Osu

[Mistr]

5 hours ago, Kishi said:

Good Lord, I done gone disappearifyed for a week again.

 

No worries, everyone understands the demands of the holiday season.

 

5 hours ago, Kishi said:

I had a hard time connecting with people there - I tried to stay engaged in conversation, but for their parts they all seemed more interested in talking with each other than with me. Which sounds incredibly self-pitying as I type it, but I lack another way to explain it. Just really hard to connect with. But they all seemed rather boring to me anyway, so I don't really feel like I lost anything.

 

I've been to parties like that. There are plenty of perfectly decent people in the world who have nothing in common. Good that you had better social times later in the week.

 

5 hours ago, Kishi said:

Incidentally, the only thing I lost was some weight. Again. I weighed in on Sunday at about 182 lbs. Bruh, what. That's a lot of weight to lose very quickly. I solemnly swear, I've been sitting within 50-100 calories of 2100 on my intake; hell, I'd been heavier on intake the past few days prior to the weigh-in. The only things I can think of that are different are that one, I've taken up IF again, albeit much more casually so that I'm only skipping breakfast and avoiding my negative compulsions around food; and two, that I switched out rice for quinoa (ie a simple carb for a more complex one). Um, the macros have changed a bit; I get a lot more calories from fat again, but I'm sticking stubbornly to Omega-3s and MUFAs, and that's helping some. I've also adjusted my supplementation some - I brushed up on some good vegan research w/ @ChrisWithaStick's help and took up Vitamin K2; I've also started in on an Ashwagandha supplement for my T. This all seems to be working together well so far.

 

Also, pickled ginger and sauerkraut. I swear by it, I do.

 

Any plan that works is a good plan. Keep it up and see what happens.  

 

5 hours ago, Kishi said:

Christmas Day was the nerdiest Christmas ever. Went to go see my folks. Bro DM'd a game of D&D for us. He's a very good DM; he's got to the point where the time flies and we want to keep going even when he's said he's done. We ate together and then marathoned the LOTR trilogy. Good times.

 

Yay! What an excellent Christmas. 

 

5 hours ago, Kishi said:

The new gym that I joined - the one with the hanging bags - is slated to open today. So I'mma have to cancel out the membership at the old place. There's a Planet Fitness nearby, and thanks to their shitty policies I've actually been maintaining a membership there for a while. So the plan is to cancel the old one, use PF for its treadmills, and hit up the new one when it's time for strength work. Of course, that's gonna be dicey, what with it being a new gym in a busy part of town, and also the New Year New Me crowd incoming. I suppose, if I show up very early or very late, it won't be a problem, and I'm actually optimistic that that'll be my experience of the thing.

 

And after the first couple weeks you'll have the place to yourself.  

[Treva]

On 12/27/2018 at 12:53 PM, Kishi said:

 

Good Lord, I done gone disappearifyed for a week again.

you're allowed.  Live your dream!!

 

On 12/27/2018 at 12:53 PM, Kishi said:

Just really hard to connect with. But they all seemed rather boring to me anyway, so I don't really feel like I lost anything.

It can be hard to connect with people who aren't interested in the same things you are.  Glad you don't feel like you lost anything.

 

On 12/27/2018 at 12:53 PM, Kishi said:

Incidentally, the only thing I lost was some weight. Again. I weighed in on Sunday at about 182 lbs. Bruh, what. That's a lot of weight to lose very quickly. 

I am glad you lot weight!! I am afraid I've been bad at keeping track of your losses so I don't know how fast "quickly" is.  

 

On 12/27/2018 at 12:53 PM, Kishi said:

I've also adjusted my supplementation some - I brushed up on some good vegan research w/ @ChrisWithaStick's help and took up Vitamin K2; I've also started in on an Ashwagandha supplement for my T.

My dude, you give me so much to research.  I've not heard of K2, or Ashwagandha.  And I need to look more into those Docs who Lift that you posted, they've cited tons of sources so I would like to see what papers they're reading.  I'm glad you feel like you're making progress, and are seeing good healthy changes.

 

On 12/27/2018 at 12:53 PM, Kishi said:

Also, pickled ginger and sauerkraut. I swear by it, I do.

Yuuuum do you make this yourself or buy it?

 

On 12/27/2018 at 12:53 PM, Kishi said:

Christmas Day was the nerdiest Christmas ever. Went to go see my folks. Bro DM'd a game of D&D for us. He's a very good DM; he's got to the point where the time flies and we want to keep going even when he's said he's done. We ate together and then marathoned the LOTR trilogy. Good times.

Yay!!! what a great christmas.  Sounds like a good family time was had.

 

On 12/27/2018 at 1:02 PM, Urgan said:

 

On 12/27/2018 at 12:53 PM, Kishi said:

Karate and handstand work today. The new gym that I joined - the one with the hanging bags - is slated to open today. So I'mma have to cancel out the membership at the old place. There's a Planet Fitness nearby, and thanks to their shitty policies I've actually been maintaining a membership there for a while. So the plan is to cancel the old one, use PF for its treadmills, and hit up the new one when it's time for strength work. Of course, that's gonna be dicey, what with it being a new gym in a busy part of town, and also the New Year New Me crowd incoming. I suppose, if I show up very early or very late, it won't be a problem, and I'm actually optimistic that that'll be my experience of the thing.

 

The joys of lifting at stupid o'clock, the Resolutioners rarely make it out before the sun.

I concur with this assessment by Urgan.  Having seen the ebb and flow at home gym around the holidays, the above referenced resolutioners came in at not before the sun, and drop off after the first week or two anyways.  And from what I've seen, they tend to hit the machines and cardio stuff, squat racks and free weights might be more free.

 

Thank you, as always, for being an inspirational adaptive badass.

[Kishi]

On ‎12‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 1:02 PM, Urgan said:

I hope you told him that in the realm of guilting people for not showing up to a thing, he is doing it wrong.

 

Yup.

 

On ‎12‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 1:02 PM, Urgan said:

The joys of lifting at stupid o'clock, the Resolutioners rarely make it out before the sun.

 

22 hours ago, Mistr said:

And after the first couple weeks you'll have the place to yourself.  

 

10 minutes ago, Treva said:

I concur with this assessment by Urgan.  Having seen the ebb and flow at home gym around the holidays, the above referenced resolutioners came in at not before the sun, and drop off after the first week or two anyways.  And from what I've seen, they tend to hit the machines and cardio stuff, squat racks and free weights might be more free.

 

Yup! And also, it's really nice to have mostly bodyweight stuff to worry about, because I can get creative and don't necessarily need the same spaces at the same times. I can work with this.

 

22 hours ago, Mistr said:

No worries, everyone understands the demands of the holiday season.

 

11 minutes ago, Treva said:

you're allowed.  Live your dream!!

 

Thanks, y'all, for understanding.

 

22 hours ago, Mistr said:

I've been to parties like that. There are plenty of perfectly decent people in the world who have nothing in common. Good that you had better social times later in the week.

 

13 minutes ago, Treva said:

It can be hard to connect with people who aren't interested in the same things you are.  Glad you don't feel like you lost anything.

 

Yeah. It's just disconcerting is all. Normally I can hold on and then there comes a quiet time where I accidentally make a good impression and suddenly I'm interesting. This was the 1/100 times where that doesn't happen. Oh well. Can't be smooth all the time.

 

14 minutes ago, Treva said:

I am glad you lot weight!! I am afraid I've been bad at keeping track of your losses so I don't know how fast "quickly" is.  

 

Well, I started out at about 192 or so at the beginning of the month and then lost 10 lbs over three weeks. That's pretty quick by clinical standards, or so I understand...

 

19 minutes ago, Treva said:

My dude, you give me so much to research.  I've not heard of K2, or Ashwagandha.  And I need to look more into those Docs who Lift that you posted, they've cited tons of sources so I would like to see what papers they're reading.  I'm glad you feel like you're making progress, and are seeing good healthy changes.

 

Well, hopefully this turns out good, then. I'd love for my ramblings to give you useful information. Although, I suppose in the worst case it just winds up that you figure out what's useful versus useless? XD

 

21 minutes ago, Treva said:

Yuuuum do you make this yourself or buy it?

 

Buy it. Good raw sauerkraut is hard to come by unless you're nearby to a healthfoods store or something, but pickled ginger can be found in regular chains I think. You'll want to check the Asian foods section; it's not refrigerated.

 

22 minutes ago, Treva said:

Yay!!! what a great christmas.  Sounds like a good family time was had.

 

Yeah! It was good times. I'm glad we get to see each other every month.

 

23 minutes ago, Treva said:

Thank you, as always, for being an inspirational adaptive badass.

 

 

*

 

Thursday down!

 

Got out of work, went to the gym, and did my handstand work.

 

Wrist Stretches

 

Wrist Prep Series: 4x2

 

Tripod: 1x15s

Integrated Mobility: DONE

 

Headstand: 1x9s

Integrated Mobility: DONE

 

Forearm Headstand: 5x60s

Integrated Mobility: DONE

 

I was able to do the headstands, but I didn't complete them the way I wanted to. Phone went dark during the fourth set and it broke my concentration; I wasn't sure how long I kept it up and stopped at about the 50s mark.

 

It's not bad news, not really. In GB's training philosophy, you do the work until the work is done, so I did my mobility, rested for a few minutes, then came back strong and rocked out my sets.

 

I wonder if that might not be a way to do approach things in the other movements. Because, if you can amass volume, you build strength, and if you can condense that volume down, you build strength. So you win either way, it seems. It would simplify things, for sure. Just food for thought.

 

Anyway, speaking of karate and waifu, we had a class last night where she wasn't there. Instead, it was me, the young man who's been with us, his sister, and a friend who heads the Aikido club at NCSU. Class was fun. No negative energy, lots of hard work. I got to hold pads for the newest student and K-sensei praised me later for doing a good job with her. Need to remember what I did right there.

 

This morning was the doctor's appointment to go over the Boston. Latest numbers are from when I had just transitioned to vegan and when I was still getting a lot of saturated fat in my diet from coconut oil. It didn't look promising - numbers went in some bad directions - but it's not bad enough yet for her to prescribe me a statin, and when I explained to her what changes I'd made she was willing to let it slide for a bit. We'll test again in February.

 

What drove me the most nuts, though, is that that damn office scale says I've put on 16 lbs. I'm sorry, but there's no way I put on 16 lbs over the past three days. Just. No. The doc wants me to work on my diet and exercise; I bet I will, and the next time I go in the scale will have me at 212. t(-_-t)

 

Anyway, the big change now is that she's started me on synthroid for my thyroid, as I'm still deficient even if I'm asymptomatic. So, who knows? Maybe as time goes by I'll find myself with even more energy and less angst.

 

Tonight, core work and then a business meeting. Good times. Gonna try a slightly different cue which I'm convinced is going to make things harder. Should be fun.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

There is some scale skulduggery going on for sure.  I'm glad you had a good class, sometimes one person can just suck the air out of a room.

[Kishi]

On 12/28/2018 at 9:01 PM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

There is some scale skulduggery going on for sure.  I'm glad you had a good class, sometimes one person can just suck the air out of a room.

 

Yeah. Maybe not as much as I would have thought, though - I weighed myself the next day and I have put back on a little bit of weight. But not 16 lbs. I guess my clothing is heavier than I thought?

 

And yeah, it was good to have that class. I get so little opportunity to try to teach people anything, and she really does drag things down a lot. But, long term, that's not likely to be. And she's responsible for her own choices. If she wants to settle for being miserable, well, that's on her. I'll keep using her to make my life easier and for practice. I really don't mind.

 

*

 

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone!

 

Friday marked the first workout at the new gym. It has the new gym smell right now and everything. It was empty enough to kind of freak me out, which I think has a lot to do with the fact that one, it's new; and two, it was a Friday night.

 

How do I like it? Well, it's going to take some getting used to. Some of the stations that I'm used to using for my stuff are rather radically different from what I'm used to. Like for instance there's a treadmill with attachments for doing farmer's carries. I'm not even joking. But the radicalness of it is the kind that gives me lots of options, and it's a lot more than I'm used to. Not to mention, like I said, it's got heavy bags for fighting on and that's really cool. So, on the whole, I'm rather convinced that I'm going to like this.

 

The only trick now is programming. Sic semper, though.

 

Speaking of, hey, let's talk about Core training. I earlier alluded to a new cue, that cue being to "cinch the middle." It's about trying to get your transverse abdominis - TVA - to work and basically to pull its weight in terms of what I'm asking my core to do, which is to transfer power between extremities and stabilize me. As it is, I've been running some assessments, and I show some weakness in terms of what I'm asking my core to do. Doing this made the work harder, but I feel like it was a lot more quality too; now I'm going to get the chance to do lots and lots of reps with high quality and I think long term this will turn out well.

 

So. That was Friday.

 

Saturday, a friend of mine came into town. So I went to lunch with him. Lunch turned into a longer conversation that ended at another friend's house. That ended with us playing Arkham Horror. For those who haven't played, think Pandemic but with more moving parts and way fewer win conditions. "But! Pandemic only has one win condition!?" "I know."

 

No training Saturday, as you can imagine.

 

Sunday, I went to go support my brother on his test. It was pretty epic. The last time I saw him test, it was an abbreviated section, after he'd been running through the rest for the past few days. Today, we got the whole thing. Which basically meant running through the whole curriculum. And it was interesting to see everything he's had to learn. He not only had to demonstrate it, though; he also had to teach it a bit too, because at his rank he is basically able to start acquiring teaching hours. It was, ah, interesting to see what he came up with. But more to the point, it was fascinating to see what all he had to do, how much he'd memorized. Also interesting to see someone else's explanation of the concepts we talk about back in shotokan. And, well, I could start to see it, the reasons for his love of this art. It's not the comprehensive movement system that he wishes it was, and it requires a lot more pressure testing than they give it, but they're trying and I think that deserves a lot of credit.

 

I got to see my old teacher there too. That, phew. That was a thing. I talked with him like we were equals, and watching him spar with my brother later I realized that... well, we were. I could take him if I had to. Which, whoa buddy, that's a thing to think about. Also, I was really proud of my brother for getting in and scrapping. He even took the teacher to the ground where they rolled it out. (and to be clear, the old teacher does do a lot of things right, but it's more tactical positiony head game stuff than it is anything else. Giving a certain look in fighting and getting people used to things before switching. It'd work on me, but it works on everyone, and when it's been done to you for years to the point that you can see it, it's not that impressive. He hits from a lot of angles, but he makes the mistake of trying to hit you as opposed to hitting you well, which is way scarier. He frightens his students, to be sure, but taps like that aren't much compared to what I'm used to, and I could blast through it pretty easy). (please do not read this as me talking myself up. I'm quite beatable).

 

But uh yeah, brother made it. I was proud of him. Still am. I want to help him more than ever, and I'm more convinced than ever that he'll never take it.

 

Came back home and did my own training. Hit failure on a few of my sets, but could do the work with some rest in between. The training feels good.

 

Today, I rest. I've got a lot to think about for this next year.

[Kishi]

Happy New Year Ever'body!

 

Monday was a restful day. My mom had just got back into town from visiting extended family back in IA, and she wanted to get some breakfast. Dad would have come but he had morning shift at the store, so he couldn't make it. So, she came to visit me around where I live. We went to a nearby restaurant. I ordered vegan breakfast, which raised some eyebrows, but it turns out that genetically speaking, she's the reason my blood numbers skew so bad, so I'm perfectly happy to show her what I've had to do to cope.  And we just sat together and talked for a while and had some good old-fashioned mother-son bonding time. Speaking of bonding with the folks, need to get with my dad again about fishing, because the weather's been alternating between good and bad, and there's decent odds of getting some good fishing in, I think.

 

The day, otherwise, was pretty restful. I quit the WOW subscription as further analysis of the storyline at present makes it look kind of stupid, and also I didn't really have the time for it that I thought I would. Instead, I'm looking at FF XIV, one because I'm way more invested in that, two because that storyline doesn't seem anywhere near as stupid, three because I can't believe the level of love that's gone into fixing this thing from its initial iteration and what they've done for it, and four because I've actually got friends who play this game. The game was nice enough to let me download a tester for it;  my computer can run it, but I think what I'd like to do is splurge at some point on one of those external graphics cards I've heard so much about because while I've got the processing power to do it, it's killing my graphics card to run this and I'd really rather that processing power go somewhere else. It'd be a fun way to use the gift card that I got for Christmas.

 

I am in no hurry, though.

 

The day passed quietly. That night, I went to go visit my brother and his friends. He ran a game called Dread. Dread, for those of you that don't know, is basically Jenga: Roleplay Edition. The storyteller sets the players up in a horror story; the characters are not suited to their situation at all and as players you are forced to make choices and decisions that you would never, ever want to face. Anytime you have to make a decision and act in a way that requires more from the characters than they're qualified for, you have to pull from the tower. When the tower collapses, that action is considered a fail, and the character dies.

 

The thing is, as much of a horror game as it is, it's also a game of hope. Because it takes a while for the tower to collapse, and things can go right. Effective play, then, is a matter of making the right decisions and taking the right risks at the right times without having to make too many pulls.

 

And boy howdy, my brother did a good job. The best way I know to describe it is to imagine Revelations happening without Jesus showing up to save us. In such a scenario, humanity is forced to make their own messiah, and we the players were essentially castoffs from the experiments of a megacorp that had worked to make that happen. So we wound up as a bunch of clones of ourselves who had superpowers but without the secondary powers to make them necessarily safe to use (e.g. you can throw fire? Congrats! Also, you just gave yourself third degree burns). We the players wound up being extremely lucky with the powers that we pulled. My player character got the ability to see in 4D - that is, to predict the future - but he got them without the capacity to perceive things in 4D which meant that there were times where I could see something dangerous happening but I would process them as profound audiovisual hallucinations and deja vu. Fortunately, it worked out okay; brother later told me that he'd hoped I would do more to try to use that power to help us with planning, and what I'd wound up doing was going with things and using the power when he told me it'd trigger, ie when something life-threatening was going to happen. So it wound up being like trippy Spidersense, and that really helped us.

 

But that's just one example of it; really, everyone pulled awesome powers, and we wound up needing every single one. And when we got to the end, we got this really profound ending as we met the messiah that man had made and we were left wondering if we'd really made the right choice or not.

 

It was a great session. We got there in the end without anyone dying. None of us had played the game more than once, but we were all really cagey with our choices and made the right calls as far as when to pull and when to refigure things so that we could work within our skillsets. We started at 2030 and didn't stop until 0300. Even more tellingly, as players we wanted to stay in the world that he'd made and to see more of it.

 

I'm raving about the game. I realize this; to be clear, I could see how something like this could go very wrong. I think more than most games, this relies on the storyteller coming up with a really compelling setting and not being a dick to the players and just forcing pulls (unless the group was jonesing for that kind of thing). But it didn't turn out that way for us.

 

Anyway. It's 2019. There's a lot to think about. The two things I want to do the most are to write more stories and get my finances even tighter. My student loans are acting up and apparently the forgiveness program that I thought I was on doesn't account for all of those unless they're all brought current. So I need to get on the phone with people and figure out what that looks like. I also need to get my gyms straightened up so that I'm not paying more than I have to.

 

In terms of diet and training, well, whatever changes are going to happen are going to happen as they need to. I've made a decision to switch my caloric intakes since I now have two days a week where I can reliably be said to not be doing any training. Call it shallow if you want to, but I'm getting really sick of that scale in the doctor's office; I want to see how lean I can get between here and 02/23 so I can go there and weigh in badly, just to show 'em what for.

 

And, uh, yeah. Much to do, little to talk about.

 

Karate and kettlebells tonight. Let's get it.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

6 minutes ago, Kishi said:

I'm looking at FF XIV, one because I'm way more invested in that, two because that storyline doesn't seem anywhere near as stupid, three because I can't believe the level of love that's gone into fixing this thing from its initial iteration and what they've done for it, and four because I've actually got friends who play this game. 

@shaar I believe has invested many hours in that game as a lizard bard.

[shaar]

23 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

@shaar I believe has invested many hours in that game as a lizard bard.

 

*heavy breathing*

 

I uh mean

 

XIV has gotten a lot of WoW refugees lately!  It's my favorite MMO ever hands down.  Great storyline, beautiful game, and you're right, they've TOTALLY turned it around since the trainwreck that was 1.0!

[Kishi]

On 1/1/2019 at 6:16 PM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

@shaar I believe has invested many hours in that game as a lizard bard.

 

On 1/1/2019 at 6:41 PM, shaar said:

 

*heavy breathing*

 

I uh mean

 

XIV has gotten a lot of WoW refugees lately!  It's my favorite MMO ever hands down.  Great storyline, beautiful game, and you're right, they've TOTALLY turned it around since the trainwreck that was 1.0!

 

please tell me it's nice over there. lie to me. i'll believe it

 

*

 

Hark! Dojo Shenanigans!

 

So, in order for y'all to understand this, I need to fill in some details.

 

When the dojo first opened up, it was like most Judo-dojo. Lotta heart, not a lot of money. Everyone was paying into it. Teachers were paying into it and paying for the opportunity to teach. This is fairly normal in judo around here. It's not really a for-profit thing and it doesn't get subsidized around here like it does in other countries. At the start, it was supposed to be three programs - the judo program, the karate program, and the kali program.

 

Now, Manong - kali teacher - was the one who was paying in the most to make up the difference between what we were getting in fees and what we were getting in dues. He wanted to. But he's kind of wound up being our go-to business person; ie he's the point man when it comes to money and business decisions. And he's been looking for ways to try to get us into the black, because obviously he's not wanting to pay out every month to cover for us. What that's translated to is an expansion of the programs we have on offer. Because he figured that if we had more programs, we'd get access to more students. Makes sense, on paper.

 

As time has gone by, we've added a couple programs to the mix - the boxing program, which you know, and a kid's workout program, which you do not. Thing is, none of these programs is doing particularly great. The boxing program has me and one other guy, who happens to be the new student in Karate, and he's not paying because he's the teacher for the kid's program. He brought his sister in as a new student; she's not paying anything because she's his sister and as kin Manong doesn't want her to have to pay. The kid's program isn't exactly doing well either - we have two or three kids who come by, but I can't believe their parents are paying full rates for them to come and basically run around on our mats. As for Kali, well, it's interesting, because we have a bunch of bodies in there but I have no idea where the money's going on that. We get a lot of one-and-dones, although we do have some regulars. The money's a little hard to track, because we do lots of demonstrations and try to be out and about in places, but Manong seems to insist on paying me for some of that and seems to be running Kali as its own separate thing.

 

I dunno, man.

 

To condense it down, we have judo as the tentpole and all these other programs that are using the space but aren't doing that well.

 

A key detail: our latest attempt to solve that problem is to open up a BJJ program. We apparently have a coach who's willing to train people. And this is exciting - BJJ is a moneymaker program. It's a fair bet that it's going to blow up and make money. It might just be enough money to push us into the black.

 

Now.

 

On Tuesday, K-sensei gets notice from Manong that he can stop paying now. So K-sensei does so. And then, like an hour later or something he gets this call from J-sensei. J-sensei's apparently spooked; he's like, "So that's it, huh? You're done?" And K-sensei's like, "What, what are you talking about?" He checks the site and lo and behold - somebody switched the schedules around without telling us anything. BJJ now has our Tuesday slot, and we're stuck with Thursday and "TBD." K-sensei thinks the karate program's being shunted over to Thursday/Friday. We don't do classes on Friday because that's a dead-ass day, and we all know it.

 

The read on this appears to be that we're reaching a point where we have too many programs and so with a new one getting ready to happen that's almost guaranteed to pull its weight, one of them's got to go. It looks like it's going to be the karate program.

 

At least, that's what he thinks.

 

What I personally think is one of two things, because something in the new schedule doesn't add up. The whole thing's a mess right now - classes scheduled at the same time as each other, new classes where there weren't any before, things like that. It's weird. Also, the fact that J-sensei, who's ostensibly the head of the school, had no idea what was happening; the man's very involved in our dealings, and he's not the kind of person to deal behind the back.

 

What I think happened is that Manong took K-sensei off the pay roster at the same time that he put the BJJ programs on, and I'd be willing to bet that he'd be so stoked at the prospect of something new that he wouldn't even talk to anyone about it.

 

At least, that's what I hope. The alternative is that Karate got axed and I'll be banished with K-sensei back to studying martial arts in his garage. Which is effectively what it'll be; I'm invested in this, and I'm not going to forsake that just because everyone else wants to turn the dojo into a grappling school. (not that there's anything wrong with grappling schools, and if I can find my way to the BJJ classes you bet I will, but you know. Personal loyalty and sunk cost, not to mention love of the art).

 

So, I dunno man. I dunno what's going on. I'm sure there's a bunch of stuff going on behind the scenes, a scramble to figure out what's what. I hope this ends well. Part of me wants to wade into this, but the fact is, I don't know enough to be effective in this situation, even if I'm approaching a quasi-instructional role. I suspect K-sensei's going to bring it up tomorrow, and I'll be seeing Manong on Friday, so I imagine I'll have a more complete picture then.

 

Sigh.

 

Class on Tuesday was in the garage. It's small, but cozy, good for footwork and cutting angles. Somehow he's got a punching bag in there now so when he was working with one of us the other would be working the bag. It was a good class. Kind of nostalgic.

 

Tonight, my sci-fi buddy cancelled to get stuff ready for a trip this weekend. So, since I've been bitching at myself about getting my financial house in order, that was what I did - cancelled a gym membership, got my credit card on autopay, filed to consolidate my student loans and finally, finally get that crap in order. And, uh, yeah. It was a constructive night.

 

But I'm up way too late and I need to get some sleep.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Dang, I hope stuff gets sorted well at the Dojo. Whatever the intent was behind stuff, it doesn't sound like good communication practices were in play.

[ReturnOfTheDad]

It's so tough to find that balance between passion for the martial arts and commercial success. Keep fighting the good fight man.

[Urgan]

Yeah, at the very least you have described a communication fail or two. Hopefully it clears itself up when people start talking to one another.

[Kishi]

2 hours ago, ReturnOfTheDad said:

It's so tough to find that balance between passion for the martial arts and commercial success. Keep fighting the good fight man.

 

Yup. That's what I told K-sensei earlier today. It's the reason we say "Osu." Whatever happens, we push through. We toil. We endure.

 

2 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Dang, I hope stuff gets sorted well at the Dojo. Whatever the intent was behind stuff, it doesn't sound like good communication practices were in play.

 

5 minutes ago, Urgan said:

Yeah, at the very least you have described a communication fail or two. Hopefully it clears itself up when people start talking to one another.

 

Yeah so about that:

 

*

 

So I just got the word from K-sensei and it looks like it wasn't an accident. Manong basically gave our slots to BJJ without talking to us about it and has decided that we can have Friday and Saturday nights. K-sensei's completely unwilling to teach on those days. We're done at that school.

 

I'm... honestly at something of a loss. After the initial roil of emotions, I decided to try to figure out why Manong thought this was okay. I've been looking at other school schedules in the area, and it appears that a substantial amount of them do in fact offer Friday classes. So what I think happened is that Manong must have looked at the market, thought it wasn't a big deal, and shunted us.

 

Thing is, he's underestimated K-sensei's willingness to teach on those days. Waifu is the limiting factor on this - she's barely compliant with training on Tuesdays/Thursdays as it is; she'd skin us alive if we tried to get in the way of her Friday nights. The daytime on Saturday is booked; and K-sensei's not going to teach on Saturday night.

 

So, yeah. We're done. Practically speaking, this doesn't mean much; my schedule's largely unchanged, my training will be fine. But my heart hurts for my teacher. What he offers is of great value; I just can't believe we can't get people to see that.

 

Phew.

 

Okay.

 

Karate and headstands tonight. Gonna see if I can't turn that density up and hit progression standard.

[Urgan]

Well dang. It would figure Waifu would further complicate the already complicated, but in her defense I would additionally tear the head off anybody suggesting Friday and Saturday nights are for anything aside from hibernating~ 

[Mistr]

Yeesh, what a mess at your dojo. I hope the senior instructors get it sorted out with a minimum of fireworks. This sounds like a situation you would do well to watch unfold from a safe distance.

 

Good for you using the free time to get your finances sorted. Adulting win!

[Kishi]

36 minutes ago, Urgan said:

Well dang. It would figure Waifu would further complicate the already complicated, but in her defense I would additionally tear the head off anybody suggesting Friday and Saturday nights are for anything aside from hibernating~ 

 

Agreed. It's hard not to sympathize with her on this. That being said, she definitely is the reason that he's not teaching on Friday nights.

 

24 minutes ago, Mistr said:

Yeesh, what a mess at your dojo. I hope the senior instructors get it sorted out with a minimum of fireworks. This sounds like a situation you would do well to watch unfold from a safe distance.

 

As much as I can. The problem is, with the other programs being so small, and with me having relative seniority in them, I get the sense I'm gonna be pulled into this whether I like it or not. But given my understanding of things, probably the best thing to do is just nod and go with it.

 

32 minutes ago, Mistr said:

Good for you using the free time to get your finances sorted. Adulting win!

 

Thanks! It felt a little bitter, but I feel better having those in line. Nice to be the person I think I am.

[Kishi]

Thursday down.

 

Karate was good! Class was had in the garage and one of our students from the dojo came out to the garage to train with us. Says he enjoyed it. He should. The garage is awesome.  Afterward, we discussed things. K-sensei was actually really chill about everything. We all of us kind of agreed that the problem wasn't the programs but was our exposure - we're located in a shitty little strip mall in between a pair of gambling dens; it's the kind of place where people smoke weed in their cars. We aren't located in a prominent place in there, we don't have a sign out by the road to drive people toward us, and meanwhile just up the road from us is a Karate Judo place located in a not-so-shitty strip mall with a prominent sign. How many people you wanna bet they stole from us.

 

Speaking specifically to our Karate program, I was of the opinion that we never get to show people our quality. I brought up that they only ever see us when we're starting out; not when we're finishing and working on the sparring aspects. And it sucks, because if we somehow had a way to show ourselves off sparring when, say, the BJJ crowd was just coming in, we might actually solve the problem of getting more bodies. K-sensei pointed out that this was valid, but also pointed out that 1) people might already have too much time sunk into one art to make time for two, and 2) that lots of people just don't like getting hit. Which I get, but. Really? Judo is the art of punching people in the face with a fist wrapped in gi; if anything, we're gonna hit them with more padding and they're gonna wuss out?

 

I don't get it.

 

Anyway, with him being so sanguine about everything, it's kind of hard for me to carry on in anger. Because if the offended party isn't offended, why should I be? I feel like I'm in a better place to have this conversation, which is good because tonight I go off with Manong to train our students in Chapel Hill, and I'm sure Manong is going to be asking why K-sensei doesn't want to teach. This'll be fun.

 

After that, it'll be a legz/abz day at the gym. Do some bagwork. Shoot, I'll probably go ahead and walk for time as well, because why not? Legs have been itching to move.

 

Speaking of that, ran my measurements today and they're about as conflicted as they've ever been. Weight's up, body fat percentage is down, Adonis Index is up. Overall good, but weird to look at. I feel like having three data points to work with is actually kind of ideal; I've looked at myself in the mirror and thought that the data should reflect one thing when it doesn't, but having these three in particular kind of makes it so I have something to account for those things.

 

Also, I'm about one week into my synthroid use, and I've gotta admit, there were definitely some deficits in my function that I'd got used to and stopped questioning. Prior to starting, it took me a lot more mental energy to get things started. Had to gather myself more to do things, that sort of thing. I don't feel that way anymore, and haven't since I started on da pillz. Not sure if it's placebo or what, but I'll run with it.

 

One more thing - hit progression standard on my headstands.

[Urgan]

20 minutes ago, Kishi said:

Karate was good! Class was had in the garage and one of our students from the dojo came out to the garage to train with us. Says he enjoyed it. He should. The garage is awesome.  Afterward, we discussed things. K-sensei was actually really chill about everything. We all of us kind of agreed that the problem wasn't the programs but was our exposure - we're located in a shitty little strip mall in between a pair of gambling dens; it's the kind of place where people smoke weed in their cars. We aren't located in a prominent place in there, we don't have a sign out by the road to drive people toward us, and meanwhile just up the road from us is a Karate Judo place located in a not-so-shitty strip mall with a prominent sign. How many people you wanna bet they stole from us.

 

Chin up. No matter how shitty your strip mall sign-less dojo location may seem, it doesn't have less exposure than the Shinkendo group I attended once a week on Saturday mornings for a couple months in the basement of a college gym. You try getting a bokken down and back up a tiny spiraling wrought-iron staircase like some really, really old churches loved to have or alternatively winding your way across the length of the building. And I wasn't even one of the guys who carried a bag full of the things or an iado or nothing. They once were partnered with a karate school but lost it somehow, it wasn't elaborated on and I dared not ask (and in a school where it's more offensive that the good name of the art is potentially tarnished if a student is injured while practicing the art on their own GASP than the fact that a human being was injured at all, you wouldn't ask either lol). You got a bit going against you, but your school is still kicking so there's hope.

 

29 minutes ago, Kishi said:

Speaking specifically to our Karate program, I was of the opinion that we never get to show people our quality. I brought up that they only ever see us when we're starting out; not when we're finishing and working on the sparring aspects. And it sucks, because if we somehow had a way to show ourselves off sparring when, say, the BJJ crowd was just coming in, we might actually solve the problem of getting more bodies. K-sensei pointed out that this was valid, but also pointed out that 1) people might already have too much time sunk into one art to make time for two, and 2) that lots of people just don't like getting hit. Which I get, but. Really? Judo is the art of punching people in the face with a fist wrapped in gi; if anything, we're gonna hit them with more padding and they're gonna wuss out?

 

I don't get it.

 

Trying to understand others' thought process when fear is involved is a surefire way of getting a headache without even having to bother being punched in the face. Very efficient.

 

30 minutes ago, Kishi said:

Anyway, with him being so sanguine about everything, it's kind of hard for me to carry on in anger. Because if the offended party isn't offended, why should I be? I feel like I'm in a better place to have this conversation, which is good because tonight I go off with Manong to train our students in Chapel Hill, and I'm sure Manong is going to be asking why K-sensei doesn't want to teach. This'll be fun.

 

This feel. Sometimes loyalty makes it hard to Let It Go. Also lol, time to sit Manong down and tell him the Facts of Waifu Life~

[karinajean]

23 hours ago, Kishi said:

So I just got the word from K-sensei and it looks like it wasn't an accident. Manong basically gave our slots to BJJ without talking to us about it and has decided that we can have Friday and Saturday nights. K-sensei's completely unwilling to teach on those days. We're done at that school.

 

 

48 minutes ago, Kishi said:

Anyway, with him being so sanguine about everything, it's kind of hard for me to carry on in anger. Because if the offended party isn't offended, why should I be? I feel like I'm in a better place to have this conversation, which is good because tonight I go off with Manong to train our students in Chapel Hill, and I'm sure Manong is going to be asking why K-sensei doesn't want to teach. This'll be fun.

 

I'm glad that K-sensei is being so prosaic about this but dude, this is so similar to what happened to my weapons and boxing class at the dojo over the spring/summer. basically dojo owner got overwhelmed by finances and transferred the school to one of his business / personal partners, and she began working hard to make the dojo at LEAST a break-even enterprise. she's aiming for profit, but she started looking for break-even. Which means more classes, esp kids classes, which means saturday AMs are prime real estate, and then rumors started flying about each instructor being responsible for contributing towards insurance (which never came to fruition, thankfully) and then we got booted from our saturday AM spot. they offered us sunday, but that was a no-go. This class isn't a money maker, but it is the class that 3/4 of the school's instructors attend for additional training and cross-method-training and it felt like really the only reward we got for instructing (we are all non-paid instructors), so it was kind of annoying. So, weapons instructor and former dojo owner kind of "broke up" the bromance and we were stuck scouting for a super cheap place to practice. We ended up practicing on the racquetball courts at a Gold's Gym for a few months until they kicked us out (someone reported us for using knives, which was TOTALLY UNTRUE [it was nunchucks and sais] but I have also observed that racquetball players - at least at this gym - are kind of extra). after that, weapons instructor had another chat with former dojo owner.

 

Anyway long story is that after being displaced for a few months we are back at original dojo a little earlier than before on saturdays, before the "mighty mites" class that comes in mid-morning. Which is all to say, maybe it will work out in the end? Dojo scheduling and politics are pretty over the top sometimes. And I also felt awkward and like I had to keep the weapons class at the gym a big secret. ugh.

[Mistr]

Buying a good sign might be something to consider. It would be a better investment bet than adding a new program, and a heckofalot less work.

 

I get it that finding a place for a dojo is tough and there may be a lease involved. That said, now is the time to start scouting better locations with less competition for new students. You are not going to get parents to drop off their kids at a dubious strip mall.

[Kishi]

1 hour ago, Urgan said:

Chin up. No matter how shitty your strip mall sign-less dojo location may seem, it doesn't have less exposure than the Shinkendo group I attended once a week on Saturday mornings for a couple months in the basement of a college gym. You try getting a bokken down and back up a tiny spiraling wrought-iron staircase like some really, really old churches loved to have or alternatively winding your way across the length of the building. And I wasn't even one of the guys who carried a bag full of the things or an iado or nothing. They once were partnered with a karate school but lost it somehow, it wasn't elaborated on and I dared not ask (and in a school where it's more offensive that the good name of the art is potentially tarnished if a student is injured while practicing the art on their own GASP than the fact that a human being was injured at all, you wouldn't ask either lol). You got a bit going against you, but your school is still kicking so there's hope.

 

Well, I'm not saying that we lost students specifically because of our location; we lost them because people don't know what they're looking for around here, and when they get to the general area of our schools, they can see the other guys. They can't see us. Assuming of course that people were looking for us in the first place. Maybe the BJJ program will help with that, but if we aren't visible then it doesn't matter if we have the Gracies teaching here - students don't go where they don't know teaching is available.

 

1 hour ago, Urgan said:

Trying to understand others' thought process when fear is involved is a surefire way of getting a headache without even having to bother being punched in the face. Very efficient.

 

Yeah. It's not rational. Weird.

 

1 hour ago, Urgan said:

This feel. Sometimes loyalty makes it hard to Let It Go. Also lol, time to sit Manong down and tell him the Facts of Waifu Life~

 

Yup. And I mean, the man should know better. "Hey, you remember, when you first started Kali and you and I were training together and we were the only two people that could be bothered to show up? You ever pause to think that maybe the reason for that was that it was Friday?"

 

48 minutes ago, karinajean said:

 

 

I'm glad that K-sensei is being so prosaic about this but dude, this is so similar to what happened to my weapons and boxing class at the dojo over the spring/summer. basically dojo owner got overwhelmed by finances and transferred the school to one of his business / personal partners, and she began working hard to make the dojo at LEAST a break-even enterprise. she's aiming for profit, but she started looking for break-even. Which means more classes, esp kids classes, which means saturday AMs are prime real estate, and then rumors started flying about each instructor being responsible for contributing towards insurance (which never came to fruition, thankfully) and then we got booted from our saturday AM spot. they offered us sunday, but that was a no-go. This class isn't a money maker, but it is the class that 3/4 of the school's instructors attend for additional training and cross-method-training and it felt like really the only reward we got for instructing (we are all non-paid instructors), so it was kind of annoying. So, weapons instructor and former dojo owner kind of "broke up" the bromance and we were stuck scouting for a super cheap place to practice. We ended up practicing on the racquetball courts at a Gold's Gym for a few months until they kicked us out (someone reported us for using knives, which was TOTALLY UNTRUE [it was nunchucks and sais] but I have also observed that racquetball players - at least at this gym - are kind of extra). after that, weapons instructor had another chat with former dojo owner.

 

Anyway long story is that after being displaced for a few months we are back at original dojo a little earlier than before on saturdays, before the "mighty mites" class that comes in mid-morning. Which is all to say, maybe it will work out in the end? Dojo scheduling and politics are pretty over the top sometimes. And I also felt awkward and like I had to keep the weapons class at the gym a big secret. ugh.

 

Oh yeah, and that's kind of where we're at right now. Frankly, given that we have BJJ guys who train judo at our school, I had kind of expected something like this to happen. I'm open to the idea of everything synergizing well and combining proper, but as it is I feel like the solution we're aiming for is wrong.

 

9 minutes ago, Mistr said:

Buying a good sign might be something to consider. It would be a better investment bet than adding a new program, and a heckofalot less work.

 

Right. Buying a good sign and plastering the local strip malls with papers on cars. Basic ish like that.

 

10 minutes ago, Mistr said:

I get it that finding a place for a dojo is tough and there may be a lease involved. That said, now is the time to start scouting better locations with less competition for new students. You are not going to get parents to drop off their kids at a dubious strip mall.

 

Good point. I think we're probably locked in on a lease on this place. But if we had actual visibility, that would go a long way toward solving our problems.

[Urgan]

2 minutes ago, Kishi said:

Well, I'm not saying that we lost students specifically because of our location; we lost them because people don't know what they're looking for around here, and when they get to the general area of our schools, they can see the other guys. They can't see us. Assuming of course that people were looking for us in the first place. Maybe the BJJ program will help with that, but if we aren't visible then it doesn't matter if we have the Gracies teaching here - students don't go where they don't know teaching is available.

 

That was the nut of what I was trying to get at--some places are stuck with a space that seems almost deliberately designed to be invisible to the novice and the active dojo-seeker. You don't get lots of prospective martial artist foot traffic past the caged area where the football players strength train. In this case they really didn't even know how to "sell" their art to a new student--to the point you basically have to have sold the art to yourself before you set foot in the room and maintain a death-grip on that feeling because it will be sorely tested. To put a fine point on it, it was not the most welcoming start to the martial arts life a girl could ask for and whether they were rude or I am too sensitive is up for debate, honestly. The instructors I interacted with didn't realize their not-entirely-functional website was still live when I showed up and probably weren't getting up in the morning to the smell of opportunity for growth of their little club of 3-5 people.

 

I guess some arts are just like that? Some people might look at swordsmanship and immediately discount it because sharp things are dangerous, I could hurt myself and it never occur to them that this is instruction by people who know what they're doing and can teach them how to do the thing safely. So it goes with knives and fists and dynamic chiropractic joint locks, no doubt. People come with preconceived notions about lots of things they don't want to be re-educated on--maybe some of them were built from garbage prior experiences * coughs *--and as such wouldn't make great students for you guys anyhow if you are being approached as guilty until proven competent. Not fun. 

 

Put it another way, I'm sorry as can be it has to be so hard for niche-ish arts to thrive when on their merits they should be doing so easily. It really, really sucks and hopefully you can find a resolution that gets some traction. @Mistr indeed makes a very good point about location and children's classes being a volatile combination. Surely the strip mall would permit a little non-invasive advertising for a smaller lessee that does not have the benefit of the Big Sign Out Front? 

[Kishi]

2 hours ago, Urgan said:

 

That was the nut of what I was trying to get at--some places are stuck with a space that seems almost deliberately designed to be invisible to the novice and the active dojo-seeker. You don't get lots of prospective martial artist foot traffic past the caged area where the football players strength train. In this case they really didn't even know how to "sell" their art to a new student--to the point you basically have to have sold the art to yourself before you set foot in the room and maintain a death-grip on that feeling because it will be sorely tested. To put a fine point on it, it was not the most welcoming start to the martial arts life a girl could ask for and whether they were rude or I am too sensitive is up for debate, honestly. The instructors I interacted with didn't realize their not-entirely-functional website was still live when I showed up and probably weren't getting up in the morning to the smell of opportunity for growth of their little club of 3-5 people.

 

I guess some arts are just like that? Some people might look at swordsmanship and immediately discount it because sharp things are dangerous, I could hurt myself and it never occur to them that this is instruction by people who know what they're doing and can teach them how to do the thing safely. So it goes with knives and fists and dynamic chiropractic joint locks, no doubt. People come with preconceived notions about lots of things they don't want to be re-educated on--maybe some of them were built from garbage prior experiences * coughs *--and as such wouldn't make great students for you guys anyhow if you are being approached as guilty until proven competent. Not fun. 

 

Put it another way, I'm sorry as can be it has to be so hard for niche-ish arts to thrive when on their merits they should be doing so easily. It really, really sucks and hopefully you can find a resolution that gets some traction. @Mistr indeed makes a very good point about location and children's classes being a volatile combination. Surely the strip mall would permit a little non-invasive advertising for a smaller lessee that does not have the benefit of the Big Sign Out Front? 

 

Aah, and once again I have valiantly persisted in missing the point.

 

But yeah, last night, that's almost exactly what we said to each other. The way we're set up, it's like that hole-in-the-wall breakfast spot that only the locals know about, which is death for us right now. Also, our website is not entirely functional right now either; that's not a good look.

 

And like you say, we definitely get approached more by people with full cups than new students willing to learn. This is especially true in Kali, although to their point I can see how they'd look at us and conclude we don't teach something useful. We're fixing that now, but who knows if that's going to take or not?

 

Anyway, a working website and a sign out front might do more than all the programs put together to get us on the radar for people, assuming we can't get out from under this lease to a place where people want to go.

[ReturnOfTheDad]

I do a bit of Business Development consulting (which is also my primary responsibility for the day job work). My recommendation to folks looking to grow, or sometimes just sustain their business, is typically to find someone who has done what you are looking to do and model it. That can be tough in the martial arts arena since the really successful franchise places can go way too commercial and can also be very protective of business practices.  There are some good (and inexpensive) off the shelf marketing plans that can make a big difference if followed. Here's one that covers most of the bases and doesn't cost an arm and a leg: https://small-dojo-big-profits.com/

 

I was helping a friend get their school started a few years ago and bought this to better educate myself on how to get things rolling (was around $150 with a 60 day money back policy). I liked that it is was common sense marketing actions that you can pick and choose from based on your situation. I've coached and taught at a few places over the years and this is probably the best collection of what I've seen work and generate $$$ while maintaining the integrity of their respective arts. One of the big things that drew me to this guys take on things is that he started with a difficult location as well.

 

Not sure if something like that would be of help now with so much going on with your school, but maybe a tool to look at down the road.

[Kishi]

1 hour ago, ReturnOfTheDad said:

I do a bit of Business Development consulting (which is also my primary responsibility for the day job work). My recommendation to folks looking to grow, or sometimes just sustain their business, is typically to find someone who has done what you are looking to do and model it. That can be tough in the martial arts arena since the really successful franchise places can go way too commercial and can also be very protective of business practices.  There are some good (and inexpensive) off the shelf marketing plans that can make a big difference if followed. Here's one that covers most of the bases and doesn't cost an arm and a leg: https://small-dojo-big-profits.com/

 

I was helping a friend get their school started a few years ago and bought this to better educate myself on how to get things rolling (was around $150 with a 60 day money back policy). I liked that it is was common sense marketing actions that you can pick and choose from based on your situation. I've coached and taught at a few places over the years and this is probably the best collection of what I've seen work and generate $$$ while maintaining the integrity of their respective arts. One of the big things that drew me to this guys take on things is that he started with a difficult location as well.

 

Not sure if something like that would be of help now with so much going on with your school, but maybe a tool to look at down the road.

 

Dude, that looks like it could be super-helpful. I'll definitely pass that along to him. Thank you so much!