May end of month report

Or what I would like to entitle: "Krav Maga, movement snacks and mindfulness."

But first, the end of the month report. My May challenge was to continue my April efforts of bodyweight only training and concentrate solely on the Pistol, Pullup and One Arm Pushup. My friend Tom Furman has a new ebook out called "Armor of War" which outlines a straightforward program elegantly and with grace. I am able to crank out a lot more pullups than I have in the past and focusing of the pistol and one arm pushup have increased my strength substantially. However, the intensity required along with the substantial dings that I have accrued with bjj have me feeling beat up and wore down. Shoulder issues, a low back tweaking and then on Monday I jacked my right adductor/hamstring. So this week, I am backing off of the non-bjj training and focusing on restoration. June will be a month for play based workouts ala Frank Forencich of Exuberant Animal, Jason C. Brown of the Pathfinder Method and more mobility conditioning via Steve Maxwell. If you haven't visited Exuberant Animal, do it. It is a solid challenge based on solid science and solid ethic. Frank has an idea called the "movement snack", which are brief bouts of play based movement kind of like how a "snack" is a small amount of food to tide you over to the next meal. I have played around with the idea and it is deceptive how much it can positively affect your conditioning. Here is a little bit of what I have in mind for June:

BJJ training has been going well. Training with a Black Belt twice a week will transform you, but it is coming in the form of beatdowns. Our intensity is raising substantially as is the amount of time we are rolling. This month we have gone for 18, 22, 24, 34, 37 and 38 minute rolls. In a way, sessions with Professor Bill are an amazing experiment in mindfulness. When in that moment, you have to be completely connected to that moment. And when one is truly connected, there is magic in that moment. Speaking of mindfulness, I have been using it a lot at work lately. Here is one of my favorite samples of the practice.

Finally, one of my Professors at GBS was invited this month to travel to Israel and become a certified instructor in Commando Krav Maga with the Founder, Moni Aizik. The pictures he posted on facebook were breathtaking and the training he went through was brutal. I can't wait to pick his brain on what he learned.

Oss!