Renga: Brickish

So, i’ve officially reached my weight goal of 185! Whoo! Except… well, I didn’t exactly gain any muscle or anything worth noting. Just a lot of fat back around my stomach. *sigh* I’m back up from 32 inches to 35. Now, here’s the catch though, I’m a whole hell of a lot healthier 185 than I was at 171. I feel better, move faster, sleep better, and have, overall, seen improvement beyond what I thought I could ever have accomplished. 

 However, this does mean something, my body fat has skyrocketed back into the mid 10%’s, and that’s not a good thing. I was down to about 10% when I was at my best about a year and a half ago. I personally tag this on stress, the move to being a little more Daoist in my every day life, and a lot less in control.

 In an effort to kick start myself back into the right direction, I am, in conjunction with my friend’s vegitarian month of February, going to go without a lot of things that I normally do have. Namely, I’m gonna get out and try to get clean. So, for February, I am going to go without or with as little of the following:

1. Soda
2. Ice Cream
3. Sugars
4. Processed Food
5. condiments
6. Fast Food
7. Chocolate
8. Did I mention soda?

Yeah, Soda has, and I believe will always be, a stumbling block of mine. In the caffeene fuled hunt for a degree, it’s hard to pull some of the later nights without it. And good old Sam’s Cola is kind of my crack, embarassingly. I like it more than Coke and all other forms of soda, but it’s pretty crappy for my body. So when it’s gone, it’s all gone. Water, and my favorite, hot tea, will be the new way for me. Oh, and milk. Methinks 1% Chocolate is kind of cutting it close, but damn, it’s good and worked once before.

Seriously, with as much into martial arts as I am, I don’t go about downing as much tea as you’d think. I like it, but only really traditional teas, none of this orange-mango-infused-yuppie crap that goes on around campus. Green Tea and Black English Tea are pretty much it for me. So I’m going to drink more, and drink it more traditionally, without sugar. 

 The deal with that is kind of because my ceremony that I was talking about in the first post is coming up in two and a half weeks. And I have to fit back into a Gi that I haven’t worn for a while for it. It’s importance has actually doubled, come to think of it. Since last update, I have been named a Family Historian for the art, and have begun to work with Sensei. Part of my initiation now reiles on my ability to work with another Uchideshi and any further proof of the family that I may have. I’m not any further, though I do suspect that there is quite a bit that can be learned from Sensei’s father’s Flight Logs. If I ever see them again though. *shrugs* It’ll be rough, but hopefully, I’ll find them again.

 In other news, parents are still bugging me about depression. I still don’t believe that I’m still depressed, especially compared to a few years ago, but they still insist that I am. Meditation when I wake up seems to work for me because I’ve discovered my goal oriented-ness. Just simply thinking of what it is that I need to do today and the progress I’ve made towards my goals is a pretty good motivator. I intend to continue this. I really intend to.

So…I got the nerve to call Sensei out on something. Namely, our style’s history. It’s sketchy, and I’ll admit that it probably wasn’t a good idea, but I have a feeling that I did point out that my talents may just need a kick to get going in the right direction.

I sent him an e-mail last night detailing the fact that though I believe him on basis of techniques, I didn’t know that other people would ever believe him. Worse yet, I brought up a yahoo from his past that he really wanted to forget. Because he doesn’t want to think about it, I won’t repeat it. Just let it be known that he was hosed terribly in the exchange with said Yahoo.

I feel, lukewarm about this. On one hand, I did gain the respect of some fellow students. Conversely, I think I may have put my continuing at the dojo in jeopardy, or have gained Sensei’s respect finally. I don’t really know. I do know though that I feel substantially better now that I’m free of doubting the lineage.

He did hand me something: his own beginning record that he had written shortly after gaining his Sokeship, and permission to assist in continuing in an editorial role with the work. this is why I feel that I am better off than I was before this e-mail. He also wants me to help transcribe a book specifically about the mentality that the family uses, that of being a christian samurai. He… seemingly doesn’t want to really write the book, but was asked to.

 Anyway, to summarize, asking a question has made me even more intent on learning the arts, if for nothing else, but to continue to record the family’s history until I need pass them onto another person.

Rather than new years resolutions, I set goals inside different categories: Physical, Social and Mental/Arts, dealing with developing various things that fall into those umbrella topics.

 This blog is pretty much for my Physical goals, as well as a Social goal. Getting the "solid" descriptor, gaining physical strength, and cardio endurance, ect. The blog that will be syndicated from Rockband.com traces my a couple Mental and Social goals: Learn to play the Bass guitar, perform in front of at least 50 strangers in a band playing an original song. Of course, my Martial training falls into all of these, so they just go where they go. Anyway, as a recap, here’s as many goals as I can remember for each category:

Physical Goals: Gain physical strength measured by a 300% increase in average volume (Approximately 20,000lbs/workout), increase sprint time from 4 seconds to 30 seconds, learn to eat clean, lower Bodyfat to a confirmed 10%, Have feroucious furry abs.

Mental/Art Goals: Learn to play Bass guitar, Join a Band, Perform an Original Song, Perform in front of at least 50 strangers, Pass "Water" and "Earth", Obtain an Application for Undergraduate Degree approval, Have a B+ or better semester, Regain 2.75 GPA. Write a second Novel

Social Goals: Obtain "Solid" descriptor, Join a Band, Establish Drury University Gamer’s Association (DUGA), Eliminate "the Rock Band Guy" social status, Attend more Clubs at Drury, become Sherriff of the Knoblands in Amtgard (Club President), Obtain full samurai status within the family.

 So, from here on out, I’m gonna make sure that these goals happen. I will obtain at least two goals from each category by June 30th, 2008, and add two more by December 31st, 2008.

 An explanation on the title: So I’ve got a lot of stomach hair, so I wouldn’t have model abs. So they’ll be ferocious. And furry. Rwar!

Ever had a moment when you realize that you need to do something in a vaguely related area by doing something that is seemingly unrelated?

 Like, playing the Drums on Rock Band, then realizing there’s an extra two or so muscles in the legs that you didn’t realize were there on the front. Or practicing your Bass and realizing that your shoulders could really use more work than that funky groove you’ve been working up. Or that running after someone with a foam sword is a direct indication of the real use of a decent cardio program.

Yes, the past week has been full of these moments. See, I’m 20, right? and regardless of how young I am, when a Geriatric player outruns you in 100+ lbs of plate mail, yeah…. cardio rears its ugly head.

 I had it. Man, I mean, I HAD it. When I was a bit more inclined towards Tae Kwon Do and was hovering around the 160 mark, I mean MAN, I could outrun anyone over distance. Hell, I could out sprint sugared-up six year olds. It seems that four months of heavy meditation and chi exercises doesn’t help. So, on the semi-quest to earn the social tag "Solid", I present a bit of a pitstop in which to improve the distance I can move in 10 seconds.

In the Amtgard game, I have an ability that lets me fight for 10 seconds after being "Killed", called Fight After Death. It comes out to a simulation of the ancient berzerker’s ability to channel insane amounts of adrenaline after recieving a blow that would kill a normal man, and keep fighitng. At present, I am a very bad berzerker. By my count, I last about 4-6 seconds before I’m winded and start moving very slowly. By standards of this game, I should be making everyone run screaming, not laughing when I stop and gasp.

In an effort to improve my ability to the full 10 seconds I’m allowed, I propose doing increasingly longer sprint HITT cardio when the opportunity presents itself again. Essentially running at 2.5x speed during the work interval, going for 6 intervals, one work and rest period for each "Life" i get in the game. Naturally, I won’t stop when I can endure the full 10 seconds. Nah, I’m going for a distance sprint of 30 seconds. Sufficient time to not only burn a life, but also to raise some surefire hell when I’m alive normally.

 So, there you have it. If I can’t use it to improve my art, I’ll use it for my semi-sport.

 In other news, I have decided on a cosmetic goal. Presently for amtgard, I wear a Tabbard and Tank Top underneath my armor, which was designed to be worn without anything under it. At my present state, there’s an unsightly collection on the straps that connect aroudn the front, and the armor’s design forces everything down, which is rather unsightly. Soooo… yeah, that’s the goal, to make the armor be able to be worn as originally intended, without any collecting, forcing or bulging.

www.amtgardinc.com –Information on Amtgard and the game that I play.

www.rockband.com –Information on the Rock Band video game.