Writer

Writing 24 (out of 66) scenes complete – structural/continuity revision

This week has been the Worcestershire Literary Festival, so I’ve been focusing less on writing and more on making the most out of the available events. I have done some writing though – the scene I’m working on was a bit of a mess and I’ve done a fair amount of work on the structure and focus of the scene, but it’s still broken.

Reading “Do the Work” by Steven Pressfield

I downloaded a free version of this some time ago and have just got around to reading it. It’s a productivity/motivational book around the issues of “resistance” and how it prevents us getting the job done.

Fighter

I’ve worked hard with my kettlebell training this week and am really starting to see the benefits.

Geek

Playing Tiny Tower for iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad – it’s free and it’s really very good! It’s very similar to the classic Sim Tower game only less focused on elevator management and more on keeping all your tower residents happy. Very addictive!

A motivational post for me to look back on when I feel like I’m not making any progress. All things I’ve noticed in the last week:

• I have had to loosen the laces on my Doc Martens (they have zips as well) as they’re too tight around my calf muscles.
• Someone complemented me in class as they’d noticed me crank out a fair amount of ‘proper’ push-ups. As these have been my nemesis for years, I’m rather pleased about that! (Shame I still suck at sit-ups!)
• I was talking to a visitor about my kettlebell and I demonstrated a couple of military presses to show an example move. She then tried to pick it up and in a shocked voice said “but you didn’t make it look that heavy!”
• The day-to-day pleasure I find of moving something heavy that I would probably have asked for help with in the past.

Small wins, but satisfying ones.

It’s been both a busy and very unproductive week with most of the focus being on the new guinea pigs. So this should be a very short report!

Writer

Writing 24 (out of 66) scenes complete – structural/continuity revision

This scene will probably take me a while. Currently it’s a filler scene with a completely unrealistic timeline. Getting through it one sentence at a time, but it’s a bit of a slog.

Reading “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson

A young adult fiction book I picked up on a whim some time ago then completely forgot to read. I discovered it again hidden on my shelves while looking for something else.

Fighter

Training was good this week. Very heavy cardio and needed an inhaler break for the first time in months (could also be connected to mild allergy to the new guinea pigs, though). Enjoyed it though and it was a good feeling to really push myself.

I’m ashamed to say, though, that I have slacked off exercise for the rest of the week and lost momentum as a result.

Geek

The guinea pigs are settling well although Biscuit is still terrified of me. I think she even growled at me this morning – I picked her up and her whole body was vibrating, like a sort of angry purr. Bramble however, waits for me to pick her up most times now and her eye looks a lot better. I think I’m going to have to find some calm time without children around to tempt them with treats and try and get them to trust me a little more.

I have found that I’ve been getting a little lung tightness this week though – manageable but upsetting. I know I have allergy issues with some furry creatures (most notably cats) but had hoped to be okay with the piggies. Reading up on it, it might not be an allergy to the animals but could be bedding related. I’ve been tested for hay/grass allergy, so I know it’s not that. The other culprit could be the wood-shavings, apparently.

So, I’m going to try and ditch those and go the fleece-lining route – the idea is that you have a layer of old towels, then a layer of fleece material (washed three times so its ready to absorb moisture) on top. The fleece wicks away the moisture from the wee and the towel soaks it up. You can then use a little handheld vaccuum to get rid of the poo each day and stick the fleece and towels in the washing machine as required. No wood-shavings flicked everywhere, kinder on the piggies feet and bottoms and hopefully kinder on my lungs.

Fingers crossed.

Great article on the Guardian website a couple of days ago about women and weightlifting featuring, among others, Mistress Krista from Stumptuous.com. The whole article has so many good parts, I can’t quote them all, but I particularly nodded along to these two parts:

I’m not co-ordinated so the group classes that others seem to find fun and sociable – “step up, touch down, change legs, grapevine, step change and shimmy” – just leave me feeling clumsy and frustrated. But I can pick up an easily graspable heavy metal object, lift it slowly and then put it down again. Not only can I do it: I find I love it.

I’ve put in my time on the treadmill, the exercise bike, the loping elliptical “trainer” (presumably providing training in case my feet are ever replaced with huge springy wheels). My blood pressure went down and so did my resting heart rate. Both these things are wonderful benefits, but I can’t say that I really notice them.

Lifting, though, is detectable. It’s the moment in the train carriage when I hoist my suitcase into the rack and find that the motion is easy.

Edit: I guess it helps if I supply the link as well – doh!

Writer

Writing 24 (out of 66) scenes complete – structural/continuity revision

Finally made some progress! Impressive as I only had two available writing days. The break definitely did me good. Looking forward to working on a new scene next week.

Reading “Mindfulness In Plain English” by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana

Recommended on a recent Back to Work show. It’s a really good and clearly written introductory book on mindfulness meditation. I downloaded the PDF for free from UrbanDharma.org and imported it into iBooks. I’ve been wanted to reintroduce meditation back into my life, if only in a small way – it has been the push that I’ve needed.

Fighter

Really enjoying training at the moment. In class we’ve been taking a back to basics approach with different strikes which has coincided with my own resolve to work on basics. Lots of opportunities for repetition and getting it right.

I’ve been able to keep home training going a little better this week, but it’s noticeable that I slacked off last week. It’s been hard going.

Geek

My research obsession this week has been about guinea pigs. It’s been triggered by a forum post looking to rehome some and I stopped to seriously consider whether it would be a good idea for me to offer.

I had a rabbit when I was a kid and I like the idea of our sons having a small furry animal in their lives. Piggies do seem a good choice in term of temperament and sociability. Me being me, though, I’m having to research it to the nth degree to make sure that I would be giving any creature we take on the best possible home, plus husband is not terribly keen. Either way, I’m getting a lot of joy from the research process for its own sake!

In other news, going to see Jonathan Coulton‘s concert in Manchester tonight. Squeee!

I’ve just finished reading this post: The need to understand human violence. It discusses the need to study different violent scenarios (e.g. testosterone-fuelled posturing vs predator/prey) to understand the why and the how in order to make the best self-defense decisions. This was the section that stood out for me the most:

I think that women have a particular problem here. It is much harder to study violence against women because it is more clandestine in nature. There is a lot of mobile phone footage or CCTV footage of men attacking other men on the internet –even of the predator/prey variety because men will openly attack each other in daylight in a public place.

Men rarely attack women in a public place in daylight. So shameful is the act that even hardened, violent criminals do it secretively, away from the public gaze. There is no video footage of men attacking women that can be studied. I’m not passing judgement on this – it is just a fact. It would seem very distasteful to watch such a video. However, this means that women have to rely on victim testimonials, witness statements, criminal statistics or ‘experts’ knowledge to find out the nature of the threat to them – how exactly are they likely to be attacked and what, therefore, is the best way to learn to defend yourself?

It’s an excellent point. Reality-based self-defense systems, by their very definition, focus on the threats you are most likely to face in the real world and how to deal with them. But are these geared mainly for the attacks its male students are most likely to face?

It’s not just about which physical techniques a smaller, weaker person might be able to pull off in the event of an attack. It’s the whole scenario set-up and the advice that goes along with it. For example, a de-escalation technique we’re often reminded about is “just hand them your wallet, it’s only stuff.” But I’m guessing it’s much less likely for a woman to find themselves in that situation. If it’s a property-motivated attack, wouldn’t it be easier for the attacker to go for a snatch bag and run? If a weapon is involved, isn’t it a more likely scenario that it’s an attempted rape?

We face more grabs than punches, more likely to feel hands or a knife at our throat than a haymaker to the head. There are far more grey areas – a threat against a woman can often initially seem minor and low key before it escalates. There is a social pressure to always seem polite and not to make a scene and what if my interpretation is wrong? And I’m sure there are many more differences.

So I guess the question is, should we all be spending more time looking at the psychology behind those common attacks? Should we be looking at verbal self-defense as well as the physical? And should martial arts schools spend more time working on the very different common attack scenarios for women if that means 90% of the class won’t ever be in that situation?

No, really.

When we were planning the house move, it was very exciting. We were going to have so much extra space. We would have big sheds and wouldn’t need to use the garage to store stuff anymore. It was going to be my space. I hadn’t ironed out all the details, but at the very least I was going to get a punch bag in there, maybe rescue my old exercise bike from my mother’s house…

Fast forward to now. The removal van is long gone. It turns out that the sheds weren’t quite big enough. Plus the move went a bit over budget so I can’t really justify spending money on non-essentials. It’s not like I can’t make do and be more creative with the equipment and space that I’ve got.

But every time I go out there (usually to rummage in the freezer for dinner), I start plotting again.

One day, I’m going to clear out that space. That picture above? That’s just the before photo.

Writer

Writing 23 (out of 66) scenes complete – structural/continuity revision

No progress as the kids are off for the half term holidays.

Reading “House Rules” by Jodi Picoult

I few years back, I went through a phase of reading everything Jodi Picoult had ever written and overdosed on them somewhat. I do love her books, particularly her characterisation but find the endings rather hurried (as if she thinks “crap, I’ve got to wrap this up in just two chapters” and panics) and they got a bit samey after a while.

So, I’ve picked this one up from the library with some trepidation but I have to say I’m enjoying the early chapters and already feel fiercely protective of the main characters.

Fighter

I’ve missed a couple of days exercise due to half term, but have tried to stay generally active instead. I did make training this week, which I’m pleased about. Life got in the way a lot in May and my attendance had been a little shabby as a result.

Kettlebell routines are going well. Even after only a couple of weeks on the beginner routines, I’m already seeing strength gain and able to increase reps. Unfortunately, muscle soreness has also increased!

Starting to practise 100 straight punches a day in the mirror to try and get form right. Ideally, I’d like to get some pads or a punch bag (and clear out the garage to keep it in) for training at home, but as I am still on an unnecessary spending freeze that will have to wait for a while.

Geek

I’ve picked up Sims Medieval again. It’s still not going to light the world on fire, but as a casual game it’s quite fun when you get further into it.

I’ve reset Plants vs Zombies on the iPad. It’s such a great game even on repeat plays.

Mostly, though, I’m killing time on casual games until Skyrim and Mass Effect 3 are released. It’s going to be a long wait.

Since deciding that I’m not ready to grade yet, I’ve been focusing on getting my general fitness up to scratch rather than training specific techniques at home. Krav Maga has made more demands on my cardio fitness than anything I’ve done previously – being able to keep up physically was clearly the key to everything else.

However, it’s the start of a new month and I’ve been considering my training goals. I’ve decided to work hard on basics as bad habits are already creeping in. Straight punches are the obvious starting point for me – I don’t find punching natural and seem to be constantly splitting knuckles whenever we do pad work. It doesn’t help that I’ve had to learn a lot of punches from scratch, as my previous experience in Wing Chun drilled vertical rather than horizontal punches.

As you probably know by now, I like the researching as much as the doing. Here’s some of what I found.

I stumbled across this great discussion over at MartialTalk.com: How do you make a fist?. It’s full of insightful tips and perspectives, including:

[...] curl from the little finger to the index, gripping the roll of skin directly below the knuckles (where metacarpals join phalanges.) I tell students it is like grabbing a roll of pennies or quarters like a good street fighter, when are getting ready to punch someone.

The rolling from little finger to index comes from the mechanics of the grip. The little and ring fingers are much stronger than the index in gripping. This is due to the musculature in the forearm involved in gripping. Squeeze the index finger into a curl by itself and you will feel the muscles along the radial side of the arm tighten, then tighten the little, ring and middle fingers and you find the muscles on the ulnar side of the arm contracting, and they are much stronger.

I really struggle to get my index and middle fingers flat when forming a fist, which is partly why I seem to be continually splitting my lower set of knuckles open. That simple tip seems to make my fist much more compact.

Out of interest, which is better, a vertical or horizontal punch? The article seems to come down more on the vertical punch, but this part in particular is interesting:

Vertical punching allows the user to keep the elbow down, protecting the midsection through most of the range of motion. The twisting punch causes the forearm and elbow to naturally rise up and away from the body, allowing for a counter.

I’ve definitely noticed recently that I’m not keeping my elbows in close enough which is causing problems with alignment. The difference in training a vertical punch over a horizontal punch explains why this is a new issue for me.

Something I hadn’t really considered is to think about the right situations to use a punch. Open vs Closed Hand Striking looks at whether punches are always the best option in a given self-defense situation. The article itself is very good, but I particularly liked the insight these two comments gave:

The Chinese have a saying; fist to the body – open hand to the head

[...] when striking a hard area of the body (i.e.-skull, ribs, etc.) use a soft area of your body (i.e.- open palm, thigh, etc.) and the reverse; strike a soft area of your opponent with a hard area of your body. This helps to maximize damage to the opponent and minimize damage to yourself during the encounter.