Fitness Update: Lessons and Realizations

A short history of Indian Clubs and their use in exercise. They are mentioned in the post below.

I started this portion of this Blog in the hopes that I would share discoveries and revelations and realizations and lessons learned and gains made after every single workout. Then it became every week. Then it became...eventually, like today.

I am realizing that my 60-hour work week, with "free time" taken up by helping my mom (who is "at that age," as they say), spending time with my GF (which MUST be prioritized!) and sleeping allows little time to do this at all. The best I can hope for is a slow period at work where I can squeeze this in. that being the case, here are some observations and achievements of the past few weeks...

I finished the first month of Sean T's BeachBody "Insanity" program (from a ten-year-old DVD set). It only took me six weeks because I could seldom get more than three or four days of workouts in per week, while it was designed for five days a week. Sometimes I threw in the "Upper Body Weight Training" workout during the "off" day of the rotations because the regular program does not do much in that regard. That specific workout has left me dizzy and even a slight ringing in my ears the way it mixes lifting weights with cardio in 4-part supersets done at high intensity, often working more than one body part per exercise.

Because I still need to focus on my surgically repaired shoulder, I would occasionally follow up a workout with a half-dozen shoulder-focused exercises from a Wai Lana yoga DVD I found in a thrift shop. There are some things that shoulder will never do again, and I am coming to the realization that I am going to have to work that shoulder out more often to get it to do certain things that it can do to do as well as the other shoulder. 

These and other workout, fitness, and yoga videos are available on Amazon.com. I get a small percentage of any purchase you make if you click on any Amazon link to get there.

 

 Mostly, right now, the trouble is the strength and the endurance. For some movements I must recruit my shoulder blade and my abdominal muscles to get the shoulder to go places it used to by itself. Those muscles are not used to working that hard to do that, and even simply rotating them tires out the new shoulder faster than the old one. 

My fitness gains are sort of a competition between my muscles and my cardio. When I started, I found that my muscles gave out before my cardio did. Maybe this was from the jogging I had done a few times? Or perhaps my base-level of fitness and the way my body has become accustomed to cardio work has stayed with me better than the muscle strength I used to have? But my muscle strength is coming back, slowly. 

 I have incorporated my Indian Clubs into my workout. While their total weight is probably less than the natural variance of my body weight on a busy day, they do add just a touch of weight resistance hen moving my arms in running- and jumping-type exercises. Adjusting how I hold them gives different effects to the act of moving them, lifting them, swinging them. Sometimes they even encourage me to do more shoulder-focused movements, which I need. 

You can shop for Indian clubs and books and videos on how to use them on Amazon.com. If you buy anything after clicking one of the links below, I get a small percentage.

 My abs are weak, but a lot of abdominal exercises in Insanity really are all about the hip flexors, those muscles that lift the legs. Mine are also pretty weak. It turns out that lifting one leg over and over again is a tougher workout than marching, or moving your legs in the same manner alternately. I guess that is because when you walk or march you give the hip flexor time to recover between each rep (or step). 

I have worked my way down from my starting max weight of 205 lbs to a minimum weight of 198, with about a 3-lb variance over the course of a day. My goal is to get comfortably under 200 with some solid muscle and less fat around my middle. I am capable of "sucking it in" with the best of 'em, showing some abdominal definition, but when I relax there is a significant pot that "dun-lopped" over my belt.

My ultimate goal is to have a functionally strong body that looks it, and to return to armored combat, grappling, and stage combat. I am a little concerned that my shoulder won't be ready and that my non-surgically repaired knee, injured last winter in a slip-and-fall, my need surgery before I return.

MORE TO COME...

SO I took a week off from working out, swordfighting, and bjj last week as a result of Thanksgiving schedules, though I did run twice, confirming that I have about 75% of the stamina I had about a year ago, when I started with ECUBJJ. This week, I worked out with G.A. West twice, with a new emphasis on cardio and less on weights. In addition to trying to up my endurance, I am also trying to drop about 5 pound to make 185 lbs since Peter Storm invited me to compete in the 185 lbs division of his Renegade Grappling League tournament on December 11 (will post details as soon as available). So in between sets of bodyweight exercises, I did jumping jacks. Jots of jumping jacks. A total of 1000 for the work out. My right calf, already sore from running, is still feeling it.

So I went to ECU last night. My across-the-floor warm up is beginning to pick up pace. My push-ups are deeper, and my sit-out drill is slowly creeping up in pace.

WE focused on a particular method of gaining the triangle choke from guard., involving swinging the leg like you do in part of standing up in base from a sit-out. This started feeling like the kind of jiu jitsu that is a step above "basic." To me, "basic" involves being pretty much rooted to the ground and doing things that are slow progressions. This particular move feels dynamic and "swoopy." It's actually kind of fun. We drilled the heck out of it, which is very good for me. I noticed that one par of the move, in which the hips are lifted to move the opponent's arm across his face, can flow organically out of the move where the legs are crossed behind his head. By the end of the drills, I felt very confident about the move, and like a more skilled fighter.

Then we rolled. I was first partnered with a fellow who had advanced from white to blue belt some months ago, and whom I had gotten into that "Tarzan" hold two weeks ago. He must have been very fatigues when I fought him then, because he showed be a degree of skill and energy that I had never seen from him before. He was aggressively moving all over and around me, while I felt pretty much rooted to the ground and lacking dynamism in my game. I was able to hold off a few submission attempts and even escape from a few dominant positions he gained on me, bus his techniques and energy were able to deny and escape anything I tried.

Next I fought the skilled, technical guy I had fought the previous class. He was pretty conservative in his game, which didn't matter too much because his strength and skill were greater than mine, but I did manage to escape a pretty tight rear naked choke from him and survive being under full mount and side mount. I tried the side-mount escape in the latest ECUBJJ YouTube video, but he was too strong for me.

Finally I fought a brand new guy, bigger, stronger, and younger than me, but had only started a few months ago. I was able to mount him twice, and he mounted me once, but I failed to gain any submissions.

Jojo is being very encouraging to me, talking to me about what it takes to advance and get better. I will be bringing my camera to some upcoming ECU seminars and new locations soon.

Here's that video of the escape from side mount I referred to...


I have got to figure out a way to get more training into my life.

My fundraising matches at Acom Sports NY State Grapplng Championships #1

As promised, here are the matches I fougt in at the Acom Sports NY State GRappling championships.

#1


0 points

Captain Zorikh Eats a Cheeseburger

After all the training and cutting weight and then the competition, I felt I deserved a little comfort food:

Week 11: Final rehearsal and audition, Part 2

So we got the auditioners squared away, busy working with each other or regular cast members. Then Lou Nogueira of The Dojo, Wolcott, Ct, showed them a three-move routine, which they practiced with cast members, while I and the cast kept our collective eyes on them to decide who would take which open role...



The camera for this episode was held by Jeremy Salig, and the music is by Dr. Bronko Von Johnstein. The Sprawl fight clothes Lou and I are wearing was provided by the Sprawl Fight Shorts company

Week 11: Final rehearsal and audition, Part 1

I was able to steal a few minutes to put together another video. This is of the last rehearsal day, where we auditioned a few new cast members.



The music is a new composition by Dr. Bronko Von Johnstein, the guy who created the music in the trailer.

New Video: All About the Elbows

Here's a short scene I just edited together. It's got something to do with elbows.

NYC Submission Shootout Sept. 2009 part 1

Well, I went back to the NYC Submission shootout and competed again. I did about the same as last time, although I fought four matches instead of three. Here's the first one...



The rest of the day will be coming soon!

My participation in this event was sponsored by the Big Apple Comic-Con which explains the graphic at the beginning and end of the video, and the large green t-shirt that I am wearing.

Week 7 video Part 1

Here is some video from week 7. This was the week that Sam and his team of Martial Arts Madness fighters were competing at a mixed martial arts tournament. So with a smaller cast of attendees, and with Lou Nogueira leading the training, we learned a new sequence and continued working routines.



Stay tuned, because in the next video, we will finally learn a little bit about the cast members themselves.

Week #4 - Captain Zorikh Runs the Gauntlet

After three weeks of making everyone else do work, I let the cast have a crack at me...

Talking About Week #4

Captain Zorikh, Sammy Vergara, Lee Boria, and Willis Cruz Jr. talk about the project after the workshop on week #4.

NYC Submission Shootout - Matches #2 and #3

Here are the second and third matches that I fought at the NYC Submission Shootout. Though I did not win either one of them, I had fun adding music to the video...and competing as well ;)

Week #3 Video: Part 3 - Tag Team Match

At the end of the workshop in week #3, we lined up the attendees and held a tag-team match.

Video from Week #3

Camera by Phil Fiumano of NY Rock TV
Editing by Captain Zorikh

Grappling Instruction Video #2 - Passing the guard

Video from Submission Shootout

This match ended in a draw, because no submissions occurred. If this were a points-scored match, I would have lost.

I will have video of the other two matches up soon.

More video from Week #2

Here are some highlights from the week 2 audition/workshop

Video from week #2

Here are myself, Sammy Vergara, Edwin Echevarria, and Lee Boria talking about casting and other things regarding "The Redemption of Captain Zorikh."

Sammy Vergara inducted into Hall of Honors.

Sammy Vergara, the grappling trainer for "The Redemption of Captain Zorikh," has just been inducted into the Action Martial Art's Hall of Honors in 2009. He was also awarded for "Outstanding Achievements in the Martial Arts" and as an official ambassador for the martial arts.



I am insufferably pleased that this talented young man is working with this production. It gives me very high confidence that we will have an impressive levvel of grappling to display in the movie.

First workshop report

It was a very productive first day. After Yours Truly gave a short speech outlining the background and objectives of the project, Sammy Vergara let a brief training session in some basics of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. We then did some free rolling and had a tag-in royal round.

Attendees present were:

Samuel Vergara
Edwin Echevarria
Anthony Batchelor
Willis Cruz, Jr.
Kirkland Campbell
Lady MacDeath
Natasha Missick
Vallen Pilgrim
Eric Ramey
Yousif Sarya
Katrina Segers
G.A. West
Devin Zhang

It was a small but spirited group, having fought through the snow to get there. Afterwards I conferred with Sammy, Edwin, and Lady MacDeath regarding the attendees and casting. I am confident that I will be able to find a role for each of them in the tournament scene.

Interestingly, all the men had at least some form of wrestling or grappling background, be it BJJ, collegiate, or pro, but only one of the women had done grappling before, though all had done some form of martial arts or combat sport. We still need more women, though. If this film is to have a scene at a non-gender-divided grappling tournament, we need a more equitable ballance of males and females.