Book Review: Atlas Shrugged
Welp, it looks like it was the ultimate horror post after all. Behold the horrors of capitalism! (Or rather, lack thereof)
My good pal Josh Hanagarne was kind enough to host this piece for me. Nicknamed as the World’s Strongest Librarian, which I have no doubt he actually is, Josh is a Librarian, book fanatic and author, who can also twist horseshoes and deadlift more than you, myself and the the dude back there combined. If I’m not mistaken, he’s also the first person afflicted of Tourette’s Syndrome to actually cure himself.
In other words, if you don’t know about him, make sure you do.
Peace out!
Weekly Progress Report: 2011-10-30
Hola senoritas! Quick update this week, I’ve been busy.
Challenge #6: Straddle Press to Handstand
Today’s video features the progress on my Elbow Planche:
For the first time I feel secure and steady enough in my position to actually start counting down the time held on it. While it’s note completely straight for the total amount of time, it’s close enough, and refinements will happen over time. I’m very happy about where I am, compared to my beginnings on this balance. Read more
Parkour Training: Learning from the Roots
Some weeks ago, I mentioned I was attending a Parkour seminar. Here’s my review.
(Note: All pictures are property of ADD Quebec or SLA Coop.)
The formula was fairly simple: Friday evening and both days of the weekend, totalling around 16 hours of training. Each day included a physical training session with parkour-specific movements, followed by a longer stretch of technical learning and training.
More importantly, the seminar was held by by Chaû Belle, one of the founding members of the widely known group Yamakasi.
(Chaû is the guy giving a wink at the kid)
Weekly Progress Report: 2011-10-24
Muppets are cool. Admit it.
Challenge #6: Straddle Press to Handstand
I can now hold a Tuck Planche for 2 seconds!
Remaining time to reach target: 58 seconds. And this position is much more about strength than balance. When I can get about 10 seconds I’ll start testing movements with the legs in that position, to add variety to the training.
Weekly Progress Report: 2010-10-19
Hey look at this dubstep video! I went to see Skrillex last friday, it was pretty frickin’ sick.
Yes, this should have come out 2 days ago at the latest; I know you were salivating to get your weekly update. I had a lot of schoolwork that was quite the priority. Now that I’m a tiny bit more on top of things (not as much as I’d like, mind you), here’s your fix.
Challenge #6: The Straddle Press to Handstand
The Elbow Planche is coming along, one small improvement after the other.
I’ve also been practicing my kick-ups, and they’re definitely getting more precise and refined. Buuut I’m not a pro just yet.
Dragonboat: Of Lessons and Evolution
Last week, I wrote a post on Dragonboat, talking about my latest season and what I love about the sport.
This post follows it up. Over the span of time (3 years) I’ve been paddling, I learned many things. Also, some things I would see change or evolve.
Before that, Candy Eye! I highly recommend that you watch this through the end. (Those of you who know the sport may have already seen it… but you’ll watch it through anyway. I know I have!)
Awesome eh? OK, Now let’s get to business.
Lessons and Discoveries
Weekly Progress Report: 2011-10-10
Challenge #6: Straddle Press to Handstand
So like I mentioned last time, since I’ve succeeded on my Tiger Bend goal, I’m now moving forward to practicing my kick-ups.
When I get my Elbow Planche down, I will practice freestanding handstands. As it happens, I’m pretty sure that by then, it’ll turn out to be fairly easy. All hail progressions! But let’s not claim victory before it happens. Not mentioning that after that’s there will still be quite a bit of work to do.
Challenge #8: Iron Cross
Dragonboat: Win as a team, Lose as a team
Let’s kick this off with some candy eye. My team, Phoenix, is Boat #3. This is the 200m Final, Division B (A being the highest-ranked), for Quebec Cup, the Provincial Championship and last competition of the season.
Most of you know I’ve been partaking in the sport with my University’s team for a while. If you don’t, you might want to read this article I wrote a while ago, as a Guest Post on Adam’s site. At that time, I was still a young fool and speaking proudly of feeling trashed. The challenges mentioned remain, though, I just have a different approach to them now. More on that later.
This season has been great. Despite many challenges, despite the fact that we lost a third of our recruits and experienced crew members during the winter season (one of the difficulties of being a University team), and despite a couple of set-backs, we have performed very well. As a team, we have learned a lot, too.
This year, I’ve also had the chance to lead the team as Captain. It was an honor, and also a great deal of learning.
In any case, I’ve been in this sport for 3 years now. I shall share some thoughts with you.
What I Love
Above all: the Team. Of all the team sports I have tried in my life (I have tried quite a good number of them), I have never seen any other for which teamwork, and the team’s spirit, are as important as they are in Dragonboat.
If you don’t work together, you lose.
Weekly Progress Report: 2011-10-02
Progress! ’cause we like it.
Challenge #6: Straddle Press to Handstand
I have progressed in my Elbow Planche position. I am able to get it straighter, although it’s still wobbly and I can’t hold it for very long yet. Getting way closer to how I want it to look, though.
Gym Movement pioneer Frankie Faires gave me a tip about a week ago, which I’ve started trying out in the last couple of days. He hinted (and reminded me) that usually, the human body tends to respond better to movements than static positions. The problem with gymnastics holds is that they’re just that; holds. It is not to say that it’s true for everyone; testing needs to be made.
Weekly Progress Report: 2011-09-21
Making progress on the challenges has proven to be ah… challenge, in the last few weeks, as school has begun again and I needed to adjust to my new schedule, fitting in work, and yadda yadda. Moreover, the Dragonboat season was ending and much work and practice was done for the last competition, which occurred in the past weekend. Not one to completely fall for such petty changes, I have still have some progress to show and new elements I’ve been working on. As I mentioned in a previous post, I find that keeping my focus on no more than two or three challenges at one time will prove the most efficient to handle.
