Upping the Ante (and Then Some)!

 About a week ago, it occurred to me that my current training isn't going to be enough for the level of competition I'll be facing, so I've increased my training regimen to three-a-days for thrice the fun (& pain, I don't recall being quite this sore since my first team trainings in high school). Thanks to the snow, stadiums are out of the question, but the world is a big place, eh?

Morning (7am or thereabouts):
     -30 mins. of warming up
     -30 mins. of stretching
     -Roadworku! (don't worry, I've got snow boots) up from Cornell University campus, up to Ithaca College campus, through downtown (*updated* I'm changing my route, just to make sure the strain of running doesn't wreck my knee)
     -All poomse, 5 times

If you don't know poomse, there's an example. There are 8 total Taeguks and quite a few beyond that. I practice the eight Taeguks and five beyond: Koryo, Keumgang, Taebaek, Pyongwon and Sipjin.

Also, did you know people compete in poomse internationally? (not me, though, aww heeeeell naw! Pulling 2nd to last would be an accomplishment)

Afternoon (5pm or whenever I have a chance to take a break if I'm not already home...like 5:01pm):
     -Insanity Workout - yup, I'm one of THOSE people
     -100 turning kicks (50 variations), 50 pada-chagi (30 variations) 100 cut kicks (50 variations), 50 ax kicks (25 variations), 50 back kicks (30 variations)
     -Old school winter challenge: 50 push-ups/100 sit-ups/50 leg lifts per day, anything else painful/fruitful I can fit into that amount of time
     -30 min. cooldown and stretching

Night (8pm or whenever I'm through working):
     -1 hour of weight training, followed by...
     -1000 punches of the Spartan army...for Sparta

This schedule's going to change once C.W. Taekwondo is back in session, but it's been working well for the past couple days. Once classes get started again, I'll be taking up a more active role and won't have as much time for the self-workouts. Most importantly, I look forward to getting Sabumnim's feedback on my routine, as well as working with Joel (one of the instructors at the dojang) - he has so many interesting drills I'd never think to employ.

Next: recite the Articles of Confederation from memory without moving. Then same thing on the other side, backwards.

There's still the matter of reactions, something I can't do without an opponent. As much as I'd like to sharpen my reflexes the way I used to (no joke, I got in a few street fights/brawls between buddies, and no, I'm not talking about the game....how about that, I totally I did that too), I'd rather improve myself the legal way by training with able-bodied fighters. One of the people I want to train with is based in Baltimore, which isn't too far a trek from Ithaca. Unfortunately, he isn't in Baltimore at the moment, so I'll have to wait until during the semester to do it. There are also plenty of skilled and seasoned opponents in New York City, so I'll need to make a point to go there for a week or so, when I have the opportunity before January 20th.

Aside from TKD, I've also been client-hunting for the editing service. It's not a one-time paper editing I'm looking for, because that...well, that wouldn't really warrant much pay at all, would it? No, what I'd like to work with is a long-term client who produces several substantive works per month. There are plenty of people in Ithaca who have need for small-time assistance, and I'm happy to oblige, but that won't sustain me in the long run, mentally or financially. I'd be happy to settle down with something that will grow me more as an editor as well as show my commitment to this trade. All things aside, though, it's a good thing Ithaca is such an academic town, with Ithaca College and Cornell in such proximity, or by all means I'd be screwed.

Project Hallabbey Shuffle is as it's always been: plodding but sound. The plot thickens as I develop likely perpetrators/scenarios of nuclear war and how the surviving world would fundamentally change, not just as a result of the fallout, but from their relations to each other in terms of alliance, trade and, most importantly, warfare. Also on the plate is how exactly a "superdrug" might be introduced into the world after such a catastrophe. I (might have) mentioned before that every player's "back story" is to be presented in 3-4 page comic panels, but before I do that, the universe must have total order.

Cyberpunk has etched out an interesting (and fucking awesome) niche in this world. I'm drawn to the genre because of how the best writers like Neal Stephenson slowly reveal this universe to which I can draw technological and cultural parallels to our own, albeit by making occasional leaps of faith and suspending my disbelief (but that's true about most fictional works, really). It makes us wonder about the future of the human race & our jump from physical evolution to an exponential technology evolution - Moore's law at work, if you will. The friend who introduced me to Stephenson via Anathem was talking to me about creating a good cyberpunk world and said (paraphrased), "you have to make a universe from the ground up, using history as the backdrop, and it all must have a reason." Basically, everything (culture, settlement structure, communication, trade) needs to be fully explored and constructed, and not "because fuck you, it's my universe." Extrapolation is key here, and it's what I have to do. Using nuclear fallout to power settlements? Genetic alterations to withstand being pelted with harmful radiation? Instant regeneration of dead cells? There needs to be a how, and it has to relate to the technology we have and are developing today. Perhaps it's overambitious of me, but I want the plot to be legitimate - to have an actual beginning, middle and end, as opposed to the usual fighting game plot.

Just to give you an idea of what I'm up against, here are the plots of some major fighting games in the years: 

Street Fighter II: M. Bison, an evil dictator holds a fighting tournament to get revenge against those who previously defeated him and to take over the world. I feel like there are easier ways to get revenge on people - like attacking them when they least expect it, instead of financing a frivolous global event that your enemies might not even enter. Maybe that's why I'm not the evil dictator...and hey, if you can take over the world through a freaking tournament, all the more power to you.

The King of Fighters '94: Rugal Bernstein, an evil international arms dealer holds the annual King of Fighters tournament to find strong warriors to work for him. Again, not the most efficient way to do things, but it's his ship, so whatever.

All the other King of Fighters': someone holds the King of Fighters tournament to gather fighters because of some sinister thing. You'd really think everyone would have learned after 1994 to avoid this event like the plague, yet the same people always show up. Everyone's a hero, I guess?

Tekken: The Mishima Zaibatsu holds the King of Iron Fists tournament. At least this one's actually a tournament - but it so happens that the leader of the Mishima Zaibatsu is a villainous dude who does mean things to people because he's just an asshole.

Mortal Kombat: Shang Tsung holds a tournament to decide the fate of Earthrealm. If the forces of Outworld win, they'll be able to take Earthrealm, because apparently that's how the fate of realms is decided. Don't ask, I still don't even know.

Guilty Gear: the Union of Nations holds a tournament to find warriors capable of defeating Testament, a villainous guy building an army. Eh...

So, have you noticed a trend here? I love pretty much all of these series', or at least one installment, but those plots leave basically everything to be desired, not to take away from tourneys in fighting games...it just seems so overdone. Well, I'm going to breaking the mold...WITH MY FISTS! Hallabbey Shuffle won't include some sinister or benevolent force holding a contest that decides the fate of anything, except the player's boredom. Fighting happens, and it doesn't have to be the result of a martial arts extravaganza. Of course, the fighting itself isn't supposed to be realistic unless nuclear near-Holocaust caused Earth's gravity to shift, allowing people to jump 15 feet into the air. My main point is, this thing needs to make sense. A few days ago, I rediscovered one of my short stories I'd written for a middle school English class assignment. It was hilarious, in that in an otherwise normal world completely parallel to our own, people could perform extraordinary feats for no reason, and with no consequence to ordinary life! One of the characters had the ability of interplanetary teleportation, while another could "... [use] the energy in the air to power himself up." That wasn't paraphrased, mind you. I'll post the story some time or another, but it's really bad. Breathing in space? Time travel? How'd it get there? I can't explain that.

At this point, I'm just being a dick to a pre-secondary school Lufasa who, aside from having a rat tail and being somewhat of a recluse, was alright. More relevant to this post, the other aspects of the game are being less prioritized as a result. The music writing never really stops: it's just a matter of coming up with good, fitting music for the genre, stages and players - it's like wading through your own shit [lit.] to find a diamond you accidentally swallowed. Okay, so aside from the word "find", maybe it's nothing like that. Also, I've decided to hold off on coding until I can get a second opinion from someone who could actually get involved in the project, as opposed to some random person.

"Hey, do you know C# -" "FOR THE LAST TIME, GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

Anyhow, it's getting to 1000 punches time. This training is madness.

"Madness?
...Yes, yes it is."

Coming next week: more of this! And possibly something else! You never know just what will happen next, but there's a 100% guarantee that it could be pretty awesome! Also, I'll share a few back-story panel samples.

Open Source

Ah, winter break. It means seeing a lot of awesome people coming back in from out of town. I got to hang with quite a few of them - times were good, aside from me being covered in glitter and getting elbowed in the balls accidentally...at least, I really hope it was accidental...

You want to know the most frustrating thing about Project Hallabbey Shuffle? It's the same problem anyone working on a project involving creative license (novel, music, etc.) You can't share a single thing until you're done or close to done. So, while I'm slaving away to improve run-times on my engine tests (physics engine not included), I can't be like "hey, you, come read this method and see if it's the most efficient way to reduce meter" or "do you think I should make a separate class for Status?" It's a lonely road...now I know how Akuma feels...since clearly he's an expert in OOP.

"Where I code, I code alone."

At least when I'm training for the US Open in February I can be a little more open about my routine. To that end...I've been doing as much as I can to get ready for it. Aside from my warm-up and a general workout, here's some of my daily TKD specific training routine:

     -100 turning kicks (50 standard, 50 variations)
     -100 attacking cuts (50 standard, 50 variations)
     -50 ax kicks (25 standard, 25 variations)
     -50 back kicks (20 standard, 30 variations)

Aside from these, I also do the "thousand uppercuts of the Spartan army" drill, as Sir Evan Delahanty aptly phrases it. Basically, I punch the shit out of a target bag with full force until I reach 1000, no resting. Usually accompanied by manly roaring, and the occasional "DRAGOOOOOO!!" Every two days, I run full stadium steps (up, down and back), and whenever the weather thwarts my training efforts, I mix in weight training, (carefully) using a weighted vest.

Anyways, some of these drills are much improved with a partner - sadly, no one's in town that is interested in training during the Christmas break. Once more TKDists come into town, I'll be able to work more freestyle/mobile drills as well. Dynamic training is going to be the most important factor for me. For everything else, there's stadium steps. every three days, though that'll be coming to an end with Ithaca finally acting like Winter exists and snowing. It's been perpetually in Fall mode since just about late 2010. No, I'm not complaining. It's just odd, something so integral to the town being absent. Don't worry, I won't make any lame Game of Thrones Ned Stark references.

"False. You just made a Game of Thrones Ned Stark reference."

In addition, I've also been working turning kick variations involving cuts and front hooks. One really neat trick I've started using is what I call the "hook back." Basically, I throw a turning kick and, if it misses (or even if it hits), I retract the leg and hook to the face or cut to the hogu. I tested it out during a sparring session the other day to great success - aside from my sparring partner's face (sorry Peter!!) The nice thing about this style of kicking is that it still leaves me with enough time and balance to adjust if my opponent moves in or out.

All this training is good, but it can't ever achieve what match sparring with strong competitors accomplishes. To that end, I'm attending a "kicking clinic" in Boston on January 20th, hosted by Jayson Grant, a seasoned TKDist with quite a few titles under his name. Having sparred him a couple times, I can say he's got some sick nasty footwork, reactions and insight into how to improve one's motion and gamesmanship. Training with him, even for just a few hours, will help me put together some of the new sparring ideas I've had. I look forward to it.

Anyways, time to clean the glitter off my face. Two words about last night: Disco Christmas. Oh, actually three words. Disco Christmas WIN.

A Miserable Little Pile of AWESOME!

Howdy, been a while! Sorry, I have quite a bit on my plate as of late, so this is going to be a big damn post.

Notoriously.

First off, I'm done with the GPS program at Ithaca College, but I didn't get anything out of it. I'm putting my math presentation project on the sidelines. No one wants to hear my inane rants about how to make sense of cubic reciprocity, leastwise me, at the moment. I'm taking a few InfoSci and CompSci classes next semester at Cornell University (I know what you're thinking, "goddamn it, more Cornell?! Rearry?!!" I say unto you, yes, because shut up). I looked over my resumé...and it's terrible. Chalk it up to a lot of pro bono editing, TKD and personal trainer, but I feel like it looks extremely empty. Therefore, I'm bolstering it in the best way possible. Jumping from personal project to personal project isn't my thing (which I've been doing with the math theorem, game project, music album), and I need to start moving forward. Also, building connections in this field might actually help me find professors and students interested in Project Hallabbey Shuffle. Like I said before, a one man team can do so much before sucking.

No, you perv, that's not a double entendre.

"But Lushima?" you ask, "how will you afford to take classes with a shitty job?" Well it's pretty obvious, isn't it? I'll whore myself out! No, but seriously, I'm thinking about supplementing my income by making a full-time business out of my paper editing (by "full-time", I mean I'll make people pay me for my work, for once). Peers and professors alike have taken a big liking to my skills. It's funny...it started with my parents asking me to look over their works. As usual, I agreed to it for nothing. Eventually, word spread through my mom and dad's respective offices that I possess a particular set of skills that make me a nightmare for typos and grammatical errors. Other friends gradually learned of my knack for eloquent writing and began making requests. Cut to now, people are interested in using me as an editor/for feedback. So, yeah, if I can make it work, I'll be, for lack of a better word.......stoked. (Yeah, that's some witty writing wordplay right there!

Sometimes, I wonder if I made the right choice by staying in Ithaca instead of going to Denver, as I'd planned before. It would have given me a chance to be around my brother and sister-in-law and to watch/guide my nephew as he grows into (more) badassitude. Also, Bill Pottle's school is there, which would give me the chance to compete with some top level athletes. I'd be foolish to deny the opportunity in that. However, I feel that I made the right choice, at least for the time being. I've got plenty of unfinished business here, personally and professionally.

Project Hallabbey Shuffle continues. With an outdated computer and software (and a broken CD drive, meaning no updates), I'm stuck with OSX 10.5 until I get a new computer (which will be a PC, btdubs), meaning I'm waiting until I can budget a new comp - hopefully soon, if everything goes according to plan! Since last I blogged, I've made major progress with the engine, though. C# and GTK 2.0., inefficient and archaic as they are, have allowed me to create the necessary classes to at least test run the meter/damage/counter system, if not the physics of the thing. After all, in order to create an engine/damage system, I only needed a most basic OOP language, and C# fit the bill. My very first game project (if you read my post Oldies but Goodies) was done using RealBasic and Java. Yes, it was terrible, but it got the job done, I s'pose. Now, if only technology didn't progress exponentially...using software outdated by four years is tantamount to using history textbooks that are 50 years old in a classroom setting. Psh, but NO one does that, right?

....right?

Anyway, I'm focusing on the music section of the project and have been banging out a few tunes here 'n' there. My friend Matt moved to Colorado and was effing awesome in that he gave me his bass upon leaving. It's people like him that remind me of the true Ithacan spirit. Thanks, Matt (not that you're reading this, but I just felt like making a shoutout)! Anyways, I recently came up with track GOLD - but actually track aluminum - with one particular theme, called Magazines in the Sand. Check it out here in the Hallabbey Shuffle set < https://soundcloud.com/cnrhkxtreme/ >. The movelists, as you probably know, have been well completed. All that's left to do is to balance meter damage. As for the engine, I've decided to add a few minor mechanics to it. Graphics...uh, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. If you, reader, know anyone interested in an awesome project, speak now or forever hold your peace...or speak later, that works too.

Most importantly, though, the 2013 US Open is coming up on February 18th, and I'll be competing in the welterweight division. No, I'm not talking about fucking golf or tennis (tennis would be pretty baller though) - this is TKD. This is major for a few reasons: this will be my first competition in approximately a year, my first injury-free competition in...well, lord knows HOW long, and my first time going to the US Open. Every year, some frustrating thing gets in the way (or I should say, I let something get in the way - excuses are a biatch): this year, it was both injury and finance, which I could have avoided by simply saving more carefully; last year, my class and Cornell Taekwondo schedule wouldn't allow me enough time, but I should have been able to find a way to make my professors understand the importance of this to me; the year before THAT, I just told myself I was too scrubby for the US Open and didn't bother going. I've since come to the conclusion that I won't be in good physical condition forever. Why not just go out and see what happens now, while I still can? It's also a good stepping stone for my World Championship/Olympic plans.

Strange as it sounds, winning isn't my goal - it's mainly to fight the strongest while I'm in prime fighting condition, and if I win, that's a nice perk. There are going to be a lot of top-level competitors, likely including Aaron Cook (a once-upon-a-time inspiration of mine, repping Isle of Man), Jayson Grant (also the effing man, repping Jamaica) and a few former ECTC/USAT allies and adversaries. It's since occurred to me that I shouldn't stratify fighters by their accolades - in the ring, titles don't matter for anything.

Anyway, it's going to be a pretty big event, and there's a lot I've had do for it. Cutting weight is paramount, but nothing new. The 80kg (176lbs) weight limit is much easier than the former ECTC limit of 78kg (172lbs) to which I've grown more accustomed, so I'm relieved. The two most important things are fully adjusting to the Daedo electronic scoring system and improving my stamina. Watch the below video for an example of Daedo electronic scoring in case you haven't seen it. (Also, Terrence Jennings is a BAMF, in case you didn't know and had no idea he won a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics).

I've got quite a lot to do next year...and I'm very excited about it. As a person who generally only really feels happy when he's doing something valuable and high-reaching (I'll admit to that much), I definitely look forward to all the experiences. Geronimo!

Oh, also the title's post is reference to one of my favorite games (and worst lines), Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. My sister and I used to play the game religiously. One thing, however, that stuck out about it - the awful lines. Just, terrible. Here's the transcript for the introduction fight before the game actually starts.