WAKF & Crossfit Blog

Bar Complexes

May 22nd, 2013

gritHaving trouble picking your weight on a bar complex?  Here’s an easy piece of advice: work your weakest lift in the complex and you’ll soon find your weight.  Because if you can only do 100 pounds on your weakest lift in the complex then you can only do 100 pounds for the whole thing.  Easy.

Now just because it’s an easy solution doesn’t mean it abolishes frustration.  In fact, coming out and acknowledging that weak link may actually increase your irritation.  The good news is now you’ve got something else to work on (your weak link, as always).

Is There a Bear in There?
Part 1: Strength, Skill
Every 90 seconds for 9 minutes do
Deadlift
Hang squat clean
Push press
Back squat
Push press off the back
Part 2: Metcon
2 min AMRAP rowing for calories
2 min rest
2 min AMRAP sit ups
2 min rest
2 min AMRAP pull ups
2 min rest
2 min AMRAP KB snatches (24/16kg)
Ideally, keep the number of reps on your right and left arm equal as your score on the KB snatches is your lower score (between right and left arms).

Check the whiteboard for scores.

Posted in CrossFit | 0 Comments

Actual Timing

May 21st, 2013

staythereOne way to get at the idea of timing in martial arts is to work simple patterns.  Have your partner take three steps and throw a jab at you.  Have them do it over and over until it is super easy for you to evade and throw a counter strike.  Do the same back to them.  Then pick something slightly more complex like a roundhouse kick and jab combination.  Engage in the same process – have them repeat the movement over and over until you figure out a counter to it.

While the process is very artificial, that’s okay.  It is a building block.  You’re working against a predictable pattern and finding the right timing for dealing with that pattern.  The good news is that many people actually are fairly predictable.  The bad news is that the really good fighters aren’t.

Posted in Kung Fu | 0 Comments

At That Very Moment…

May 21st, 2013

frogstandProblems are best solved at the time of arrival.  When you notice things are going wrong, do something about it immediately.  Don’t wait.

Allow me to offer a simple CrossFit example.  Suppose you are doing a workout and your sense of time is starting to get warped.  It happens fairly frequently to me.  It seems like 30 minutes have passed but lo… only 30 seconds have passed.  Why is this warping a problem?  Well, because frequently under the duress of this time warp, one forgets to write their name and time up on the board and when they finally do, they’re not totally sure what their time actually was.  Solution?  Write your name and time up on the board as soon as you finish.

In other news, thrusters are still hard.

What’s Your Rest?
Part 1: Playtime
3 Rounds, not for time
1 minute frogstand practice
5/5 pistols
5 forward rollsPart 2: Metcon (16 minute cap)
4 Rounds for time
12 Thrusters (95/65)
12 Knees to Elbows
36 Double unders

Check the whiteboard for scores.

Posted in CrossFit | 0 Comments

Easy Stuff

May 20th, 2013

One week to Murph.

What’s Murph?  Easy stuff.  Run a mile, do 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 squats and then run a mile again.  Oh yeah… and wear a 20/14# weight vest.  Sound hard?  It’s not.  It’s just another workout.

Why is it called Murph?  Go read the story here…

So yeah.  Next Monday, on Memorial day, we’ll be doing Murph.  There will only be a 5PM class, no 7PM class.  Get there on time because well… it kinda takes a while, eh?

Do the Other Lift Wrong
Part 1: Strength/Skill
Every 40 seconds for 6 minutes do
1 Power snatch
1 Squat snatch
Part 2: Metcon (15 minute cap)
3 Rounds for time
2 Laps bear walk
21 KB swings (32/24kg)
15 Goblet squats (32/24kg)

Check the whiteboard for scores.

Posted in CrossFit | 1 Comment

Theme of the Week: Timing

May 20th, 2013

blockygrabbyTonight’s class was a complete heist of the black belt class I went to on Sunday.  So maybe it had something to do with this week’s theme but it certainly wasn’t deliberately focused around timing at all.  In fact, it was about using breath as a way of monitoring how much you are “in the game”.  If you’re breathing, you’re probably present.  If you’re holding you’re breath, you’re probably not so present.  Conclusion?  Breathe.

We started with some of the standard walking and breathing drills (inhale for four steps, exhale for four steps) but then we did a couple that I hadn’t done before Sunday’s class – inhale for 4, exhale for 1 and inhale for 1, exhale for 4.  Neat stuff.  It’s remarkably difficult to exhale all the air in your lungs in one count and likewise it’s a fair amount of work to fill your lungs in one count.

From the breathing drills, the students jumped into a standard bevy of drills: striking, striking each other, making contact one at a time, both making contact, blocking, grabbing, etc.  The focus throughout the class was: can you keep your breathing steady and fluid… which is really just another way of asking: can you stay present.

We’ll start timing tomorrow.

Posted in Kung Fu | 0 Comments

<- Older Entries