The Quest to Become Black Widow

[Eilyd]

WHAT is your name?  I'm Eilyd.  (Ei like in May, or using Spanish phonetics.  Like "Oh no, a lid fell on my toe!") (Things frequently fall on my toes.)

 

I'm 22, married to http://nerdfitnessrebellion.com/index.php?/user/10021-archbishop/

'>Archbishop for almost a whole year, an editor disguised as an accountant (I can't believe they fell for it!).  I like playing DotA 2, Guild Wars 2, and Minecraft, and anything else that Archbishop has the patience to teach me--OH!  Also Journey on Xbox.  It's so pretty! And you can sing to people!  I also enjoy sport-like things where I'm allowed to hit people, and dancing.  Sport-like things that involve running and permit concussive contact only with balls are not as fun.

 

I'm really friendly, especially on the internet when I can control how many people I have to interact with at once.  But a crowd of strangers is the most intimidating thing ever, especially if I'm expected to look competent at something while meeting them (like speaking Japanese.  Japanese-teaching/speaking/culturing conventions are scary).  I'll talk to you forever about words and languages if you want. And if you ever have something that you're writing and you want to know, "Does this sound like I want it to?", I would be thrilled to edit it for you.  I mean thrilled, the way a normal person would be thrilled at beating the Wither in only one try.  Maybe more.

 

I'm new to the boards, though I've been following NF since September of 2012 (or something like that).  I hopped on to get in on the six-week challenge, and already I feel so encouraged!  You people are great.

 

 

WHAT is your Quest? To become as much like Black Widow as humanly possible.

Last summer (June 2012 for any disoriented time-travelers) I went to Ragnarok, the annual giant week-long battle of awesomeness for Dagorhir, as I have done for the past 6 years without fail, although that year I could only go for Friday/Saturday.  And after walking a half mile to the battle field and wandering around all day and attempting to fight in too-hot weather, I came to a terrible realization:

"I am so bloody weak and out of shape!"

Now mind you, I was used to people saying, "You hit hard for a girl!" and generally running around and doing whatever my fae-persona, energetic self felt like with no repercussions like this "getting tired" nonsense.  But being lazy in college, spraining then re-spraining my ankle, and those kinds of things--I used them all as excuses to slack, and I "had more important things" like a wedding to do, and overall became even less intimidating than my 5'3", 128 lb., friendly, grinning self is inclined to appear. 

 

So I started working out with people at my job, because we have a small but functional exercise room.  And we did things like super-tame versions of CrossFit routines, because none of us could do more than 15 box jumps without falling over.  It was a really nice way to ease in.

 

Then right after Ragnarok, I went and saw The Avengers, determined to become like Black Widow.

In pursuit of this quest,  I found NF, and realized that http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/'>Staci is an awesome, slightly more realistic role model.  While I'm looking for a more monk/assassin multiclass combo, starting with Staci's warrior build seemed good, because I liked the idea of being strong.  And it didn't involve running, yet.

So yeah.  Back in July I started at 128 lb. , 5'3", 35-27-36 (ish).  15 pound dumbbells were heavy for clean-and-presses, 10 push-ups were a lot, I could almost manage one pull-up, and I started deadlifting around 50lbs, and only doing body weight squats.

Now I'm still the same weight (and height, thank goodness), 35-28-37 (ish).  I've gained glutes and back muscles that can actually accomplish something.  Now 30 pounds are average for c/p's, 20 push-ups are reasonable, I can do 7 pull-ups in one set (though with slight breaks).  I can now deadlift more than my weight (135) and squat 110.

 

My goals from here are to keep increasing the weights I can manage, run a mile without stopping or walking...and then 2, then 3! and learn 3 types of martial arts to decent competence--Systema and Tai Chi for sure; not sure what the third one should be.  And I want to be a good, honorable, and intimidating fighter in Dagorhir.

 

WHAT is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? Bro, no, I don't even math.  Ask Google, not me.

It's nice to meet you all!

[Ba'sini'on]

Welcome to Nerd Fitness!

 

Krav Maga should be the third one. Not only will it make you Badass at Dagorhir (don't know what that is but I'm looking it up), it will also help you in real life!

 

Nice job with building the body of a warrior! I can't even do one pullup, yet, But I've always been good at pushups, and hitting like a guy! Have you considered adding some basic Parkour movements to your arsenal? It's fun and being able to do something that people only imagine doing (especially after watching Avengers) would get you close to being Black Widow awesome.

 

Hope your challenge goes well!

 

P.S. Archbishop you tell your wife she is amazing and you love her. And don't ever stop romancing her! She sounds like a one of a kind gal, you are a very lucky guy.

[Archbishop]

I really am, and I don't plan to stop.

[Eilyd]

He is very good at telling me that he loves me and romancing me and fighting with me!  I told him I wanted to learn basic fighting (after punching him when he sneaked up on me in a parking garage), so he taught me how to punch and kick and let me practice on him with a pillow as a pad.  And recently we looked up Systema punching videos, and we practiced punching each other "properly".  When we could fight for fun, why would we ever fight "for real"?

 

Krav Maga and Parkour are both on the menu!  (though I forgot to put Parkour up there).  Krav Maga isn't the definite 3rd one, because it strikes me as similar to Systema (brutal, unarmed, efficient).  For my "top three", I want to get 3 diverse styles, so that I'll be better able to adapt to various situations.  Parkour is coming after I get my aerobic endurance to passable (which is part of what I'm trying in this challenge), and if I can find a proper environment for practicing it.

Did you look up what Dagorhir is yet?  It's super fun!  Like Halloween and fighting combined, plus campfire discussions of video games!

[Ba'sini'on]

Sure does, I want to try it out!

 

What kind of martial arts interest you? Flashy kind (flips, spins, etc.), or practical? I am a fanatic about martial arts, but most of the ones I've read about are hard to find. Hmmmm...You've got brutal, and then soft Tai Chi, you need an in betweener to bind them together...to bad you couldn't find someone to teach you Tessenjutsu, It's the fighting style with the war fan, but it's main focus is to use an opponents force against them. Masters of Tessenjutsu could defend against a sword and had been known to kill with a single blow. There are a lot of Kung Fu teachers, I myself was taught some Kung Fu but I don't remember which style. It was fun especially since my pastor was the teacher! Karate is another popular style however, there are a lot of "teachers" who don't exactly teach it the right way. Wushu is fun, acrobatic, and flashy.

 

Hey Archbishop, why the heck would you sneak up on a women in a parking garage? That is sure way to get killed!

[Archbishop]

Well, I never claimed to always make intelligent decisions. That one still ranks among my more foolish ones however, I'll chalk it up to not bothering to think about it first.

 

I really do wish I could find a sifu to teach tessenjutsu, it's a fascinating art, but sadly a little hard to come by. I would greatly like to find a good kung fu sifu, but it's hard to do, many of the ones I've examined don't go enough into the deeper aspects of the art, and alternately treat it like glorified exercise, or strictly as self defense. While both of these are true and useful, they aren't the point...

[Amazon Grimm]

Just FYI, I pronounce "a lid"  Uh lid, not Ay-lid.  I'm just saying.

[csouter02]

Krav Maga is def. practical and will save your ass in the streets. I am from New York and it has taught me a thing or two about environments and targeting certain areas (eyes, throat, groin.) So I highly recommend that one. Good job on what you have done so far! Keep using the site and lean on us for help. In the gym try and use the pull up assist machine. It will help you there. Write everything down and try to make little changes and set goals for yourself. Good luck!

[Eilyd]

csouter02-Hi, and thanks!  No pull-up assist for me, though.  The gym at my work is super basic and the rest I do at home, which is just fine for me.

 

GrimmThing-Yeah, that pronunciation guide works better in a spoken introduction, I guess.

 

LostOne - Tessenjutsu sounds like it would be so much fun, but as you said, finding someone to teach it is hard.  I'm wary of karate, being so simplified in most U.S. practice.  Kung fu seems more promising, and I don't know much about wushu.    What are its main features?

[QuirkyDM]

You could try Capoeria - combine your dancing and hitting passions into one form.

 

I'm a black belt in karate and I love it - and I unfortunately agree with you about karate schools. There are great schools out there, but as one of the more popular martial arts, many schools water down the program so its accessible for everyone. That is not a bad thing - if it gets people active and learning martial arts, that's great. But for someone who is highly motivated and even enjoys a little of the pain and grit that goes with combat sports, you're not looking for a watered down program. I think it's easier to find those schools in other martial arts because the "lesser known" martial arts have less competition and don't need to compromise.

 

Love your background. That is fantastic progress- a real success story. And anyone who is looking for superhero fitness is always of interest.

[smftexas86]

Never did I do any martial arts or anything, but was doing alot of reading up on different styles and stuff.

 

The one that stood out to me was WingChun. Not the easist style of Kungfu to find, but one of the first styles Bruce Lee learned and what the Ip Man series is based on. From everything i gather is a really beautiful martial arts, but also highly effective in self defense.

 

 

Love the whole striving to be like black widow, don't forget the dead on accuracy with guns!