Tsune of RisenPhoenix

[Mistr]

On 4/11/2018 at 7:40 AM, RisenPhoenix said:

I got the November Project Positivity Award this morning.

 

Congratulations!

 

Glad to hear you are getting out to seminars and broadening your aikido. Regardless of how awesome your senseis are, you will learn a lot by training with people from other dojos.

[RisenPhoenix]

Somehow, while this has been a short work week, it feels like it's been a fucking eternity.  Mostly because my mental health is taking a hit over a whole bunch of shit.  Which is super timing, since I was actually pretty destressed after taking a 4 Day weekend.  But it means that, accordingly, my eating has been less-than-ideal.  

 

The upswing to this is that I weighed and measured myself this morning to assess the 'damage' (which took the form last night of a pint of Ben and Jerry's that I literally put on real pants and walked to the store for - so I really wanted it) of the past few days and..... Welp, I'm still 210, and my gut measurement was a hair above 35.5".  So maybe everything is just being treated as a refeed week for my body.  Sure.  I'll go with that.

 

Last Saturday was a seminar at Harvard, taught by one of my mentors.  I enjoyed it, but it was too short by far.  I might be grumpy a bit because while I love her, essentially the seminar was what she taught on class the Tuesday prior, so I just got a double dose of it.  I did get to play with some people I don't ever see, which was nice, and get a few nice tips.  So it's not all lost.  Also got to learn some of Kanai-sensei's tachitori kata, which I really need to learn and write down.  But a few hours on the mat Saturday, followed by a party with people who I love, so that was great.  

 

Sunday was one or two hours of aikido, Monday I skipped for rain and holiday relaxation.  Two hours on Tuesday, where my hip flexor started getting mad at me and my suspicions that my aikido is being inhibited by my shoddy ankle mobility were semi-confirmed.  Wednesday was the Stadium, where I did 40 sections a hair after they called time (which was still about 40-45 minutes worth for me, since I was the second to last heat to go).  Last night I did one hour of aikido, because my hip was suuuuuper angry.  

 

Tonight I think I need rest and a lot of foam rolling.  I tried stretching during/after class last night, but it seems to no avail.  I want to go to class tonight, but wisdom should probably prevail.... stupid wisdom and listening to my body.

 

Saturday I'm up in the air about going to class, especially if my hip is still dumb.  On top of that I have a wedding I'm going to that night in central MA.  So if I DO go to class it'll be class -> Drive to central MA hotel -> Clean up -> Wedding until however long it takes.

 

Sunday is another resting day, simply because I'm likely to be hungover, plus driving back for class would require leaving at like 8am.  Newp.  Not happening.  I clearly need more rest happening in my life, anyway.

[Mistr]

Ouch! Sorry about your hip being angry. Those can take several weeks to calm down. Taking time off for mobility work and recovery sounds like exactly what you need.

 

Sounds like your mentor was trying out material for the seminar in your class. One of my instructors is teaching a koshinage seminar in May. He has been going through techniques after his regular class. I understand how you might be disappointed if you learned how to do the moves perfectly on Tuesday.   Me, I'm happy to get a second chance at the techniques I'm working to polish.

[RisenPhoenix]

3 hours ago, Mistr said:

Ouch! Sorry about your hip being angry. Those can take several weeks to calm down. Taking time off for mobility work and recovery sounds like exactly what you need.

 

I dislike being responsible with my body and missing mat time.  But it seems I've gotten better at doing so.  That, and I need to be in top shape come NEXT Friday, when I'm taking falls for someone testing for shodan. >.> <.<

 

3 hours ago, Mistr said:

Sounds like your mentor was trying out material for the seminar in your class. One of my instructors is teaching a koshinage seminar in May. He has been going through techniques after his regular class. I understand how you might be disappointed if you learned how to do the moves perfectly on Tuesday.   Me, I'm happy to get a second chance at the techniques I'm working to polish.

 

Oh, she was most definitely trying things out for the seminar, since I was her major uke for the day.

 

I was less disappointed that it was similar to her normal classes, and more disappointed that there wasn't a lot of Sioux-based classic techniques.  Like, they were there.  But it was a seminar as a memorial to her - I was expecting less a longer-but-typical Tuesday class and more of the odd ball things Sioux was known for.  So it was a bit sad, because I wasn't exposed to those things as much when I had started, and the stuff I WAS exposed to I was not experienced enough to really grasp what had to move and how.  In comparison, my grading partner was teaching last night and showed a classic Sioux move.  And once I realized it was something of hers, where and how my hips were supposed to move about clicked in my brain.  Couldn't do it for the life of me, but I understood.  And *that* was the stuff I was expecting at the seminar.  *shrug* Dunno.  Probably need to pester people more for Sioux things at this point, anyway.  Could be fun shodan exam techniques.

[Teirin]

How is your hip doing?

[RisenPhoenix]

38 minutes ago, Teirin said:

How is your hip doing?

 

Ehhhhh.... Okay.  I went to the dojo a bit early yesterday to use a foam roller we have/I keep there.  Definitely helped, but I should probably be a bit more ginger with it, which is not going to happen this week, I think.  Also my thumb injury from a MONTH ago is flaring up for some reason, so that sucks.  Going the All-the-Ice-and-Naproxen route this week.  If that doesn't help, I'll try scheduling an appointment with my doctor to see what else I should do or if it needs a bit more serious looking-at.  For now, I need just semi-reasonable selfcare, since I'm helping a friend test for shodan on Friday.  Sooooo.... I need to be spry, moderately intact, and capable of taking pretty hard falls.  Hence the ice-and-drugs, and I'll keep the thumb braced, and I'm probably going to skip Stairs tomorrow to do a bit of stretching and foam rolling in my dining room instead to keep the hip happy.  Ish.

 

Anywho.  Saturday I went to one aikido class, because I allowed myself to sleep and ended up waking up at 9:30.  Didn't want to rush to class, so I just relaxed.  That night was a friend's wedding, so I didn't want to get all stressed trying to make class and then get to the hotel on time.  I made the right call.  That said, the wedding was amazing and probably the funniest wedding I've ever attended, because the officiant was a friend who had a great time with the ceremony.  Good food, good friends, good booze.  It was great.

 

Yesterday I went to the dojo after class, but that was it.  Today I'll do at least one class.  Wednesday I'll take off, and Thursday I'm going to train with the friend who's testing.  Friday is just the test, so I'll end up doing more falls and what not for that.  And then Saturday at least two hours on the mat.

 

In not-fitness news, but Nerd news, I also managed to snag a ticket for Infinity War on Sunday afternoon.  Which means I won't need to avoid the internet for a week, just three days!  Huzzah!  Matinee, which means I can relax after the movie, too.  I'm just still amazed I managed to get a ticket, opening weekend, in a really solid seat.  A pleasant way to being/end the week, I think.

[Kishi]

Nice! I got a daytime showing myself on Saturday for Infinity War. It'll be good to be able to compare notes afterward.

[RisenPhoenix]

Hokay, so.

 

Wednesday I skipped Stairs, and spent a good 20 minutes stretching and foam rolling, which I semi-repeated when I got home that night.  Thursday morning I woke up at the same time and did the same routine.

 

Thursday after work I went and helped my friend train for like 2.5 hours.  Nothing totally crazy, but I was taking ukemi for pretty much a solid hour and a half.  So I worked up a decent sweat even though we were going light.  Over all it was a good bit of fun.  The foam rolling definitely helped, since my hip wasn't as cranky, but I did still feel some of it being grumpy.  So I woke up and foam rolled a bit more this morning.  At the very least I should be able to survive tonight's free practice class and the exam itself.

 

More interesting in my brain as of late is the fact that my body just can't seem to figure out what the hell it wants me to ingest.  I'm starving, even when not in a big deficit.  Metabolically I'm getting a few signals that my body is happy.  My body composition/bloating/weight is just all over the goddamn place.  I seriously have no idea what to do, beyond a Scorched Earth plan of something crazy like a whole 30.  And I dislike that idea, because something that restrictive also craps on my ability to be social.  And right now I'm actively trying to be less antisocial for a slew of reasons.

 

It's just kind of infuriating that I'm lacking some good thoughts and ideas right now.  It seems that I always have better advice for others than myself...

[Kishi]

1 hour ago, RisenPhoenix said:

More interesting in my brain as of late is the fact that my body just can't seem to figure out what the hell it wants me to ingest.  I'm starving, even when not in a big deficit.  Metabolically I'm getting a few signals that my body is happy.  My body composition/bloating/weight is just all over the goddamn place.  I seriously have no idea what to do, beyond a Scorched Earth plan of something crazy like a whole 30.  And I dislike that idea, because something that restrictive also craps on my ability to be social.  And right now I'm actively trying to be less antisocial for a slew of reasons.

 

Well, maybe the best plan right now is no plan at all. Bodies are weird, and it could be that your body is just getting used to where you are. It may have been that way for a while, but for all you know you have a bunch of changes going on under the hood that you can't account for, and there's no telling whether or not you're close to a major break or not.

 

My advice would be to take your mind off the diet for a bit and just focus on the training. Give it maybe a month or two. Then, if you're still feeling like you want to cut or bulk or what have you, you can assess where you are, what you're doing, and what you want/need to change to get there.

[RisenPhoenix]

18 minutes ago, Kishi said:

 

Well, maybe the best plan right now is no plan at all. Bodies are weird, and it could be that your body is just getting used to where you are. It may have been that way for a while, but for all you know you have a bunch of changes going on under the hood that you can't account for, and there's no telling whether or not you're close to a major break or not.

 

My advice would be to take your mind off the diet for a bit and just focus on the training. Give it maybe a month or two. Then, if you're still feeling like you want to cut or bulk or what have you, you can assess where you are, what you're doing, and what you want/need to change to get there.

 

Pretty much what I was thinking, but it's annoying given how close I am to what historically has been my "feel good about self" place.  But yea, I think I'm better off ditching counting, focusing on eating well, and training like mad.  That's the plan, at least...

 

I also imagine my random injuries have made my body go "Oh hey, need more energy, dude" and I'm reacting to that.  Dunno.  I'll figure something out.

[Teirin]

Pretty feasible.  It takes resources to heal.

[RisenPhoenix]

Hokay, so.

 

Friday was great. Left work, got to the dojo where the tests were happening, and got on the mat for the first hour to do the pre-test free practice.  Holy crowded mat, batman.  First of all, something like 16 people were testing, as it was a joint testing between Harvard's people (my friend falls under this one) and the hosting dojo.  On top of all the people who were testing (and their ukes!), there was the "We're here to support you" crowd, which I was really happy to see was equally large.  The hosting dojo is going through a rough patch with a lot of missing students, so seeing so many people show up was nice.  I also got to see a few faces I haven't seen in a long while, including one who was training at my dojo while he was prepping for his shodan at this place.  He said if I ever see him on the teaching schedule there on Sunday mornings, that I'm free to show up and train without paying the mat fee.  So that's awesome because 1) the mat fee is stupid expensive and 2) hopefully if I start doing that I can help heal some of the animosity/distrust/seriously-people-we-study-an-art-literally-called-the-way-of-harmonizing-energy-and-why-don't-you-seem-to-get-that between the dojos. *ahem*

 

The exams were a long event.  Several 6th kyus and 5th kyus, four 4th kyus, pair of third kyus, and a second kyu all went before the shodan exam.  It was almost 2 hours before THAT exam started, which meant I was coooooold, even with all the stretching I was doing.  Initially the exam was supposed to be my friend dealing with just me and another friend of ours, but some confusion led to a THIRD uke standing up to join us - so my friend had three attackers.  Because the exams were running so late, and exams are supposed to stress you out, our instructor pretty much kept us at a breakneck pace.  And it was AWESOME.  The fastest shodan exam I've seen - it took 12 minutes.  His randori at the end - which was supposed to be 4 people - was actually 6 or 7 people.  Equally awesome.  And I do feel a bit of pride that me and the other initially uke were the only non-hakama-wearing people in that randori.  So that wrapped two hours of exams, and we all then went out to the pub next door for burgers and beer.  Stayed a bit later than I had expected, but it was well worth it.

 

Saturday and Sunday I did 2 classes each, and felt relatively solid about it.  I've been feeling just off with my aikido lately, with nothing really feeling right.  And this weekend a bit of that seems to have evaporated.  It was a boost in confidence I think I needed, and I think part of it was spurred by taking solid ukemi for the exam on Friday.  I have a lot I want to keep working on, but it just felt more solid.  Also, on Saturday one of the Harvard students came to our dojo to try us out.  Harvard's club doesn't hold classes over the summer, so people who stick in the area we try to get them to train somewhere, with a bit of help.  She came, and played, and it was great.  I've seen her at Harvard a bunch, but we haven't really worked together because most of the time I was working with my friend for his shodan prep.  So that was a blast.

 

On the Nerdier side, I finished class on Sunday and went to see Infinity War.  I have thoughts, behind the spoiler.

 

Spoiler

So I liked the movie, but part of me felt it was a little... contrived?  Like, not a whole bunch of overly shocking story developments with maybe two exceptions.

 

I DID really like the character interactions.  I do think they nailed balancing that many characters in the plot, and not making any of them seem like just scenery, rather than characters with a purpose.  The visuals were amazing, Thanos was amazing, and when triumphant things happened I was thrilled.

 

But the ENDING I feel they kind of wobbled a bit.  The idea of permanent death is tricky with comics.  The three very obvious deaths I was kind of shocked/impressed with.  But the ending ones I just feel like are going to get handwaved away in the next movie - because all of the NEW characters are the ones that "died," and so I felt like the stakes are kind of not important.  Because there ISN'T a void of me wondering if they'll survive.  They will - they are the Phase 4 characters for the most part.  So yea.  Beyond a "Oh shit" I wasn't feeling the threat, even though the threat was in fact massive.  I know they'll all get rescued.  So that was a bit of a let down.

 

I mean, pretty movie, wraps a whole bunch of things over the last decade together, and definitely really fun interactions.  So props to Marvel for doing REALLY well with it - that is an incredible feat.  Will I watch it again?  Probably.  But it'll be a home release, rather than an additional theatre viewing.

 

And yea.  So this week is slightly crazy, since I'm away next week for Company's knee surgery.  Yippie.  Things should calm down when I'm back.

[Mistr]

On 4/27/2018 at 10:00 AM, RisenPhoenix said:

More interesting in my brain as of late is the fact that my body just can't seem to figure out what the hell it wants me to ingest.  I'm starving, even when not in a big deficit.  Metabolically I'm getting a few signals that my body is happy.  My body composition/bloating/weight is just all over the goddamn place.  I seriously have no idea what to do, beyond a Scorched Earth plan of something crazy like a whole 30.  And I dislike that idea, because something that restrictive also craps on my ability to be social.  And right now I'm actively trying to be less antisocial for a slew of reasons.

 

Hmmm. Your mention of bloating suggests that you might be having some kind of reaction to something you're eating. I'm reminded of @Urgan's experiments over the last year in which foods contribute to migraines and GI distress. Probably not severe, like @chemgeek suddenly discovering a peanut allergy. More of a sneaky dietary change, like losing tolerance for lactose as you age. The classic wisdom is to keep a food log. Note when you feel bloated or otherwise unhappy, and see what you ate in the previous 24 hours.

 

2 hours ago, RisenPhoenix said:

I also got to see a few faces I haven't seen in a long while, including one who was training at my dojo while he was prepping for his shodan at this place.  He said if I ever see him on the teaching schedule there on Sunday mornings, that I'm free to show up and train without paying the mat fee.  So that's awesome because 1) the mat fee is stupid expensive and 2) hopefully if I start doing that I can help heal some of the animosity/distrust/seriously-people-we-study-an-art-literally-called-the-way-of-harmonizing-energy-and-why-don't-you-seem-to-get-that between the dojos. *ahem*

^^^^^^^^^This

 

2 hours ago, RisenPhoenix said:

 Because the exams were running so late, and exams are supposed to stress you out, our instructor pretty much kept us at a breakneck pace.  And it was AWESOME.  The fastest shodan exam I've seen - it took 12 minutes.  His randori at the end - which was supposed to be 4 people - was actually 6 or 7 people.  Equally awesome.  And I do feel a bit of pride that me and the other initially uke were the only non-hakama-wearing people in that randori.  So that wrapped two hours of exams, and we all then went out to the pub next door for burgers and beer.  Stayed a bit later than I had expected, but it was well worth it.

 

Saturday and Sunday I did 2 classes each, and felt relatively solid about it.  I've been feeling just off with my aikido lately, with nothing really feeling right.  And this weekend a bit of that seems to have evaporated.  It was a boost in confidence I think I needed, and I think part of it was spurred by taking solid ukemi for the exam on Friday.  I have a lot I want to keep working on, but it just felt more solid. 

 

  Hide contents

 

 

Yay for having a great time at your friend's shodan exam and for feeling better about your aikido. I've had stretches like that, where things just didn't click. One of my teachers described progress in martial arts as plateaus and hills. You are still learning things even when you feel stuck on a plateau. Then it looks like you suddenly go up a level when your body and brain get back together a couple months later.

[Urgan]

On 4/27/2018 at 10:00 AM, RisenPhoenix said:

More interesting in my brain as of late is the fact that my body just can't seem to figure out what the hell it wants me to ingest.  I'm starving, even when not in a big deficit.  Metabolically I'm getting a few signals that my body is happy.  My body composition/bloating/weight is just all over the goddamn place.  I seriously have no idea what to do, beyond a Scorched Earth plan of something crazy like a whole 30.  And I dislike that idea, because something that restrictive also craps on my ability to be social.  And right now I'm actively trying to be less antisocial for a slew of reasons.

 

On 4/27/2018 at 12:26 PM, RisenPhoenix said:

Pretty much what I was thinking, but it's annoying given how close I am to what historically has been my "feel good about self" place.  But yea, I think I'm better off ditching counting, focusing on eating well, and training like mad.  That's the plan, at least...

 

I also imagine my random injuries have made my body go "Oh hey, need more energy, dude" and I'm reacting to that.  Dunno.  I'll figure something out.

 

This suggests you've been tracking macros and have been eating at what has been maintenance level? If so, then it sounds like every so often--every couple days (constant exposure would mean constant bloating)?--you are exposing yourself to something your body doesn't love. It may be a real nuisance to start trying to experiment with removing things in light of trying to be flexible for the socialing. I totally get it. The trade-off is how much better you will feel when you finally find the culprit. My vote is to first try @Mistr's suggestion to eliminate from your current diet vs the Whole 30 approach of cutting down to a small list of approved food then re-introducing. Obviously it's easier to do this if you have a narrower menu and/or a pre-established list of serious suspects.

 

2 hours ago, RisenPhoenix said:

Friday was great. Left work, got to the dojo where the tests were happening, and got on the mat for the first hour to do the pre-test free practice.  Holy crowded mat, batman.  First of all, something like 16 people were testing, as it was a joint testing between Harvard's people (my friend falls under this one) and the hosting dojo.  On top of all the people who were testing (and their ukes!), there was the "We're here to support you" crowd, which I was really happy to see was equally large.  The hosting dojo is going through a rough patch with a lot of missing students, so seeing so many people show up was nice.  I also got to see a few faces I haven't seen in a long while, including one who was training at my dojo while he was prepping for his shodan at this place.  He said if I ever see him on the teaching schedule there on Sunday mornings, that I'm free to show up and train without paying the mat fee.  So that's awesome because 1) the mat fee is stupid expensive and 2) hopefully if I start doing that I can help heal some of the animosity/distrust/seriously-people-we-study-an-art-literally-called-the-way-of-harmonizing-energy-and-why-don't-you-seem-to-get-that between the dojos. *ahem*

 

The exams were a long event.  Several 6th kyus and 5th kyus, four 4th kyus, pair of third kyus, and a second kyu all went before the shodan exam.  It was almost 2 hours before THAT exam started, which meant I was coooooold, even with all the stretching I was doing.  Initially the exam was supposed to be my friend dealing with just me and another friend of ours, but some confusion led to a THIRD uke standing up to join us - so my friend had three attackers.  Because the exams were running so late, and exams are supposed to stress you out, our instructor pretty much kept us at a breakneck pace.  And it was AWESOME.  The fastest shodan exam I've seen - it took 12 minutes.  His randori at the end - which was supposed to be 4 people - was actually 6 or 7 people.  Equally awesome.  And I do feel a bit of pride that me and the other initially uke were the only non-hakama-wearing people in that randori.  So that wrapped two hours of exams, and we all then went out to the pub next door for burgers and beer.  Stayed a bit later than I had expected, but it was well worth it.

 

I'm just over here like, jealous you have dojos close enough together to contemplate having a joint testing lol. That sounded like a really fun time!

[RisenPhoenix]

1 hour ago, Mistr said:

Hmmm. Your mention of bloating suggests that you might be having some kind of reaction to something you're eating. I'm reminded of @Urgan's experiments over the last year in which foods contribute to migraines and GI distress. Probably not severe, like @chemgeek suddenly discovering a peanut allergy. More of a sneaky dietary change, like losing tolerance for lactose as you age. The classic wisdom is to keep a food log. Note when you feel bloated or otherwise unhappy, and see what you ate in the previous 24 hours.

 

29 minutes ago, Urgan said:

This suggests you've been tracking macros and have been eating at what has been maintenance level? If so, then it sounds like every so often--every couple days (constant exposure would mean constant bloating)?--you are exposing yourself to something your body doesn't love. It may be a real nuisance to start trying to experiment with removing things in light of trying to be flexible for the socialing. I totally get it. The trade-off is how much better you will feel when you finally find the culprit. My vote is to first try @Mistr's suggestion to eliminate from your current diet vs the Whole 30 approach of cutting down to a small list of approved food then re-introducing. Obviously it's easier to do this if you have a narrower menu and/or a pre-established list of serious suspects.

 

Honestly I think the bloating was just from a whole bunch of salt.  I don't usually worry about my salt/sodium intake, because I also drink a whole lot more water than most people, but I think I went a bit crazy last week.  It's a rare event, rather than a regular one.  The issue really is my measurements are up just enough that I can fit into my clothes fine that I bought while more slim, but a bit of a difference in either direction makes things feel totally different.  Outside of when I go out to eat, I actually pretty much eat the same things, so I would have collected enough "This ain't right" moments over all.   If I were absolutely miserable with bloating/bowel issues/etc I would do Whole30.  But I'm not.  I already did the "be so restrictive you can't be social" thing when I lost my weight.  Not really going back to that until something massive happens.

 

This morning I'm back down to where I'd expect my body to typically be, and I ate a hell of a lot of junk this weekend.  Beer, fries, candy, popcorn, burgers, sausage, wine.  You name it, it was shoved into my face.  That said, I am going to try a slightly new tactic on my food intake.  Mostly lean a bit more into Primal eating and fats, while trying to mostly avoid my company's granola bars/candy bars.  I did have one of those today, and also a couple of small ginger snaps, but so far I've kept things pretty manageable.  Not logging calories, just to see how things feel for a bit, but will probably track via waist measurement how things are looking.  I do have a few plans on how to combat my eating-the-feels habit I have, but we'll see how that rolls.  Mainly combat via greek yogurt pudding mixed with protein powder or cottage cheese with fruit.

 

*shrug*

 

Guess I'll see what happens.

[Urgan]

15 minutes ago, RisenPhoenix said:

Honestly I think the bloating was just from a whole bunch of salt.  I don't usually worry about my salt/sodium intake, because I also drink a whole lot more water than most people, but I think I went a bit crazy last week.  It's a rare event, rather than a regular one.  The issue really is my measurements are up just enough that I can fit into my clothes fine that I bought while more slim, but a bit of a difference in either direction makes things feel totally different.  Outside of when I go out to eat, I actually pretty much eat the same things, so I would have collected enough "This ain't right" moments over all.   If I were absolutely miserable with bloating/bowel issues/etc I would do Whole30.  But I'm not.  I already did the "be so restrictive you can't be social" thing when I lost my weight.  Not really going back to that until something massive happens.

 

This morning I'm back down to where I'd expect my body to typically be, and I ate a hell of a lot of junk this weekend.  Beer, fries, candy, popcorn, burgers, sausage, wine.  You name it, it was shoved into my face.  That said, I am going to try a slightly new tactic on my food intake.  Mostly lean a bit more into Primal eating and fats, while trying to mostly avoid my company's granola bars/candy bars.  I did have one of those today, and also a couple of small ginger snaps, but so far I've kept things pretty manageable.  Not logging calories, just to see how things feel for a bit, but will probably track via waist measurement how things are looking.  I do have a few plans on how to combat my eating-the-feels habit I have, but we'll see how that rolls.  Mainly combat via greek yogurt pudding mixed with protein powder or cottage cheese with fruit.

 

*shrug*

 

Guess I'll see what happens.

 

That is a fair theory, with the virtue of being really easy to test. 

[Kishi]

4 hours ago, RisenPhoenix said:

On top of all the people who were testing (and their ukes!), there was the "We're here to support you" crowd, which I was really happy to see was equally large.  The hosting dojo is going through a rough patch with a lot of missing students, so seeing so many people show up was nice.

 

That's apparently something that my home dojo was going through when I came to test; my sensei being in town brought a lot of people out of the woodwork. It's a fun feeling to be a part of that.

 

Also! I have Avengers thoughts!

 

Spoiler

So, given that they were trying to pull the entire MCU together, given that they were trying to go for a larger tentpole than they'd ever done, than really has been ever even attempted before, I was willing to forgive the plot contrivances.

 

And I'm with you as far as characters go. One comment I've seen in praise of the film is that any time it centers on a character, it feels like their movie. I would take it a step further and say that it feels like one of their better/best movies - ie, we don't get Tony Stark from Iron Man 3; we get him from 1. We get Steve Rodgers from Winter Soldier/Civil War. We get Thor from Ragnarok. It felt really good to see these characters in probably some of their best forms jibing and jabbing at one another. I was really impressed.

 

Like, I felt that they had a lot to do, and for the most part I felt they delivered. I thought T'challa's decision to open the barrier was tactically unsound; he had flying units as well as Falcon and War Machine and could have easily monitored and responded to enemy incursions as they were getting through. I know we had to see Thanos' lieutenants die, but I think that would have been better managed if they'd been part of the half that died; it would have been part of the triumph in that way.

 

I've been thinking about the characters who died, and I agree with you; I think the fact that we know there are future films with some of these characters does remove some of the sting. I think that's something that we lost with Marvel's decision to release the film schedule ahead of time. Although, then again, we don't really know that some of these upcoming films will necessarily feature the casts as we know them.

Regardless, some of those deaths were a punch in the gut. Props to the actors for that. Tom Holland's performance in particular as a novice hero broken down to a scared kid in the end was a real hit. I still feel sad for that one. Good job, kiddo.

 

[RisenPhoenix]

19 hours ago, Urgan said:

That is a fair theory, with the virtue of being really easy to test. 

 

Honestly one of the HARDEST things I've had to deal with after all my weight loss is that most of the time foods don't negatively impact me.  My girlfriend will feel terrible eating junkfood and even minor amounts of salt, while I can just chomp on a salt lick and devour candybars with pretty much no issue.  If I HAD the negative feed back, I think a lot of my food things would be easier, because it's less willpower to invest if something makes you feel like crap.  Instead all the tasty, calorie rich foods I just find delicious and capable of fueling me with an extraordinary surplus of energy. >.> <.<

 

18 hours ago, Kishi said:

 

That's apparently something that my home dojo was going through when I came to test; my sensei being in town brought a lot of people out of the woodwork. It's a fun feeling to be a part of that.

 

Also! I have Avengers thoughts!

 

  Reveal hidden contents

So, given that they were trying to pull the entire MCU together, given that they were trying to go for a larger tentpole than they'd ever done, than really has been ever even attempted before, I was willing to forgive the plot contrivances.

 

And I'm with you as far as characters go. One comment I've seen in praise of the film is that any time it centers on a character, it feels like their movie. I would take it a step further and say that it feels like one of their better/best movies - ie, we don't get Tony Stark from Iron Man 3; we get him from 1. We get Steve Rodgers from Winter Soldier/Civil War. We get Thor from Ragnarok. It felt really good to see these characters in probably some of their best forms jibing and jabbing at one another. I was really impressed.

 

Like, I felt that they had a lot to do, and for the most part I felt they delivered. I thought T'challa's decision to open the barrier was tactically unsound; he had flying units as well as Falcon and War Machine and could have easily monitored and responded to enemy incursions as they were getting through. I know we had to see Thanos' lieutenants die, but I think that would have been better managed if they'd been part of the half that died; it would have been part of the triumph in that way.

 

I've been thinking about the characters who died, and I agree with you; I think the fact that we know there are future films with some of these characters does remove some of the sting. I think that's something that we lost with Marvel's decision to release the film schedule ahead of time. Although, then again, we don't really know that some of these upcoming films will necessarily feature the casts as we know them.

Regardless, some of those deaths were a punch in the gut. Props to the actors for that. Tom Holland's performance in particular as a novice hero broken down to a scared kid in the end was a real hit. I still feel sad for that one. Good job, kiddo.

 

 

Spoiler

I do agree that all the characters were so well done and at their peak of experience.  But also a heartless, cynical bastard so a lot of the deaths - even Peter's - I just went "Meh, they'll get rezzed."  Not that I discount the emotional impact these will play on the survivors, but as a viewer it just rang hollow.  I guess it depends a lot on how Avengers 4 works.

 

Also, I will disagree that T'Challa made a bad call.  Yes, they could send flyers away, but they  would also need to split their forces, because the flyers would need on-the-ground backup to help fight off the initial breach incursion (also I assumed they were circling back well behind the dome to the city area, so not a short hike).  They lacked those ground resources, so it was better to open a bottleneck point and keep things in front of them than split forces.  And since this was a mindless attack drone horde, the tactic worked to draw them to the easiest entry point.  A general with that many troops would have kept going with the pincer attack, but Orcs gonna Orc.  It wasn't a great option, but it was the least bad option.

 

Anyway.  Curious to see how 4 unfolds.

 

 

Food yesterday kind of ended up being a shitshow.  A coworker brought was was essentially homemade sweetbread with a cinnamon swirl.  Had more than a few pieces of that, and I regret nothing.  In the morning I also had a whole bunch of fatty-but-good-fat foods, so I didn't really eat much until the later afternoon.  Then went to aikido for a lighter class, and then home to eat some pulled chicken chili, greenbeans, and a sweet potato.   Because I damn well could.  Also had a few cocoa dusted almonds for dessert.

 

So far today I've been resisting junk, but we'll see how well that lasts into the afternoon.  Hopefully for a bit.  Planning on two classes tonight, and then Stairs in the morning.  Stairs will be the last time I get to swing it for the better part of a month, but it should be a beautiful morning to run them.  So I'm excited.  Then a bunch of crazy shit Wednesday at work, including the "Gallery Opening" of some employee artwork - which includes a photo I shot while I was in Japan a few years back.  So that's something that's nifty and I want to go to.  Should be interesting.  HA!

[Urgan]

2 minutes ago, RisenPhoenix said:

Honestly one of the HARDEST things I've had to deal with after all my weight loss is that most of the time foods don't negatively impact me.  My girlfriend will feel terrible eating junkfood and even minor amounts of salt, while I can just chomp on a salt lick and devour candybars with pretty much no issue.  If I HAD the negative feed back, I think a lot of my food things would be easier, because it's less willpower to invest if something makes you feel like crap.  Instead all the tasty, calorie rich foods I just find delicious and capable of fueling me with an extraordinary surplus of energy. >.> <.<

 

It's a yin and yang kind of deal for people with and without food intolerance issues. Sometimes it's really hard to figure out when foods are a problem and to what extent they are a problem. And even when you figure it out, then there's the tiny matter of resisting the urge to Eat It Anyway, especially if the penalty is not life-threatening and/or delayed. On the flipside, the only way I've stopped eating fast food is by being barred directly by Consequences, goals of getting my digestive health in order, and indirectly by realizing how I don't feel like trash all the time anymore. I miss milk...

[RisenPhoenix]

Sigh.

 

Dammit, guys.

 

Tuesday night a muscle in my leg decided to just NOPE out of being cooperative.  Not only was it, to my best estimation, a weird muscle (seriously, it felt like something under my quad spasmed) but I have no idea WHY it decided to NOPE out.

 

I had to get off the mat and tried foam rolling for literally the remainder of the class.  And then icing it.  And then deciding that I needed to skip Stairs, since raising my leg up so my thigh is in line with my hip was not feeling super great.

 

So I'm currently grumpy and sore and still confused why things were/are being weird.  So rest it is.  But I'm annoyed because I got such a motivational push from my friend's shodan exam last week, and the fact that I'm away for a week and a half soon means less training/movement is going to be happening.  So. Damn.  Annoying.

[Teirin]

I swear, the injuries always happen right after the motivation boost.  Take care and get it sorted.  Everything will still be there when you get back.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

1 hour ago, RisenPhoenix said:

Sigh.

 

Dammit, guys.

 

Tuesday night a muscle in my leg decided to just NOPE out of being cooperative.  Not only was it, to my best estimation, a weird muscle (seriously, it felt like something under my quad spasmed) but I have no idea WHY it decided to NOPE out.

 

I had to get off the mat and tried foam rolling for literally the remainder of the class.  And then icing it.  And then deciding that I needed to skip Stairs, since raising my leg up so my thigh is in line with my hip was not feeling super great.

 

So I'm currently grumpy and sore and still confused why things were/are being weird.  So rest it is.  But I'm annoyed because I got such a motivational push from my friend's shodan exam last week, and the fact that I'm away for a week and a half soon means less training/movement is going to be happening.  So. Damn.  Annoying.

Difficulty just got harder, you must have just leveled up.

[RisenPhoenix]

Well. It’s the weekend. And I’m both exhausted and still gimpy enough that I decided not to go training tonight. The upside is it means I got home super early and can relax. The downside is I have a bunch of free time and honestly very little idea how to use it productively. How did I do this way back in the day? I know I played a bunch of video games, but sheesh. Though I guess in 2010/2011/2012 I was wrapping up grad school which was also a massive time suck....

 

*ahem*

 

Goal for this weekend is at least two hours of aikido. And lots of sleep. And prep for flying to Houston for Company’s surgery next week. Trying to store up relaxation while I can. I wanted to train a whole bunch too, but the leg now kills that plan. Grump. 

 

Food has been okay. I still can’t seem to figure out what my body wants me to eat. I’ve tried to pack things to eat at work. Yet nothing really hits the spot. Dunno. Some cooking I did for dinner last night was fantastic though. Steamed red cabbage, some asparagus with a roasted red pepper vinigarette-marinaded chicken breast. Really tasty. And I’m starting my plain yogurt plus something frozen dessert snacks. Last night it was peanut butter protein powder, tonight fig butter. 

 

Otherwise im just chilling this weekend, dammit. Come hell or high water.....

[Teirin]

Yummy food!

[RisenPhoenix]

Some small updates.

 

Saturday my leg felt well enough that I did 2 hours of aikido.  It started getting a bit grumpy towards the end of the second class, though.  My remedy for it has been trying to foam roll a bit more, but my legs are definitely pretty tight right now.  It probably didn't help that I walked 7-8 miles on Saturday after class.  It was too beautiful out to stay cooped up in my apartment, as it was probably the first legitimately nice weekend day Boston has had in a while.  Just warm enough, super sunny, clear blue skies.  I ended up walking from my house to Harvard square, wandering the square, and then walking back to my place.  Where I ended the day with a burrito, because why not on a not-really-Mexican holiday?

 

Sunday morning I was a bit more reserved with aikido, foam rolling at home in the morning and then only doing one class.  Then I ended up doing a whole bunch of chores that I had meant to do on Saturday.  Mostly cleaning the apartment and getting ready to be away for nearly 2 weeks.

 

Monday was pretty chill, one aikido class with two other students.  On Saturday I had been working on some mental cues to help with my posture and expansion, and I kept trying to use them that night.  I realized that when I get stuck in my head thinking I crunch a bunch, killing my posture and my extension.  I'm trying to focus behind my uke, rather than on my uke, to force my brain-body connection to keep things big and in line.  It went okay, but it didn't help that the people I was in class with are pretty stiff and static as ukes.  One just doesn't have the mobility to give anything approaching a committed attack, and his joints are in such a mess that his 'break' points aren't anywhere near his actual unbalancing points (at least not without hurting him).  And the other is more flexible, but once he has done the attack movement he just stops there and goes all rigid, rather than either going with the flow or continuing to give energy/attack.  Plenty of things I could have done, just none of them were the techniques being shown...  Ah well.

 

Last night I did two hours.  Tuesdays are probably one of my favorite days to train.  On of the Harvard students seems to be trying to make our classes over the summer, and that's awesome, because she's a really good addition to the dojo.  We've gotten some really awesome people in the last couple of months, and there's a part of me that's super happy they are all women who are clearly enjoying themselves.  The first class was lots of variants and making sure people took balance without muscle (or at least that's what Dolita was telling me I needed to do, which I can't disagree with) and second class was some tonto-tori work.  That class highlight was the instructor attacking me, me throwing him in an arm bar kotegaeshi (the point of rotation is higher at the mid-forearm), and then him resisting the pin. 

 

Except I'm not nice, and I had control of the knife in his hands.

 

So I stabbed him.

 

Or more accurately, I made him stab himself by dropping my center.

 

He looked slightly bewildered.  Then started laughing on the floor about how I got him.  It was fun.

 

Skipped Stairs this morning because my legs are still super tight, and I'm going to be on an airplane tonight.  Company's surgery is tomorrow morning, but it's outpatient so she'll be home by late afternoon.  And then I'll be on nursing duty until I leave.  I was warned the first three days are terrible.  To counter this, I am bringing her dark chocolate, including a dark chocolate bark made with pumpkin seeds.  I also have a goal of feeding up not-shitty food, that's mostly Primal compliant.  We'll see how well that works.  I am hoping that once this is over things will somewhat even out for me.  Maybe-probably-possibly.

 

Oh, I also want to go visit a dojo near her house.  Packed my gi and everything.  I need to email them before I head over there, but it should be good.  I've already been given permission to abandon my duties to train, so I keep my sanity.  Huzzah!