For a little under 2 weeks now, I've had my fingers strapped up. I can't make a full fist with my right hand, but it's getting better. I've taken the strapping off for my day-to-day business.
However, I haven't done any form of exercise :-( It's driving me mad. Once it's all fixed, I'll be doing jitsu at the town club, not the uni club, because it's summer now! Just need to get my mons sewn onto my belt...
Weighed in today at 60kg, body fat was 2.50% and bicep size was 31cm.
I'm trying to eat more, but I keep running out of things, like milk. Two to three glasses a day is good, but I am always surprised when my jug runs out :-(
Thursday, 26 June 2014
Saturday, 14 June 2014
Grading!!
I finally got the chance to grade earlier today!
Even though in the very early parts of the session, I really hurt my index finger on my right hand (It's currently strapped to my other fingers. Typing is fun), I still made it to the end of the session, without stepping out of the session at all.
I know this is silly, but I didn't even let sensei know until I was off the mat. Ain't nothing stoppin' me from getting a belt!
My finger was injured in a very silly way. Wrist releases. I was uke for another jitsuka. When the applied the very simple and low-risk technique to release the grab, my finger got caught up and twisted in their gi, resulting in a lot of snapping noises.
I feel like I'm picking up silly injuried, but I'm healing faster, and the injuries are becoming more minor each time -- I feel like I'm becoming more resilient.
In the end, despite my occasional complete lack of intelligence (Arm lock 2 for a tall person, anyone? I know it, I just kept on going wrong), and the injury, I was awarded my Yellow II belt. Hurrah!
I found the grading a bit strange, since it seemed like one of the guys looking to go for his orange lost control, throwing a bottle into the face of one uke, cutting his face. After that, he did it again in his V. He, surprisingly, did get his orange belt.
I managed to convince my other half to feed me a really carby meal last night, to fuel me in the grading, which I think worked like a charm. At the end of the 3 hour session, I walked away chipper and able to do more (excepting my finger injury). Mmm, so much spaghetti bolognaise was consumed ^.^
In celebration of me passing a grading, my other half cooked me a jacket potato and a quorn steak with peppercorn sauce, and a bottle of my favourite beer. It was delicious! So happy!
Even though in the very early parts of the session, I really hurt my index finger on my right hand (It's currently strapped to my other fingers. Typing is fun), I still made it to the end of the session, without stepping out of the session at all.
I know this is silly, but I didn't even let sensei know until I was off the mat. Ain't nothing stoppin' me from getting a belt!
My finger was injured in a very silly way. Wrist releases. I was uke for another jitsuka. When the applied the very simple and low-risk technique to release the grab, my finger got caught up and twisted in their gi, resulting in a lot of snapping noises.
I feel like I'm picking up silly injuried, but I'm healing faster, and the injuries are becoming more minor each time -- I feel like I'm becoming more resilient.
In the end, despite my occasional complete lack of intelligence (Arm lock 2 for a tall person, anyone? I know it, I just kept on going wrong), and the injury, I was awarded my Yellow II belt. Hurrah!
I found the grading a bit strange, since it seemed like one of the guys looking to go for his orange lost control, throwing a bottle into the face of one uke, cutting his face. After that, he did it again in his V. He, surprisingly, did get his orange belt.
I managed to convince my other half to feed me a really carby meal last night, to fuel me in the grading, which I think worked like a charm. At the end of the 3 hour session, I walked away chipper and able to do more (excepting my finger injury). Mmm, so much spaghetti bolognaise was consumed ^.^
In celebration of me passing a grading, my other half cooked me a jacket potato and a quorn steak with peppercorn sauce, and a bottle of my favourite beer. It was delicious! So happy!
Thursday, 12 June 2014
Weight and Internal Pre-Grading
Let's get the stats out of the way first:
Right, onto the good stuff, my internal pregrading.
We managed to go through the entire novice syllabus. We did a circle of grabs & strangles, in which, when the BIG guy got my hair, I just couldn't get him off. I got flustered, and a bit panic-y. Not good.
In my V, I was getting very flustered, just about always having 2 attackers on me at once, although I did manage to pace my throws with kote gaeshi to give myself time to recover & chill out a bit. I did at one point end up with the two biggest guys on the mat vs. me at one point, and ended up putting one of them between us, then using an arm lock as leverage to push him into the other. Good times!
The rest of the session was fine. Passable, but I wasn't at the standard I wanted of myself. I hope I do better on Saturday.
P.S. People with long hair are utterly fantastic for kosoto gari.
- Weight: 60kg
- Body fat %: 4.90%
- Bicep Measurement: 31cm
Right, onto the good stuff, my internal pregrading.
We managed to go through the entire novice syllabus. We did a circle of grabs & strangles, in which, when the BIG guy got my hair, I just couldn't get him off. I got flustered, and a bit panic-y. Not good.
In my V, I was getting very flustered, just about always having 2 attackers on me at once, although I did manage to pace my throws with kote gaeshi to give myself time to recover & chill out a bit. I did at one point end up with the two biggest guys on the mat vs. me at one point, and ended up putting one of them between us, then using an arm lock as leverage to push him into the other. Good times!
The rest of the session was fine. Passable, but I wasn't at the standard I wanted of myself. I hope I do better on Saturday.
P.S. People with long hair are utterly fantastic for kosoto gari.
Wednesday, 11 June 2014
Practice
There is exactly one way to get good at something: Consistent, focused, self-critical practice over a long period of time.
What I mean by this is simple.
You must do it consistently, that is, no 3 month breaks, followed by a few mad weeks, followed by another 1 month break. It just doesn't work for most skills, and especially skills that require a a base-level of endurance. After a couple of weeks, you begin to lose your strength and endurance, and so, you ability to do whatever skill you were practicing.
You must be focused; if you're practicing by having ten minutes here, watch a YouTube video, 5 minutes there, watch some TV, etc. You'll eventually find your practice sessions simply not amounting to much more than watching TV while doing something that's only ornamental. You'll also fail to pay attention to what you're doing, and as a result, simply not notice if you're making mistakes, or be disinclined to fix them.
I will occasionally listen to a podcast while working out (though I don't recall what they're on at the end), but more commonly, I'll listen to some music.
Self-criticism is a very difficult subject. I personally struggle with this one, even with those far more advanced than me telling me that I'm doing well, I am overly self-critical, tearing myself down. I often note all of my flaws, without taking any real action to fix it.
What you really need to do is acknowledge your achievements so far, but also take on what you're struggling with without guilt and, if you're struggling to advance, ask for help.
For instance, I was struggling with my left sided standing breakfalling some time ago. I asked a sensei, off the mat, what the common mistakes were. Next time I was on the mat, I took my progression backwards (as in, I went from standing to just-over kneeling), I paid attention to the potential common mistakes, noted which one I was doing, corrected it and continued. I still sometimes make the mistake, but I know the warning signs, and I know to re-attempt, while fixing my problems. That particular mistake is happening less and less.
A common refrain is the 10,000 hours of practice refrain. What's rarely mentioned is that you'll be crap at the beginning. Ensure that you're practicing well, and get over the self-inflicted guilt about your performance. You need the self-confidence to know that one day, you will have improved, and to let that guilt go. Everyone sucks to begin with, and only immature people will judge you for being bad at something when you're starting out.
What I mean by this is simple.
You must do it consistently, that is, no 3 month breaks, followed by a few mad weeks, followed by another 1 month break. It just doesn't work for most skills, and especially skills that require a a base-level of endurance. After a couple of weeks, you begin to lose your strength and endurance, and so, you ability to do whatever skill you were practicing.
You must be focused; if you're practicing by having ten minutes here, watch a YouTube video, 5 minutes there, watch some TV, etc. You'll eventually find your practice sessions simply not amounting to much more than watching TV while doing something that's only ornamental. You'll also fail to pay attention to what you're doing, and as a result, simply not notice if you're making mistakes, or be disinclined to fix them.
I will occasionally listen to a podcast while working out (though I don't recall what they're on at the end), but more commonly, I'll listen to some music.
Self-criticism is a very difficult subject. I personally struggle with this one, even with those far more advanced than me telling me that I'm doing well, I am overly self-critical, tearing myself down. I often note all of my flaws, without taking any real action to fix it.
What you really need to do is acknowledge your achievements so far, but also take on what you're struggling with without guilt and, if you're struggling to advance, ask for help.
For instance, I was struggling with my left sided standing breakfalling some time ago. I asked a sensei, off the mat, what the common mistakes were. Next time I was on the mat, I took my progression backwards (as in, I went from standing to just-over kneeling), I paid attention to the potential common mistakes, noted which one I was doing, corrected it and continued. I still sometimes make the mistake, but I know the warning signs, and I know to re-attempt, while fixing my problems. That particular mistake is happening less and less.
A common refrain is the 10,000 hours of practice refrain. What's rarely mentioned is that you'll be crap at the beginning. Ensure that you're practicing well, and get over the self-inflicted guilt about your performance. You need the self-confidence to know that one day, you will have improved, and to let that guilt go. Everyone sucks to begin with, and only immature people will judge you for being bad at something when you're starting out.
Monday, 9 June 2014
Pre-Grading
I had my pre-grading this Sunday just gone.
Right at the beginning, I was asked to re-do my forwards standing breakfalling 3 or 4 times. I was absolutely bricking it, I thought I'd failed out hard, and wouldn't be allowed to grade. It would've killed me, not being able to grade this term. Trying so hard, fighting through my back pain, keeping going, fixing every little thing that I could find.
It turned out that sensei wanted everyone to get a good look, then tell everyone that my breakfalling was the best in the room. I was astounded. Elated, but also astounded.
After that, sensei asked if I'm aiming to become a 3rd Dan one day, to which I naturally replied that I'd like that! Gotta get my Yellow belt first though!
There was also a bit of bottle defense, which was hilariously fun. I went everywhere!
Aside from that, which I might not stop gloating about for some time, my V went a lot better than expected. I got a few big throws in to start with, osoto gari, kosoto gari being my bread-and-butter at the moment. I can't remember if I got a koshi guruma in there, but I'd be surprised. I was very tired.
The good thing about my V is that I managed to keep my cool, even when too tired to move really well. Instead of trying to keep on doing throws, I managed to safely drop back to wrist lock one (kote gaeshi). This was noticed, and while the senseis were impressed that I dropped back safely and keep my cool, it was regarded as somewhat of a lazy technique.
So next time, the pattern should be roughly throw, lock, lock, throw, lock, lock, etc. That should show that I can use appropriate techniques, and keep going even when the pressure's on.
So, the good news is that I'm slated to grade next week. If you can't tell by the rest of the post, I'm quite excited!
Even better news, I'm not injured.
P.S. I'm now drinking in excess of 6 pints of milk a week.
Right at the beginning, I was asked to re-do my forwards standing breakfalling 3 or 4 times. I was absolutely bricking it, I thought I'd failed out hard, and wouldn't be allowed to grade. It would've killed me, not being able to grade this term. Trying so hard, fighting through my back pain, keeping going, fixing every little thing that I could find.
It turned out that sensei wanted everyone to get a good look, then tell everyone that my breakfalling was the best in the room. I was astounded. Elated, but also astounded.
After that, sensei asked if I'm aiming to become a 3rd Dan one day, to which I naturally replied that I'd like that! Gotta get my Yellow belt first though!
There was also a bit of bottle defense, which was hilariously fun. I went everywhere!
Aside from that, which I might not stop gloating about for some time, my V went a lot better than expected. I got a few big throws in to start with, osoto gari, kosoto gari being my bread-and-butter at the moment. I can't remember if I got a koshi guruma in there, but I'd be surprised. I was very tired.
The good thing about my V is that I managed to keep my cool, even when too tired to move really well. Instead of trying to keep on doing throws, I managed to safely drop back to wrist lock one (kote gaeshi). This was noticed, and while the senseis were impressed that I dropped back safely and keep my cool, it was regarded as somewhat of a lazy technique.
So next time, the pattern should be roughly throw, lock, lock, throw, lock, lock, etc. That should show that I can use appropriate techniques, and keep going even when the pressure's on.
So, the good news is that I'm slated to grade next week. If you can't tell by the rest of the post, I'm quite excited!
Even better news, I'm not injured.
P.S. I'm now drinking in excess of 6 pints of milk a week.
Thursday, 5 June 2014
Recovery
I desperately want to grade, and gain muscle mass. I do not want to be a 55.5kg guy who gets light headed doing breakfall practice.
Unfortunately for me, I'm still carrying a bit of an injury from before the holiday. I fell incorrectly out of seoi otoshi, landing square on my back. At the time, I thought I was just winded, but as time has gone on, the pain in my upper back hasn't gone away in over 12 weeks.
What I really need is to see a medical professional and take some time out from almost all physical activities. Especially jtisu, which has a lot of impact in it. I suspect that what I need is a couple of weeks of rest, followed by a no impact or low impact sport which works my upper back, like swimming (especially with a pull-float).
Recovery is hard, because it means breaking routine, it can mean altering or abandoning goals (especially time-sensitive goals), it feels like giving up.
I am doing the bull headed and stupid thing. I am seeing my goals through to the end. If I am capable, if my techniques are up to scratch, I will be grading. The four horsemen could show up, and I wouldn't care. As long as the sensei performing the grading and someone to uke show up, I'll be there.
This makes me feel like less of a failure, but I feel capable, since I've been training on my injury (in fact, I think it's made me more away of my breakfalling technique, especially forwards left) quite hard recently in preparation for grading.
Anyways, here's my stats of late:
Progress pics... I actually need to buy a camera, since I don't have a camera phone.
Unfortunately for me, I'm still carrying a bit of an injury from before the holiday. I fell incorrectly out of seoi otoshi, landing square on my back. At the time, I thought I was just winded, but as time has gone on, the pain in my upper back hasn't gone away in over 12 weeks.
What I really need is to see a medical professional and take some time out from almost all physical activities. Especially jtisu, which has a lot of impact in it. I suspect that what I need is a couple of weeks of rest, followed by a no impact or low impact sport which works my upper back, like swimming (especially with a pull-float).
Recovery is hard, because it means breaking routine, it can mean altering or abandoning goals (especially time-sensitive goals), it feels like giving up.
I am doing the bull headed and stupid thing. I am seeing my goals through to the end. If I am capable, if my techniques are up to scratch, I will be grading. The four horsemen could show up, and I wouldn't care. As long as the sensei performing the grading and someone to uke show up, I'll be there.
This makes me feel like less of a failure, but I feel capable, since I've been training on my injury (in fact, I think it's made me more away of my breakfalling technique, especially forwards left) quite hard recently in preparation for grading.
Anyways, here's my stats of late:
- Weight: 59.5kg
- Body Fat %: 2.90% to 4.90% (My reading was 3.5mm, averaged over 4 measurements, which wasn't listed on my handy scale)
- Bicep: 31cm
Progress pics... I actually need to buy a camera, since I don't have a camera phone.
Wednesday, 4 June 2014
Regression
Regression is a difficult thing. Forgetting the fact that you have to re-do part of your training, thus wasting your time, it's simply one of the most disheartening things.
It's basically caused by de-training. My understanding is that if you're weight training, your body adapts to the weights you're putting on it. Those adaptations start to reduce after only two weeks out. Obviously, this is really bad news for those who do a 6-week program, then go out for a kebab every night for a month, and expect to be able to do what they could.
But worse than that, it's a real problem for people who're prone to injury. Injuries take a long time to heal. Many people look to get their fix in, working around the injury, but this obviously carries risks.
I have been out of the weights game for a long time, long enough for any physical benefit I got from it to have long gone. Similarly, I've not taught pole exercise, or a strength session at pole exercise for over a year. I stopped due to a back injury some time ago now. This has long since passed, but I just can't seem to get back on the horse with pole.
Luckily, I've been doing jitsu, but my surprising lack of strength and endurance has taken me by surprise. I thought I'd last longer and be better able to win groundwork by pure strength. I thought I'd be better able to cope with the warm up and strength in jitsu, but I lagged behind my colleagues. I thought that picking myself up off the floor for two hours would be fine, and I'm only just able to start keeping up with them, really.
The truth is that my back healed quite a long time ago now, and that I should not have hesitated at getting back into calisthenics. They are so good, especially when done well. A pull-up bar, and a sturdy chair (or a wobbly chair and a kind partner) are all you really need to get started.
I regret not getting back sooner, and I'm not really sure if I'll ever go back to pole. I keep telling myself that I'll go along to a few Sunday sessions, maybe take a few of the strength class parts, the usual, but I've yet to do it. My schedule is so hectic, with 2 weekday evening jitsu classes, and one on Saturday, combined with seeing family that live over an hour's drive away on weekends, jitsu having regional training, nationals, pre-grading and grading on weekends too, I just don't have the time.
But that's not to say that I can't set aside some time during the weeknights to follow the fitloop.co routine every other weekday night. It should help me gain weight, as it'll give my body something to do with all the damn milk, and hopefully, I'll be more resilient to injury in the future!
It's basically caused by de-training. My understanding is that if you're weight training, your body adapts to the weights you're putting on it. Those adaptations start to reduce after only two weeks out. Obviously, this is really bad news for those who do a 6-week program, then go out for a kebab every night for a month, and expect to be able to do what they could.
But worse than that, it's a real problem for people who're prone to injury. Injuries take a long time to heal. Many people look to get their fix in, working around the injury, but this obviously carries risks.
I have been out of the weights game for a long time, long enough for any physical benefit I got from it to have long gone. Similarly, I've not taught pole exercise, or a strength session at pole exercise for over a year. I stopped due to a back injury some time ago now. This has long since passed, but I just can't seem to get back on the horse with pole.
Luckily, I've been doing jitsu, but my surprising lack of strength and endurance has taken me by surprise. I thought I'd last longer and be better able to win groundwork by pure strength. I thought I'd be better able to cope with the warm up and strength in jitsu, but I lagged behind my colleagues. I thought that picking myself up off the floor for two hours would be fine, and I'm only just able to start keeping up with them, really.
The truth is that my back healed quite a long time ago now, and that I should not have hesitated at getting back into calisthenics. They are so good, especially when done well. A pull-up bar, and a sturdy chair (or a wobbly chair and a kind partner) are all you really need to get started.
I regret not getting back sooner, and I'm not really sure if I'll ever go back to pole. I keep telling myself that I'll go along to a few Sunday sessions, maybe take a few of the strength class parts, the usual, but I've yet to do it. My schedule is so hectic, with 2 weekday evening jitsu classes, and one on Saturday, combined with seeing family that live over an hour's drive away on weekends, jitsu having regional training, nationals, pre-grading and grading on weekends too, I just don't have the time.
But that's not to say that I can't set aside some time during the weeknights to follow the fitloop.co routine every other weekday night. It should help me gain weight, as it'll give my body something to do with all the damn milk, and hopefully, I'll be more resilient to injury in the future!
Tuesday, 3 June 2014
Return From Hiatus
So, where's my lazy-ass been for the last three months? My last post date was 2014-03-30. That's March! Madness!
Following my broken tow which presented me with difficulty working out, having a less-than-perfect money situation (hence, no protein shake), and plateauing with my weight.
Basically, I was disillusioned and unhappy. Combine that with the fact that term was out, so no jitsu, and a broken toe stopped me from grading... I think I was understandably fed up, and procrastination looked so much better.
Also, my calorie-counting app decided to boot me, in the middle of trying to track a meal, so I just gave up on that.
Fast forward to now, I've been drinking 2x 300ml of milk every day, not scrupulously counting calories and generally just trying to eat more.
I have been planning, on and off, for sometime, to go down the gym and lift weights in an attempt to convince my body to use the protein I give it. Given that I didn't really have money for protein shake, I thought it would be unwise to "invest" in a gym membership and even more unwise to pay the huge fee to use the gym without a membership, so I gave that a miss. And that was when I went back to /r/bodyweightfitness.
Those guys have been assembling a wiki just full of body weight exercises for as long as I can remember, and doing it well. So, low and behold, upon my glorious return when I found that a member of said community had built fitloop.co. That shit is cash. One of the best put together sites that I've seen, and definitely the best that I've seen regarding strength building. If you have only one site for your fitness needs, I think you fitloop.co is a serious contender.
All in all, their intermediate routine took me just under an hour, excluding the parallel bar support practice. I don't have parallel bars.
So, my plan at this point is:
I may not blog as much, mostly due to time constraints, but I'll try to keep a reasonable log.
Fitloop.co intermediate workout:
Following my broken tow which presented me with difficulty working out, having a less-than-perfect money situation (hence, no protein shake), and plateauing with my weight.
Basically, I was disillusioned and unhappy. Combine that with the fact that term was out, so no jitsu, and a broken toe stopped me from grading... I think I was understandably fed up, and procrastination looked so much better.
Also, my calorie-counting app decided to boot me, in the middle of trying to track a meal, so I just gave up on that.
Fast forward to now, I've been drinking 2x 300ml of milk every day, not scrupulously counting calories and generally just trying to eat more.
I have been planning, on and off, for sometime, to go down the gym and lift weights in an attempt to convince my body to use the protein I give it. Given that I didn't really have money for protein shake, I thought it would be unwise to "invest" in a gym membership and even more unwise to pay the huge fee to use the gym without a membership, so I gave that a miss. And that was when I went back to /r/bodyweightfitness.
Those guys have been assembling a wiki just full of body weight exercises for as long as I can remember, and doing it well. So, low and behold, upon my glorious return when I found that a member of said community had built fitloop.co. That shit is cash. One of the best put together sites that I've seen, and definitely the best that I've seen regarding strength building. If you have only one site for your fitness needs, I think you fitloop.co is a serious contender.
All in all, their intermediate routine took me just under an hour, excluding the parallel bar support practice. I don't have parallel bars.
So, my plan at this point is:
- Eat more. Especially milk and nuts.
- Fitloop.co intermediate workout, 3 times a week.
- Jitsu, 3 times a week
- FUCKIN' GRADE
I may not blog as much, mostly due to time constraints, but I'll try to keep a reasonable log.
Fitloop.co intermediate workout:
- Tuck Lever Row, 3x5
- Pseudo Planche Pushups 3x5
- Pull-Ups 2x5 1x2
- Box Headstand Push Up 3x5
- Deep Step-Up 3x5
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