2014 Lenten Challenge

[RickMatz]

Every year, I throw out the Lenten Challenge to my martial arts buddies. It has nothing to do with Christianity or religion (unless you want it to). We are simply using this time as a convenient reminder to rededicate ourselves to our training. It’s kind of hard to miss either Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras, the last day before Lent, which is also Paczki Day!) or Easter Sunday (Bunnies, candy, colored eggs; that stuff). Several of us have been doing this for years now.

The challenge is this: from Ash Wednesday (Mar 5) until the day before Easter (April 19), train every day, without fail, no excuses; even if you have to move mountains. Simple enough said, a little harder to do.

It's not as easy as it sounds; things come up. Some days, you might only be able to get a few minutes of training in; but the point is to do it everyday, no matter what.

It doesn't have to be martial arts training either. Whatever it is that you need to really rededicate yourself to: studying, practicing an instrument, walking, watching what you eat, immersing yourself in something new; anything - do it every day, without fail.
In the past on some forums, people have posted what they’ve done everyday. I think everyone who’s done that has become tired of writing, and the others get tired of reading it. How about you just post if you’ve had some breakthrough, or you’ve had to overcome some unusual circumstance to continue your training? Maybe just check in every once in a while to let everyone know you’re keeping at it, or to encourage everyone else to keep at it.


If you fail, no one will hate you. If you fall off of the wagon, climb back on board. Start anew.

For those of you who already train everyday anyway, by all means continue and be supportive of the rest of us. For the rest of us who intend to train everyday, but sometimes come up short due to life’s propensity for unraveling even the best laid plans, here is an opportunity to put a stake in the ground and show your resolution.

Won't you join me?

[bawang]

im not going to join you. if you "fall off" year after year, quit kung fu. if you cant even conquer yourself, you wont conquer another human being.

every year you congratulate yourself for "just being human". the biggest shame and failure in a mans life is a dream unrealized.

[RickMatz]

I recently had a 409 day streak going, before the program I used to track this went belly up on me. I'm probably around 470 consecutive days now.

[bawang]

martial artists who have fire in their hearts don't need a checklist.

[David Jamieson]

martial artists who have fire in their hearts don't need a checklist.

and yet here we are...lol.

spit the bitter bawang!

[GoldenBrain]

Rick, I think this is a great idea and once again I applaud you! I joined your challenge last year although I didn't post any results. The truth is that I work out ALMOST every day anyway, but it was kind of fun to try not to miss even one day.

This kind of challenge is great for those folks who could use the motivation. Not everybody sh!ts fire breathing dragons like bawang. ;)

[RickMatz]

The Lenten Challenge begins ... NOW!

[bawang]

just get in a fight and lose. youll have enough mental fuel for years. you don't need none of this jenny craig you go girl bllshiet.

humiliation leads to motivation.

[David Jamieson]

just get in a fight and lose. youll have enough mental fuel for years. you don't need none of this jenny craig you go girl bllshiet.

humiliation leads to motivation.

I don't think that aspect can be understood until it's been directly experienced.

Mind motivates us in all things. Enough humiliation can break someone too. IN their spirit, in their outlook and they will lash out and frequently that is to their detriment.

Fight Club wisdom is a lot of Brosh*t too, so that's worth noting. Very superficial in many ways.

It is true however that if you really want to learn how to fight, then you have to fight. You don't have to keep fighting and you don't even have to win all the time. But you do have to put in the effort to gain understanding.

Having said that, he's talking about using his religious inclinations to make the leap forward in whatever endeavour. the Christian period of Lent is similar to house cleaning time, getting your ducks in a row and your life in order. I think that's the heart of what he's talking about. Using a religious calendar function to set a timer is as useful as anything else.

Correct me If I'm wrong here Rick Matz.

[bawang]

when you try to cut spirituality and passion into little compartments to neatly fit into specific time periods, when you treat your life as a business schedule, you cannot succeed. your lent should not be a yearly cycle but a daily one. be reborn every morning.


Fight Club wisdom is a lot of Brosh*t too, so that's worth noting. Very superficial in many ways.



this is not fight club bro wisdom. this is the essence behind every kung fu movie. this is what drove most people to do kung fu in the first place, even though they couldn't find the words to explain it.

[RickMatz]

Lent is a convenient time on the calendar to rededicate yourself to your training.

If it bothers you, then ignore it.

[David Jamieson]

when you try to cut spirituality and passion into little compartments to neatly fit into specific time periods, when you treat your life as a business schedule, you cannot succeed. your lent should not be a yearly cycle but a daily one. be reborn every morning.



this is not fight club bro wisdom. this is the essence behind every kung fu movie. this is what drove most people to do kung fu in the first place, even though they couldn't find the words to explain it.

people are gonna be at, where they are at.
My kung fu isn't your kung fu and vice versa.

In my view, it's all just training. you may never get to taste the fruit of the tree you planted and nourished.

[MarathonTmatt]

What is Lent? A catholic holiday?

Shouldn't Kung Fu people be training every day, 3X's a day if we can, anyway?

When I ran the Boston Marathon in 2009, I was not a registered runner. I snuck in at the starting line with the 2nd wave of runners. I ran the entire race, 26.2 miles. In all my training for running, I never used a stop watch to time myself or anything like it, even though I would run 16- 20 miles to train, and sometimes then go to work where I would be on my feet for 8 hours, lifting boxes & hand-stacking product.

I treat my Kung Fu the same way.. there is just training hard, there is no reason for a checklist that is just silly. I agree with BaWang. His posts are always reasonable and down to earth.

[David Jamieson]

community is nourished in many different ways.
If you don't want to participate that's fine, but there's no place to criticize a guy for seeking fellowship in training.
Is there?

[Raipizo]

community is nourished in many different ways.
If you don't want to participate that's fine, but there's no place to criticize a guy for seeking fellowship in training.
Is there?

Agreed, everyone lead different lives and not all can devote every day to training. If you miss a day okay but don't beat yourself up about it, at least you're attempting to better yourself.

[RickMatz]

It's Good Friday. We can declare the Lenten Challenge to be finished.

Since I took a new job last October, I've been working from home. Sure I have had to do my share of traveling, but when I am home, I'm home.
I like being really home, but ironically have felt the need to get out of the house. Besides with the traveling, my good habits were breaking down and I was putting on weight.

I was thinking about returning to an aikido class and/or perhaps taking up judo to mix with more people and get more physical exercise.

I found a couple of dojo fairly nearby. One only trained Saturday afternoons, which was the worst time for me. The othe seems to have closed.
As I was thinking about my next move, the Mrs reminded me that a friend of hers has been going to an MMA gym for years and really enjoys it there. I had never considered that, but decided that I would take the free lesson (for the conditioningclass) with and open mind and see what happened.
What happened is that I signed up right away. On Mondays, there is conditioning followed by kick boxing. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I'm doing Brazilian Jiujitsu and conditioning again on Thursdays. There is heavy sparring on Thursdays for the guys who are entering MMA matches and I don't want any part of that unless I am in a full suit of armor.

I have NO boxing skill, although I've been improving. At 56 I am finding that while I can hold my own with the 40 year olds, I can't come close to the 20 year olds.

The young guys are pretty good to me though. I am the oldest guy in the place. They generally dial it back to what I can handle, although I have found that the instructions to "take it easy on the old guy" lends itself to a wide range of interpretation. I picked up my first black eye about a week ago.

I am gravitating towards BJJ. It seems to be easier on my body and I think that I'll have a greater longevity at this gym if BJJ is my main focus rather than the kick boxing. If I do kickboxing for three days straight, for instance (in place of BJJ on Tuesdays and Wednesdays), my knees and feet are really sore for the next four days and it's time to begin again!

I like the gym. I'm glad I found it. My goal is to stick with BJJ as long as I can and to eventually be the toughest guy in the nursing home.