Non Specificity and You

But first, an aside:

People are going nuts about the history changing shit going on in Washington (be it nefarious, or otherwise).  People are going nuts about celebrities and personalities who have little to no stake in how much better you can be. 

I will pose some questions for you to mull over regarding these issues. 

Does the fact this fat bitch called someone a "nigger" really matter in the context is being made out to matter? Does it affect you negatively in any way?

I grew up in a redneck town called Plant City.  We have a lot of strawberries, and a festival dedicated to them, wherein washed up country stars play to a moderate sized venue.  We also have a lot of racists, rednecks, Black people, and Mexicans to go along with the predominantly white population. 

Back to the question at hand.  Yes, it matters if you use racial slurs in a hateful context.  It makes you appear to be a racist asshole.  Is being a racist asshole the best way to develop yourself as an individual? Probably not. 

Does it matter that this woman said it? No.  In my hometown alone I can encounter hundreds of fat, old white women who have comparable cooking skills who call Black people "niggers," Mexicans "spics," and any other horrendous things you can think of.  I have also witnessed my Black cousin be verbally assaulted by other residents of my town.  Why should you give a shit about a famous one? I don't think it's a good use of time.  At least if I encounter the ones in my community who behave the same way, I could at least have some influence on them and help lead them to a better place regarding their ingrained racism.

This just in: DOMA got defeated.  Why is this an issue? Oh wait, because somewhere along the way the religious people who give a shit about marriage let the state take control over it.  We let the state infiltrate something personal--again.  You lose.  Not only do you lose because you relinquished your control of a dated institution, you lose because it was never your own dated institution to begin with, since it predates Jesus, The Bible, Christianity, and Judaism.   You lose because its now a federal matter.  Since I can't have my way and get rid of this nonsense and our funding of it altogether, suck it up and accept the fact that homosexuals can finally come closer to having rights of the rest of us so graciously given to them.  Is someone else's marriage really going to affect you? I mean aside from the fact you can't free load on alcohol.  All I want is one good argument not based on religion as to why only some people can get married and others can't.  At this point in time, nobody has been able to deliver one.

I guess this rant brings me to what I wanted to talk about in the first place.  I wanted to address contra specificity/non specificity. 
If you find yourself falling in the same traps repeatedly--like maybe you support famous racists, or hate the fact that people are getting equal treatment--you might want to act differently than you already do.  It might be stressful, at first.  But the result might be worth it. 

In the testing model, we try to be as specific as we can, first.  Then we move towards contra specificity and non specificity.  I am a big fan of the latter.  From a movement perspective, it has helped me relieve pain I spoke of before, and it has helped me gain flexibility.  The non specific activity being Jiu-Jitsu, of course.  It has also helped me relax more. 

Another way I like to practice non specificity is when Arielle and I go out to eat.  I am not a picky eater, so I have no qualms with telling my server to surprise me with any dish from the menu, with few parameters.  It gives me new ideas to implement at home, lets me know I like things I didn't think about trying before, and it saves time and decision making.   I have not been let down yet, and have loved all the strange things given to me.

This idea can especially apply to relationships of any kind.  Especially those that stress out.  I had a friend who had MS.  It was a stressful task to prepare to even talk to him on the phone, given the gravity of topics we would talk about.  I would literally have to plan time to talk and set it aside so I couldn't do anything else.  Of course, it was a huge pain in the ass for me, but even though the stress built up because of the fact that it wasn't something I would normally do often, the relief of going through with it was worth it, even though it was a distressing activity. 

So, think of people you think you need to talk to.  People you might need to apologize to.  It might stress you out, but the end result will be worth it. 

Lastly, one of my favorite ways to do non specific things is to learn multiple routes to get to and from home and what not.  I found the plus sides to be that I can find cooler gas stations (perhaps cheaper, too), cooler landmarks, eating establishments, and I can avoid the stress of traffic--which is absurd to get stressed over to begin with, even though I do all the time.

Add some contra/non specificity to your life. You might be glad you did.

Honoring your mentors: The Greater Implications of 'Smashing the Head'

I got into training for stuff because I got tired of being a lazy fuck.  I did not know that I could later apply the principles (and with greater accuracy on down the road) to the rest of my life.  I am pleasantly surprised and delighted that I can (and do).



Rob Kahn: Owner of Gracie Tampa North, and  Royce Gracie black belt

 Recently, I started thinking about something Rob Kahn (above) says often--so often it's the tag line for the Gracie Tampa shirts.  "When in doubt, smash the head," or some variant. The rationale being that the one who controls the head will control the fight. 

I make it a point to take Rob's classes whenever I get the chance, and true to form he focuses on controlling the head whenever possible. 

One of the neat things about Jiu Jitsu is that it involves an opponent.  In powerlifting, your opponent is mainly yourself and an unmoving object. Metaphorically speaking, in powerlifting you will inevitably (and metaphorically) smash your own head if you are not careful.  In Jiu Jitsu, you can either smash or be smashed. 

Like all physical endeavors I now undertake in, I like to apply head smashing to my way of being.  Figuratively speaking, every interaction we engage in with people we are engaging in game theory.  In many of the interactions we engage in we are impressing our will upon another human.  This happens actively, passively, to a greater extent, and to a lesser extent, with all sorts of nefarious and benign intentions in between.

Depending on the situation you are in, learn how to psychologically "smash the head."  Learn to do so in many ways, and learn to defend your head from being smashed so you can come out victorious in your interactions.  This is one of the best grappling lessons I have learned from Rob Kahn to apply off and on the mat.

Are you a Jedi or a Sith?

I have been seeing an alarming trend, of late.  People come across my blog several ways, not the least of which is a Google search.  Here's a list of things people have searched to end up here:

1. My fucking back hurts
2. how to deadlift
3. Alexis Texas
4. my back hurts from fucking
5. deadlifts
6. i overdid it on deadlifts

Darth Revan

The clear point to most of these searches is that people most likely used a fuck load of effort to achieve whatever it is they were going for--at least for most of the search terms. 

Arielle and I were watching Revenge of the Sith the other day, and she made a point that Jedi always used the minimal effective amount of effort to achieve their task, and that the Sith used great efforts. This was particularly true when Darth Sidious uses his force lighting and Yoda absorbs and redirects it, also in Episode 2, Count Dooku uses his force lightning and Obi-Wan Kenobi effortlessly absorbs it into his lightsaber.   In fact, the effort it takes to wield force lightning becomes so great that it can deform and burn the user (as is the case with Darth Sidious).

I also found out that Frankie uses this as a teaching model as well, and will guide his students to train like the Jedi.

So, how does one train like a Jedi? It is very simple. 

First, test your movements. Here's how:

That's me from two years ago.  The same basic principles still apply.  Substitute any exercise instead of a plate curl, and test.

After you find the movements you want to do, test the variations.  One variation might yield a better test.  Variations include, but are not limited to, stances, implements, and grips.

Third, test your rest periods. After you do a set, and you are resting, do your ROM test and if it is a good test (you moved a lot of checkers, to use the same terminology in the video) practice your movement some more. 

Important things to consider: do not squeeze out one more rep, do not do things to the detriment of your form, and do not move through pain.  Be aware of your speed, your tension, your form and your form you use when you perform your gym movements. If you slow down, your form detoriorates and/or you start to use more tension, calm the fuck down and stop. If you ignore this, you will reach failure, pain and (hopefully not) damage.  Stop well before failure, and if you can help it, stop at loss of speed. The strain is not worth it.  Physiologically, or psychologically.

You will love to fight another day, and things that don't often test well, will test well and your limits will be expanded. 

To be a Sith, ignore this advice at your own discretion.  But remember the cost of being a Sith--betrayal from your apprentices, losing limbs, and dying.  All associated with more effort (and with them, a lot of arrogance). 

There's always room for activities

When did leading an active lifestyle become so fucking hard? Barring cases of being dead, paralyzed, maimed or cryogenically frozen in carbonite there are no real good reasons not to be active.  I don't mean going to the gymnasium, necessarily.  You can literally do any activity you want. Movement co founder Craig Keaton and his wife go out and play or jump and walls and stuff and seem to have a good time doing so.

In fact--and this is really great if you have children--you can go to a playground and play on the monkey bars, the sliding polls, the jungle gym, etc.  You can even sprint, if you are into that sort of thing.

If you have friends, instead of opting for lifting all the time, you can engage in sporting activities.  Recently, I have begun playing racquetball again which is far more exciting than powerlifting (which I still do) and involves way more movement that I don't get out of lifting, or Jiu-Jitsu--namely all the footwork and the eye-hand coordination along with a better grasp of mathematical angles. 

If you don't have friends, make some. 

If you have kids, consider them your friends until they start rebelling and resenting you.  If they see you regaining lost function and being active, they will most likely follow suit and lead active lifestyles growing up.  They might resent you less, too.  If you sit around with your hands on your balls watching Law and Order repeats, they'll likely grow up the same way.  You are their biggest influence for at least the first 13 years of their life, at which point they start hanging around with other idiots their age and doing dumb shit and getting trouble into school. 

Plus, if you engage in activities the majority of the time compared to gym movements, you might get a lot of good socialization out of it, as will your children. 

If you have a job that requires you to work a lot of hours, and you fall into the category of people who make excuses as to why you aren't active (specifically using your job as that crutch) evaluate your current situation in life, and proceed how you see fit.  The direction allowing for more movement will likely make you happier, physically at the very minimum. 

If you're in school and you throw away your whole active lifestyle the moment it's time for finals, evaluate how you learn/study.  Likely, if you are in college, you spend a lot of time fucking around, when you could be looking for better ways of learning that are specific to you. (I graduated. I fucked around a lot in college, never studied, and still made it out above C level). 

Above all, do some other shit so as to move in new directions.  You'll likely get better at your goals, and you won't "plateau." This can be any kind of movement.  Study something new, do a new sport, write differently, watch new movies, or what have you.  Then you will know the true meaning of "PR everyday."

My favorite month

A prelude to May:

I love May. Last year, Adam posed a challenge to Pick Shit Off The Floor Edvery Day in May.  It is called PSOTFED.  I intend to do this all 31 days in May.  Anything counts.  Kettlebell swings/snatches, Axle deadlifts, Pendlay Rows, Barbell Snatches, Rack pulls, Pinch Lifts, etc. 

I don't give a shit what you do, as long as it falls in that criteria.  You might have to be creative. Take a video. If you do something cool, or potentially useful or it makes you proud and you want to share, post it as a comment, email it, or post it here.

Make it fun, hit the PRs and notice your body comp improve.  You'll be thankful.

Eponym: Death Metal and Deadlifting

The other day, I posted my latest post on my facebook page.  (Go like it, if you have not).  Some motherfucker asked what it had to do with death metal and/or deadlifting, then proceeded to call me a motherfucker.  Fair enough.  I rarely post about death metal, though I come from a land where it was once revered like the holy grail of all music, much like powerlifters tend to think three lifts are the holy grail of exercise.  Consequently, those who fall into both camps stagnate.  



Opeth: as innovative as Pink Floyd, Meshuggah and Iron Maiden

It's quite easy to make a comparison of death metal and deadlifting.  Both appeal to a small minority of the general population, both are generally male dominated fields, and the practitioners of both seem to have deeply focused anger issues (though, in actuality this is not the case--many in both camps are genuine people and are very humble). 

With such a fringe appeal, it's difficult to market either practice.  If you have ever been to a powerlifting meet, it's fairly boring, from an excitement perspective and from a movement perspective.  The psyching up and what not can be somewhat laughable, if you aren't used to it, and the same thing goes for a crowd of metalheads getting ready to mosh. If you have been to a death metal concert and have but a passing interest in the genre, you probably won't have a fucking clue as to what's going on, since the majority of bands don't do a lot in the way of theatrics--which is to be expected, since they have normal jobs and lack the budget to go as theatrical as a band like Pink Floyd can do.  Moreover, you probably don't understand a word they are saying, unless you are a fan and have listened before. 

With such an obvious lacking in the formula department, nothing catches on.  It makes it less marketable.  The one thing we notice in all art forms are thematic elements that repeat themselves that are communicated coherently.  My favorite song has all of these, and consequently it is regarded as one of the best songs of all time. 

In powerlifting, as well as metal, there are also ridiculous amounts of division.  If you ask someone what metal is, the answer will be different, and the genre preference will be wide (death core, death metal, metal core, djent, grind core, black metal, symphonic epic metal, etc.).  Compare this to powerlifting.  There are so many federations in existence that it is almost becoming meaningless to set world records because someone is bound to do it sooner or later (though the all time records are a bit tougher to touch).  With these divisions, it makes it even less appealing to the general public than it already is.

Combine all this with a lack of interest from the public (if I knew five years ago how to sell people in the death metal capital on the music I played, I would probably still be in a metal band) unless it is someone that established themselves 20 years ago, it makes it a seemingly godless endeavor.

I don't purport to know the full answers on how to make either of these avenues extremely marketable again, aside from assembling a loyal fan base.  For lifting and metal, I think getting more women involved will probably help immensely.  From what I have seen, colleagues are accepting of women in these two fringe areas than in other areas.  (I'm sure sexism will still exist in both, but based on watching bands like Arch Enemy succeed, and athletes like Kara Bohigian, or Ronda Rousey do their thing, acceptance is more common, than it would be in both, since in all fringe events it seems like overall ability, at the end of the day, is key).

Angela is a far superior vocalist compared to the last guy singing for them.

So, there you have it.  A few of my critiques on the entitled subjects. 



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Something Personal

Usually, I talk about stuff I do, as opposed to talking about myself.  Since I don't get a lot of comments from the readership, I thought I would post several factoids about myself in an effort to let you all get to know me, and together we might share experiences with each other.  That said, I'll make a list of ten things I find interesting about myself (though you may not).

1. I am neurotic when it comes to time.  I never like to be late to things that have a formal start time.  Concerts, movies, classes, work, plays, etc.  If I am late to any of these types of events, I feel like I committed a moral failure on my end.  This idiosyncrasy was so great that in 2006 Arielle and I (this was our first go round at dating) were driving to a show I was playing for the band I was in at the time, and we got there two hours early.  The venue was empty with the exception of another musician I knew, so I immediately left Arielle alone to talk to my friend.  It went something like this:
2. I was fairly poor growing up.  My father and I moved to a quaint redneck town called Plant City when I was four years old, and my grandfather and he converted a brick building into a home for us.  The down side of this was that the only rooms were a bathroom and a living room, so privacy was very minimal.  This made things like watching internet porn, or masturbating very difficult.  It also destroyed my belief in Santa Claus at an early age, since we had no chimney and my dad never dressed up as Santa.  I also could never sleep on Christmas eve, so without having a room I had full view of the distribution of presents.  This same setup allowed me to get exposed to great cinema as a kid, too.  I saw movies like Silence of the Lambs and A Clockwork Orange before I was ten years old.  Some people say it fucked my mind up a little bit, but I see no evidence of that.  
3. My mother, several uncles and cousins have/had substance abuse problems ranging from alcohol to crack.  Thankfully, my mother managed to quit smoking crack sometime around ten years ago and is living a sober life.  Others of my family are not so lucky, and are still addicted to these drugs.  I am thankful that in all my experimentation, the only thing that took hold of me was cigarette smoking, which I started when I was 12.  As of now, I do not smoke or do any sorts of recreational drug and I rarely take NSAIDs or anything similar. I will occasionally get some cheap bottles of wine from CVS (3 for $10) and enjoy a few of those.
4. Speaking of substance abuse, the first person who introduced me to anything resembling Westside Barbell methodology or powerlifting at all worked at a gym in Plant City.  He claimed he trained there and maybe he did.  He later stopped showing up to our lifting sessions due to a warrant out for his arrest involving meth.
5. Plant City was also home to a lot of protestant Christians, and I grew up with a lot of disdain for them.  I took a class on the New Testament in college so I could argue with the Christians in my town.  Later, I would go on to get a degree in religion, focusing on Black Muslims and Malcolm X.  The highlight of this was when I spoke at the American Academy of Religion South Eastern Regional Conference.  My paper was on the Nation of Islam and Gnostic elements within the religion and was a blast to present.  It was the first original thought I had, and I am still proud of it.  To top it off, I had an interesting homeless person encounter.  I was pumping gas on the way back home from Atlanta, and a homeless guy approached me. He asked for food money as I was pumping gas.  He offered a leather jacket in exchange for this food money.  I told him to hold on and he waited.  I went inside to buy some coffee and a bottle of water.  I also bought the homeless guy a burrito, which I warmed up for him.  I went out to hand him his burrito, and he said, "Well, I actually wanted $8.00 so I can get some Boston Market."  I convinced him to take the burrito, and he offered up a leather jacket. As it turns out, he had a bunch of jackets sitting on the ice chests. I declined, and wound up in Tampa, Florida eight hours later.  I unwound myself by watching my favorite live action television show--Married with Children.
   
6. The first person I fell in love with and lost my virginity to was a black immigrant woman from Trinidad. Her mother was a doctor, and together they had the best grasp and command of the English language out of anyone I have met to this day.  We met at a concert when we were in chorus in high school.  I put ice down her shirt, and that was the catalyst that started our relationship.
7. In no particular order, my favorite movies are Apocalypse Now Redux, Terminator 1 & 2, Blade Runner, Malcolm X, and Natural Born Killers. 
8. My favorite musical artist is Prince.  I was fortunate enough to see a concert of his in April of 2004.  It is one of the best shows I have seen, and even for a 46 year old man, he still danced and sang like he did back in the 80's.  The highlight of the show was when he performed an acoustic set of his older material in the center of the stage.  All by his lonesome--and a rhythm guitar accompanist in the shadows.
   
9. My favorite song is "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles.  I think it is the best example of songwriting as a craft, insofar as it defines, develops and resolves a plot relevant to many people.  It does so simply, without any superfluousness and moreover, it has a memorable refrain over a simple chord progression.
10. I am more physically and mentally active at 27 years old than I was at 17, despite having a shitty job at the moment (which most use as an excuse not to do anything at all).  Had I been lifting or playing Jiu Jitsu since I was, I would probably be really good at both of them.  At the very least, I am getting better daily.