5×15-20 second planks (with 35-50 lb weighted backpack/vest)
Strength Notes:
Geralt’s a strong dude, and I was tempted to do a full weights workout with this (bench, squat rack, etc.), but given his propensity in hand to hand combat, I decided to go with weighted bodyweight and sand based exercises instead. Weighted bodyweight will help you learn to manage your body better, and sand lifts are great for developing extra hand strength and stabilizer muscles.
20 minutes brisk walking and jogging (try to jog more than you walk, gradually working your way up to jogging the whole time)
10-15 sledgehammer swings (each side)
Level 3 (advanced):
20 minutes jogging
5 minutes sledgehammer swings (alternate sides back and forth for the full five minutes)
Level 4 (Witcher):
30 minutes jogging
10 minutes sledgehammer swings (alternate sides back and forth for the full five minutes, try to do these as fast as you can without hurting yourself)
Cardio Notes:
If this workout looks familiar to you, it’s because it’s actually the same as Ike’s! It’s a great workout for anyone looking to wield a two-handed sword, and I figured don’t fix it if it’s not broken! The sledgehammer swings are awesome for building core muscles, upper body endurance, and forearm strength. Keep the pace up, and don’t ease up on your swings!
Schedule:
Day 1: Strength Day 2: Cardio Day 3: Rest Day 4: Strength Day 5: Cardio Day 6: Strength
Day 7: Rest
Schedule Notes:
This is our usual workout schedule. If you’re just starting out, feel free to take an extra rest day (I’d personally pick either day 4 or day 6). If you’re a seasoned veteran, I’d go down to one rest day. As usual, listen to your body, and be careful! It’s better to lose one or two days to rest than one or two months to injury!
That’s all for this week! This Saturday I’ll be uploading my American Ninja Warrior audition on the Youtube channel, but that’s not an OFFICIAL blog video, so you’ll still be getting one of those next Saturday! Live boldly, change the world, and continue to be awesome!
Dan “DaRatmastah” Wallace
PS: Hey, all you new year’s resolutioners! Did you know that posting a workout log in a public place gives you much better odds of sticking to your goals? It’s also a great way to get feedback on your workouts! Oh, and look at that, we have a forum devoted to that sort of thing! Shocking! 😉
It’s another dual purpose video/blog post! This one is addressing a frequent question I get both here on the blog AND on the YouTube channel that usually goes hand-in-hand with Can “X” Workout REALLY Get Me The Body of “X” Character? Actually, it’s not even a single question, but actually a smattering of questions that all amount to “can I enhance my body in this way by doing this?” While the answer to that question is almost ALWAYS “probably, yeah,” the better answer is actually “try it, and see!”
Here’s the deal: There are a whole lot of different workout programs out there. In fact, there’s probably more workouts than there are people who work out. Why is this? Because different bodies respond to different workout programs/exercises differently. Are there optimal ways to exercise that will more efficiently effect the change most people are trying to see? Sure! But the fact is, there is no PERFECT program for everyone.
Can you get a wide back doing just weighted pull ups? For some people, yes! For others, no. For most, the answer is more like, “Well, you should start with the weighted pull ups included in this program, in addition to the entire program, and see what happens after six months of regular exercise and nutrition planning.”
The thing is, working out and healthy living are skills, just like any other. Once you start on the journey (and it is a journey,) you’re going to improve over time. You’re going to adapt. You’re going to learn more, try new things, and implement new exercises and programs into your life over time. You may start with weighted pull ups, and have some back growth/strength increases. Then, after four months, you see a cheap dumbbell set on Craigslist and you pick it up.
Then, you hear from someone in RPG FitGroup that they’ve been working dumbbell rows and have seen a real improvement in their lat size. So, you decided to start implementing dumbbell rows in addition to your weighted pull ups. Lo and behold, your lat spread is improving, and your back is getting stronger! In fact, by adding those rows in, you’ve also added ten pounds to your weighted pull ups! Awesome!
This progression is natural, and it happens all the time. Maybe your family has noticed you really getting into exercising and they give you a set of gymnastics rings for your birthday and you can add in ring rows. Maybe a friend of yours wants to get in shape too, so you go halfsies on a used barbell set and all of a sudden you have deadlifts in your life. Maybe you read on a fitness site somewhere that narrow grip chin ups are better than pull ups, so you switch to those and notice they work better for you?
This is how it goes, and it’s awesome! It happens with EVERYONE who makes the commitment to life a healthier, more fit lifestyle! That’s the key, though! You need to make the commitment to the lifestyle. You need to pick a program, and stick with it for six months. You need to have some sort of solid base to work with before ANY of this can happen! Without a habit forming that base, you’ll never get to that natural growth, so start today! Pick a workout here on the site that you have all (or most) of the equipment for and just go for it!
Seriously, that’s the answer to almost every program or exercise-specific question you might have. Just try it, and go with it.
That’s it for today, I hope you enjoyed it! Live boldly, change the world, and continue to be awesome!
So one of the more common questions I get here on Be a Game Character is, “Would this exercise give me a large (body part?)”
(no, not that body part, get your mind out of the gutter)
So, while we’ve talked about The Secret to Building Mass before, as well as What Tempo You Should Lift At, I’d like to go a little further into the principles of lifting for size, versus lifting for strength.
Lifting For Size
Lifting for size tends to be characterized by two big differences compared to lifting for strength.
1: Higher Repetition Counts
The idea behind gaining mass is triggering what’s called hypertrophy. Hypertrophy is typically triggered by a higher range of repetitions, sometimes with fewer sets. Ideally, three to four sets of eight to twelve repetitions is the best scheme for triggering mass gains. Additionally, you want to get a “pump,” which means you want to fill your muscles with blood to give them that feeling like they’re a pumped-up balloon.
2: More Isolation Work
Doing higher reps means you fatigue faster. If you’re doing a compound lift like a deadlift, your legs or hands may fatigue before your back does. If you’re looking to gain strength, this is fine because you want to build overall power chains, but if you’re looking to build mass, you want to make sure you get the “pump” going in your lats as well, so you may work in some rows, lat pull-downs, or other accessory work. Additionally, when bodybuilding, you may zone in on some preferential areas where you’re like to gain particular mass (like biceps or delts) to emphasize growth in that particular area.
3: Less Rest
In addition to the above, you’re also going to have shorter rest periods between sets. This is because, again, you want to go for the “pump” in your muscles, and waiting longer allows the pump to recede. Additionally, since you’re going for higher volume, resting for a shorter period of time allows you to cram more work into a given workout, typically (assuming workouts are the same time frame.) Finally, lifting sub-maximal weights (any weight you can do for 8-12 reps is a sub-maximal weight,) tends to be a little less taxing on the central nervous system, so your body doesn’t need as much time mentally to recover between sets. Generally speaking, when lifting for size, you want to be resting 1-2 minutes between sets (I prefer 1:30.)
Lifting for Strength
Lifting for strength looks similar to lifting for size but, again, there are some differences.
1: Lower Repetition Counts, More Sets
When lifting for strength, you want to be maximizing the weight you move, rather than the number of times you move it in a single set. Typically, a strength-based lifting session involves somewhere between three to five repetitions per set, and anywhere from five to eight sets. You’ll also see a lot of “heavy singles,” just lifting a heavy weight one time, and then taking a break (especially at the upper levels of strength.)
2: Less Isolation, More Compound Lifts
Deadifts, squats, bench presses, and overhead presses are the cornerstones of most strength and power programs. Done properly, they’ll tax your body and brain extremely hard, which is the idea. You want to build overall strength and power, not just a single powerful muscle. That’s not to say there isn’t accessory work, there’s usually plenty of it! But strength athletes definitely tend to favor heavy compound movements.
3: More Rest
You’re trying to tax your entire body (or at least the muscle group you’re working,) when lifting for strength. You want to push yourself to the limit on most of your sets; that’s how your body gains strength. Because of this, you want to rest longer between sets, to give your body and your brain time to recover and recuperate so you can put in maximal effort on every set. Usual rest period is anywhere from 3-5 minutes between sets in a heavy strength workout (sometimes even longer for elite level lifters getting close to their max.)
Universal Principles
1: Your Weight Should Fatigue You
You should end up feeling tired at the end of either a mass gaining or strength gaining exercise. If you finish your last rep of your last set feeling like you still have five reps left in the tank, you should probably be lifting heavier.
2: Diet and Rest Determine Results
You can lift however you want, if you don’t eat well, you won’t get the gains you’re looking for (strength or mass!) Check out Macros and You! and The Secret to Building Mass. Also, sleep a lot! And let your muscles recover at LEAST 24 hours between workouts (more if you’re older, or if they’re particularly intense workouts!)
In the end, if you’re lifting for strength you will also probably get bigger (especially if you’ve got testosterone in your bloodstream and eat enough food,) and if you’re lifting for size you will also get stronger (just not as quickly as someone lifting for pure strength.) The most important thing is to just get into the gym and get back there every day!
Thanks for reading! Live boldly, change the world, and continue to be awesome!
Fortnite is super popular right now! It’s also super fun! And I’m super bad at it! So, I decided to make up a super workout for it, so I get super strong BECAUSE I’m super bad. Check it out, and give it a shot! (if you’re super.)
Get swole while gaming! Every time you die in Fortnite, do this:
Exit to lobby. Rejoin queue. 10 Bodyweight Squats 10 Push Ups (kneeling is okay!) 5 Pull Ups (if you don’t have a pull up bar, you can skip these! Also, chair assisted is okay!) 10 Flutter Kicks
Play!
Time-wise, at least for me, I could squeeze this in in JUST enough time so that I was back in my chair as the Battle Bus was taking off! Watch this workout in action here!
Challenge Mode!
Instead of starting with 10/10/5/10 reps, start with ONE REPETITION for every exercise! Then, every time you die, add another rep. So the second time you die, you do TWO reps of every exercise. The third time you die, you add THREE, and so on.
That’s it! Hope you enjoyed this post/video special! Let me know if you enjoyed it. =D Live boldly, change the world, and continue to be awesome!
What’s up, people? Happy new year! This is the time of year when EVERYONE is looking to make improvements in their life in some way, shape, or form. Usually this involves some sort of fitness plan, but there’s other goals, as well! Luckily, we’re here to help YOU accomplish WHATEVER goal you might set for yourself in 2018! Here are some solid, quality, cream-of-the-crop posts from the BaGC archives to get you on the road to success, based upon what YOUR goals might be! Let’s jump in!
I want to lose weight!
Macros and You!
A solid introduction to the concept of “macros,” short for macronutrients, and the mechanics which govern your body’s metabolism!
The Secret to Burning Fat
Taking the mystery out of the mechanics when it comes to burning fat! Straightforward, scientifically-based methods for fat loss.
Losing Weight is Not a Side Quest
Weight loss is a mental game more than anything. Prepare yourself, with this awesome post on making a better lifestyle the cornerstone of your life.
I want to gain muscle mass!
Macros and You!
A solid introduction to the concept of “macros,” short for macronutrients, and the mechanics which govern your body’s metabolism!
The Secret to Building Mass
How to build solid, high quality muscle mass, from the ground up!
I want to improve myself and my life in general.
Constant Reinvention
Everything always changes. Embrace it.
No Zero Days
The only enemy is the number zero.
Start with Victory
Sometimes you need to know where you want to end, before you can begin.
It Takes a Village
No matter how you’re looking to change your life in 2018, it’s always harder to go it alone. YOU DON’T NEED TO! Join us over in RPG FitGroup, where we support each other, report our own progress, and celebrate victories! Having accountability is KEY to success, and there’s a whole bunch of people willing to help you out, just a click away. Join us!
Also, to help you on your journey, every single eBook in The Armory is on sale right now! The new year, new you sale is in FULL effect, so if you’ve been waiting to pull the trigger on grabbing one of my training manuals, now’s your chance!
As for my 2018 goals? I’ve got a bunch!
Get my weight 175-180 lbs, 15% bodyfat. Currently 205 lbs. O_O Continue to grow the BaGC community. Begin regularly publishing fiction works on the blog/Amazon. Don’t miss a single Monday or Thursday blog post for all of 2018. Build up to five video posts a week on the BaGC YouTube channel. Release at least one BaGC eBook/manual/product every month. Start up the “Hero Academy” portion of Hero Academy Fitness.
Link Quick Navigation Links: Character Breakdown: Link
The Link Workout
The Skills of Link
The Courage of Link
So a bit later in the day than usual, but here it is! The Link workout! For anyone new to the format, I’ll be giving you a cardio workout, then a strength workout, then a schedule to stick with. As far as diet goes, I’d recommend The Fighter Diet, although since we’re doing a lot of cardio, you might want to get a bit more in the complex carbohydrates department! Exercises that are new to the blog will have accompanying videos at the bottom of the post! If you’re unsure of an exercise and it’s not in the links at the bottom, check the older character workouts for instructions!
Also, make sure you always warm up before exercising! I did a video tutorial on how to warm up properly, so check it out!
Our Link workout is going to bear some similarities to Ezio’s because, well, they’re rather similar. Link has more of a proclivity for distance running, however, whereas Ezio is more about short bursts. Similarly, Link tends to fight more and climb less, so we focus a bit more on fight conditioning here.
Note: This workout is split into four levels, so it can be easily plugged into the RPG Fitness system!
Equipment Needed:
Sledgehammer(start with a low weight, maybe 5-8 lbs, work yourself up)
Chinup Bar(featured in most of my workouts, always an excellent investment)
Weighted Backpack(I use this army surplus bag[referral link], and fill it with sand, though you can use books or rocks, too)
Cardio: Level 1(beginner): Walk at a brisk pace for at least thirty-forty minutes. Pick a pace that will be strenuous for you, without completely killing you, then just do that for half an hour or more. Vary your inclines/terrain for added challenge.
Level 2(moderate):
This is more of a general progression. Interval running/walking. Walk for two minutes, run for one minute. Repeat this for at least half an hour or forty minutes. When this gets easy, decrease walking time and increase running time until you’re running for the full half hour.
Level 3(advanced):
Run at an even pace for at least forty minutes. Finish with as many ten second sprints as you can manage without giving yourself a heart attack.
Level 4(knight):
Run at an even pace for at least an hour. Finish with as many hill sprints as you can manage without giving yourself a heart attack.
Strength: 3×10=three sets of ten repetitions. Perform all exercises listed in order for one set, rest two minutes, then go again.
5×10 Sledgehammer Levers(do five of each type for each set, choke up on your hammer of choice as necessary)
Level 4(knight):
5×10 Pullups(palms facing away)(with 10lb backpack)
5×15 Handstand Pushups
5×15 Pushups(with 10 lb backpack) 5×10 Bodyweight squats(with 10 lb backpack) 5×50 Bicycle Crunches(50 each side)
5×25 Oblique Side Crunches(25 each side)
5×10 Sledgehammer Levers(do five of each type for each set, choke up on your hammer of choice as necessary)
Schedule: Day 1: Light cardio, followed by strength workout. Day 2: Cardio. Day 3: Light cardio, followed by strength workout. Day 4: Rest Day 5: Light cardio, followed by strength workout. Day 6: Cardio. Day 7: Rest.
Light cardio means either do the cardio workout one level down from your normal difficulty level, or do your normal difficulty level with less intensity.
On your sledgehammer levers, as you progress in workouts try to slide your hand closer and closer to the end of the handle. When you can do all your reps with your hands on the end of the handle, it’s time to move up in sledgehammer weight. As always, listen to your body, if it says ow, STOP!!
Any questions can be posted to the comments section, on the Facebook page, or on my Twitter.
Tomorrow, we take a look at the skills of Link! What skills and talents does a knight of Hyrule need?
As I outlined in How to Become Akuma, we’re looking to accomplish several things with this workout. First, we want to build some mass. Akuma’s not a small fighter, he’s got shoulders like boulders and a back as wide as two men. Sure, he’s no Zangief, but he’d still probably be the biggest dude you’d see in a day if you randomly passed him on the street (assuming you don’t hang out with bodybuilders.) In addition to building size, we also want to build power, and what some people refer to as “functional” strength. Remember, Akuma chucks around dudes twice his size, and breaks islands with his fists.
As if all that were not enough, we also need to consider the face that he’s a fighter. Big and strong is no good if we’re not agile on top of all that. So, we’re going to be adding in some conditioning and agility drills to help us stay at the top of our game.
For nutrition, it’s going to depend on where you’re coming from. If you’re skinny and you need to bulk up, you’re going to need to eat at a caloric surplus. If you’re overweight and you need to cut your body fat, but still maintain some size, then you’re going to need to eat at a caloric deficit. In either case, you want to get a boatload of protein. Take a look at Macros and You for a crash course in laying out a basic nutritional plan.
Remember to Warm Up before every workout, and Cool Down afterwards!
Note: This workout was designed to easily plug into the RPG Fitness workout system!
Equipment Required:
Sandbags (Click here to see how I make my workout sandbags) Pull Up Bar
Jump Rope
Style:Station – Perform all sets of an exercise before moving on to the next exercise. Rest 1-3 minutes between sets.
A: 5×5-10 Sandbag Deadlifts (150-250 lbs) 5×5-10 Uneven Push Ups (put one hand up on a block, switch which hand is on block on each set) 5×5-10 Uneven Pull Ups (hang a towel or rope from your pull up bar for one hand, switch hands between each set)
So we’ve got a combination of sandbag lifts and bodyweight lifts, here. The weights for the sandbags are general guidelines, just stick to the range as best you can. Why sandbags instead of barbells/dumbbells? Good question! Because:
You build hella strong hands.
They better simulate the shifting weight of grappling with a person.
Sandbags are cheaper than a full weight set.
We’re also getting solid core work in on workout B with our twist crunches and front squats, which is going to lead to more upper body striking power (master of the fist, right?)
Cardio:
Cardio A:
10 minutes jumping rope 4 minutes Mountain Climber Intervals (20 seconds on, 20 seconds off) 10 minutes punching bag work (or shadow boxing if you don’t have access to a bag)
4 minutes Burpee Intervals (20 seconds on, 20 seconds off)
Cardio B:
20-30 minute jog
Cardio Notes:
Both cardio workouts are a “go at your own pace” thing. Jumping rope takes practice, believe it or not, so you’re going to need to get used to it. For the mountain climbers and burpees, just do as many as you can in each “on” interval (and if that’s ONE burpee or ONE mountain climber, that’s fine!) For cardio B, if you need to start with a 20-30 minute walk, that’s fine too! Accelerate at your own pace, that’s how it was designed.
Schedule:
Day 1: Strength A Day 2: Cardio A Day 3: Rest Day 4: Strength B Day 5: Cardio B Day 6: Strength A
Day 7: Rest
Schedule Notes:
Business as usual, here. Remember, take an extra rest day if you need to. Better to rest for one or two days more than to be out for a month because you injured yourself from overworking.
That’s it for the Akuma Workout! I’ll see you again on Thursday with Master of the Fist! Until then, as always, remember to live boldly, change the world, and continue to be awesome!
Ike Quicknav Links:
Character Spotlight: Ike
The Ike Workout
Discuss this post:
On the forums!
On Reddit!
Name: Ike
Game(s): The Fire Emblem series, Super Smash Bros.
Skills/Attributes:
Brave
Humble
Skilled swordsman
Mercenary
Talented commander
Overview:
Ike hails from the Fire Emblem series, with a few cameos in the Super Smash Bros. series as well. He’s a skilled swordsman, head of the Greil mercenary company, wielder of the holy sword Ragnell, and an all-around badass. Throughout the fire emblem series, you get to see him progress from a naive and eager recruit, to a confident and capable commander, leading his mercenary company into battle.
In the Smash Bros. series, we see Ike take on a serious heavy-hitter type role, using Ragnell to send foes flying with HUGE blows. He possesses several of his special maneuvers and animations from Fire Emblem, as well as a counter maneuver similar to Marth and Roy.
With his medium-weight build and combat style, Ike could definitely be considered a Weapons Master class, of the Fighter archetype. That said, with his protective personality from Fire Emblem, and heavier build and combat style in the Smash Bros. series, he could also fit the Tank archetype as a Paladin. Honestly, how you approach him will be dictated by the diet you eat while performing The Ike Workout, as well as your own take on Ike’s personality.
Combat Style
Ragnell, Ike’s signature sword, is typically depicted as a two-handed blade, though Ike seems to wield it more like a hand-and-a-half bastard sword, vs a two-handed greatsword. At any rate, as usual, for European-style medieval combat, I would direct you towards HEMA, the Historical European Martial Arts movement. Here’s some sites to check out:
The HEMA Wikipedia Article
The HEMA Alliance Website (check out their forums)
Also, here’s some videos on HEMA lonsword combat:
If you’re at all interested in learning European weaponry, I’d definitely recommend finding a local HEMA chapter. Barring that, you can also ask around at local Renaissance Festivals or Fairs about stage combat or general Western martial arts instruction.
Combat Strategy
Ike is the commander of an accomplished and successful mercenary company. This is not a skill easily learned. In addition to being trained by his father, Greil, Ike also had to learn on the go after his father died. Of course, you, as an average layperson, are probably not all that involved with large military companies. That said, you can still learn battlefield-effective strategies.
For training, we can look to games! My personal favorite battlefield strategy series is the Total War series. Rome 2, Medieval 2, and Empire are all excellent games, from different historical eras, and they are old enough that you should be able to get them relatively cheaply.
There’s tabletop options as well. The Warhammer and Warhammer 40K gamesets are always popular, if you have some money to spend on minis. You’ve also got Magic: The Gathering, which may not teach you too much about unit positioning and flanking, but it’s great for long-term strategy and resource management.
Barring all these, there’s always good old chess. A short time to learn, but a lifetime to master, chess is great for thinking ahead of your opponent, feints, flanking tactics, and sacrificial choices. You can play it online for free at http://www.chess.com/ and pick up some strategies at http://www.thechesswebsite.com/
Combat Leadership
Ike is a real “lead from the front” kind of guy. You have to be, in a mercenary company. Ike’s peers learn to respect him through his deeds and actions. Remember, when you’re in any kind of competitive situation, your peers will judge you first on what you can do, rather than what you say you can do. Honing your skills every day is the easiest way to become an authority figure on something (check out the Jerry Seinfeld Method).
Being an authority figure isn’t enough, however. You need to keep your brain as sharp as your body, so to speak, which is where your strategy and heart come into things. Being a person of your word is just as valuable as a person skilled in one ability or another. Ike, of course, had more proficient weapons masters in his company, especially when he first took command. He didn’t lead because he was an excellent swordsman. He lead because he was an excellent swordsman who also made good decisions, and did right by his people. Do good things for your people, live according to your word, and make calm-headed decisions in adversity. These are the hallmarks of an excellent leader.
That’s it for today. Make sure to check in Friday for The Ike Workout! Until then, remember to live boldly, change the world, and continue to be awesome!
Booyah! We’re pretty much done with Chun Li, staring down the barrel of our next character examination, but I’d like to take a day to talk about more general making-yourself-a-more-awesome-person stuff.
Video games present us with challenges every day. Climb this wall, beat this guy in a fight, solve this puzzle, find this key, survive this haunted house…lots and lots of different, individual obstacles making up one big challenge course, of sorts. Maybe you need to get to a sniper nest on top of that building, take it out, and control that region. Or maybe you need to balance an artifact on top of a spire in some lost temple, then focus the sunlight on it to open a door. One final goal(regional control, getting to a new area), made up of lots of smaller challenges(get on top of a building, take out the snipers, regain control of the area, finding an artifact, balancing it on a spire, getting the sunlight there, opening the door).
This is actually a lot like life. Unfortunately, life is harder to break down than a video game. In a game, your challenges exist in a vacuum, and you’re typically dealing with one big goal at a time. Of course, we’ve talked about the concept of simplifying before, in our Donkey Kong examination, but sometimes there’s only so much simplifying you can do in your life.
Life is difficult because it seems like a whole lot of BIG problems staring you in the face, usually interdependent, and usually time-sensitive. You need to get that better job to pay for the house but in order to do that you’ve got to get the used car and in order to afford the used car you need to get a better job and in order to get that better job you need a decent wardrobe and HOLY CRAP your crappy job is taking up too much of your time to worry about any of that stuff!
So don’t.
Set small, small challenges for yourself. And don’t be upset if you fail them. PLEASE don’t be upset if you fail them. This is something I struggle with IMMENSELY as I set challenges for myself all the time, and beat myself up if I don’t succeed in them. I know from firsthand experience that this keeps you from learning from your failure, which is the most important part, and it also hurts your confidence when it comes to accepting new challenges, which is extremely counter productive.
So what’s a small challenge? Let’s take our previous example. You want to improve your overall quality of life. This actually starts, more often than not, with your own self image. If you want other people to think more of you, you need to think more of yourself. So in that situation, I’d say your first goal? Get some decent personal hygiene products, and buy yourself a new shirt. That’s it. Not a whole wardrobe. Just get yourself some good toothpaste, body wash, and shampoo, use them daily, and buy yourself a new shirt. Don’t even go crazy on the stuff, just get a decent whitening toothpaste(no need for crazy bleaching products), a nice moisturizing body wash, maybe a good anti-dandruff or moisturizing shampoo, and a shirt. The shirt you might even be able to find at salvation army or something if you’re on a budget, there’s nothing wrong with it.
Give yourself a week or two to obtain these things, and then a month to get in the habit of using/wearing them. Congratulations! You set a challenge for yourself, and obtained it! Maybe your next challenge is getting another shirt or two, or maybe a nice pair of slacks. Keep on like this until you’ve got your new wardrobe. If you stumble at some points, DON’T GIVE UP ON YOURSELF! Challenges are there to give you a chance to grow and improve yourself, which is at the very core of what we’re trying to do here. Sometimes you fail challenges. This, too, is an opportunity to grow! Learn from your mistakes, and then let them go.
I can’t promise you it will always be easy, but you need to try to break your life down into manageable chunks, and then attack them one at a time. Trying to conquer the whole problem at once is just setting yourself up for failure, and it goes completely against our gamer instincts. Trust your instincts, and realize that you’ve already slain dragons, stood against evil, saved the world, and won the day. You have the skills you need already, they’re there, inside of you. Just bring them out, and don’t be afraid to use them.
This month my big challenge is participating in NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writer’s Month. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in the space of a month, from november 1st to november 30th. Honestly, I’m nervous about my chances. I’ve started a lot of stories and novels but honestly? I’ve never finished one. And now I’m putting this out here in a public place, as well as entering into it with a friend of mine who’s already done it once. It’s nerve wracking and overwhelming in some ways, but I’m going to give it everything I’ve got =) I’ll let you guys know, if I succeed, and I might even post it online for people to see.
So that’s it for today! Tomorrow we enter into our next character profile! It will be a character from League of Legends! Who will it be? I don’t know! I’m letting the League of Legends forums vote on which character we do! At the moment our front runners are Pantheon, the Artisan of War, Udyr, the Animal Spirit, and Master Yi, the Wuju Bladesman! Tune in tomorrow to find out which of these champions we’re going to take a look at!
Galen Marek Quick Nav Links:
Character Spotlight: Galek Marek
The Galen Marek Workout
Discuss this post:
On the forums!
On Reddit!
Name: Galen Marek AKA Starkiller
Game(s): The Force Unleashed 1 and 2
Skills/Attributes:
Incredibly powerful connection to the Force.
Conflicted.
Driven.
Skilled lightsaber combatant.
Overview:
Galen is a conflicted, powerful character. Unfortunately, according to Disney, he’s now not part of official canon, HOWEVER he still exists in my headcannon as an awesome figure in the Star Wars universe. Now, there are some options of choice in-game for both of the Force Unleashed games, but we’re going to assume you followed the canonical (at the time) “become the good guy/help form the rebel alliance” path. Most of the principles here can be applied either way. Galen’s moderate build, masterful combat skills, and spirited personality make him a shoo-in for the fighter archetype, and though his aggressive tendencies would possible stick him the the brawler subset, and his force skills might land him in monk, I’m going to say due to his skills with the lightsaber and offensive force talents he would land pretty squarely in the Weapons Master category.
Galen had a relatively idyllic use, shattered in a single day by the incursion of Darth Vader. Darth, of course, recognizes Galen’s considerable force sensitivity, and absconds with the young boy, wiping his memory and proceeding to put him through a hellish training regimen as his secret apprentice. Galen, absent a father figure, begins to look upon Vader and idolize him, trying his best to fulfill his wishes and remain loyal to his master, despite the hardship Vader puts him through. Vader betrays Galen, though. Repeatedly. In doing so, he creates a powerful foe with a vendetta against him, and the empire, especially once Galen recovers his memories of his youth.
Galen, the Duelist
Galen’s skills with a lightsaber are unquestionable. If we’re looking to emulate him, we definitely want to look into studying some serious weapons arts. Unfortunately, lightsabers don’t really exist in real life, HOWEVER you can still learn some pretty cool moves with traditional swords. In the original trilogy, the lightsaber battles were rather close to kendo-style attacks and defenses, however in the prequels and other movies/TV shows the saber styles were expanded to encompass elements from many different types of sword arts. As such, ANY decent sword art should do as a starting point, with major candidates being Kendo, HEMA fencing, or a traditional Kung Fu sword art.
I would also put forth aiki-jo, an aikido subset focusing on the use of the jo, a short staff. This may seem a bit off-course at first, however a lightsaber doesn’t behave like a traditional sword; it has no edge, it doesn’t need to be “drawn through” the target to cut through limbs, and it can be dangerous from any angle. For an example of movements, check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5OTRh9Fxxc The narration is boring as heck, but skip to 1:55 and tell me that isn’t a Galen Marek move.
Galen, the Force Adept
So who the heck wouldn’t want to have Force power, right? I mean, lightsabers are awesome, but if I had to choose between them and the ability to wield The Force, I’d pick The Force every freaking time. Unfortunately, we live in a world bound by silly things like “physics” and whatnot. I’m not ruling out the possibility of technologically-assisted telekinesis at some point in the future, but it’s extremely doubtful that anyone’s going to be moving things around with just their mind any time soon (nevermind Force Lightning or Force Choke). That said, some force-related activities that Jedi and Sith engage in are still quite valid in everyday life.
Meditation
Galen would spend much of his time meditating upon his rage, hate, and passion, strengthening his ties to the dark side of The Force. Now, I personally would not advise meditating on such subjects yourself…it’s less likely to give you superpowers than it is to just make you feel miserable. HOWEVER, meditating upon a goal you have, or just learning to increase your focus and control of yourself is INCREDIBLY helpful. In the digital age, our minds spend most of our time rapidly flitting from one thing to the next. Focusing on a single goal at a time, or learning to focus in general, is a very, very powerful tool. For more on beginning meditation, check out this article: http://www.swamij.com/beginning-meditation.htm
Force Enhanced Muscles
In addition to helping you stay focused on your goals, meditation can also help your body achieve more impressive results in the physical activities you pursue. Visualizing your goals, and “feeling” your body do what you want it to do, before you actually attempt it, can dramatically increase your success rate. Additionally, meditation and mindfulness of your body can help your muscular awareness when it comes to precision skills like balancing, martial arts, and parkour. When engaging in your meditation practice, it’s sometimes good to begin or close your session by mentally running through your body and flexing every muscle in it. Try to keep it as close to individual muscles as you can (like, don’t tense your whole arm. Tense your deltoids, then your triceps, then your biceps, forearms, etc.) Additionally, once you get good at meditation, you can start doing it in different positions like standing on one leg, to help increase your bodily control.
Galen, the Sith Apprentice
So, something that kind of irks me is that Sith are more often than not cast in an evil light. This is a very narrow way of looking at things. We’re not going to go into a FULL philosophical analysis of the Jedi vs the Sith, because goodness knows plenty of people have gone there already, but let’s look at the code of the Sith:
Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me.
Full disclosure: If I existed in the Star Wars universe, I would unequivocally fall on the side of the Sith. This code is actually sort of similar to my own creed.
“Peace is a lie, there is only passion.”
The universe is constantly changing; the idea of a stagnant state of non-conflict is actually kind of horrifying. Change the world is one of my main tenets, because things are going to be changing regardless, you might as well have a hand in it. Life is change, peace is non-change. Passion and emotion are part of what makes life worth living.
“Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory.”
Live boldly. Govern yourself by your needs, strive for your own goals, and seize your victories whenever you can. This does not necessarily mean sideline other people needs (quite the contrary, taking other people’s needs into account and forming a group of friends and supporters drastically increases your own strength, power, and chance of victory). However, to help anyone else, you need to continue to improve yourself and strive towards greatness. It falls along the same lines of “Before you can give anyone else your love, you first need to be able to love yourself.”
“Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me.”
Be awesome. Limits are there to be pushed, greatness obtained by the exceeding of our own limitations (either real or self-inflicted). Follow your passion and free yourself.
Galen is an incredibly passionate individual. He puts his all into everything he does, meditating upon the goals at hand and driving towards them relentlessly. In serving his master, he was tireless in his desire to better himself and earn Vader’s acceptance and praise. In helping to form the rebel alliance, he followed his own heart, standing up to and conspiring against and entire empire, led by the biggest big-bads in the known universe. Galen is a young man who followed his passion in everything he did, and I heartily encourage you to do the same.
That’s all for today. Friday will see the Galen Marek workout, and Saturday will be a video post. Until next time, remember to live boldly, change the world, and continue to be awesome.
Booyah! We’re pretty much done with Chun Li, staring down the barrel of our next character examination, but I’d like to take a day to talk about more general making-yourself-a-more-awesome-person stuff.