Yeah, so I bought Blue Gene on my own, received it on Friday, and will be logging my experience here.
Who cares, right? Well, you should! I've agreed to subject myself to the gruelling regimen of judo training, for 2 hours three times a week, to put Blue Gene to the test. Will the 'Stimulant Free Endurance and Stamina' aid my quest for physical power and domination on the mat, or will I end the month a beaten, quivering mass of humanity? Will the Natural Hormone Levels and Recovery optimization rewind my internal clock by 15 years, or will I limp off the mat a cowed aging fool?
About me: I'm 34, and when I started judo 5 months ago I weight 194 at 6'0" with ~10-12% bodyfat, very visible abs. For reference, I was at a 350lb deadlift, and I recently ran a 5k with no running/training in 21:40, came in 3rd in my age group, 49th out of 500.
I completely stopped all other forms of training to do judo. I've wanted to take a martial art for years, and finally broke down and did it. I didn't have a preference as to which art I took, I just wanted 1) a high level of instruction, 2) realistic, full force/full contact training, and 3) something usable on the street.
Judo isn't that popular here in the US, but it's wildly popular elsewhere around the world. Some here may not know what exactly it entails, so, in short, it's basically throws from the standing position, and transitions to grappling on the ground. Brazilian Jiu jitsu was derived from judo, so they share a lot of the same grappling skills.
The training is intense. High level judo fighters have very high levels of fitness, and I believe fighting of any style is as demanding as it gets, with grappling being the hardest. You're in constant tension with your opponent when grappling, and there's no letting up.
Class starts out with a 20-40 minute 'warm-up', which consists of pretty much every calesthenic known to man, and then some, back-to-back: running, pushups, situps, crunches, leg raises/flutters/planks, lunges, and a lot of pairing up and lifting/pulling/gragging the other guy around. It's brutal.
Then class starts. We do 15-20 minutes instruction and practice of a technique and/or its variations, then 15 minutes of ground fighting. Another 10 minutes of practicing stand-up techniques, then 45 minutes of all out full-contact fighting/throwing.
It's a weird combination of aerobic endurance with many intense anaerobic bursts. I spend a lot of time with someone elses weight on my, lifting them, pulling them, directing them. I get thrown countless times a class, 50 or more. In the beginning getting up is tiring, all by itself. Getting thrown hurts, though I'm getting better at falling. I've had a concussion, nasty cauliflower ear, wicked sprained toes, a sprained foot/ankle, wicked sore finger joints, and tons of weird bruises and ****ed up shin swelling.
So far on Blue Gene: I'm on my 4th day, and I've been working very hard, with little sleep, but I had wood the last two mornings. When I'm this tired, it doesn't happen, so take that for what its worth. Nothing else to report.
My first class on Blue Gene is tomorrow, so I'll be back then!
Here's a vid of judo ippons, or scoring, match-finishing throws:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlkAeYbNjEg&feature=related"]YouTube - Extreme Judo (HQ) - High Quality[/ame]
And for fun:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMJixq-LbgI"]YouTube - James Cagney does Judo[/ame]
Who cares, right? Well, you should! I've agreed to subject myself to the gruelling regimen of judo training, for 2 hours three times a week, to put Blue Gene to the test. Will the 'Stimulant Free Endurance and Stamina' aid my quest for physical power and domination on the mat, or will I end the month a beaten, quivering mass of humanity? Will the Natural Hormone Levels and Recovery optimization rewind my internal clock by 15 years, or will I limp off the mat a cowed aging fool?
About me: I'm 34, and when I started judo 5 months ago I weight 194 at 6'0" with ~10-12% bodyfat, very visible abs. For reference, I was at a 350lb deadlift, and I recently ran a 5k with no running/training in 21:40, came in 3rd in my age group, 49th out of 500.
I completely stopped all other forms of training to do judo. I've wanted to take a martial art for years, and finally broke down and did it. I didn't have a preference as to which art I took, I just wanted 1) a high level of instruction, 2) realistic, full force/full contact training, and 3) something usable on the street.
Judo isn't that popular here in the US, but it's wildly popular elsewhere around the world. Some here may not know what exactly it entails, so, in short, it's basically throws from the standing position, and transitions to grappling on the ground. Brazilian Jiu jitsu was derived from judo, so they share a lot of the same grappling skills.
The training is intense. High level judo fighters have very high levels of fitness, and I believe fighting of any style is as demanding as it gets, with grappling being the hardest. You're in constant tension with your opponent when grappling, and there's no letting up.
Class starts out with a 20-40 minute 'warm-up', which consists of pretty much every calesthenic known to man, and then some, back-to-back: running, pushups, situps, crunches, leg raises/flutters/planks, lunges, and a lot of pairing up and lifting/pulling/gragging the other guy around. It's brutal.
Then class starts. We do 15-20 minutes instruction and practice of a technique and/or its variations, then 15 minutes of ground fighting. Another 10 minutes of practicing stand-up techniques, then 45 minutes of all out full-contact fighting/throwing.
It's a weird combination of aerobic endurance with many intense anaerobic bursts. I spend a lot of time with someone elses weight on my, lifting them, pulling them, directing them. I get thrown countless times a class, 50 or more. In the beginning getting up is tiring, all by itself. Getting thrown hurts, though I'm getting better at falling. I've had a concussion, nasty cauliflower ear, wicked sprained toes, a sprained foot/ankle, wicked sore finger joints, and tons of weird bruises and ****ed up shin swelling.
So far on Blue Gene: I'm on my 4th day, and I've been working very hard, with little sleep, but I had wood the last two mornings. When I'm this tired, it doesn't happen, so take that for what its worth. Nothing else to report.
My first class on Blue Gene is tomorrow, so I'll be back then!
Here's a vid of judo ippons, or scoring, match-finishing throws:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlkAeYbNjEg&feature=related"]YouTube - Extreme Judo (HQ) - High Quality[/ame]
And for fun:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMJixq-LbgI"]YouTube - James Cagney does Judo[/ame]