december 31, 2008
2008
it's the last day of 2008, so i figure i'm obligated to make a post today in order to have a december post.
looking back a year ago, it looks like i was doing metcon and rearranged my room. coincidentally i rearranged my room again (although i now hardly spend any time there), but i have pretty much abandoned metcon (something i should probably change).
i enjoy achieving certain goals as you probably already know, and over the course of 2008 i think my top achievements were:
1) developing the strength for the handstand press (among other pressing movements) and,
2) learning to solve rubik's cube
some other notable happenings that weren't achievements include giving up balisong collecting and relegating parkour training to the summer (though not voluntarily).
some goals for next year include the backflip and stronger handstands.
below i've put together a little movie of clips from my iphoto albums (33.2 MB). hope you enjoy and have a great new years!
scene listing in chronological order:
JAN:
- continuous motion aerial practice
- traying at wellesley
- robot competition at mit
FEB:
- fred wesley and trombonists at berklee
MAR:
- parkour at bentley
- ninja attack
- pranking evan
APR:
- first boston marathon in person
MAY:
- revisiting rochester parkour spots
JUL:
- boston july 4th crowds
- first muscle-up on tape
- 270 cat at clarke middle school
- car trick
- wall spins at mit
- parkour at gordon college
AUG:
- biking cape cod
- better muscle-ups
- successful one-arm push-up
SEP:
- even better muscle-ups and pull-overs?
- hayden parkour and accident
- birthday one-arm push-up reps
- birthday L-sit pull-outs
- birthday muscle-ups and transition to L-sit
OCT:
- hiking mount monadnock
- left-handed one-arm chin-up holds
- L-sit to handstand press
DEC:
- L-sit to handstand press (again)
- assisted one-arm handstand holds
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november 28, 2008
progression
i've been working at the planche and front lever for quite some time and have hit many plateaus along the way. i recently found myself experiencing another plateau, and after an impromptu visit to the original article on front lever/planche, i've decided on the next step in my progression.
one of the problems with "untucking" the static holds is that it's very difficult to quantify how much you are untucking. i discovered that trying to work at progressive untucks was very frustrating. further down in his article, coach sommers adds in a pulling and pushing element and i've decided to incorporate that at an earlier stage.
for my planche, i can untuck slightly, but it is very difficult for me to tell how much i am untucking. because of that, i've decided to do completely tucked planche push-ups until i develop the strength to reach a more clear-cut position of "untuckedness". i have a very consistent one-legged front lever and will be working on pulls in that position until i get the strength for a more disadvantaged and clear-cut position for my other leg. below is a video of the tuck planche press-ups (still not recovered enough to capture a good video of the pulls). both of are very difficult for me but i can already feel progress.
before beginning any strength training i like to evaluate myself in three different areas of strength which i find very helpful in determining what to train (or not train) for that day/session. the first thing i gauge is my "max strength" - how good i feel about grinding out my most difficult strength skills. these are usually one-arm push-ups and one-arm chin-up holds/negatives.
the next question i ask myself is how my explosive strength is feeling. this is usually an indicator of how ready i am to perform muscle-ups and how much swing i need to accomplish them on that day. i have to admit that i do not practice too many explosive pushing skills.
the last area i evaluate is my strength endurance. do i feel like i can crank out fifty pull-ups? endless sets of muscle-ups? combining my diagnosis of all three of these strength areas (maximum, explosivity, endurance) allows me to tailor a suitable workout for that day and prevent overtraining (provided i don't get carried away).
and one last random strength note that i might have mentioned in the past: i find myself very strong in the pushing department during the morning and pulling later in the day. i believe training at your best and finding the times when you are feeling optimal is very important for quick and efficient progress.
switching gears completely, i recently finished a presentation for my "survey of vocal musical literature" class on the choral requiem. it was a great experience of what i think school, or at least learning, should be all about. i researched a topic i was very interested in and prepared it to a deep enough level that i felt ready to teach about it. i maintained a steady excitement throughout the entire preparation process and definitely felt over-eager to do the presentation.
when presentation day did roll around (with a weeks delay unfortunately), i blasted through my slides and notes, and received great compliments from my teacher. but in hindsight, i realize that i probably lost the interest of half the class. the presentation really pointed out one of my potential weaknesses as a teacher, and that is transmitting my excitement of the topic to others. i have no doubt that people can see how much i enjoy certain things, but i need to develop the skill of influence - persuading and turning others onto the things i teach. after all, it's part of the job description. i will certainly be on the lookout for teachers who display great influence and scrutinize their methods in future observations.
as a side effect to my enjoyment of researching requiems for the past 2-3 weeks, i listened to the mozart requiem twice yesterday. (yes, all 14 movements. it's beautiful music.)
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october 31, 2008
ouch?
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september 20, 2008
unforgotten
this is quite rare, a post about music! i just finished transcribing a short piece from the halo 2 (volume 2) soundtrack. the title is "unforgotten" and it's a very pretty piece. i initially only wanted to transcribe the piano solo part but got caught up in the transcription process and ended up doing the whole thing. it was easier than i expected and i had a fun time figuring out how to translate the rich orchestral texture onto the piano. listen to the track (2:11) and download my sheet music below!
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september 15, 2008
retrospective
after my birthday two days ago, i decided to take a look at my website a year from this date to see what kind of things i wanted to do and what i had done since then.
the closest post was from september 6, 2007 and at the time i was finishing tomb raider anniversary, struggling to write an eating tutorial, and proposing to always work out of a jazz method book. in regards to those three categories (games, eating and school/music), my gaming life has been pretty dry recently, i'm still struggling (but coming a little closer) to writing that eating tutorial, and i haven't been working out of jazz books consistently. but of those three, i've certainly made progress when it comes to eating knowledge and coincidentally, i've recently reworked my eating plans and goals.
i've figured out how to eat a generally healthy diet by now - one that sustains healthy levels of bodyfat, energy, satiety and immunity from disease (well the last one is debatable, but i think it works). being me, i'm obviously not satisfied by this and i've consequently resolved to push my bodyfat levels even lower. i am now sticking with a bodybuilder-influenced type of eating plan which really only changes when and how much i eat, but does not change what and how i eat. if i'm beginning to scare anyone, i am not training to look like a bodybuilder, i'm just eating like one. i personally find bodybuilding to be quite repulsive, but i have much respect for its participants. i'll write more on that another day.
one other thing i did on my birthday was have an "evaluation" day of sorts. i basically tested out a few my max strength skills and captured them on video to serve as a benchmark for where i am currently. i managed to pull off:
- 4 one-arm one-leg push-ups (nose to the ground)
- 1 L-sit pull-out on rings
- and a little bar combination involving 3 muscle-ups and 2 L-sits
i failed to do behind-the-back clapping push-ups, a skill which comes and goes. hopefully next time i have an evaluation day (year end?) it will be more consistent.
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september 7, 2008
overtraining
i have two videos and one story to share:
first up is my current progress on the muscle-up. i still need a slight swing, but i'm working on eliminating it.
the next video is a highlight of my flow practice which concluded an unusually rigorous day of training (warm-up, sprint, flags, planche practice, handstand walking, sprint, muscle-ups, sprint, ring training, sprint, cat grab training, and finally flow practice). i ended with a nasty fall because i was too ambitious and unrealistic about the day's training goals and my body's capability to complete them. between the last two clips, there was about a 2 minute window where i patiently waited out the pain in order to stand up again (fun stuff).
as a side note, because i'm a very cautious traceur in my practice methods and i don't videotape that often, i consider this accident video to be "rare" footage. =P
so what happened?
i was getting tired, and my vision was beginning to blur. however, i wanted to add an extra move into my sequence. combined with a weaker-feeling jump into the vault, i should have known to stop, but i went through with it out of sheer determination.
i think the lesson learned here is pretty obvious, and i gotta remember that there's no rush to achieve my goals. better to progress slowly and not hit a benchmark than to risk losing the ability to train for awhile. i should be able to walk with minimal pain tomorrow, but this is certainly one of those rare moments where i could have prevented a potential injury and chose not to.
photo here.
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august 13, 2008
ariakes, reviewed
after a one-day delay, my five ten freerunners arrived today. i got really excited when i saw the packaging.
but this post is supposed to be about the ariakes, and once you read my review on them, i guess you'll see why i was excited to finally get new parkour shoes.
comfort - it's hard for me to give the ariakes a fair score in this area because i think a half size smaller would have fit me better. the 8.5 (my usual pk shoe size) was much too long, but comfortable in width. the upper is a tad stiffer than your average running shoe, but i believe this was part of the design process because it is marketed as a "supportive" shoe by k-swiss. bottom line: if you have long and slender feet, these will probably fit you well.
shock absorption - again, the generous sizing of the ariake prevents me from judging this area fairly because the shoe wasn't snug enough. however, i felt that the midsole compresses great, but the outsole was on the harder side, which made it hard to prevent loud landings at bigger heights. all in all, i really had no complaints with the ariake's shock absorption - it did the job just fine.
durability - i used these shoes for about six months before they got "killed". as usual, the culprit was the midsole. after six months it got too compressed to offer safe and consistent shock absorption for landings. the outsole on the forefoot lasted great while the heel rubber wore down like a regular running shoe. the upper got scratched up plenty but didn't suffer any major damage.
grip - the special rubber compound used on the forefoot is absolutely amazing. it just sticks better in general to just about everything. compared to all the other shoes i have tested, this is by far my favorite rubber. the only thing it's not stickier than is stealth rubber, but stealth highly favors porous, rocky surfaces while the k-swiss rubber favors everything to a lesser degree.
weight - the leather uppers and the big external heel counter on these shoes really make them weigh a fair bit. i would've preferred something lighter, but i did manage to get used to them pretty quickly.
a couple interesting things to note about these shoes are 1) they're fairly water-resistant (but a little less breathable), and 2) they were created with an "hourglass" profile (when viewed from the back) which makes it really difficult to twist your ankle. basically, it's got a very wide base.
i really feel like i got $100 worth of performance out of these shoes (mostly due to the astounding rubber) and would certainly buy another pair, but in size 8. as you already know, next up for stress testing are my brand new freerunners. after that, i will probably give the ariake lite mesh a shot. apparently, members of the tribe have been giving high praise to this shoe.
and as an addendum, here's a pic i took when i visited philadelphia a couple weeks ago (photo taken at penn's landing across from the uss new jersey).
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july 7, 2008
great weekend
did some anodizing experimentation this weekend, results below. which reminds me, i need to update my collection (arc-angel is sold). but i'll get around to that later =D
and on july 4th, here are the crowds of people walking back from the river. i'm videotaping from 77 mass ave at mit (8.7 MB)
i also got bar muscle-ups in the bag! i posted a thread up at american parkour with my tips. success video below (13.4 MB)
and finally, i'm entering a contest for a ghillie suits. don't enter so i can have a better chance of winning! (if you read the contest page you'll also see why i mispelled suit on purpose.)
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