MAN! How great was it to get back out there and do some work!? I missed meeting with you guys more than I realized. Thanks again for coming out.
Saturday the clouds broke and the sun shone brightly over Alki Beach, we took forever to get up and around, nearly got lost finding Tim's new house, and didn't get out to the school till about an hour after we originally planned, but once we got there we got straight to work on the basics. We drilled jabs, straights, and hooks, then set out combining the three strikes, and finally mixing in some bobbing/weaving and slipping. The focus of the class was mainly on building strong secondary capabilities. Many people focus entirely on the person who is hitting the pads, but leave much to be desired when training the people who are catching.
Emphasis was put on positioning the pads perfectly where the target would be and working on flow/timing of the strikes. Meanwhile, the people punching were learning how to properly throw strikes as a secondary. Lots of folks don't pay attention to their striking technique when they've got the catchers mitts on. Their punches don't have any semblance of technique for power, which is understandable because at the early stages of a technique, we're not trying to go full force so people shortcut the technique by just stiffly swinging their arms while leaving out the rest of the important body motion. Even when we're secondaries and going slow, we have to constantly be punching correctly. You will spend just as much time being a secondary as you will be being a primary, so repping out shitty technique is a huge setback to your training.
During the class, I also noticed how much we need to build up our conditioning. It's to be expected with us just coming back, but decent endurance is not going to be properly built on one class a week, so I'll be working with you individually on building a conditioning routine that you can follow to build up your gas tank on your own time. Luckily, this is easier to do than most people think. You don't need to go out and run five miles a day (though you can if you want), and building your conditioning can be achieved in as little as two or three five-minute circuits performed at your convenience.
Other than that, great job everyone! I was stoked to have Tim show up and train, been looking forward to that for a while. Hopefully Alex will be feeling better this weekend too.
This weekend's going to be a little tricky, but we'll be meeting in Federal Way at Brigadoon Elementary on Sunday morning. If you'd like to join us, just shoot me a message and we'll set it up! Anyone and everyone's welcome to come and work.
Till then, have a great week!
-Rob
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Everybody's Fighting Something
I haven't written anything on this page in ten months, so before I get back to business as usual I think this would be a great time to observe a few changes that have happened over the past year. Starting from march, Sara and I moved around a few times, took a surprise road trip to Utah in a shaky and sketched out vehicle, celebrated our 2 year anniversary, and started the new school year. My brother and I got a matching tattoo, Sara graduated, we moved out of PLU forever, she got a salaried job in Auburn, we survived the apocalypse and now we're getting a puppy. Some friends got engaged, some are expecting, some have moved away, some have returned... It's been a ride.
Unfortunately, I'm basically in the same place I was a year ago. My fitness has taken a back seat to... whatever... excuses? So I'm no stronger than I was when I last sat and stared at the screen before me. Over the past few months, I've gone through phases of being focused and phases of losing interest. I was working out religiously until a couple of months ago, had my deadlift up to 300, then I just stopped. I jumped head first into a killer MMA class here in parkland, got my conditioning up a lot within a months time, but couldn't afford the $125 a month, so I haven't been back. The whole month of December has been eating, sleeping, partying, and lazing around doing jack shit. It's frustrating to look back on it now, but I wont dwell on the past. Today is looking good.
Sara's new job requires her to take the car so I get the profound honor of riding the sound transit system every morning at 6:00 to make it to work 15 miles away at 7:30. At first glance, it's kind of shitty. It's really cold out and it's hard for me to drag myself out of bed at 5 in the morning. Some days there's psychotic people on the bus that make the trip an ordeal, but I'm starting to see the positive things that come with public transportation. For instance, I don't have to fight traffic anymore, nor do I have to worry about gassing up the car every five days. I just get up and have a brisk cold walk to the bus stop, which does better to get me awake than a cup of coffee, and hop on the heated bus. No scraping windows or waiting 15 minutes for the car to warm up. It's nice.
I also get to observe more. If I don't take care, I tend to zone out sometimes and just fly through my routine every day. Everything blurs together and by the time I get to see Sara at night, nothing new or interesting has happened. My contribution to the nightly conversation is "Work was fine/shitty, the kids were awesome/shitty, yes I'd like to make X for dinner, how was your day?" It can be a bummer. Taking the bus gives me a chance to sit back and take in new people, new places, new events and information that I would have never gotten otherwise. To save money, I am just hanging out in the neighborhood of work all day between my two shifts. i get to be out and about taking in what life has to offer. For instance, I'm at the Forza here in Tacoma and I just ran into an amazing woman named Coral Levang. I asked to use the outlet under her table because this ancient computer can't hold a charge for more than five minutes. She noticed the PLU lanyard that was hanging out of my pocket and she asked if I went to school there, I told her about Sara graduating and all that jazz and she said she graduated PLU in '02. We talked about majors and eventually she mentioned that she is a breast cancer survivor who is now fighting Carcinoid Cancer. I had never heard of Carcinoid Cancer, and apparently, telling by the little red squiggly line under the word on this page, neither has my spell check. Turns out not many people have, including medical professionals. It's a slow growing tumor that usually doesn't show symptoms for upwards of 5 years. When Coral was diagnosed, she was already at Stage IV. For her, chemo and radiation therapy are not an option, her tumors can't be surgically removed. Her hope comes from the fact that it's a slow growing tumor, which gives her more time, but how much can't be said for sure. The way she tells this story is unexpected though, her demeanor is bright and uplifting. There was no hint of "woe is me" she didn't complain or lament, she informed. She educated. She told her story mixed with insights as to her outlook and it wasn't a story of grief or sadness, it was inspirational.
A lot of us are eager to let people know how bad our lives are. We complain about work, school, friends and family... taking the bus... it's rare to find someone who's happy or accepting of the cards they've been dealt. Yet to have someone who's dying from an incurable tumor in her liver smile and talk about how she is devoted to living life is an amazing thing. It brought me back to Earth. We often times focus so much on what we don't like about our lives that we forget to embrace the things that make life beautiful. Coral has embraced the time she has left, she's out living and interacting with people, telling those who will listen about her story. She's found a life of purpose. She's using her story to help others.
I'm going to keep this story in my heart and mind as I continue on with the rest of my life. I won't waste time feeling sorry for my predicaments because I guarantee you there's millions of people out there who are living through circumstances I can't imagine while still loving their lives. Living here in America, I've got no business complaining. My morning shower took up the amount of water some families in poorer countries have to make last for a week. My house won't get hotter than 52 degrees during the night, but I've got a roof over my head and a bed with blankets to cover me and my beautiful wife. I have a job and my only health issues come from being seasonally lazy with a penchant for eating crappy food. I am lucky enough to have lived through some really tough things that now grant me a deeper insight towards life. The story of my family has strengthened me and keeps my chin up. The story of my friends motivates me to walk forward. I am blessed.
My hope is that anyone reading this finds the strength in them to face the bad in their lives by embracing the good. Learn from your mistakes and your hard times, then turn around and help someone else who may be going through the same thing. Coral is doing just that. She's found that facing her cancer head on and talking about it with others is a way to, in the words of the Hasidic Reggae artist Matisyahu, "Take the darkness of this world and make it light." She is not running away and hiding from her life, she's jumping in with both feet coming up to the surface with a smile, and telling those of us standing on the edge that the water's just fine.
So go check out her blog Beyond Life's Challenges, and while you're at it, go read My Big Girl Pants, a blog by a young woman who's been battling stage IV breast cancer for six years. It's a moving account of the depths of human strength and courage. Two stories by fighters, for fighters, and like Renzo Gracie said, "Everybody's fighting something."
-Rob
Unfortunately, I'm basically in the same place I was a year ago. My fitness has taken a back seat to... whatever... excuses? So I'm no stronger than I was when I last sat and stared at the screen before me. Over the past few months, I've gone through phases of being focused and phases of losing interest. I was working out religiously until a couple of months ago, had my deadlift up to 300, then I just stopped. I jumped head first into a killer MMA class here in parkland, got my conditioning up a lot within a months time, but couldn't afford the $125 a month, so I haven't been back. The whole month of December has been eating, sleeping, partying, and lazing around doing jack shit. It's frustrating to look back on it now, but I wont dwell on the past. Today is looking good.
Sara's new job requires her to take the car so I get the profound honor of riding the sound transit system every morning at 6:00 to make it to work 15 miles away at 7:30. At first glance, it's kind of shitty. It's really cold out and it's hard for me to drag myself out of bed at 5 in the morning. Some days there's psychotic people on the bus that make the trip an ordeal, but I'm starting to see the positive things that come with public transportation. For instance, I don't have to fight traffic anymore, nor do I have to worry about gassing up the car every five days. I just get up and have a brisk cold walk to the bus stop, which does better to get me awake than a cup of coffee, and hop on the heated bus. No scraping windows or waiting 15 minutes for the car to warm up. It's nice.
I also get to observe more. If I don't take care, I tend to zone out sometimes and just fly through my routine every day. Everything blurs together and by the time I get to see Sara at night, nothing new or interesting has happened. My contribution to the nightly conversation is "Work was fine/shitty, the kids were awesome/shitty, yes I'd like to make X for dinner, how was your day?" It can be a bummer. Taking the bus gives me a chance to sit back and take in new people, new places, new events and information that I would have never gotten otherwise. To save money, I am just hanging out in the neighborhood of work all day between my two shifts. i get to be out and about taking in what life has to offer. For instance, I'm at the Forza here in Tacoma and I just ran into an amazing woman named Coral Levang. I asked to use the outlet under her table because this ancient computer can't hold a charge for more than five minutes. She noticed the PLU lanyard that was hanging out of my pocket and she asked if I went to school there, I told her about Sara graduating and all that jazz and she said she graduated PLU in '02. We talked about majors and eventually she mentioned that she is a breast cancer survivor who is now fighting Carcinoid Cancer. I had never heard of Carcinoid Cancer, and apparently, telling by the little red squiggly line under the word on this page, neither has my spell check. Turns out not many people have, including medical professionals. It's a slow growing tumor that usually doesn't show symptoms for upwards of 5 years. When Coral was diagnosed, she was already at Stage IV. For her, chemo and radiation therapy are not an option, her tumors can't be surgically removed. Her hope comes from the fact that it's a slow growing tumor, which gives her more time, but how much can't be said for sure. The way she tells this story is unexpected though, her demeanor is bright and uplifting. There was no hint of "woe is me" she didn't complain or lament, she informed. She educated. She told her story mixed with insights as to her outlook and it wasn't a story of grief or sadness, it was inspirational.
A lot of us are eager to let people know how bad our lives are. We complain about work, school, friends and family... taking the bus... it's rare to find someone who's happy or accepting of the cards they've been dealt. Yet to have someone who's dying from an incurable tumor in her liver smile and talk about how she is devoted to living life is an amazing thing. It brought me back to Earth. We often times focus so much on what we don't like about our lives that we forget to embrace the things that make life beautiful. Coral has embraced the time she has left, she's out living and interacting with people, telling those who will listen about her story. She's found a life of purpose. She's using her story to help others.
I'm going to keep this story in my heart and mind as I continue on with the rest of my life. I won't waste time feeling sorry for my predicaments because I guarantee you there's millions of people out there who are living through circumstances I can't imagine while still loving their lives. Living here in America, I've got no business complaining. My morning shower took up the amount of water some families in poorer countries have to make last for a week. My house won't get hotter than 52 degrees during the night, but I've got a roof over my head and a bed with blankets to cover me and my beautiful wife. I have a job and my only health issues come from being seasonally lazy with a penchant for eating crappy food. I am lucky enough to have lived through some really tough things that now grant me a deeper insight towards life. The story of my family has strengthened me and keeps my chin up. The story of my friends motivates me to walk forward. I am blessed.
My hope is that anyone reading this finds the strength in them to face the bad in their lives by embracing the good. Learn from your mistakes and your hard times, then turn around and help someone else who may be going through the same thing. Coral is doing just that. She's found that facing her cancer head on and talking about it with others is a way to, in the words of the Hasidic Reggae artist Matisyahu, "Take the darkness of this world and make it light." She is not running away and hiding from her life, she's jumping in with both feet coming up to the surface with a smile, and telling those of us standing on the edge that the water's just fine.
So go check out her blog Beyond Life's Challenges, and while you're at it, go read My Big Girl Pants, a blog by a young woman who's been battling stage IV breast cancer for six years. It's a moving account of the depths of human strength and courage. Two stories by fighters, for fighters, and like Renzo Gracie said, "Everybody's fighting something."
-Rob
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)