Chin-up 12 times. Yay me!

11 chin ups

Today, I just did 11 chin-ups with relative ease. Next goal: 15 chin-ups. I hope I'll get there before year-end.

A big thank you to Coach 陳世雄 . This evening I learned about maintaining the hip forward posture while lunging forward. This way, one can generate or maintain the thrust forward. This posture is critical for both karate and cross-country skiing. If I could I would devote more time to this technique. 感謝 陳世雄 教練指導 在前進時維持臀部向前在空手道很重要 在越野滑雪一樣重要 有機會我要多練習這一項技巧

It's great to know that I can do 10 chin-ups whenever I want to. I don't want to give up this sense of power, ever.

Finally received my purple belt! Now I'm at 5th kyu (level), meaning I'm four stops away from the black belt. In my life I've had quite a few false starts with karate, but this time I hope I can make it to the black belt with minimal delay and, at the same time, maintain or improve my cross country skiing techniques. (That is not to say I absolutely have to earn the black belt - just a goal for myself.) 終於拿到紫帶了! 希望這次重新學習空手道能一路不停順利升上黑帶, 同時改進我的越野滑雪技術. 倒不是說非要拿到黑帶不可, 只是我把黑帶當成一個目標.

Now I can do 10 chin-ups without feeling strained! Also, I'm more and more used to Guting Karate dojo's concrete floor. Yes, it's dirty, but it's better than hardwood floor because we practitioners don't have to worry about breaking or scratching anything. Air conditioning would be great but I can get used to the weather.

Whoever says karate isn't an endurance sport hasn't tried practicing karate in a place without air conditioning in Taipei in the summer.

I'm glad that yesterday I went to Wen-shan Sports Center and chatted with Mr. Kuo Meng-hsi. From talking with him I get the impression that in Taiwan, modern pentathlon and biathlon are seen as extensions of shooting sport. Interesting point of view. Mr. Kuo is the head coach of Taipei Shooting Sports Association, a governmental organization that fosters and regulates shooting sports.

I believe the straight forward punch has one thing in common with single pole drill (used in classic skiing, of course). The straight forward punch requires flexing one's waist ever so slightly to add oomph to the punch. The flexing motion in karate is almost imperceptible, whereas in skiing it is more pronounced. Still, one technique should reinforce the other.

Chinese Taipei Modern Pentathlon and Biathlon Association

With Pacific High Pressure over the West Pacific, the entire city of Taipei is a sauna - at 9PM the temperature is 32 C (90F) with 90% humidity. Training for anything is hard but I still pulled through the 90 minute karate class today. My dojo has no air conditioning, by the way. I will come out of this as a winner. The heat will eventually dissipate but I won't.

Balance drill learned today: stand on one foot, bend my knee slightly, maintain a straight and upright posture of my upper body, place about 70% of body weight on the ball of my foot, make sure the toes grip the ground, and pay attention to breathing - I should breathe naturally and smoothly.

Hopefully, this balance drill I learned in karate today will make me a better skier in the future.

Finally restarted karate training this evening! I will try as hard as I can to advance my craft. I will spend the rest of my life finding the connection between karate and cross-country skiing.

So glad that I'm able to do 8 chin-ups with ease! I'm getting back to my normal self. And the trip to the biathlon association yesterday was a blast. Will be posting more thoughts about the trip later.

Just getting started.

Just starting off, checking the functions of lonelyskis.blogspot.com.