Autumntiger's Blog
A Priori, Ad InfinitumTiger’s World
There are very few guarantees or promises that can be made in this life. After having spent years of training people– shaping their bodies, minds and lives I can only promise three things. This is the code by which I train, this is the code by which I live:
- I will always be polite.
- I will always give you a good workout.
- I will never ask you to do anything that I haven’t done or wouldn’t do myself.
Step into my world. Get started with Results Fitness Training at Tipton Lakes Athletic Club. Experience the difference of professional training.
Journey of the Tiger #8
This entry has been a long time coming. Originally, I wanted to release a new entry for my blog every week during the year of the Tiger. After some trials and tribulations, I have discovered that it will work better if I just release a new post once a month. So here it is, the long-awaited #8.
Where things left off, is where they really began. It started with me doing something that I hadn’t done in a long time…playing music in front of a crowd. There was an open mic night at the Columbus Bar, not so long ago. It was exciting and scary all at the same time. I have to say, that I was moved beyond words by the number of people who came to see me play. It was such an unbelievably good feeling! This is when several things began to occur to me…
If you know anything about me, you know that I believe in living to help others. This, I feel, is my purpose in life. I realize that I’m not the only person to feel this way, but it feels like I’ve lived 5 or 6 lifetimes in just three and a half decades. Let me explain:
Just like all beings, I have had to find my way through this life. I have had so many different interests throughout different points; martial arts, poetry, music and fitness. For the longest time they seemed to have been there for a while, and then gone, and sometimes they come back. I could never figure out what I was supposed to do with all of these things. I just thought that they were things that I was fairly good at doing, but that was it. It had occurred to me that they were there to reach people, but it still felt like a bunch of fragmented pieces…that was, until the open mic night.
When something you been trying to attain (whether you realize that you’ve been trying to attain it or not) clicks inside of you, it can be both rewarding and frightening. It was no different in this case. People from all of my different worlds; fitness, poetry, music and Kung Fu had come together. It was like the Universe was screaming in my ear, and saying, “Wake up stupid! Your entire life’s purpose is in one room!” The feeling that washed over me was indescribable!
In the subsequent time since that evening, I have done a considerable amount of soul searching. I have really been trying to get back to exactly who and what I am inside. It has definitely come with some balancing. In the past, I have made the mistake of riding to high on the wave, only to have it come crashing down. I am now trying to learn from the previous challenges, and make more positive changes in my life so that I may affect other lives in a positive way. So far, not bad…I feel it will continue to improve. It is, like all things, a matter of devotion and daily practice.
I have realized that no matter what you go after, you still have to live everyday, and do all of the things that make you…well…you. I let my workouts slip a bit, and the nutrition kind of went to hell. It is only now that I feel I am on the other side of things with a new and improved point of view. I can still spend hours at work, and achieve all of the things that I am here to achieve. It is, as I have said before, a matter of balance. Finally, I think I’ve got a better handle on things, but I will always bear in mind that everyday, I must reaffirm my purpose and direction. Stay tuned….you are all a big part of it….and thanks in advance!
Journey of the Tiger #6
Yet another installment of the week’s events. This week, as I’m sure you might have noticed, has taken a different shape. The snow has been falling and the winds have been gusting. On top of all that, it has been freezing cold. Not the best week ever, unless you go to school, in which case you’ve had quite a nice little vacation.
I had a mini-vacation this week too…well.. maybe it was more like a mini-adventure. If you’ve read “Fork in the Road”, then I briefly touch on the beginning of the week. Yes, it’s true…truck trouble. One of the most helpless feelings in the world, comes from the problems that arise with our vehicle. It is easy to feel very defeated, and uncertain about what to do.
Well, after giving Ian a call for a ride, and just not worrying about it while I was at work, I decided to take Tuesday off to get this handled. So there I was, Tuesday–about noonish–waiting for my friend to come help me get my truck started, so I could have it fixed. I was not in the best of moods, as the blistering winds cut right through my soul. In point of fact, I was very angry and stand-offish. This is not a usual mood for me, and as a result, I become really unpleasant to be around. It’s nice to have a friend who accepts you at face value and weathers the storms with you. Nonetheless, if I had paid a little more attention to my vehicle, it wouldn’t have come to this.
You see, sometimes we just live our lives at break-neck speeds. We are so caught up in the pace, that we forget to listen to what our vehicle is saying to us until it stops working. In the case of my truck, I needed to change battery, in the case of our bodies, we sometimes need to re-charge our batteries. Tuesday…I did both.
I came back Wednesday with a vengeance! I worked out in the morning instead of the afternoon as I had been doing. It felt good. All the usual suspects were there: the tire, TRX, the jump rope and also the long shoreman’s rope and heavy bag. Then, I had an idea. I sent one of my Kung Fu brothers a text. He was going to be off work at about 1:30, so I asked him if he could come in and do a little sparring. It was great! We did an MMA-style sparring session without pads. Oh man! Sparring is awesome, but when you both have enough control to fight bare knuckle, it is even more realistic and fun.
Thursday’s workout was pretty intense. John had me running on a slight incline for longer intervals. It was very taxing, but I felt good after I was finished.
Friday’s workout was good. I warmed up on the treadmill and hit the resistance hard. I was on another plane of existence–it was awesome!
The nutrition this week, was a little tough. There’s something about catching up with an old friend that lends itself to throwing back a couple of beers…and fried mushrooms, and some ungodly chocolate dessert with ice cream and chocolate sauce all over it. That was probably the biggest leap off of the straight and narrow nutrition path that I have this week. Luckily, by staying fairly faithful to my nutrition, it didn’t have too negative an effect on me.
In reality, staying on your nutrition plan is helpful way to keep your body burning a lot of calories, but you can “shock” your body by eating outside of your plan. Here’s how it works:
Your body grows and changes based on the fact that it gets “shocked”. When you alter something e.g. exercise, nutrition or rest, it has an effect on your body that causes it to work harder, hence it burns more calories. So the next time you want to spark that metabolism; change something—it will keep your vehicle running at top speed.
Fork in the Road#1 Overcoming Adversity
Hello everyone. This is the first, “Fork in the Road”. I have sat here for about 3 weeks writing various versions of this draft with different themes, but until now, they just didn’t feel right. These are small supplementary articles that, hopefully, will let you get to know me better, and my approach to life.
Adversity–it’s all around us–and we all deal with it in a different way. My nature is strongly in tune with bending things to my will, and forcing my them into submission if they don’t. This is a very strong karma to overcome. My common sense and experience tells me that this just won’t work, but sometimes we want to accomplish certain things so badly, that we forget to look at the situation or goal. Instead, we run head-first into the issue without looking at the things that surround it. Impatience becomes our downfall. Here’s an example:
You wake up one morning, and feel like you can take on the world, then you realize that you woke up late and missed a very important appointment. Realizing this, you get yourself together and head out the door. You throw your stuff in the truck, and get ready to take off. But wait! Now your truck doesn’t start. This is nice. So now what do you do? You get a ride into work and get your day started. This is how today started for me. In the past, it would have driven me crazy. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not happy with the fact that today hasn’t flowed like I wanted….and therein lies the issue.
So what?! If you wait for outside conditions to change so you can be happy, you’re missing the point entirely. You have to be happy and experience joy just because you are happy and want to be joyful. So, by the same token, if you are sad, is it because you have allowed something to make you that way? More often than not, that is the case. The key word here, is “allowed”. If you allow things to get in your way, then that’s always going to happen. So, how do you overcome? How do you not let things get in the way? How do you remain unfettered? I can only tell you how I do it. I hope that this will be of some use to you, as you find your way along your own journey.
The first thing that I always try to remember, is that I couldn’t possibly be the first person that this has ever happened to in the course of human history. It doesn’t seem that way at times, but you have to think about the fact that we all share the same or similar experiences and that although the conditions of those experiences may not take exactly the same shape, they do sometimes share the same issue at heart.
The next thing for me to think about is that, no matter how seemingly impossible, it’s not insurmountable. We all have the ability to adapt and change and grow, and affect the world around us in a positive way. You just have to make the choice to do that. This is where being stubborn is of the most use to me. Countless times I have tried to accomplish things, and countless times I have failed, only to find that I have grown stronger and gained victories in other areas.
The third thing for me is to realize that I have gotten to where I am by being what I am. I have to trust that. If you don’t have some kind of faith in yourself, you’ll never be able to help others find faith in themselves.
Everything that happens to me, happens because I have to endure it–not just for my own growth–but so that I become stronger for those around me. It is my path, my karma, my calling. When I think of it in those terms, how can I possibly think that my problems are so big? They aren’t, and once that sinks in, I move past it again.
Trust yourself, and let the chips fall where they may. You’ll be surprised at just how much easier things are to deal with.
Journey of the Tiger #5
Hey Everyone! It has been a great week again, and I’m sitting here to break down the stuff I’ve been working on over the past week. This week was just a great learning week for me, as I have had to really stay strong on the inside as well as the outside. That’s really nothing new, but you know how life’s lessons work; there are always reminders to keep us on track.
This week has been very challenging, because I have been very tired. Again, nothing new, but when times like these present themselves, it’s really important to recharge your spirit. And here’s how I did it:
Monday was a great workout! I had probably the hardest workout that I have had in a long time. I ran at the 6 minute mile pace for 4.5 minutes. It hurt worse than the week before (of course), but it was so worth it. After that, I worked out for probably another hour. I did some really fun snatches with the kettlebells and combined them with plyo push-ups. That was tough, but it wasn’t quite enough. Tire flips and one-handed sledge hammer swings added to the torture, and I finished off on the heavy bag. It was a great workout, but when I was done, I was done.
Tuesday, I had intended to work some technique, but I was so tired, and so busy, that I just couldn’t get motivated. I still did my Kung Fu workouts with my teacher in the afternoon, and my friend in the evening—and that was enough.
Wednesday felt pretty good. I did some more resistance and felt re-charged. It is always very taxing on Wednesday. It is hump day for lots of people, but it’s a little more like “mountain” day for me. It is a 14 hour day every week that has very little down time. When things do slow down, I exercise. The workouts that I have on Wednesday are probably the most important in terms of taking some time for myself, so I really have to make them count. This is something that I hope everyone can do for themselves. Even if you are at work, you could do push-ups or squats or just sit in silence in your office to unplug from the rest of the world. It’s a great way to keep your energy up.
Thursday was a good workout with John from Acceleration Indiana. I was pressed for time, so I ran flat sprints on the treadmill. I do believe that I am getting faster. It’s like anything else; sometimes you don’t see the results right away, but they are there. John had me run at increasing speed for 8 seconds at a time. To put this into perspective, when you do a speed test, you run for six seconds. I know this doesn’t seem like much, but it really is another world. The final run was for 6 seconds at my top speed. I am handling it better, but it is still hard. I’ve just got to keep chipping away at it.
My Kung Fu workout with my teacher was good. I made a few more minor improvements. They all add up, and the end result is pretty cool. Hard work over time equals great skill—it’s just not always so easy to remember that.
Friday’s workout was awesome! I have been working out in the afternoon, because I’ve been so busy in the morning. This has actually been good. It’s always kind of nice to change things up a bit, and make your body grow and adapt. Sometimes the changes that occur are unexpected, but our ability to adapt is one of the most valuable attributes that we can have.
My nutrition is still improving. The great thing is; the more stable your nutrition becomes, the more you are able to deal with a bad eating day. I try to keep my nutrtitional falterings limited to the weekend, but sometimes it’s hard. When we are on the go all the time, we sometimes get caught up in the moment, and forget or don’t care about nutrition as we should. I’m still working on making small improvements—-one day at a time.
