Eggs And Legs

This morning, Adrienne and I went out a couple hours before dawn and rafted to an island in a nearby lake to check on the status of the Canada goose nests. For us, the first full moon after the equinox (a.k.a. Easter) is all about the egg harvest, as it has been in northern indigenous cultures around the world since forever. Before there were grocery stores, this was the end of the hunger hardships of winter, and that is why the ceremony of egg hunting after the white rabbit (full Moon) appears was always so important. In one of the traditional ceremonies that Adrienne and I host for our community, welcoming the return of the migrating birds, we feed waterfowl eggs to those who attend. And in years when we collect enough, we can have these wild eggs at home to eat all the way into December. The island we visited this morning provided a couple hundred eggs last year. Normally, we take only one or two eggs from a nest, but there we take them all, because a nearby golf course has been given a federal permit to dip the eggs in oil to ensure they don’t hatch. I don’t know how the conservation officers, who are biologists by trade, can justify putting the business interests of a golf course over the rights of the geese to co-exist with us… but they do. And so since these eggs would be going to waste, we steal in under cover of darkness and take them. This morning, Adrienne found the first egg of the season, and we left it so that next week, when we return, there will be an abundance

For anyone who has been following my videos, especially the harvest demonstrations of last summer and my recent nutrition project, you will have heard me describe the idealized locavore diet I envision. I don’t know whether I’ll ever fully realize my objective of subsisting completely off what can be culled from the nature of my region, but I will certainly continue trying. The way I see it, this diet is an important aspect of my overall project to bring myself further and further toward experiencing life as a complete human being. Because in my estimation, our industrial culture has stripped us of a lot of this experience, and has rendered many of us completely blind to the real world we inhabit. I look at this Easter event, and I see that people make all kinds of meaning around it, projecting all kinds of symbols out there, but ignore the obvious… that this is actually when human beings begin harvesting eggs. That is the response to nature we are missing

I feel similarly about the martial arts. They too are an aspect of this wider project for me. What are our human potentialities for movement? Watch what Sifu can do with his body, and it is immediately clear that the vast majority of us are missing a part of the experience and abilities we were born to enjoy. Our failure to cultivate movement that is fluid, economic, and as dynamic as need be in accurate response to our environment and other living beings is such a huge loss. A parallel scenario might be if a child was raised to adulthood with no language. Our genetic inheritance has been set to languish by the global culture, because many of the natural abilities we could cultivate simply do not have much purpose in the context of our current industries… outside of the sports industry, that is. And so it is there, and there alone, for the most part, where we find any cultural support for physical development. Meanwhile, most members of our species have settled for having limited mobility, and in my opinion the future generations will be ever more weaker because of it

So let’s continue to resist this trend. Let’s find out what our bodies are actually capable of and demonstrate this to the world. I love the fact that FMK is on YouTube, and that we a reality-project of sorts, showing not just the clean, finished product of hard work, but really the effort and creativity required to take us there. For the Online Todai of FMK, this really is our lifeline, the YouTube channel and the exhibitionism that can keep us motivated. Todai Lian and I have been doing a push-up challenge together the last couple weeks, as another way to enhance our engagement with the training. That challenge will continue for several more weeks, and anyone who wants to is welcome to join in. Next Monday, April 8^th, we will commence a second training challenge as well, this one focused on the legs. It is our goal to always have two such games going at any given time in the future, cycling in new ones every third week. After reviewing many of the leg-work videos produced by Sifu and the Chicago Todai, this is what I came up with for the daily routines in this coming challenge:

Monday: Bow; Weighted squats w/ one dumbbell (at least 20 reps); Weighted horse-stance squats w/ two dumbbells (at least 20 reps); Weighted lunges w/ two dumbbells (at least 10 reps per leg); Weighted calf raises from squat-sit position (at least 20 reps); Weighted horse-stance squats w/ one dumbbell; Horse-stance hold (at least 30 sec); Arrow-stance hold (at least 30 sec both sides); Cat-stance hold (at least 30 sec both sides); Cross-stance hold (at least 30 sec both sides); Horse-stance hold (at least 10 sec); Front kick hold to side kick hold (at least 10 sec per hold with each leg); 10 high front kicks each leg; 10 high side kicks each leg; Bow. This day’s routine is based on the video “FMK Leg Training For Zen Martial Arts – Jenny’s Second Formal Lesson”. Repetitions and hold times of all sets should be increased each week throughout the challenge

Tuesday: Bow; Regular jumping jacks (at least 200 reps); 20 front stretch kicks per leg; 20 side stretch kicks per leg; Squat to front kick (at least 30 reps); Run in place with speedball (approx 1 min); Tuck jump to silent landing (at least 10 reps); High stepping side kicks (at least 20 per leg); Tuck jump with 180 degree turn (at least 10 reps); High roundhouse kicks (at least 20 per leg); Tuck jump with 360 degree turn (at least 10 reps); Run in place with speedball (approx 1 min); Bow. Repetitions should be increased each week throughout the challenge

Wednesday: Bow; FMK-style jumping jacks (at least 100 reps); One-legged squats (alternating legs, at least 8 per leg, using assistance when needed); Curl and front kick (at least 20 reps); Press and side kick (at least 20 reps); Half split and squat (at least 20 reps); Front kick hold to side kick hold (at least 10 sec per hold with each leg); 20 ram muay style hip extensions; Cross stance to hook kick (at least 20 reps); Bow. Most of these exercises were featured individually in recent videos. Repetitions should be increased each week throughout the challenge

Thursday (same as Monday): Bow; Weighted squats w/ one dumbbell (at least 20 reps); Weighted horse-stance squats w/ two dumbbells (at least 20 reps); Weighted lunges w/ two dumbbells (at least 10 reps per leg); Weighted calf raises from squat-sit position (at least 20 reps); Weighted horse-stance squats w/ one dumbbell; Horse-stance hold (at least 30 sec); Arrow-stance hold (at least 30 sec both sides); Cat-stance hold (at least 30 sec both sides); Cross-stance hold (at least 30 sec both sides); Horse-stance hold (at least 10 sec); Front kick hold to side kick hold (at least 10 sec per hold with each leg); 10 high front kicks each leg; 10 high side kicks each leg; Bow. This day’s routine is based on the video “FMK Leg Training For Zen Martial Arts – Jenny’s Second Formal Lesson”. Repetitions and hold times of all sets should be increased each week throughout the challenge

Friday: Bow; 20 front stretch kicks per leg; 20 side stretch kicks per leg; Front kick hold (at least 10 sec per leg); Side kick hold (at least 10 sec per leg); 20 ram muay style hip extensions; Controlled front kicks (at least 20 per leg); Controlled side kicks (at least 20 per leg); 20 knee raises; High front kicks (at least 20 per leg); 20 ram muay style hip extensions; High roundhouse kicks (at least 20 per leg); High stepping side kicks (at least 20 per leg); Bow. This day’s routine is based on the video “FMK Leg Exercises For Zen Martial Arts”. Repetitions and hold times of all sets should be increased each week throughout the challenge

Saturday: Fifteen minute freestyle leg training session of spontaneous design that can be inspired by sets of the prior five days and/or other sources

Sunday: Recovery and/or go hiking

If anyone has any suggestions or ideas on possible improvements or additions to make to these sets, let me know. Todai Lian especially, please review what I’m proposing. I know you mentioned in email that jumping might not work at your house. Do you think you could work in the jump-heavy Tuesday outside, or should we just change that day altogether. Mind you, tuck jumps are going to be an important part of the ZMA curriculum you will likely be getting into this summer, but we don’t have to start with them now if there’s any problems on your end. Let me know

Signing off for now… saw my first turtle of the season at our pond yesterday, which means at least some of my snakes could be waking up. If so, it would be the earliest I’ve ever seen them rise. So I’m going to go check on them now. Hope everyone had an enjoyable evening