More castle shots

Inuyama-jo, not quite intact, is one of the smallest castles I've visited over the years. Here is a shot of the keep from the castle grounds and another taken from inside the tower. The caption on the interior shot says that this window is where castle defenders would drop stones on attackers. I think that by the time the outer defenses were breached, dropping stones is pretty much the equivalent of assuming the crash position, desperate times for all.

Yesterday's workout:
-knees to the bar (3x10)
-front levers (3x10)
-VB50

I haven't done any core or conditioning in a while. This workout made me quite aware of the lack of training in these areas. Curse you, burpees!
2,510/11,xxx

A castle with a view

Realtors and samurai will acknowledge that your castle ain't nuthin' if it hasn't got a commanding view. The night shot is of Inuyama-jo, a castle in the town of Inuyama, about a 30 minute train ride from Nagoya, Japan. It is one of the oldest standing castles in the country. Actually, most of the caste works were destroyed during the Meiji restoration. What remains are some of the inner walls and the keep. The day shot was taken from the top of the castle keep. Beneath the castle and along the riverbank is the onsen my family and I stayed at.

I planned on doing some training during this trip, but after a few feeble handstand attempts, I thought of better ways to enjoy the vacation. Yesterday was my first full day back. This was yesterday's workout:
-handstand (2'34")
-HSPU (5x5)
-26.5 kg pull-ups (8x4,3,3,2)
-11 rounds of 5 push-press/5 max effort pulls on the erg

I've got a few more pics left, which I'll share in later posts.

castle towers

When I lived in Japan from 2003 to 2007, I was impressed by the juxtaposition of old and new. You saw it in traditions and costumes, for example the tea ceremony and the wearing of kimono, and you saw it quite dramatically in the architecture. Every major city had a castle dating back centuries nestled in a maze of automobile-jammed streets.

When you talk about old buildings where I live now, you're talking about pre-WWII construction. The buildings might have thick plaster walls, high ceilings, and ornate moldings but also might suffer from slow elevators and cranky elevator operators. Pre-war buildings have an aura of faded splendor. When touring a Japanese castle, despite the majestic views from its towers, I often thought how much it would suck to be under a siege. Different times.

I snapped a pic of a castle tower on the island of Shikoku, Japan, and one of the Flatiron Building in New York City. The Flatiron Building, pre-war and iconic, is as close as you'll get to a castle tower in my town. Still in use, it's updated with all the latest conveniences and safety features: optical fiber, maybe; archers' shooting ports, no.