Tkal's scars

[Tkal]

Ten months away from NF (I should write a summary on my wall), time to come back. In the meantime I have left some organs behind and got some extra scars to mark my topography. Some are ok, some are still bothering me. The big goal of this challenge is to be sufficiently fit to enjoy my holiday next month, to be spent on the mountains hiking.

When I'm back, also my Sensei will be, and I need to be physically able to train with her again

I am not much in the mood for a new challenge, but if I don't write this down I am not going to do it

 

Endurance

During my recovery I picked up running again. I don't particularly like it, but it has been good for my body and my brain. Two weeks of festivities badly disrupted my routine and I need some commitment to go back on the horse. So, there you have it, the challenge is

• run 2 times per week
• walk the magic 10000 steps every day

The scar treatment

According to the surgeons at this point the best thing I can do for my scars is to put some stress on them in order to lose up the tissue

• massage them with the prescribed oil twice per day
• at least 5 pull-ups each day, hanging 30 seconds at the bottom for extra stretch
• do yoga on the non-running days
• bonus point: bouldering on weekends

Remap the territory

I need to train again with people more frequently than the twice per month I manage with my Sensei. In the past year the aikido dojo I liked moved far from where I live and work and it is not realistic to go back there. I have another place I want to check out, but I am considering some cross-fit groups and climbing as valid alternatives. Four weeks, four places to check. I a trial cannot be scheduled outside my will, I'll compensate with an extra run

• aikido at the hangar. Too far, not feasible on regular basis
• cross fit + boot camp
• cross fit + krav maga
• boot camp only. Or this one (NEW)
• NEW capoeira 1
• NEW capoeira 2
• NEW weird MMA

The hotspot in my cave

This is really simple: I saw that my table is the first thing where chaos appears and the last from where it disappears. If my table is clean, my house is reasonably tidy. At the moment there is only a potted plant on it. Before going to bed that must be the only thing there. No mails. No pottery. No food. No gears

• clean the table every night as part of the bed time routine

Where is the monk?

the monk is inside me I'm doing all the above with a monkish mindset, being in the moment, feeling the energy flow in the movement, sensing my surroundings

 

Points, tracker and links to be added. Now bed time

Edit: tracker available. Changed list of places to check out

[sarakingdom]

Good to have you back!  I like your challenge, there's some really good stuff in here to think about for my next challenge.  There's a lot of scope in monkish mindset alone, I like that a lot.

[Kishi]

 

I was wondering when we'd see you again. Welcome back! Good to see that training is now officially something that is going to help you with getting the body that you want.

 

Best of luck!

[Kishi]

Ooh, also, totally surprised that you didn't go for a Joker-themed challenge.

 

"You wanna know how I got these scars?"

 

I mean come on it's right there

[Kishi]

So, hey. How are things going so far?

[Tkal]

Ooh, also, totally surprised that you didn't go for a Joker-themed challenge.

 

"You wanna know how I got these scars?"

 

I mean come on it's right there

good suggestion. I could reuse it for next round, they are not going to disappear soon

Although, I must admit, the surgeon did a really good job and you don't really notice them.

 

Anyway, the problematic part are the ones inside between all the layers of muscles and fat and skin. Those are the one I am taking care of

 

So, hey. How are things going so far?

Meh on the yoga part, all the rest is enough on track.

 

I made a big change on my territory mapping. I dropped the aikido dojo: too far to go by bike, bad schedule not to wait ages at the bus stop. I know myself, and spending almost one hour to go and the same to come back for one hour of training is not worthy.

On the other hand I found a non-conventional MMA group, I'll check it out tomorrow. I call it MMA, but it is more an open space to share experiences among people who are not new to martial arts. The idea is not competition nor usual MMA-style training, but learning from each other.

Also, out of the blue a choir popped out on my dashboard. I used to sing before moving here (5 years ago) and I was missing it. I went to the absolute first meeting. There are some nice voices, and a lot of people who have never sung before in a "serious" choir. I expect to lose soon half of the people who showed up, but there should still be 10-15 people a core, good size. I must say, it was interesting to sing again: with my big surprise my extension has not changed a bit although of course now my natural chord is a bit lower. Anyway, I decided that this count as one of the "place to check out".

Also, I found a couple of capoeira groups nearby, so I add them to the list.

 

Now I go back to the first post to do some editing

[Tkal]

My challenges are often short and I am not the most consistent monk in the monastery, but now with the 4 weeks heartbeat I feel link is not even worthy to try. Which is a pity...

 

Anyway, I tried the fake MMA thing, which is basically Ed Parker kenpo, with the guy leading the group trowing in random stuff from ninjutsu (or so he says). I had my flight with kenpo and I know it isn't my cup of tea. Or maybe I never found a decent instructor. Anyway, a place where questions are seen as a bad thing is by default not a good place to be.

 

For the rest I am not completely there. I need better motivation for running an yoga, which at the moment is lacking.

Next round I definitively need a food-related quest, my beer belly says so. An usually when I have my diet in order also exercise comes more easily.

[Kishi]

Well, but hey. In the meantime, martial arts is happening. Hopefully these people are open to questions and tinkering with their claims and techniques. It certainly sounds that way from out here.

 

Beer belly. Yeah. I'm getting that back in line too.

[Tkal]

I tried one of the capoeira schools. I decided I am not going to try out anything else
I am not approaching it as my core martial art. I am not even sure I could completely consider it a martial art (at least in the way it is practice here and now). If any of my previous aikijutsu or aikido dojo were closer I would not have considered at all. But given the circumstances I try to get the best out of it. I think that capoeira has a couple of valid points that are good for my karate:

• the workout is intense, good to build on strength and stamina, but without losing on flexibility. So I can give up running
• the flow and blend in (which was also the main reason for me to start with aikido)
• the kicks (obvious)
• the controlled movements

Bonus point: the acrobatics are appealing to the assassin in me
But I must say that the biggest plus are the people that were there. Everything was light and playful, but under the surface there was a lot of respect and warmth and care. It felt good to be there
 
Today the doms are killing me, but that's good too

[Tkal]

I haven't distributed the points for this round yet. I still feel more useful to have old fashion points instead of the new XP, plus the fact that I cannot be a monk in the new system is putting me off.

Also, having a 4 weeks challenge instead of the old 6 make this an unbalanced challenge with respect to the previous. I write the points here as if I would do the usual 6-weeks, but then I will scale them with the percentages that I get in the tracker. I am not using the divisions I have in the first post, but the ones I used in the tracker

• run+yoga : STA +2, STR +1
• scars : CON +4
• daily steps : STA +2
• table : WIS +3
• map the territory: CHA + 3

Tracker now shows points

[Kishi]

Capoeira does look like it's fun, and it's worth pointing out that you can train it for harder, more martial applications. True story. There are videos of it being used in MMA bouts. It is a thing.

 

But more importantly, you found a good studio, and it's closer to you than the other place. Very good, then. Good job finding it!