Exercising All the Muscles

I may have found myself an opportunity to do some writing about BJJ. As in a professional thing.

When I think of all the things I could possibly do to make money, I really can't think of anything that I would love more than to work on my own schedule, immersed in the flow of the creative process of stringing together words that please me, on topics related to my other passion - the flow of stringing together combative moves that please me - for an audience of people who not only don't think I'm crazy for loving this, but who love it just as much.

So it was an exciting week, thinking about this possibility and how much fun it will be if it happens.

It comes on the heels of the interesting mix of audio books that have been enlightening me while I'm driving or working around the house.  One is Scott Young's Ultralearning, which is all about how to learn Difficult Things.  Young regularly challenges himself to do just that, and he challenges others to do the same and share their success stories, which are interesting and a good source of inspiration. Another along the same lines is by chess champ and martial artist Josh Waitzkin - The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance.  And finally, the 4 Hour Work Week, by Tim Ferriss, which describes how to turn an interest or knowledge set into a business idea that you can automate and run from anywhere in the world, then go about using the funds generated by said  enterprise to go forth and live your best life.

Was it serendipity that this writing opportunity arose when I had been priming myself for it for weeks, or did I notice it and pounce on it due to this priming itself?  It doesn't really matter either way.  I'm ready for some challenges.

So I'm here, exercising my writing muscles, which have been atrophied by years of blogging once every 6 months instead of daily or weekly.  I'm hoping this goes better than the Planet Fitness membership and my vow to go strengthen my physical muscles. I've had the membership for a few months and I think I've gone twice. What can I say - I'm a creature of habit and going home after work and eating and staying there are the habits I've developed. My dog and TV and laptop and books are here. Most days I've already done a morning BJJ class, so it's not like I'm a couch potato. The Planet, with its machines and yellow and purple walls and mirrors,  just feels so... foreign. And inhospitable. 

I do need the muscles, though. As usual, I'm running into problems where the lack of size and strength of my body is holding me back from fulfilling my potential at my sport. I'm a purple belt, but I get out-muscled and out-squished by lower belts, and my additional experience and technical knowledge are useless if I'm trapped under someone.

I've spent the last few weeks working on just one technique with The Guru - and I can tell he's getting frustrated that I still can't reliably execute the thing - a basic stiff-arm escape from the bottom of side control.  He added some core exercises to the mix this weekend which were not easy for me to do (and this evening I'm feeling a mild preview of the soreness I'm going to feel tomorrow). In addition to my wimpy core, we've tweaked the timing piece and the angle piece, Saturday the Coach's Coach added a leverage piece. Today, my regular Sixam Coach had me add a whole other limb to the equation, essentially slipping my knee in to reinforce what my weak upper body wasn't doing on its own.  I'm hoping this will be the key because all this feeling sucky is bringing me down.

It's a familiar pattern, this being enticed by a new challenge, wanting to be good at it, working and working at it to the point that I feel like I'm banging my head against a wall, coming at it from all different angles, overthinking and obsessing over it, and then finally getting angry - which is where it usually clicks.  I suspect that the Guru knows this by now, and knows the best way to expedite the process is to be the one who brings out the anger... but that's just a theory.

Which brings me to the other set of muscles he has me working - the Math Muscles. A couple of weeks ago, he brought home an Introduction to Analysis text for me - apparently intended for the transition between undergrad and graduate levels for math students.  I still haven't finished high school Calculus, but it actually doesn't matter, both Abstract Algebra and Analysis seem to involve a different skill set than normal math.  We've tinkered with these topics many, many times over the years, but this is the first time there has been a book (two books, actually, because the Abstract Algebra one was mine) guiding our math nerding. So it's serious now.

There are very few numbers involved in this kind of math.  It's mostly squiggles and Greek letters that need to be combined and recombined into proofs of the fundamental truths that underlie all the other types of math. I'm making a point of doing all the exercises, because it's too easy to read the text and say, "sure this makes sense," but then realize I'm completely clueless when it's time to create my own solution or proof.  With practice, it starts to become comfortable, but it's not easy. This weekend, I likened it to looking at a Magic Eye picture that seems impossibly complex and thoroughly meaningless, but after looking at it for a while, (and maybe getting a little frustrated over it) there's a sudden shift and - voila, something real emerges.  Those moments are gratifying and addictive, keeping me motivated to plug away at this stuff, craving those little hits of dopamine that come with them.

Hoping for similar moments on the mats as I try to pull together all these pieces of timing, leverage, angles, and yes, strength and an extra limb if needed - to consistently get unstuck from that position. And then write about it all.

All the muscles, working really hard as we head into Fall.