DarK_Raider spends his summer holidays in the Monastery

[DarK_RaideR]

Monday Aug. 22nd

Muay Thai: Dropped by the Dojo in the morning, to no avail. In the afternoon there was some guy training inside, but he was not the coach/owner. I'm thinking they're cleaning up and preparing to open again pretty soon

Adulting:

Call A. for a family matter (carries onto tomorrow again)

Write the finale of the previous Ranger Mini Challenge (does anyone bother? Feels obsolete by now)

Do the dishes

Batch cook

HWA: Got big plans for the upcoming episodes

Music Blog: I'm thinking the review should drop early September, in order for people to pay attention. Right now many are still on vacation. Meanwhile, I'm considering posting about needing a local correspondent

Mr. Robot: Watched two more episodes. 6/10 done for Season 1

Lucha Underground: Watched 3 more episodes, 8/26 done. Aztec Warfare was a blast!

 

21 hours ago, RisenPhoenix said:

This sounds awesome.

 

I mean, all of your challenge sounds awesome, but this made me go "Holy shit!" when I read it.

 

Er.  Carry on then being awesome.

Appreciate it, RP. I am a fan of supporting one's local scene, especially when there wasn't the slightest trace of it around when I was growing up. Now that things have changed, I support and celebrate it through this blog.

 

20 minutes ago, Machete said:

Dropping by. Awesome. Multi-classing with the Rangers this time as well.

I am honored but not surprised you dropped by. Hope there's gonna be plenty of Muay Thai talk between you, @Red1263 and me.

[Machete]

3 minutes ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Monday Aug. 22nd

Muay Thai: Dropped by the Dojo in the morning, to no avail. In the afternoon there was some guy training inside, but he was not the coach/owner. I'm thinking they're cleaning up and preparing to open again pretty soon

 

My BJJ gym closed for the summer. That might be a thing. I don't know. The gyms seem to have slowed down the past month, but are starting to pick back up.

[DarK_RaideR]

Funny you should mention that. Cross posting from my Battle Log:

Quote

Workouts: I've been really itchy with my CF box and the Muay Thai dojo both closed. This is also affecting my nutrition consistency, mainly because CF kicks my ass so mercilessly it allows no room for error on eating/drinks. On the bright side, one of the SRLF's friends from Krav Maga has finally decided to give crossfit a try and reached out to me for advice. Of course, I jumped on the opportunity and this Friday I'll be training at that box with her, another lady from class and probably the Krav Maga coach as well. If nothing else, it's a nice one-shot. Training alongside familiar faces is a big plus and considering my upcoming box jump (pun intended) this one's almost as far as CF Pireaus that I've set my sights on, so I might even end up subscribing there.

 

[Fonzico]

I hear you on the nutrition front. I've been kind of eating like an asshole since my kettlebell classes stopped for the summer. You may not be able to outrun your fork, but it seems like you need to race it in order to keep it downtrodden. Or something. This metaphor is falling apart.

Hopefully the dojo opens soon and you can get cracking on that list!

[RisenPhoenix]

16 hours ago, Fonzico said:

You may not be able to outrun your fork, but it seems like you need to race it in order to keep it downtrodden.

 

This... sounds like a wonderful metaphor.  And I'm going to keep it.  Even if it degraded a bit.

[DarK_RaideR]

Oh wow, I thought I was a day or two behind on updating this, but last one was Monday wtf.

 

It is now Friday Aug. 26th as I update and here's my news so far:

Muay Thai: Nothing new here, hoping this opens on Monday

Adulting: No progress here. I should probably go and type the finale to the Ranger mini after posting this ffs

HWA: Patience...

Music Blog: Nothing to report here either

Mr. Robot: 7/10 episodes so far

Lucha Underground: Just watched another episode, I'm currently halfway through at 13/26

 

I trained this morning, here's how that got arranged and how it went down. On the subject of switching boxes, I don't think this'll be the one. Distance-wise it's almost like going to CF Pireaus and the traffic is similar. It is not an affiliate, which I would like since I intend to do the Open and competitions, but rather an oldschool gym with a seperate room for crossfitting (I know). Coach was ok, but he does the only morning class. I was told there's a mildly psychopathic and a crappy coach taking turns teaching afternoon classes. Considering I work until the evening, I'm stuck with the bad coaches. Last but not least, my reasoning for giving that place a chance was because I'd be training among friends. Today's class consisted mainly of people from the SRLF's Krav Maga class (including her instructor) and the atmosphere was great, but if you take out one of the noob ladies, everyone else plans to train mornings, so that's gone as well.

 

Looks like CF Pireaus will be my new home. The question is, will I like Muay Thai and try to combine both? With the academic year beginning soon, my Tuesday and Thursday evenings will be busy during September, December, February and March due to elective classes for my Masters (plus the final dissertation). Assuming I dig MT, my plan currently looks like this:

 

September: Use it to try out Muay Thai between classes

October: Possibly try to combine Muay Thai and Crossfit

November: Repeat October and modify as needed if the workouts feel too much

December: Pick either Crossfit or Muay Thai to do. Feels ok to take it easier with the holidays around

January: Jump back onto both

February: Like December, pick one. Probably Crossfit, since the Open begins late February

March: The Open continues on into this month, so probably like February

April: Pick one of two to do, like December with Easter around. Also, depending on the status of my dissertation by that point, plan for the coming months

[RisenPhoenix]

I have never thought of dropping a workout task during a holiday month, but that actually sounds like an awesome idea to help not over load things. (Though for my holidays I'm usually away from the things that would let me work out, so it makes me extra grumpy. Probably why dropping things didn't pop up in my brain.)

 

And damn. I wish I had been as physically active as you when I was in grad school. I was just the typical sedentary, pudgy lab rat. Ah, hindsight being 20/20. 

[DarK_RaideR]

18 hours ago, RisenPhoenix said:

I have never thought of dropping a workout task during a holiday month, but that actually sounds like an awesome idea to help not over load things. (Though for my holidays I'm usually away from the things that would let me work out, so it makes me extra grumpy. Probably why dropping things didn't pop up in my brain.)

 

And damn. I wish I had been as physically active as you when I was in grad school. I was just the typical sedentary, pudgy lab rat. Ah, hindsight being 20/20. 

On the other hand, I've set ambitious challenge goals in the past without taking into account holidays and travelling that were coming down the road. Learning from failures and all that.

 

Oh, and this is my second Masters course. I was pretty sedentary too during the original grad school and for quite a few years after that.

 

P.S. I finished the first season of Mr. Robot yesterday!

[Teros]

On 8/20/2016 at 10:17 AM, DarK_RaideR said:

I've seen the first 2 or 3 episodes of Mr.Robot and my Special Ranger Lady Friend (SRLF) says I need to catch up so we can start watching the second season. I also got into Lucha Underground about a month ago and it's awesome! Finished all 39 episodes of the first season last week (thanks long ferry voyages to and from my hometown!) and I want to blaze through Season 2 as well before September 7, when the third season of LU premieres

 

I've never watched L.U. but I've heard good things from it and Johnny Mundo (JoMo) is one of the top guys there.  I'm beyond behind in terms of any wrestling.  I listen to a podcast which covers some UFC and WWE but that's it at the moment.  Having trouble investing in it.

[Kishi]

You wouldn't be the first person to try combining MT and CF. Indeed, it's actually a pretty common arrangement, or at least around here it is. Depending on what modalities they offer at MT, you might just be able to swing both at that place.

 

Also, FWIW, I like how you're looking at your schedule and making time and planning out your training. I reckon I could learn a thing or two from that approach.

[Red1263]

I have 2 things to say:

1) I look forward to MT conversations

2) I've been thinking about getting a Masters (this will be my first and it'll be in prosthetics while my B.S. is in Biology) and I've no idea how to come about it. And advice?

Sent from my SM-G925T using Tapatalk

[DarK_RaideR]

Let me get the update out of the way first

 

Saturday Aug. 27th

Muay Thai: The light was on in the changing rooms when I passed by at night. All signs of activity point to it opening soon

Adulting: Boy, this has fallen behind hasn't it?

HWA: Might post a new episode Monday

Music Blog: Nothing to report here

Mr. Robot: Season 1 complete!

Lucha Underground: Had problems with viewing the next episode, so that fell slightly behind, but I "obtained" all the remaining episodes of Season 2 

 

17 hours ago, Teros said:

I've never watched L.U. but I've heard good things from it and Johnny Mundo (JoMo) is one of the top guys there.  I'm beyond behind in terms of any wrestling.  I listen to a podcast which covers some UFC and WWE but that's it at the moment.  Having trouble investing in it.

Do yourself a favor and check it out. It's all I want: a one hour show (as opposed to 3 hour RAWs), great workers that are allowed to display their craft, promos and vigniettes that look like a movie or series (Robert Rodriguez is directing this), less emphasis on face/heel alignment and gimmicks, decent talent rotation, surprises, match stipulations that make sense (no countouts or DQ for title matches). In a way, it's a modern day ECW and I mean that more in terms of innovation than violence and gore.

 

8 hours ago, Kishi said:

You wouldn't be the first person to try combining MT and CF. Indeed, it's actually a pretty common arrangement, or at least around here it is. Depending on what modalities they offer at MT, you might just be able to swing both at that place.

 

Also, FWIW, I like how you're looking at your schedule and making time and planning out your training. I reckon I could learn a thing or two from that approach.

I work mornings but the time I leave fluctuates wildly. Smaller boxes like the one I started in, work with booking your spot. This means I need a larger box that offers evening classes even as late as 8pm. My current box is like that and has worked for me, CF Pireaus is like that as well. Muay Thai's evening classes run Monday to Friday, 18:00-20:00 for beginners and 20:00-22:00 for advanced so I'm worried that some days I won't be able to make it.

 

I just checked the Dojo's FB page to confirm the above hours and there's a new post about expanding kids' classes to include teens and a new competitive teens division, starting Monday 19. If that's the date they open in general, it feels too long.

 

Hope the advance training plan idea works for you. I know lack thereof hasn't worked for me. Like they say, if you're failing to plan you're planning to fail or something along those lines.

 

2 hours ago, Red1263 said:

I have 2 things to say:

1) I look forward to MT conversations

2) I've been thinking about getting a Masters (this will be my first and it'll be in prosthetics while my B.S. is in Biology) and I've no idea how to come about it. And advice?

1) As do I

2) I'm pretty sure these things are slightly different in the U.S. but it wouldn't hurt to research your options both in matters of subject and cost. Consider the added value you'll be gaining from such a degree and how you'll use it to steer yourself towards doing the thing you want (I'd hate to use the word "career"). Be sure to check course descriptions, the name of the degree or even classes offered can be deceptive and it's a shame to discover halfway through that it's not what you imagined. Last but not least, consider all other factors during that time and make sure there's nothing scheduled or highly possible down that road that might distract you from classes or drain your focus and willpower. That's what I can think of right now, but feel free to discuss the matter here.

[Teros]

5 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

 

Do yourself a favor and check it out. It's all I want: a one hour show (as opposed to 3 hour RAWs), great workers that are allowed to display their craft, promos and vigniettes that look like a movie or series (Robert Rodriguez is directing this), less emphasis on face/heel alignment and gimmicks, decent talent rotation, surprises, match stipulations that make sense (no countouts or DQ for title matches). In a way, it's a modern day ECW and I mean that more in terms of innovation than violence and gore.

 

So where do I *start* per say? (link/recent episode?)

[DarK_RaideR]

On 28/8/2016 at 4:02 PM, Teros said:

So where do I *start* per say? (link/recent episode?)

It airs on El Rey network and Season 3 starts on September 7th. I read that new episodes will also be available on iTunes but for seasons 1 (39 episodes) and 2 (26 episodes) you'll probably have to look up some torrent websites

 

 

Monday, August 29th

 

Muay Thai: Contacted the dojo on Sunday and learned they were open the next day. Got the info and did my first tryout so 2 out of 4 steps completed

Adulting: Uhmmmm

HWA: Yyyyyeah....

Music Blog: Rrrrright

Mr. Robot: Season 1 complete!

Lucha Underground: 15/26 episodes of Season 2 watched

 

Muay Thai stuff, cross-posted from my Battle Log:

Quote

 

Workouts: First workout of the week and my first Muay Thai tryout. Coach has a reputation and apparently well worth it because he knows what he's doing and how. With him being a known activist too, the place has a lot of character to it and thankfully it's free from various character types who seem to have infested the combat sports scene. I was told to keep up at my own pace and actually did pretty good with that, thanks to an already decent state of conditioning. From what the coach said, this week he'll be stressing the fitness/aerobic part because of everyone returning from holidays.

 

The 2 hour class kicked off with about 10' of Jump Rope and I had to adapt to the old, heavy ones as well as doing it with bare feet. Next was a lot of running plus the usual arm/hand/shoulder warmup drills. What made these first two parts harder was the incense burning somewhere inside, not exactly what you want to breathe in when pulse goes up. We did plenty of stretching/mobility stuff next as well as a lot of bodyweight exercises. I was a little thrown off by the style and pace required, especially for pushups. Blame the crossfitter in me being typical with reps and range of motion, but I chose to do proper pushups. Moving onto the technical part, we learned to hold a proper fighting stance and how to throw jabs, hooks and uppercuts. Had to focus on making the shots longer than boxing (blame the movies) because as the teacher explained, in MT all punches are used from medium distance, if you get that close you switch to elbows, knees and grapples. We then did some left-right punch combos, then put some bodyweight reps between combos. As a goodbye gift, we were handed either a smack kick on the outer thigh or an ankle kick on the inner. Quite like eating a sneaky spicy food, the initial pain went away fast after a few seconds and just when I thought it wasn't that bad, the real pain registered. Ended up limping back home, struggling with stairs and expecting a bruise which oddly enough, hasn't appeared even as I write this the next morning.

 

Will I go there? Hard to tell, it's not like I know what MT is all about after one class, especially a class focused mainly on getting everyone back into shape. I know the location is convenient, I can afford it and the teacher/place/students are cool. I'm just not sure about the training itself. Maybe I'll be able to tell after some sparring or punchbag training.

 

 

[Red1263]

Sounds like you had a great day! I actually signed up for my MT class after the first day [emoji14]

Sent from my SM-G925T using Tapatalk

[Volki]

Hey DR sorry im late to the party

 

I am definitely jealous and would love to get into MT myself so I will

be living through you as well lol

 

Also I will most likely end up over here with the monks next 4WC so 

I will see you around!

 

Also I am all the way caught up with Mr. Robot and its a lot better in season 2 IMO.

[DarK_RaideR]

Tuesday, August 30th

 

Muay Thai: 2 out of 4 steps completed. Rest day and looks like I'll be missing Wednesday's class

Adulting:

Phonecall

Long due phonecall

Write mini finale

Dishes

Batch cook

Buy cat food

HWA: Soon...

Music Blog: September's right around the corner

Mr. Robot: Season 1 complete! I'll take your word for it @Volki

Lucha Underground: 17/26 episodes of Season 2 watched

 

[DarK_RaideR]

Wednesday, August 31st

 

Muay Thai: 2 out of 4 steps completed. Still got sore calves and quad, walking and sitting/standing up are still a chalenge

Adulting:

Buy cat food

Book ticket for a festival in October

Pay off installment for my Masters

Long due phonecall

Write mini finale

HWA: Probably gonna be posted Thursday or Friday

Music Blog: Might put out the EP review by the end of the week

Mr. Robot: Watched the first episode of Season 2 with the SRLF. It's getting a little hard to follow with all the insanity involved

Lucha Underground: 17/26 episodes of Season 2 watched

Dog days Summer holidays are over and their later part involved getting back into Total Extreme Warfare '05 (because it's the only freeware of the series). TEW is a wrestling manager game with a manual that explains a lot about the looks of the game and practically nothing about its gameplay mechanism, leaving a lot up to trial and error. I've always played smaller federations which are easier to run, but their small budget also meant little room for error before they go bust. This time I finally managed a modicum of success (survival, a minor rise in popularity and even making a marginal profit) and it was enough to get me hooked. Being the first game in the series, presentation and ease of navigation still suffer, which means I had to keep a lot of data on my own spreadsheets. All in all, everything a manager game needs to be in order to suck up loads of free time and keep one's mind busy with heaps of unimportant information. What I'm saying here is my stay-cation was somewhat unproductive but fun and since I can't install the game on my work computer to keep me occupied on lazy days, a lot of it should provide cross-benefits for my HWA and Lucha Underground goals

[deftona]

I love TEW, even that little write up made me want to play it again. It's such a timesuck, in the best possible sense of the phrase.

[DarK_RaideR]

11 minutes ago, deftona said:

I love TEW, even that little write up made me want to play it again. It's such a timesuck, in the best possible sense of the phrase.

I'll be completely honest, initially I sank my teeth into the editor and began creating HWA and its characters, but thought it would be better if I actually learned to play the game properly first.

[DarK_RaideR]

I've been unusually inconsistent in updating this. Jumping straight into

 

Friday, September 2nd

 

Muay Thai: Made it to training and subscribed afterwards, so 3 out of 4 steps completed

Adulting: Some stuff at work, all done

HWA: New episode is up

Music Blog: Might put out the EP review by the end of the week

Lucha Underground: 18/26 episodes of Season 2 watched

[Kishi]

I feel you on inconsistency. I can't seem to make the time to be here and update for myself.

 

Based on the fact that you subscribed to your MT place, I assume that things got better after the initial training? I checked your battle log, just to be sure, but it doesn't say, so I have to assume.

 

Also, yeah man, that short WOD-style training just doesn't have the carryover to longer stuff that they like to pretend it does. It really doesn't. I remember, I used to train with that kind of modality a lot, and then I ended up taking a job over Christmas holidays working for UPS. I had to load trucks for hours and hours, and let me tell you: that short style of training did nothing to save me.

 

Which obviously isn't to say that it isn't worth doing, but rather that it's a tool in a box that can't be your only tool in the box. YKWIM?

[DarK_RaideR]

13 hours ago, Kishi said:

Based on the fact that you subscribed to your MT place, I assume that things got better after the initial training? I checked your battle log, just to be sure, but it doesn't say, so I have to assume.

Well, kinda. Here's the post from my second training for your convenience. Truth is, I don't expect to "get it" in a class or two, plus it was my second freebie tryout class and I felt bad to keep on freeriding. Giving it a shot for a month and we'll see by the end of it.

 

13 hours ago, Kishi said:

Also, yeah man, that short WOD-style training just doesn't have the carryover to longer stuff that they like to pretend it does. It really doesn't. I remember, I used to train with that kind of modality a lot, and then I ended up taking a job over Christmas holidays working for UPS. I had to load trucks for hours and hours, and let me tell you: that short style of training did nothing to save me.

 

Which obviously isn't to say that it isn't worth doing, but rather that it's a tool in a box that can't be your only tool in the box. YKWIM?

I get it. A while back when I read the articles for CF Level 1 certification and the part about building a workout talks about 3 categories of exercises (metcon, lifting, gymnastics) and 3 ways of setting up a WOD: First option has something from all three and is basically an AMRAP, second is a mix of 2 categories for time and the third is single focus taking it low and slow. This last one means something like a 10k run for metcon or a slow build up to a 1RM for one of your lifts or spending the entire workout trying to master a gymnastics skill. Obviously, mass consumption CF boxes won't really bother with that last option, unless it's memorial day doing Murph (which doesn't even happen round these parts).

 

Saturday, September 3rd

 

Muay Thai: 3 out of 4 steps completed. Good to see that my calves are fine this time and no DOMS are present

Adulting: Did most of the grocery shopping with the SRLF

HWA: Saving this for the boring days at work

Music Blog: Might put out the EP review by the end of the week

Lucha Underground: Still at 18/26 episodes of Season 2

[DarK_RaideR]

Sunday, September 4th

 

Muay Thai: 3 out of 4 steps completed. Ready to return for Monday's training

Adulting: Sunday was mostly a rest day

HWA: Going to review it on Monday, how's everyone liking it so far?

Music Blog: Another thing to be taken care of on Monday

Lucha Underground: Stuck at 18/26 episodes of Season 2 and September 7th is approaching fast. On the flipside, we watched (most of) Summerslam with the SRLF.

[Kishi]

You know, I hadn't read HWA until you asked. I just checked out the most recent episode... and now I'm wondering what I've been doing with my life. This thing needs the freaking comic treatment. Get Udon on the phone for this one!