Not quite newbie

[dakaodo]

Hi, all.

I've followed Nerd Fitness off and on since Nov, and am enjoying an uncommonly slow day at the office to sound off. I've already commented on a bunch of Steve's excellent blog entries. I love the natural training approach with body weight and free weights, the paleo diet, and the self-responsibility theme in this community.

The Vikings said: Every man has his Wyrd; all that remains is how he goes to meet it. Considering how they loved to live, love, eat, party, fight, and build, I take this saying to mean that you shouldn't worry about what's out of your control. Instead, do your utmost with what you have. That should resonate well in this audience, I think.

My intro:

I'm 32, 6', 177, and probably sufficiently bad-ass to have my nerd membership revoked.

Who I was:

I love Neil Gaiman, Neal Stephenson, and Neil Diamond -- wait, scratch that last one (Jared Diamond's pretty cool though). I'm deeply into GURPS, Warhammer 40k, Battletech (back when FASA was still a going concern), and Car Wars. I rocked older shooters (Quake 3 Team Arena, etc.), and still enjoy RTS campaigns for the storyline (Dawn of War 2 and Company of Heroes are my favorites).

But I no longer actively play any games these days. I got Fallout 3 for half-price 11 months ago, and have still only played it for 6 hrs total.

That's when I realized that I've undergone a paradigm shift, a metamorphosis from geek to jock.

Who I am:

I fence, train, condition, and teach German longsword, sword and buckler, and Italian rapier by turns. 6 hours a week.

I train and run parkour also 6 hours a week. No freerunning, b/c my knees are a little too old for that.

I gave up blacksmithing and armoring (focused on 15th century Milanese Gothic export plate and 16th century English / Elizabethan era plate) because it wasn't sufficiently manly.

I've made my own sword and knife.

I've operated black powder weapons just enough to be completely flummoxed as to how those old dudes could load and fire one in 30 seconds.

I've been fortunate to train with many excellent martial artist friends. I have no belt and little form training, but have a working grasp of momentum and force -- the physics behind the art. 9 years in: kung fu (northern Mantis, Shaolin, Hung Gar, martial taiji, baguazhang, xing yi), capoeira, muay thai, aikido, juggling (contact as well as basic 3-ball), tango, swing, and modern dance (contact improvisation). I know very little, but I can easily dump people on their asses with what I know.

...And all this started in 2000 when I got stood up for a GURPS session by my friends one January weekend. I Googled "swordsmanship", soon learned I needed to make my own gear, then learned that other arts could teach me leverage, timing, etc.

I've learned a lot, have much that I hope to share, and still am learning every week about better biomechanics, nutrition, mental/emotional health, and now life/time management.

I used to be a 155-lb skinny kid who put on 30 lbs in college, got up to 195, came back down to 160 from work stress, and now I'm happy but not content with my lean 177. I used to want to look better and more fit, yeah, to maybe one day find a girlfriend. But ever since I got fit, my biggest concern has been to increase my functional strength and coordination so that I can expand my performance profile in parkour and longsword.

I want to be the go-to guy, the melee tank, when Z-day comes. Guns are fine for zombie sniping, but swords (and cricket bats) never run out of bullets.

I'm still learning though, and I have two fairly immediate issues:

The lesser concerns my left shoulder. If I raise the elbow anywhere in the range above my shoulder, it twinges. I've tried to stay off it, but 1 week out of three I inevitably do something (shoulder-focused or not) that re-tweaks it. I was told it's a rotator cuff issue by a personal trainer / martial arts instructor friend. Then I was told that the rotator cuff is a catchall used to describe any number of smaller muscle / connector / joint interactions and issues.

What can I do, what should I do, and which professional should I go to to resolve this? Physical therapist? Sports medicine? I've never been to anyone professional for sports-related stuff and don't know where to start.

In the meantime, I'm restricting my arm activities and range of motion within those activities. 5-6 easy pull-ups, nothing explosive. Ditto for push-ups. No more than 1-2 sets per session. Those are the things that cause the most discomfort the day after.

The larger issue is time management. In response to:

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2010/03 ... e/?success

Oh man.. I've been seeing this in myself for years now, and it's been highlighted these past 2 months (at least that I've noticed).

Like the commentor Tara, I work way too much. My 8-5 day job only gets what it deserves. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. But I study and deal with finance / tax stuff for my parents and myself -- retirement, investment, real estate, etc. Total, probably 60-65 hrs / week.

And I co-teach European martial arts 2-4 times a week. And I train / teach parkour twice a week.

By my own estimates and comment on one of NF's blog entries about the paleo diet, I probably have 10 waking hours a week left uncommitted. These are usually dead time between work and A) my workouts, or meeting up with my GF. I destress with about 30 mins of e-mail or casual computer games, then I'm off again.

So I guess my kryptonite is time mgmt with regards to emotional health. My GF is loving, understanding, and I want to do right by her (and me). What's healthy for a relationship? 5-15 hrs a week? I'm learning the virtue of quality of time spent together. I *know* I need to reduce my commitments, and I just said no to my parents (for once..?) for time this weekend. But that's long-term work. In the short term (the next month or so), what are little mental / schedule tips I can use to make sure that the time I spend is time well spent?

I try to do a 2-5 minute breathing and emptying of the mind crash meditation before I walk in the door. It works somewhat well when I remember to do it.

This may all be TMI with total strangers, but it's somehow easier than bringing it up in a ring of my casual friends. Plus you guys seem pretty level-headed.

So thoughts and suggestions are welcome. I'll hold no assumptions b/c I'm stuck deep in it and could use an outsider's viewpoint.

Cheers!

[Anne]

Yaay, Dakao! It's gonna be nice to actually meet you at the beginner's workshop this weekend, man!

[Istra]

TMI? Not for those of us inclined to be intensely curious about EVERYTHING. :3

Not to mention my name. XD

Glad tae' have ye' aboard!

[jacobmovingfwd]

Short Term, I'd say figure out how to get some evening time free. appropriate GF time is dependent on how long the relationship is been. Talk to her about it? Don't phrase it as "I'm really busy, can we cut back on 'us' time"; figure out how much time she can/wants to spend with you, and go with that.

Long term, that's a lot of time to be spending on finances... I'm sure you're helping them by saving money as much as anything, but it'd probly be a good idea to find someone else to help them with that. Check out Dave Ramsey's Endorsed Local Providers, and talk to the person first, both to compare their knowledge against yours and to check prices. Depending on your personal finance situation, maybe you can help them pay for the service.

In terms of hobbies, I try and stick with 1 or 2 at a time - my problem is investing in tools/equipment while figuring out which one I want to do. I know you said all your stuff seems to be tied together, but maybe decide "I'm going to spend X hours a week on everything sword based, and Y hours on parkour/martial arts" or something like that.

Or just having Monday be "crafting day", Tuesday "parkour" day, etc. That way, if it takes 2 hours to have parkour class, you have the rest of the evening for GF/chill time. That's why I workout 2x a week, and do my projects the other 3. Weekends are for longer stretches of projects, or runs, or social stuff.

And you're still a nerd, no worries Just a different kind. I looked into blacksmithing, it seems pretty cool; I promised myself I'd finish my woodworking stuff before I moved on...