Rings One Update and miscellaneous training.

I just noticed my last formal training log entry for the Rings One program was in February.  It's not that I've given up on ring training or exercise - it's just that there's been a lot going on - lifestyle changes, injuries, illnesses, etc.

I really don't know how my shoulder was injured this time.  Seemingly all of a sudden, pushups were painful to do for that shoulder.  I think I made it worse by trying to do Dive Bombers on my "pro height" P-Bars (parallettes).  From late summer to fall, I gradually restored stability to that shoulder and reduced pain by ditching parallette training in favor of rings, Eric Wong's Hip Control program, and practicing inverted pushups on the floor - that's right, inverted pushups were painless for some reason.

I went through all 12 weeks of the Hip Control program.  I did notice a reduction in hip pain or pain referred to the hips, as well as some improvement in hip flexor strength and hamstring flexibility.  The Hip Control workouts took enough of a toll on my hip flexors that they were too sore to allow me to practice the L-Sit.   For the Above the Rings workout, I've been substituting Can Openers (a preparatory exercise for the Front Lever) for L-Sit practice, inverted pushups on the floor for the ring version, and eliminating pushups altogether.   Maybe after I work up to ring dips in the 10-12 rep range, and progress in the inverted pushup to being able do them with feet elevated, I can try horizontal (normal) pushups again.

The one bit of Rings One that I'm following fairly close "to the letter" is the Phase 1, Level B, Below Rings workout.  Progress has been steady there, with max chinups at 11, inverted rows at 8, and inverted tuck roll chinups at 7.  Today I tried two movements from Phase 2:  inverted pike roll chinup and another new movement (whose name I forget) that starts from German Hang and rolls into a pike roll chinup.  I might be misunderstanding something about Phase 2, because the 2nd movement appears to include the entirety of the first movement, with the German Hang tacked on at the beginning.

My conclusion from today's assessment of the Phase 2 moves is, not surprisingly, that I should continue working at the Phase 1 level.  I need to build up to good volume on the Inverted Tuck Roll Chinup, because I'll need to keep improving my grip strength-endurance and my core strength before I can be more productive in the Inverted Pike Roll Chinup, which places much more demand on the abs.  I will add the basic version of the Skin The Cat (taught in Phase 2, Level A) to my routine, really focusing on straightening the legs as much as possible when lowering into the German Hang, then trying to keep them straight when pulling out of the German Hang back into Inverted Hang.  I can feel my glutes and hamstrings working harder when I do this - perhaps strengthening them this way will result in a better pike position.

I suffered  a calf injury a couple of weeks ago when I was accidentally kicked there.  It's been preventing me from getting into position for an inverted pushup.  This week though, after some cold compress treatment and taking an NSAID pain reliever, it's finally starting to loosen up just a bit, and at least allow me to walk without a limp.

All this focus on upper body strength is unlikely to improve my 6H skills, but I have to do whatever it takes to keep my shoulders stable - just leaving them in a state where they can dislocate easily is not desirable when I train regularly with partner in grappling and other martial arts stuff.

I'll probably work this into my routine as well:  https://gmb.io/hip-pain/

Today's Music Discoveries

https://www.npr.org/2017/11/08/562585856/songs-we-love-poli-a-and-stargaze-how-is-this-happening

Johnny Frigo - Polka Dots & Moonbeams

https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-story-of-goth-in-33-songs/

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/11/17/arts/music/ecm-catalog-streaming-guide.html?referer=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com

Apparently the only video footage of John Coltrane and his quartet playing A Love Supreme live:
https://vimeo.com/89837165?ref=fb-share&1

Mojave 3 - To Whom Should I Write

https://www.npr.org/event/music/566905758/moses-sumney-tiny-desk-concert

Octatrack Gain Staging advice/discussion

https://www.elektronauts.com/t/internal-gain-stage-recommendations/15149/7?u=open_mike

Three Internal Harmonies (of the Six Harmonies of "internal" martial arts and movement )

Copied from a post by Mike Sigman:

The ancient Chinese postulated the existence of "qi" to explain the type of phenomena in our example. Using "qi" like this involves "intent" aka "yi". So the Three Internal Harmonies say essentially that the "desire of the subconscious" (Xin) triggers the conscious mind (yi), the conscious mind then sends the qi to where it is needed for this physical action, and once the qi is in place it precedes the force (li or jin) that can be felt when someone like Paolo pushes. They said it like this:
Xin - Yi, Yi - Qi, Qi - Li

That's the Three Relationships aka the Three Internal Harmonies.

Today's Musical Discoveries

Miles Davis - Fall

Bobby Timmons - Tenaj

Koji Kondo: The Man Who Composed Your Childhood - Actually, a short documentary on Koji Kondo

Allan Holdsworth - in concert (1997)

R.L. Burnside: See My Jumper Hanging On the Line (1978)

Civic Progress - Human Rating

Eddie Harris & Les McCann - Compared To What

Red House Painters - All Mixed Up

Awesome moon lute solo

Donny McCaslin Group & Dave Douglas - JazzBaltica 2008

Zhang Xue Xin qigong video - exercise for functional qi

Notes by Mike Sigman:

The thing about the dantian and reverse breathing is that those two things pull and manipulate the elastic tissues of the body. The pulling and manipulating and squeezing and 'beating and drumming' (in some qigongs) are meant to develop the functional qi.

Just to use a quick and very simple example (from which more complicated motions/breath can be extrapolated) I'll take two small excerpts from a video of Zhang Xue Xin when he was doing the Hun Yuan Qigong that Feng Zhiqiang devised. In these two very simple movements, Zhang is first tracing the contractile/Yin route on the inner sides of the limbs during his inhale and "pulling in" ... and then he is pushing along the outer parts of the limbs for the exhale and mild contraction along that extensor pathway.

So, what he is doing is working the tissues along those channels with the inhale and exhale and he may be visualizing a flow of qi along those routes in the direction of his hands. It's a sort of double-duty thing: a practical part and a mind part.

Remember that if you bend and pull your limbs inward (Close), the pulling parts are along the inner and undersides of limbs; when you extend and push your limbs outward, the extensor action (or Opening) is along the upper and outer surfaces of the limbs. In other words, the "qi flow" is inward pulling on the insides of the limbs with the inhale and the qi flow is outward along the outsides of the limbs as they are straightened (even if you're not moving the limb in the qigong).

The video:

https://vimeo.com/237311117

Complete Guide to SunVox

SunVox is a unique modular synth app for IOS, Android and other platforms.  It is noted for its powerful feature set and light demand on the CPU, but the user interface is, uh, unique and kind of scary for some people.

Here is an online guide, which appears to be under ongoing development but already has plenty of useful info:
https://sunvox-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/index.html

SunVox was recently updated to support AUv3.  I discovered that if I loaded SunVox as an AUv3 plugin in AUM, any project I created and saved would not appear if I later opened SunVox as a standalone app.  I also found that any projects saved in SunVox as a standalone app do not appear in SunVox after I load it as an AUv3 plugin in AUM.  I inquired about this and got this response from the developer:

It's a "feature" of iOS In the AU plugin, please use 

Export/Import -> System export/import: 
system export to transfer file from AU to standalone; 
system import to transfer file from standalone to AU.

Couple of good new GMB articles

Inverted Leg Raise Tutorial: https://gmb.io/inverted-leg-raise/

The Inverted Leg Raise is one of the skills that can be learned and practiced, in order to develop strength and balance that can lead to more difficult inversion skills such as the hand stand

10 Fun coordination drills:  https://gmb.io/coordination/

Good coordination can make learning more complex movements easier.

Today's Musical Discoveries

Mojave 3 - Love Songs On The Radio

This Kind Of Punishment - A Beard Of Bees (full album)

Hüsker Dü - Live From London 1985 DVD

Fantasia Cromatica by J. S. Bach for Viola

Alison's Halo ‎– Calendar

The Korgis - Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime HD

The Jesus And Mary Chain - April Skies (Official Video)

The The - This Is The Day (HD 1080p)

Prefab Sprout - Goodbye Lucille # 1

Aztec Camera - Oblivious (Pebble Mill at One) 1983

Art Blakey & Lee Morgan - 1959 - Paris Jam Session - 02 Bouncing With Bud

Daily Shoulder Mobility Routine

Good article by GMB Head Coach Ryan Hurst:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-take-the-weight-of-the-world-off-your-shoulders-moves-for-shoulder-mobility/

Today's Music Discoveries - Allan Holdsworth/Geri Allen edition

The great Allan Holdsworth passed away very recently.  RIP.  He was one of my favorite electric guitarists.  He was known for his fluid, virtuosic solos.  I connected the most with his compositions, which showcased his idiosyncratic harmonic approach.

This page will be updated as I come across more Holdsworth and Geri Allen stuff.

UK - Mental Medication

Allan Holdsworth - Bozzio - Levin - Mastelotto in Japan 2008 Set 1 -HoBoLeMa First Show

Allan Holdsworth and Gordon beck / Golden Lakes

U.K. - Thirty Years - Boston (1978) HQ

Allan Holdsworth Quartet - Deutsches Jazz Festival 1986 Concert

Soft Machine (with Allan Holdsworth) - Bundles (Full Suite) [Jazz-Rock - Canterbury Scene] (1974)

Gong - Gazeuse! [Full Album HD]

The great Geri Allen also passed away.  RIP

Geri Allen - Soul Eyes

Geri Allen - Lush Life

Holdin' Court(G.Allen),Geri Allen 'The Life Of A Song'

Integral Strength: Week 2

I began training under the Integral Strength program again and just completed Week 2.  My previous Integral Strength training post is here.

I might not make it all the way to Week 8 in this time around either, but I think that's ok.  I'm coming off of bronchitis.  On top of that, the heat index has been high enough to make me reluctant to test the readiness of my lungs for my typical bike commute rides, with quite a bit of it with motor vehicle traffic and the fumes associated with it.

Integral Strength is the right program for me at this time - to revisit my strength fundamentals, and rebuild my conditioning without the exposure to car/truck fumes or high heat index outdoors.  Looking back at that April 2016 post, I'm weaker in the Shrimp Squat, stronger in the Chinups, and weaker in the Tuck Sit. stronger in the Inverted Press, and about the same strength level in the other exercises.  If I stick with this program until Week 6, I will likely exceed my Week 6 performance from last year.

For my active recovery days, I practice my 4 selected exercises from Focused Flexibility.  I changed my Shoulder Position exercises to Lounge Chair and Shoulder Internal Rotation, as these two address positions that are tighter for me than the previously selected exercises.  For the Longsitting Position exercises, I will stick with the Hamstring Variations and Longsitting.  The updated program seems to have omitted the variation of the hamstring stretch in which the non-working leg and foot are folded, so that you are sitting on your foot.  I like that variation so I'll keep it in my repertoire, though I'll try the variation with the non-working foot up on the toes.  As for the Longsitting, I will try using the strap that came with my yoga mat as a prop.  There is a variation in which one can pull on a chair to assist in pulling the chest forward - I'd just substitute the strap for the chair.

Focusing more on Focused Flexibility

I've resumed training with GMB's Integral Strength program, which I may write about more in another post.  Unlike other GMB programs, there is no cool-down routine, and no specific activity specified on the active recovery days (the days one does not practice the Integral Strength exercises).  I believe Integral Strength does suggest a number of possibly active recovery activities, including Focused Flexibility.  Thus I've decided to practice Focused Flexibility on those in-between days, and see how well it works for addressing a couple of longstanding issues - tightness in the shoulders when attempting to reach overhead, and tightness in the hamstrings.  The program recommends choosing two positions of need, then choosing two exercises for each position.  Here are my selections with some comments from today's session:

Position: Shoulder Combined Motions

Posterior Shoulder Opener
May try bending the elbow next time.

Prone Scaption Rotation
May try the bent elbow version.

Position: Long Sitting

Hamstring Variations
Chair version was uncomfortable.  Seated on the mat/floor with one leg bent was better.  I may work from that position to start next time.

Longsitting Stretch
Tried one towel folded up to help position the hips.  I'll try 2 folded towels next time.


I'll review the video tutorials for all 4 exercises.

7 Essential Tools You Need To Create Music On iOS

This kind of stuff tends to get obsolete fast, but here's a good list for this year at least.

http://www.synthanatomy.com/2017/07/7-essential-tools-you-need-to-create-music-on-ios.html

Today's Musical Discoveries

Autechre - Rsdio. HQ

Autechre - Eggshell. HQ

Klaus Schulze & Pete Namlook - Three Pipers At The Gates Of Dawn

Jerry Bergonzi - Inner Urge (Joe Henderson)

Arto Lindsay - Titled - Heineken Concerts 98

Wayne Shorter - House Of Jade

Stupid Jin Tricks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozIQpOqv9ms

GMB Warmup Routine

Just about all the GMB programs (Rings 1, Parallettes 1, Elements, etc.) have warm-up routines - each specific to the program.

This is the personal warmup routine of Jarlo at GMB.  It appears to be suitable for warming up for any activity, rather than for a specific fitness program.

https://gmb.io/warm-up/

Muscle-up tutorial by Danny Kavadlo

https://pccblog.dragondoor.com/lets-get-high-how-to-do-a-muscle-up/?inf_contact_key=57a1501d550b6c1b0b47fc8fc7745ed945f6e20b12abc11782541858b43ea392

Puts a smile on my face

Gimmme a hugg! @timthetoothninja a cat in a hat for ya... 😹📸 #selfiecat #gopro - Don't forget to tag #yoredoggy on your cat and/or dog photos for a chance to WIN a GoPro 3-Way Handle! Courtesy of @besomedoggy 👈

A post shared by Manny The Selfie Cat (@yoremahm) on Jan 20, 2016 at 8:32am PST

#gopro#skateboardcat 😼 @gopro @animals.co

A post shared by Manny The Selfie Cat (@yoremahm) on Aug 7, 2015 at 3:38pm PDT

Nice little Korg Gadget tutorial

Nice tutorial on making a song by layering chords, bass, melody, and drums.

Today's Training

This was not a pure Rings One workout.  It’s more of a preparatory workout for training on the pullup bars and parallel bars outdoors, inspired quite a bit by Al Kavadlo's book Raising The Bar.  The front lever is actually part of Rings Two, not Rings One, but after finding I could do the tuck version without any issues on the pullup bar and the rings, I decided to work on the progression.  Maybe I got the ab strength for the tuck front lever from training for the L-Sit, plus other training on the rings and P-Barz.

After a couple of years of training and struggling with the L-Sit progression, I didn’t expect to be able to do a hanging straight leg raise up to waist height.  Maybe it’s just easier to do this than an L-Sit.  I’ll practice this movement until I can get my feet to touch the bar.  Right now I can raise my feet to just above waist height.

Skin The Cat - 6 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid. Kept the rings parallel for a little extra protection for the vulnerable shoulder.

Tuck Front Lever Row - 7 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid.

Chin-Ups - 6 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid.

Hanging Leg Raise- 7 reps Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

This is pretty much the pulling routine I will practice on the outdoor equipment - the Tuck Front Lever Row on parallel bars and the rest on pullup bars.  The Skin The Cat will work the abs a bit more on the bar compared to the rings, because it pretty much includes a hanging knee raise.  I will start the routine with Back Lever progression practice.  I can hold the beginner’s Tuck Back Lever on the rings - we’ll see how long I can hold it on the bar.  I’ll probably start working on moving the knees back a bit, to straighten the back a bit more.

Today's Musical Discoveries

アリス & 山口百恵 - 君の瞳は10000ボルト

何故に二人はここに　　Kとブルンネン

Endless Bob Brown - Never Again

http://www.dummymag.com/lists/11-best-japanese-ambient-pop-tracks-of-the-80s-according-to-visible-cloaks

The Chameleons - Swamp Thing - 1986

The Art of Listening - Music Documentary (2017)

Koka’s Violin No. 1 — Valhǫllfele

Max Cooper's Soothing, Ambient 'Myth' Visualizes The Mysteries Of The Universe

Erkin Koray - Türkü (Elektronik Türküler LP) (1974)

Ryuichi Sakamoto - Walker (Official Audio)

Zhan zhuang update

I set my timer to 17 minutes yesterday.  My body still trembles involuntarily towards the end but my right shoulder stayed much more relaxed than usual throughout the practice, except when I thought of my hand position - then it started to tense a bit until I used ground and gravity jin to relax it again.

My left shoulder got sore here and there, because I'd been messing around with the elbow lever on a dining table and a foot stool, and putting a bit too much pressure on it.  I don't think I did any real damage to it, however.

My zhan zhuang progress

Mike Sigman's post about seeing progress in people after just 3 months of consistent zhan zhuang ("standing like a post") practice - didn't matter how they actually stood -  inspired me to try practicing it more consistently.  His thoughts on zhan zhuang can be found here.

I am most familiar with the "tree hugger" version of zhan zhuang.  It was introduced to me as "standing meditation".  My biggest problem with this version is I'd never been able to get my shoulders to relax.  I could never make it to 10 minutes of standing without my shoulders getting sore. despite the instruction to "relax the shoulders".  I must be one of those people who are chronically unaware of just how much excess tension I carry in my shoulders.  Zhan zhuang practice mercilessly reveals this tension.  No matter how many times somebody tells me to relax the shoulders, I just couldn't make the tension leave my shoulders.  Saying out loud "Relax, dammit!" doesn't work either.

I finally started making progress after reading the Sigman article.  He says to bring Up jin (force vector) to the top of the head.  That does help.  I found what helps even more is to bring the Up jin to my hands too.  When my shoulders start aching from unwanted, excessive tension, the Up jin turns off the tension either completely, or reduces it considerably.  I also play with Down jin on the hands but it doesn't seem to be as essential.  In any case, telling somebody "Relax your shoulders!" is useless.  The instruction to "think about nothing" or "focus your thoughts on your breath" is not not much better.  it's better to show that person what Up jin is, and how to use it.  Then the practitioner can "meditate" on using jin and maintaining a decent posture - just those two things are enough to occupy one's attention and prevent boredom.

My new personal record in zhan zhuang is 15 minutes.  During that particular session, an uncontrollable trembling took over my body towards the end.  From what I can glean off the Internet, this is normal for those new to regular zhan zhuang practice.

So it looks like zhan zhuang is working for one of my goals, which is to eliminate excessive tension in the shoulders and anywhere else in the upper body, while practicing martial arts.

BMI and Bodyfat numbers from 2014

Just for fun, my measurements from a 2014 health fair at work.

BMI: 22.8 ("Ideal")

Body Fat %: 24.1 (Way over the "healthy" range of 8-12%, in the "overweight" range)

Not convinced BMI is all that useful as it does not differentiate between muscle mass and fat mass.  I believe these measurements were taken with a device that you grip.

Looking back at my 2014 blog entries, it doesn't look like I was pursuing a consistent exercise program.  I forgot what I was doing for exercise back then.  I didn't have my parallettes yet, and I had not yet learned how to ride a bicycle.

Somebody's Camino De Santiago Vlog

Day 5 Walking the Camino De Santiago - #Vlog 7 - Pamplona to Puente La Reina

Day 7 Walking The Camino De Santiago - #Vlog 9 - Puente La Reina to Ayegi

Day 9 Walking the Camino De Santiago - Los Arcos to Viana

Day 10

Day 11 Walking The Camino De Santiago - Navarette to Najera

Day 12

Day 14 On The Camino De Santiago - Resting in Grañón

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezz97N-TJQE

Day 17

Day 19 Walking The Camino De Santiago - Castrojeriz to Poblacion

Day 21 Walking The Camino De Santiago - Carrión de los Condes to Moratinos

Day 22 Walking The Camino De Santiago - Moratinos to Bercianos de Real Camino

Camino De Santiago Day 24 Visiting Leon

Camino De Santiago Day 25 Leon to Hospital De Orbigo

Day 28 - Walking the Camino De Santiago - Foncebadon to Ponferrada

Day 30 Walking The Camino De Santiago - Villafranca del Bierzo to O'Cebreiro

Day 31 Walking The Camino De Santiago - O'Cebreiro To Triacastela

Day 32 Walking The Camino De Santiago - Triacastela To Sarria

Day 33 Walking The Camino De Santiago - Sarria to Portomarin

Day 37 Last Day Of Camino Arriving In Santiago - O Pedrouzo to Santiago De Compostella
Must visit albergues

Granon
Berciano Albergue de Santa Clara
Albergue Verde
Jesus Jato - Ave Fenix Albergue in Villafranca del Bierzo

Where to get credencial (Camino passport) in Sarria:
 The church of Santa Mariña, Rua de Maior, Sarria (Schedules: from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. (Except mondays they are only open from 7 to 8 p.m.)

The monastery of the Magdalena, Avenida de la Merced, 60 (From 10 am to 1 pm, and from 4 pm to 7 pm ) 
 
The municipal albergue run by the Xunta de Galicia at Calle Major 79


Cafe Matias Italian?

Back to P1 today

P1, Phase 1, Level B, Sequence 1 

Plank Push-Ups - 3 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging.

Plank Jump to Dip - 6 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging.  This is probably the more accurate Ease score, as I’m struggling to tuck properly after the Dip, so that my feet don’t hit the floor.  What happens too often is I end up walking my feet back a bit before I can lift my legs again.

Battle Rams - 8 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid.

Tuck Hold - 14 sec. Quality: Rough. Ease: Solid.

Mt. Climber Holds - 8 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Today's Musical Discoveries

The Wild Swans ~ The Worst Year of My Life

Tigran Hamasyan - Pagan (Armenian traditional song, lullaby)

Riverside - Waterfall (Video)

Riverside - Cinnamon Eyes (Video)

Tuxedomoon - In a Manner of Speaking

M. Geddes Gengras - 03.06.15

Larry Coryell - Sex I

Cassegrain & Tin Man - High And Low [KILLEKILL 015]

Rings One, Phase 1, Level B, Week 4, Day 5

Inverted Row (Tuck) - 7 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid. 

Inverted Tuck Roll Chin-Ups - 6 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid. Abs a bit extra sore from Aikido rolling practice but I was still able to do the exercise.

Chin-Ups - 7 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid.

Hanging N-Holds - 18 sec. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Tried a new exercise called the Controlled Hurdler, which promises to improve hip mobility, including hamstring length. Always had tight hammies. I'm pretty close to having the necessary hamstring flexibility to do an L-Sit but not quite there. Let's see how this goes:
http://www.precisionmovement.coach/front-splits-mobility-technique/

Finished w/ a couple of sets of pistol squats. I'm now working in the 6-rep range.

Rings One, Phase 1, Level B, Week 4, Day 3

Dips - 9 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Assisted Tuck to Tuck Shoulder Stand - 3 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging.  Can swing back to Tuck Hold without walking the feet. 

Inverted Push-Ups - 7 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging.  No shoulder irritation!

Push-Ups - 5 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging.  

Jump To Dips - 4 reps. Quality: Less Rough. Ease: Solid.  Getting better at jumping to the bottom part of the dip.

L-Sit Prep: Straight Leg to N-Hold - 5 Reps.  Quality: Smooth. Ease: Challenging.

Musical Discoveries: Al Jarreau (RIP)

Casino Lights Montreux 1981 - Who's right Who's wrong

Casino Lights Montreux 1981 - Precious Love

Al Jarreau - Roof Garden (Official Video)

Al Jarreau ~Trouble In Paradise (1983)

Al Jarreau - Black And Blues

Jarreau · Brenda Russell Two Eyes

Doky Brothers - How can I help you say goodbye

Rings One, Phase 1, Level B, Week 3, Day 5

Dips - 9 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Assisted Tuck to Tuck Shoulder Stand - 3 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging.  Still cannot hold the Tuck Shoulder Stand without one foot on the floor but I'm getting better at swinging out of that position back into the Tuck Hold with minimal "walking" of the feet.

Inverted Push-Ups - 6 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging.  Can finally lower my shoulders to the level of the rings, when the bottom of the ring is about half a foot about the floor.

Push-Ups - 4 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging.  This time done with straight body - was using hollow body as it was easier on the shoulder.  Reps are down because I had less left in the tank after the greater effort on the previous exercises.

Jump To Dips - 4 reps. Quality: Less Rough. Ease: Solid.  Getting better at jumping to the bottom part of the dip.

L-Sit Prep: Straight Leg to N-Hold - 4 Reps.  Quality: Smooth. Ease: Challenging. 

Rings One, Phase 1, Level B, Week 3, Day 3

Inverted Row (Tuck) - 8 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid.  

Inverted Tuck Roll Chin-Ups - 6 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Chin-Ups - 7 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid.

Hanging Straight-Leg (not L-Sit) Holds - 22 sec.. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Today's Musical Discoveries

Ahmed Abdul-Malik - El Haris (1958)

Avminnast by Nils Okland

https://hadoken.bandcamp.com/

Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Loving You

https://mattmitchell-timberne.bandcamp.com/album/f-rage

https://legowelt.bandcamp.com/album/a-vampire-goes-west

Soap Kills ~~ Tango

Rings One, Phase 1, Level B, Week 2, Day 5

Inverted Row (Tuck) - 8 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Solid.  Still figuring out the optimal balance point.  I prefer a quality over forced-reps approach, but I really didn't feel like I was forcing those 7th and 8th reps.

Inverted Tuck Roll Chin-Ups - 6 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Chin-Ups - 7 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid.

Hanging Straight-Leg (not L-Sit) Holds - 20 sec.. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Today's Musical Discoveries

https://sarahdavachi.bandcamp.com/album/vergers

https://soundcloud.com/richomeara/song-of-the-birds-by-pablo-casals

Melt-Banana - Free The Bee

Art Ensemble of Chicago - Theme De Yoyo (1970) HQ

Hear Debussy Play Debussy: A Vintage Recording from 1913
Nice article, not only for the recording but also background info on how the recording was made (Debussy playing a "reproducing piano").

Alim Qasimov & Fargana Qasimova (Azerbaijan) MORGENLAND CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Iron Maiden - 2 Minutes To Midnight (Official Video)

Julian Lage - "Nocturne" (Live In Los Angeles)

Aphrodite's Child - Aegian Sea (video)

The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat (1968) [Full Album]

Some fun 6H stuff in this Aikido documentary

Some fun 6H stuff in this documentary, in which a karateka and former K-1 competitor investigates Aikido:

Aikido, The Samurai Spirit

Points of interest for 6H:

12:40 - Ryuichi Omori of Shodokan Aikido demonstrates grounding a push through one finger.  Unfortunately, he doesn't explain what he's doing.  This is followed by computer analysis of Omori's movement by a scientist, followed by Hideo Takaoka attempting to explain some stuff, but neither scientist makes the connection to 6H principles.

Next is Tsuneo Ando, a shihan at Yoshinkan Aikido HQ, reveals some 6H principles in Aikido:

29:00 Mentions the tandem as a source of power

29:31 Explains the power is connected to the ground, through the legs.

31:40 Explanation of a "sticky hand" principle - why the uke (attacker) cannot let go of the wrist of tori (the defender).

Rings One, Phase 1, Level B, Week 2, Day 3

Dips - 7 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Assisted Tuck to Tuck Shoulder Stand - 3 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging.  Set the rings about a foot high, so a bit higher.  This allowed me to swing my feet over the floor, for the parts of the movement that do not require the assistance.

Inverted Push-Ups - 7 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging

Push-Ups - 7 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging. 

Jump To Dips - 4 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Solid.  Really focused this time on quickly pulling the rings to my hips, so that I'm in the bottom position of a dip after a jump.  Tough to coordinate this with the jump, while also keeping the elbows back.

L-Sit Prep: Bent Leg to Straight Leg - 6 Reps.  Quality: Rough. Ease: Solid.  I found Aleks Salkin's L-Hold Tutorial, which takes a different approach to training for the L-Sit than what I've tried in the past.   His idea is to alternate between static holds and dynamic movement.

L-Sit Tutorials from the PCC Blog

The L-Sit is sometimes described as a "basic" skill or demonstration of core strength.  However it continues to elude me, despite my efforts to achieve it.  As much as I enjoy GMB's exercise programs, they all kind of assume that the trainee will nail this skill in just a couple of weeks, having the trainee start performing movements built on top of the L-Sit by the 4th week.  This is one of the main reasons I have been unable to advance beyond Phase 1 of P1 or Phase 2 of R1.

GMB's tutorial prescribes a number of assistance exercises for developing the required upper body strength and core (abs, hip flexors, etc) strength to achieve this skill, as well as a progression of "sit" variations.  The tutorial also includes programming information (how many sets to do, how often to train, etc.).

This L-Sit Tutorial by Aleks Salkin takes a different approach, by prescribing dynamic movements between a less difficult position and a more difficult one.  The idea is you move between the position at the next level of difficulty and the one that is at your current level.  In addition, you alternate a dynamic movement practice with a static hold practice.  He says to go for a 20-second hold.  The article does not mention sets and reps, but in the comments, he recommends up to 5 sets, up to 10 reps per set.

One of the commenters on Salkins tutorial then put up his own version of the tutorial on his Neat Strength blog.  This is the NeatStrength version.

By no means do I blame GMB for my lack of progress in the L-Sit.  GMB's tutorial actually says to find whatever exercises will work for you.  Thanks to Salkin and NeatStrength, I have more ideas to try out and see if my progress improves.

Rings One, Phase 1, Level B, Week 2, Day 1

Inverted Row (Tuck) - 6 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid. 

Inverted Tuck Roll Chin-Ups - 4 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Chin-Ups - 7 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid. 

5-sec. Hanging Knee Raise Holds (Dead Hang) - 7 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Mike Sigman on Zhan Zhuang

Movement 2

The saying is that there are many jins, but there is only one jin. Jin-force (basically up-force from the ground and down-force from gravity/contraction) is the basis for short-power, long-power, inch-power, cold-power, spiraling power, "aiki", and so on. But jin has to be trained in application and in the conditioning that is needed to apply it well and correctly.

In standing-post (Zhan Zhuang), jin is practiced in six-directions. It's easy to confuse muscular tension with jin, but they're different things and jin is
done with the body relaxed except for the slight extension of the body, the sinking, and the perineum being held up (there's a pressure aspect, but that's beyond the scope of where I'm trying to go).

The first two jins to practice are (1.) the jin up through the body that holds the head up, which in turn gives the slight stretch to the torso that helps
propagate power through the body and (2.) the jin of weight/downward force that goes along the undersides of the body and limbs; it originates with the dantian sinking/pulling downward. These two jins are "contradictory" or "antagonistic", which over time helps condition the body.

The second two jins, which are added to the first two jins as progress develops, are the jins of forward to the hands and backward [or pulling (Lu)].
If someone is in a balanced stance with one foot forward and one foot backward, the jin to the front normally originates from the back foot and the jin to the back originates from the front foot. These two jins set up a contradiction in the front-to-back direction.

The third two jins, which are gradually added to the prior four jins, are the expansion to the sides coupled with a contraction toward the middle. The
expansion to the sides rises up from the feet (using the expansion of the muscle-tendon channels of the back of the body and outsides of limbs) and the contraction comes downward from weight and inward from contraction of the front of the body and insides/undersides of limbs.

All of these jins are derived from (A.) the solidity of the ground and (B.) the gravity force downward.

Sometimes you hear a saying that basic jin usage is "Float, Sink, Swallow and Spit". These are fairly rudimentary usages (there are more sophisticated usages) in which an opponent can be slyly "floated" by up-rising jin, or weighted into an off-balance direction by downward ("sinking") jin, or tossed
away by sinking to an incoming force, getting under the opponent's incoming force, and then rising up under the force to toss ("spit") the opponent away.

The dantian's movement is always derived from the manipulation of the jin forces, so when you talk about movement in 6H, you always have to consider the jin forces which are being manipulated by the dantian and the way the connection or "suit" is being pulled and twisted and tensed by the dantian and intent.

(Note) In the two diagrams below, look at the side-view. Notice the purple lines indicating forces coming up at a steep angle to the hands and to the point in the back between the shoulder blades. I'll have to clarify how that really works with a side article that I'll post shortly about plain jin and unity jin.

DC Landmarks

https://news.bandsintown.com/view-article/2017/01/26/city-guide-priests-guitarist-g-l-jaguar-shares-his-favorite-washington-dc-gems

Rings One, Phase 1, Level B, Week 1, Day 5

Dips - 8 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Assisted Tuck to Tuck Shoulder Stand - 3 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging

Inverted Push-Ups - 6 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging

Push-Ups - 6 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging. 

Jump To Dips - 6 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Solid

5-sec. Hanging Knee Raise Holds (Top position) - 5 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Rings One, Phase 1, Level B, Week 1, Day 3

Inverted Row (Tuck) - 6 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid.  First time with this exercise.  I found I had to straighten my body in the inverted hang first, to reduce the swinging of the rings.  Execution was a bit shaky but I think it's a matter of finding the right balance point.

Inverted Tuck Roll Chin-Ups - 5 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Chin-Ups - 6 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid.  First time I tried this with my feet on the ground in front of me, legs straight, instead of from the dead hang.  It's actually a bit harder because the core is worked a bit more.  It could be that I also make this harder for myself by lowering myself more slowly as the feet get closer to the ground, because I want to maintain the straightness of legs.  I believe Ryan Hurst does the chin-ups this way because it's kind of a prep for the muscle-up later on.

4 Exercises To Relieve Shoulder Pain After Workout

4 Exercises To Relieve Shoulder Pain After Workout

The shoulder is such a complicated joint, that there is rarely a one-size-fits-all solution for shoulder pain.  For example, I started experiencing shoulder pain for the first time in many months, after I did some training on the parallettes after nearly a month on vacation - that pain seems to be going away by switching to ring training.

But maybe the above 4-exercise routine will work for your particular situation.

New Handstand Tutorial by Ryan Hurst

Ryan Hurst of GMB fame just published a new tutorial:
How to get your first handstand

There is a slightly older tutorial also written by Ryan:
How to Do a Handstand – Warm-Up, Body Positioning, Tutorial, and Advanced Progressions

I am of course committed to R1 at this time, but the handstand is one of my fitness goals down the road.  Check out both tutorials and see which one you like.

Rings One, Phase 1, Level B, Week 1, Day 1

Despite what I said in a previous post, I decided to switch back to R1 (Rings One) instead of staying with P1 for another week.  

The reason is the shoulder continues to be more loose than I like, thanks to an old injury - it was diagnosed as a possible subluxation or impingement.  I don't think P1 has necessarily made it worse, but it's not improving in stability.

Rings have always been more forgiving to my shoulders than parallettes.  For a change I'm going with Level B in Phase 1 of the program, subbing less difficult exercises for the two that are too hard for me right now.

R1, Phase 1, Level B, Above The Rings

Dips - 7 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Assisted Tuck to Tuck Shoulder Stand (sub for Tuck To Tuck Shoulder Stand) - 3 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging

Inverted Push-Ups - 5 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging

Push-Ups - 6 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging.  In the past, I've done this move on the rings starting from the standard plank ("normal" top position).  I noticed the instruction is actually to get into the Hollow Body Plank (rounded upper back, "hollow" chest, etc.) and maintain it.  This is actually easier on the shoulders, despite the increased difficulty level of Hollow Body Plank vs. Standard Plank.

Jump To Dips - 6 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Solid

Tuck Hold (sub for L-Sit) - 25 sec. Quality: Smooth.  Ease: Solid

After the end of the workout and cool-down stretches, the shoulder is noticeably more stable.  It still feels like it can "click" in/out of the socket, but I have to go a bit more out of my way to make it do that. Because of this, I will stick with R1 for the duration of Phase 1, then decide where to go from there.

The above workout looks a lot like Phase 2, Level A, Above the Rings, except for the addition of the Inverted Push-Ups and Push-Ups.  I'm puzzled why these two valuable pressing movements are omitted from the Phase 2, Level A version.  It seems like not having them to build critical forward and upward pressing strength makes it harder for the trainee to achieve his/her first Tuck to Tuck Shoulder Stand.  When I look at P1, I see both equivalent movements included in the preparation for the P1 equivalent of the Tuck to Tuck Shoulder Stand.

Today's Music Discoveries

Yussef Kamaal - Strings of Light

Toshiki Kadomatsu - Hatsu Koi

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Shaky Jake

The Karl Hendricks Trio - 1/93 - "If This Song Was A Cigarette" - 9:30 Club - Washington,D.C.

FUGAZI Live in front of THE WHITE HOUSE, January 12, 1991 (Gulf War 1 Protest)

Sun Ra Arkestra - Love In Outer Space (in session for BBC Jazz on 3)

Can - Paperhouse - Live, 1971 (Remastered)

Freddie Hubbard - Crisis

Lucifer's Friend - Lucifer's Friend

Cocteau Twins - Lorelei

Today's P1 Training - End of Week 2

P1, Phase 1, Level B, Sequence 2

Tuck Swing to Top Plank - 4 reps.  Quality: Rough.  Ease: Challenging

One Leg Shoulder Stand Hold - 15 sec. hold per leg. Quality: Rough.  Ease: Challenging

Tuck Swings - 8 reps. Quality: Rough.  Ease: Solid

Assisted Inverted Presses - 8 reps partial motion. Quality: Rough.  Ease: Challenging

Dive Bombers - 3 reps. Quality: Rough.  Ease: Challenging

The is my 2nd trip through the P1 program, albeit with the P-Barz set at the more challenging Pro height.  I confess that I haven't been keeping track of what week I am on in the program.  Then I realized the instructions change from week to week in P1, sometimes from day to day!

So as of today I will say I am at the end of Week 2 in the program and will keep going until I complete Week 4.

Today's P1 Training

P1, Phase 1, Level B, Sequence 1 
Plank Push-Ups - 6 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid. Can't explain why this move suddenly got easier, despite over a week off being sick. The CNS can be funny like that.

Plank Jump to Dip - 6 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging. Feet still hitting the floor after the 3rd or 4th rep of a set. When that happens I finish the set with a Tuck Swing to Top Plank just to work on the proper coordination. I think when my feet touch the floor, it's because either my abs or my shoulders (need good downward, straight-arm pressure) are fatigued.

Battle Rams - 8 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid.

Tuck Hold - 16 sec. Quality: Rough. Ease: Solid. 

Mt. Climber Holds - 8 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Today's Music Discoveries

arab strap don't ask me to dance

Theme From Golden Boy

Bola Sete & Vince Guaraldi Trio || full || 1963 || full set || Jazz Casual

Susan Alcorn - Volare

Ben Monder: Windowpane

Remembering Trish Keenan, Singer For The Band Broadcast

dead horse - AXIOM Video Shoot and more from 1988 - 1994

Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds of the Civil Rights Movement

New GMB article on using the 3 animals from Elements for strong, mobile wrists

I can personally attest to the benefits of GMB's Elements program for the wrists.  The warmups for the wrists, as well as the fingers, are quite extensive.  The 3 animal movements all load the wrists.

https://gmb.io/strong-mobile-wrists/

Bram Bos Troublemaker Review / Tutorial

Bram Bos Troublemaker Review / Tutorial

From the description:

"Acid Techno is easy with Troublemaker by Bram Bos. A TB-303 inspired audio unit synthesizer with step sequencer. In this video I will 1) Show you how to create a pattern in Troublemaker and export the midi into Cubasis 2) Use Troublemaker in Cubasis as an audio unit 3) Run Troublemaker through Squashit multi band distortion. I hope you enjoy it! PS - 600 subscribers!! Thank you for the support over the years. "

Today's R1 Training

R1, Phase 2, Level A, Below The Rings (Tuesday, off yesterday)

Pull-ups - 8 reps.  Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Inverted Tuck Roll Chin-Up - 4 reps.  Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Skin The Cat -  3 reps.  Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Reviewed the instructions for Skin The Cat and noticed the directives to squeeze the shoulder blades together and maintain the pull of the arms - no passive hanging.  It seems that as I descend into the German Hang, my shoulder blades are pulled together by default.

I'm not sure if I'm really pulling constantly on the rings.  I think I am, due to  my control of the descent, then having to pull on the rings to unwind from the German Hang back into the Inverted Hang position.  In any case, I'll pay more attention to these two points.

I am also making more off an effort to not tuck as much when unwinding from German Hang, so that the lower back gets a little bit more work.

Today's P1 training

P1, Phase 1, Level B, Sequence 1 

Plank Push-Ups - 3 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging.

Plank Jump to Dip - 6 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging.  This is probably the more accurate Ease score, as I’m struggling to tuck properly after the Dip, so that my feet don’t hit the floor.  What happens too often is I end up walking my feet back a bit before I can lift my legs again.

Battle Rams - 8 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid.

Tuck Hold - 14 sec. Quality: Rough. Ease: Solid.

Mt. Climber Holds - 8 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Low back rehab exercise from Systema HQ

Interesting low-back rehab exercise called the Flat Spine Leg Raise.  Reminds me of the Hollow Body Hold taught by GMB.

P1-R1 Training Split

The P1 program has a split option, in which one trains for 4 days a week, practicing P1 on alternating days and the other program on the "between" days.

I think one of the reasons my shoulder is less stable than usual is the time I took off from strength training - nearly a month.  While GMB recommends a couple of exercise routines that specifically target shoulder issues, I'll try practicing just the Below The Rings portion of R1 as the other program in this training split.  The Below The Rings exercises emphasize pulling movements, which in the past seem to have contributed to improved shoulder stability.  I'll see how it goes.

Today's session:

Pullups - 7 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid.

Tuck Roll Chinup - 4 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

Skin The Cat - 4 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid.

Today's Musical Discoveries

Joni Mitchell - Ethiopia

Joni Mitchell - The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975) - full album

She's just another (Vaporwave - beats - electronic mix)

http://www.factmag.com/2016/03/30/kaitlyn-aurelia-smith-modular-synth-studio-video/

Return to Parallettes One, with P-Barz at Pro Setting

Last week, I resumed training under the P1 (Parallettes One) program.  I spent practically the latter half of 2016 training under R1 (Rings One).  I made good progress in the Under The Rings exercises, but not as much in the Above The Rings exercises.  I last trained under P1 for about 4 months, ending in October, 2015.  As noted at the time, all the Phase 1, Level B exercises were easy for me to execute, except for the full L-sit.

As recommended by GMB, my parallettes are P-Barz.  I'm glad I decided to get the Standard + Pro Height Bundle.  I completed Phase 1, Level B more than a year ago with my P-Barz at the Standard (almost 1' high) height.  Last week, I switched my P-Barz to the Pro height.  I also realized I should log my Quality and Ease scores.  Here are my training results so far at the Pro height:

P1, Phase 1, Level B, Sequence 2

Tuck Swing to Top Plank - 4 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging

One Leg Shoulder Stand Hold - 15 sec. hold per leg. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging

Tuck Swings - 7 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Solid

Assisted Inverted Presses - 6 reps partial motion. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging

Dive Bombers - 3 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging

P1, Phase 1, Level B, Sequence 1

Plank Push-Ups - 4 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging. Left shoulder a bit unstable so I have to really watch this one.

Plank Jump to Dip - 6 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Solid

Battle Rams - 8 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid. Need to make sure shoulders are not too low.

Tuck Hold - 10 sec. Quality: Rough. Ease: Solid. The hardest part is smoothly rolling the body from "seiza" into the tuck, without the feet touching the ground. This was much easier when the bars were higher.

Mt. Climber Holds - 8 reps. Quality: Smooth. Ease: Solid

P1, Phase 1, Level B, Sequence 2

Tuck Swing to Top Plank - 4 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging

One Leg Shoulder Stand Hold - 15 sec. hold per leg. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging

Tuck Swings - 7 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Solid

Assisted Inverted Presses - 6 reps partial motion. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging

Dive Bombers - 3 reps. Quality: Rough. Ease: Challenging

The lower height makes everything more difficult. Pressing takes more effort. Any passing of the feet between the parallettes requires a tighter tuck to prevent the feet from touching the floor and thus interrupting the movement - this works the core harder. I find I have to move the P-Barz a bit further apart for Tuck Swings, so that I don't have to worry about the feet hitting the P-Bar stands, and move the P-Barz closer together for the pressing movements. Both of my shoulders are pain-free, but one of them is less stable due to previous injury, so I have to take care of it by not allowing the elbows to flare outwards and monitoring range of motion on forward and upward pressing movements.

I believe P1 training at the Pro height, as long as I do not injure my shoulder, will finally build the strength that I need to progress further in either P1 or R1.  My core works harder at the lower height,  which should ultimately aid in the quest for that elusive L-sit.  My pressing strength has not been challenged like this in nearly two years, so it should also start improving again.

On a related note:  https://medium.com/gmb-fitness-articles/gmb-fitness-2016-review-5a703138d7b#.isq9pdh6v