Comrade Kyellan: Kettlebell Trains YOU!

[Kyellan]

10 hours ago, Arrowan said:

Tuning in now! I like what I see. Congrats on reaching your MyFitnessPal goal! Even though you were like, "meh," and just reset the goal (baller move, there), that's a really cool milestone! My own MFP weight-loss goal seems so far off that I had never considered what it says when you actually reach that goal. Good to know. 

 

Keep up the awesomeness!

 

Haha, yeah, I expected that day to be such a big one, way back when I entered that at 245 lbs. Like, 200? What would I even look like? Who would I be?

Turns out, the answer is: the same person, but carrying a little less extra weight. Oh, and WAY more awesome overall. =)

 

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

 

Kettlebell day!  

 

Prying Squats 2x5

Strongfirst Hip Drives 2x10

Halos (10 lb bench plate) 2x10

 

Swings 2-Hand 6x10

Swings 1-Hand 4x10

(15 seconds on, 30 seconds off)

 

TGU 1x5 left, 1x5 right

 

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Demo practice was actually pretty good last night... well, for me at least. Sifu's a bit frustrated with some of the kids, because they're not putting in the practice time they need. My parts improved significantly though, including my Dao form, which is slowly getting more and more comfortable. I'm guessing that my swords will not be here in time for me to use them in the demo itself, but I'm still hoping I might be ready to use them to enter the beginner weapons division at the June 5th tournament. I can now land a halfway-decent-looking tornado kick two out of five times, and the stepstool jump-kick at the end is getting easier. 

 

One more week of practice; I think we'll be all right. =) Hoping to have video to share of this one, probably in June after editing, if all goes well!

[Luciana Valerosa Culming]

So what will you use, when your weapons don't arrive in time?

[Kyellan]

12 minutes ago, Luciana Valerosa Culming said:

So what will you use, when your weapons don't arrive in time?

 

I have a practice sword on loan from the kwoon right now that I'm working with. It has a rigid aluminium blade which looks good, but doesn't weigh much more than a wooden one. That is what I'm currently practicing with and will use for the demo day if I can't get good enough with my full-weight blade in time. =)

 

Sounds like the wife and I (with a couple friends) may check out one of the local smallish Renaissance Faires this weekend. I haven't been to this particular one in years--hopefully it's bigger & better than last time I was there, because last time it was rather disappointing. Naturally, I no longer have any period garb (it's all WAY TOO BIG  ) so we'll have to go in street clothes. I might bring my cloak if the weather is right though.

[Oramac]

1 minute ago, Kyellan said:

I no longer have any period garb (it's all WAY TOO BIG  ) 

 

Safety pins!!  But seriously, that's a good problem to have.  Hope you have fun! 

[Luciana Valerosa Culming]

That's cool. Have fun

[Toshimi]

5 hours ago, Oramac said:

 

Safety pins!!  But seriously, that's a good problem to have.  Hope you have fun! 

 

If those dont work I've fixed garb with staplers, duct tape, glue... Hope you have a great time!

[Hugh]

Great stuff! Have fun at the ren faire

 

[Kyellan]

Y'all underestimate just how big my old clothes are/were =) Remember, I actually started this whole downward trend at 295, not 245! It is a good problem to have, but not really one which can be fixed without basically a tear-apart, cut-down, and re-sew!  

 

I discovered something unpleasant this morning--out of curiosity I loaded up 100lbs on my barbell and tried to bench press it. The weight is fine, but my elbow is still not 100%, apparently. Even down at 40lbs, the bench press motion was just not okay. Every other movement seems fine with only the occasional twinge, even a push-up, but the bench press movement is just not okay for some reason. I did however switch down to the inverted row, and the pulling motion seems to be fine, both pull-up and chin-up grip, even from full extension to full flexion in the elbow. Weird.

 

So, I racked the weight back up and decided not to push my luck any farther today. If I still need healing time, then so be it. I'll keep doing what I'm doing.

 

It's going to rain this afternoon, which means no outdoor demo practice. Don't know whether that means we'll have a regular class or if we'll be doing indoor demo practice at the kwoon. I'll have to wait for the phone call.

[Kishi]

On 5/10/2016 at 11:15 PM, Elastigirl said:

That is awesome carryover effect from the swings. As far as what to do about the furniture that causes bad posture, my answer is just sit on the floor. RIght now, I am sitting cross-legged  on the floor and my computer is on a short stool in front of me.

 

On 5/10/2016 at 11:41 PM, Machete said:

 

Yup. Sitting is the new smoking.

 

 

True story: when I get a place of my own, I have every intention of going old-school Arabic on it - I'm talking carpets, cushions for seating and that's it. Desk and counter tops for raised surfaces, maybe stools if I want some flexibility in where I go.

 

I imagine it would weird out any girls I brought over, but that would balance out me being weirded out about bringing girls over to my place period.

 

Anyway, Comrade, I would counsel you not to get too preoccupied with that belly. It's an area that stores fat easily because there's not a lot of blood vessels traveling over that part of the body. So, when your body goes to burn fat, it's gonna have a very hard time reaching the stores on your belly but a way, way  easier time reaching your face or your arms or your legs.

 

That's part of the reason why I got so into training my abs. Not because it burns fat but because it increases the resting tone of the muscles, so that they show better through the adipose tissue. But even then, to be frank, it's not really anything more than vanity making me do it. It's not strictly necessary and I honestly regard it as an accessory thing to do when I get the time, which I don't always, and certainly not after a session with Swings and TGUs.

 

Meanwhile, you lost a small child off yourself. Very cool. Lose a little more and you'll have graduated to a not so small child.

[Kyellan]

Well, today was going to be a kettlebell day, but instead I got invited on a morning bike ride. We covered 16 miles (25km) in 1:13 of moving time. Total trip was about an hour and a half. Turns out I just like being on a bike, doesn't matter whether it's on the road or on the trails!

 

I was done, home and showered by 0930. Not too shabby. I rode two different bikes and got enjoyment out of both. I definitely need to get a bike. I don't even care what kind right now. I want a magic bike that will do trails and roads and everything, but I'm probably going to have to compromise somewhere. We'll see. I'll need to go talk to an expert, that's for sure.

 

Handled a couple of errands afterward, and now I've got the whole afternoon left. Awesome.

[sarakingdom]

18 hours ago, Kishi said:

 

True story: when I get a place of my own, I have every intention of going old-school Arabic on it - I'm talking carpets, cushions for seating and that's it. Desk and counter tops for raised surfaces, maybe stools if I want some flexibility in where I go.

 

Old-school Japanese, too.  I recommend it, it's the most comfortable I've ever been, when I had my desk on the floor and used the floor a lot.  I'm going to go back to it as soon as I can.  Sitting on the floor is vastly different from sitting in a chair, IMO.  Way better for flexibility and core strength and range of motion in the hips and legs.  (I'm going to be doing more office work, in an informal office, fortunately, but I'm still trying to figure out how to manage that in an office setting.  Standing desk is easy, but floor-sitting is harder outside the home.  But I don't think I can stand a chair that often.)

[Kishi]

12 minutes ago, sarakingdom said:

 

Old-school Japanese, too.  I recommend it, it's the most comfortable I've ever been, when I had my desk on the floor and used the floor a lot.  I'm going to go back to it as soon as I can.  Sitting on the floor is vastly different from sitting in a chair, IMO.  Way better for flexibility and core strength and range of motion in the hips and legs.  (I'm going to be doing more office work, in an informal office, fortunately, but I'm still trying to figure out how to manage that in an office setting.  Standing desk is easy, but floor-sitting is harder outside the home.  But I don't think I can stand a chair that often.)

 

That is really cool. A lot of my influence comes from having worked door to door and having at one point visited a neighborhood of Serbs who had been refugees from the wars there. They had humble homes on the outside, but you go inside and it's practically palatial. I remember lots of ornate carpts and sitting on the floor a lot when I was presenting. I guess that stuck with me.

[Luciana Valerosa Culming]

I'm sure you can rock this performance. You've been working so hard on your Kung Fu and practiced this form for some time. Just don't get too nervous. I'm sure you will be fine.

[Kyellan]

The weekend turned out really good. I got a ton of stuff done on Saturday, and the weather cleared up nicely on Sunday so that we were able to go to the local Renaissance Faire. It has grown a lot since last time I was there! We watched a local HEMA group do a fully-armored battle demo with various weapons (sword/buckler, longsword, halberd) and saw a jousting demo.

 

The lead on the jousting team had the most incredible horse. Thunder is a giant gray Percheron, who literally seemed to have been drawn on the wrong scale for life. This horse must have been twenty hands tall! I wish I'd thought to take a picture, but I was so caught up in the moment that it never occurred to me. 

 

Other than that, we checked out a bunch of vendors and started planning our costumes for future events. Everyone had a really good time, including my wife, who wasn't quite sure if she'd enjoy it (she'd never done anything like that before, whereas those events are just another weekend for me). But since everyone had fun, we're going to make new garb (my friend's wife was a theater major and we have awoken the costumer within  ) and plan to find other nearby events over the summer and go to them together! There are apparently more in the area than I realized. While not as good as Germany, where some of us (ahem) seem to have one every weekend or so, we've still got a few options  

 

Today... well, the less said about today the better. Let's just say I'm not impressed and leave it at that. Hopefully tomorrow won't suck quite as much.

[Luciana Valerosa Culming]

Afterall we didn't go today. It's pouring and I'm a little behind in my studies, so we decided to stay at home and enjoy our free day. I'm really glad the market turned out to be so enjoyable for you. It's cool they improved their programm and also your wife had a good time. Hopefully you'll be able to visit some more this summer. I wish you luck with getting together a costume. I think the cape ("Umhang") is one way to start. But you already have one. ^^ Next time don't forget to take some pictures. *hehe*

[Oramac]

That sounds like wicked fun!  The HEMA thing was a nice departure for you, I imagine, since it was the European styles instead of the Eastern ones.  Though I suppose you've seen enough of both to know the differences pretty well at this point.  

[Hugh]

4 minutes ago, Oramac said:

That sounds like wicked fun!  The HEMA thing was a nice departure for you, I imagine, since it was the European styles instead of the Eastern ones.  Though I suppose you've seen enough of both to know the differences pretty well at this point.  

 

The more you study HEMA and Eastern Martial Arts, the more similarities you'll see and the less differences. 

[Oramac]

1 minute ago, Hugh said:

 

The more you study HEMA and Eastern Martial Arts, the more similarities you'll see and the less differences. 

 

Yup.  The human body can only move in so many ways, so overlap is inevitable.  

[Kyellan]

24 minutes ago, Luciana Valerosa Culming said:

Afterall we didn't go today. It's pouring and I'm a little behind in my studies, so we decided to stay at home and enjoy our free day. I'm really glad the market turned out to be so enjoyable for you. It's cool they improved their programm and also your wife had a good time. Hopefully you'll be able to visit some more this summer. I wish you luck with getting together a costume. I think the cape ("Umhang") is one way to start. But you already have one. ^^ Next time don't forget to take some pictures. *hehe*

 

I also have boots, a sword belt, and some other accessories. So I'm way ahead of the game =) Mostly what I need is a new shirt, so that's what we're going to work on for me.

Sorry you're going to miss yours today, but there's definitely nothing wrong with an extra quiet free day!

 

8 minutes ago, Hugh said:

 

The more you study HEMA and Eastern Martial Arts, the more similarities you'll see and the less differences. 

 

6 minutes ago, Oramac said:

 

Yup.  The human body can only move in so many ways, so overlap is inevitable.  

 

When we were watching the Brotherhood of the Arrow and Sword do their longsword demo, my wife turned to me and commented "they look just like us doing lightsaber dueling. Except, y'know, with armor."

 

Additionally, they had a guy in Asian-style lamellar with a katana-type blade and had him go up against the longsword. Now THAT was some beautiful technique. Real good stuff. They also did some half-swording demonstration, which I think is something more uniquely western--where you choke up on the sword with your gauntlet-protected hand to get enough force and precision to drive it into the soft spots of the armor. I don't think that was as much a thing in the East, although I might be wrong.

 

It really isn't that different at all, especially when you're working unscripted. The weapons are balanced slightly differently and there's different technique to getting the most out of them--but when you come right down to it, you're trying to hit the other guy with something long and sharp. When you're training the movements, they look pretty different because the training is all about being perfectly suited to your weapon. Speed it up to full-contact, though, and everything blends into 'kill him before he kills me'. =)

 

My original plan, before I found my Kung Fu school, was to look for a HEMA group like that one. After hearing how much cash they have to pour into it, though, I'm kind of glad I didn't go that way. Still, there's a part of me that would love to get armored up and whack/get whacked with a nice steel longsword  

[Oramac]

4 minutes ago, Kyellan said:

They also did some half-swording demonstration, which I think is something more uniquely western--where you choke up on the sword with your gauntlet-protected hand to get enough force and precision to drive it into the soft spots of the armor. I don't think that was as much a thing in the East, although I might be wrong.

 

It really isn't that different at all, especially when you're working unscripted. The weapons are balanced slightly differently and there's different technique to getting the most out of them--but when you come right down to it, you're trying to hit the other guy with something long and sharp.

 

An excellent observation.  One other thing to note that is significantly different between Eastern and Western styles, is that the Western styles would use the crossguard and pommel quite a bit more.  I've never heard or seen of any style in the East that ever used those parts of the sword at all, much less offensively.  

 

Here's a picture that shows both half-swording and using the hilt as a weapon (can't link the full size version as I'm at work):

 

[Kyellan]

32 minutes ago, Oramac said:

 

An excellent observation.  One other thing to note that is significantly different between Eastern and Western styles, is that the Western styles would use the crossguard and pommel quite a bit more.  I've never heard or seen of any style in the East that ever used those parts of the sword at all, much less offensively.  

 

Here's a picture that shows both half-swording and using the hilt as a weapon (can't link the full size version as I'm at work):

 

 

Well said! They did demo the pommel and quillion work as well, which I'd forgotten until you mentioned it.

 

And you're right, I've certainly never heard it mentioned, and the most famous example (the katana) would be utterly useless in those scenarios, given that it has no pommel and a tsuba does not count as quillions. The Chinese jian also has no quillions in its traditional form, and the dao has them sometimes, but they're usually curved, and the scimitar-style curve of the blade would be worthless for half-swording or turning to use in those other contexts. Same goes for the Middle-Eastern scimitar, regardless of design.

 

I mean, somebody somewhere probably picked up a broken jian or dao and used it like a club in a moment of desperation, but that's a totally different thing than having it be part of your actual trained killing technique.

 

Turns out a good Western sword is a sword, a mace, an axe and a dagger all rolled into one!  I need to bring this up in my next D&D game. Ahem, actually, DM, that zombie DOESN'T have damage resistance against my longsword. I'm using the pommel like a mace to bash its skull in. Yep, see, max mace damage. Minus one zombie.

[Oramac]

8 minutes ago, Kyellan said:

 

Well said! They did demo the pommel and quillion work as well, which I'd forgotten until you mentioned it.

 

And you're right, I've certainly never heard it mentioned, and the most famous example (the katana) would be utterly useless in those scenarios, given that it has no pommel and a tsuba does not count as quillions. The Chinese jian also has no quillions in its traditional form, and the dao has them sometimes, but they're usually curved, and the scimitar-style curve of the blade would be worthless for half-swording or turning to use in those other contexts. Same goes for the Middle-Eastern scimitar, regardless of design.

 

I mean, somebody somewhere probably picked up a broken jian or dao and used it like a club in a moment of desperation, but that's a totally different thing than having it be part of your actual trained killing technique.

 

It is an interesting difference.  I have to wonder if there are cultural reasons for it too.  The Samurai may have seen using the pommel/hilt as dishonorable?  I don't know.  

 

 

Quote

Turns out a good Western sword is a sword, a mace, an axe and a dagger all rolled into one!

 I need to bring this up in my next D&D game. Ahem, actually, DM, that zombie DOESN'T have damage resistance against my longsword. I'm using the pommel like a mace to bash its skull in. Yep, see, max mace damage. Minus one zombie.

 

 

This actually always bothered me about D&D.  There's no reason an edged weapon can't do piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning damage.  I've even asked my DM occasionally if I can turn a single-bladed axe around and use it to deal bludgeoning damage.  They invariably say no.

[Kyellan]

11 minutes ago, Oramac said:

 

It is an interesting difference.  I have to wonder if there are cultural reasons for it too.  The Samurai may have seen using the pommel/hilt as dishonorable?  I don't know.  

 

This actually always bothered me about D&D.  There's no reason an edged weapon can't do piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning damage.  I've even asked my DM occasionally if I can turn a single-bladed axe around and use it to deal bludgeoning damage.  They invariably say no.

 

Especially in the case of the samurai, it could have definitely been an honor thing. You could hit somebody in the face with the handle of a katana, especially as a distraction, but I feel like they wouldn't. They would have seen it as an incomplete or hollow victory, I think. Of course, somebody may come along with piles of Japanese-history knowledge and say otherwise, but I think you're right--at least in Japan, those kind of 'dirty tricks' were probably grounds for seppuku.  

 

I am changing this for every D&D game I run from now on. Certain weapons can be used for other damage types for a small damage penalty. So, a longsword used as a mace will do bludgeoning or piercing damage at one reduced die type. So, two-handed (which I believe is 1d10 for a longsword in 5E) would do bludgeoning or piercing at 1d8 instead.

 

I'll likely only allow this for traditional cruciform weapons, though, and maybe a (small) breakage chance to keep these weapons from being all anyone ever uses. Like, if you reverse your weapon and fumble, you'd damage your weapon and possibly end up without one for the rest of the combat. So, it's available in situations where you need it, but you wouldn't necessarily always take the risk.

[Oramac]

2 minutes ago, Kyellan said:

I am changing this for every D&D game I run from now on. Certain weapons can be used for other damage types for a small damage penalty. So, a longsword used as a mace will do bludgeoning or piercing damage at one reduced die type. So, two-handed (which I believe is 1d10 for a longsword in 5E) would do bludgeoning or piercing at 1d8 instead.

 

I'll likely only allow this for traditional cruciform weapons, though, and maybe a (small) breakage chance to keep these weapons from being all anyone ever uses. Like, if you reverse your weapon and fumble, you'd damage your weapon and possibly end up without one for the rest of the combat. So, it's available in situations where you need it, but you wouldn't necessarily always take the risk.

 

Dude.  Are you spying on me or something?  I literally just talked this exact thing out while on my break at work.  Right down to the reduced damage die and everything.  

 

The only difference is I wouldn't restrict it to cruciform weapons only.  If the weapon had a reasonable way to deal a different damage type (like turning a single bladed axe around), I'd probably allow it.  Then again, I've never actually DM'ed anything, so what do I know? 

[Kyellan]

1 minute ago, Oramac said:

 

Dude.  Are you spying on me or something?  I literally just talked this exact thing out while on my break at work.  Right down to the reduced damage die and everything.  

 

The only difference is I wouldn't restrict it to cruciform weapons only.  If the weapon had a reasonable way to deal a different damage type (like turning a single bladed axe around), I'd probably allow it.  Then again, I've never actually DM'ed anything, so what do I know? 

 

I am the DM. I have eyes everywhere. You'd best remember that. >.>  <.<

 

And yes, you're right. I think the cruciform restriction would work well for a 'default' (for people who don't know much about weapons) but, being the merciful and wise DM that I am (muahaha) I would allow for any reasonable argument in that direction from somebody who knows the weapon.