Padawan Training

[Styx]

Hey monks! I am finally back at NF, and I guess it's a great time to start another challenge. My last challenge (which was with the scouts), I was not able to get back to because of a really tight schedule Although I was not able to document that challenge, I was able to finish it on my own.  This time, I really am decided to finish and document til the end.

 

Because of my recent fascination with the Darth Bane series and a recent acquisition of the Jedi manual, I have decided to make my challenge, Jedi themed.  

 

                                 

 

PILLAR 1.  THE FORCE

 

There is no emotion, there is peace.

 

 

• Goal 1: Practice handstands. Handstands have been really a skill that I wanted to learn. So for this challenge, I'll do my best to establish a routine for handstand practice. I guess I'll start from wallcrawls. Practice handstands at least 5mins a day, at least 5days per week.

• Goal 2: Learn to do meditate.  To be honest, I have no idea how I'm going to do this, but meditation really piqued my interest. I'd love to have some help from you guys to figure this one out. If not meditation, I'll do yoga instead. (Isn't it a form of meditation?)

 

 

PILLAR 2. KNOWLEDGE

 

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

 

• Goal 1: STUDY! Even though I'm going on a break from school, I have decided to review my past lessons and subjects to ready myself for my internship. Study at least an hour a day, at least 5 days per week.
• Goal 2. BRAIN TRAIN! Recently, I have downloaded this app (elevate) in ]my tablet that claims that it can train my brain! I don't know how real this thing is, but I've researched some articles and studies that say that brain training is really possible so, I guess I'm doing it! Brain train everyday!

PILLAR 3.  SELF-DISCIPLINE

 

There is no passion, there is serenity.

There is no chaos, there is harmony.

 

• Goal 1:  Drills! Recently, I joined an Eskrima (Filipino Martial Arts) class. And I enjoyed it immensely! Too bad, I'm going on a break, and the school is too far from home. But I won't let this hinder my training. With my eskrima drills, I will incorporate my muay thai and boxing drills. Practice drills on striking, footwork, and blocking at least 6 days per week.  
• Goal 2:  Strength! I have been doing bodyweight workouts and progressions that I plan to continue. Do strength training at least 3 days per week.
• Goal 3:  Cardio! Since I'm returning home, I'll be together with my bike again! Of course, running will always be in my routine This will also mean I'll be back on the pool! Bike, swim, or run on my off days!

 

THAT'S IT FOR MY 6 weeks! 

 

 

 

 

OH MY GOD, I WENT FULL NERD ON THIS!   

 

[Kishi]

One interesting technique for meditation I've heard of is to not worry about clearing the mind. Instead, you pick two different physical sensations, and you focus all of your attention on those two things. This serves to ground your focus down into your body and away from flitting thoughts.

 

Taijibum's a good guy to ask about this kind of thing too.

[Styx]

Sorry about that! I clicked enter, while I was typing! LOL

 

One interesting technique for meditation I've heard of is to not worry about clearing the mind. Instead, you pick two different physical sensations, and you focus all of your attention on those two things. This serves to ground your focus down into your body and away from flitting thoughts.

 

Taijibum's a good guy to ask about this kind of thing too.

 

Thanks! I'll go look for some resources about this!

[sarakingdom]

One of the big misconceptions about meditation is that it's what happens after you quiet your mind, and lots of people feel frustrated from the start because they can't stop the thoughts and restless feelings.  But that's not what meditation is, it's the practice of how to quiet your mind.  The way you practice martial arts techniques over and over in class so they become second nature to your body, meditation is practicing mental focus techniques over and over until they become second nature to your mind.  So it's not a bad meditation session to feel restless and have lots of distracting thoughts, it's just really good practice at recovering focus from distraction.

 

One of the classics is to count ten breaths, just focusing on the breath, and starting over from one every time you reach ten, lose count, or find yourself way above ten.  There are other ways of doing simple breath meditation with mantras or nothing at all, but I like the feedback on whether I've lost focus.  If you're just concentrating on your breath, it can take a lot of self-awareness to realize you're thinking about something else, while catching yourself thinking, "Twenty-four," is a pretty clear sign.

 

Yoga can be a form of meditation, depending on how you use your mind during it, the same way that washing dishes can be a form of meditation.  I'd probably consider it not a beginner form of meditation, because it requires a little familiarity with the sort of focus you're trying to accomplish.

[Styx]

Since I started a bit late, here's what I did:

 

November 10:

 

• I did my full bodyweight routine. (startbodyweight.com), and I noticed that I'm stuck on some progressions, I'll have to see why and work on it.
• Did some handstand practice, although I did not time how long.
• Studied a bit for my practical exam (november 11)

November 11:

 

• Attended a class! (hooray) We worked on footwork and reviewed basic stick striking. Towards the end of the class, we did some free form shadow striking (?) note to self: practice your footwork
• Supposed to be studying, but I created my challenge (lol)
• Will continue studying now

 

I still have a few more days to get eskrima sessions before I go back home. I'll try to make the most out of it, and ask my teacher for drills I can practice at home. This is only my 5th eskrima class, but I'm really having fun! Kinda feels right practicing it too, since it's in my culture!

 

So that's that!

[Styx]

woops double posted. here's a gif instead.

 

[Styx]

One of the big misconceptions about meditation is that it's what happens after you quiet your mind, and lots of people feel frustrated from the start because they can't stop the thoughts and restless feelings.  But that's not what meditation is, it's the practice of how to quiet your mind.  The way you practice martial arts techniques over and over in class so they become second nature to your body, meditation is practicing mental focus techniques over and over until they become second nature to your mind.  So it's not a bad meditation session to feel restless and have lots of distracting thoughts, it's just really good practice at recovering focus from distraction.....

 

 

Thank you! I'll do this on my first attempt.

[Kishi]

DAT KALI SCENE THO.

 

Also, ElDiablo, the inventor of your routine, has (or at least had) a membership on this site. He should be reachable, but I believe he's since gone on to work with Fitocracy as a coach, which might impact how reachable he is.

[Teirin]

Awesome, glad you joined up!  Calm.com is nice for background music to focus on during meditation.  It has some guided programs in their App too.

 

ALWAYS go full nerd!

[RisenPhoenix]

OH MY GOD, I WENT FULL NERD ON THIS!   

 

That just means you fit in well here.

 

woops double posted. here's a gif instead.

 

 

Yup.  I'm totally jealous of Stephen Amell's abs.  Probably have a bit of a man crush on him, too.  Or a lot of a man crush.  Whatever.

 

Triple post: for shame.  Have Asked Kishi to fix.

 

He was slow.  I got your back.

 

Kishi, stop slacking!

[Kishi]

That just means you fit in well here.

 

 

Yup.  I'm totally jealous of Stephen Amell's abs.  Probably have a bit of a man crush on him, too.  Or a lot of a man crush.  Whatever.

 

 

He was slow.  I got your back.

 

Kishi, stop slacking!

 

Sorry. Did dishes for six hours. I'll try to be faster next time.

[Styx]

November 12!

 

Today was a long day! I was not able to sleep as early as I wanted to because I drank coffee to help me study. So, slept at 4, woke up at 8. SLEEP DEPRIVED. :< Anyway, I took my exams today, and I'm not sure how I did. After the exam, went home and slept from 6 till 9. After I woke up, I went to the gym!

 

So basically: 

• I did my elevate brain training.
• Study for more than an hour! 
• Then did my bodyweight workout. 

About my bodyweight workout, I really noticed that I've been really struggling getting past 8/7/7 uneven push-ups and 7/6/6 pull-ups. I'm trying to figure out the reason for this. Here are the possible reasons that I was able to came up with:

• The extra workout that I'm getting from my Kali classes. I actually came to the gym with my arms and chest a bit painful.
• I'm not really knowledgeable about this, but I've seen an article about plateaus that maybe, this may be it?
• Maybe I've been eating less for too long now, and maybe I need some muscle to help me through?

For now, I'm going to try to go back to the previous progression (eccentric pull-ups and diamond push-ups) and see the results if this helps me!

 

That's it for today! 

[Styx]

Awesome, glad you joined up!  Calm.com is nice for background music to focus on during meditation.  It has some guided programs in their App too.

 

ALWAYS go full nerd!

 

Lol, thanks for the suggestion! I'll keep that in mind!

 

That just means you fit in well here.

 

 

Yup.  I'm totally jealous of Stephen Amell's abs.  Probably have a bit of a man crush on him, too.  Or a lot of a man crush.  Whatever.

 

 

He was slow.  I got your back.

 

Kishi, stop slacking!

 

Yep! Kinda motivates me to train too, lol

[Styx]

November 13, 2014

 

 

I had no school today, so I was able to take a break from studying. I was planning on attending my Kali classes (classes are at night) but a friend celebrated his birthday so I had to go. Instead I went really early to my boxing gym and trained. I've been training more boxing lately more than Muay Thai, since I wanted to improve my punching, and I noticed that my punching sucks. (lol) I noticed that I'm now able to put in more rounds than before. Probably because of the added sprints and burpees in my workout. And then before I hit my bed, I did some Kali footwork drills. 

 

So today:

 

• Did my elevate training, but took a break from studying
• Trained boxing and did some drills!

 

So far I'm doing good with my first 2 pillars but really failing on meditation and my handstand practice. Tomorrow I promise to dedicate some time for that.

[Kishi]

Well, if you're working hard at Kali and boxing and such like that, it makes perfect sense to me that your strength work would suffer. Remember: the whole point of that training is to support your martial arts. If you feel like you're plateauing, why not go ahead and take a deload? Even a week can be helpful to you.

[Styx]

Well, if you're working hard at Kali and boxing and such like that, it makes perfect sense to me that your strength work would suffer. Remember: the whole point of that training is to support your martial arts. If you feel like you're plateauing, why not go ahead and take a deload? Even a week can be helpful to you.

 

Yep! Thanks GL! I'll be taking a deload week as to your and other members in the BW section's suggestions.

 

November 14, 2014

 

Nothing much happened, took a break from my MA training and just did some sprint intervals in the evening. After that I did some handstand practice. So far I can walk into a handstand, but my legs are resting on the wall. My biggest issue right now are my wrists. I'm guessing I really need to work on my flexibility. Tomorrow I plan on doing my strength training, but will do a deload week. That's it for today! 

[Teirin]

Possibly helpful?

[Styx]

Possibly helpful?

 

Cool article! Thanks!

 

November 15:

 

Not much today:

 

• did my BW routine but in half reps on my attempt to breakthrough my plateau in pull-ups and push-ups.
• did some handstand practice. As before I need to work on my wrists
• I tried meditating, but I really think I failed. I tried focusing on my breathing but my mind is constantly asking if I'm doing it right.   (need to work on this)

Basically a pretty easy day.

 

November 16

 

Today was awesome! Since it's Sunday, I had a day off from school and decided to attend Kali classes. I've been told that Sunday classes are more advanced compared to the weekday classes, but I went anyway. I'm glad I did. I learned a lot today. Classes started at 930am and ended approximately 2:30pm. Although some techniques are too complex for me atm, It was amazing just watching the senior practitioners do different disarms, cqc techniques, street fighting techniques, takedowns, and principles.

 

Here are pieces of knowledge that I picked up from today's class:

 

• Kali movements (or at least those that my style is using) are really practical and easy to learn but the principles behind are what makes it effective in actual combat. This may be the reason why people who never took a class dismiss it as ineffective and flashy because they do not know the principle behind the technique.
• Since they're practical, the movements are basically the same for the stick, the knife, and unarmed. It just differs on how you initiate the attack. Again, principles.
• In combat, "never meet your enemy's anger with your anger, because it will make you forget technique." I felt like a damn jedi when my teacher said that (lol)
• Disarming is really hard! And the best disarming technique is literally dis-arming (lol)
• And so much more that I forgot about some, I'll try to recall them before I sleep 

That's it for today!

 

Oh I tried practicing handstands but my arms were tired I decided to give them a break!

 

That's really it!

[Teirin]

Wow, that's a long day of classes.  Sounds like you had a lot of fun and learned :-)  Great work!

 

Try to relax when you meditate, your thoughts will drift sometimes but just direct them back to whatever you're focusing on or dismiss them.  It just takes practice.

[Styx]

Wow, that's a long day of classes.  Sounds like you had a lot of fun and learned :-)  Great work!

 

Try to relax when you meditate, your thoughts will drift sometimes but just direct them back to whatever you're focusing on or dismiss them.  It just takes practice.

 

Definitely did! I'll try having some music on next time. 

 

November 17

 

Pretty light day today, I was supposed to do some BW routine, but I decided to give my body some rest, as I still feel sore from yesterday's class. But I did some stretching. I am really surprised how I felt after stretching! I'll be really honest, stretching is a part of my workout that I never really put much work into, but after today, I'll make sure that I do.

 

Today I did:

• Ran approximately 5km
• Stretched
• Practiced my handstands. I am really happy that I can now walk into a handstand. But today, I felt a bit dizzy after standing up. Is that a normal occurrence? I need to find out.
• Did my brain training. I am starting to have issues about this brain training thing. As a student in a rehabilitation field, task generalization into everyday life is one of the most important aspect of training/therapy. And  I am starting to question how these tasks will generalize into my everyday living.
• And studied for my exams

That's it for today! Tomorrow is Kali Class day! 

[Styx]

November 18.

 

Was supposed to attend my Kali classes, but school work came up unexpectedly and was not able to go. But I went to the gym and did my BW workout. Still on the deload. Practiced handstands too!

 

November 19-20.

 

Unfortunately I was not able to do anything related to my goal. Things happening in life right now, and wasn't able to find some time. But a bit settled now, and will find opportunities tomorrow!

[Kishi]

Flow with it. Sometimes, class just isn't a possibility. Just as long as it was legitimately work and not being tired or worn out: both of which are valid reasons but point to other problems that need to be solved.

 

Hope you found your opportunities!

[Styx]

Flow with it. Sometimes, class just isn't a possibility. Just as long as it was legitimately work and not being tired or worn out: both of which are valid reasons but point to other problems that need to be solved.

 

Hope you found your opportunities!

 

Thanks! I did!

 

 

Had a rough weekend! But finally things have settled down. I'm finally home and on a break from school! Problem is I'm too far from my boxing gym and my Kali class. I'll try to look for a gym near me for the time being. If I can't I can always work on my drills and form. Right now, I'm planning on switching from the basic routine program of startbodyweight.com to the sample strength program. As of now, I still need to clarify some things. As soon as I figure things out, I'll get on to it!

[Kishi]

Ah, that is a familiar problem. ; Fortunately, though, kali lends itself to singular practice, I think. Worst case, you do flow drills and learn to trust the stick, as my brother tells me.

 

Good luck with the gym. Boxing should be fine, but as for stick work, apparently it's an intensely familial thing and it's difficult to find any two schools teaching the same stuff. Which doesn't make one right or wrong, but it does make consistency a little difficult.

[Styx]

Ah, that is a familiar problem. ; Fortunately, though, kali lends itself to singular practice, I think. Worst case, you do flow drills and learn to trust the stick, as my brother tells me.

 

Good luck with the gym. Boxing should be fine, but as for stick work, apparently it's an intensely familial thing and it's difficult to find any two schools teaching the same stuff. Which doesn't make one right or wrong, but it does make consistency a little difficult.

 

Definitely is! Kali styles are really diverse (although the principles are the same), that it's hard to find a school that teaches the same. Lucky for me, my teacher gave me drills to practice in my absence.

 

 

November 24

 

Did my bw workout, last day for my deload week. Will try to do a full workout after this. BUT because I'm at home, I'm forced to use different bars for my workout. For my pull-ups, I found a really strong bar that I can hang on, but the bar is an angle bar. I put on some rugs to help me grip, but it is still painful. The pro here is my forearm strength will improve better and forearm strength is very good for kali and boxing. I'm also using a table for my horizontal rows, which will build  (again) better forearm strength. The only con I see here is that pull-ups from an angle bar is painful. Afterward, I did some handstand practice before I went to bed.

 

 

November 25

 

Was supposed to swim today, but there are too much people in the pool. I read about the Bas Rutten workout around the forum and did an internet search. I saw the all-around workout uploaded and did it. The great thing is, during the shadowboxing part, Bas shouts numbers for boxing combos, I made these numbers eskrima strikes instead of boxing combos, which is cool. I really enjoyed Bas Rutten's workout, and I'll try to buy one myself!