A Tribute to the Legend — Bruce Lee

I'm in dire need of some inspiration so I decided to do a post on one of my all-time favorite individuals that ever graced this planet with his presence, Bruce Lee.

(*FYI:  I do NOT own the copyright to any of these images or videos, I just appreciated the power of images over words.  I have posted the URL links to the original sources were I procured the images below the photos in a caption.  If you would like for me to remove your image, please e-mail me and I will do so as promptly as possible.)

http://benotdefeatedbytherain.blogspot.com/2011/05/manny-pacquiao-and-bruce-lee.html

Bruce Lee — the icon, the fighter, the lover, the family man, the teacher, the philosopher:

Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not, Add what is uniquely your own. 

Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do. 

Simplicity is the last step of art. 

A teacher is never a giver of truth - he is a guide, a pointer to the truth that each student must find for himself. A good teacher is merely a catalyst. 

When an opportunity in a fight presents itself, "I" don't hit, "it" hits all by itself. 

The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering. 

A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough. 

Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind. 

A goal is not always meant to be reached; it often serves simply as something to aim at. 

There's no challenge in breaking a board. Boards don't hit back. 

Don't think, feel! It is like a finger pointing a way to the moon. Don't concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory. 

To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person. If you want to understand the truth in martial arts, to see any opponent clearly, you must throw away the notion of styles or schools, prejudices, likes and dislikes, and so forth. Then, your mind will cease all conflict and come to rest. In this silence, you will see totally and freshly.

 (While the credit goes to Bruce Lee, of course, these quotes were compiled by an individual posting on this forum.)

Chuck Norris gets his ass kicked from here to Timbuktu:

 

"Be Water, My Friend:"

 

Question: What are your thoughts when facing an opponent? 

Bruce: There is no opponent. 

Question: Why is that? 

Bruce: Because the word ''l'' does not exist. 

A good fight should be like a small play...but played seriously. When the opponent expands, l contract. When he contracts, l expand. And when there is an opportunity... l do not hit...it hits all by itself (shows his fist). Any technique, however worthy and desirable, becomes a disease when the mind is obsessed with it.

Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way round or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend.

(The previous B. Lee quotes were transcribed from this site.)


The following were from the Facebook group, Bruce Lee One, specifically the album titled, Bruce Lee Art Martiaux:

With his Wing Chun Master, "Ip Man:"

Vintage

Speed bag work

‎Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them. 

Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable.  

Never waste energy on worries or negative thoughts, all problems are brought into existence -drop them.

Bruce and his son, Brandon Lee:

http://sok765.tumblr.com/post/3011505733/bruce-lee-and-brandon-lee

http://www.thisisnotporn.net/tag/bruce-lee/

http://fuckyeahbruceleeandbrandonlee.tumblr.com/

CrossFit Open — First Week, First WOD

This has been an especially trying and humbling experience doing the CrossFit Games Open for the very first time.

Jonathan gave me some very apt advice:  

"You'll go crazy if you worry about your ranking the first 3 weeks. The wods are meant to test every aspect of Crossfit. So in 2 more weeks it's gonna shake out wayyyy differently. I checked like every hour last year for the first week. It was maddening!"

And I took it but that didn't mean OTHERS weren't informing me of my current (and devastating) drop in the local rankings.

I knew on the 2nd night I was ranked 23rd with 113 burpees in 7 minutes, but that soon dropped overnight to 32 (I checked in the morning).  Then later that day, a friend informed me that I had dropped down to 35.  Friday night I found out I was ranked 75.  Then by Saturday morning I had reached all-new low...triple digits.  I'm now ranked 110 tied with about 20 other athletes.

On top of this my right wrist injury still hasn't healed.  I may just take all of next week off to let it recover.

I really wish I had not done deadlifts and back squats before the 12.1 WOD but that's only because I was expecting to be able to do it on Sunday; alas, things don't always go as planned.  Sometimes you have no choice but to accomodate for when the judges at your affiliate are free and that meant I had to go in unplanned this morning after a grueling leg workout the day before (naturally, this meant it was hell for my legs.)  I literally found out after 11 PM after work that I needed to go in the next morning to re-do the WOD...

Yep, FML.

Mikko Salo in the 2011 Reebok CrossFit Games

It's crazy the curveballs life throws at you sometimes. It's about finding the opportunity in the crisis and then discovering how it ultimately gives you an edge in the long run. It's all about perspective. 

I heard that he has a knee injury this year too, so this may spell the end for Mikko's CrossFit career...
I hope it's just a false rumor.

At least he discovered after that tragic incident in the ocean, that CrossFit is not his entire life and that he has so much else going for him.

Deadlifting with Proper Form

Reposted directly from the Stonglifts website. Read the full, original article here.

Here are the 5 most common reasons why the Deadlift could be killing your lower back right now, and what to do about it.

 1. You're Pulling Instead of Pushing. Deadlifts are technically a pull exercise, but you should think of it as a push. Here's why: Deadlifting by pulling back - without engaging your posterior chain (hips/glutes) - stresses your lower back more. It's also inefficient because you're using less muscles to lift the weight. So instead of Deadlifting by extending your legs first and then trying to lockout the weight by pulling it back, focus on extending your hips on the way up. Start the Deadlift by pushing through your heels Push your hips forward once the bar reaches knee level Finish the lift by squeezing your glutes as hard as you can

 2. Your Hips Are Too High. You can't use your legs if you start the Deadlift with your hips high (like on Stiff-Leg Deadlifts). One, this is less effective for maximum strength. Two, you'll stress your lower back more because it will have to do all the work. Your hips must be lower in order to Deadlift using your legs muscles. For a guy with long thighs/short torso like me, the hips will be higher than for someone with short thighs/long torso. So it doesn't make sense to try to copy the form of someone with a different bodytype. Better is to focus on the starting position which will always be the same regardless of the length of your limbs. Bar above the center of your feet Shoulder-blades directly over the bar Bar against your shins (wear long pants) Read this post for more information.

3. You're Rounding Your Lower Back. Everybody knows that lifting a barbell (or any other object) with your lower back rounded stresses your spine. Unless you want to suffer a hernia, you really need to Deadlift with your back straight. Note that Deadlifting with a round UPPER-back is safe, and that many advanced lifters do this in order to Deadlift heavier weights. But since most guys won't be able to keep their lower back straight when pulling this way, I recommend you to keep your whole upper-back neutral when Deadlifting. Here's how: Lift Your Chest - your upper-back can't round if you keep your chest up. Nor can your lower back round if your upper-back stays neutral. So make a big chest at the start of each pull, and keep it so during the lift. Keep Your Shoulders Back - do NOT squeeze your shoulder-blades together like on the Squat as this would raise the bar and make the lift harder. Just keep your shoulders back & down and your chest up. Improve Hip Mobility - short hamstrings from excess sitting can pull on your pelvis, and make your lower back round. Start by doing 2x8 of Squat-2-stands as part of your Deadlift and Squat warm-ups.

4. You're Hyperextending Your Lower Back. Exaggerating the lockout by leaning back is as bad for your spine as Deadlifting with a round lower back. Your lower spine doesn't like extreme arching nor rounding, especially not when loaded. Repeatedly hyperextending your back at the top can cause hernias. Keep in mind that powerlifters will sometimes do this to show the judges that they've locked the weight. But this isn't something recreational lifters should do when training. Just lockout the weight by extending your knees, pushing your hips forward and squeezing your glutes - done. No need to lean back on top.

5. The Bar Is Away From Your Body. What's the easiest way to shovel snow? With the blade close to your body? Or with the blade away from you? Obviously keeping the blade close to you is way easier because it gives you much better leverages. Well this same principle applies to Deadlifts: the closer the bar to you, the better the leverage, and thus the lesser the strain on your lower back. That's why the bar should remain in contact with your legs from start to finish on the way up of Deadlifts. Start with the bar against your shins, roll it upwards, over your knees and thighs, until you've reached the lockout. Wear long pants to protect your shins and legs so you don't keep the bar from you. Frankly, if you master proper Deadlift technique: You will build a stronger back You will be less prone to injuries because you'll know how to pickup an object correctly from the floor - with a straight lower back You could eliminate nagging back pain, once and for all As an example, StrongLifts Member Harrison ("Maslow", 24y, USA) had chronic lower back pain for years due to mild scoliosis. Yet 21 months after he started StrongLifts 5x5 he's almost free of back pain. Most important - nothing ever worked to eliminate his back pain, not even expensive chiropractor visits. You can read his story for yourself on page 69 of the 5x5 report.

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I agree with almost all of this except for the last point.  While, this may apply for most folks.  It does't for me and was the primary reason why I was curving my back and having back pain.  As I have a long torso and short femur bones, if I place the barbell against my shins as prescribed, then my body is a bad position as it is too far forward with the shoulders past the barbell and my leaning forward.  My hips are too high as well.  If i back AWAY from the barbell then I can manage to keep my hips and butt down in order to engage my posterior chain more and put less stress on my lumbar spine.

This instructional video made this clear as day for me:

Ben Smith Post...AGAIN

I just saw this video from December of last year and was so impressed that I had to make another post on my Crossfit hero, Ben Smith.

Now I thought I was impressed with the 300# OHS in the Godzilla WOD but this 180# average-looking guy is throwing up 360# OHS!  Granted, the WOD involves multiple reps, but still...impressive!

Even more impressive is that he taught himself olympic weightlifting just by watching videos online and then practicing in his parents' basement!  In his own words:  "I've learned everything on my own from watching videos and practicing, a lot."

(Even though he doesn't get the mass media attention like Chris Spealler and Camille, he finished a very laudable 8th place in the 2010 Crossfit Games.  And get this 3rd place in the 2011 CF Reebok Games!)

MAD RESPECT.

Ben Smith doin' his thang!




For those who don't know what the Godzilla WOD is, here is the short, edited clip:



Here's the long version:

Failure = Opportunity

"Not many people are willing to give failure a second opportunity. They fail once and it's all over. The bitter pill of failure is often more than most people can handle. if you're willing to accept failure adn learn from it, if you're willing to consider failure as a blessing in disguise and bounce back, you've got the potential of harnessing one of the most powerful success forces. 

Each problem has hidden in it an opportunity so powerful that it literally dwarfs the problem. The greatest success stories were created by people who recognized a problem and turned it into an opportunity." 

-Joseph Sugarman

Why Linsanity is Sweeping the Nation

"America's conversation about race has been mostly black and white. An amazing Knicks point guard changed that."

"My first thought on seeing Jeremy Lin was that he reminded me of my cousins. Like many, I felt like I knew him. He’s a kind of kid I’ve seen my whole life — funny, smart, quick and brave. And Asian American. When I heard he was a Harvard grad, I thought: Of course, the first Asian American NBA superstar also had to go to Harvard and get better than a 3.0. And then: Way to raise the stakes on the Asian American overachiever. It’s still true that whatever color you are in America, if you’re not white you have to be twice as good to get half as far. But the Jeremy Lin paradox is that this champion — this skinny kid just out of college, this overlooked smiling Taiwanese American kid with, as we say, ‘the good Asian hair’ that is thick and stands straight up — he is making room for the rest of us. Part of the Jeremy Lin moment is America looking at an Asian American and realizing he’s just an American, too.

The great irony to his moment is that Jeremy Lin as a national figure is so much better than anyone I might have dreamed up as a possible solution to a problem with a body count: Asian Americans are currently the No. 1 most bullied demographic in America. The same invisibility that kept Jeremy Lin outside the “frame of reference” of coaches also kept the two different units who hounded Cpl. Harry Lew and Pvt. Danny Chen to suicide last year with constant racist taunts and physical abuse from realizing they were well outside the limits of respectful internal military discipline."

Salon article by Alexander Chee.

Day in the Life of J. Lin (before he made it big): This video makes me crave Denny's breakfast food so much! "Breakfast of Champions," indeed!

Garage Gym Hero — Ben Smith

Continuing on the theme of athletes whom I admire...
I had to make a post concerning an elite CrossFit athlete.

Now most people would point of Chris Spealler, Mikko Salo, Rich Froning (for males) or Kristin Clever, Annie Thorisdottor, or Camille Le Blanc-Bazinet (for females).  However, I actually like the little known Ben Smith since he looks like your average joe but he's a phenomenal athlete, who doesn't even work out at an affiliate and his trainer seems to just be his buddy from high school.

He does most of his WODs and PRs at his parents' basement and I believe he's only 21 yrs old.  He occasionally does his WODs at a globogym where the bystanders clearly have no idea wtf this guy is doing.

For such a seemingly small fellow, he lifts tremendous weight efficiently.

This is one of my favorite WOD videos because it incorporates tough gymnastics moves (anyone who has done HSPU and toes-to-bars knows how much it takes out of you) but also requires lots of strength to squat snatch 185# that many times, quickly in a WOD for time.

Here, Ben PRs with a 270# snatch and he does it with beautiful form.  Most guys sacrifice form when they aim for PRs but not this guy.

(This is where I want to be...the last time I tried for a PR for the snatch I got 155#; granted it was my first time trying for a PR but I was still rather disappointed.  I'm sure now that I've refined my form I can do better next time though.  I'm sure I can at least hit the 185#.)

Dmitry Klokov is My Hero

Like many budding and experienced Olympic Weightlifters, I have a man-crush for the Ruskie Olympic weightlifting superstar, Dmitry Klokov.

In this instance, he's in the 105 kg (230 lbs) weight category and he successfully snatched 190 kg (419 lbs).

I noticed that he does a bottom-up set-up for the lift and the focus and intensity on his face is astounding.  I love the fire-breathing he's doing before he yells and exerts immense power in snatching that weight up into the air.


He's only 0.5 - 1 inch taller than me but he weighs 50 lbs more...

Insane.  I still have a ways to go in bulking up.


More Klokov training and fan-made videos below for motivation and inspiration.

Linsation needs SWAG!

This post by 'World Peace' (Ron Artest) is irreverent and hilarious:

Q: Did the Lakers talk about him in the locker room? 

A: Do we talk about him? Yeah, we talk about him. We think he needs a better haircut. I don’t like that style. You’re in New York, the fashion capital. Change your haircut, OK? You’re a star now. Wear some shades. Shades, OK? Put down the nerdy Harvard book glasses. Put on some black shades, OK? With some leather pants. Change your style. Fashion.

Q: Do you wear leather pants?

A: No, I won’t wear them, but he should wear leather pants. He’s the type of guy who should wear leather pants, some nice shoes and change his fashion. You’re Jeremy Lin, for godsakes. You know what I’m saying? You know? Put down that law book, stop reading the New York Times and start reading the Daily News. Newsday, that’s the one. I like that one because there’s always color in that one. What else? Wall Street Journal. Get some swag. You’re in New York City. Put your hat to the back, too. Put your hat on backwards. Come to practice with your pants sagging and just tell them, 'I don’t feel like practicing.' Practice? You know? Practice? And wear an Iverson jersey. You know? Come to practice with a cigar. Lit. 'I’m Jeremy Lin.' You know? He should change. We're all excited to play tonight. It’s like the first time for everybody. Everybody’s excited. Kobe’s excited. He wants to get 50. He wants to welcome Jeremy Lin to his new level."

Read the whole piece here.

The Jeremy Lin Show

This video cracks me up because it shows how arrogant and smug Kobe is before the Lakers got a hefty slice of humble pie served up by the Harvard point guard (aka 'The Yellow Mamba.")

 

His tune sure changed after the "Linsanity."

 Kobe, on Lin:

"He has been phenomenal," Bryant said. "We have watched some tape on him. We came up with a strategy that we thought would be effective, but he was knocking down his jump shot, penetrating and he got around our guards. … "Players don't usually come out of nowhere. If you can go back and take a look, his skill level was probably there from the beginning, but no one ever noticed. … It is a great story. It is a testament to perseverance and hard work. It is a good example to kids everywhere." 


Highlights from the Lakers vs. Knicks game:

 

Enough is Enough!

I think that putting this out in the blogosphere will hold me more accountable (crossposted in FB).

This week has been a wake-up call. Time to cut the B.S. and stop the whining!

My vows for a better 2012 (in random order):

1) Stop being a lazy fuckwit! (Have less & shorter naps; go to bed earlier.)

2) Limit procrastination on online media (FB, YT, Gchat).

3) Ctrl my road rage (work on being Zen, leave the house earlier).

4) Be more patient (ctrl the RAGE).

5) Read the ORGO textbook (not just my notes).

6) Do the OWL hmk (pref. the day before or earlier).

7) Eat like a beast (pref. clean).

8) Relax about my cf stats. (It is what it is.)

9) Take more rest days (don't overtrain).

10) Work on flexibility and ROM (more yoga).

11) Practice the guitar daily (chords & notes).

12) Stop being my own worst critic. (Stop being a type A perfectionist.)

I love comics!

This is funny and true.

From "The Oatmeal:" At the gym: who is looking at whom.

Before & After Photos Expose

Shocked by those before and after fitness photos? Skeptical of the results? Well, they may or may not just be tricks of the trade. Lighting, lube, vascularization, and diet in the span of a few hours makes all the difference as shown in this revealing video:

 

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Now here's the same guy eating 2 lbs of butter in the form of butter sandwiches! HAHA I have a new rival in competitive eating...

Bottom Up Set-up For Oly Lifts

I've always done the top down set-up for lifts but this seems interesting and Diane had amazing form for the snatch.  I want to try this bottom up set-up as suggested by K-Star since he says it keeps your back straight throughout.