Chris rejoins the party

[ChrisWithaStick]

Thanks all.  Insurance is being super helpful so far, which is good.  Car's getting checked out in the next couple of days, so I'll know more about repair or new car then.  It was driver side, close to the driver, but low speed.  I wasn't really pushed far. Had I been in an old car or a truck, it probably would've been a dent in the bumper or panel. 

 

Taking the day off anyway...it's been a while since I've had a big hit of adrenaline, I forgot how draining it is. 

 

[Lou_be_Lou]

Oh my word - take good car of yourself - loads of kitty cuddles required after that!  Glad that you're ok - thats the important bit - phew for it being at a slow speed. 

 

Yep, you definitely need some self pampering after a shock like that, or go and hit things, or a combination of the two. 

 

Wowser. Good luck with the insurance.

[ChrisWithaStick]

So - actual challenge related update (haven't heard about the car).

 

Still mixed on getting to bed on time.  I shall be joining the League of Temperance (or Insomnoholics Anonymous) on the next challenge (see Sarakingdom's post)

 

Suburi has kind of gone out the window.

 

A long walk did happen today - needed to go to the store, and didn't want to drive the rental.  After 6 years with an Impreza (sniff), a tank sized van (Kia Sedona - it's all they had - I thought I was getting a mini-van) kind of freaks me out. A) It's a lot wider and longer than my car, so I don't have a good feel for how it occupies a lane yet.  and B  ) Seattle has super narrow parking spaces - even parked correctly, I'll need to pull the side mirrors in.  So...I'll be doing lots of walking for local needs.  Bonus irony from the car wreck, I suppose.

 

I was cooking the first part of the week.  Eating kind of went out the window yesterday and part of today, but I'll be back on track tomorrow. 

 

Kitty has settled down some, so the adjustment period is going well.  He still gets up at odd hours, but isn't meowing as much.  I.e., the sleeping thing might improve.

 

In the + column, I put up my pull-up bar in a door way and have been doing some hanging and shoulder/lat acknowledgement work, and both my shoulders are saying 'yesss....'  so I figure that's a good thing.  I'm not pushing hard (have only went with full body weight a couple of times to test), and just about 30 seconds of play at a time, off and on while I'm home.  Weirdly enough, my elbow, which was starting to really complain again, is also feeling better after the hang time.  So, I figure I'll continue with small amounts of hang-time with shoulder/lat activation (i.e., let the shoulders rise up, then pull them back into place - I think I've seen it called 'packing'?) and a few pulls here and there (I can't yet do a full pull up - that might be a goal in the next challenge, or maybe a longer 'character' goal).  Not even getting close to any kind of failure, just getting the joints familiar with being active in a different way. 

 

Overall - mixed week so far, but not horribly bad. 

[Kishi]

Well, any wreck you walk away from is probably a good one, right? It's good, then. Take it a day at a time.

 

Also, that motion you describe on the bar is referred to as Packing, or at least that's how I've heard of it. To focus on the motion is called doing a Scap Pull Up. It's a legit strategy.

[ChrisWithaStick]

On 9/10/2016 at 1:49 PM, Kishi said:

Well, any wreck you walk away from is probably a good one, right? It's good, then. Take it a day at a time.

That's the mentality I'm taking.  So far, so good on injury/odd soreness (neither).  Otherwise, now it's just hurry up and wait to see if it can be repaired.

 

On 9/10/2016 at 1:49 PM, Kishi said:

Also, that motion you describe on the bar is referred to as Packing, or at least that's how I've heard of it. To focus on the motion is called doing a Scap Pull Up. It's a legit strategy.

Ok, thought so on the first, and good to know on the second.  It's good to have found a couple of movement cues - my shoulders have been creaky lately, and this seems to be getting them a little less so.  Do you have a favorite reference on Scap pull ups?  It's also a good reminder that I'd like to be working on pull-ups.

 

Class today - some work with kusurigama.  It's amazing how natural an elbow check is in the right context.  Now if only we actually were supposed to do one...  Also some further refinement work on the kodachi set we're looking at developing. 

 

Food has been better for the weekend, including two big salads.  I will say the sad part of summer ending is not grilling as much, since that's now my favorite way to deal with lettuce. 

 

Got a walk in this afternoon, and a little more bar work, continuing with the short sessions of hanging and shoulder work. 

[Mistr]

Yay for the new kitty and Boo! for the car accident.

 

I'm glad that you are getting some exercise at home that is helping your shoulders. Sounds like you are making progress on a lot of fronts. Hang in there!

[Kishi]

Grilled veggies are amazing, and I feel so bad that I missed out on this method of preparation for so long.

[ChrisWithaStick]

2 hours ago, Kishi said:

Grilled veggies are amazing, and I feel so bad that I missed out on this method of preparation for so long.

I've also found this is where having a cast iron or steel pan is handy - best asparagus ever - cast iron on the grill, tossed in oil of choice (I like olive) and a dash of salt.  Close the grill, stir a couple of times while waiting, and pull them when tips just start to get crisp....I think it's the hot air in the grill that adds that extra bit of something that's better than sauteing on the stove.

 

So - bed time has been right around midnight.  Not the 11 pm I was aiming for, but better than it has been, so, small progress. 

 

Didn't cook last night, did tonight, and realized that canned yellow fin tuna smells a whole hell of a lot like cat food...so did the cat, since he tried to get into the sink to lick the can (I wash them before recycling so they don't stink).

 

Class last night- trained with my sempai - ended up being interesting, as we had a 'how did you do that?' moment on a particular wrapping type throw (naginata throwing a tachi in this case).  He did a variation of the movement that was interestingly effective, and gave some food for thought as to why the standard when done right is very effective, and how to deal with off body position.  Plus, it's just unique to have your weapon's momentum arrested, weight just barely pulled into the wrong vector to move (heels didn't lift, but I still had to shift back into at least one of them) and have sempai put his blade in my face...(I had the short weapon).  I can think of a couple of people that could pull something off and not get skewered, but I was flat footed and as we say in class, mighty ded...

 

Time for some more um, hang-time... 

  

[ChrisWithaStick]

Apparently it's zero week.

 

So - quick wrap up -

 

Suburi was a fail. 

Getting to bed on time was a B-,

cooking was a solid B (I choose to ignore car wreck weekend),

Dancing...I need to call my teacher.

Stretching was a non-traditional A-.  Figuring out the pull up bar to do some hanging stretches and working the shoulders and lats (assisted - I can't do pull ups YET).  And while I didn't sign up for private lessons in dance, I did do some work at home which incorporates some stretching, in addition to mixed rounds of static stretching.

 

We had class today, and it was just my teacher and sempai and me, and did a lot of work on short sword kata.  I think we have the rough sketch for all the ones we're considering, and will be polishing before we present to anyone else in the ryu.  It's a very interesting project - considering what kinds of attacks a sword would make, and how to respond - all being congruent with our ryu.  Again - these won't  ever be something official to the ryu - it's a study project that might create an adjunct practice for some of us. 

 

Anywho - on to zero week!

[Kishi]

So it looks from here like it was a touch and go kind of challenge for you this time around. What got done got done well provided it got done.

 

There's no shame in that kind of performance. Taking and holding the ground is every bit as valid a thing as moving forward. Now do you think that you'll be able to keep those things whilst also working in dance and suburi?

[Mistr]

The short sword work sounds like fun. Looks like you are in the made-some-progress-have-a-ways-to-go stage for most things, which means that you have a good start on the next challenge.