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

[A Nordie]

RTE - The History Show by RTE on Apple Podcasts
Perhaps you should quit the barbell and investigate this beautiful game.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Hee-hee.

I discovered that game existed in middle school when randomly flipping through the dictionary and seeing my name there. So of course I looked, and lo and behold! Ye Grand Aulde Game itself. But then, this was the early 60's, so there was no internet to investigate much further and reference libraries were and probably still are pretty slim in the rural area I grew up in.

Flash forward some 35 years to Southern California where I was filing out of church after Mass when the late Msgr. Lenihan spoke to me and asked my name. When I told him, he was very enthused.

Ah, so ye're Irish then?

No Father, I'm actually German from way back on both sides of my family.

A pity that. But the game laddie. It's simply marvelous!

[Mark E. Hurling]

Back in the land of 75%.

sigh

I wanted to be more aggressive, but those squats woke me up. What was once a juggling act seems now more like a negotiation of what works well on any given day. The lower back was a little tight from 4 hours on the road Monday to St. Louis and back so I held off til today being ever so careful since I have Jujitsu to teach tonight.

OHP: 95 for 3 sets of 5.

Deadlifts: 215 for 3 sets of 5.

Hammer Curls: 115 for 3 sets of 5.

Stretched.

Session was 46 minutes burning 390 calories with an average HR of 117 bpm @ 76% of MHR and a peak of 390 bpm.

[Mark E. Hurling]

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B, the new guy didn't show up tonight. Hope he hasn't decided it wasn't worth while. He works at least 30 miles away, so maybe work got in the way.

But K showed, and I concentrated on putting the final polish on his techniques. He started out at around 85% and after two rounds of intensive coaching he got it to 100%. As I've mentioned, he was off a few months pleading no money as a poor grad student, but he came back better than he left. He told me he practiced from the instruction sheets I give all my students.

So I promoted him to Blue Belt. I did the whole 9 yards. Exchange of belts and I tied his in the knot of knowledge and gave it to him for preserving his knowledge and a permanent keepsake of his achievement. The first on the road to as far as he chooses to pursue this art. I'm very proud of him.

[Mark E. Hurling]

The negotiations with the lower back continue. So I spent most of my time on the SciFit with it's lower back support, did some cable crunches, and some longer intervals on the speed bag. Today's session was 35 minutes burning 239 calories with an average HR of 111 bpm @ 72% of MHR and a peak of 121 bpm.

[Mark E. Hurling]

As I alluded to in the Elderly sub-forum, yard work is nothing to sneeze at in terms of LISS. Except filling in ruts from an asshole neighbor who moved out and backed into our yard in his rental box truck dually, creating multiple patterns in the turf worthy of the Nazca Lines in South America. Jerk. Insurance companies are still dueling it out, and between unseasonably cold weather (snow tomorrow predicted!) and me being sick, this task got postponed for some several weeks.

It took 40 minutes with my trusty mattock, smiting the soil with blows worthy of a warrior dwarf of Middle Earth. I burned 425 calories with an average HR of 129 bpm @ 84% of MHR and a peak of 140 bpm. LISS my, ass. This was harder than lifting and with no rest between sets.

[Mark E. Hurling]

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Busy day today. I may have located some 4" round 8' fence posts to piece together a caber at Rural King and some 4" to 4" pipe connectors. But it got better. I talked to the park district's program director and got a tentative OK to use a decrepit softball field for practicing with the caber and other implements. Also I got the dates for the martial arts camp this Summer, July 9-13.

Besides that, I worked up a tentative list of techniques to teach at the self defense session for the LGBT teens in the area. The plan was to review the attacks with the now three blue belts to see if I had left out any kind of the more commonly encountered forms of aggression in schools these days. My memories of that period of time are clear, vivid, and highly unpleasant. But times and things move on, and I wanted their input.

But neither G or E showed tonight, so K and I went over the list in part and I asked him to give it some thought if anything needs to be added. I'm not so arrogant as to assume to know the environment to a fare thee well. K was having some trouble with footwork, but seems to have worked out circular wrist movements into counter-grabs very fast. Faster than anyone I have ever seen or taught so far. This is a key component of movements and counters in Mushin Ryu, and it was good to see that he is grasping the elements better. But then I've been explaining linear vs. circular attacks and counters and it seems to have germinated well so far.

The session burned 426 calories with an average HR of 99 bpm @ 64% of MHR and a peak of 121 bpm. Man am I beat.

[Mark E. Hurling]

One Arm DB Push Press: Sets of 3, 50-55-60.

High Pulls From 18" Blocks: Sets of 3, 145-155-165.

Cable Rotations: Sets of 5, 110-120-130.

Session ran 40 minutes burning 267 calories with an average HR of 118 bpm @ 77% of MHR and a peak of 132 bpm.

[Jennifer Williams]

It’s great that you’re teaching these kids self-defense techniques. Teaching someone to defend him/herself is one of the best gifts you can give to them.

When I was in law school, I reached out to a local gun range looking for lessons. They had a retired gentleman who offered to make himself available for free lessons to anyone interested. This man spent months meeting me every week to teach me how to shoot. He told me that his son had been accidentally shot and killed by one of his friends, so he made it his mission to teach people proper gun handling. He helped me get my CCW and everything. I’ll never forget him.

One of my biggest regrets is that I didn’t keep in touch with him. I don’t even recall how the lessons ended. At the time, I was working full-time and attending law school in the evenings full-time too. Then my grandfather (who was like a father to me) got diagnosed with brain cancer. It was a very rough time from there. In any event, you never forget that sort of generosity. Great work. I’m sure your students appreciate your efforts.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thank you JW for the gracious words and good wishes. I am retired as of 2016, and I worked my ass off during 2015 and 2016 to make the cut for promotion to black belt in the art I learned to teach so I could help others. My entire career in LE and security was about helping and protecting others, national security, and information. I can't put that mission down.