Pneumatised!

MM,

This is for all the martial arts fans out there. National Geographic Channel will be airing a documentary on Sunday, August 12 looking at the science behind martial arts. Some may recall XMA: Xtreme Martial Arts, which took a look at how a martial artist can do some of those amazing feats, as well as explaining the body mechanics involved when a martial artist is fighting. Fight Science is a new documentary being shown on the National Geographic Channel that looks at many of the same things as XMA; however, it is hoped that it will give a less “flashy” perspective on martial arts. This is something definitely worth watching for any martial artist. An understanding of how our bodies move and react is essential to being a good martial artist. From this perspective, the documentary should help martial artists become better at what they do. Check it out.

For those who aren’t martial artists, but are just curious, this documentary should strip away much of the mystique and mystery of the martial artist (yes, we are people too!). At the same time, you should gain a greater respect for the martial artist as we do endure much to achieve what we have achieved, and we continue to endure much every time we train.

Sadly, I don’t have the National Geographic Channel, but hopefully the documentary will be floating around for download after it airs. I’ll be looking for it.

BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

Okay, it’s been a while since yours truly has been working out. However, as you can see, some things were more urgent. I did manage to get some gym time and running in.

Tuesday, August 8, 2006

This was a light workout day to break to non-working out for about two weeks (except for lots of walking). Below is a list of workouts Nathan and I did (at some point I think I will just set up a spreadsheet tracking my exercises, weight level, and repetitons):

Leg lifts
Pull-ups (aka chin-ups, military and parallel)
Dips
Leg press
Hamstring flexor (called seated leg curls)
Hip adductors
Hip abductors
Seated row
Bar pulls (I think this is called the lateral pull-downs; it works the muscles next to the scapulae on the back)
Seated chest press
Shoulder fly
Shoulder lift (this is called the shoulder press)

Free weights:
Situps (on a incline bench; worked out the obliques as well by doing double punches during the situp)
Bicep curls
Weighted squats

Saturday, August 12, 2006

I went for a mile and a half run. It was a while since I ran, and I was missing it. Anyway, it seemed hard for some reason, but it turns out I did the run in 12 minutes 1 second. 😀 A very good run – the same time as last time, even though I took a break from exercising for a few weeks. Sometimes a break is a good thing.

Monday, August 14, 2006

I went for another run. I decided to run at least a mile and a half, see how I felt at a mile and a half before deciding if I wanted to run another half mile. I actually did fairly well. I ran a mile and a half and decided to keep running the extra half mile for a two mile run. My hamstrings were a little tight at first since the weather was overcast and a little cool, but I warmed up soon enough and the hamstrings loosened up a bit. They were getting a good workout though, I could feel the muscles working. I ran a mile and a half in 12 minutes 1 second again (marginally faster though: compare 0.1 to 0.6 seconds, but I’ve been rounding my seconds up), then continued running a half mile. The time for the half mile was 4 minutes 28 seconds. I slowed down a bit after the mile and a half. My total time for two miles is 16 minutes 29 seconds, my best time for the two mile run so far. 😀

I have not been in the do jang for almost a month now. I hope my Master doesn’t think I’ve left TKD. I still plan on training, but just too much to do right now. I need to finish up some writing projects, and might be starting a new one.

BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame