Kick Ass, a guilty pleasure

The day started off with a kettlebell breathing ladder, 1-20 single arm swings (doubles for mrs. meguro), and then 42 kg suitcase hold for me, your basic griptastic day. No burpees, however. With the exercises out of the way, I'm feeling pretty good and then mrs. meguro suggests we see a matinee while the kids do the homework they had neglected till the last minute. "Cool," says I, "Date Night?" Date Night's just the type of film two adults ilke mrs. meguro and I can identify with: parents trying to keep the spark of romance burning bright while parenthood, jobs and routine conspire to blow it out. "Nah," she says, "let's see Kick Ass." Kick Ass! Here I am volunteering to see a chick flic. Hey, I'm trying to connect.

Violence is not my wife's thing, even if it's the cartoony, over-the-top, hyperviolence seen in the spate of super-hero movies of late. She cringes at every biff, pow, splat. That mrs. meguro would suggest Kick Ass, I can only interpret as an act of love, because movies that go boom, well that's my thing. Kick Ass delivers lots of explosions and carnage with a healthy dollop of dark humor. We found ourselves laughing out loud throughout the film along with the rest of the audience.

Not midway through the movie, the laughter becomes a bit strained. It's one thing to witness the transformation of the least likely character to hero, with hilarious stumbles along the way; it's a common hero story line. The character of Hit Girl in Kick Ass resurrects Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle in a plaid skirt and purple wig. This is when mrs. meguro and I squirmed a little in our seats. Hit Girl metes out vigilante justice like the best of ninja assassins with the mouth and attitude of a war weary marine. Through Hit Girl, we confront the limits of our ability to enjoy violence as entertainment. I've been inured to cinematic violence from overexposure, no matter the level of ferocity. Kick Ass, the movie, breaks age and gender lines and in the process makes pornography of gun play and salty language. I've had enough for a while. For the next date, mrs. meguro and I will see Date Night or another romantic comedy.

drawing the line at middle age

There are certain milestone in life one looks forwards to: becoming a teenager; learning to drive; getting married; your first child. Others you welcome with less enthusiasm. Then there are those you don't remember passing but realize you must have, just like the turn-off on the highway a few miles back.

What tipped me off that I was now among the middle aged was not the greying temples. I've been grey for a while. No, it was the coincidence of my children, a freshly minted teenager and a tween, trying to assert more independence and my father, 83 years old, losing more and more of his. Last Friday, I assumed power of attorney for dad and was appointed executor of his will.

As I watch my children brimming with vitality and compare them with dad, who has lost a lot of his pep, I am reminded of my place in the circle of life. My wife and I are stuck in the middle, between the old and the young. Eventually the young mature and the old pass on. But I... am drawing the line... here. Old age will come for me, but it will have to catch me first.

-24 kg weighted pull-ups (13x3)+1

-Knees to the bar (K2B) 3x11

-100 burpees (last 10 full bastards)

dense enough for you

This week, I started a density training protocol with a goal to accomplish 20 chin-ups augmented with 24 kgs of weight attached to a dip belt. Why you might ask? I have found that grip and pulling strength are extremely valuable when ground fighting a heavier opponent and are advantageous when against an opponent of equal size and skill. Density training is briefly described here.

Part of Tuesday's workout included 40 weighted chin-ups (20x2 for 20 minutes.) I did 2 reps on the minute and rested about 55 seconds between sets. I felt fine, despite all that volume, except for a little tightness in the traps. That was fixed with the foam roller. Today, Thursday, I went with 12x3 + 4x1 in roughly 16 minutes. It was a bit tougher today. My form deteriorated towards the end, necessitating sets of singles.

greatest show on the west side

Before I headed over to the Jacob Javits Convention Center for the New York Auto Show I did a quick routine of 100 kettlebell high-pulls. I'd procrastinated all morning so by the time I was scheduled to go I was left with just a few minutes for training. It was just as well. I don't think I had it in me for 200 high pulls.

There were some truly stunning cars at the show like the Lexus LFA, a supercar destined for a limited production run of 500 vehicles. I found myself gravitating to cars I could see myself driving on a daily basis. I glanced at the exotics and ran my fingers along the flanks of such cars as the Porsche Panamera and the Audi R8, but I was more interested in the rear seat space of the Mini Countryman (bucket seats in the rear!), storage space in the Volvo C30, view from the driver's seat of the VW GTI or Subaru WRX, or seating capacity of the Honda Odyssey.

db cheat curl push-press

I may have mentioned before my intention to obtain a 16 kg kettlebell. If I lived in a house with a backyard and garage, space would not impose an impediment to acquiring all of the gear I'd like to have. My present circumstances, living in a crowded apartment, require me to curb further purchases. Rats!

The point of getting a 16 kg kb is improve my technique on the advanced lifts (c&j and snatch). Swinging and high pulling my 24 kg is no problem, but learning on a 24 makes for slow going. It's the damned shape and balance of the kb that make these lifts so difficult compared to db's. Why bother? Before I make any more purchases and in a move against the kb trend, I devised the db cheat curl push-press to mimic a kb c&j. My variation is to incorporate a Tyler fat grip and full upper body English to get the db up and down.

I've been using the Tyler grips mostly for pressing and static holds. This is the first time I employed them in a "ballistic" type lift. The cheat curl portion of the exercise, especially with the fat grip, is a hand-full!

Today's work-out:

-105 burpees (8'57")

-45 lbs. db cheat curl push press (3x10)

1100/10,xxx

Bebot

Bebot, by the Black Eyed Peas, could not have come out at a more opportune time. When it debuted in Monkey Business, 2005, we were living in Japan. My kids, who are of Chinese, Filipino and Japanese descent, were going through an identity crisis of sorts. Their classmates accepted them as Japanese. Through the diligent efforts of my wife, the kids spoke fluent Japanese though they were born in the USA. They also looked native, or nearly so. The fact that my kids spoke English so well caused their friends to question just what kind of Japanese they were, which in turn sparked some introspection in my girls.

"Bebot" is a diminutive term of admiration applied to women and children, in the song it refers to beautiful girls. As an anthem for Filipinos in America (or in our case, Japan), the immigrant experience, Bebot struck a chord in me. The catchy refrain attracted my kids even though they didn't understand the lyrics. Soon enough, they were shouting out "sige" with gusto.

bebot bebot bebot be (3x) you are my
bebot bebot bebot be (3x) you are my
bebot bebot bebot be (3x) you are... Filipino (4x)

Verse 1:

Hey man, you've got to hear what I/we have to say
I/We am/are a/the true Filipino/s
Straight from the humble small-town of *"Sapang Bato"
Went to abroad/L.A. to try and make a living
I/We did it to help out my/our mom/family
I/We had to do it in order to survive a difficult life
Despite of how hard it was, my/our colorful life was still blessed
When I/we eat **rice and *** "chicken adobo," we still use our **** hands
With ^^"balut", let's buy it from the street corner,
Fill up the glasses, man
Let's drink up to this song!

[Will]

Filipino (4x)

bebot bebot bebot be (3x) you are my
bebot bebot bebot be (3x) you are my
bebot bebot bebot be (3x) you are... Filipino (4x)

Verse 2:

Take a closer at the beautiful Filipina/Filipino people
I can never get enough of your grace
I can never get enough of your gentle-nature
I would really like to be with you
Like a house or the ^ "kubo"
Your passion is really true [Will: Ha!]
My/Our heart/s is/are always beating because of you. [Will: Ho!]

Filipino (8x)
bebot bebot bebot be (3x) You are my
bebot bebot bebot be (3x) You are my
bebot bebot bebot be (3x) You are my
bebot bebot bebot be (3x) You are my
bebot bebot bebot be (3x) You are my
bebot bebot bebot be (3x) You are... Filipino (4x)

Come on, if you're Filipino, shout for me! [Will: Ha!]
If you possess the Filipino's beauty, shout for me! [Will: Ho!]
If your life matters to you, shout for me! [Will: Ha!]
Thank you for all you've done for me! [Will: Ho!]


Filipino (repeated several times...until fade)

[Fergie]

lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-loooh-wooh
lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-lalala-loooh
(transcribed and translated by: Bizmarckie; Winnipeg, Canada; June 7, 2005; Revised June 19, 2005)

'til they get punched in the face

That's right! "Everyone's got a plan," said Mike Tyson "'til they get punched in the face." I don't normally refer to Iron Mike for words of wisdom, but this little nugget sparkles with brilliance. I've been thinking a lot about this since I got punched and head-butted in the face. No, I wasn't assaulted in the street by a mugger, I signed up for the beat down and paid good money too. Yup, the martial artist in me just had to find out what years of karate and judo practice would avail me against a skilled MMA competitor. My discovery, precious little.

There are no good possible outcomes from getting your brain rattled by blunt force trauma. OK, there's one: learning to avoid future brain trauma. This is how my plan evolves. Any activity that does not contribute to maintaining a healthy mind and body gets relegated to the dust bin. More on this in later posts. Lots of details to sort out.

So, where am I?
945 burpees down, thousands left to go. Getting closer and making improvement on the 50 burpees time. Somewhere under 7 minutes for 100 burpees would be nice.

I'm thinking of getting a lighter KB to work on technique. Meanwhile, I'll be doing lot's of overhead pressing and static holds with the db's to improve shoulder endurance.