Sunday, July 28, 2013

I finally tested for Brown 2nd Class. I've got the certificate but I still need to complete the written exam. Wow... a lot of writing involved. I thought that the 3rd Class was lengthy at over a dozen pages. This will probably be closer to 20 pages. I imagine that the 1st Class will be even more so.

Then there's the Black Belt thesis. I finally decided on a topic and have begun a VERY ROUGH outline. Strength training for self-defense: Developing explosive power. I'm not sure if that's the "official title" but that's the subject. That's also going to be somewhere around 30 pages and I'm developing a very keen interest in self-publishing it on Amazon (digital only to start) and seeing if it sells at all.

I've been VERY BUSY over the last few months doing physical training. No... really I have. Since re-dedicating myself to weight training back in April I've dropped from a snug size 40 to a very loose size 38. I think I'm actually fitting into one or two pairs of size 36. I don't have any idea what my body weight is right now but "weight" is actually irrelevant. It's the BFI (and not the ridiculous Federal standard either) that matters.

After only three months I'm noticing the difference and it's slowly beginning to show. I should look fairly good by the end of the year. I'm probably going to look INCREDIBLE by next April.

1st Class Brown will have me developing the Spontaneous Kata along with an additional 6... SIX!... attack combinations.  I really need to devote more time to this stuff because my weak point right now is correctly assigning the techniques to the appropriate belt levels. This is REQUIRED to graduate to 1st Degree Black Belt and I am NOWHERE near ready. So... can I get what I need by getting up 30-minutes early on weekdays (provided I actually do something with that time)? I'm not sure that I can because 30-minutes doesn't really leave much of a window. So it may mean getting up an hour early.... which honestly is going to SUCK! But... a goal is something that yo go after. I either do it at night or I do it in the morning.

And one more thing... I need to quit watching television. Most of teh time I'm not really watching but I'll be setting in the living room and not realy doing any work. A few nights of the week I get roped into watching the various HBO productions that one of the roommates is into. (And it's become  obvious that she enjoys my joining her because her husband won't watch them with her.)

I'm looking at moving out and will probably end up in an apartment in Fife. It's the least expensive location around and I don't think that it will add that much time ot my commute. I hate the thought of spending the extra money every month ut honestly, if I was budgeting properly it wouldn't even be an issue.