My test has come and gone: passed. My workload has finally been put into a managed state. My back has returned nearly enough to normal to resume a full array of everyday activities and training. My allergies have abated. April's impediments are falling by the wayside (except this crick in my neck I managed to get while washing my hair yesterday). For the past couple of days, my training has started to resume an increased pace, and I've noticed a reckless tendency to invent cunning and cruel ways to torture myself with it, feeding myself ever more the suffering, in manageable quantities, required to "become the lion," i.e. to develop my so-called bagua body.
I wonder if I will adapt to my new training. Yesterday I turned for quite a while, a few times to each side in Lion, until I felt spent from it. Before quitting, I endured six or seven minutes each of the Dragon and Phoenix postures on my dusty circle before popping another short bout in Lion and calling it quits. Add to that a small spattering of body-weight resistance exercises, and I thought I'd achieved something.
Today, I repeated yesterday's workout, turning few times in each direction in Lion but for longer each time before assuming the Dragon, skipping the Phoenix, and finishing with another short dose of the intense Lion position. This came after an extensive drive on body-weight exercises, most of which involved, like yesterday, climbing around in trees with just my arms (which I'm not good at) and doing chin-ups when I would reach a suitable branch. Well, that and continuing to fail at learning to do handstands. The main difference was that today I did a large amount of the bear walk, with my rear-end down low, around the yard, house, and at the karate school I teach at, probably totaling about an eighth of a mile by the time all was said and done. It made turning hard, which was probably good because I forced myself to endure. My neck is still preventing hard striking and forms, and so a quick review of those followed before heavy stretching. I will be sore tomorrow, I suspect.
I came up with what I think is a genius idea while walking around like an animal on all fours in the grass today: I should hook up a cart and tug around heavy crap like sod, dirt, garden tools, children, etc., all in the bear-walk position. My wife is so embarrassed that I want to do this that she refuses to discuss the matter with me. She doesn't even like the bear-walking in the yard. Apparently, the neighbors already think I'm weird....
Screw em. I'd rather be strong and weird than a puss and "normal." Besides, I bet the kids would get a kick out of a Jim-drawn-carriage ride around the yard... at least once or twice. I swear, though, if one decided to whip me like a horse, there would be hell to pay once I got my harness off and back on two legs.
I'm off to meditate and get some sleep.. finally.
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