Log 6/26/17

Enjoyed a weekend of training again. Went to the sfij early to help set up bars with Davis crew and we jammed until about 8 or 9 I believe. I'm enjoying so much more strength lately, tumbling is getting stronger, handstand stuff feels easier. On Sunday we did some heavy squats and deadlifts and a shift in of stretching. Still pretty beat up right now so mostly taking it easy today.

Instead of training so much I'm hoping to mostly just stretch and focus on my philosophy studies. Trying to finish "buddhism as philosophy" by mark siderits. It's a short introductory to some of the philosophical ground that buddhism covers. It's nice to see buddhist thought laid out in a more organized argument form. Aaaand gotta study for that GRE.

Log 6/21/17

Trained my broad jump and some kips yesterday. I usually start out with jumps from my knees to emphasize hip drive. Then I jump with no arms to emphasize just my leg power. Then I do the full jump. Probably should just add some basic hops for my calves/ankles.

My kip is generally pretty disastrous right now but I do it well every once in a while. Need to be stronger with my horizontal pull and my compression.

Food:
Rice and broccoli
Apples
Bagel with hummus and chips
Some soy protein based chicken tenders
Some pectin fruit strip things

Log 6/20/17

Been coaching gymnastics again and it has been pretty inspiring. I am lucky enough to be shadowing the higher level boy's team. They train up to 4 or more hours 3 to 5 times a week. That dedication! It's cool to get a better understanding up close regarding specific techniques and training methodology. The secret seems to be just an insane amount of skill training.

The movements these kids are doing are all connected as far as form is concerned so they get so much repetition with, say, L holds for almost every event. I was under the impression with my own training that I would train some L holds but not much more than a minute or two accumulated. Now I am seeing it as a fundamental body position like standing or squatting. It should be easy.

Ate pretty well:

Salad with tomato, olives, and onions w/spring mix
Rice and broccoli with green onions
Some apples
Fig bars at work and some fruit snacks
A banana.
Was at 76.5 kg yesterday. Hoping to get back down to 70 kg first.

Slept on yoga mat on wooden floor with no blanket. My stoicism meter is increasing.

In general I seem to be just getting a lot more stuff done lately. I'm finally starting to push myself a little harder than I have been in life because I have reasons for moving forward. I'm living with more purpose and that gives me so much more resilience, openness, conscientiousness. I'm one lucky duck right now and I hope I can just maintain this momentum.

Daily log 6/18/17

The heat was hot and the ground was dry and the air was full of sounds.

It's been stupidly hot out. So hot that it's hard to train during the day. Early morning and evening training is where it is at. Was able to press up into a handstand from a crow position.

Got a lot of life stuff going on lately, trying to get myself out to Sweden as in August for trainings and other things. Need to take GRE's. Been inspired to actually start doing things for my potential future so that I won't be impoverished forever. This is not my usual mode of thought. My ideas about minimalism and capitalism are clashing with some other philosophical views from those old existentialist philosophers. Will see where this all goes but it is exciting to explore a new avenue because I think I was stuck at a dead end with my other ways of thinking.

06/12/17

Parkour run through Davis. Switched to my vapor gloves since my feiyues unceremoniously died the other day. I must have understood that they wouldn't last the year but I sorta tried.

Run was good,  was shown a bunch of cool new spots in Davis. Worked through some big acrobatic movements. Feeling pretty beat up now. First day of a new job starts. Teaching gymnastics again. I think I will enjoy it.

Daily Log 06/11/17

Blew through my feiyues yet again. Had this crazy idea I could make them last for an entire year. I think it was about two months. This is actually pretty good as far as feiyues go. I may have some backup vapor gloves I can use. I must have neglected them over winter since they bleed water straight through like sunken ships. Mostly acrobatic laden parkour stuff this weekend and some bar work. Jenny added a new platform in the backyard which has created a lot of interesting opportunities and saves energy because we no longer have to swing a bunch to get momentum. We can just start from the platform. Managed a handstand descent down two 2-3ft ledges. It's getting easier! Hardly stretched at all or did any calisthenics unfortunately. Was stressed out a bit regarding family stuff and my training mentality just fell apart. Perhaps things would have been worse without my meditation practice but it is in moments of high stress that my motivation to seek cessation blossoms. Slowly but surely.

Daily log 06/08/17

Failed almost immediately with eating the one meal a day. Going to take it a little easier and just slow it down to two since my activity level is pretty high and it messed me up almost instantly. I think it makes more sense to taper and oscillate meal frequency. Some days, nothing at all. Other days, up to two big meals. Will see if I can handle myself only going with two max.

I gained almost a foot on my broad jump. Up to 97 inches from 86 inches only the week before. Have been doing jumps from my knees to engage my hips more so it's probably just a significant technique change. I want 9 feet!

Worked on some handstand press up negatives, pulls, dips, and pistol negatives. Did 6 pull ups too. Just gotta build consistency. Been going to wonderland as often as possible and putting myself through a warm-up even if i don't feel like training. I ignore the lazy voice because I know I will be somewhere else mentally by the time I'm done warming up. It's important not to take one's thoughts so seriously sometimes.

Daily Log 06/07/17

Trained tumbling stuff at davis diamonds. My russian fronts are super high now and I can usually combo out of them. Tried to throw some cart fronts and fulls but was less successful I love the idea of switching from front tumbling to back tumbling which is why I wanted the cart-front flip but since I lack the power/technique I ended up trying some back half twists to roundoff and was pretty successful though I had a hard time keeping my arms up for the transition. Some light stretching before and after but not enough volume with that .

Spent a lot of time reading through "Buddhism as Philosophy" by Mark Siderits and it is a refreshing read to what I am used to with the usual buddhist texts. The in depth analysis of Buddhist doctrines helps deepen my understanding and refine my motivations mainly because the author is showing the more specific reasons behind certain claims, while discarding common misunderstandings. It's a good thing to have at least 5 rationalizations for why you're practicing something and the book doesn't disappoint. In particular I was just reading about the doctrine of non-self as it relates to the more conventional concept of self. Illuminating. Will write up a review and analysis after combing through it. It's a textbook but it's short and very clearly written for the most part.

Ate one big meal of spaghetti, bread, and soup for lunch. Then a mango later on. But I want to try just having one meal a day for a month. I'm inspired by re-reading this paper called "the metabolic winter hypothesis":

"In 400 BC, hippocrates wrote: “We must consider [whether] food is to be given once or twice a day, in greater or smaller quantities, and at intervals. Something must be conceded to habit, to season, to country and to age.”

I just love this. The concept of eating once a day feeds my inner ascetic. Not sure why I fetishize being an ascetic but it just makes me feel good to try to live simply in a world full of constant excess. It's part of why I sleep on the floor, why I eat plant-based, why I try not to give/receive material gifts. I suppose it makes the times that I do break these "rules" feel more valuable.

Back to the paper though, Cronise points out the the modern contrast to hippocrates' musings about food. Nowadays the meals do not stop, we are hardly ever in a fasted state so we rarely pull into our reserves which will just continue to accumulate left unchecked. Will see how I feel after a week of this and decide if I can continue.

Daily log 6/05/17

Parkour run! Only ended up going through a few spots on our run since we got distracted by the obstacles around us which is a good thing. It's nice to find a shady spot to train. I can do my handstand press up on a low wall now just barely. I can't wait to get stronger and stronger. Not sure if I'll be teaching gymnastics but I want to be ready if I do so I gotta a get all my gymnastics type strength up.

Had some major slip ups with diet again. I'm noticing that it only happens at moments where I am not quite all there and I just impulsively go for something, not allowing myself to think it through. If I can trigger myself to stop everything when I get an impulse, I can meditate and recreate the associations that strengthen my resolve. I'm finding my patterns and realizing the places where I need to be strongest:

When eating out somewhere, movies/restaurants
Riding by the store after not having eaten in a while and I realise I have money
Just before or after training (the rationalization starts there, "i need the calories")

Daily log 06/01/17

Trained some isolated jumping techniques along with some max broad jumps. Hands behind back. Jumping from the knees. One footed jumps. My max broad jump is 7' 4". So yeah I could use a bit of a power boost for sure. I would be pretty happy if I could get past 8-9 ft. And I can't imagine what it would be like to have enough jumping for a 10 footer.

Worked on some lache to pre up yo a highhh bar but technique is crap so I'm barely getting to the bar and just falling back off of it. Hands crapped out after a series of half hearted attempts.

Managed at least one good muscle up on rings. I can only do maybe 5 pull ups and 6 dips. I think my body just remembers how to do muscle ups on rings and I have not so bad shoulder flexibility.

Aaaand some handstand negatives on the edge of the box. Nice to get a taste of a semblance of an echo of a ghost of my previous handstand ability. Hopefully it will come fast with dedicated training.

Food
Bowl of rice and broccoli
A bowl of grapes
Can of barley soup
Watermelon
Piece of baguette with mustard and avocado
Whole wheat spaghetti with homemade pasta sauce full of veggies, one bowl.
Didn't feel like I stuffed myself today and I managed to have only about one serving for whatever I was eating rather than a massive container of rice or multiple servings to infinity.