Knife draw x 0
100pushups workout, day 1-3
Yep, I skipped knife drawing today. I'm tired. Seriously. It's been a long week, both at work and at home. Maybe I'll make it up this weekend. Maybe I won't. Hopefully I'll get some sleep.
2009-01-30
2009-01-29
One More
Knife draw x 55, Grand Total: 775
200situps workout, day 1-2
The situps sucked. The last set especially. I'm having a hard time keeping up with the recommended numbers, but I'm going to keep trying. I suppose I could step it down to the second tier workouts, but I'd rather push myself a little too hard than not hard enough.
For knife draws, I did 25 regular and 30 pikal, just like last night. The transition into pikal is getting much smoother. I think I need to order the training drone version of my pocket knife soon so I can start getting a little more aggressive with my training movement. I still haven't decided which style of movement I want to practice, so I'll probably try a variety of things. I might also have a lead on a local training partner who is into the kind of crazy integrated close quarters nastiness that I like, so that'll be nice.
200situps workout, day 1-2
The situps sucked. The last set especially. I'm having a hard time keeping up with the recommended numbers, but I'm going to keep trying. I suppose I could step it down to the second tier workouts, but I'd rather push myself a little too hard than not hard enough.
For knife draws, I did 25 regular and 30 pikal, just like last night. The transition into pikal is getting much smoother. I think I need to order the training drone version of my pocket knife soon so I can start getting a little more aggressive with my training movement. I still haven't decided which style of movement I want to practice, so I'll probably try a variety of things. I might also have a lead on a local training partner who is into the kind of crazy integrated close quarters nastiness that I like, so that'll be nice.
2009-01-28
Bucket of Random
Knife draw x 55, Grand Total: 720
100pushups workout, day 1-2
Sleepy again today.
I did the first 25 reps with the knife just doing draw and replace. The last 30 reps were draw into pikal, then replace. Nothing fancy. I've got lots and lots of time to get fancy. I feel like the mechanics of rolling the knife into pikal is helping to make sure I get a good tight grip. Maybe I should do like Fly does and post a "Stuff Chops Wants" list, so some kind soul can buy me Southnarc's Reverse Edge Methods DVDs.
Pushups today. They hurt. Surprisingly, my abs aren't feeling too badly from last night's situps. I spent a good portion of my day more or less motionless, learning more about my trade. That guy's a genius.
100pushups workout, day 1-2
Sleepy again today.
I did the first 25 reps with the knife just doing draw and replace. The last 30 reps were draw into pikal, then replace. Nothing fancy. I've got lots and lots of time to get fancy. I feel like the mechanics of rolling the knife into pikal is helping to make sure I get a good tight grip. Maybe I should do like Fly does and post a "Stuff Chops Wants" list, so some kind soul can buy me Southnarc's Reverse Edge Methods DVDs.
Pushups today. They hurt. Surprisingly, my abs aren't feeling too badly from last night's situps. I spent a good portion of my day more or less motionless, learning more about my trade. That guy's a genius.
2009-01-27
1-1, take two
Knife draw x 55, Grand Total: 665
200 situps workout, week 1, day 1
Today was 1-1 day for situps. And it hurts already. Seriously. I'm going to have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning.
For knife draws, I did 45 just standing and drawing. I experimented with various movements for my left hand, like vertical shield, bringing it in to my chest, and guarding my neck. The last 10 I mixed it up a little and did the first part of the draw as normal, then rolled the knife in my fingers as I closed my fist, facing my blade in the opposite direction. As in, the knife was still reverse grip (pointing out the bottom of my fist), but the sharp edge of the blade was toward my elbow, as opposed to being in line with my knuckles. This grip is called pikal (or pakal, depends on who you ask). It's favored by some smart, experienced people, so I thought maybe I'd give it a try.
For the last week or so, as I start to add to my training movement, I've been wrestling with where to take the training. Essentially, if I want to groove certain movements, which set of movements will it be? I have some Filipino Martial Arts training (mainly Inosanto Blend, but a little Sayoc as well), but what bits of that do I want to emphasize? Should I adopt Southnarc's pikal methods? It's somewhat like an identity crisis. I'm comfortable with the concept of training the art for it's own sake, but I'm kind of doing this to emphasize real potential self defense skills. I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't even know if I'm framing the question properly. Questioning things is good, though, and I wouldn't even be having these thoughts if I wasn't starting to do the work, so to speak. So I've got that going for me, which is good.
200 situps workout, week 1, day 1
Today was 1-1 day for situps. And it hurts already. Seriously. I'm going to have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning.
For knife draws, I did 45 just standing and drawing. I experimented with various movements for my left hand, like vertical shield, bringing it in to my chest, and guarding my neck. The last 10 I mixed it up a little and did the first part of the draw as normal, then rolled the knife in my fingers as I closed my fist, facing my blade in the opposite direction. As in, the knife was still reverse grip (pointing out the bottom of my fist), but the sharp edge of the blade was toward my elbow, as opposed to being in line with my knuckles. This grip is called pikal (or pakal, depends on who you ask). It's favored by some smart, experienced people, so I thought maybe I'd give it a try.
For the last week or so, as I start to add to my training movement, I've been wrestling with where to take the training. Essentially, if I want to groove certain movements, which set of movements will it be? I have some Filipino Martial Arts training (mainly Inosanto Blend, but a little Sayoc as well), but what bits of that do I want to emphasize? Should I adopt Southnarc's pikal methods? It's somewhat like an identity crisis. I'm comfortable with the concept of training the art for it's own sake, but I'm kind of doing this to emphasize real potential self defense skills. I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't even know if I'm framing the question properly. Questioning things is good, though, and I wouldn't even be having these thoughts if I wasn't starting to do the work, so to speak. So I've got that going for me, which is good.
2009-01-26
1-1 Day
Knife draw x 55, Grand Total: 610
100 pushups, week 1, day 1
Today, with the knife, I did 20 just walking back and forth in my living room. Then I did 10 while stepping forward at 45 degrees, alternating left and right. Then I did 10 stepping on the back 45's, left and right. Then I did 10 drawing from a right lead while dropping my right leg back into a left lead, then 5 more on the left side.
I finished day 1 of the hundredpushups.com workout. The last set (pushups until failure) was hard. On the 'official' program, you're supposed to max out, but they have a little line in there that says 'minimum 9'. So I ended up having to take a couple of mini breaks to get 9 done.
Rikalonius, you still alive out there? How about 'los?
100 pushups, week 1, day 1
Today, with the knife, I did 20 just walking back and forth in my living room. Then I did 10 while stepping forward at 45 degrees, alternating left and right. Then I did 10 stepping on the back 45's, left and right. Then I did 10 drawing from a right lead while dropping my right leg back into a left lead, then 5 more on the left side.
I finished day 1 of the hundredpushups.com workout. The last set (pushups until failure) was hard. On the 'official' program, you're supposed to max out, but they have a little line in there that says 'minimum 9'. So I ended up having to take a couple of mini breaks to get 9 done.
Rikalonius, you still alive out there? How about 'los?
2009-01-23
Two weeks down
Knife draw x 55, Grand Total: 555
Jab/Cross x 20
I forgot to mention, but I hit 500 knife draws yesterday, which seems like some kind of milestone. Yay, me. Today's knife work consisted of 20 standing draws, then 20 draw and jab (slowly), then 15 draw, jab, clear an imaginary block with my left hand, then jab again. After that, I ran through 3 of 9 in reverse grip maybe 10 times, then, for the first time in years, I did 3 of 9 left hand (forward grip this time - it was hard enough just remembering it), maybe 10 times. Perhaps next time I'll also try to remember true left. I might even dig out that dvd.
Jab/Cross was pretty quick. I moved around a little and shadowboxed. I'm still having trouble recovering to the hunchback. I start out correctly, diveboard my punches, then recover back to an upright muay thai stance. I'm trying to be more mindful of it, so hopefully I'll start to see less of this.
Jab/Cross x 20
I forgot to mention, but I hit 500 knife draws yesterday, which seems like some kind of milestone. Yay, me. Today's knife work consisted of 20 standing draws, then 20 draw and jab (slowly), then 15 draw, jab, clear an imaginary block with my left hand, then jab again. After that, I ran through 3 of 9 in reverse grip maybe 10 times, then, for the first time in years, I did 3 of 9 left hand (forward grip this time - it was hard enough just remembering it), maybe 10 times. Perhaps next time I'll also try to remember true left. I might even dig out that dvd.
Jab/Cross was pretty quick. I moved around a little and shadowboxed. I'm still having trouble recovering to the hunchback. I start out correctly, diveboard my punches, then recover back to an upright muay thai stance. I'm trying to be more mindful of it, so hopefully I'll start to see less of this.
Confession
Part of being accountable in a situation like this is admitting when you've been a total stooge and not done what you were supposed to. The last time that I rolled through my flash cards was Tuesday night, and it's currently Friday night. I'm on vacation, which is a legitimate excuse for me, but I want to be accomplishing the goal whether I'm on vacation or not. I'm going to try to hit the cards tonight before I go to sleep and study at least once every other day, maybe more frequently, during the remaining week of my vacation.
Luckily, my life is fairly mundane when I'm not on vacation, so once I'm back to my normal routine, this should be no sweat to maintain. Also, I almost never take any time off from work to begin with, so another significant interruption probably won't happen for a very, very long time.
So, basically, mea culpa, I've been slacking. Hopefully, a combination of personal integrity and verbal jabs from Chops will help me stay on the straight and narrow.
Luckily, my life is fairly mundane when I'm not on vacation, so once I'm back to my normal routine, this should be no sweat to maintain. Also, I almost never take any time off from work to begin with, so another significant interruption probably won't happen for a very, very long time.
So, basically, mea culpa, I've been slacking. Hopefully, a combination of personal integrity and verbal jabs from Chops will help me stay on the straight and narrow.
Not to the death...
Okay, so I was finally sitting down to get this show on the road. I walked across the room with my best rock star swagger and undid the dual zippers on the soft case of the acoustic Gibson knock off I got on clearence at Bed, Bath, and Beyond (don't judge me, dammit) and sat down to bust out a power ballad. I don't know why expected the thing to somehow be magically in tune after sitting in a corner for three months, being tossed in the back of a truck to move, and then sitting in a corner for another two months beside a door with a pretty serious draft...especially when you consider that it wasn't in tune before all of this. I expected, I suppose, that tuning elves had come around Christmas time and set it all up for me. I was wrong, and now I am planning a tactical assult on the homeland of the tuning elves, Nebraska.
I know the basics of tuning by ear, so I gave it a shot. It was going pretty well until I got to the high E string. Then, tragedy struck. Okay, maybe not tragedy in the classical sense. Okay, not tragedy in any sense. The string had borne the thosand insults of mine as best it could but when I ventured on insult it vowed revenge. Okay, it broke.
In short, my first run was primarily spent relearning how to tune by ear and doing a restring which are both valuable lessons in their own right. After the restring I checked my tuning. I was pretty impressed that I managed to tune all the strings to each other, however I managed to miss the key of "Rock" completely. I'm not even sure what key it is tuned in now, but strumming an open cord sets all the dogs in the neighborhood off and opened some kind of portal in to a dark, cold place...I think it's Nebraska.
Finally...
Being currently unemployed you would think that it would be easier to come up with a goal here, however I've been spending a great deal of time over thinking everything and blocking myself. I wanted to make sure it was something I could stick with and since I'm not as young as I used to be I don't think that I'll actually manage to proposition 10k hookers before year's end...especially with the whole unemployment thing hanging over my head. You can only find so many hookers naive enough to believe that you are with the "quality control" department and when you do manage to find one you've always got to deal with the post freebie pimp beating and I don't have any insurance right now so....I've said to much.
Anyway, while standing in my kitchen and wondering just exactly how many times I can manage to jerk off today without doing any lasting damage I glanced over in to my living room at an acoustic guitar that has become simply a decoration. It hit me then...I could probably manage about 14 good spank sessions before any major chafing starts to kick in. After that I realized that I'm certain that I can carve out the time in my oh so full schedule to finally learn to play the damn thing. I'm on my way out to the garage no to dig out some old books that I have and I'll probably do something physical as a secondary...still haven't decided on that yet.
So, you should all be ready to see me on television by the end of the year...not as a rock star or anything but because I think those special agents from the Park Service are finally closing in. Watch your back, Chops.
Anyway, while standing in my kitchen and wondering just exactly how many times I can manage to jerk off today without doing any lasting damage I glanced over in to my living room at an acoustic guitar that has become simply a decoration. It hit me then...I could probably manage about 14 good spank sessions before any major chafing starts to kick in. After that I realized that I'm certain that I can carve out the time in my oh so full schedule to finally learn to play the damn thing. I'm on my way out to the garage no to dig out some old books that I have and I'll probably do something physical as a secondary...still haven't decided on that yet.
So, you should all be ready to see me on television by the end of the year...not as a rock star or anything but because I think those special agents from the Park Service are finally closing in. Watch your back, Chops.
2009-01-22
Good New, Bad News
Knife draw x 55, Grand Total: 500
Situps
Turns out I was thinking in parallel lines with remad. While he was commenting on my last post about the two hundred situps, I was also reading about it. It's by the same people that run the hundred pushups website. And since I need activity every day, not just 3 days per week, I think I'll do the pushups and situps on alternating days. He also dropped a link to twenty pullups, which is quite interesting to me, since I've never been good at pullups. I'll have to see if I can use my Director's pull up bar at work, though, as I don't have anything suitable at home to do them on (although I suppose I could go do pullups on the beams in my garage, but I'd rather not).
So today was initial testing day for the two hundred situps saga. I'm sore enough from my weak sauce attempt at pushups yesterday, but that's no reason not to do situps. The good news is that I'm in the highest starting bracket for week 1. The bad news is the actual number, which is so embarrasing I think I will actually keep it to myself. Ow, my ego.
As far as the knife stuff, I did the first 10 slow and smooth, working on using my left hand to pull my t-shirt out of the way. Then I did 20 with my hands in a fence position. The last 25 were done in a Kali Fence, while standing in a false lead. If none of that makes sense to you, feel free to ask in the comments (or IM me) and I'll 'splain it.
Situps
Turns out I was thinking in parallel lines with remad. While he was commenting on my last post about the two hundred situps, I was also reading about it. It's by the same people that run the hundred pushups website. And since I need activity every day, not just 3 days per week, I think I'll do the pushups and situps on alternating days. He also dropped a link to twenty pullups, which is quite interesting to me, since I've never been good at pullups. I'll have to see if I can use my Director's pull up bar at work, though, as I don't have anything suitable at home to do them on (although I suppose I could go do pullups on the beams in my garage, but I'd rather not).
So today was initial testing day for the two hundred situps saga. I'm sore enough from my weak sauce attempt at pushups yesterday, but that's no reason not to do situps. The good news is that I'm in the highest starting bracket for week 1. The bad news is the actual number, which is so embarrasing I think I will actually keep it to myself. Ow, my ego.
As far as the knife stuff, I did the first 10 slow and smooth, working on using my left hand to pull my t-shirt out of the way. Then I did 20 with my hands in a fence position. The last 25 were done in a Kali Fence, while standing in a false lead. If none of that makes sense to you, feel free to ask in the comments (or IM me) and I'll 'splain it.
Switching it up
So I got the DVD from Chris and watched the way it was done in there. It matched up with another video I watched and the big thing was they were different than what I was doing. I looked into it a bit and it turns out the way I learned is a bit outdated. I decided to switch to the way it was in the DVD.
My first 10 draws were super slow and were done along with the DVD. After I got the basic idea down I did the next 40 on my own. There were a lot of changes but I like the new way better so far. I need to get to the range and try shooting isosceles instead of my normal weaver but that is a whole separate story. I think I need to buy another case of ammo to work on switching it up.
Another 50 down
250 total, I'm falling way behind pace here. I think I need to step it up a bit. Less days off
My first 10 draws were super slow and were done along with the DVD. After I got the basic idea down I did the next 40 on my own. There were a lot of changes but I like the new way better so far. I need to get to the range and try shooting isosceles instead of my normal weaver but that is a whole separate story. I think I need to buy another case of ammo to work on switching it up.
Another 50 down
250 total, I'm falling way behind pace here. I think I need to step it up a bit. Less days off
2009-01-21
Another one
Knife draw x 55, Grand Total: 445
Pushups
You know, I never really intended to do an actual blog post after each and every set of reps, but it feels right. For now at least.
Today's knife work was very quick and simple. Draw, replace, draw, replace, etc. I find that I'm having trouble with this particular t-shirt and jeans combination, where the shirt will foul my draw somewhat. My hand gets snagged during the drawstroke, then I end up with a mostly open knife. In those cases, a flick of the wrist snapped it the rest of the way open. Still, I think I'll spend some time thinking about pulling the shirt out of the way with the other hand. Speaking of which, I did ten unofficial reps with my left hand, drawing out of my right pocket. It didn't work out so well. The wave didn't always catch, and when it did, I ended up bringing my left hand way out in front of me or way down below my belt line. So it looks like that will get some more work.
For February's secondary skill, I'm going to take the One Hundred Pushups challenge. Here's the link. So today, instead of doing my jab/cross work, I did my testing round for pushups. To say I'm disappointed with the results would be an understatement, but it really was no worse than I was expecting. Twenty One. That's all. 21 pushups. Those last 3 or 4 were tough, too. I wonder if there's an equivalent program for situps. I need to do loads of those as well.
Pushups
You know, I never really intended to do an actual blog post after each and every set of reps, but it feels right. For now at least.
Today's knife work was very quick and simple. Draw, replace, draw, replace, etc. I find that I'm having trouble with this particular t-shirt and jeans combination, where the shirt will foul my draw somewhat. My hand gets snagged during the drawstroke, then I end up with a mostly open knife. In those cases, a flick of the wrist snapped it the rest of the way open. Still, I think I'll spend some time thinking about pulling the shirt out of the way with the other hand. Speaking of which, I did ten unofficial reps with my left hand, drawing out of my right pocket. It didn't work out so well. The wave didn't always catch, and when it did, I ended up bringing my left hand way out in front of me or way down below my belt line. So it looks like that will get some more work.
For February's secondary skill, I'm going to take the One Hundred Pushups challenge. Here's the link. So today, instead of doing my jab/cross work, I did my testing round for pushups. To say I'm disappointed with the results would be an understatement, but it really was no worse than I was expecting. Twenty One. That's all. 21 pushups. Those last 3 or 4 were tough, too. I wonder if there's an equivalent program for situps. I need to do loads of those as well.
Close Call
Knife draw x 60, Grand Total: 390
Jab/Cross x 20
Last night, time sort of got away from me. The kids went to bed, so I sat down for some Internet surfing. The next thing I know, it's 11pm, and I still have to wash the dishes and do my reps. Since I was sleepy and it was late, I didn't do anything fancy for the reps. I cranked out the first 40 as fast as I could close the knife and hook it back on my pocket. Then I started putting my left arm up into a vertical elbow shield and dropping my weight down while drawing. I was having so much fun with that that I didn't realized that I had passed 55. I stopped at 60. I then cranked out 20 fast jab/cross combos so I could brush my teeth and go to bed.
Jab/Cross x 20
Last night, time sort of got away from me. The kids went to bed, so I sat down for some Internet surfing. The next thing I know, it's 11pm, and I still have to wash the dishes and do my reps. Since I was sleepy and it was late, I didn't do anything fancy for the reps. I cranked out the first 40 as fast as I could close the knife and hook it back on my pocket. Then I started putting my left arm up into a vertical elbow shield and dropping my weight down while drawing. I was having so much fun with that that I didn't realized that I had passed 55. I stopped at 60. I then cranked out 20 fast jab/cross combos so I could brush my teeth and go to bed.
2009-01-19
This has been a test
Knife draw x 55, Grand Total: 330
Jab/Cross x 20
I was actually somewhat motivated to get my reps in on Saturday night, but I deliberately did not do them. I tend to have a very hard time getting back into something (such as martial arts training) when I've been away. I know that two days really isn't "away", but I figured it'd make a good little test. No problems getting back into it tonight, and I have my friends and this blog to thank. I'm pretty sure that if I didn't have the support network in place, I would have fallen off the wagon.
Tonight I got fancy with the knife drawing. I did the first 25 in the normal, slowish manner. Pause, acquire a grip, draw, pause, close the knife, replace it, pause, repeat. The next 10 I practiced putting my left arm into a vertical elbow shield while stepping forward and to my right. The following 10, I did the same, only stepping back and to my right. For the last 10, I got a bit fancy. I pretended to use my right arm for a cross-tap on an imaginary high line slash. Step back with the right foot to create space to pass the (imaginary) blade. Shift forward and replace my right arm with my left to pin the attacking hand into the attacker's hip while drawing my knife and stabbing into the jugular. I did these last 10 *very* slowly. Not a particularly realistic scenario, but more fun than standing still and pulling my knife out of my pocket.
Jab/crosses were done in the same manner I did them on Friday. Shuffle about, nearly shadowboxing, with eyes closed. Stop, feel your balance (try to take note of balance while moving as well, actually). When you feel like you are balanced, open your eyes and fire off a jab/cross. I concentrated a lot on keeping a Tight Economical Structure (TES to the crazy monkeys), with my shoulders up, back rounded, elbows in to my body (this was hard, my old muay thai habits tend to flare the elbows out a bit), and upper body dropped into my hips. I did notice that it felt easier to get my balance right after stopping when I managed to keep a good hunchback stance. When I was more into my old muay thai stance, it took me a little longer to find my balance, but that also could be because I was also trying to drop into the hunchback at the same time.
One last thing - kudos to Rikalonius who did his first 40 kicks, but just hasn't had time to blog about it yet. Welcome aboard.
Jab/Cross x 20
I was actually somewhat motivated to get my reps in on Saturday night, but I deliberately did not do them. I tend to have a very hard time getting back into something (such as martial arts training) when I've been away. I know that two days really isn't "away", but I figured it'd make a good little test. No problems getting back into it tonight, and I have my friends and this blog to thank. I'm pretty sure that if I didn't have the support network in place, I would have fallen off the wagon.
Tonight I got fancy with the knife drawing. I did the first 25 in the normal, slowish manner. Pause, acquire a grip, draw, pause, close the knife, replace it, pause, repeat. The next 10 I practiced putting my left arm into a vertical elbow shield while stepping forward and to my right. The following 10, I did the same, only stepping back and to my right. For the last 10, I got a bit fancy. I pretended to use my right arm for a cross-tap on an imaginary high line slash. Step back with the right foot to create space to pass the (imaginary) blade. Shift forward and replace my right arm with my left to pin the attacking hand into the attacker's hip while drawing my knife and stabbing into the jugular. I did these last 10 *very* slowly. Not a particularly realistic scenario, but more fun than standing still and pulling my knife out of my pocket.
Jab/crosses were done in the same manner I did them on Friday. Shuffle about, nearly shadowboxing, with eyes closed. Stop, feel your balance (try to take note of balance while moving as well, actually). When you feel like you are balanced, open your eyes and fire off a jab/cross. I concentrated a lot on keeping a Tight Economical Structure (TES to the crazy monkeys), with my shoulders up, back rounded, elbows in to my body (this was hard, my old muay thai habits tend to flare the elbows out a bit), and upper body dropped into my hips. I did notice that it felt easier to get my balance right after stopping when I managed to keep a good hunchback stance. When I was more into my old muay thai stance, it took me a little longer to find my balance, but that also could be because I was also trying to drop into the hunchback at the same time.
One last thing - kudos to Rikalonius who did his first 40 kicks, but just hasn't had time to blog about it yet. Welcome aboard.
Delayed Gratification
I left Virginia for home on Friday, so I only did half of normal on Friday, and nothing Saturday or Sunday. I'm going to try to catch up over the next couple of days. Today, I had the opportunity to go through about one hundred forty flash cards (each of which have two words or phrases apiece on them). If I can do about a hundred (or more) flash cards over the next couple of days, I should actually be ahead of the game.
The repetition is sure doing good for me. There are a number of words that I would have been clueless about a couple of days ago. There's obviously still some work ahead on vocabulary alone, to be followed by work on other items, but it's good to see that the accountability is working to keep me studying, and that the study is actually working to help me develop my skills.
The repetition is sure doing good for me. There are a number of words that I would have been clueless about a couple of days ago. There's obviously still some work ahead on vocabulary alone, to be followed by work on other items, but it's good to see that the accountability is working to keep me studying, and that the study is actually working to help me develop my skills.
2009-01-17
2 for 1
I did my drills yesterday and today using my good gun belt. It made a huge difference. Everything felt much better and now I know I have to get the other belt soon. I did my last 10 yesterday adding a side step to the left in as I cleared the holster (kind of moseying off the X, no exploding yet) and I did my last 10 today holding my left hand up outstretched and drawing one handed. I liked mixing up the last 10 to add in something else. I think I'll keep doing that and once I get it down really good make it 5 sets of 10 with 5 different drills.
50 yesterday
50 today
150 Total
50 yesterday
50 today
150 Total
2009-01-16
Week 1, Done
Knife Draw x 55, Grand Total: 275
Jab/Cross x 20
Today I watched disk 1 of Rodney King's Quantum CM Series 1. It's good stuff. The more I watch, the more I like Crazy Monkey. I wish there was a CM coach close enough to train regularly with. Anyway, I decided to try one of the balance drills from the video for my jab/cross reps. Basically, close your eyes and move about a bit while in the hunchback stance. Then stop. Keep your eyes closed and feel your balance. Move your feet, if necessary, until you feel like you're in a well balanced position. Then open your eyes and fire off a jab/cross. Close your eyes and do it again. I quite like this one, even though it makes my 20 reps take much longer.
I know I talk about the boxing more than the knife drawing, but for now the knife drawing is pretty plain. I've progressed from starting with my hand on the knife to shaking my arms and moving around a bit between each draw, so that I have to (slowly) acquire a grip on the knife, then draw it. Sometimes I'm still moving around when I draw the knife. In fact, I had my first completely failed draw today. I was in the middle of taking a step when I yanked the thing out of my pocket, and it didn't open itself. I froze, which is bad. I need to figure out if there's a way to keep the wave from opening the knife so that I can practice some failure-to-open type drills. Maybe I'll have to buy a non-waved Delica and use it for that.
Jab/Cross x 20
Today I watched disk 1 of Rodney King's Quantum CM Series 1. It's good stuff. The more I watch, the more I like Crazy Monkey. I wish there was a CM coach close enough to train regularly with. Anyway, I decided to try one of the balance drills from the video for my jab/cross reps. Basically, close your eyes and move about a bit while in the hunchback stance. Then stop. Keep your eyes closed and feel your balance. Move your feet, if necessary, until you feel like you're in a well balanced position. Then open your eyes and fire off a jab/cross. Close your eyes and do it again. I quite like this one, even though it makes my 20 reps take much longer.
I know I talk about the boxing more than the knife drawing, but for now the knife drawing is pretty plain. I've progressed from starting with my hand on the knife to shaking my arms and moving around a bit between each draw, so that I have to (slowly) acquire a grip on the knife, then draw it. Sometimes I'm still moving around when I draw the knife. In fact, I had my first completely failed draw today. I was in the middle of taking a step when I yanked the thing out of my pocket, and it didn't open itself. I froze, which is bad. I need to figure out if there's a way to keep the wave from opening the knife so that I can practice some failure-to-open type drills. Maybe I'll have to buy a non-waved Delica and use it for that.
Another Yom, Another Fifty
As Chops said, sometimes it's just the accountability that gets you to follow through. Yesterday when I got in from work, I leafed through fifty flash cards, and then I did it again right before I went to bed. The first set probably wouldn't have happened without the blog, and the second set definitely wouldn't have happened without the blog.
I'm really shaking out the cobwebs on some of the words I'm reviewing at the moment. It's frustrating. It reminds me of stories I've heard about people who plateau when they're working out, and it gets frustrating because they can't push past it. I've only been doing this for a few days, but I think I see the correlation because if the frustration I'm having is in any way similar, it would be a big temptation to just give up. I don't intend to do that, of course, but I think about these things because I over-analyze just about everything.
The next couple of weeks will be tough because I'm packing things up, getting things ready, and heading out for a couple of weeks of well earned vacation. Knowing that I'm being held accountable, though, will be very, very helpful in keeping up on studying.
UPDATE: Okay, I just did fifty this morning, and I'll come back and flip through the same fifty later this afternoon. I think I have about twenty more after this and then I'll have to either start repeating, or spend a day making twenty or thirty more flash cards. The fifty at a time thing seems to be working well, and maybe that's how I'll get my "reps" in. So, I'm technically compliant for today, but I'll finish up later today. Kulish zayn.
I'm really shaking out the cobwebs on some of the words I'm reviewing at the moment. It's frustrating. It reminds me of stories I've heard about people who plateau when they're working out, and it gets frustrating because they can't push past it. I've only been doing this for a few days, but I think I see the correlation because if the frustration I'm having is in any way similar, it would be a big temptation to just give up. I don't intend to do that, of course, but I think about these things because I over-analyze just about everything.
The next couple of weeks will be tough because I'm packing things up, getting things ready, and heading out for a couple of weeks of well earned vacation. Knowing that I'm being held accountable, though, will be very, very helpful in keeping up on studying.
UPDATE: Okay, I just did fifty this morning, and I'll come back and flip through the same fifty later this afternoon. I think I have about twenty more after this and then I'll have to either start repeating, or spend a day making twenty or thirty more flash cards. The fifty at a time thing seems to be working well, and maybe that's how I'll get my "reps" in. So, I'm technically compliant for today, but I'll finish up later today. Kulish zayn.
2009-01-15
Again Again
Knife draw x 55; grand total 220
Jab/Cross x 20
The jab/cross is feeling a bit less awkward. Due to a severe lack of motivation today, I didn't feel like heading out to the garage for another session on the heavy bag. I was sorely tempted to take today off and count it as a weekend day for me, but, as The Fly says, thanks to being accountable to the blog and my friends, I did my reps today, as planned.
Welcome aboard remad. Glad to have you here.
Jab/Cross x 20
The jab/cross is feeling a bit less awkward. Due to a severe lack of motivation today, I didn't feel like heading out to the garage for another session on the heavy bag. I was sorely tempted to take today off and count it as a weekend day for me, but, as The Fly says, thanks to being accountable to the blog and my friends, I did my reps today, as planned.
Welcome aboard remad. Glad to have you here.
Day 1
Well I did my first day of practice. I drew down on my target (a stuffed "penguin computing" penguin on a shelf) 50 times. Turns out that I'm more out of practice than I thought. I had to start slow and go by the numbers and everytime I tried to pick it up I went too fast.
I also found some issues with my normal carry cloths. Nothing that would have been a problem if I had to draw once. My t-shirt under the holster started bunching up and coming untucked as I kept drawing. I also realized that my normal 1 1/4" wide belt isn't very good as a gun belt. I have a good 1 1/2" gun belt and will have to look at getting a good "dress" gun belt.
50 down, 9950 left to go
I also found some issues with my normal carry cloths. Nothing that would have been a problem if I had to draw once. My t-shirt under the holster started bunching up and coming untucked as I kept drawing. I also realized that my normal 1 1/4" wide belt isn't very good as a gun belt. I have a good 1 1/2" gun belt and will have to look at getting a good "dress" gun belt.
50 down, 9950 left to go
2009-01-14
Ouchy
Today felt like a long day at work. I'm not sure why. I did find a good deal on a BOB bag on craigslist, but since I can't really afford it right now I had to pass it up. It took me all day to talk myself out of it, though. On the plus side, it made me remember that I don't use my craigslist Wave Master nearly enough. So I decided to to punch that instead of shadow boxing my jab/cross combos.
Knife draw x 55; grand total: 165
Jab/Cross: 2 x 2 minute rounds on the heavy bag
Sure, it was only two 2 minute rounds, but damn I'm out of shape. For the record, I could have done a few more, but it's late and I didn't want to bother my neighbors.
Have I mentioned yet that I'm cheating with the knife drawing? My EDC (that's Every Day Carry for everyone besides remad) is one of these. See that little hook on the back of the blade? That part is meant to catch on the edge of my pocket and pull the knife open, automagically. You can see some demo videos of it in action here. Look on the right side under the heading "wave shaped feature". I carry it against the leading edge of my pocket, though, because the handle aggravates my eczema something fierce if I reach into the pocket with the knife on the trailing edge, like in those videos. Since I've got the knife all the way to the front of the pocket, I turned the pocket clip to the other side of the knife. All of this means that I draw the knife into reverse grip instead of forward grip. I like this because the draw keeps my arm in towards my body at all times, as opposed to having to pull my arm directly away from centerline to draw and open the knife. In fact, the motion is very much like the quick draw from the front holsters that we used to practice in Sayoc. Soon I'll need to get a trainer version of my knife (Spyderco is great for this, their drones are awesome) so that I can practice draw and strike. I could do it with the live blade (and probably will, some) but hey, I'm a dad now - safety first.
Well that's it for today. Be back tomorrow.
Knife draw x 55; grand total: 165
Jab/Cross: 2 x 2 minute rounds on the heavy bag
Sure, it was only two 2 minute rounds, but damn I'm out of shape. For the record, I could have done a few more, but it's late and I didn't want to bother my neighbors.
Have I mentioned yet that I'm cheating with the knife drawing? My EDC (that's Every Day Carry for everyone besides remad) is one of these. See that little hook on the back of the blade? That part is meant to catch on the edge of my pocket and pull the knife open, automagically. You can see some demo videos of it in action here. Look on the right side under the heading "wave shaped feature". I carry it against the leading edge of my pocket, though, because the handle aggravates my eczema something fierce if I reach into the pocket with the knife on the trailing edge, like in those videos. Since I've got the knife all the way to the front of the pocket, I turned the pocket clip to the other side of the knife. All of this means that I draw the knife into reverse grip instead of forward grip. I like this because the draw keeps my arm in towards my body at all times, as opposed to having to pull my arm directly away from centerline to draw and open the knife. In fact, the motion is very much like the quick draw from the front holsters that we used to practice in Sayoc. Soon I'll need to get a trainer version of my knife (Spyderco is great for this, their drones are awesome) so that I can practice draw and strike. I could do it with the live blade (and probably will, some) but hey, I'm a dad now - safety first.
Well that's it for today. Be back tomorrow.
My turn to get in on the game!
Howdy everyone, I guess it's my turn to get in on the game here. I've decided on the primary skill I will be practicing. I'll be working on drawing my pistol from it's concealed holster. I may have already developed a problem with my plan as it looks like I'll be spending a month in MD which isn't a gun friendly state. I'm looking to get a training/plastic gun to practice with while I'm there so it might not be a problem.
For my secondary list I have a few ideas including reversing some malware, working on my Chinese, picking locks, working out and maybe a little hand-to-hand type stuff. Who knows.
I made a spreadsheet that says I'll need to average just under 30 reps a day if I do it every day. I don't expect to be able to do this everyday so my spreadsheet will be my ultimate tracker. I will try to post here everytime I practice though. I think that's kinda the point.
For my secondary list I have a few ideas including reversing some malware, working on my Chinese, picking locks, working out and maybe a little hand-to-hand type stuff. Who knows.
I made a spreadsheet that says I'll need to average just under 30 reps a day if I do it every day. I don't expect to be able to do this everyday so my spreadsheet will be my ultimate tracker. I will try to post here everytime I practice though. I think that's kinda the point.
al Yom al Thalath
I'm sure I was nowhere near as sleepy as Chops was last night, but I still wanted to go to bed. Instead, I got a few things done around the house while I was waiting for dinner to be delivered (or rather, breakfast and lunch for today) and then soaked my feet while flipping through my flash cards. At this point, I have just over two hundred flash cards made up, and since going through all two hundred in a night would probably take too much time and get counter-productive, I think I'm going to try going through fifty a night for the time being. Last night I used my initial fifty, so most of them were reviewing words or phrases that I already knew, but I was unsure of or just plain didn't know a lot of them going into it. I went through the deck twice, and did substantially better on the second go-around, so hopefully the concept of "repetitive short term memory leads to long-term memory" will keep rolling. Tonight will be fifty-one through one hundred, and so on. In case you couldn't tell, I'm getting pretty optimistic about this whole thing.
Also, what a shock to see that in only about two days, the ranks of this blog have swelled from Chops and me to include four new folks! Welcome aboard to loswiththemost, Rikalonius, Hephaestus, and remad.
You know, I got up early, had my post for my other blog all written already, and don't really have that much to do before I leave for work; but I don't have to leave for work for another hour and a half, so I think I'm going to get a jump on the cards for today so that I won't have to worry about them tonight. A full report will be forthcoming.
UPDATE: Okay, two run-throughs of fifty-one through one hundred. I'll probably do at least one more run-through tonight since there were a few that I was really rusty on.
Also, what a shock to see that in only about two days, the ranks of this blog have swelled from Chops and me to include four new folks! Welcome aboard to loswiththemost, Rikalonius, Hephaestus, and remad.
You know, I got up early, had my post for my other blog all written already, and don't really have that much to do before I leave for work; but I don't have to leave for work for another hour and a half, so I think I'm going to get a jump on the cards for today so that I won't have to worry about them tonight. A full report will be forthcoming.
UPDATE: Okay, two run-throughs of fifty-one through one hundred. I'll probably do at least one more run-through tonight since there were a few that I was really rusty on.
2009-01-13
Sleepy
Today is a day that this sort of thing was meant for. The kids didn't sleep well last night, which means that neither my wife nor I slept well last night. I'm sooooooo sleepy right now. But I did it, dammit. I put my reps in.
55 x knife draws, right handed. Grand total: 110
20+ x jab/cross, CM style. Grand total: 40-ish
I went a little overboard with the jab/cross (if such a small number can be considered overboard). I was starting to feel a little better about the diving motion on the punches, so I kept going a little further than planned. I stopped counting at 20, but it was probably in the low 30s.
Also, in between the draws and the boxing, I did about 10-15 reps of Sayoc 3 of 9 right handed, with the knife held in reverse grip. I want to take the draw training slowly, so I separated the cutting from the drawing. Eventually I'll be drawing into a knife jab, drawing on the move and going into cutting, etc. For now, I'm just trying to groove the movement.
55 x knife draws, right handed. Grand total: 110
20+ x jab/cross, CM style. Grand total: 40-ish
I went a little overboard with the jab/cross (if such a small number can be considered overboard). I was starting to feel a little better about the diving motion on the punches, so I kept going a little further than planned. I stopped counting at 20, but it was probably in the low 30s.
Also, in between the draws and the boxing, I did about 10-15 reps of Sayoc 3 of 9 right handed, with the knife held in reverse grip. I want to take the draw training slowly, so I separated the cutting from the drawing. Eventually I'll be drawing into a knife jab, drawing on the move and going into cutting, etc. For now, I'm just trying to groove the movement.
Accountability is Awesome
Normally, I'd go to bed right around now. Instead, because of Chops, this blog, accountability, and probably some other stuff, I'm going to shut down the computer and the TV and spend fifteen or twenty minutes rifling through about fifty Arabic flash cards before I go to bed. (Ugh, I should probably do laundry, too; just thought of that, would have been nice to have gotten it going right when I got back here. I'm rambling.) Anyway, I'm liking this accountability thing. Very, very good.
The Debate...
Chops makes a fantastic point, he never really has asked for much as a friend and I feel that denying him this simple request would be like denying my Great Aunt Mildred a kick in the face. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't want to deny anyone a kick in the face and that I don't deny my Great Aunt Mildred anything which may be why she is still in prison.
Wow, got off topic pretty quickly there. I think this is the best idea that chops has had since his suggestion for cleaning up that one "problem" I had in San Antonio, but I'm having a little trouble coming up with what to work on. I will have to put some thought in to this and get back to you.
In the meantime, keep it up chops. The next time I see you I expect to see you cut a hobo in record time.
Wow, got off topic pretty quickly there. I think this is the best idea that chops has had since his suggestion for cleaning up that one "problem" I had in San Antonio, but I'm having a little trouble coming up with what to work on. I will have to put some thought in to this and get back to you.
In the meantime, keep it up chops. The next time I see you I expect to see you cut a hobo in record time.
10,000 Thai Kicks
Good Morning all. I'm Rick, and I am committing myself to 10,000 reps of the standard Thai kick. I'm going to attempt 60 left and 60 right kicks, three times a week. As a secondary skill I'm going to work on my footjab, but I'm not going to keep a strict rep regimen. I will post as soon as I have completed my first set of reps. All my gear is at the new house, so I might be forced to shadowbox them tonight. All the best to all of you in your chosen skill.
Rik
Rik
al Yom al Awal
Last night, while soaking my feet for about half an hour (don't judge me), I went through sixty or seventy Arabic flash cards, I think. Something along those lines. Some of the words were familiar for one reason or another, but some of them I probably hadn't seen since I first put them down on the note card in the first place. There were also a few that needed to be updated or completed. The point, though, is that I did it, and with Chops' goading (and my goading of him), we'll be able to keep the reps up on a day to day basis. I figure that if I do these flash cards every night (or most nights) for a month or so, I should be pretty well set on them.
Okay, more soon. By the way, excellent work, Chops! Ichiban mumtaz!
Okay, more soon. By the way, excellent work, Chops! Ichiban mumtaz!
2009-01-12
Day One
First day, done. 55 repetitions of drawing my pocket knife. Secondary skill - jab/cross combo, x20.
I picked the jab/cross combo for two reasons. One, it's been awhile since I worked my stand up striking game. In fact, it's been awhile since I worked any martial arts. The jab/cross combo is bread and butter, so it seemed like a good place to start back into it. Two, I've recently given myself the gift of a pro membership at the Crazy Monkey site, so I want to work on the crazy monkey hunchback stance and throwing my punches in the appropriate manner. Since there's a bit of a difference in how the punches come out of the hunchback when compared to a typical Muay Thai stance, it's going to take some getting used to. This round was strictly shadow boxing, trying to get a feel for the new style. I'll move out to the garage and hit my crappy Wavemaster soon enough.
I picked the jab/cross combo for two reasons. One, it's been awhile since I worked my stand up striking game. In fact, it's been awhile since I worked any martial arts. The jab/cross combo is bread and butter, so it seemed like a good place to start back into it. Two, I've recently given myself the gift of a pro membership at the Crazy Monkey site, so I want to work on the crazy monkey hunchback stance and throwing my punches in the appropriate manner. Since there's a bit of a difference in how the punches come out of the hunchback when compared to a typical Muay Thai stance, it's going to take some getting used to. This round was strictly shadow boxing, trying to get a feel for the new style. I'll move out to the garage and hit my crappy Wavemaster soon enough.
The Arabic-Speaking Fly
Hey folks. Chops, AKA the Crypto King, invited me to be a contributor to his blog for his Year of Ten Thousand Reps. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to gauge repetitions for myself, but the important thing to me is having the accountability to actually study Arabic on a regular basis. I've been working on it, off and on (mostly off, but with a little bit of consistency) since June of '05. I figure that if I make copious use of homemade flash cards (a technique I picked up from an uncomfortably authoritarian German instructor in college that actually seems to work well), and combine that with a handful of Arabic literature sources and my Arabic textbook and accompanying CDs, I can probably make a lot of progress in 2009. As I mentioned, the accountability is the big thing.
So, uh... I guess now would be a decent point to list off some of the tools and sources I'll be using for my "10,000 Reps" during the coming year.
Ahlen wa Sahlen by Mahdi Alosh (book and CDs; if I actually satisfactorily complete these, I may move on to the intermediate version)
the BBC Arabic service, and podcasts from BBC Xtra and ArabicPod.net podcasts
literature available in Arabic and English, such as The Bible, the Quran, and just because it's available and hilarious, The Green Book by Muammar Qaddhafi, plus any other combination Arabic-English literature I can get my hands on
I suppose that right now's as good a time as any to go to work on this, so I'm going to get a few things ready for bed, and then shut down the computer, sit in a different chair, and study my flash cards for a while before racking out. With accountability from the Crypto King and others, I hope to stay on track with this and really develop my knowledge of the language before 2010 comes around. So... Uh... Here we go?
So, uh... I guess now would be a decent point to list off some of the tools and sources I'll be using for my "10,000 Reps" during the coming year.
I suppose that right now's as good a time as any to go to work on this, so I'm going to get a few things ready for bed, and then shut down the computer, sit in a different chair, and study my flash cards for a while before racking out. With accountability from the Crypto King and others, I hope to stay on track with this and really develop my knowledge of the language before 2010 comes around. So... Uh... Here we go?
So it begins...
Inspired by a random thread on a random forum, I've decided to dedicate this year to mastery of one skill. 10,000 reps over the course of the year. Taking time off for weekends, this works out to 38 reps per day. I'll probably be rounding that up to 40, but since I'm starting a couple of weeks late, I'll have to hit 55 per weekday for the rest of January in order to make sure I hit the goal.
In addition to the 10k reps for what I'll be calling the primary skill, I'm thinking of dedicating 10 reps/day to a secondary skill, which I'll rotate monthly. Now, I'm into martial arts and self defense, so the primary skill will probably be something that reflects that, but the secondary skill can be anything that I find interesting. For now, I'm thinking of making my primary skill be simply drawing my pocket knife, and January's secondary skill might be a coin sleight.
I've practiced martial arts for years now, but it occurs to me that should I ever need to use those knife skills in a real situation, I'll need to be able to bring the knife into the fight. So the draw stroke is the bedrock of functional knife skills for self defense. With that in mind, I will make the repetitions progressively more difficult. I'll start with simple standing and drawing, mixing up left and right hands, and then add draw to knife jab, then work in situational training drills. Hopefully before the end of the year I'll find some training partners so I can do some drawing under pressure.
As far as secondary skills, I just need some kind of motivation to go do something. Some potential skills to work on might be jab/cross from a good crazy monkey hunchback stance, or Muay Thai round kicks (left and right), or foot jabs, or doing 3 of 9 with a knife, or a coin trick. It doesn't have to be martial arts related, I just need something to motivate me to get better at things or try to learn new things. I'll update this later tonight once I've settled on a primary/secondary skill to train.
In addition to the 10k reps for what I'll be calling the primary skill, I'm thinking of dedicating 10 reps/day to a secondary skill, which I'll rotate monthly. Now, I'm into martial arts and self defense, so the primary skill will probably be something that reflects that, but the secondary skill can be anything that I find interesting. For now, I'm thinking of making my primary skill be simply drawing my pocket knife, and January's secondary skill might be a coin sleight.
I've practiced martial arts for years now, but it occurs to me that should I ever need to use those knife skills in a real situation, I'll need to be able to bring the knife into the fight. So the draw stroke is the bedrock of functional knife skills for self defense. With that in mind, I will make the repetitions progressively more difficult. I'll start with simple standing and drawing, mixing up left and right hands, and then add draw to knife jab, then work in situational training drills. Hopefully before the end of the year I'll find some training partners so I can do some drawing under pressure.
As far as secondary skills, I just need some kind of motivation to go do something. Some potential skills to work on might be jab/cross from a good crazy monkey hunchback stance, or Muay Thai round kicks (left and right), or foot jabs, or doing 3 of 9 with a knife, or a coin trick. It doesn't have to be martial arts related, I just need something to motivate me to get better at things or try to learn new things. I'll update this later tonight once I've settled on a primary/secondary skill to train.
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