Concrete Jungle where Dreams are made

New York. One month. Jiu Jitsu? I’m gonna learn... Jiu Jitsu? 

Flight, taxi, hostel, Tanja and Katherina and Flavio and Phillipe. Alone, jet lagged, settling in, wandering around, getting my bearings. I’m not in Kansas any more. Superbowl, sleepiness, bewilderment. Sleep. Jen, Jiu Jitsu, Vitor and Loro, Gabriel and Tete and too many others to name you all, my jiu jitsu family. Blues, purples, browns and blacks, oh my! Side control, collar choke, tap tap tap.

This is the end...

Happy Christmas everybody, and a Messy New Year!

So the year is rolling to a close. Almost everyone seems to have switched off for Christmas, taking it easy until the New Year rolls around before attempting once again to take things by the scruff of the neck. But, hey, why wait? Life’s about momentum. Finish 2010 in style, and starting 2011 with a bang will be that much easier.

My friend R___  mentioned that instead of waiting for January to make a big push, when everyone is in the gym, he always makes an effort to get his work done in December, when everyone else is winding down. That way, when the New Year arrives, he is already in shape and ready to start the year running.

What Would I Do?

"I am so smart! S-M-R-T... I mean S-M-A-R-T!"

It's December! Whooo! Bleh. Bear with me folks, I'm a little sick of writing right now, having churned out just over 50,000 words in the last month for NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. So here's another article I wrote a year ago. Normal service will resume shortly.

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What Would I Do?

"Stupid like a fox!"

I’ve read far more self-help material than I’ll ever need and attended countless seminars, all in the aim of gathering every little scrap of knowledge out there. I recently realised that I knew more tricks, tips and techniques than I’d ever need to know and was becoming paralysed by too much information. Obviously my response to this revelation was to go and read more to discover how I could get past this hurdle. Since then, I’ve read even more, experimented with different techniques, consulted with different coaches, mentors and therapists, and also worked with several students to improve their confidence in social situations.

Here's one I made earlier

Oof. Busy as sin at the moment, from training and work. Because of that, I thought I'd dig out this old article I wrote a year or so ago. What does being fit and healthy mean to you, and what would you do to get there?

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The Difference between Health and Fitness

Kick around in the park - fun and social

A lot of people talk about ‘getting fit’, or trying to be ‘healthy’. It’s the sort of vague New Year’s resolution or earnest promise that often falls by the wayside, precisely because it can mean almost anything. The key thing is to understand exactly what being fit or healthy entails.

Most people aren’t influenced by the government’s constantly changing recommended level of weekly exercise. For most people, it’s about somehow enriching their lives in some fashion. It’s about fun, achievement. Otherwise it would be hard for many people to continue, because the truth is, when you begin any exercise regime for the first time, it’s a sore and painful experience.

Learning - Mastery and Failure

How do you learn?

One model used to analyze the process suggests that we learn in a few different ways. Some of us learn by seeing something done, or by reading about it, while others take in information when someone explains it to them. Others understand when they actually do something for themselves.

That's how you learn to do something right, anyway. You see something done right, you try and copy it, you don't do so well, you do it again and get better, until you succeed.

Living the Dream

We all have an idea of our dream lifestyle. It's something that you can think about, a crumb of comfort as you go about your work, treading water.

After I read Tim Ferriss' excellent book, "The Four Hour Work Week", I started to think about the route I was going down and where I wanted to be. The two paths weren't even close to each other.

Tim talks about the 'deferred life plan', the traditional western model where you work a job to save up enough money to eventually retire and live the life you want. Obvious downside: you have to wait until you retire to do all the crazy stuff, by which time you're old. Sure you can go on holiday, but if you want to take a longer period off you're going to have a tough time explaining this in a traditional career setting.

So Here We Are

Well, this is it, the first significant post on my blog.

Now why the hell should anyone choose to share their thoughts and experiences with the world at large, or even with their close acquaintances? Especially with something that cuts rather close to pure narcissism and pretension.

I try, not always successfully, to push myself in new directions, to try new things, so by writing about it I hope to share some of the lessons I've learned from the experiences I've had. Maybe I can pique your interest in some of my passions, or titillate you with voyeuristic episodes, or just make you shake your head in disgust.

I also want to share with you some of the more interesting things I see and hear throughout the day, whether they're thought provoking, interesting or just plain funny. Expect to see songs I love, clips from movies, or whatever.