Drawing Instead of Rolling and WOOTW #73

A few weeks ago I promised to explain the new element I added to my workout system — the little wooden paint stirrers you see on the right.

The basic idea is that the workout regimens of martial artists, who need to be ready for anything, should include an element of randomness.

I used to introduce randomness by rolling dice of various kinds, and I still do use them for inspiration.  But the problem with dice is that they’re a little too random.

Let’s say you workout six days a week and every day you roll a six-sided dice to determine your workout.   Your chance of rolling a 6 once/week = 6 x 1/6 or 100%.  That’s what’s called “odds on.”  But what happens is that you’ll roll 6 twice in one week with surprising regularity, and you’ll skip a week rather often too.   Every dice roll is completely independent of the last.

But if you write numbers on six paint stirrers and pull one out of cup each day — and you don’t put it back the cup is empty — you know you will get a 6 once per week.  And only once.  That’s why I went with the new method.

Now I have 12 sticks in a cup, each one with a different focus written on it.  Depending on how much time I have on a given day, I pull a stick or two from the cup and get to work.  And since I leave sticks out until the cup is empty, I get the randomness  I need while making it impossible to go more than six to twelve days without working on each one of the twelve items.

Why not try making your own?

And now for the workout of the week.

Cabal Fang Martial Arts Workout of the Week #73

• One-Armed Bandit.  Defend against an imaginary bandit using just one hand!  Set a timer for 2 rounds of 5:00/1:00.  Tie a rope around your waist or put on a karate belt and tuck your left wrist under it — or just grab your belt with your left hand.  Go at your heavy bag with self-defense level aggression using just your right hand until the timer beeps.  Switch hands for the second round.  Don’t forget to modify your shell and use defensive maneuvers like bobs, slips, pops and rolls between groups of shots.  “But I don’t have a heavy bag,” you say?  Make one or shadowbox — no excuses.
• Describe your moral compass.  Get out your training log or journal and describe in 100 words or less your moral compass.  What is “north” — your primary orientation and the positive morality you are heading toward?  What lies to the “south” — the thing you’re heading away from?  What are the secondary and tertiary moral issues to the “east” and “west?” 

Did you enjoy reading this?  Then the Cabal Fang book will blow your mind.  Buy a paper copy on Amazon or from Createspace or download the ebook here.