - Complete something EPIC!  I want to be able to look back at my four week challenge and say, "that was the challenge I did X".  My challenges tend to be a lot of the same old.  I've given myself plenty to improve in small steps, but I also want to see big strides in the things I've been working on.  What box can I check?  What have I been procrastinating?  What am I focusing on?

          WIS +2, CHA +2

 

 

INCENTIVES!  Working hard for CASH!  ($866.10 carried over)
 

1. REWARD:  For each week in which I complete 25 or more hours of Chores and Maintenance, I will put aside $10 to spend how I see fit. 
   CONSEQUENCE:  For any week where I complete less than 23 hours, I will give up $10 of saved cash.
    
2. REWARD:  $5 for each Personal Project hour
   CONSEQUENCE : Lose $10 for each week without at least one hour for Personal Projects.
    
3. REWARD:  $5 for each HIIT workout.  For a healthy heart among other things, HIIT is recommended by my health coach.  I don't like them, but they are a necessary evil.
   CONSEQUENCE: Lose $5 for each week without a HIIT workout.
    
4. REWARD:  $5 for each day with weight below 154.0 lbs.
   CONSEQUENCE:  Lose $5 each day with weight above 156.0 lbs. 
    
5. REWARD: $5 for 1 Sprint/Run/Bike workout (minimum 10 reps/30 min/10 min), $10 for second, $20 for third and up. 
   CONSEQUENCE:  Lose $10 for each week without one of these workouts.

 

BONUSES: 

• $1 for each hour working on Jedi Training (mentoring, reading/writing, charity, meditation, IJRS lessons). 
• $2 for each hour working on Toastmasters including meetings.
• $2 for each Home Renovation or Auto Maintenance hour

 

PENALTIES:

• Lose $10 for eating pizza, candy, popcorn, CheezIts, pretzels, potato chips.
• Lose $10 for more than 6 Dr Peppers a week or more than 6 meals with cheese a week.
• Lose $10 for less than 5 cups of fruits and vegetables in a day.

[Defining]

Rewarding/penalising yourself with cash is an interesting strategy.... I'm intrigued now...

[Kishi]

This is the way.

 

And now I want to know if there were Mandalorian Jedi. I am intrigued...

[Kishi]

Also, apparently I can't edit to add that I made this comment before knowing that Mandalorian Jedi is a contradiction, since both are creeds.

 

Still, the concept of a Mandalorian Force User is an intriguing one, I think.

[JediNickD]

8 hours ago, Kishi said:

Also, apparently I can't edit to add that I made this comment before knowing that Mandalorian Jedi is a contradiction, since both are creeds.

 

Still, the concept of a Mandalorian Force User is an intriguing one, I think.

 

We will see what they do with "The Child", but I don't think his ears will fit in the helmet. 

 

Tuesday night karate class is a workout class essentially.  We test and condition muscles and the focus has been core recently.  We did an 8 minute ab blast, then a bunch of kick and hip twist exercises testing the core. 

 

I have been using Wednesday as a rest day keeping my workout simple, since I've been doing Karate on Saturday.  This week, my abs needed that rest.  Today, I did the ab blast workout again, as we were challenged to do it every other day.  I feel like I could cramp at any moment.  I thought the 5 min ab workout he gave us before Christmas was bad.  This is torture. 

[Kishi]

13 minutes ago, JediNickD said:

I have been using Wednesday as a rest day keeping my workout simple, since I've been doing Karate on Saturday.  This week, my abs needed that rest.  Today, I did the ab blast workout again, as we were challenged to do it every other day.  I feel like I could cramp at any moment.  I thought the 5 min ab workout he gave us before Christmas was bad.  This is torture. 

 

I've heard that brief and frequent and intense is a good strategy for abs. If you can endure, you may get good results!

[JediNickD]

Ok, more Rise of Skywalker ranting with spoilers:

 

Spoiler

SPOILERS but not heavy spoilers.

 

So, at first, I didn't like a lot of the choices and rolled my eyes at the film while watching it quite a few times.  It was fun and did some creative things.  But as a Star Wars movie, it fits in with the Prequels style more than the others better films.    As a Skywalker story conclusion, I feel it misses the mark, because Luke and Leia hardly impact the story, Anakin and Vader are only background material, and Ben Solo as a Skywalker is not really pushed forward.  

 

I feel it is actually a Palpaltine story conclusion, which should have ended in Return of the Jedi.  Maybe the 9 film saga is really a Sith story and the Rise of Skywalker is meant to be an end to the Sith.  I really think that when they developed the concept for Episodes 7-9, they had a roadmap for what they wanted to do in the three films with Han, Luke, Leia, Rey, Ben, and even Palpaltine.  You can see parts of the setup for the First Order and Palpaltine reveal in the Battlefront II solo game, Aftermath book series, and Rebels cartoon.  It appears that JJ Abrams added to the story Snoke, Finn, Poe, and BB-8, which were all hits.  Rian Johnson was given the task to keep to the original roadmap and utilize all these new popular characters in some fashion in The Last Jedi.  Then they let the criticism steer choices in the Rise of Skywalker and made attempts to undo some of the unpopular stuff from that film.  Carrie Fisher's untimely death hamstrung them for finishing her arc properly.  

 

Think about this: if Oscar Isaac is not cast as Poe creating this super charismatic character, then Poe probably dies in the Tie fighter crash in The Force Awakens.  Take him out of The Last Jedi and we have a different movie.  Instead of Finn's code breaker mission , maybe we get a story of Finn trying to run away again to protect or find Rey, but he learns to fight for what he loves (and discovers what he loves in the Resistance), because he is stuck with the Resistance people and Leia on the ship.  When he is confronts Captain Phasma, it feels earned instead of forced.  When he decides to sacrifice himself to save the Resistance but is thwarted, it feels right instead of forced (Rose almost killed both of them for nothing!).  Then in the Rise of Skywalker, instead of being mostly sidelined, Finn takes the place of Poe in the story, except in being a hot shot pilot (they could establish a new side character in The Last Jedi who can be that person, perhaps Snap Wexley or Tallissan Lintra or Zay Versio).   And Leia can pass on the rebellious leadership legacy to Finn.   And instead Leia's leadership torch passing to Poe, we get a Leia story in Last Jedi where she is grappling with the loss of Han, her son's dark side fall at the hands of Snoke, and Rey's attempt to "save" Ben Solo.  It is crazy none of that is covered.    At the end of The Last Jedi, Luke has passed the Jedi torch to Rey.  Then, Rise of Skywalker would be Leia passing the torch of the Skywalker legacy to Rey as it was intended.  Rey is the new hope for good versus evil and Finn is the new champion against authoritarian government in the series.  Two nobodies rising up to create their own legacies.  

 

Think about this: Luke's last line in The Last Jedi is "No. Strike me down in anger and I'll always be with you. Just like your father."  Han's Force ghost appearance is just a Force vision.  Han is not really there, but Luke could have come back as a Force ghost as well to resolve their clash and help Ben decide how to return to the light and make amends for all his wrongs, which is why he felt he could never return home or face Leia again.   Leia could have also appeared and given him her forgiveness.  Carrie Fisher's passing made it difficult and they did the best they could with it.  

 

Anyway, those are my thoughts about the film and series.  Feel free to comment on my thoughts or share your own.  

 

If you are confused about the Palpaltine story, then you will have to do some expanded universe research:

 

Urban Acolyte is a great channel on YouTube discussing Star Wars and Jedi philosophy.  He has a really great review for Rise of Skywalker breaking down the connections to all the other films and canon.  After watching the review, I feel a bit more comfortable with the film itself focusing on Palpaltine's return and hope the JJ Abrams 192 minute cut helps make those connections for people less spun up on the canon.  From what I read about the Abrams cut, it isn't likely, but I can hope for now.  

 

Anyway, check out the Spoiler Review video: 

 

Or the spoiler-free review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boUzHj0Rnxw

 

 

I still think they screwed up with the Rey backstory and stupid knife.  Bringing back Palpaltine and not addressing Anakin's possible origin at the hands of Palpaltine was their biggest mistake, though.  His death and the end of the Sith should have been tied to the beginning and end of the Skywalker story.  Oh well.

 

[Kishi]

Spoiler

I mean, honestly, I disliked IX to the point that I'm not really in the fandom anymore.

 

I would argue that the problems of the sequel trilogy are actually way more fundamental than any one decision that was made. If you look at the original and prequel trilogies, they have a structural commonality in that they have a structure in the first place. Each trilogy is trying to tell a single story, albeit split among three pieces. Even the prequels have this structure in place; the difference is that Lucas lost his editors between the original and prequel trilogies. The man may not be able to entertain, but he could at least write a damned synopsis.

 

For the sequel trilogy, though, there wasn't anything like that. There wasn't some grand strategy in place, not some meeting of writers to hash out a story that would be a fitting send off of the old and an ushering-in of the new. Instead, there was a directive: "Make it feel like Star Wars."

 

And that's an inexcusable lack of planning for Disney when you consider that their other big tentpole, the MCU, is planned out 4-6 years in advance. It's not like they don't know how to do this. The whole thing to me reads like they made a choice between putting work into telling a good story and putting work into capturing the aesthetic of a good story.

 

So they hire Abrams, who to his credit is a good flashy director. He can't finish what he starts, but he starts strong and they're looking to capture the feeling of Star Wars. It helps that he's a huge fan, and he wanted to capture that feeling. VII's a nostalgia trip as a result, but that was what we wanted at that time and it made sense. It's been argued to me by friends of mine that it doesn't hold up as well because it's not concerned with bridging the gap in time between the events of VI and VII, and it's entirely too concerned with trying to capture the feeling of a plucky band of underdogs versus an oppressive fascist empire to really make any sense in its setting. But you know what? That's okay, because Star Wars is a high fantasy set in space about space wizards for children, and I don't have to take it that seriously. It's not LOTR.

 

Now, come VIII, they decide to hire Johnson. Johnson is a very, very good director, but he's not a flash guy. He made his name writing and directing noir films like Brick and Looper. These were both outstanding pieces of work, but what they are not is high fantasy. He's the kind of guy who is preoccupied with fallout and consequences, and that's what we get out of VIII. Not only does he go out of his way to subvert every genre convention that Star Wars has got by on so far, but he grounds the series. It's no longer about a grand metaphysical swing between good and evil. It's about people caught up in systems of control that they've never bothered to question, systems which benefit a very very few at the cost of the untold many.

 

Sure, it's not a perfect film. Its tone is weird, its pace uneven, but I really respect what it was trying to do. I can think of some ways to accomplish its objectives that would have been more in line with the aesthetic, but again, this would have been based in the idea that there was a single story being told across three movies, and there wasn't.

 

And naturally, it was hated. Not by everyone, to be sure, but the vocal minority drove the silent majority in this case and they were loud and clear on how much like Star Wars this didn't feel.

 

So. What's Disney gonna do? They've kind of put themselves into a corner, Carrie Fisher's dead, and the fandom's lost its mind. They gotta finish this thing strong, but they don't have an end goal in mind. Their plan, remember was:

1. Make a Star War
2. ???
3. Profit!

And rather than respond to the pressure, they react. They panic and bring Abrams back. Abrams, the starter who cannot finish.

 

The result is this aggressively reactive film that is working super hard to walk back every single thing that VIII did. Rey's no longer some nobody that's strong in the Force for inscrutable reasons. No no, she's a Palpatine, because Lord knows if you're gonna be someone and make a difference in this universe, you gotta be someone special. Kylo Ren's no longer some Dark Lord forced to forge his own destiny. No no, he's back to being defined by his past and trying to live up to what he thought he was supposed to be. Rose is pretty much written out of the film (which to be fair, I wouldn't have wrote her in in the first place. We had a shellshocked war victim for VIII already in Finn, and he could have been part of Poe's arc in VIII where the flyboy learns that there are consequences to his actions). Poe is back to relying on cinematic conventions and plot armor to get things done.

 

And it's a hideous rush to the finish. Abrams is trying to tie together a bunch of plot threads that frankly should never have come undone and it shows. He's so afraid of consequences and progression and he's stuck in this untenable position where he has to end the story and get right back to where it started and make it feel like we actually went somewhere.

 

But you wanna know what the worst part about all this is? It's that in order to make sense of this mess, I have to buy more media. I have to buy books and services and video games and spend time I don't have on extra shows because Disney has essentially found a way to monetize their mistakes. They know now that they can drop a half-finished product out there and we'll just eat that shit up, and they'll release "patches" and "DLC" to the material later to show how, really, there was a plan, guys.

 

And we eat that up too, never realizing that the plan wasn't to tell a story. It was to make money.

 

It's probably absurd for me to care so much, but. Star Wars was part of my childhood. It's honestly the first film I remember watching. It was something me and my dad bonded over and it was really formative for me.

 

But I can't stand what it's become. It's nothing more than an attempt go cash in on my nostalgia while appealing to the lowest common denominator, and I don't owe it to me or to them to play that game.

 

That's just me, though.

 

[JediNickD]

155.6 lbs

 

Racquetball games were fun and competitive.  We had to cut it short in the third game to let another group use the court.  I used the rest of my workout time on the 8 min ab blast and some bob-and-weave drills.  I'm pretty uncoordinated in those drills, but I'll get better with practice.  In spar, I have improved my footwork to avoid getting hit.  I've improved my ability to predict and block when needed.  With both those, I am working on my speed countering after the maneuver.  After I get the hang of the bob-and-weave, I'll do the same with countering. 

 

Saturday will be a karate and Toastmasters day.  I'm going to have a few projects as well.  Auto maintenance and taking down Christmas lights are a must.  I have a loft bed stored in the garage which we want to setup in my oldest daughters room.  I will need to get it out and clean it up, then move it in the house.  We may need to shorten the legs to fit better in the room.

[JediNickD]

154.6 lbs 

 

Busy weekend.  Oil changed, air filters changed, lights down, and the loft bed is up.  We got the loft bed completed Sunday night.  After I got it out of the garage, I realized cleaning was going to take longer than I anticipated and decided to skip karate.  The cleaning went well, but the hardware was a bugger.  We searched forever to find the zip-lock bag of hardware which we kept stored for the same 9 years as the loft bed stored in the garage.  We gave up Saturday night and decided to buy new hardware on Sunday.  Lowes didn't have what I needed so I had to improvise.  I ended up buying lag screws that were too long, because the bins were mixed and I wasn't paying close enough attention.  We realized the mistake at 6pm as we were finishing the frame construction in the bedroom.  Tired, we decided to make one last look for the hardware before going back to the store.  In a random bin, on the opposite side of the basement from my work bench and hardware storage, my wife amazingly found the hardware.  I almost danced out of my shoes.  We finished around 7:30pm and were exhausted.  I lied in bed watching the football game zoning out.  My hands are just wrecked from wrenching things and cleaning things all weekend.  I hadn't worn my compression gloves since September, but they are on today.  Hopefully, I can go easy on typing.

 

[Kishi]

Loft beds are cool. I'm sorry to hear it was such a headache (hand-ache?) but it sounds very satisfying to have completed.

[JediNickD]

My daughter is pretty excited about the extra space.  I'm excited to put it to use, since my dad built it while I was in middle school almost 17 years ago. 

[DarK_RaideR]

On 1/9/2020 at 6:28 AM, Kishi said:

Also, apparently I can't edit to add that I made this comment before knowing that Mandalorian Jedi is a contradiction, since both are creeds.

 

Still, the concept of a Mandalorian Force User is an intriguing one, I think.

This is actually an interesting concept some friends of mine explored a while back in a Star Wars tabletop RPG campaign. Actually, the group's Mandalorian was impressed by witnessing the powers of his force using companions, so he figured he might be missing out on some sort of powerful weapon or tool in his quest to be the best warrior he can be. Not that the crossover was actually ever done, but it was fun seeing him try and meditate to imitate what he was seeing.

 

Also, hi JND!

[JediNickD]

154.8 lbs

 

My abs are burning and my legs are jelly.  My arms aren't fairing much better.  Last night's karate class featured an 8 min core blast followed by a 10 min cardio workout featuring a variety of squat thrusts.  Exhausting, but also amazing.  Recovery was needed.  I did the hot tub this morning after getting up a little later.  My heart rate is still feels elevated.  Of course, like the others, I wrote it down so I can work on it outside of class.  Though, I definitely enjoy these exercises more in a group, pushing each other to go further. 

 

Tomorrow morning, there is an MLK 5k, but I don't think I'm going to run.  It starts at 7am, which would make me an hour late to work.  The weather is suppose to suck, too.  My plan since the summer was to run in as many 5k runs as I could.  They do them almost monthly here, and most a free to raise awareness for a cause.  I might change my mind to keep to this goal.  I know I can put out a good performance, even though I haven't run since early December.  If I don't run, then I'll probably squat thrust. 

 

As for MLK, I am doing an invocation for the Toastmasters meetings this week:

 

Martin Luther King Jr., born January 15, 1929, will have his life and work celebrated this week and over the weekend through the Day of Observance on Monday, which is a federal holiday.  Most famous of his work is the “I Have a Dream” speech. 

"I Have a Dream" is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, in which he called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the speech was a defining moment of the civil rights movement and among the most iconic speeches in American history.

Dr. King had been preaching about dreams since 1960, when he gave a speech to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called "The Negro and the American Dream". This speech discusses the gap between the American dream and reality, saying that overt white supremacists have violated the dream, and that "our federal government has also scarred the dream through its apathy and hypocrisy, its betrayal of the cause of justice".  Over time, Dr. King gave many speeches talking about a dream, which evolved into the “I have a Dream” speech given in Washington. 

Widely hailed as a masterpiece of rhetoric, Dr. King's speech invokes pivotal documents in American history, including the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the United States Constitution. Early in his speech, Dr. King alludes to Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address by saying "Five score years ago ..." In reference to the abolition of slavery articulated in the Emancipation Proclamation, Dr. King says: "It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity."

Even today, 57 years after the delivery of the “I Have a Dream” speech, the American dream is an exclusive dream with minority groups still fighting for equality in our country.  The march is not over until the American dream is inclusive for every American.  Keep the Dream in your hearts and minds this day and always.

 

 

 

 

[Kishi]

Well, not knowing all the factors that feed into this, I wouldn't be comfortable telling you one way or the other whether you should run the 5K. That being said, I'm not a big believer in the idea of work coming before life, and the 5K definitely sounds like a life thing. FWIW.

[JediNickD]

I didn't run.  My leg muscles are still cramp-y from Tuesday.  Sleep has been bad, and I'm waking up late to go along with it.  I'm not happy about missing the run, but I need to take it slow and avoid a set back.  I can run next week on my own.  Focus on what is now and next, not what has passed.

[JediNickD]

Trampoline Park last night.  Racquetball this morning.  My legs are dead-er. 

 

Toastmasters training tomorrow.  Should be pretty encouraging, motivating, and educational.

 

Helped my middle school daughter learn about eastern religions and philosophy.  It was fun.  I have pretty good knowledge of Daoism and Buddism, but didn't know much about Confucianism.  Now, I know.  And knowing is half the battle.  GI JOE!

[JediNickD]

Just in case anyone was wondering:

 

Confucianism is about being in harmony with your community.

Buddhism is about being in harmony with everything.

Daoism is about not screwing up harmony of nature and allowing harmony to happen.

[JediNickD]

I caught the flu on Saturday.  Recovering slowly, but I'm back at work for a half day.  Sucks.

[Kishi]

Yikes. Take your time, man. No rush to get back to doing all the things.

[JediNickD]

158.8 lbs 

 

A few pounds from sitting on my butt for two days trying to get better.  No workout this morning either as I need my energy for my first full day of work, which is a super important day.  I have training on new equipment this morning, so i need my brain ready to learn, then I have my first face-to-face hiring interview where I am the project lead.  It'll be a 9 hour day when I get done.  Hopefully, I have the energy to get to karate tonight.  If not, then I will get an easy workout tomorrow morning.  I might have a to skip racquetball on Friday.

[JediNickD]

Sleep is at a premium with this cough.  I may taken another morning off, but I need to get to karate tonight.  I'll probably try to nap when I get home to be ready for karate call at 8:30.  If I miss tonight, then I would have missed the whole week and spar class on Saturday would be rough.  I'm going to have to make a tough call on racquetball tonight.  The right move again is to sleep in, but I need to get some activity in. 

[Kishi]

I know what you mean about wanting to get activity in while having a cough, but nobody likes a disease vector on the mats. A rough class sucks, but if you go tonight and exacerbate things, you may not get to spar at all on Saturday.

 

It's your call to make, but FWIW as someone who's had to take time off from training before, it's really not that big a deal. The conditioning will come back quick, especially if you ease back into it with long walks and maybe some yoga to get the joints moving again.

[JediNickD]

156.6 lbs

 

I helped with a karate class last night, but didn't have the energy for black belt class.  I woke early enough for racquetball so I went.  Racquetball was fun and helped clear my throat.  The body is finally back.  I just need to kick the cough. 

 

Tonight and tomorrow, we are hosting games at the house.  Should be a fun weekend! 

[JediNickD]

My Lesson for this round didn't really teach or inspire much, but the theme "This is the Way" from The Mandalorian speaks for itself.  I just decided to move on and look at things I'm passionate about.  If something doesn't strike a cord, then find something that does.  I'm not planning to waste any more of my Earthly time debating the pros and cons of something I didn't feel great about.  I feel anyone putting their efforts into tearing TROS apart is just wasting their time.  I'm passionate about Star Wars and Jedi, but I'm not going to let the sequel trilogy and lackluster continuity of the films pull me away from the good parts of the Star Wars universe.  Instead, I'll watch and re-watch The Mandalorian to pull lessons from.  Mando's actions protecting The Child are noble and just, most the time, at least.  He does the right thing, because it is the right thing, risking everything he has.  This is the Way.