Old? I prefer tempered!

Decided to SLOG my way through the birthday morning.  And I was joined by Shirley and Benjamin "Viking" Carlson.

So the regular SLOG is:

500 Jump Ropes
100 Wrestlers
 50 Pushups
100 Squats

This is done in any order, any amount until you reach the totals.

Sloggier totals per round:

500 Jump Ropes          160   170    85     85    done
100 Kettlebell Swings    20     22     21    18     19     done
  50 Paralette Pushups   25     25    done
100 Knees to Chest       22     17     16     16    10     11

I used a 1lb jumprope and 45lb Kettlebell.  It took me 21:54 minutes.
 
I thank everyone for the birthday wishes all day long.  People like to ask me how it feels to be old, here are some pictures of a 47 year old Warrior.

Don't reckon I'll be modeling any time soon.  But my goal is to remain a Juggernaut...unstoppable.

This is the gift I offer anyone with the heart to reach out and take it.


Good luck,
DarkArashi

Fist Shaking at allergies

Rough week due to allergies raising its ugly multi-headed attack on my person.

Today was a new 30 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible)

    5 Pullups
  10 Knees to Chest
  15 Pushups
  10 Thrusters (with 25lb dumbbells)
  15 Ring Rows
100 Jump Ropes (with 1lb jump rope)

I made it to 7 rounds with 6 seconds to spare.  (for the record, I snapped my 1lb jump rope and went back to a normal jump rope midway through round one.)

Now, if you do the math and multiply reps by the round and square the total co-efficient...you find that this = BIG ASS NAP!!!

Good luck,

DarkArashi

SLOG(gier)

Today I one-upped myself...I should know better

So the regular SLOG is:

500 Jump Ropes
100 Wrestlers
 50 Pushups
100 Squats

This is done in any order, any amount until you reach the totals.

Here is the new Sloggier with my totals per round:

500 Jump Ropes          100   100   100   100    100    done
100 Kettlebell Swings   25     20     20     20     15     done
  50 Paralette Pushups   20     16     14     done
100 Knees to Chest       25     20     15     16     14     10

I used a 1lb jumprope and 45lb Kettlebell.  It took me 22:50 minutes.
 
Good luck with this beast,

DarkArashi

Back at it.

So back from a small vacation in Lake Tahoe and not quite up to task yet.

Last few workouts were repeats to get myself into gear.

Finally, I went after a bigger one and here it is.

30 minutes, do as many rounds as possible.

1 Super Squat Kick
5 Burpees
10 Knees to Elbows
15 Pushups
10 Thrusters (used 25lb dumbbells)
10 Bent over row each arm (used two kettlebells 25lb and 35lb in one hand)
20 Kettlebell swings (45lbs)
100 Jump Ropes (1lb jump rope)

I only managed to finish the burpees in my fifth round.

Apparently, I had too much pie over Thanksgiving...shame on me.

Hope you do better,

Good luck

DarkArashi

Burpee'd on myself

First off...OW!!!

The workout itself is not exactly terrible, kinda daunting in the beginning, but not as horrifying as it sounds.

I did this one last friday, before my rehab workout.  Not sure how I felt about it afterwards, but the last 5 days my body has been reading me the riot act.

Here you go:

5 Minutes do as many Burpees as you can.  This is the squat/thrust with pushup variation.

My Score was 89, you can check your score against the recommended for your age below.

So I seem to be Spartan fit.  Sure don't feel like it.  As for where these numbers come from (I personally think someone's ass), but they are recommended for running the Spartan race.

What they don't tell you is the later fallout for such sheninigans.  My joints have been aching, allergies went wild due to the strain this put on my system and low energy.  On the up side, I do have a deep sexy Barry White voice now.

Good training,
DarkArashi

Rehab day

YAY!  Rehab workout day.

Made it through another little workout.  My numbers are slowly  creeping back.

Last night was the Yin/Yang conditioning.  This is were we use not only out own body weight, but the body weight of a partner.  Not hard, but certainly not easy.

This makes two weeks of workouts and the third is yet to come.

This will be the beast!

Good luck,

DarkArashi

Ultra Super Secret Workout for the new year

So today's workout was the prototype for the "End of the Year" workout.

Can't really divulge the details right now, but it is only 30 minutes.


And it took 30 minutes...and ten minutes for the dizzies to stop...then another 2 maybe 3 minutes deciding if I was going to puke.

Okay, so maybe I will tone this one down a bit.  But I am keeping the Burpees!!!

Oh, you may wish to bone up on your jump ropes too!!!

Remember December 30th at Ascension Martial Arts from 7:00 to 8:00pm.  Come on down and face your inner monster!

Good Luck!!!!

DarkArashi

"Slog"ing through the week

Legendary Warrior returns

Slogging through the week.  Yesterday's Iron Bone training is making itself know so I did simply "Slog" workout.

SLOG
500 Jump Ropes (I used a 2lb)
100 Squats
50 Pushups
100 Wrestlers (situps)

I also wore 2lb ankle weights each ankle
and a 36lb weight vest.

Time was 22:29 minutes.  Give it a whirl and give it a hurl

Good luck

DarkArashi

Boning up on the workouts!!!

Aiya...

Today is the Iron Bone conditioning.

This workout is about using striking and relaxation to increase the density of the bones.  Really any time you move, you are increasing the density of the bones.  You walk, you knit, you do dishes or you chase little kids you are conditioning the bones for that activity.

Training is about moving the body and causing trauma.  The body then heals from the trauma and builds that area for another round.

Iron Bone conditioning is about using strikes, kicks and blocks to accelerate the density growth of the bone in those areas.  We started with padded targets, move onto makiwara training, then bone on wood and eventually punching cinderblock and marbles.

Hardest part of this training is to relax while striking things your parents told you to never do.  By relaxing, the bones take more of the shock.  If you tense (which is only natural) the muscles reinforce the bones, but also take on part of the shock and trauma.

Why have bones made of steel?  To protect ourselves of course.  Look at sports now days, everyone is training to be stronger, show off their sexy muscles.  Now look at the injuries, tendons and ligaments mostly.  Muscle strains and tears are easy to heal, the rest not so much.

In the martial arts we know this fact:  Muscle builds six times faster than tendons, tendons build four times faster than ligaments, ligaments build 10 ten times faster than bone.

To build muscle, you contract during exercise.  Easy to build muscle.

To build tendon strength, you have to contract through the full range of muscle.  Not to easy to be honest with this one.

To build ligament strength, you have to stretch the focus joint with momentum through the entire range of the limb.

To build bone, constant hammering along the axis of the bones.

This training is for overall health and welfare of the body.  Oh, and don't forget recovery through diet and rest.

Good luck,

DarkArashi

CREAMED!!!

Last little workout for the week.

This is my rehab, I am working on getting back up to forty reps of each.

                                                  Last      Today's
                                                Round     Round
Jump Rope (2lb)                        188      109
Ring row                                      28        16                  
Knees to Elbow                           26        15
One-legged Squats                      10        10
Pushups                                       35        14
Crunches                                     40         28
Thrusters (25lb dumbbells)         24        14
5x10 Grippers (168 lbs)
Back Bends                                 10        10

Yeah, got stomped from the earlier workouts from the week.  No worries, those numbers will be back up shortly.

Sending thanks out to Benjamin aka "Viking" and John aka "Happy" for joining me on the workouts.  Nice to have company and great seeing you two step up.

On to next week,

DarkArashi 

Day Four already?

And the fourth workout...

This is a Roundup format.  Every round you add and see how many rounds you can do.

30 min time limit:

 +1 Pushup
 +1 Knees to Elbows
 +1 Kettlebell Swing (45 lbs)
 +1 Leg Lift
 +1 Pullup
+10 Jump Ropes

I made it through 11 rounds and time ran out as I finished my 12th round of Kettlebell swings.

The first four rounds were so easy I thought I had 90 rounds easy.  Sadz!!!

Good luck Kiddies,

DarkArashi

"Bog"ged down in the workouts

Ach, day three and the body is having none of it.

Didn't exactly wake this morning, more like leveled up a few notches from my coma.

I ran through the list of my big workouts I wanted to do after class this morning and the body piped in with disapproval.  Even used the big Wurdies to describe icky sex acts I could go do with myself.

We comprised on the Bog, a wee workout.

Bog: 17 minute time limit (pretty easy right!)

50 Pushups
50 Wrestlers
50 Kettlebell Swings (I used a 45lb'er)

25 Kettlebell Row per side (Used the 45lb'er again...too lazy to grab a lighter one.)
50 Walking Lunges
300 Jump Ropes
*10 Squats every minute until time is up, or you finish.

My body realized halfway through it had been tricked.  I was 5 kettlebell swings and 30 Wrestlers short of finishing.

Good luck,

DarkArashi

Feeling betta!!!

So, I did mean to post yesterday...but here it is.

For the last year, my workouts have been on and off.  As soon as I fell better, I would go through one of the easier workouts to test my knee and foot.

Some days after the workout...I felt great!

Other days were Sucktastic!!!  I would barely be able to walk.

As some of you know, I have sold and moved out of the old place and did some security work.  Ate up all my time and spare time and sleep time.

Beginning of November I committed to my insane workout schedule to see about a come-back.

Five days a week baby.  One Mega-Workout each week, one End of the Year workout, one Testing workout and two 30-minute random ones.

Two days in and still standing.  I did the weight vest Mega yesterday and today's workout is below:

100 Thrusters (Squats with 25lb dumbbells)
100 Knees to Elbows.

and every minute is 5 Burpees.

30 max time limit.  My time...27:42!

Try and beat it.

BTW, for the non-math whizzes that is 130 Burpees.

Good luck and I will post daily with results.

DarkArashi

Wickedly Sweet

Here is a short workout for you:

100 Kettle Bell Swings (45lbs or whatever you can handle)
5 Burpee-Pushups (every minute on the minute)

Easy workout, my time was 6:47.  Set your timer for 15 minute max.

Key to this workout is to push.  If you pace, a lot more Burpees for you.

Good luck.

Honey badger of a workout.

Here you go.  Easy 15 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible)

100 Jump Ropes
10 Pushups
10 Pull ups

I finished 7 rounds and 74 Jump ropes into the 8th with a 1lb rope.

Best of luck!

DarkArashi

The Path Least Taken

The path of the teacher chose me.  I just wanted to learn martial arts and train.  Such a simple life in hindsight.

Training as a warrior as taught me to constantly judge the people around me.  It is the Way of the Warrior to observe; the weather, the ground, the air, everything so we know our place.  Yes, we constantly test the people around us by what they say and their actions.  Students believe I reserve judgement until their test...and I let them.  But the true test is really in between the "actual" testing.

Folk believe me above judgement being the Head Instructor, not so.  I also judge myself, much harsher than the students.  It is the only way I can manage what I do.  Each choice is weighed for the betterment of oneself.  I make a mistake, I fess up.  I don't know the answer...I shrug. 

It seems lately I have had my own series of tests and judgements.  Each one is a choice with something I desire versus my Dharma as a teacher.  Each time I have chose my Wuxia brothers and sisters.  I have found when something is too good to be true...it usually is.  The martial arts have never failed me.

I have been unemployed for going on 5 years now.  I do work odd jobs to make ends meet and it is stressful.   I do not mind the 100+ hour work weeks to make the mortgage.  This does cut into my training time and my teaching effectiveness.

I recently turned down a job that would have made it possible to pay my bills.  It would be nice to not worry about money on a daily basis, going out to eat more often, and traveling to my sacred spots in the world to recharge.  But it meant turning away from the school; turning away from Wuxia.

Being a ronin is not easy, not glamorous.  We train everyday and press one more rep out.  Most folk don't get why we do it and fail to grasp how we do things others cannot.  There is no gold medal waiting for us, no superbowl ring, nothing really.  Miyamoto Musashi once said "today is victory over yourself, tomorrow is your victory over lesser men."  This information is something only Wuxia seem to understand.

Ours is not the easy path.  To fathom the path of Wuxia, imagine yourself in a world where only six others understand you.  Now you get the meaning the banner above.

Musings of the Faithless

When I saw this meme, it made me think of faith.  I realize it is two different Torii, but still the same message; a people's faith in something greater than themselves.  Among the many religions I never found one that rings true.  I claim Taoism, but the Cimmerian belief is more mine.  They believed the gods were to busy to care about us.  The only time we would see them is after a battle, where they picked through the fallen for the strongest to serve them.  This makes far more sense to me than some book or preacher telling us to beg forgiveness for being weak.  Nope, I have no faith in the gods or their benevolence.


Every four years, I watch educated, highly intelligent people turn into foaming fanatics as they try to elect the president.  It is always about not letting the evil party take control of our country.  I find this blind faithfulness disturbing.  (You realize it costs nearly 6 billion dollars to elect a president now, shit is expensive!)  Hurricane Katrina taught me the truth about our government.  It is about money.  Simple.  I worked as a designer for a construction company.  I created a simple home that would withstand hurricanes and tsunamis, based on the principles of T'ai Chi.  I laid out construction protocols, pricing, profit margins.  Two weeks after mobilization, a team could be finishing a house a day.  Need more, add more teams.  Imagine, moving into your new, better home seven days after the first of the team showed up.  At first, everyone loved it...until they started dipping their paws in.  The price doubled and my idea was no longer feasible.  Now you tell me if government is for the people.  Nope, no faith in government unless I have the cash.

It seems everyone has faith in the human race.  I also believe lemmings have faith in the "slice" as well.  I was raised to take folk by their word.  Your word is binding, you live by it.  Many people have failed this simple task.  Years ago, I was apart of a group charged with spreading a Healing Qigong through the US.  We each had a form to learn.  It was a matter of time before the group started fighting about things.  No one memorized their stuff, they were too busy criticizing every one else.  I lived up to their promises and learned all 18 forms.  I figured I could help.  When they found out...I was the one ostracized for meddling.  I have only ever taught one form, to a gentleman dying of Pancreatic cancer.  He died well, no pretense, no fear.

I once belonged to a Zen Monastery.  I cooked, I cleaned and I taught the Zen masters to speak English.  For the most part, I was tolerated.  Jian Fang was the one master that stood out.  We got along fine.  He would come find me and be his second for prayers and blessings.  Talk about being out of place.  Sometimes, he had me "recite" them.  He would whisper and I repeated in my horrible mockery of Mandarin.  I asked him about it and the consternation among the other masters that it caused.

He smiled and explained that the other masters come from privilege, from education, from money.  They are not like us.  We come from the military.  We know the price of causing pain.  Didn't make me feel any better, but I understood.  Decisions based on learning are fallible, whereas decisions based on experience gives us the insight into the amount of pain necessary in making choices in life.

Jian Fang went to explain we do not belong among people.  At this point, I got to rib him about being a Zen master among a flock.  He pointed out that we have two dragons within us.  One dragon is what the people see, the other is us.  Jian Fang did not move among people, he is a lost warrior following the invisible path as best as he can.  Zen Master Fang is the wise dragon everyone listens too.  He summarized by saying, we can not be a part of the people, but we are here to help.  Then he would finish the conversation with his famous quote for me, "Do not think about it.  You are more Zen than Zen."  Never knew if this was an insult or compliment.

It has been 22 years since I seriously hurt someone.  I had a short career in Full Contact fighting.  My last fight was the only fight that lasted more than a round, almost all six until I got the TKO.  Richard Bartik, a cruiser weight, is the toughest person I ever fought.  I had to put on weight since the middle weights would no longer fight me.  The first round was a push.  Bartik was big, strong and tough as concrete.  I still managed to drive him to the mat twice.  Second round, he caught me as I slipped and I hit hard.  I was more surprised and embarrassed at tripping myself.  I kipped back up, nearly clobbering the surprised referee.  My conditioning starting to pay off as his arms dropped and his legs grew sluggish.  Two more times I had pounded him to the mat and still he rose.  The next four rounds I was in total control and Bartik became a punching bag.  I started to be concerned and let up on the power, just determined to fatigue him and let him drop.  Each round and he dropped twice and got back up, Bartik's spirit was the definition of indomitable.  At the end of the sixth round, he went down a third time.

I walked away the winner. Four months later Bartik reached me and told me the aftermath.  He went to the hospital that night to have his ribs checked.  What he found out was; micro-factures through the arms and legs, cracked ribs, internal bruising and bleeding, cracked wisdom teeth and major concussion.  He bragged it was the greatest beating he ever had and wanted a rematch.  My thought was, I did that without really trying.  I told him I was no longer a fighter and wanted to meditate and cultivate character.  Truth is...there is a place deep within, that enjoys crushing challenges.  Often there is pain involved.  I prefer that dragon to stay deep within and never see daylight.

As much as I wish to be myself, there is no room in society for me.  My workouts lately have been about my faith and how little faith I do have.


What do I have faith in?  At the end of the battle, I will be standing.  I know the gods will still not care.  I know our leaders will still turn their backs on us.  I know promises still go unfulfilled.

I know the sun will still radiate, the rain will fall, the trees will grow...and I will stand alone.  This is my faith...my religion.

Burning!!!

AIYA!!!  Training has been rough this year.  The healing continues, but the body cannot really handle the Chaos workouts.  I decided to rehab myself through training.

Constantly changing the workouts to force my body adapt created negative gains.  Sometimes it took a whole week to recover.  So back to basics.

Everyday I hit my rehab workout and try to increase the numbers.  Once I hit forty, off to the next exercise.

Friday's workout was the best I felt in a long time.  Totally crushing the numbers.  Here it is if you wish to give it a whirl.  Just need like 8 minutes.

300 Jump Ropes
22   Ring Rows
40   Leg Lifts
40   Squats
27   Pushups
40   Wrestlers
38   Kettle Bell Swings (45lbs)
2 sets of 10 Gripper Crush @ 120lbs
3 sets of 10 Gripper Crush @ 80lbs
and finish with 11 Back Bends.

I am reaching for 40 reps non stop.  That is the key here, not stopping.

Oh, and I sort of did the "OX" to warm for this. 

50 Squats
25 Pushups
50 Wrestlers.

Best of luck,

DarkArashi