Geezer's Long March Toward the Elite Sneaking Up On the Finish Line

[Mark E. Hurling]

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Tonight started off with remedial work on two arm bar take down. Both of them have been having problems in execution of the techniques and it's because they don't have the foot work down. In Mushin Ryu, what you do with your feet when stepping positions your legs, hips, and the rest of your body for effective completion of the arm bar and take down. I think I may have them set along the right path for this. We went on to work on counters to wrist grabs from the rear with a counter into a sankyo wrist lock.

In between, we worked on what we would teach at the LGBTQ Rainbow Cafe gig. Both sets of parents gave the high sign to E and G helping, and the both of them have been talking up the course at their respective schools.

The park district has asked me and the Karate guy to teach a Summer camp martial arts program for a week. Two hours a day in the morning while the kids then get rotated into the pool and other activities throughout the day as a form of Summer day care for working parents. Know the concept well from when OD was a kid. DB and I let her pick her stuff to do during the Summer to give her a sense of decision making and autonomy early on. I talked to the program director before class began tonight to get filled in on some more details and she asked if some of my students would be helping. Both E and G jumped at it, so I'm going to propose they get paid for their efforts. They seem to enjoy it enough that they'd do it for free, but fair is fair.

I've been conferring with my teacher, Master Bellman, for a release form for the Rainbow Cafe gig since it's outside the scope of my employment at the park district where my liability is covered under their policy. I realized today that I will need to look into insurance too. Especially if I pursue a similar gig at the Women's Center.

The session tonight burned 284 calories with an average HR of 91 bpm @ 60% of MHR and a peak of 110 bpm.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 271.

Hip Belt Squats: 315 for 3 sets of 5. I momentarily forgot I was cycling back up from a couple of weeks of the sicks and loaded 405 where I left off. Then took the plates off. Probably a good thing.

Incline Press: 135 for 3 sets of 5.

Hammer Low Row 360, 5-4. I have always been stronger pulling in a horizontal plane than in the vertical, so I made too ambitious of a choice for openers. Two sets were all I could manage. So, time to back off for now and ramp up.

Session ran 45 minutes burning 375 calories with an average HR of 116 bpm @ 79% of MHR and a peak of 133 bpm.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 271.

Took a hike today in Giant City Park. It has a number of scenic trails, and I chose Stonefort. It's rated a moderately difficult trek which seems about right. As I drove down the windy road to the North entrance in Makanda, a flock of a dozen or so wild turkeys scampered across it looking for all the world like feathered velociraptors on the hunt. Clever girls.

Stonefort get's it's name from the dry stacked stones (60-100 lbs. each) that sequester the end of a bluff surrounded by forest. There are from 10 to 17 of these structures between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers down here, depending on your sources. It's believed the structures are religious in nature, but there's no clear idea just how the spaces so contained were used. The walls are typically 6 feet high and six feet wide. This bluff is 80 feet high from the parking lot, so the labor involved was nothing to sneeze at.

A family coming down as I was ascending warned me to take care, there were some muddy patches up there. Which made my new walking stick pretty handy. The trail up adjoins a beautiful stream.

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Then the trail continues it's ascent to the top where the rock wall cuts off the end of the bluff.

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It was a short hike but the ascents and descents amp things up a little. Took 33 minutes burning 253 calories with an average HR of 112 bpm @ 72% of MHR and a peak of 124 bpm.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 270.5.

Today was some odds and ends at higher intensity. Speed bag, rower, cable crunch, SciFit, stretching. I'm getting faster at the speed bag with better timing and practice. Session ran 31 minutes burning 299 calories with an average HR of 126 bpm @ 82% of MHR and a peak of 139 bpm.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 269.5.

Ramping back up. First work set at 90% of weight used before getting sick.

DB Push Press: R: 55-3, 60-3, 65-2. L: 55-3, 65-3, 65-3.

High Pulls From 18" Boxes: 165-3, 175-3, 180-3.

Cable Rotations: Sets of 5, 140-150-160.

Session ran 48 minutes burning 324 calories with an average HR pf 116 bpm @ 74% of MHR and a peak of 139 bpm.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 273.5.

Tuesday night with Da Boyz with scotch and cigars really did me in. One of Da Boyz brought in some pork butt he had BBQ'd and man was that pig good! I gorged on it and now have some work ahead of me to get rid of it expeditiously.

So today was some longer LISS at lower intensity with an upper body emphasis. SciFit and C2 rower arms only, medicine ball toss, heavy bag flurries, stretching. The session ran 37 minutes burning 23 calories with an average HR of 103 bpm @ 67% of MHR and a peak of 112 bpm. Mission accomplished.

This was a hedge against a no show for beginner's Jujitsu class tonight. At one point I had 7 people Wednesday night, including the blue belts. Which resulted in the blue belts missing out on some instruction. The cycles of growth and loss in this. Still learning myself.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Quick in and out today. A GXP running 15 minutes burning 149 calories with an average HR of 120 bpm @ 78% and a peak of 136 bpm.

[Mark E. Hurling]

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Jujitsu had G showing up letting me know that E had texted him that he would be in Mount Vernon tonight. So we worked on takedowns. Which was a little hard on my aging lumbars, but hey! Sacrifices for one's art. I interspersed it with some escapes from grabs to let my back rest and then finished off the evening teaching him the eye rake and finger flicks to the face and eyes.

The session burned 380 calories with an average HR of 101 bpm @ 66% of MHR.

Yesterday was all about building up the class. I spent all morning putting up fliers around Carbondale and learning that if E and G wanted to help with the summer camp, they would get paid. Minimum wage, but for teens, not too bad of a gig. G was enthused about the prospect of pay.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 270.

Working back from 1st work set at 90% weight prior to coming down with the plague. Which is still lingering a little. I had another coughing fit that grayed out my vision while on the winding road around Lake Murphysboro. Scary.

OHP: 120-5, 130-5, 135-3.

Deadlift: 250-5, 265-3, 280-5.

Hammer Curls: 140-5, 150-5, 155-5.

Stretched.

Session ran 67 minutes burning 424 calories with an average HR of 112 bpm @ 69% of MHR and a peak of 135 bpm.

[Meshuggah]

I thought you might like this, Mark. Caber Tossing: Why Hurling Trees Is the Most Delicate Strength Sport - BarBend