The Rogue Jedi Returns: Kyellan Quests For Harmony

[Kyellan]

 

My thoughts are clouded, the path ahead is no longer clear.

The Force is discordant within and without.

I set out now on a long and lonely road.

With only my wits and my lightsaber

I must find the way to harmony

Before the Dark Side's grasp becomes too strong.

 

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I've found myself feeling pretty scattered for a while now. It's harming my concentration, my work, and my home life, because instead of being able to focus and get things done, I've been getting nothing done instead. Every spare minute is spent zoning out, just trying to recover for the next thing to come along. A lot of it has been the recent surge in my busy-ness at work, but that's not really a good enough reason. I've also been fighting migraines for the first time in five years, which only come to me in time of very high stress.

 

As I discovered during the last challenge, my body is under pretty high levels of physical stress thanks to my two- to four-times weekly attendance at my Kung Fu and Lightsaber classes. When I tried adding significant physical challenge outside of my regular sessions, I ended up injured instead of improving. I also thought that I could grab a little more day by waking up early, but with the changes in my schedule lately, that ended up being counterproductive as well.

 

I'm an introvert by nature, and instead of spending most nights home relaxing and unwinding, I'm now spending them at high-energy martial arts classes, which I think is part of the mental stress. I don't want to stop going to class, though, which means I need to explore other ways of getting my stress in line.

 

To wit, I'm going to let my Sifu and my classes handle the physical side for this challenge, while I focus on the mental side, before I end up spending every night taking 1000mg of ibuprofen and hiding in a dark room just to stay sane.

 

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I

Harmonize the Mind

 

The dark and the light are lost in the mist.

Only within my own mind can the path back to the light become clear.

 

 

I'm bringing meditation back, baby. However, since I don't want it to be overwhelming and put myself off right away, I'm going to back off my usual self-requirement of 10 minute meditation sessions and just drop back to 9, at least to start. I'll probably increase it again later as the habit comes back.

 

Goal: 4 9-minute Meditation Sessions Per Week (Total of 24)

 

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II

Harmonize the Space

 

One's chamber is a reflection of one's mind.

Bring the outward into alignment, and thus, align the inward.

 

 

I've been living in the same space for three and a half years now. My office is a room above our garage, which is very nice and quiet and peaceful, for the most part. However, it's lit by one lamp on an ugly lighting track that I hate (came with the house) and a second floor lamp with an LED bulb that I like much better.

 

Unfortunately, I've always been kind of terrible at keeping up a space. I tend to hold onto things way past when I need them, especially things like boxes and small knickknacks. I honestly think that even though my space is nice and quiet, the constant chaos that it lives in is probably subconsciously contributing to my stress. Though the space in the room is limited, I think that it could be put to much better use if I actually spent some time and cleaned it up.

 

Goal: Spend 5 minutes a day, at least five times per week, cleaning my office. (Total of 150 minutes)

 

Space re-purposing can come later.

 

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III

Harmonize the Spirit

 

As the Force flows through me, I must also flow through it.

With my spirit aligned, I may yet wrest myself free of the Dark Side's grasping hand.

 

 

I'm not really a religious or spiritual guy. I don't subscribe to any religion nor mystical beliefs, though I have often felt that Buddhism and Daoism both hold some value beyond their more 'religious' aspects. I do, however, love philosophy and enjoy a good debate on the subject.

 

So, this goal is going to be a bit more relaxed than the others. I recently read Living the Martial Way by Forrest E. Morgan and really enjoyed it. I feel like there's a lot more that I'll get out of it as I continue to learn and grow in my martial arts as well. For now, I'd like to pick up a few more books in this same vein during the challenge and read more about martial ethics and bushido as a living system. I might even pick up a volume on Zen while I'm at it.

 

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In the meantime, I'll keep attending Kung Fu class as often as I can and let my physical development progress naturally through that path. Naturally I'll also keep talking Kung Fu and Lightsaber here as much as possible, because we get to have some awesome discussions! =)

[Luciana Valerosa Culming]

I can relate to your goals a lot. I'm not good at handling stress and focusing on the important taks. For this challenge I want to focus on my studys without getting stressed out. Somehow I allways try to do too much at once and then I have to take whole weeks off, where I tend to sleep a lot.

 

Good luck and best wishes for your challenge. And lightsaber is cool. I'm more into HEMA, but I find lightsaber fascinating.

[EricMN]

Legally required to follow. Where do you attend Lightsaber classes? I'm salivating at the thought.

[Oramac]

I can relate to your goals a lot. I'm not good at handling stress and focusing on the important taks. For this challenge I want to focus on my studys without getting stressed out. Somehow I allways try to do too much at once and then I have to take whole weeks off, where I tend to sleep a lot.

 

Good luck and best wishes for your challenge. And lightsaber is cool. I'm more into HEMA, but I find lightsaber fascinating.

 

I'll second this.  Handling stress is a huge hurdle, and you're a BAMF for tackling it head on.  I think you've got some really solid goals, and I'm happy to see there's only 3 of them too, which should help reduce stress too since you're not trying to do 11ty billion goals on top of training.  

 

And Luciana, you'd be surprised how similar lightsaber is to HEMA.  About the only difference is that you can't Half-Sword with a lightsaber.  Shameless plug here: check out TPLA.  Specifically Shii-Cho and Djem So, both of which have European Longsword influences.  

[Kyellan]

I can relate to your goals a lot. I'm not good at handling stress and focusing on the important taks. For this challenge I want to focus on my studys without getting stressed out. Somehow I allways try to do too much at once and then I have to take whole weeks off, where I tend to sleep a lot.

 

Good luck and best wishes for your challenge. And lightsaber is cool. I'm more into HEMA, but I find lightsaber fascinating.

 

Yeah, I'm in the same boat--I take on too much, then wonder why my brain and body give up on me. Bringing it down to manageable is going to be key to long-term survival, which is why I feel I need to take this on.

 

I've actually always been a HEMA-leaner myself. I own a battle steel hand-and-a-half sword that I bought several years ago, before HEMA was even really a thing, because I've simply always been obsessed with Western medieval weaponry.

 

 

I started taking Kung Fu classes because I wanted to get involved in a martial art (and the closest HEMA group is >50 miles away from me), and about a week after I started there, the instructor (my Sifu) mentioned that he was going to start teaching a lightsaber class as a fusion of Eastern sword techniques. (Katana, Chinese Broadsword, Chinese Straight Sword). I could hardly say no to that, and even my wife expressed an interest, so I bought two Ultrasabers and we started learning. Since then I've actually bought two more Ultrasabers, this time with sound and everything, and they're pretty awesome.

 

I'm working on some lightsaber demo videos (they won't be shared publicly, but I'll happily share the link via PM to interested folks, once I get them finished) to kind of show what it is we're learning.

 

 

Legally required to follow. Where do you attend Lightsaber classes? I'm salivating at the thought.

 

As mentioned above, I'm taking lightsaber instruction at my Kung Fu kwoon (Twin Dragon Kung Fu), which is in Wakefield, NH. It's a stroke of luck that I happen to live less than 25 miles from an instructor teaching genuine Chinese martial arts, who also happens to be enough of a nerd to want to teach a sword arts class with lightsabers!

 

 

I'll second this.  Handling stress is a huge hurdle, and you're a BAMF for tackling it head on.  I think you've got some really solid goals, and I'm happy to see there's only 3 of them too, which should help reduce stress too since you're not trying to do 11ty billion goals on top of training.  

 

And Luciana, you'd be surprised how similar lightsaber is to HEMA.  About the only difference is that you can't Half-Sword with a lightsaber.  Shameless plug here: check out TPLA.  Specifically Shii-Cho and Djem So, both of which have European Longsword influences.  

 

Yeah, I'm going to try to keep the challenge low-key this time. What I really want out of this six weeks is a habit of taking some time to get my mind in order so that I don't constantly feel like I'm tripping over myself.

[jaex]

I like the challenge.  Very zen.  Good luck and subbed!

[Kishi]

It's like I keep saying. You want to get in fighter's shape? Fight. Other training can come in later, gradually, if you like.

 

A good trick for the space-repurposing is something that Wyrm mentioned in my thread last challenge - put on some music and clean while the song is going. It should work just fine.

[Kyellan]

I like the challenge.  Very zen.  Good luck and subbed!

 

Thanks =) I often look slantwise at Zen and think that there's some good to be found, but trying to penetrate the weird and quasi-mystical outer shell that has formed around its teachings is difficult. My meditation technique is pretty much zazen, though, at least as far as I understand it.

 

 

It's like I keep saying. You want to get in fighter's shape? Fight. Other training can come in later, gradually, if you like.

 

A good trick for the space-repurposing is something that Wyrm mentioned in my thread last challenge - put on some music and clean while the song is going. It should work just fine.

 

Yep, that's the idea. I really wish I could make it to class more than twice a week, but right now the scheduling just isn't cooperating.

 

Thanks for the tip--I often do things to music (chores, cooking, even work sometimes, etc) because it helps me concentrate. It's a good idea to use a proper-length song as a sort of timer... hadn't considered it from that angle! =)

 

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So, in lightsaber news, I am very lucky to live within a couple miles of Jetpack Comics, the most successful comics store in the state of NH. (They advertise during the Walking Dead up here, if that tells you anything.) May 2nd is Free Comic Book Day, and there is always a GIANT gathering of nerds from all over at Jetpack. Well, this year Sifu has talked to the owner, and we're going to be doing some lightsaber demonstrations in hopes of drumming up some new students! That should be all kinds of fun.

[Oramac]

So, in lightsaber news, I am very lucky to live within a couple miles of Jetpack Comics, the most successful comics store in the state of NH. (They advertise during the Walking Dead up here, if that tells you anything.) May 2nd is Free Comic Book Day, and there is always a GIANT gathering of nerds from all over at Jetpack. Well, this year Sifu has talked to the owner, and we're going to be doing some lightsaber demonstrations in hopes of drumming up some new students! That should be all kinds of fun.

 

Damn!!  Now that is all kinds of epic!  

[EricMN]

So, in lightsaber news, I am very lucky to live within a couple miles of Jetpack Comics, the most successful comics store in the state of NH. (They advertise during the Walking Dead up here, if that tells you anything.) May 2nd is Free Comic Book Day, and there is always a GIANT gathering of nerds from all over at Jetpack. Well, this year Sifu has talked to the owner, and we're going to be doing some lightsaber demonstrations in hopes of drumming up some new students! That should be all kinds of fun.

 

I am dying to see some footage of all this, so if some happens, ~please~ share...

[jaex]

Thanks =) I often look slantwise at Zen and think that there's some good to be found, but trying to penetrate the weird and quasi-mystical outer shell that has formed around its teachings is difficult. My meditation technique is pretty much zazen, though, at least as far as I understand it.

 

 

Zazen?  Better than Zazu, amirite?

 

And yeah, I don's subscribe to the mystical stuff.  I just like what mediation does to me

[Kyellan]

Zazen?  Better than Zazu, amirite?

 

Hey man, Rowan Atkinson is still one of my favorite actors ever, regardless of the role. =)

 

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So, first official day of the challenge. I woke up with a little extra time (or so I thought) so I did my meditation. I also did a little prep-cleaning in my office this weekend, just taking care of some of the easiest and simplest things to get them out of the way. If I remember, I'm going to take a snapshot of my office before I really get working and then do an after photo too, just so I can prove to myself how much it changes.

 

I went to a circus show this weekend (my sister is an aerialist and rapidly becoming an all-around performer) in Portland, ME, which was directed and run primarily by Cirque de Soleil performers. It was awesome. There's some real inspiration to be had there, too... in the partner strong-man act, the guy got down on the floor, balanced his female partner's entire weight on one arm... and then he stood up. Now that is working strength, folks.

 

I'll be at Kung Fu tonight. It feels like it's been forever since last Wednesday.

[jaex]

Good use with the extra-morning time!  

 

And that lightsaber demo sounds like it is going to be lots of fun.  You need somebody on a mic to do lightsaber sounds though (WSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH, ZZZZZZNNNNNNNGGG)

[Kyellan]

My lightsaber makes sounds all by itself. It's an Obsidian Sound Saber from Ultrasabers... it's got a sound board and a speaker and it's all like "WHZZ VOOM KZZT!"

 

I'm still trying to get a working video, but now that I have a little experience with forced video recording as part of my current college class, I think I have some ideas on how to get it to actually function acceptably.

[RisenPhoenix]

Nice, nice, NICE challenge.  This really resonates with me, especially given my last couple of weeks.  A nice, solid, stability-focused challenge.

 

 

III

Harmonize the Spirit

 

As the Force flows through me, I must also flow through it.

With my spirit aligned, I may yet wrest myself free of the Dark Side's grasping hand.

 

 

I'm not really a religious or spiritual guy. I don't subscribe to any religion nor mystical beliefs, though I have often felt that Buddhism and Daoism both hold some value beyond their more 'religious' aspects. I do, however, love philosophy and enjoy a good debate on the subject.

 

So, this goal is going to be a bit more relaxed than the others. I recently read Living the Martial Way by Forrest E. Morgan and really enjoyed it. I feel like there's a lot more that I'll get out of it as I continue to learn and grow in my martial arts as well. For now, I'd like to pick up a few more books in this same vein during the challenge and read more about martial ethics and bushido as a living system. I might even pick up a volume on Zen while I'm at it.

 

 

Definitely going to look into Living the Martial Way book.  Another really good Martial-but-philosophical writer is David Lowry.  I liked him enough that one of his essays inspired my Daily Battle log.  Really good stuff.  And yea, I fall into the atheist camp, but describe myself as having heavy Taoist influences.  Not sure if it still weathers my opinion now (because I haven't read it in ages and I should fix that), but I remember reading Relax, You're already Home back in college shortly after I started reading the Tao Te Ching and found it very, very helpful and soothing. (Also as an FYI, I'd avoid reading the I Ching or the Hau hu Ching for the same philosophical thoughts and koan-like quips that the Tao te Ching offers, as both bend heavily into more mystical aspects of Taoism.  Interesting reads, but not nearly as applicable I found to life as the Tao te ching.  But maybe you'll find it different.  Dunno.)

[Kyellan]

Another really good Martial-but-philosophical writer is David Lowry.  I liked him enough that one of his essays inspired my Daily Battle log.  Really good stuff.

 

Thanks! I'll check out Lowry's work, I always appreciate the recommend. =)

 

I haven't actually read the Tao, but I probably should. Also should probably actually read The Art of War at some point... still haven't done that. Bad martial artist, bad!

 

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So, last night I had this feeling... so I dressed for sparring. And then it turned out that we were sparring! Woo! Gettin' beat up!

 

Last week I spent some time and altered my ProForce Gladiator Kempo gloves and changed them from laces to velcro by adding a canvas panel that wraps around the wrist, and last night I got to give them a try. Worked like a charm, no problem at all. SO much easier. I can actually dress myself now, which feels like such an improvement Also it lets me get water and take the gloves off between rounds without enlisting assistance.

 

My only sparring partners last night were Sifu and Simo--I went up twice against Sifu, which may or may not have been the best decision. By that third round my heart rate was over 150 in the first few seconds, and I maxed out pretty quick... fatigue made me pretty slow. Fortunately, in my second round (against Simo), I actually landed a couple of good clean hits. She's tiny, maybe 5'3" and I doubt if she's 100 lbs soaking wet in heavy clothes, but she's fast and she's been training a long time, so it's tough to keep up with her. Naturally, the classmate keeping time for that round (ahem) didn't, so my 2-minute round actually ended up being more like 3 minutes. I'd thought time had just slowed down!

 

Overall though it was a good night, and I tried very hard to keep applying technique. I need to get my movement and response times faster, but that's just a matter of training and practice and keeping it up. I have to remind myself that it's only been six months and I'm coming from basically no fitness history at all, so it's going to take a while to forge me into what I want to be.

 

Tonight is lightsaber class!

 

Edit: Oh, heh, right, challenge stuff. Woke up with not enough time for meditation this morning, and didn't get to clean yesterday because I had to cook. There will be cleaning tonight since it's a leftover night and no cooking, and definitely cleaning tomorrow since I'll be working from home.

[jaex]

Looks like you had a fun night of sparring.  And you'll get there with applications and fitness.  Slow progress is still progress.

[Oramac]

Overall though it was a good night, and I tried very hard to keep applying technique. I need to get my movement and response times faster, but that's just a matter of training and practice and keeping it up. I have to remind myself that it's only been six months and I'm coming from basically no fitness history at all, so it's going to take a while to forge me into what I want to be.

 

Tonight is lightsaber class!

 

Have I mentioned that I'm super jealous you have people to spar with?  No?  Well, I am.  

 

And lightsaber.  Because lightsaber.  

[Luciana Valerosa Culming]

Sounds like a good session. And I have to get one of these lightsabers for my bf's birthday. Way to cool.

[Kyellan]

The sabers are darned cool. Even the 'stunt' sabers, which have no sound, are pretty incredible. They're very high quality, the lights are great, and if you buy them with the 'heavy grade' blades they're basically unbreakable, even at full combat speed. Their one downfall is bright sunlight... a sunny day washes them right out. Evening, overcast or indoors though and they are really incredible.

 

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Lightsaber class brought us line drills and forms work. We added two more pieces and it's tricky, but we're definitely all making progress. One of the drills we did actually prepped us for the next move in the form, so it was almost like Sifu planned it that way or something.  

 

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Challenge stuff: I meditated this morning and did 15 minutes of cleaning... had some extra time. Using a song set as a timer is a great idea, thanks to Kishi for that suggestion. I actually forgot to take the BEFORE picture until after I started cleaning, but now I've got one that still shows the majority of the clutter and ridiculousness. We'll see what 150 minutes of cleaning over the next six weeks can do to this place.

[Oramac]

The sabers are darned cool. Even the 'stunt' sabers, which have no sound, are pretty incredible. They're very high quality, the lights are great, and if you buy them with the 'heavy grade' blades they're basically unbreakable, even at full combat speed. Their one downfall is bright sunlight... a sunny day washes them right out. Evening, overcast or indoors though and they are really incredible.

 

-------------------

 

Lightsaber class brought us line drills and forms work. We added two more pieces and it's tricky, but we're definitely all making progress. One of the drills we did actually prepped us for the next move in the form, so it was almost like Sifu planned it that way or something.

 

-------------------

 

Challenge stuff: I meditated this morning and did 15 minutes of cleaning... had some extra time. Using a song set as a timer is a great idea, thanks to Kishi for that suggestion. I actually forgot to take the BEFORE picture until after I started cleaning, but now I've got one that still shows the majority of the clutter and ridiculousness. We'll see what 150 minutes of cleaning over the next six weeks can do to this place.

 

Sweetness!!  Honestly, even the mid-grade blades are really damn tough too.  I know a couple people that only use mid-grades and haven't had any trouble with them either, so long as they don't attack a concrete wall or something.  lol. 

 

Class sounds great as usual!  Sifu maybe did plan it that way.  It's crazy how that works!  haha.  

 

Great job on the cleaning!  The pictures will definitely help gauge progress.  

[jaex]

Sounds like you are having lots of fun with the lightsabers.  Can you deflect lightning bolts yet?

[EricMN]

I used The Custom Saber Shop for the two that I had built for my kids when they turned 10 and had their Padawan ceremonies. The pre-built Ultrasabers are just too rich for my blood, but I'm not sparring with them.

 

Yet.

 

Can't wait to see pics of your class in action.

[Kishi]

Good. You understand that getting better is a function of practice.

 

Don't try to get better at being fast. Speed training doesn't have a lot to give you. You'll get some good initial results, but eventually you'll find that you have to do a lot of work just take even a split second off your time. Also, you don't want to fall into the mental trap of thinking you have to get a million things done all at the same time. That just leads to sh!tty technique.

 

Instead, focus on efficiency, on completing a technique and transitioning to something else. That's how you get faster.

[Oramac]

Good. You understand that getting better is a function of practice.

 

Don't try to get better at being fast. Speed training doesn't have a lot to give you. You'll get some good initial results, but eventually you'll find that you have to do a lot of work just take even a split second off your time. Also, you don't want to fall into the mental trap of thinking you have to get a million things done all at the same time. That just leads to sh!tty technique.

 

Instead, focus on efficiency, on completing a technique and transitioning to something else. That's how you get faster.

 

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.