My Year in Review 2012

Here's the year in review 2011 - http://getinmyguardbro.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-year-in-review-2011.html

This might be a long post... here we go.

These were my goals:
What do I want t|o do in 2012:
[*]run a 5 or 10k - Why? Since I always feared running and figured I’m not ‘built’ for running. The fact is, I was too fat and out of shape to run. no mas.
[*]Begin 8 week blocks alternating between either running or weights. 2- 1 hour a week sessions.
[*]touch pistol (or sirt) at least 2x a week for 10 minutes with a regimented dry fire session. I still don’t have the time to make it to the range regularly.
[*]Shoot at least 4 IDPA matches. The time pressure is invaluable.
[*]enter a Muay Thai tournament. Even if it’s just an intra-gym tournament, I’ll be happy.
[*]enter at least 2 bjj tournys. Grappling is most complex part of the game I’m trying to play, and tournaments are like compressed training time. Compete.
[*]train more wrestling/takedowns and an integrated MMA game.
[*]continue bjj/mt (duh), and start taking daily notes about training. A log of techniques would be very helpful.
[*]Orchestrate and train with the training group more regularly.
[*]Take ECQC again to see where my game needs improvement
[*]Take AMIS (may be in 2012)
[*]Train with Tactical Response (maybe an hrcc?)
[*]READ for at least 2 hours a week. This can be on the shitter or a dedicated time. Read things to exercise the mind and gain insight into the history of what I’m doing.
[*]Begin doing something related to ‘art’. At least 2 hours a month. Whether it’s writing or taking photos. The samurai understood the need for balance between martial arts and regular art and I’m afraid I’m not balancing myself. Hopefully it will keep me from burning out.

I'll admit that this was a pretty ambitious list. I fell short on a few of the points, but I feel like I was able to complete the most important (to me) ones. Let's start with the failures and missed goals, then work into the success. Finish on a high note.

I failed to touch my pistol for my goal time. I did try to regularly pick up the sirt and do a few presentations and trigger presses. I also tried to dry fire. It's getting harder and harder to get to a range. Plus, the current influx of retards to the shooting lanes makes me want to stay home. There are so many untrained mo-fos waving guns around at ranges. This dovetails into my failure to do IDPA this year. I hope that I can eventually get back into it. It's so good. The financial and time expense is too much at this time. Given the recent madness in ammo and gun prices, I guess I don't feel so bad sitting on what I have. Dry fire will be my friend moving forward. I think I should take the SIRT into the basement in my gym, and do dryfire as a 3-5 minute cooldown. I already have photo-realistic bad guy posters on the walls. I might as well use them.

I didn't get a Muay Thai fight this year. But I did get to spar with some MT fighters, which was plenty... Plenty enough to know that I'm probably not ready for a MT fight! Manu told me on several occasions that I had the best technique of any of his regular students. He also said that if I went to train in Thailand, they'd surely ask me to fight. So that was a great compliment. Since I had to take a hiatus from it in October (until ??), I'll be set back a lot from my MT but it's something I will eventually resume. I have the heavy bag hanging downstairs, so I will put in at least one MT heavy bag workout a week going forward.

I got in only 1 BJJ tournaments this year. The IBJJF Atlanta open. I got crushed. I was going to do the NAGA, but the wife needed my help with home stuff during her pregnancy. All of my classmates were promoted about a month after I left, which is sort of heartbreaking. I should have had my blue belt by now. As long as I don't get fat, and do some floor exercises and solo drilling every once in a while, I should be OK to make my comeback. I miss jits very much, but at the same time, it's great to be able to cycle that to the background and concentrate on other weaknesses.

I didn't get to take AMIS, as the $$$ and timing was off. Nor did I get to a TR class. These were outside hopes anyway.

Those were my failures. Now for the successes:

I actually did run 2 5k's in 2012. On top of that, I was able to run them with my lovely wife. We did the two runs, then shortly after the 2nd one, we found out wife-unit was pregnant. This year I feel like I became a better partner to her. I tried to be less selfish and more understanding of her needs. I also tried my best to find a hobby that we both could do together, and would allow us to get active. The jogging did that for us. This is something that is easy to overlook when you're selfishly trying to accumulate cool guy points. So I feel like this was a huge victory. I'm still not a strong runner, but I know I can run if needed.

I took ECQC in March. Another wonderful learning experience. AAR is on the blog, of course.

I adopted the 8-week training blocks this year. From January 2011 to late October 2012, I was full martial arts mode, with my supplemental training being either a day of LSD running, or a day of deadlifting. I wasn't always super strict about this. After October, I went into lifting weights really heavily. My supplemental training/maintenance training is therefor striking/solo grappling drills, or LSD running. I'm not at a point yet where I'm 'good enough' at one thing to put it on maintenance mode. I know I suck at everything, so I just throw myself into whatever I'm trying to train and just do a little of the other skills until it makes sense to switch my primary focus. I learned a lot about my body this year. Finding limits in nutrition, training volume, intensity, recovery. I am getting better at realizing when I can push through, and when I truly am overtrained and need to take a day off. I learned what foods I can perform well with, and what slows me down. It's a constant evolution.

I trained the martial arts as hard as I could, while I could. I knew my time was limited once I found out we had a baby on they way. I kept good notes that will help me to remember my experiences as well as my techniques. I am VERY HAPPY I kept notes. They are all available on this blog. I did the public accountability route and that worked out for me again. I can't suggest this highly enough.

I read a LOT this year. I read a lot of diet books. 'Wheat Belly', 'The Paleo Solution', the MobilityWOD website, lots of exercise articles, martial arts books, warrior philosophy stuff. Oh, and a TON of baby stuff. I made good on this one.

I think I can count this blog as my 'art'. It made me think about what I was feeling and thinking. I also shared it with the internet, which gives it an aspect of public scrutiny. I think that's the stuff of art. I don't know.

I definitely didn't train with the training group enough this year. We had a great meetup a few months ago, which was wonderful. I guess this was a failure, but since we got to train at least one good meetup, I'll put it in the win column.

OK! so that's how I did on my goals from 2011. How should I move forward?

I think this list will have a lot more body and health items than in years past. I have acquired a level of fitness and health that I do not want to squander or let degrade going forward. It was a lot of hard work to get here, and it would be silly to let myself go. It's very easy to come up with excuses, but I don't want excuses for myself. I want to perform. Here's the list.


What are my reevaluated (self defense) strengths after this year?
1)Mindset
2)fitness
3)empty hands
4)pistol
5)deescalation
6)tactics

I added the self defense parenthesis because now that I have a son, I'll have to add categories like 'family time', 'cooking', and other Mr. Mom stuff. Anyway, here's how I plan on getting better this year. As always, it's a work in progress...

• Care for my body with diet. Minimize Wheat/Grains/Legumes/Dairy. I'll allow myself some wiggle room, but if my main drive is to keep these foods to a minimum, I'll do better overall.
• Keep up the intermittent fasting to keep between 185-190. I'm 191 after all the holiday madness, so I feel like I'm doing OK on that front. I'll be able to tighten back up here in a bit.
• Be a good husband and father. This is not difficult, but I guess I feel obligated to put it down.
• Get stronger. I will continue on with the 5/3/1 program and break PRs. I will also not neglect my cardio and keep up with the road work. I'll have two jogging buddies, so it will be great.
• Try to get back into Jits and or MT at some point this year. If this doesn't happen, I will train solo in the basement at least once a week.
• Practice dry-fire, and implement a regular dry-fire program (this one is important to me). I will also practice lots of one hand work to help me deal with possibly having to hold my son while dealing with a gun problem. Admittedly, shooting has gone down as an interest for me. Now I feel obligated to maintain and improve, but not as much because it's new and exciting, more so because I know just how perishable it is.
• I'll maintain the relationships I've built in the training community, and stay up to date on my information and try to contribute as I can. I still feel like a total newbie on nearly all the subjects I'm interested in, but I love to help someone who is less knowledgeable than me find some light.
• Take AMIS
• Read for 2 hours a week. Any topic, try to make it a book or blog, not a forum. Can't be directly gun related.

Did I forget anything? Thanks for reading, now go write your own!

-M