Osu

[Urgan]

34 minutes ago, Kishi said:

Well, in fairness to them, they're all more broken or in worse shape than I am. The dojo is primarily heavyweights, with one or two lightweights and me as the sole middleweight. J-Sensei has specifically instructed me in the past not to throw people "Because that's a lot of them to throw and get back up." And it's not like we go with ego - when we roll, we don't crank, and there's not a lot of pride-rolling where someone gets the lock and the other tries to fight out.

 

It's just that, well, I do take a lot of the falls proportionately to everyone else when I go, and it's not like everyone's throwing with perfect technique. They don't mean to go for that stuff, it just kind of happens. It's not an attitudinal thing, it's an attritional thing.

 

We do have to take care of one another and sometimes compromises have to be made between you drilling technique from start to finish and preserving the physical integrity of your partner. We find this to be A Thing often, given we are specifically targeting the joints, right? Drilling technique shotgun fashion can be rough all over. It seems like your Sensei has ID'd you as one of/the best person to use to help teach others. Accidents happen. I think cranking does tend to happen more with less experienced people and VERY experienced people trying to demonstrate a technique Properly (not the most brutal variation of Stop the Bad Guy, but close). There's one Sensei I wish would learn to allow the wrist to rotate inside his grip as he executes shihonage. He has long arms, I do not. Much ow, such wince. Death by Demo.

 

 

I do not know this man, but I feel a kinship with him based purely on his facial expression. "Mmmkay yup that hurts...yup..."

[Kishi]

On 3/9/2018 at 12:06 PM, Urgan said:

We do have to take care of one another and sometimes compromises have to be made between you drilling technique from start to finish and preserving the physical integrity of your partner. We find this to be A Thing often, given we are specifically targeting the joints, right? Drilling technique shotgun fashion can be rough all over. It seems like your Sensei has ID'd you as one of/the best person to use to help teach others. Accidents happen. I think cranking does tend to happen more with less experienced people and VERY experienced people trying to demonstrate a technique Properly (not the most brutal variation of Stop the Bad Guy, but close). There's one Sensei I wish would learn to allow the wrist to rotate inside his grip as he executes shihonage. He has long arms, I do not. Much ow, such wince. Death by Demo.

 

Yup. I think this is part of the reason he thanks me so profusely whenever I show up. I think I shall call myself Crash Dummy-san going forward. Hah. ;

 

*

 

So, it wound up being a movie night. Not much to report - Black Panther holds up under a second viewing. I ate lots of tasty food and drank good beer and ate some Halo Top and called it a night.

 

Today will just be general movement and practice. I get to drop off a box of manga at the library and then... we'll see what the training gives me today.

[Treva]

On 2/17/2018 at 2:30 PM, Kishi said:

 

In other news, I've been looking up how my wrist has been acting, and while I don't have a formal diagnosis, this seems to track most closely with DeQuervain's Tenosynovitis, which is basically an aggravation of the thumb tendon right over the wrist. Which means I'm officially on regression for my wrist prep work for the next 6 weeks. Which is also frustrating, but it's like Strongfirst says - it's okay to regress to progress, and the regressions honestly feel better on my wrist right now than trying to grind for more. So, just one more thing to track and be mindful of.

Fun fact the only paper I found on injuries from kettle bell use was dequervain's.  

 

oh my goodness!  1) congratulations on your new apartment!!! that's amazing and a HUGE STEP I know you were really looking forward to!!!  That's awesome and you sound like you are living it up!!!! amazing and inspirational, congratulations.  

2) Happy birthday!!!! EEE!!!!!!

3) wait what heart things ermergerd I'm glad you got it checked out.  hey want to know why anything below 60 is considered bradycardic?  it's literally the way we read EKGs.  It's completely dumb.  But I'm really glad you got your heart checked out and that your doctor is being cautious by having you come back if anything else gets weird.  You'd be young for a heart attack but it sounds like you did everything right and they would have seen something change on all your tests if there had been something wrong.  

 

So excited to (try) to read up on all the Episodes of Kishi's Life that I missed and to read your new ones!!!  Congratulations on all your life milestones, that's so exciting and I'm so thrilled for you.  

[RisenPhoenix]

On 3/9/2018 at 12:06 PM, Urgan said:

 

We do have to take care of one another and sometimes compromises have to be made between you drilling technique from start to finish and preserving the physical integrity of your partner. We find this to be A Thing often, given we are specifically targeting the joints, right? Drilling technique shotgun fashion can be rough all over. It seems like your Sensei has ID'd you as one of/the best person to use to help teach others. Accidents happen. I think cranking does tend to happen more with less experienced people and VERY experienced people trying to demonstrate a technique Properly (not the most brutal variation of Stop the Bad Guy, but close). There's one Sensei I wish would learn to allow the wrist to rotate inside his grip as he executes shihonage. He has long arms, I do not. Much ow, such wince. Death by Demo.

 

 

I do not know this man, but I feel a kinship with him based purely on his facial expression. "Mmmkay yup that hurts...yup..."

 

On 3/10/2018 at 3:33 PM, Kishi said:

Yup. I think this is part of the reason he thanks me so profusely whenever I show up. I think I shall call myself Crash Dummy-san going forward. Hah. ;

 

My immediate thoughts on this are 1) Damn, my Sensei's shihonage is haaaaarsh and 2) Whenever I show up I seem to be the sucker picked for hard falls.  Death by Demo, indeed...

 

 

Also Kishi, it's 30-something degrees this morning, and as I drove to work I saw a guy shirtless, in something slightly longer than ranger panties, shoes that were essentially just a sole covering, and thought "Yup, that guy and Kishi are totally Spiritual Brothers In Masochism."

 

Happy Monday!

[Kishi]

On ‎3‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 7:09 PM, Treva said:

Fun fact the only paper I found on injuries from kettle bell use was dequervain's.

 

I could totally see that. That being said, for me, it came about as a result of poor knife skillz when cutting up sweet potatoes. Lesson learned - bake that ish.

 

On ‎3‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 7:09 PM, Treva said:

oh my goodness!  1) congratulations on your new apartment!!! that's amazing and a HUGE STEP I know you were really looking forward to!!!  That's awesome and you sound like you are living it up!!!! amazing and inspirational, congratulations.

 

Thanks! I have to admit, prior to this, I never understood why @RisenPhoenix was so into cleaning his place. Now that I've got one of my own, though, I get it. I really, really get it.

 

On ‎3‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 7:09 PM, Treva said:

2) Happy birthday!!!! EEE!!!!!!

 

What's that? I can't hear you! It's these old, old ears...

 

On ‎3‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 7:09 PM, Treva said:

3) wait what heart things ermergerd I'm glad you got it checked out.  hey want to know why anything below 60 is considered bradycardic?  it's literally the way we read EKGs.  It's completely dumb.  But I'm really glad you got your heart checked out and that your doctor is being cautious by having you come back if anything else gets weird.  You'd be young for a heart attack but it sounds like you did everything right and they would have seen something change on all your tests if there had been something wrong.  

 

Well, like I told the doc: now that I got a family history of heart problems, that's something I need to monitor and get checked. She said I'll be fitted with a Holter Monitor if it happens again, which to my understanding is typically the next step.

[RisenPhoenix]

30 minutes ago, Kishi said:

Thanks! I have to admit, prior to this, I never understood why @RisenPhoenix was so into cleaning his place. Now that I've got one of my own, though, I get it. I really, really get it.

 

I don't clean THAT much.  I do have a level of semi-tidy that I like and feel is needed as a baselevel if I want to invite people over in a pinch.  Cuz, like, I totally do that all the time.  >.> <.<

 

Also, yea, if I do go hard it lets me get that Zazen feeling.  A slightly less punishing physical labor meditation.  

[Urgan]

3 minutes ago, RisenPhoenix said:

I don't clean THAT much.  I do have a level of semi-tidy that I like and feel is needed as a baselevel if I want to invite people over in a pinch.  Cuz, like, I totally do that all the time.  >.> <.<

 

These feels. Time was I'd keep my place in a certain shape "in case people come over"...only trouble is, I'm an introvert and I had no friends LOL. Now I'm still an introvert, but I have a husband, four cats, two crazy hobbies, and neighbors who can come over whenever and I don't give an F because show me to your house let me see your kitchen floor. Also still critically low on friends, lol.

[Kishi]

On ‎3‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 7:09 PM, Treva said:

So excited to (try) to read up on all the Episodes of Kishi's Life that I missed and to read your new ones!!!  Congratulations on all your life milestones, that's so exciting and I'm so thrilled for you.  

 

Thanks! I'm honestly just glad that people stop by to read my ramblings. But thank you!

 

2 hours ago, RisenPhoenix said:

My immediate thoughts on this are 1) Damn, my Sensei's shihonage is haaaaarsh and 2) Whenever I show up I seem to be the sucker picked for hard falls.  Death by Demo, indeed...

 

#HailSensei #WeWhoAreAboutToDemoSaluteThee #OSU

 

2 hours ago, RisenPhoenix said:

Also Kishi, it's 30-something degrees this morning, and as I drove to work I saw a guy shirtless, in something slightly longer than ranger panties, shoes that were essentially just a sole covering, and thought "Yup, that guy and Kishi are totally Spiritual Brothers In Masochism."

 

Happy Monday!

 

But the cold... it feels so good...

 

*

 

Hokay, let's talk about the weekend.

 

Saturday went well. Put up my forearm stands like a boss, earned the next step in side levers, and managed my trap bar carries. Afterward, though, there was a change. One of my lady friends was looking for someone to hang out with. I wound up going to hang with her instead, because I like her in a platonic way. She is one of the few people I do not grow tired of around here. We'd hoped we'd get more people, but it just wound up being the two of us, so we passed the time in conversation instead, and that was nice too.

 

Sunday... well. I strained my piriformis again on deadlifts. Kind of snuck up on me out of nowhere - I thought I was having grip troubles, because I was setting up for the lift and suddenly I just... couldn't. And then could. And then couldn't. It wasn't consistent, and I can't look at any one time where glute was telling me that I was in trouble until the end, when I just decided I wasn't having a good lifting day and reset the thing to walk away. I was able to do a finisher without any trouble, but there was just this pain that got worse and worse over time.

 

So, now I'm back on naproxen and hobbling about.

 

Frankly, you can color me annoyed. This isn't how it's supposed to be. This never used to happen, and I blame cluster-setting the reps for this.

 

So, I'm gonna take some time to heal. Fortunately, it is responding to stretches and it loosens up with walking and general movement, so I'm hopeful about it. But going forward, I'm thinking it's appropriate to drop the volume down and focus instead on high quality 'practice' type sessions rather than shooting for burnout.

 

My program, such as it is, has an awful, awful lot in common with a program which I've referenced before, which takes the SFG approach to strength work for martial arts. I think I'll modify my program to his setxrep scheme for front squats and deadlifts. I do think it makes sense, and I'm hopeful that in addition to not getting hurt, this will also leave me with more fuel in the tank to tackle martial arts. It's not a huge leap to make or anything, and if I'm trusting the diet to do the work of leaning me out anyway, it shouldn't be any trouble. At least, I don't think it will be.

[Kishi]

16 minutes ago, RisenPhoenix said:

 

I don't clean THAT much.  I do have a level of semi-tidy that I like and feel is needed as a baselevel if I want to invite people over in a pinch.  Cuz, like, I totally do that all the time.  >.> <.<

 

Also, yea, if I do go hard it lets me get that Zazen feeling.  A slightly less punishing physical labor meditation.  

 

8 minutes ago, Urgan said:

 

These feels. Time was I'd keep my place in a certain shape "in case people come over"...only trouble is, I'm an introvert and I had no friends LOL. Now I'm still an introvert, but I have a husband, four cats, two crazy hobbies, and neighbors who can come over whenever and I don't give an F because show me to your house let me see your kitchen floor. Also still critically low on friends, lol.

 

See it's funny y'all mention that because that's the level of clean my mom told me to keep my place at, and that's constantly how I think about it. So I'm always wanting to vacuum things and get my surfaces cleaned up. Which I think will be my chore this week as opposed to getting rid of another box.

[Urgan]

25 minutes ago, Kishi said:

See it's funny y'all mention that because that's the level of clean my mom told me to keep my place at, and that's constantly how I think about it. So I'm always wanting to vacuum things and get my surfaces cleaned up. Which I think will be my chore this week as opposed to getting rid of another box.

 

There's a still small voice in the back of my mind that has about gone insane because I no longer do this and it believes I should. I believe I should. But dear God how?

[Kishi]

So, Monday. Quiet day. Too hobbly to do in-depth stretching.

 

Today. Hobbling is worse. I've set up an appointment with an orthopedist, but in the meantime I intend to get aggressive with my treatment and with rest. All training is off tonight, and may be up until my appointment on Friday depending on how this responds to treatment. At this point, the plan is to go pick up some compression shorts and an extra ice pack to sneak with me to work.

 

Not sure any of my teachers are going to like it, but frankly it's not like I'm happy about it either.

[Kishi]

Tuesday wound up being a quiet night.

 

It's hard, really, to get a sense of how filled with activities our times are until we get to a point where we can't do them. Suddenly, life becomes... leisurely, almost.

 

I spent the night catching up with a friend on messenger and also went out to pick up some compression shorts. They helped! I'm walking better now - not so hobbly. And when I got up this morning, I was able to get out of bed a bit easier and even do some light, light stretching.

 

Day by day, bit by bit. Better and better. I'm still keeping that Ortho appointment, though, as the doctors there apparently specialize in sports medicine with one of them even being a CSCS. If I've got access to that kind of expertise, it just kind of makes sense to get them in on this so that I can prolong my training and have it make me better.

 

But on the whole, I'm pretty sanguine this morning. K-sensei was pretty understanding about it. "I can see why you'd say you 'strained your piriformis' as opposed to 'I broke my butt.' Sounds better." Osu, sensei.

 

I couldn't make judo tonight anyway on account of gi and laundry needing to be done, so that's what I will do. But like I said, on the whole, I'm actually feeling pretty good. Recovery's just another form of training, after all.

[Urgan]

Good old tweaks. Wish you had video of the day's lifting, but in absence of that you'll recover and be back on track very soon, I'm sure. Good for you, not letting it get you down.

[Kishi]

24 minutes ago, Urgan said:

Good old tweaks. Wish you had video of the day's lifting, but in absence of that you'll recover and be back on track very soon, I'm sure. Good for you, not letting it get you down.

 

And you know, I've had that thought before. I've got a smart device. I have a YouTube account. There's no reason not to record things and focus on getting better and making improvements as the case may be, leery as I am about actually seeing myself.

 

But yeah. It would be pretty handy to have an idea of what in the world I'm doing in my form. Of course, it could be that I've just been doing too much volume with not enough recovery; sleep's been dicey during the week too, and I guess something was fixing to give. Also, one thing I've noticed is that while I did engage in piriformis stretching throughout the week leading up, the right was always tighter and the stretch always felt better. Which suggests to me that I just got back to lifting too fast and with too much work after the last time this happened.

 

Hence the desire to talk to a doctor who knows about this kind of stuff so I can get some timeframes and someone else to be accountable to.

[Urgan]

3 minutes ago, Kishi said:

But yeah. It would be pretty handy to have an idea of what in the world I'm doing in my form. Of course, it could be that I've just been doing too much volume with not enough recovery; sleep's been dicey during the week too, and I guess something was fixing to give. Also, one thing I've noticed is that while I did engage in piriformis stretching throughout the week leading up, the right was always tighter and the stretch always felt better. Which suggests to me that I just got back to lifting too fast and with too much work after the last time this happened.

 

I think it's safe to say that this wasn't an overnight situation--which is actually better than a catastrophic single event IMO. It's got to be form, programming, or recovery. Recovery is the very first thing to examine and improve. Form is easy to verify--you know you can message me if you don't feel comfortable posting it here, standing offer for whenever. That would leave programming if the former two do not result in enough of a correction to prevent this from happening to you again. 

[RisenPhoenix]

Man, we're all just busted up in some way at this point.  My knee is being grumpy for some reason and I can't figure a damn thing out about it.  But I think mine is just requiring RICE.  I hope.

 

4 hours ago, Kishi said:

.Recovery's just another form of training, after all.

 

Also I love this and I'm going to steal it forever now.

[Kishi]

23 hours ago, Urgan said:

 

I think it's safe to say that this wasn't an overnight situation--which is actually better than a catastrophic single event IMO. It's got to be form, programming, or recovery. Recovery is the very first thing to examine and improve. Form is easy to verify--you know you can message me if you don't feel comfortable posting it here, standing offer for whenever. That would leave programming if the former two do not result in enough of a correction to prevent this from happening to you again. 

 

Right. And like I said, I've been slacking on my sleep. But that's kind of why I'm digging into that program more - it's way less volume and way easier to recover from. That's attractive to me now, more than ever.

 

Also, I'm probably way too comfy posting things of myself online for people to see. It's just not something I've thought to do. I'll play around with that some and see what I can make.

 

21 hours ago, RisenPhoenix said:

Man, we're all just busted up in some way at this point.  My knee is being grumpy for some reason and I can't figure a damn thing out about it.  But I think mine is just requiring RICE.  I hope.

 

I hope so too! I recall the line from the War of Art talking about how showing up to do the work is something you just wind up doing no matter what, because if you wait for the perfect time, you never go at all. Even when you're hurt, to a certain extent. (Not that I advocate unsafe training).

 

*

 

Soooo, yesterday turned out really good. I got lots of my laundry done including the gi. While I was at it, I remembered the old dictums about training what parts you could, so I ran the push up training, which went well. I then did Straddle Planche work, which also went well - both the scap push ups and the integrated mobility felt really, really good. Which is weird because the integrated mobility work involves a lot of gluteal work and such.

 

Curious at this, I hopped onto the foam roller and found some tender spots, and just sat on 'em for a bit. I ran some stretch tests afterward and was shocked to find that most of my mobility had returned. One of my stretches these days looks very like Child's Pose in yoga, and I found that I could hold the position far more easily than I had before. Getting up and taking a few steps after, my gait was mostly normal, and I found that I could swing my leg farther and with less pain when pain occurred.

 

However, pain is still occurring, and while I've got some mobility back I still don't have my forward fold back to normal yet. So it seems sensible to keep the Ortho appointment for tomorrow. However, I'm feeling pretty good, and I think that I can resume lighter training. Which the program permutations would be; if I go today and load up the Front Squat, I won't achieve even a third of the volume I was putting out before. Which I suspect is for the best. I can probably go back to Karate as well; I can punch and even do level changes, but I don't think kicking's in the cards right now.

 

But... yeah. Really happy with how this is progressing. I'm fairly certain that this has something to do with how much sleep I've been getting, and I think I need to really work to make sure that this is a thing I keep managed going forward.

[Urgan]

20 minutes ago, Kishi said:

I hope so too! I recall the line from the War of Art talking about how showing up to do the work is something you just wind up doing no matter what, because if you wait for the perfect time, you never go at all. Even when you're hurt, to a certain extent. (Not that I advocate unsafe training).

 

I'm programming for both of my parents. My mom experienced a little triceps tweak on Monday from apparently nothing (aka unknown cause, because she hadn't been to the gym in a little while before the ow occurred). I "beat" on her a little--holding down on the arm/shoulder and asking her to move it, massage, etc. Wednesday she felt a lot better but not perfect and wasn't sure if she should go lift. I told her to just show up and do something--that seemed to give her permission to try lol. She basically did the whole thing. I checked in with her this morning, we'll see what she says lol. 

 

Addit: reports are in and the issue is almost completely resolved, so far so good.

[Kishi]

Thursday in the bag.

 

I thought I'd get the chance to do Karate, but K-sensei banned me from the dojo for the evening, as he wanted to wait until the doctors had a look at me. He was concerned about what I was telling him as far as being able to do leg stuff; his big concern is the trip in April as he doesn't want me to heal badly or wrongly. I get the feeling that going to the home dojo is going to function as something of a referendum on how he's teaching, as he started teaching at a rank that is normally frowned upon in traditional Shotokan. So, showing up with a broken student isn't going to help him any. Although, he's a more decent person than he lets on, and he could also be genuinely concerned which, if so, I mean. Awww. Damn decent of him and way better than I expected.

 

I did hit up the gym anyway, though. I was really jonesing to hit up the program, especially seeing as how I thought it would help me.

 

And it did.

 

Warmed Up

 

Front Squats

1x5x63

1x3x72

1x1x81

2x8x91

 

High Rows: 4x6

Integrated Mobility: Done

 

Hollow Body Tuck Holds: 4x36s

Integrated Mobility: Done

 

Finisher: Armor Building Complex, 18 lbs - 15 rounds in 10 minutes.

 

I've altered the warm up protocol to match what I understand to be SFG guidelines. I figure, I'm working an SFG program, I should work SFG guidelines. Squats felt light right up to the end, and the minute's rest felt like paradise. It also had the added benefit of a sort of weighted stretch down in my lower body, and I moved well in each thing. Also, yes, I have broken out the micro plates again.

 

High rows felt good initially at this volume, but elbow started to twinge as the night went on, so I'll be holding there a while. Hollow Body Tuck Holds felt good, but still shaky down in the abs. Less shaking with shallow breaths, though, and the technique is improving, so.

 

I don't know that I would have thrown a finisher on if I'd been cleared to go to class that night, but finishers are part of the original program. I'm fairly certain the program was designed in the context of strength training on off-days from the dojo, but as this was an off day it just kind of made sense.

 

Anyway, the Armor Building Complex is a double kettlebell complex revolving around 2 cleans, 1 OHP, and 3 front squats. I wanted to go heavier, but I figured that a finisher with my leg being the way it was, I didn't want to load it up too heavy. Didn't seem right to press my luck. I did get my heart moving, though, and I had improved ROM on my stretches afterward, so there was that.

 

This morning, I went to the Ortho, had some Xrays done aaaaaaand... it's not cancer.  The doc offered me about the full gamut of treatments; in the end, I elected steroids and physical therapy, which he agreed was a sensible course of action. I was even able to get to see the PT there at the office as they had an open appointment, and I was in luck - the PT I got was a fellow gym rat. He put me through some paces and concluded that I had a strained hamstring rather than a strained piriformis; the reason I've been feeling it there is because the piriformis has been tightening up to protect that area and let it heal. Which is apparently its job.

 

So we engaged in some manual therapy and then he dry-needled me (think scientific!acupuncture) which was just friggin' surreal, but was the right call as I found myself with increased strength and range of motion afterward. He concluded that I'm probably about halfway through healing on this thing and cleared me for training light as well as offering some additional movements which will be easily worked in. I've also got a prescription for some steroids to help with that; all things considered, I think I'm in good shape.

 

So... yeah. Good couple of days so far. Kali got moved to Saturdays for the sake of a new student, so... not certain if I'll move some of my training around to reflect that or what. If I do, it'll be the easier stuff, since I'm going to be waiting on brother to bring some of my stuff over to the place.

[Kishi]

So, Friday wound up being something of a mixed bag. I didn't really get into any training, but that was because my brother came over to drop some of my stuff off that he'd found from his boxes in the storage unit; after dropping those off, we elected to go get dinner. We walked there and back, but it's not exactly like that's rigorous training for me. But on the other hand, it's not like I necessarily needed vigorous training at that point.

 

I started up the steroid regimen that night, and carried it forward into the next day, but I figured that given how Manong likes to train that he'd exacerbate something if I went. So I ended up just going to the gym instead. Handstand training went all right, but the tightness in that hamstring made the kick-up a little harder to control, and I had a harder time finding that point of balance.

 

Side Lever training has graduated to side plank variations, but the integrated mobility involved some hamstring stretching and spinal flexion which was... interesting to go through. It felt good toward the end, but that stiffness at the start wasn't so great.

 

I kind of debated doing some hex bar carries and ultimately did one set, but I just couldn't find the willpower to complete the thing.

 

However, one good thing that did come out of that was that I found myself playing with various deadlift variants to see if I could find one that didn't exacerbate things for my hamstring. After playing around, I found that the hex bar did the least as far as putting any kind of stress on it.

 

Saturday was also St. Patrick's Day, so I did allow myself some indulgence. Between that, Friday dinner with my brother, and Pie Day, I skipped out on measuring myself as I figured that my eating would probably throw that off. Besides, past experimentation has shown that long term loyalty to a certain pattern of eating is rewarded regardless of how often I measure, so on the whole, I'm not terribly worried about it.

 

Sunday, I hit up the gym and did my push ups and deadlifted. Push ups are gonna need to be held back for a minute, but the deadlifts went up good and smooth, without any real pain. Ran squat thrusts as a finisher since I didn't think sprinting would be good on a recovering hamstring, and did my tuck ups afterward, which were hard that day.

 

One thing that I'm kind of concerned about with this program is that it's the "Prep" version where you're within 2 months of going out for tourney or exhibition or what have you. And I'm kind of worried that, being in a judo school with everything to prove, that somehow I'm going to wind up always on prep mode and never actually getting into the strength phases or anything like that. Which I guess is kind of silly. It's not like I'm not going to be adding weights to my sets and reps as time goes by. It's not like I won't be stronger. I think the more annoying part is having to delay my development in GST since I used to use the 4-week cycles as a kind of external cue for how long I'd want to stay at a setxrep scheme, but I suppose looking at it critically there's no reason not to use tourneys and exhibitions as the external cue. And it's not like my tendons and ligaments will mind the extra conditioning or the delays. It'll just wind up being anything from a 1-8 week practice as opposed to a 4.

 

Anyway, I kept up my steroid regimen and added some acetaminophen per doc's clearance to help manage pain, and as a result. I'm here on Monday feeling a lot better. No hobbling. It honestly feels about like it did prior to the strain, ie like it was a little tight, but not enough so for me to think there was something wrong. Now I know there was something wrong, so I'mma have to keep advocating for going light in training for the next couple of weeks. This is going to be frustrating, although I don't have a rational basis for that feeling since everyone's been super chill about it since I started talking about it. I just get the feeling that what I would construe as light training and what they would construe as light training isn't going to be the same thing.

 

Also, I've been binge-watching Queer Eye on Netflix, after seeing the preview for it where they made over the top Netflix Nerd. And I gotta say... it's probably one of the most positive, most non-toxically masculine shows I think I've ever seen. It's very much like Nerdfitness, only with an emphasis on leveling up lives via life skills and composure, and not via fitness, although even then they've had one dude go through some fitness stuff to help him level up his life.

 

But yeah. I'll admit, it's got a lot of gay camp about it, and I strongly suspect that if I were subjected to it, I'd probably clam up and close off just because I've had some negative interactions with gay people in the past and I've got a little baggage around physical contact that I'm still working through. But at the same time, it's just genuinely fascinating. The men that they deal with are good men, essentially, men who want to do good but don't really know how and they just need a little bit of help.

 

The other fascinating thing about it to me is that it's apparently a new Fab 5, and they're working with folks down around Atlanta, which means not only dealing with folks in the city, but also in the rural areas around there too. They deal with rednecks and religious folks and people whose... well, let's just say their politics have a lot of reasons to clash. And it's just fascinating to me as someone who strives to find nuance in things to find a show that really seems to be about forcing these conversations to happen. Admittedly, it's reality television, so it's a curated thing. I don't know how realistic I'd consider most of these conversations to be, just given the power of the echo chamber, and I strongly suspect a certain amount of propagandism going into the show's development.

 

But honestly? Eff it. If we're all of us going to curate our realities and make our own reality shows via social media anyway, what's wrong with a reality show trying to force some issues and confront some of the divides?

 

So, yeah. A really delightful show. I liked it a lot. I've heard it's getting another season. I hope it gets many.

 

Anyway, Monday. Rest and stretching.

[Urgan]

This all sounds like a good flow back into normal Kishi Business As Usual.

 

10 minutes ago, Kishi said:

One thing that I'm kind of concerned about with this program is that it's the "Prep" version where you're within 2 months of going out for tourney or exhibition or what have you. And I'm kind of worried that, being in a judo school with everything to prove, that somehow I'm going to wind up always on prep mode and never actually getting into the strength phases or anything like that. Which I guess is kind of silly. It's not like I'm not going to be adding weights to my sets and reps as time goes by. It's not like I won't be stronger. I think the more annoying part is having to delay my development in GST since I used to use the 4-week cycles as a kind of external cue for how long I'd want to stay at a setxrep scheme, but I suppose looking at it critically there's no reason not to use tourneys and exhibitions as the external cue. And it's not like my tendons and ligaments will mind the extra conditioning or the delays. It'll just wind up being anything from a 1-8 week practice as opposed to a 4.

 

Let me try to unpack this, because I has a slow. Your training program is geared toward 2 months then show time, yes? Is it the injury or your particular judo school that is causing a training crisis?

[Kishi]

32 minutes ago, Urgan said:

This all sounds like a good flow back into normal Kishi Business As Usual.

 

It is, and it's quite welcome after the past week or so.

 

32 minutes ago, Urgan said:

Let me try to unpack this, because I has a slow. Your training program is geared toward 2 months then show time, yes? Is it the injury or your particular judo school that is causing a training crisis?

 

No, you're not slow; I genuinely struggled to articulate my unease.

 

I'd say it's more the judo school at this point. The Big Idea behind the program is to keep me on the mats as often and as long as possible. During the 'off-season,' the program emphasizes strength. During the 'on-season,' the program emphasizes conditioning.

 

The thing is, with my particular school, there's not really an 'off-season.' We're either training for a local tournament, or we're being told about a tournament somewhere else. Nobody's pressured me to go, but I will be told to get out there at some point and I would really rather be ready than wore out.

 

The annoying part about it is that it costs me one of my external cues I used to use for bodyweight training to keep myself practicing and getting good and avoiding injury. So I'm just trying to angst through it and find a new cue. I do think that, if I'm constantly in prep mode for tournament, it makes sense to use tournaments as my external cue. But if I get hurt or something like that, well. Then I spent a lot of time practicing just for the opportunity to not progress.

 

Does that make sense?

[Urgan]

1 minute ago, Kishi said:

No, you're not slow; I genuinely struggled to articulate my unease.

 

I'd say it's more the judo school at this point. The Big Idea behind the program is to keep me on the mats as often and as long as possible. During the 'off-season,' the program emphasizes strength. During the 'on-season,' the program emphasizes conditioning.

 

The thing is, with my particular school, there's not really an 'off-season.' We're either training for a local tournament, or we're being told about a tournament somewhere else. Nobody's pressured me to go, but I will be told to get out there at some point and I would really rather be ready than wore out.

 

Dojo always "on," got it.

 

2 minutes ago, Kishi said:

The annoying part about it is that it costs me one of my external cues I used to use for bodyweight training to keep myself practicing and getting good and avoiding injury. So I'm just trying to angst through it and find a new cue. I do think that, if I'm constantly in prep mode for tournament, it makes sense to use tournaments as my external cue. But if I get hurt or something like that, well. Then I spent a lot of time practicing just for the opportunity to not progress.

 

I see nothing wrong with pegging your outside-dojo progression against the OPPORTUNITY to perform. You have regular bigger tournaments that come 'round at predictable intervals, yes? Can you make your own version of seasons against the bigger events on the calendar, even if you don't actually go? Or some way to get your training in sync with anticipating the dojo calendar? The day of performance could be the test of your bodyweight training? Or you just peg progression to date intervals and track it in 2 month blocks. Whatever most easily gives you a simulated off season, do it. You may even have to break down and talk to your Sensei about it lol. 

 

This may sound weird, but I wouldn't worry about injury. That's why you plan these things out. 

[Kishi]

On ‎3‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 12:57 PM, Urgan said:

I see nothing wrong with pegging your outside-dojo progression against the OPPORTUNITY to perform. You have regular bigger tournaments that come 'round at predictable intervals, yes? Can you make your own version of seasons against the bigger events on the calendar, even if you don't actually go? Or some way to get your training in sync with anticipating the dojo calendar? The day of performance could be the test of your bodyweight training? Or you just peg progression to date intervals and track it in 2 month blocks. Whatever most easily gives you a simulated off season, do it. You may even have to break down and talk to your Sensei about it lol.

 

I mean, I don't see why I couldn't do any of the stuff you recommend, but I'd really have to get into what the calendar is or if there's a calendar. There's not a lot of communication about it, and given that our school is kind of a check-in for regulars on the tournament circuit there's a lot of... weirdness. So, like, we'll have the big ones, and then J-sensei might hear about another one and be like, "We should go to that!" Or he might not; he's really not the best communicator about this kind of thing.

 

On ‎3‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 12:57 PM, Urgan said:

This may sound weird, but I wouldn't worry about injury. That's why you plan these things out.

 

Yeah, but have you seen my luck with plans? And anyway, everyone in this place is too gung-ho to have my interests in mind. If I don't prepare and plan and set up contingencies, it's not like anyone else will.

 

*

 

Monday. Restful day. Haaaaaah.

 

There wasn't much to it beyond the game. Managed to get out early and even ran some stretches at home. There's definitely still some stiffness there, but it could be worse. I imagine the worst of it's behind me, but I'm not comfy declaring myself all clear yet.

 

I'm conflicted about going to class tonight. On the one hand, I want to go. I think I can go and I think I should. On the other, I'm fairly confident that if I ask to take things easy that I won't get it, and I think that might delay healing. Just because the majority of it is done doesn't mean it's complete.

 

Ah well. No such thing as an ideal time. S&S and Karate on the docket.

[Kishi]

Welp, Tuesday wound up about as well as I could ask for it to.

 

I got home and managed to S&S with the 70. Some of the positions were a little tough - sitting up in the TGUs with my leg outstretched definitely felt tight. But I was able to do the things. I was more worried about swings than anything else, but even doing one-armed swings and at that weight, it didn't really feel like there was anything going wrong. So, that was good news.

 

Karate afterward was nice and easy. We just focused on footwork and on positional work as opposed to going hard. It was a pleasant surprise. I thought for sure that I was going to get thrown into the deep end again, so the fact that it didn't happen was a major relief.

 

I've kept up with the dosages of my meds and finished them off this morning, as anticipated. So I'm over the hump. Now I just need to get back to normal. This is the hardest part - this is where the healing is most likely to be delayed as I look fine and I doubt most people will believe me when I tell them I'm in recovery. I have judo tonight, but TBH I think I'm just gonna skip tonight and focus on the push up work. I've also decided to move my straddle planche work over here since it involves a lot of the same stuff as the push up work. A planche is just a plank with the legs off the ground, and a push up is just a plank that moves.

 

That being said, if Kali is going to be officially over on Saturdays now, I think there's an opportunity to have a good training day where I go to do the Judo open mat, two hours of class, and then follow up with Kali. In which case, I'll want to move my 'general practice' over to Fridays, just to make room for everything. I still need it confirmed before I make that choice, but otherwise, yeah.