Cut off our arms to spite the innoculators

A man fires a rifle for many years. At the end of year four he hands the rifle over to the armorer, returns the card entitling him to the rifle, and sets sail for the eastern seaboard.

A man lifts a kettlebell for many years. There is no end to this era as the kettlebell, much more than a tool for stopping and killing, is to the man's fingers as the brush to the artist's. The pencil to the carpenter, or the counting frame to the abacist. From steel he creates fire, and reborn in the fire is flesh.

Post rebirth, after the neural network processors have rewired themselves in accordance with the new armor, the brush's strokes are cleaner. The lines drawn by the pencil more precise, and the arithmetic is far less prone to error. I never bet that I would end up like I did, but the farthest thing from my heart now is regret. Formerly I begged for situations to present themselves again so that I may alter the future in erasing the past. Currently, the nature of the situation and the rhythmic fashion in which these situations manifest is at long last, 100% clear.

I say again, at long last, the chronology of the cycles which indicate bipolar disorder in my brain housing is now clear.

'Moonlight is thought to transform some people into strange creatures or to drive others mad'

One month.
31 days.
Moon cycles.
I move in and out of stability like the moon around our rock.

Monthly, human females release an egg, and when unfertilized, the ripe lining of the uterus sheds as there will be no need for the plump tissue. The egg passes, and the days following the death include blood loss, physical pain, and emotional disorientation. In some cases, anyway.

Monthly, I wake anew, fresh from slumber lasting no more than 8 hours. I release an urge, and when handled, it allows for the birth of art, written words in prosaic poses, and physical outings that exact the intention of the brush, the pencil, the rifle, and the bell. I stroke, I draw the lines, I fire the well aimed shot and I lift the weight. When discounted, the urge, and all the spokes radiating from it, will come to rest in the area of my brain that makes decisions, and it will forge blindness. It will disable my ability to recognize the star behind the clouds and the simple effort it takes to realign this vessel with it's mother. Knowing the urge and handling it bring progressions. Sleepwalk capsule ingestion* and both active and passive ignorance of the change, the urge, the chemistry, are disastrous. The vessel needs not be numbed, or lubed, for relief. The armor must be policed, and the systems analyzed IOT promote growth. No decline, only demarcation. This day is the release of the egg. That day becomes i-n-i-t-i-a-t-i-o-n. On that day I clean the brush, I sharpen the pencil, I press the weight.

I lift the weight off my chest.

Every month I go through a change. It is small, it is subtle, yet the consequence of my settlement with the change is what creates the waves, or facilitates walking across the tremulant sea. I don't always notice it. Until last night I was not even aware that the cycles were this compressed, or that agreeing and disagreeing with the shifts dictates the length of progression or recovery, yet a foggy patrol northbound to the stage gave me the chance to asses. To search, to discover, and to decide.

I will not even attempt to delineate the length of the meso-cycles within the macro cycle of a month. Please understand that while the timing of my mental cycle is now clear, I cannot deftly define the reasons why, beyond the undeniable fact that I was born in 1979.

I have a dozen or so strong days where I feel refreshed and creative far beyond compare. I work in overdrive gear and wear myself down. The vessel tires, and despite excellent fueling habits I grow weary. Days of recovery include lots of sleep and little weight lifting. I become upset with myself for low energy levels and begin to question my existence. I will make a bad decision and, if the lesson is learned, I carry on and have moments like this. If the lesson goes unlearned, and the student fails the course in absentia, the depression festers and the cycle prolongs itself. Showing up for class is only half of it. Reading the required text and exacting foresight is crucial. My name is Eric Owen Williams Junior, born to Eric Senior and Debra Lee Smithgall. I was scheduled to be born in 1978, but I procrastinated. It was cold outside and Mom was a warm home. If I could remember that home maybe I would call them. Maybe they would have gotten more than a 'season's greeting' card.

Today, I feel strong.

This cycle is of strength and lessons learned.

The plan is to reduce, and add by subtracting.

I am surrounded by medicine and I am without an itch right now. Right now. Which is forever.

'Does the moon actually posses such strange powers, or is it all just. . .lunacy'

W2

*I do not take sleeping pills. That was an homage to At The Drive In's final studio recording 'Relationship of Command'.

Keeping with traditions, and tremuleant seas

32kg AM Session 0800
Get Up x 1rl
Swings x 12 x 20
Bent Press x 2R 1L
Swings [centering] x5rl x10r x 10l
Bent Press recovery, previous reps were weak.
2L x 2R. Half a man.
[more swings] x 5RL, 15 two handed, 20 two handed.
Saluted the sun, briefly.

I had some body work done. Not a material addition, as the month of November hosted a pair of mods. My friends, my friend The Boogie RKC sent me some swell messages with her gifted digits, and I was left floating on my way into The Joe, a workplace unlike any other in retail. And in reatil we play with hard, repetitive work.
Opening boxes, placing many small units on shelves, and hoisting from awkward spots are the most common tweakables. Breaking down a pallet of, for example, 50 cases can take a veteran crew member as little as 15 minutes. To wheel the stacks of boxes, numbering 8-9 and loaded with factory sealed non-perishable products, may also take a short burst. These tasks are dexterous activities that also cycle in the hundreds over a 5 hour stint working when the store is closed. iPod and kettlebell career have enabled me to work safely and lift through the two or three hundred get ups, squats, lunges, cleans, carries, and awkward shoulder, arm, and wrist rotations each day.

Verily, 'tis the working man's day and season that adds the profitable roll call another rank
The kettlebell as a means of saving my vessel, and income streams, through longevity and impregnable joint mobility.

Such an awesome job with the reality of cumulative microtrauma. My wrists, and sternum were points of huge release as she located some residuals from clutching boxes, dozen upon dozen, as they come off a pallet, or from cradling those bastards like children. I rack them at my high shoulder or carry them on my head of they are light. But I'll be damned if my anterior, in its entirety, was hummin'. So I tuned in and she left me good for another day. Dial her up in Exton PA at The Dragon Gym for her girya generosity, and ask about the knots she will decrypt on your skeletal muscle.

Please take the liberty of several readings of this brief issue.
Walt Whitman has brought you A Christmas Greeting.

Welcome, Brazilian brother--thy ample place is ready;
A loving hand--a smile from the north--a sunny instant hall!
(Let the future care for itself, where it reveals its troubles,
impedimentas,
Ours, ours the present throe, the democratic aim, the acceptance and
the faith;)
To thee to-day our reaching arm, our turning neck--to thee from us
the expectant eye,
Thou cluster free! thou brilliant lustrous one! thou, learning well,
The true lesson of a nation's light in the sky,
(More shining than the Cross, more than the Crown,)
The height to be superb humanity.

Cheers!

Our Mother, winter.

I began to track workouts in October, titling them after successive letters in the Alphabet such as 'Charlie don't surf' and 'Echo-4 Whiskey' for 'C' & 'E'. I took some time off the King Ghidorah S&C module, which looks like this.

Sunday: ROP medium ladders, and 36:36 mV02 snatching*.
Tuesday: Sumo Deadlifting, 3-5 x 3-5 method, ROP hard ladders.
Wednesday: Variety = Pull ups and deadlifting, foam roller and mobility squats.
Thursday: Light ROP ladders, snatching to roughly 75-80% of previous session.
*Climbing indicates more sets than previous week's high total.

The brief rest period of nearly two weeks initiated when each joint in my body sang, in unison, one fine morning, 'Slow your roll, Jarhead'. Two years ago I would have trained through it. This time I relaxed. I ate like a warrior and contracted strep throat. A week into the Antibiotics, and I am weight training again.

I cannot direct you to my source, however new data further supporting the Hard Style's approach to kettlebell training is out there, and someone saw fit to point me in that direction. I need no further proof that the Hard Man's path of crackerjack pull up performance [tactical chinning, and using ladders to build high rep-max set numbers], yet the text confirms what we already know. We know that Pavel's Pull Up Program design is unparalleled. No one on this rock is going to unlock anything new, with regard to the pull up mechanical or to it's implementation, that Chief has not already given us. Furthermore, 'laser like' focus on the eccentric portion of any weighted movement is something drilled home to me, distinctly, by Chief. That being said, I have not even fully digested my reading assignments, yet they are filling me with gusto previously only seen in mountain goats.

I spoke of wanting to saturate my life in new numbers and planning once I read this text, however, it does not beg for me to rearrange my training. Rather, it assures me that, though selected from three separate yet respected weight training texts, Ghidorah's weight training schedule is top gear. Fit to formalize a human body into armor clad war-dog status. In descending chrono, here are my three most 'recent' sessions.

Week One Tuesday 9 December 1900 hours
Max V02 36:36 protocol. 16 reps, 16kg.
20 sets complete, one minor clock deviation, remedied on-the-fly.
Alternated hands quite often, and never snatched more than two sets consecutive. It is late fall, and 'twas warm last night, but I wrapped the paws with some Bedazzled sock sleeves courtesy of a San Diego County RKC who, I am sure, does not even own a winter coat. Thanks I-V.

Vilification Thursday 27 November 1130 hours. Ladder = Set. Rung = Repetition, get it right.
Tactical Pull Up ladders, using only body weight, 1-2-3 rungs for 3 ladders.
Sumo Deadlift, a very unglamorous 4 sets of 3 reps with 210lbs. My Sumo is in it's infancy, for all you true meat monkey's out there. Spot me a conventional rep and I'll pull 445 in your mama's kitchen right now.

Under the cover of night Tuesday 18 November 1500 hours

Tactical Pull Up Ladder 1-2-3, rest 3:00.
Add a 4kg to my boot/drop it and get a rep: 1/1, 2/2, 3/3.
One straight set, +4kg, of 5 reps.

Alphabetical requirements complete in X,Y, and Zulu time.

This is Corporal Punishment, back to the War Zone.

Preemptive emcees

In previewing next text from trusted sources, I feel like I should have myself repping and sampling the formats offered in [TBA] and [ATBA} on the double. After I recently agreed to follow an infrequent nonetheless planned assault, loaded with ROP pressing, 3-5 method for sumo deadlifting. A coordinated effort to dabble in Max V02 36:36. An honest pact that brought Floor pulling and overhead work in nicely, conditioning the hands and quick lift armor with some KJ Viking spirit. My quiver is packed and I ain't comin' home. Stand by for SALUTE report.

Size: 24kg ROP, +200lbs. barbell, 16kg
Activity: Presing, Pulling, Snatching
Location: Driveways and Dancefloors
Unit: 808s and Heartbreak
Time: ZERO hours
Equipment: Russian Kettlebell Challenge honed bells.



This came via an RKC instructor at Charm City Kettlebells, in Baltimore, MD.