Motivate me, night ops.

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Motivate me, night ops.

Post by Ghost » Thu Nov 12, 2009 3:08 am

I have recently come to the realization that i have been slacking off and making bullshit excuses about it. Over the past 2 years, I have degraded in terms of the physical shape i'm in, my mental state (i'm not as sharp, my problem solving and three dimensional thinking skills aren't where they used to be), and the skillsets i posses have almost all deteriorated as well. I'm attempting to be brutally honest here with myself, and i've determined several causes for this general downgrade i've been lulling myself into.

1. I used to compare myself to myself alone, not to the average person. - Most of us here are "better" than the average person. we are capable of any regular task that a normal person would be capable of, plus we have built up many more skills that elevate our position on the evolutionary scale. We have developed skills and cunning beyond that of a regular citizen, we are in better shape both mentally and physically, and that should come as no surprise. BUT that is the very reason i stopped making progress, and started regressing. we must be careful not to look at things in the way i described above, because it lulls you into thinking that you've reached a peak, you've proved you're better, and gives you an excuse to become complacent where you are. If you compare yourself as you are now in those three areas (physical capabilities, mental capabilities, learned skillsets) to yourself in the past, you will be shown only where you have improved, and where you need improvement. By using this method on myself, i've determined that a 17 year old me could kick my 20.5 year old ass. Shit sucks.

2. I took to telling myself that as my relationship with my girlfriend became more and more important, it was ok to let other facets of my character slide, in order to make more progress with my relationship. That fact was FALSE. Life is not a videogame where you must balance your skills depending upon what is most important. With enough willpower and dedication, you can progress in ALL areas. I am perfectly capable of reaching new peaks of skill, strengh, endurance and guile WITHOUT HAVING TO SACRIFICE IN ANY OTHER AREA, INCLUDING YOUR PERSONAL LIFE. I did not need to let my physical prowess degrade in order to deepen my relationship, it was possible to improve in all areas at the same time. I only needed to use my time more wisely, and keep my passion for improvement and will to succeed high in all areas.

3. Opping conditions changed, and i let these new conditions decide how often i went out, how often i trained in other related areas, and so on. When i moved i found myself without an opping partner, without a parkour group, in a far more urbanized environment that i was used to opping in. So i figured i would wait to continue doing these things until conditions became more to my liking. this decision was FUCKING STUPID. Your environment is in a constant state of change, suck it up and learn to deal with things. Analyze the situation, adapt to meet any new requirements, and overcome any obstacles. like many people have said here - there are no excuses, only choices.

So i'm using this thread to chronicle the re-building of my physical and mental prowess, along with my skills. Below are the areas i'm going to focus on improving. After reading the list, feel free to suggest any activities or operations i could undertake to further improve in these areas.

1. Strength - Going to start things out easy with 100 pushups/situps per day, plus a series of strength building parkour stretches i developed with a friend. i'm doing this in hard mode, so no weightlifting. it's not something i'll have access to, so bodyweight stuff only.

2. Endurance - Obviously, running is going to be key here. i'm going to do various running exercises a minimum of three times per week.

3. Stealth skills - I will get off my ass and op at least once per week, every week. No exceptions.

4. Infiltration skills - I will spend one day a week focusing on skills like lockpicking, carding, using shims, defeating locked doors and windows in an attempt to turn this area of opping back into what it used to be - one of my strong points.

6. Parkour skills - I will take one day a week to spend at least a couple hours practicing parkour to get back to where i used to be, and then improve beyond that. i'll likely have to practice solo, but it'll help with strength and endurance as well.

5. Armed combat skills - Like the above mentioned skills, i'll take one day per week to focus a few hours on practicing my knife fighting techniques, along with practicing a variety of staff fighting techniques. I will not pass up any opportunity to spar, although these will be few.

6. Unarmed combat skills - A weak point for me. There are several McDojo's around here, and i'll not waste money at a place like that, but as soon as i can afford it i'll be enrolling in a jeet kune do clinic half an hour from where i live. Starting thanksgiving break, a friend of mine and i will be getting together a few times a month, donning some lightweight sparring gloves, and going at it, no rules. The experience i gain from this should be invaluable. Also, like the above three skills, i'll donate a day to researching and practicing what hand to hand techniques i can practice solo. Any decent looking techniques i find i'll write down and practice/evaluate in my sparring sessions.

7. Firearms skills - Not opping related, but another area i'm not nearly as proficient as i'd wish to be. As things are now, i only shoot once a month for an hour or two. I'll research some local ranges, join one, and start putting some serious amounts of lead downrange.

8. Survival skills - See the pattern i'm trying to set up here? like many of the other skills on my list, this one will get one day a week of focus, every week. I'll spend time researching new skills, reading over much of the material i've amassed, and practicing these new skills to the point of proficiency. Old survival skills will also be brushed up on.

9. Mental skills - I've noticed that the less i read, the less quick-witted i become. i'm going to spend more time reading, and less time playing mindless videogames. I rarely watch any TV, so that's not something i can cut out (although it would be the first thing to get cut where it an issue.

Here are my current physical stats to track progress:

Weight - 140
Max pushups in 60 seconds - 50
Max situps in 60 seconds - 40
One mile run time - 7 minutes 30 seconds

So there you have it. Hopefully i can start out improving in all these areas, the culmination of everything being my weekly opping, where i'll use most of these skills, minus the firearm stuff, and hopefully i'll avoid having to use any of the combat stuff as well. With enough dedication, i'm hoping to turn myself from "guy who used to be a pretty good opper" to "all around badass". Take this as a lesson, guys, so you don't find yourself on here in a few years, admitting to embarrassing levels of lethargy. Any suggestions for self improvement are welcome.
"A man's greatest treasures are his illusions."

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Re: Motivate me, night ops.

Post by Ghost » Thu Nov 12, 2009 3:14 am

Oh, just a note: pardon me if this plan seems a bit disjointed at the moment. i'm going to refine it into a weekly training schedule, with one day focusing on a single skill, plus one or two parkour sessions and one or two night ops per week. Schedule will be posted once it's made, if you have any ideas or criticism, like i said above - please feel free to post it.

Also, anyone who is looking to create a similar schedule and remotivate themselves/do some serious skill building, post your own stuff here. this thread is in the training section, but it doesn't have to just be for me. use it as a resource, or post your own workout/training plans.
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Re: Motivate me, night ops.

Post by Psychlonic » Thu Nov 12, 2009 6:14 am

For what it's worth, it's admirable you're setting lofty goals but maybe you should just start out nice and slow so you don't burn yourself out early and say fuck it. It's perfectly possible to just suddenly find yourself in the mood to kick complete ass and workout like an animal, but doing that, it only takes one decent distraction to totally fuck everything up.

I eased into my current routine nice and slowly, practically working out just enough to feel better about myself. From there, I just slowly added more things into it as I went along because I wanted more out of myself. And your bias towards weights is old fashioned, they don't make you slow and cumbersome if you do the right workouts. You should look up MMA training, YouTube places like API fitness (Brock Lesnar and Sean Sherk do that) can give you some good ideas. Skull crushers, shaking dumb bells in and out as fast as you can, side to side, wall sitting and punching with light weights, these all build fast, explosive strength. You want to train in timed sets, not repetitions eventually. For now? Stick to repetitions until you develop a habit. Stacking on more weight at the expense of less lifts is what builds slow, easy to tire bulk. Better to throw around 200 pounds repeatedly than lift 600 pounds twice.

As for ops, don't ask for motivation. Have all your shit ready and when the mood strikes you at night, throw your shit on ASAP and get the fuck outside. Figure it out from there. You'll come back scheming and plotting your next op, guaranteed.

EDIT - Here's API's YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/APITrainingCenter
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Re: Motivate me, night ops.

Post by Xanatos » Thu Nov 12, 2009 9:02 am

Damn, that's an impressive list I doubt I'd be able to stick to. Makes me feel like a sissy... I'll see if I can spin out an op this weekend.
Good luck man.
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Re: Motivate me, night ops.

Post by Ghost » Thu Nov 12, 2009 10:05 pm

Psychlonic wrote:For what it's worth, it's admirable you're setting lofty goals but maybe you should just start out nice and slow so you don't burn yourself out early and say fuck it. It's perfectly possible to just suddenly find yourself in the mood to kick complete ass and workout like an animal, but doing that, it only takes one decent distraction to totally fuck everything up.

I eased into my current routine nice and slowly, practically working out just enough to feel better about myself. From there, I just slowly added more things into it as I went along because I wanted more out of myself. And your bias towards weights is old fashioned, they don't make you slow and cumbersome if you do the right workouts. You should look up MMA training, YouTube places like API fitness (Brock Lesnar and Sean Sherk do that) can give you some good ideas. Skull crushers, shaking dumb bells in and out as fast as you can, side to side, wall sitting and punching with light weights, these all build fast, explosive strength. You want to train in timed sets, not repetitions eventually. For now? Stick to repetitions until you develop a habit. Stacking on more weight at the expense of less lifts is what builds slow, easy to tire bulk. Better to throw around 200 pounds repeatedly than lift 600 pounds twice.

As for ops, don't ask for motivation. Have all your shit ready and when the mood strikes you at night, throw your shit on ASAP and get the fuck outside. Figure it out from there. You'll come back scheming and plotting your next op, guaranteed.

EDIT - Here's API's YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/APITrainingCenter

Thanks for the advice, i'm definitely going to utilize that API training center. My bias toward weights isn't so much that they can make you bulky, slow and easy to tire - i know that there are plenty of guys out there who weight train, are massive, and quicker/more agile than i am. My only bias is that they're not something i have much access too, and with all the traveling i do and weird hours i work, i prefer exercises i can do without other gear, or using minimal amounts of gear. Perhaps i'll get a few dumb bells and try to dig my old curling bar out of my parent's house next time i head over for a visit, though, a day per week of weight training should be doable even on my schedule.

It's strange, i've found that whenever i try to make small changes, or changes in increments, i tend to either forget about them or just give up. But when i decide on making a radical change, to the point where i can lay down at the end of the week and look at a bunch of visible progress i've made in X areas, that serves to keep me interested and engaged in whatever it is i'm attempting. Still, donating just two or three hours a day toward training in and researching various topics shouldn't be so hard.

As for motivation, i've spent this week getting some gear together, and set a deadline - monday night i'm going out to explore a group of abandoned houses in a field about a mile and a half from where i live, regardless of what gear i've got ready. Most of my equipment is still in Idaho, and knowing me i'd just keep using that as an excuse to put off opping. i'll likely be going out with nothing more than a knife, a flashlight, and a multitool - but i don't think i'll be doing any ops that require more than that just now. gotta remember how to walk before i can run and all that stuff.
Xanatos wrote:Damn, that's an impressive list I doubt I'd be able to stick to. Makes me feel like a sissy... I'll see if I can spin out an op this weekend.
Good luck man.
Lol, i think anyone is able to stick to something like this, it's just a matter of motivation, hence my thread title. I used to have a pretty good name for myself, around night ops and here where i live. I've found that people still seem to think i'm capable of all the shit that i would do back in high school, and frankly it's embarrassing having everyone assuming that i'm something better than what i am. That's pretty strong motivation to improve.

Good luck on your op this weekend, hopefully both of ours will go well. On that tangent, maybe we should organize a yearly "op day", where every single person on the site gets off their ass and goes out for an op, all on the same night. could be fun, sharing stories afterwards and whatnot. might even meet someone out there. :D
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Re: Motivate me, night ops.

Post by Xanatos » Fri Nov 13, 2009 5:11 am

I plan to explore a nearby construction site either tonight or tomorrow night, but I went on a sort of "improvised op" today:

I was just walking through a warehouse district after dropping off my dog at the groomers and scaling a parking structure. On my way out of the warehouse complex there was one door wide open, so I snuck inside to have a look around (with the excuse of "I was looking for the bathroom" ready to whip out). I couldn't see anybody, so I headed to the rear staircase quietly, moving from cover to cover to avoid being seen by any passers-by. I then headed up the stairs slowly and had a look around the top floor. There were a lot of shelves & cardboard boxes filled with children's educational books, nothing worth taking. Although I did see a good crow/prybar lying around, but it was too big to fit anywhere on my person. I heard someone entering the warehouse so I quickly pulled myself up between two tall shelves into a sort of split-jump (Splinter Cell style). The person then went through the lower office door and I lowered myself down quietly. I headed back towards the stairs (the only silent method of getting back down) and started decending in a crouched position. Someone was approaching from the office room, so I ducked in between two shelves and sat in the shadows waiting for her to leave. She did eventually, so I crept back out from the narrow space and proceeded to leave through the warehouse door. There was a ute (pickup truck) outside with someone unloading some boxes, so I quickly took cover in between 2 stacks of cardboard boxes. Someone with a forklift was driving out of the adjacent warehouse, and at the same time 2 people came out of the office to inspect some books (about 2-3m away from me). I tensly waited in between the cardboard boxes for them to leave - one woman got within arms reach of me - but after about 1.5 minutes they went back into the office. Now I just had to wait until the forklift guy and the other person turned their backs so I could dart out. The forklift was loaded and the guy drove back in, the ute lady drove away, but then about 3 other guys came out of nowhere and moved across the warehouse I was in towards the office (out of sight) to where the ladies were calling them. I stealthily left my cover around the boxes and peeked around the corner. The office door was closed, so I darted quietly out of the already silent building and walked away calmly.
Nothing like a bit of tension to wake yourself up in the afternoon.

Lessons learnt:
Well... nothing really, it was just a bit of fun.
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Re: Motivate me, night ops.

Post by stealththief » Fri Nov 13, 2009 5:57 am

Sounds like an intense little op, good job not letting the opportunity slip. Therin what works well for me is to write down your workout/training program on paper and hang it somewhere visible so it's much harder to slip your mind, that might work for you. Also the idea of catching up with your old self is often enough for me.
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Re: Motivate me, night ops.

Post by Psychlonic » Fri Nov 13, 2009 7:52 am

stealththief wrote:Also the idea of catching up with your old self is often enough for me.
This. About a year ago I found myself thinking the same thing as you, Therin: my 18 year old self would CRUSH the current me, and it pissed me off to the point I started improving myself more and more. As far as psyche goes I definitely don't have the same emotionless demeanor I used to have where I could handle anything without flinching. Physically and as far as skill goes I am now far superior without question though. Keeps me going seeing my progress and knowing where I can end up if I continue.

I'm still on the fence as far as going back into my old emotional state. Objectively, it was much more superior as it afforded me complete focus in life but... human programming is hard to overcome, metaphorically speaking. It would take a complete isolation period from my old life to do it, and I'm not convinced it's necessarily for the best quite yet.
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Re: Motivate me, night ops.

Post by Ghost » Sat Nov 14, 2009 2:20 am

Psychlonic wrote:I'm still on the fence as far as going back into my old emotional state. Objectively, it was much more superior as it afforded me complete focus in life but... human programming is hard to overcome, metaphorically speaking. It would take a complete isolation period from my old life to do it, and I'm not convinced it's necessarily for the best quite yet.
Ah, now here's something i have some experience with, it's the state i achieve whenever i operate or preform difficult tasks where stray thoughts/emotional responses could hinder the outcome of things. Sounds like you fell into it and decided to stay there for a while, but it's possible, with practice, to envoke and disband this state within a matter of seconds.

Essentially, i believe it's the same thing people are talking about when they speak of "finding your center", although i prefer to think of it as a void. I don't really know how to explain the way i achieve the state, but it has to do with letting go of that emotional part of your psyche. The best i way i could explain how it feels is sort of like opening up and letting all of my emotions fall out or strain out, as if you were pulling a plug in a sink and allowing the water to drain out, leaving only the hard outer structure that is the sink.

Meh, maybe i'll make a thread about it in psychology since this isn't the place, but if you're interested, send me a PM. I've been able to achieve the state at will for a while, and i've been able to teach a few friends to do the same. It sounds a lot like the state you were talking about, and being able to ditch your emotional responses, irrational trains of thought, and all of that shit for a couple hours when you op, and then let those things resume when you come back... I guess what i'm saying is it's possible to achieve the same or a similar state without sacrificing that whole facet of your humanity long-term.
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Re: Motivate me, night ops.

Post by stealththief » Sat Nov 14, 2009 2:45 am

Make a new topic about this, I have some ninjutsu techniques that relate to this that I learned not too long aog. More on the mystical side really but no reason not to try it out, it's a mind thing.
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Re: Motivate me, night ops.

Post by Psychlonic » Sat Nov 14, 2009 3:11 am

Heh, no it's not something I care to talk about so let's just keep this on topic. It's not a matter of "achieving" the state of mind, it was a constant state of ALWAYS being in it. It was my lifestyle, from which everything else revolved around and decisions were made on. I was more thinking out loud than anything. Thanks though. But the forum is always here for the contribution of information, so feel free to write down anything.
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Re: Motivate me, night ops.

Post by Psychlonic » Sun Nov 29, 2009 10:24 am

Well, are you sticking with it?
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Re: Motivate me, night ops.

Post by killdozer » Mon Nov 30, 2009 2:51 am

Looks like I'll be joining the party a little late. I plan to get back into opping ASAP.

My problem however is simple:

1.) It's December... I'll be freezing balls and leaving footprints everywhere.

2.) I'm still on probation (Early release date was the 18th of November. She filed the paperwork and said she will contact me on the 24th of December to tell me if I'm off or not.)

I haven't been on a real op since late August of 2008 (jail, probation, more jail, probation again...)
I have still been doing parkour but without regular ops to test my skills my motivation to practice martial arts, actually train parkour skills, and generally get back into shape has severely diminished and I am a shell of my former self...

I also share many of Therin's problems that I sort of refused to acknowledge until I read this thread.

I will try to mirror your training with some mods to make it fit my needs better. (it sounds like we have a very similar body type...)


You mentioned parkour stretches in the OP... Could you post them here?

Or hell, if you feel up to it, could you consider posting your full routine? I could modify it lightly to fit me and then we could both update with daily progress or something to keep each other motivated and going strong.
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