July 2008
47 posts
2 tags
Kung Fu class
Worked the beginners on forms today, then did some golden scissor drills at the end of class. Afterwards, Sifu had us work on more pole drills - working lots of basic combos.
To cool down, Ali and I ran through Tiet Sien Kuen out of sequence. We mixed up the order of the sections for a change and it sure felt different.
June 2008
58 posts
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“It’s not amazing. I work hard for it. Why should I be surprised about it?”
– Albert Pujols, on recovering from injuries ahead of schedule
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Governors Island Swim 2008
Dave and I swam our second MIF event of the season, the Governors Island 2 miler, and it was much more successful than our first. Total time: 51:50, which put me near the back of the pack but since this was the farthest I’ve ever swam, I was happy just to finish. We started in the back to avoid the starting line kickstorm and didn’t push the pace much since we had no experience with...
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“Remember this: your body is your slave; it works for you.”
– Jack LaLanne
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“I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and...”
– Sylvia Plath
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Kung Fu class
After the chi gung and warm up, did the hard chi gung with the rings for a few to warm up the bridge and stances. We drilled the chop choi today and worked on the fundamentals. After the guys got the hang of it, we partnered up and beat each other up. After the beginners took off, I worked on Ji Mo Seung Do a bit.
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Core Training
Started with L-sit work. Used the arms of our big old chair for a change. 4 sets of 30 sec. Then the main circuit:
Kneeling Wheel Rollouts x 10
Abmat Situps x 20
Bird-dogs x 20
Repeat 4x
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Kung Fu class
For the first class of the evening, we spent lots of time building the foundation for the dragon step to front snap kick combo. We broke down the movement, drilled it, partnered up, then I showed the beginners some drills that will help them feel more comfortable in the hanging horse stance and develop the kick.
For the advanced class, Sifu had us work on tons of combos with the pole. He had us...
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Kung Fu class
Small class tonight, so we just drilled some of the techniques from the dragon section of Ng Ying Kuen, then we practiced practical application with partners and worked on some follow-ups. After that I ran through the entire dragon section of the form a few times, focusing on generating power. Pretty beat from the workout we did before class.
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21 Jump Street
In honor of Ali’s 21st birthday, Fight Gone Bad style:
Burpees x 60 sec
Heavy Bag Work x 60 sec
Wall Ball x 60 sec
Repeat 7x, resting 60 sec between each round for 21 min of total work.
The idea is to work as continuously and intensely as possible through each rotation. I wore my gloves the whole time so I didn’t tear up my knuckles on the bag (as I tend to do when I sweat like...
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“Motivation is what gets you started…habit is what keeps you going.”
– Jim Rohn
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The Final Countdown
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 of the following:
Burpees
Med Ball Slams
Box Jumps
Total time: 9:18.
Did this at the school, so we had to use the unsteady logs in the backyard for the box jumps. Those things are about 36” high and wobbley. Fun, quick workout.
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Kung Fu class
After the warmup, helped the beginners with forms, then did some pole drills with Ali. Took it kind of easy today.
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“Be patient and tough; some day this pain will be useful to you.”
– Ovid (a better translation than Aaron could provide)
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Walk Like a Crab
Since my fucking gym was closed without warning or reason again (I planned on swimming today), I headed out to Pier 40. Thank god for Never Gymless.
Sprint 50m
Bear Crawl 25m
Crab Walk 25m
AMRAP in 15 minutes
I got 11 rounds + 50m sprint + a few bear crawl steps. The crab walk was the limiting factor here and that really surprised me. They actually had me looking forward to the sprints....
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Kung Fu practice
Practiced Tiet Sien Kuen on the fake turf at Pier 40 since my gym was mysteriously closed again. I lose some of the connection on the rubbery turf and with the shoes, so I concentrated on regulation. Felt ok - not great.
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Kung Fu practice
Ran through Tiet Sien Kuen at the Chelsea rec center after my strength training session. They have nice empty dance rooms to practice in without too much interference. The connection felt pretty good, but I was pretty pooped from the weight training. Also worth noting: an old man walked in after watching me for a while and said, “That looks hard…looks intense!” That’s for...
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Max Strength Training
Heavy strength day.
Turkish Get Ups
3 x 55lb
3 x 65lb
2 x 75lb
2 x 80lb (PR)
1 Arm DB Clean and Press
3 x 80lb
3 x 90lb
2 x 100lb
3 x 90lb
1 Arm DB Snatch
3 x 85lb
3 x 90lb
3 x 90lb
3 x 90lb
Simple pair, repeat 4x:
One Arm Bench Press (90lb) - 5, 4, 4, 4
Bent-over DB Row (100lb) - 5, 5, 5, 5
Simple pair, repeat 4x:
Double DB Front Squat (60lb) - 5, 5, 5,...
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Total Immersion Swimming
Went to the Metropolitan Pool with Dave today to practice some of the swim techniques we picked up last week.
300m warm up
100m slow side stroke
300m freestyle
100m breaststroke
200m freestyle
100m breaststroke
100m freestyle
100m breaststroke
Total time: 30 minutes. Total distance: 1300m.
For all of the freestyle sections, I was really thinking about what the coach taught me - keep...
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“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you...”
– Eleanor Roosevelt
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Kung Fu class
Standard chi gung and warm up for beginners, then moved onto some really basic techniques - gin kiu, facing punch, side punch. After the beginners left, I worked on Ng Ying Kuen a bit before Sifu had us work lots of pole drills.
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Core Training
Started with 5 sets of 5/side Dragon Twisting with dumbbells in overhead lockout position, holding 25lb in each hand. Then moved onto the main circuit:
High-to-Low Band Wood Chop x 8/side
Single Arm Band Push x 8/side
Low-to-High Band Wood Chop x 8/side
Knees-to-Elbows x 10
Repeat 3x
This was a relatively relaxed workout. Not easy, just not very intense. The sweat index here was more of a...
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Kung Fu class
Did a circuit-style warmup with pushups, squats, med ball slams, and jumping jacks. Three times through, around 15 reps of each. Quick and easy. Then we spent a big chunk of time doing forearm/hand conditioning on the sandbags and other training tools. Then we moved on to some shin conditioning and worked all the basic kicks before going into some form practice.
After the class I ran through Tiet...
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GPP Circuit
Mountain Climbers x 30 sec
Jumping Jacks x 30 sec
Grasshoppers x 30 sec
Split Jumps x 30 sec
Burpees x 30 sec
Repeat 5x, resting 30 sec between rounds.
Tried to mix it up by doing the burpees last. Got at least 10 burpees in each set and 12 on the last one. Felt good.
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Kung Fu practice
A lovely night for some outdoor practice. Headed to Pier 40 and ran through Tiet Sien Kuen a few times. I wore shoes because the fake grass was a bit soggy. The connection is just not the same wearing sneakers. After that I ran through the updated leopard section of Ng Ying Kuen 10x. That felt allllright.
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“Continuous effort — not strength or intelligence — is the key to...”
– Liane Cardes
Drop that spoon! →
“They (processed cereals) are the epitome of cheap commodity converted by manufacturing to higher-value goods; of agricultural surplus turned into profitable export. Somehow, they have wormed into our confused consciousness as intrinsically healthy, when, by and large, they are degraded foods that have to have any goodness artificially restored.” Found this link via Ross’s blog. Does...
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Kung Fu class
Circuit-style warmup of jumping jacks, pushups, squats, and core exercises (20, 15, 10) to get the beginners sweating. The we went into some forearm/hand training and then a mini tag-team circuit of Paul Sheldon crawls / plank holds (3 lengths of school). Some guys had a real hard time with the crawls. Then we moved on to form work for the underbelts. After class I worked on Ng Lung Ba Gwa Cheung...
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Core Training
Kneeling Wheel Rollouts x 10
Side Plank x 1 min (each side)
Front Plank x 1 min
Repeat 5x
This was really tough. Pineapple is a great motivator though.
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“Water is for cowards. Water makes you weak. Water is for washing blood off that...”
– Coach Boone
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Park To Park Swim 2008
Today was our first Manhattan Island Foundation swim in the Hudson River for 2008. From their web site: “Today’s Park to Park Swim is ON. Water in the region (including all of the New York City beaches) has been compromised due to the recent heavy rain; it is up to individual swimmers whether or not to participate.” Dave and I decided to participate (at most definite) along with...
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Explosive Strength Training
After going through the first few exercises today, I realized I could turn today’s workout into a Javorek Complex-style workout and I did just that. Started individually:
Double DB Split Snatch
3 x 3 x 45lb
Double DB Hang Cleans
3 x 3/side x 45lb
Double DB Front Squat
3 x 3 x 45lb
Double DB Push Press
3 x 3 x 45lb
Then I ran through the complex 3 times. Same exercises, but...
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Swim Coaching
Dave and I took a swim lesson from a Total Immersion swim coach to work on our inefficient, thrashing strokes. We got some tips and learned some drills that could really improve our swimming. Now I just need to drill it and practice it deliberately and consistently.
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Sour 16
Like the Sweet 16, but less sweet.
Tabata Jump Rope (high-knee sprint-in-place)
Tabata Mountain Climbers
Tabata Jump Rope (high-knee sprint-in-place)
Tabata Grasshoppers
Tabata intervals of each exercise, max intensity for the 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest. Each exercise lasts 8 tabata rounds or four minutes. A great workout in just 16 minutes.
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Kung Fu class
Loads of stance training with the beginners today. Sifu was feeling sadistic. I loved it. Afterwards assisted in teaching chin ji sau.
After the beginners class, I did some forearm/wrist training:
200 of each type of stick wrist flicks (front, inside, outside)
10 fingertip pushups
2 min wrist roller
10 knuckle pushups
2 min finger squeezing
10 fingertip pushups
2 min tiger claw squeezing...
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Crossfit WOD: Burpees + Pullups = Pain
Took a recent, non-named crossfit WOD for our conditioning today:
12 Burpees
12 Pullups
Repeat 10x for time.
Total time: 18:50, which is complete rubbish. I hate making excuses, but I just don’t deal well with this heat (about 90 today). Surprisingly, the pullups were the tough part here. I had to partition the burpees into 6/6 and the pullups into 4/4/4 after the first few rounds....
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Kung Fu class
Sparring class tonight. Went through a circuit-style warmup:
15 Pushup variations (tiger rolling, diamond, plyo, knuckle)
15 Squat variations (regular, squat jump, knee tucks, regular)
30 Jumping Jacks
15 Core variations (v-ups, hollow rocks, knee-hugs, 1 min plank)
Repeat 4x, cycling through the different variations. Then finished with 30 sec side plank on each side. Then we went into...
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“Milk is quite literally better than steroids for a novice lifter to grow on, and...”
– Mark Rippetoe
Story about the unsavoriness of the gym scene →
“One time in a kickboxing class, this guy kicked and sprayed sweat everywhere - it hit me in the eyeball.”
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Just Swimming
Didn’t have much time today (NO TIME), so just got in the pool swam 1000m as fast as possible. Took me about 16 minutes. Then I swam an easy 175m to cool down, which didn’t work. I don’t think I’m capable of cooling down when it’s 97 degrees.
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Beach Fun
Today was another scorcher at about 97 degrees…officially a rest day. Beached it at Jones Beach for most of the day. The only thing worth noting here is that I did 30 consecutive pullups on the rusty bar at the lifeguard station.
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Kung Fu event
Most of my Saturday was tied up with Kung Fu obligations, but I didn’t really get much of a workout. Stil got to sweat a bit since it was 96 degrees though.
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Swim Intervals
500m warm up
Intervals - repeat 10x 50m freestyle sprint
25m slow breaststroke
Intervals - repeat 5x
25m freestyle sprint
25m slow breaststroke
300m cool down
Total time: 40 minutes. Total distance: 1800m.
Got some hot new goggles today and I felt really great in the pool. Really concentrated on stroke efficiency and swimming downhill.
Dragon Twisting for Springy Leg Power →
I like where Cotter’s head is at. Sifu has us do this drill. It’s a killer.
Definitive Guide: The Primal Blueprint →
The Primal Blueprint is “a set of simple instructions that allow you to control how your genes express themselves in order to build the strongest, leanest, healthiest body possible, taking clues from evolutionary biology.”