Touchdown On Mars!

The Phoenix spacecraft has made a picture-perfect landing on Mars' northern polar region to begin a scientific mission of examining ice likely to be dug up by the lander's robotic arm. Yeah! I am a NASA geek through and through - I find rocket launches to be incredibly thrilling, and this lander's EDL (entry, descent, landing) sequence, while not as funky as the airbag deployment from the MER mission, provided just as much of an adrenaline rush. Seven minutes of terror! Human ingenuity and creativity, the desire to explore and soar beyond our ordinary existence - isn't that what ignites the passion that makes life worthwhile? I want to thank and congratulate all the engineers and rocket scientists who let our spirits ride on the back on their hard work to go places no man has ever gone, to see and touch and kiss the soil of another world - a little bit of sweet transcendence.

Meanwhile at CPL (Cannonball Propulsion Lab), I am putting my victims through the Seven Minutes of Terror swings workout. One day the nerds will inherit the Red Planet, and yours truly will be at the helm of Mission Control, launching kettlebells at Mach 1 and creating craters with impunity.

"S" Is For Sacred - Reloaded

I am hella tired. My eyes hurt.

I am writing a business plan - a strategic blueprint and financial road map that will guide prAxis Kettlebell Athletica, Inc. in its first months of operations. I want to create an environment that reflects my vision of athletic training, where I can have fun sharing what I love to do with others. But the fact that I will have creditors and substantial bills means I can't goof around with the bottom line. Because of the overwhelming support from my clients and friends and family and mentors and even the monkeys and bunny rabbits, prAxis is a project that is much larger than a personal undertaking. I am humbled by the enormity of the responsibility, and apprehensive of the amount of work that lies ahead ... I need to remind myself that my dharma is to serve, and my purpose, in this life, is to help others cultivate abundant health and vitality. I pledge to abide by the principles of Sacred Commerce. Yet another reason/excuse to go to Cafe Gratitude to get dessert. I am planning to pick up a copy of the owners' new book very soon. Can't go wrong with the people who've brought us the most delish raw chocolate cream pie - I Am Bliss!



Sunday, May 25, 2008

Snatches (12 kg)
(9 + 9 + 8 + 8 + 7 + 7 + 6 + 6 + 5 + 5
+ 5 + 5 + 4 + 4 + 3 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1) = 100 snatches

MP Ladders (8 kg + 2.5 lb. plate = 20.5 lb.)
5 x (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

TGU's (16 kg)
10 Xs, alternating right & left

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

2-Arm Swings (24 kg)
2 x 20, 2 x 18, 2 x 16, on the minute = 108 swings

Double Swings (two 12 kg's)
2 x 20, 2 x 18, 2 x 16, on the minute = 108 swings

Snatches (12 kg)
(15 + 15) = 30 snatches

Bottoms-Up Presses (8 kg)
5L, 5R

Cheat-Clean, Cheat-Press, Overhead Holds (16 kg)
10 Xs, alternating right & left

Russian Cossacks (8kg)
2 sets of 5 x (1L + 1R)

Double Windmills (12 kg above, 16 kg below)
8L, 8R

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

2-Arm Swings (24 kg)
4 x 18, 4 x 16, 4 x 14, on the minute = 192 swings

Snatches (12 kg)
(10 + 10) = 20 snatches

Snatches (8 kg)
(20 + 20 + 15 + 15 + 10 + 10 + 5 + 5) = 100 snatches

Clean & Jerks (12 kg)
5L, 5R, 4L, 4R, 3L, 3R, 2L, 2R, 1L, 1R

"S" Is For Sacred

So I filed to form an S Corporation.

Within the last few weeks, it has become increasingly clear to me that I am not thriving. I have several gigs that make for a pretty good living, but employment conditions and space constraints preclude me from teaching exactly the way I want - how, what, when. I also realize that I have the power to change that, and the time is now.

I am opening a kettlebell studio in San Francisco!

"Inc." has perpetual existence. Immortality, incorporated. (And I shall take forever to finish this post - please check back tomorrow.)

... Ah, tomorrow. "Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya, tomorrow! You're always a day a-way!" Here I am, six tomorrow's later, reprising my role from grade school of that little orphan girl, Annie, bursting into song with that ever ebullient optimism that there's always a tomorrow to finish this post, and contemplating on the irony that another draft post, as yet unpublished, is titled "Every Day Is Groundhog Day" - whatwith that timeless theme of Carpe Diem, it's patiently waiting to see the light of day. Ah, later ...

Catching Some ZzZzZzZzZ

Ain't got no time to sleep! But I just signed up for the Z Health R-Phase certification course in Fremont later this year. That means more studying and practicing on top of all the little and big things that I need to get done. One thing that I like about myself is that I don't agonize over decisions - I don't have an internal calculus when it comes to the question of "What's next?" When I first found out about the San Jose RKC, I was browsing the Dragon Door website - barely two months after I picked up my first kettlebell. Within minutes I had signed up for it. Impulsive? Hardly. Over the years I have become more and more trusting of my intuition. I simply let it guide me along the path that is revealing itself as I'm ready to take the next step. Life is very uncomplicated if you'd just go with the flow. I don't need to justify or rationalize anything. There is a sense of true freedom!

Oh, I am proud to announce that I broke a drum stick Monday night in taiko class. It snapped right into two on the final note of my solo ending. Those kettlebell muscles, you know.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

1-Arm Swings (16 kg)
12 x (10 + 10) on the minute = 240 swings

Double Swings (two 12 kg's)
4 x 20 on the minute = 80 swings

Double Swings & Snatches (two 8 kg's)
2 sets of 10 x (1 swing + 1 snatch), 3-minute rounds

Russian Cossacks (8kg)
3 sets of 5 x (1L + 1R)

Double Windmills (12 kg above, 16 kg below)
8L, 8R

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Double Swings (two 12 kg's)
4 x 18 on the minute = 72 swings

Clean & Jerks (12 kg)
3 x (5L, 5R)

Russian Cossacks (8kg)
3 sets of 5 x (1L + 1R)

On Death & Snatches

I have been hustling since April 15, when I emptied out my bank account to help fill state and federal government coffers. I don't bemoan paying taxes - at least the concept of it - if my hard-earned dollars would actually sustain legitimate government functions, such as enhancing infrastructure, national security, law and order, conservation, and sustainable agriculture, and developing our intellectual and cultural assets via support for the humanities, arts, and natural sciences. I also think it befits a compassionate and influential world power to devote substantial resources towards humanitarian causes across the globe.

But of course, that's just a preamble to my RANT -

1. There are too many !@#$% people on the planet.
2. Everybody is his or her own special interest group, the effects of which are as insidious as any social ill blamed on "big corporations" and George W. Bush.
3. Entrenched special interests are created by market distortions. Abolish rent control! (And I say this as a renter.)
4. A flat tax is a fair tax - and that means no deductions and credits for anything.
5. Subsidies = pork. Corn farmers have brought us high fructose corn syrup and a national epidemic of obesity. Now they are paid to grow corn for ethanol, another recipe for waste and global warming. Wherefore such stupidity? Well, the presidential election cycle begins in Iowa.
6. My health, my life is my responsibility. I don't smoke, drink or ingest junk food and I don't believe I have any right to your tax dollars for my health concerns. I don't have children because I can't afford to, and nobody should have to subsidize what I can't afford. And what I'm saying, not so subtly, is I shouldn't have to pay for yours either.
7. Some taxes are legitimate if they help to neutralize negative externalities. Gas taxes are okay by my book, as long as the money is used for greenhouse gas abatement or transportation-related improvements.
8. Make Form 1040 simple and keep income taxes low. Let me have the choice to consume more, or less, or not at all.
9. Send me that damn stimulus check already, so I can buy my next Dragon Door kettlebell - 20 kg!

We can't engineer a great society with a convoluted tax code. Parsimony is beautiful!

And while I was running on empty for a fortnight, I thought about life as a flow of energy. Money, material things as waves, particles - what does it matter? It's what you make of it. Paying taxes is a form of qigong. Circulation is infinitely better than stagnation. May abundance flow through me ... And many, many happy (tax) returns to you!

The 1040 Workout

This was completed over a few days around April 15 - withholding max effort to make up for insufficient withholding to the IRS :-) I'll have to pay a penalty, so I might as well spread out the pain. Total reps = 1040.

Snatches (12 kg)
10 x (8+4+8+4), 2-minute rounds = 240 snatches

1-Arm Swings (12 kg)
8 x (25 + 25+15+15), 4-minute rounds = 640 swings

MP Ladders (8 kg + 2.5 lb. plate = 20.5 lb.)
5 x (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

TGU's (12 kg + 2.5 lb. plate = 28.5 lb.)
8 Xs, alternating right & left
+ 1R, 1L with the 16 kg - first time!!! Success!!!