Sunday, February 3, 2013

The Challenge Continues




After reviewing my post from last week, I really have to wonder whether I premeditate my troubles in advance. It very well could be that I’m a masochist in denial. I was aware of the risks entailed in getting involved with my brother’s six-week ab challenge. It was no mystery. I knew I’d be stepping awkwardly into his commercial fitness world, somewhere I really don’t belong, filled with ‘athletes’ who flaunt bodies carefully-sculpted through carb-cycle starvation, steroids, even surgery. What I didn’t expect, seeing as how they all live at least part-time in the gym, is the huge discrepancy between the strength, stamina, and versatility of my abdominal muscles compared to theirs. Their resentment, when I crunch 200 sit-ups, while they struggle with 50 reps, would have been predictable, had I really understood ahead of time how illusory their physical appearances truly are. Maybe then I would have avoided this challenge altogether… though probably not. I tell myself that the reason for my involvement is to connect with my brother, to have a shared experience even while we’re thousands of miles apart. That’s at least partly true. Yet, there’s clearly some other dynamics as well, compelling me to continue my participation despite now being somewhat unwelcome. Maybe it’s ego, or stubborn pride, or the aforementioned masochism. I’m still hoping that, in the end, our differences will be bridged. And if not, at least I’ll have done my best




Outside of the ab challenge, my regular training continues unabated. My TKD kicks are definitely improving, little by little. At least some of the challenge in performing these kicks well is mental. I find that if I think myself light, they’re a bit easier. Also, I seem more able to perform the difficult kicks when I have a tree trunk in front of me. Even if I’m not actually making contact, something about the presence of a target helps me break through the mental wall, and the kick just happens




5 comments:

  1. Keep up the good work, you doing good out there!

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  2. Your abs are really strong. The fact that they struggled to do 50 reps tells that most bodybuilders are not strong. They might have sculpted body but the way your body look has nothing to do with your health and fitness. If you feel like you want to continue with this challenge, go ahead. Hopefully you can connect with your brother one day. Keep up the good work.

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  3. Maybe your presence in the bodybuilding world will wake some of these people up & promote them to train in healthier ways beyond being so overly focused on appearance alone. I'm glad to hear that your kicks are improving. The flying side kick photo looks pretty cool, just try to get that rear leg higher up & your good.

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    1. Yeah appearance means nothing if the object is not functional. I love the picture myself. Speaking of kicking, it has been a long time since I perform kicks from Taekwondo. I hope to get the CLF form perfect before I move on to the TKD form as soon as possible.

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  4. I clipped this picture from a frame of one of my practice videos this week. It surprised me a little to see how much air I was getting, because this wasn't a running jump

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