Tkal plays with the elements

[Tkal]

Being late seems to become a second nature for me . I'm not sure that I like this... Anyway, here are my targets. Actually I have started at the right time last monday, but no online free-time until now.
 
Earth, the place where the foundations should be. Earth is solid, is stable, it does not change and it it at the base of every thing else. For me earth is my "long life" routine:

• meditate 15-30 minutes
• karate outdoor (30 minutes) or walk (2 hours)
• sleep 50 hours per week (7 hours/day, but I use the average per week to give me some room)
• eat daily according to plan (2 meals per week are free)

CON +2, STA +2, WIS +1
 
 
Fire is the destroyer, the bringer of emptiness and new order. Decluttering is the key word

• decluttering 15 minutes every day

CHA +3
 
 
Water is always moving, always changing, always adapting. It is something that takes always new forms. I need the agility to move like water

• follow GMB F1 progression

DEX +2. STR +2
 
 
Air is freedom, it is growing and expanding. As should my knowledge as a martial artist

• have at least 3 sessions with my Sensei or a more experience student

WIS +2, DEX+1

Edit: the mighty tracker

[Lou_be_Lou]

YAY you're here!!!!!!  Brilliant!

[Kishi]

Hey, welcome back! Let's get to work.

[DJtrippyT]

I love the way you've broken it out into elements. What a good idea!

 

Good luck, you'll be great!

[Nusuth]

Great to have you back!    (I was late this challenge allso , long weekend after newyear did me in)

 

Sems a heavy challenge ;  your 'earth'-target could be a challenge on it's own ^^

Then again, if we all would re-integrate our previous goals from earlier challenge, we would have such lists.

 

gl & strenght to you!

[TMedina]

Welcome back.

[Tkal]

So far the Karate sessions rock, I have only one to go

 

For the rest these two weeks have been... slushy. As the weather has been...

I am still busy with the big delivery I was working on before the holidays, and which made me SKIP the holidays. More quiet now, but I need input from many people to close the loops and they are all late... Anyway, the Earth routine is helping to stay on track, and with different names it will stay also for next challenge, maybe further, until it will be really a second nature

 

Decluttering is... meh. Any reason is a good one to skip it

 

GMB is the real sore point. So far I went only through some warm up and stretching routines. I am not sure that I can do much more... So, I will not count this part to decide the success of the challenge. If I manage I get the points, otherwise I know that my energy has been spent more on the other target. GMB stuff is cool ,but having my routine in place is more important

[Taijibum]

What style karate?

[Kishi]

Well, look on the bright side. At least you're showing up, and at least you're doing some kind of work. Mobility is seriously underrated. Sure, deadlifts and muscle-ups and breaking things with your hands is sexy, but without quality movement, all you do is break yourself. So don't sell yourself short there.

 

In the end, I'm sure that they would look at what you're doing in the same way. (The Alpha Posse) are all about enjoyment of life first, and if you're not getting that from the program then... so be it. So, yeah, no worries.

[Tkal]

Sems a heavy challenge ;  your 'earth'-target could be a challenge on it's own ^^

Then again, if we all would re-integrate our previous goals from earlier challenge, we would have such lists.

That was the core of my previous challenges as well. I am keeping it since I want to build a strong routine around it. So, something like that will stay until it become a second nature

Said that, I am not sleeping enough. A bit too much pressure at work and the fact that I am overdue for my shot do not help. On the bright side: Friday I will have my shot and in 3 weeks I finally will have my "Christmas vacation" 

 

What style karate?

I started in 1991 with Shito Ryu, went up to third dan, and that is still my core. When I moved to here I couldn't find a decent Shito Ryu dojo, so I experimented a bit. On and off I have been training with a Shuri ryu group. I don't particularly like the style, but I like the self defense (not only physical) and "play together, play safe" approach, so I am working on my black belt in there too

For the rest I don't like how this challenge is going. Maybe I over estimated my energies, or under estimated what life was trowing at me. I don't expect it will improve much. Sometime you run, sometime you walk, and sometime you crawl, the important thing is to keep going

[Kishi]

Well, you can't really figure out what you like unless you get in the ring and try, right?

 

So what's the move, then? Do you keep on going and finish it out or do you hit reset?

[Tkal]

So what's the move, then? Do you keep on going and finish it out or do you hit reset?

Are you talking about the style? I have been training with them for 10 years (more or less). I decided only last year that, given the amount of time spent with them, I could have joined the school officially. And so I did. They are still almost 2 hours travel from home, so it is a once or twice a month thing, but they are a nice bunch, and as long as I am learning something and having a good time, I'll stay. The good thing is that they have trainings in the weekends, so the distance is not really blocking.

Different story with the aiki jutsu and kobudo group, in the town where I was living until 4 years ago. Same distance, but schedule is impossible, so I gave up. Pity. Now I want to be done with the surgeries and stuff, at this point the locker rooms are way too akward. After that I will look for something closer, for during the week. I know there is a good aikido school in town, a branch of Christian Tisser where I would train regularly with advanced enough students. Plus some other arts/schools to check and try. I am keeping my list up to date. Hopefully after summer I will be able to start something new

[Teirin]

Just dropping in to say Hi!  Good grief, you're doing all the things this challenge.

 

Your Christmas break hasn't happened yet?  Your company is compensating you well for this type of BS?

 

So close martial arts stuff is kind on pause except for a few times/month?  That must be terribly frustrating, especially on top of everything else.

[Tkal]

Just dropping in to say Hi!  Good grief, you're doing all the things this challenge.

Indeed, I realized that it was a bit too much and dropped GMB stuff. It is fun, but I need to manage better my time and energies. The big " earth" part is a daily routine. None of those items are a challenge per se, but having them together. It seems big, but it should not be so much.

 

Your Christmas break hasn't happened yet?  Your company is compensating you well for this type of BS?

I am not particularly attached to Christmas, so it wasn't a problem. But I still wanted my week of "hiding in the mountains" with my parents.

Anyway, working at unusual time is part of the contract and in the end last year I got almost 10 weeks off, so I am not complaining (plus, luky Europeans)

 

So close martial arts stuff is kind on pause except for a few times/month?  That must be terribly frustrating, especially on top of everything else.

Learning is on pause. Teaching is 2-3 times per week and practice is almost daily (even if only for 30 minutes)

Today I saw my endocrinologist. She was really pleased with the weight loss. I still have at least 5 kilos to go, but is nice to see the results of a good system. Finally Plus, I made the appointments to see the surgeons when I'm back from holiday.

I also visited a couple of friends on the way there and back. I really had a good time with each of them. And enough social interaction to recover from for the next 2-3 weeks

[Teirin]

10 weeks?..........  Fair enough then.

 

Awesome, glad you're still teaching and practicing :-) 

 

Congrats on the continued progress!! 

[Lou_be_Lou]

Good luck with keeping on going!  Well done with re-evaluating your goals to balance out how much energy you have.  Especially if you managed it before crashing...... must learn from your example.

 

Yay for all your teaching and training - sounds good.

[Tkal]

Last week of the challenge. Then 2 weeks of holiday (for me), without computers or fancy technology. I have big plans for walking, hiking, enjoy the snow and cold, fighting off my mum who sometimes mistakes me for a goose, play with my nephew and sleep from sundown to sunset each day.
I am tired. Next challenge sleep goes out of the base to become a quest on its own.
 
In the meantime, all the colleagues around me are falling ill. So far I am the only one who has not yet lost a working day because of the flu. I like to think that it is a nice side effect of an healthier-than-average life style. But maybe I am just lucky

 

Last week. Even if it does not feel one of my best challenge, the numbers are good. And I am completing it the first time. So, yay for me. Today I need it

[Kishi]

No, I've seen exactly the same thing. No sick for me. Even as bad as things get sometimes, I just don't get sick anymore. It's good. I'll take it.

 

Let's us sleep well, both this challenge and next.

[Teirin]

Enjoy your vacation!  You've certainly earned it :-)

[Nusuth]

happy holidays !

[Lou_be_Lou]

Have a brilliant holiday!

[Tkal]

Wrap up of the challenge

Earth (daily routine):

• meditate 15-30 minutes 76,19%
• karate outdoor (30 minutes) or walk (2 hours) 88,10%
• sleep 50 hours per week 94,39%
• eat daily according to plan 89,47% (2 meals per week are free)

For next round I need to become stricter with the sleep, aim to 55 hours, with the extra hours in the working days.
Also the food need some tinkering. This challenge was good to learn how much off I can go, but next round is back to caloric deficit and stricter weekly planning. I made experiments with quorn (like for stir-fry) and tempeh (don't try to grill it). I also worked some legumes in my diet, following Mark's apple suggestion about preparing them. It was interesting, but still not side effects free. For the moment I am not going below 4 meals-with-meat per week, but it is definitely an achievement compared with the 10/12 of one year ago
Anyway, full mark here
CON +2, STA +2, WIS +1

Fire:

•  decluttering 15 minutes every day 76,19%

I still have to force myself into doing it and most of the time I don't see the benefit of it. Again, it stays. I'll think about making it more specific, like "if yesterday I hanged clothes to dry, by tomorrow they should be all in their drawers". I know that for some activities the routine is there (groceries on Saturday, ironing on Sunday), so that could be a starting point to fill the week. I saw that having the week planned helped a lot with the diet, I can try the same approach here too
CHA +3

Water:

• follow GMB F1 progression: gave up

I realized immediately that this was not achievable. But I still want to do something here. Maybe work on a single skill for 5-10 minutes of daily practice. But I'll wait after I come back, maybe I will have energy also for this

Air:

• have at least 3 sessions with my Sensei or a more experience student 2/3

Third session didn't happen because of the snow (and no trains to go there). I failed in at least re-plan it. I am not sure what to do here. To progress I need to commit much more than what I have been doing since summer. I miss it, but not enough to give karate an higher priority in my life at the moment. I miss my family more. So, half points
WIS +1, DEX+0.5

As I said, the numbers are decent, but I am not completely happy about this challenge. The daily routines are good, the "big things" not so much. I need to find the right motivation again, of find something else which motivates me more. Finding a dojo/gym here? not yet a good time, I feel too akward around locker rooms at the moment. Maybe something outside? maybe running? Meditate upon it
 
See you in two weeks!

[Kishi]

So in the end, this challenge ended up being a learning experience. On the one hand, you didn't get what you wanted, but on the other hand you stuck it out and persevered through the challenge anyway. Props for that and way to get it done. So now you need to figure out exactly what it is you're willing to do, and how willing you'll be to stick with it.

 

Good luck! See you in two weeks!

[Teirin]

Still great work this challenge.  Vacation time will give you a chance to get away from everything and think about it after some distance?

 

Assigning specific chores to certain days sounds good.  Are you seeing any net benefit to the decluttering?