The Assassin's Path

[Mad Hatter]

Oh and thanks for sharing your thoughts. It’s interesting how powerlifting in particular seems to have an empowering effect on many women. I sent the documentary to my friend and she really liked it as well, and the idea that once you shift your mindset and take control of the things you can control you can accomplish a lot more than you think.

[@mu]

18 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Ooh I do hope you’ll share, your cats you did some time ago were great! 
 

I like the monsters.

 

Here is a bunch. But it's clearly not the same as my cat vs samovar period I just want to get pigment down on a piece of paper. It's funny because I have periods when I'm really into illustrating some story or a random picture popping into my brain. Back in Scotland, I did a fair amount of comic stories where the (anti-)hero was a chameleon, and there were recurring characters (an owl, a horse, a cat and a psychopathic little flower among others). These days i don't have much coming past one frame. And sometimes I just pick a picture I like or a YouTube tutorial.

I did get Molotow acrylic markers recently (another impulsive buy...) and I'm very happy with them (hue / opacity), I need to learn how to use them though... especially for light/shadows/gradients.

 

Spoiler

 

 

18 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Oh and thanks for sharing your thoughts. It’s interesting how powerlifting in particular seems to have an empowering effect on many women. I sent the documentary to my friend and she really liked it as well, and the idea that once you shift your mindset and take control of the things you can control you can accomplish a lot more than you think.

 

I'm glad she liked it  

 

 

Friday => was supposed to be leg flex day, it did not happen, and I don't think it will work with the return of the bike commute...

 

Saturday => still too tired, I slept a lot, did some drawing, then it was too hot to train, and then I was too tired again.

 

Sunday => HSPU training + some HS puppets

 

One last day of work to go and I'm on holiday.  At last. I will need to reshuffle a bit my flex programming. I will go back to one flex session a week. I do need 2 rest days. And cherry pick Contortion Strong exercises. Some in my Monday session, some in HS prep. But holiday first, I'll go as I feel, see what works what doesn't. And recover from that sleep deficit I have been running on for while.

 

[WhiteGhost]

I love that cow!  The fish is very nice too

[Mad Hatter]

 

On 7/12/2020 at 12:16 PM, @mu said:

Back in Scotland, I did a fair amount of comic stories where the (anti-)hero was a chameleon, and there were recurring characters (an owl, a horse, a cat and a psychopathic little flower among others).

This sounds brilliant.  

 

I adore the llamasaurus and the red and orange color scheme! ?I'm finding markers really fun - the speed and that it doesn't let you tinker. But it does make it more difficult to plan, especially the light areas. Please keep posting your drawings and if you find interesting artists/videos, I love it.

[@mu]

5 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

I love that cow!  The fish is very nice too

 

Cheers! The fish ended up with a lobster pincer for a tail somehow but hey

 

Monday => my previous flex session as I used to do it, with just some swapping between Contortion Strong and Cirque Physio. Some HS head in work.

 

Last day at work was nice and light. I did the ticket I had to do in less than 2 hours, a fair amount of table football followed, and then I programmed the equivalent of Google Authenticator. The main algorithm is in the RFC so it was not exactly a brainy thing to do. But it was fun to enter my own key in Google Auth and watch how it synchronized with my own. Programming can be very contemplative I'm not entirely sure we will need it but it was fun to do.

 

I"M ON HOLIDAY !

 

 

 

 

 

Sharing some more drawings

 

 

 

4 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

 

This sounds brilliant.  

 

I adore the llamasaurus and the red and orange color scheme! ?I'm finding markers really fun - the speed and that it doesn't let you tinker. But it does make it more difficult to plan, especially the light areas. Please keep posting your drawings and if you find interesting artists/videos, I love it.

 

So those are acrylic markers (Molotow Twins with a fine and larger nib all in one, and you can recharge them too). You can highlight areas on top of the existing drawing. This I why I like acrylics so much because I have a very hard time planning for lighter areas.  When I get started, I usually don't have all the details in my head and it changes as I draw. I often get lights & shadows wrong anyway. And if I do manage to keep some white, it's still not like that good old opaque acrylic Titanium white.

I do find it a bit harder to get gradients because it dries quickly, but it's doable with a paint brush and some water (I haven't tried acrylic medium yet but I think on paper water is just fine). I just need to get used to it / understand how it works.

 

 

[Mad Hatter]

Ooh nice, I didn't know they had so much coverage. I get light and shadows wrong too all the time, it's very easy to go on auto pilot and then look up and realize what I've put down doesn't make any sense haha.

The alcohol based markers dry extremely quickly too. But they're transparent which makes it actually possible to do smooth gradients, you just have to work fast and confidently as you can't really put the marker down until you're done. I can imagine it being really difficult with an opaque medium. Nice that you found a way to work around it.

 

The chameleon is dope! And your shapes overall are really nice.

[@mu]

On 7/14/2020 at 11:53 AM, Mad Hatter said:

Ooh nice, I didn't know they had so much coverage.

 

Yes, they really do. I'd recommend some white acrylic if one day you need to recover some white space, it's life changing  

 

So back from the mountains but holiday is still on. Here is a HS pic in front of "my" tree

 

 

It's a Lebanon cedar and it was planted when I was born... 41 years ago... Look at that beast now

 

Mostly HSPUs and puppets this week. I'll update my challenge soon. Off for a stroll.

 

[@mu]

A few drawings

 

Spoiler

A samovar, I wanted to make a silverish one and it came out more like... ceramic sort of

 

 

A Garfield study  

 

 

Pity there is no glass effect, something to work on I guess

 

 

John Whitaker and Milton (a famous show jumping pair in the 80s-90s), erm

 

 

A bit of a fail in the details for that one but I loved that shape of my cat

 

 

Role inversion

 

 

Random boat from wasted palette paint I didn't want to throw away

 

 

Another use of wasted paint, let's call it a tree spirit

 

 

A first face attempt with markers... shape is not quite right and colours are wrong, but hey

 

 

it was based on this, just so that you visualise the GAP

 

And some plain chameleon frames

 

 

 

And I received an invit to a HS "Next Level" coaching group with Garage Gym Girl ...click click, buy... It will start in September and last for 8 weeks, it includes a personal programme, a weekly video review, weekly group classes and calls, and all this on a dedicated group platform (not Facebook). I just need to pick my goals, probably press and HSPUs.

 

[@mu]

The coaching group will start August 31 with a first week of assessments and then 8 weeks of coaching (she will develop a custom plan for every student).  I'm super excited!

 

The aerial class will also start again around that time. I expect we will have the same aerial teacher as last year... That's not exactly a super enjoyable thought to be honest but that's how it is. I'm happy to see my aerial pals though, we all booked the same day (Tuesday this year, instead of Thursday and that should be a good change because I'm usually pretty tired by the end of the week).

There is also a bunch of work things that were postponed because of covid that will come up (a client demo and a certification audit).

I expect September-October to be busy  (and sore ). 

 

I'm mildly motivated by the idea of starting a new challenge thread right now when I see what's coming ahead and I'm kinda enjoying that holiday feeling   I AM motivated enough to keep eking pike presses twice a week for sure, and otherwise keeping up with my press to HS + head-in work, maybe adding some pike press prep that Kirsty added recently to the programme. Some flexibility, some aerial straddle up work. The usual. So I'll probably keep to my battle log for a while.

 

[Mad Hatter]

On 7/25/2020 at 4:37 PM, @mu said:

Yes, they really do. I'd recommend some white acrylic if one day you need to recover some white space, it's life changing  

Do you know if you can use alcoholic markers on top? I believe people use white out to cover up mistakes, I wonder what that's made of...

 

LOL @"candidate to world domination" ?And how you pushed the gesture of your cat, it's rather lovely!

 

On 7/25/2020 at 4:37 PM, @mu said:

It's a Lebanon cedar and it was planted when I was born... 41 years ago... Look at that beast now

WHICH ONE?  

 

6 hours ago, @mu said:

The coaching group will start August 31 with a first week of assessments and then 8 weeks of coaching (she will develop a custom plan for every student).  I'm super excited!

COOOOOL! I'm sure it will be amazing! 

[@mu]

On 7/27/2020 at 3:37 PM, Mad Hatter said:

Do you know if you can use alcoholic markers on top? I believe people use white out to cover up mistakes, I wonder what that's made of...

 

Apparently not:

http://ilikemarkers.blogspot.com/2012/05/copics-and-acrylic-paint.html

 

But I guess acrylics on top of copics is ok? at least for the white bit if you want it really opaque.

 

On 7/27/2020 at 3:37 PM, Mad Hatter said:

WHICH ONE?  

 

lolz

 

Monday

 

A little change in plan, I usually do flexibility but I was in the mood for press (last week I mostly did puppets instead). Apart from the warm-up bit, I followed a skills + conditioning plan from Kirsty's new press instalment. So endurance holds, straddle and pike press drills, and some killing superset with straddle presses, seated pike leg raises and chest to wall holds all in one go. I liked it, I have been following the same press workout format for too long, I'm enjoying the change.

I also did some straddle up work and I felt my finger joints getting grumpy... a bit lacking in silks grip work these days (very different from a solid bar).

 

Late afternoon, we went swimming with friends to a pretty awesome river spot, the water was very clear, and not too cold. It was great! I'm not a good swimmer but I like water

 

Tuesday

 

REST

 

Spoiler

I finally had that visit to a dermatologist for real and all my beauty spots are fine. He gave me a 3-month treatment for the rashes I get sometimes. And otherwise I have to apply a factor 50+ under the sun which I already do. And check in with a dermatologist every year...

I also had a full blood check and I'll have to talk to my GP because results indicate an immune system deficiency + chronic kidney disease stage 2 apparently (it's very mild but I'm a bit shocked because even mild damage is not reversible). Everything else is green though. 

 

Wednesday

 

HSPU training: iso at 4cm 6 reps / 50s accumulated, and volume at 8cm went much better than last time.

Some biking in town.

 

Thursday

 

Flex practice (hips, shoulders, back) with some moderate HS (holds, Sasha sequence with normal head position, scorpion drill against the wall). And I also did some silks grip work (holds with long / short arms / left / right / inverted).

Here are a couple of reps of what I call “Sasha sequence” to clarify maybe (from Handstand Factory, I'm supposed to work on it head-in but I wanted to have a check with my natural head position). I don't get over my butt enough yet. I compensate with a lot of abs, hence the legs popping up when I start swapping legs. I think that's what happening, I need to get a bit more comfy over my butt

 

 

[Mad Hatter]

On 7/30/2020 at 11:18 AM, @mu said:

http://ilikemarkers.blogspot.com/2012/05/copics-and-acrylic-paint.html

Thanks for the link, I've saved it for potential future experiments.  

 

On 7/30/2020 at 11:18 AM, @mu said:

 

  Hide contents

I finally had that visit to a dermatologist for real and all my beauty spots are fine. He gave me a 3-month treatment for the rashes I get sometimes. And otherwise I have to apply a factor 50+ under the sun which I already do. And check in with a dermatologist every year...

I also had a full blood check and I'll have to talk to my GP because results indicate an immune system deficiency + chronic kidney disease stage 2 apparently (it's very mild but I'm a bit shocked because even mild damage is not reversible). Everything else is green though. 

 

 

Spoiler

Oof that is scary to find out something like that. Super happy that it's mild. But it's good to find out and that he did a full blood check rather than guessing.

 

[@mu]

On 7/31/2020 at 3:19 PM, Mad Hatter said:

 

  Hide contents

Oof that is scary to find out something like that. Super happy that it's mild. But it's good to find out and that he did a full blood check rather than guessing.

 

 

Spoiler

Yeah, it's a bit meh#@!? but glad to know early. The odd thing is that half of chronic kidney disease cases are due to diabetes and/or hypertension. I don't have either.  My creatinine level is also within the normal range albeit a bit on the higher end. I'm going to track a little bit how much I drink / how many times I pee because the last few days I thought it was a lot but it might be an emotional reaction or simply that it is very hot right now and I'm drinking a lot.... Anyway I'll see what's the plan when I meet my GP next Sat.

 

Kirsty sent a little programme to follow if we don't have any. Mostly HS endurance and working shoulder stabilizers. I'd like to add it but  I'm not sure how I'm going to integrate it. I might just work on it once a week. I'm glad I will leave programming in Kirsty's hands as of September because I feel a bit overwhelmed by all the stuff I want to do (Cirque Physio, Catie Brier, Emmet Louis, bits of Handstand Factory, press, HSPUs, and also some aerial stuff to maintain). My warm-up has grown a lot, same for complementary exercises. I probably need to cut out some stuff and focus on the ESSENTIAL.

 

Friday => REST

Saturday => Press to HS focus but I added too much stuff to my warm-up, did some endurance work and by then had little energy for press. Plus, I trained a bit later than usual and it was super hot.. I did some but nothing fancy.

Sunday => I trained a bit earlier to avoid the later morning hot wave. I did iso work at 3cm (4 reps + 80s accumulated) and volume work at 7cm. The floor is getting closer!

 

And tomorrow I'm back to work!

 

[WhiteGhost]

16 hours ago, @mu said:

I probably need to cut out some stuff and focus on the ESSENTIAL.

Make your choice, Sophie  

[KB Girl]

Sorry your holiday is over. It sounds like you need to cut out working in order to fit in all the training you want to do  

 

Love the coloured chameleon and the black ones too! 

[@mu]

On 8/3/2020 at 5:00 AM, WhiteGhost said:

Make your choice, Sophie  

 

ha ha ha

I have a very specialized ranger mindset

 

10 hours ago, KB Girl said:

Sorry your holiday is over. It sounds like you need to cut out working in order to fit in all the training you want to do  

 

Love the coloured chameleon and the black ones too! 

 

Thanks! Work was not too bad for a first day, lots of people are still on holidays. Biking is definitely giving me cramps!

 

Monday

 

Flex session, I cut out some stuff but it's still not quite there. Next week I will cut silks holds and straddle-ups on that day. Those are nicer to do after handstands actually.

 

Tuesday

 

Press, and I'm back to very close to ground zero (just using blocks with the wooden pbarz). Puppy still comes up at times but I'm hoping I'm in the last stage of complete elimination.

And I worked on elevated pike press with my swiss ball, it took me a couple of reps to get it without smashing myself against the window but it's a nice drill to do post heavy press. I just need to work on getting my legs really together and make sure my back goes into press mode (protraction) not seven mode (mini Mexican feel).

 

I created a public insta account to avoid hijacking my cat's every so often. I'm a bit ambivalent about making it public but let's see how it goes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[@mu]

Wednesday => REST

 

Thursday => HSPU and quite tired, iso @3cm accumulated 3 reps (one less than the workout before) 120s (40s more to compensate for the lack of full reps). My lats were just very grumpy (I suspect the little bit of increase in straddle-ups at the beginning of the week).

 

Friday => REST

 

And I have completed my first week of full bike commute, woof..

 

Saturday => Some press + shoulders of steel (Kirsty)

 

Spoiler

I went my GP to follow up on my blood check. It turned out that kidney disease actually starts from stage 3, stage 2 is a “normal” result (lol, they should rename their grid really, that was pretty confusing in a sort of scary way!). And the immunodeficiency bit is also not significant enough and not symptomatic anyway. I will get some magnesium for my cramps. And that was it.

 

 

Sunday => HSPU training (end of week 15), iso at 3cm (2 books) accumulated 8 reps and 40 secs. Much better. Back is still cheating a little bit though, but hey near 1rpm reps. Next week I will remove one more book.

 

[WhiteGhost]

Spoiler

Wait so "Stage 2 Kidney Disease" actually equates to "Yeah, pretty much normal"???  That doesn't make any sense!  They really should think about renaming that. lol

 

[KB Girl]

Really? Pff. 
 

So which are more dead, your legs or your shoulders?

 

[@mu]

On 8/10/2020 at 6:57 AM, WhiteGhost said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Wait so "Stage 2 Kidney Disease" actually equates to "Yeah, pretty much normal"???  That doesn't make any sense!  They really should think about renaming that. lol

 

 

Yeah pretty confusing!

 

Spoiler

This is the English version of the grid I got:

Now while searching about a little, I did also find that stage 2 does not qualify as chronic kidney disease just yet. But I will definitely WATCH OUT.

 

14 hours ago, KB Girl said:

Really? Pff. 
 

So which are more dead, your legs or your shoulders?

 

 

Let me think LEGS. Sometimes I think I'm just a chicken mostly training arms like bros at the gym

 

Monday => flex session with a bit of HS, I'm back to pretty much the usual with juste a few pre-backbending drills.

 

Tuesday => press to HS, which was so so, not bad but not feeling great either.

 

Wednesday => REST

 

We have electric plates in our rental and it's horrible. We are used to cook with a pressure cooker but on electric plates it's a cactus in the bum seriously. The lack of usability caused us to change our diet a little bit, days after days of annoyance (towards more processed food unfortunately).

So we've just invested in an electric pressure cooker thingy (not the super smart electronic chef that does everything, just a pressure cooker with some smart settings) and it's a super welcome upgrade. We received it today and E. prepared a vegetarian Fesenjoon that was EXQUISITE!

 

Thursday => pike presses 1.5cm - 3 reps and 90s accumulated over 4 sets, volume @7cm 8 reps x3 + plank lean 30s (superset). I have to run to work but I'll try to post a log video. I'm VERY close to 1 rep to the floor now!

 

I also started learning traditional embroidery (not cross-stitch the other more free-handed one) and I have very little time left for the forums. Hopefully this week-end!

 

 

 

[Mad Hatter]

That's such a weird chart. Not to mention the huge span stage 2 covers, at least to me 90% sounds like almost fine, 60% not so much.

 

13 hours ago, @mu said:

We received it today and E. prepared a vegetarian Fesenjoon that was EXQUISITE!

Yum! What do you add to make it vegetarian?

 

13 hours ago, @mu said:

I also started learning traditional embroidery (not cross-stitch the other more free-handed one) and I have very little time left for the forums. Hopefully this week-end!

Fun! Have you done other crafts of that kind before or is this a completely new venture?

[@mu]

55 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

That's such a weird chart. Not to mention the huge span stage 2 covers, at least to me 90% sounds like almost fine, 60% not so much.

 

Yum! What do you add to make it vegetarian?

 

Fun! Have you done other crafts of that kind before or is this a completely new venture?

 

The third column is actually wrong I found out... (I did not have the % column with my blood check, just the raw GFR values).

The highest GFR is 120 (normal in a young adult), so a GFR of 90 is more like 75% kidney disfunction. I'm in the middle of stage 2 (71-81). But again my GP was not worried at all. 

 

Mushrooms!

 

I did a cross-stitch experiment when I was a kid but I got bored. I can manage some knitting but that's it.

[Mike Wazowski]

Wow, I'm tuning in after a while. I'm annoyed on your behalf with that medical stuff, seems like a real communication breakdown on their end.

 

OMG your handstands look SO controlled and stable - I know you're still working on things, but as someone who's still a baby on that journey, super inspiring.

 

Also, "chicken legs" worries solidarity - I think I'm pretty close to saying that my legs get beat up enough from dance training, there's really no need for me to do a lot of leg strengthening besides (and I gotta imagine a full week of bike commutes is really, really similar in your situation).

[KB Girl]

On 8/13/2020 at 8:30 AM, @mu said:

So we've just invested in an electric pressure cooker thingy (not the super smart electronic chef that does everything, just a pressure cooker with some smart settings) and it's a super welcome upgrade. We received it today and E. prepared a vegetarian Fesenjoon that was EXQUISITE!

What a great investment! It's a bit like a fast slow cooker right? 

 

On 8/13/2020 at 8:30 AM, @mu said:

Let me think LEGS. Sometimes I think I'm just a chicken mostly training arms like bros at the gym

yes? and also definitely no. 

I mean, you do obviously train mostly arms, but you've also got VERY different training goals than your average gym bro. So who cares

[WhiteGhost]

18 hours ago, KB Girl said:

but you've also got VERY different training goals

But are they really all that different?  In the end aren't we doing this stuff just to show off?