Chin-Ups! And How to Do Your First One!

Chin-ups are one of my favorite exercises. In the past, I've vastly improved my fitness levels and dropped serious body fat by adopting a steady diet of Chin-Ups, Push-Ups, Dips, and running. If I wanted to go super-minimalist in my current training, I would probably stick to Chins along with Kettlebell Swings and Turkish Get-Ups.

I need to pause a moment here, because any article on Chin-Ups has to address a bit of nomenclature. So here it goes: Pull-Ups (usually) refer to grabbing the bar with your palms facing away from you. Chins-Ups (usually) refer to grabbing the bar with your palms facing towards you. There are other variations, such as Neutral Grip (palms facing each other, which is requires a certain type of bar). In general, Chin-Ups are easier than Pull-Ups because the biceps are more engaged and take some of the pressure off the back. I like to use a Lifeline USA Jungle Gym, which allows for a sort of rotating grip that I prefer.

Why do I love Chin-Ups in all their forms? Besides being incredibly functional, there is just something emotionally satisfying about them. It feels good to pull yourself up. You feel powerful. It also looks cool, which is no doubt why so many films—Taxi Driver, Aliens, The Bourne Identity, G.I. Jane, The American, I Am Legend, Skyfall, etc.—feature scenes of characters to some sort of Pull-Up. It reinforces their badassery.

Chin-Ups are also very hard to do. Many people (most?) can't do a single one. For a long time, I was one of those people. 

How did I train to do my first Chin-Up? Through the power of negatives! A negative involves stepping or jumping up to the top position of a Chin-Up and then slowly lowering yourself. 

Here's specifically what I did:

Armor Building, Double Cleans, and Silat

Lately I’ve been incorporating a bit of “Armor Building” into my training. I first learned of the concept from strength coach extraordinaire Dan John:

I work with a lot of people in the collision sports and collision occupations. One of the hardest things to do while preparing for these endeavors is what I call 'Armor Building,' a term that one of my football players coined a few years ago.

Essentially, Armor Building is all about preparing the body—especially the trunk—for collisions with other things.

Me, being taken down Silat-style.

As a martial artist, I am mostly interested in colliding with other people. Recently, I’ve been working on my Silat skills. Silat is a Southeast Asian martial art found throughout Malaysia, Indonesia, and the southern Philippines. A few years ago, I helped my instructor, Burton Richardson, film a series of Silat instructional DVDs. While there are many different styles of Silat, Burton’s version is very much about colliding with your opponent. It isn’t a parry-and-hit-back art as much as it’s a crash-into-your-enemy-and-slam-him-to-the ground art.

(A vanity-related aside: I was nursing a nasty back injury when we filmed the Silat DVDs and hadn’t trained for months. I had flab around by midsection and my posture was all screwed up. I looked terrible. But that was then. To paraphrase a line from Night Court, "I'm much better now!" You can see some clips of the videos here.)

If I’m going to be crashing into people, I don’t want to hurt myself doing so. And that brings us back to Armor Building.

Recipe Wednesday: Sour Shchi

Earlier this year, I posted a recipe for the Russian (technically Ukrainian) staple borscht. Today I'll be continuing the Slavic theme with something that might not be quite as familiar to many readers: shchi, specifically sauerkraut or sour shchi.

Shchi is a cabbage soup, and is such a part of Russian culture that there is even a old saying about it: "Shchi da kasha – pishcha nasha" which translates to ”Shchi and kasha are our staples”. There are countless ways of making shchi.  My recipe is pretty simple, and is inspired by one by Muscovite Victoria Logunova.  

Sour Shchi

(serves 4-6)

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, diced
4-6 potatoes, peeled and cubed 

3 carrots, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

6 cups water

4 generous tablespoons sauerkraut

2 tablespoons (at least!) of minced fresh dill

2 teaspoons sea salt 

Heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a large pot with a lid on medium-high heat. Add the onion, stir for three to five minutes, and then add the carrots or celery. I usually use three carrots and three stalks of celery, but the recipe works just fine if you use a couple more or a couple less. 

While the vegetables are simmering, peel and cube the potatoes. You want each cube to be about 1" in size. Add the potatoes to the pot, followed by the water and the sauerkraut. Don't skimp when buying the sauerkraut. Get a good brand. (Personally, I prefer Bubbies.) The sauerkraut is important as it  is what imparts most of the flavor to the shchi, as it turns the water into a tangy broth.  

Give everything a good stir, cover, and reduce the heat to medium. Cook until the potatoes are soft, about 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the potatoes are cooked to you liking, uncover, add the salt and dill, stir, and let cook for another five minutes or so. 

Sour shchi is great as an opening course or even as a meal, especially if served with some nice rye bread. It is a surprisingly good accompaniment to Japanese dishes, so if you are so inclined, have shchi and sushi while contemplating the Russo-Japanese War and Japan's decisive 1905 naval victory over Russia in the Battle of Tsushima.  

This recipe also works pretty well halved, but I recommend making the full batch, as shchi refrigerates and reheats nicely.

Philosophy Thursday: On Nihilism

I was thinking to myself, "What does this blog need more of? Of course! Pretentiousness! And navel-gazing!" And thus Philosophy Thursday was born. 

In all seriousness, I have long been interested in philosophical matters. I actually considered majoring in philosophy in college, but opted for history instead under the mistaken assumption that it was a better choice from a professional standpoint.

A couple of caveats: One, I make no claims of being some sort of expert on philosophy. I am a layman. A reasonably well-informed layman, but still layman. Two, my approach to philosophy is very personal and subjective. Some of my views may be confusing, troubling, or even offensive to some readers.

With that, please enter freely and of your own free will!

To kick off Philosophy Thursday, I want to look at the cheery subject of nihilism. What is nihilism, or better yet, what is a nihilist? For the purposes of this post, I'm going to go with Friedrich Nietzsche's definition: 


A nihilist is a man who judges of the world as it is that it ought not to be, and of the world as it ought to be that it does not exist. 


I tend to simplify this by saying a nihilist as one who thinks that the world that should exist doesn't, and that the world that does exist shouldn't. 
 Sounds like a rather dark way to view existence. I should know, as I've struggled to resist the lure of nihilism most of my life.

That statement might sound a bit melodramatic, but it's true.

Recipe Wednesday: Garlic Balsamic Chickpeas

I love chickpeas. They are one of my favorite foods. I'm not alone: People have been eating and cultivating chickpeas for at least 7,500 years. Besides being delicious, chickpeas are also very nutritious. They are rich in protein, minerals, fiber, and essential amino acids.

Chickpeas also have a starring role in one of my go-to quick meals: Garlic Balsamic Chickpeas. The recipe is a variation on one that originally appeared in the excellent cookbook Happy Herbivore Abroad by Lindsay S. Nixon. 

Sizzlin' chickpeas.

Garlic Balsamic Chickpeas

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 15 oz. can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon ketchup

Put the oil in a nonstick pan on low-medium heat. Once the oil is heated, add the garlic, stirring constantly. Just as the garlic
starts to brown, add the chickpeas, balsamic vinegar, and ketchup. Continue stirring, making sure all the chickpeas are coated. Reduce the heat to low, and continue cooking, stirring occassionally for about 10 minutes. When it looks like the vinegar has pretty much thickened, remove the pan from the heat. The chickpeas are ready to eat, but will taste better if you let them sit for another 10 minutes.

There. Done. Pretty simple, no? 

Garlic Balsamic Chickpeas taste great on salads or stuffed into pitas. I like to have them on top of rice with a side order of steamed kale tossed with lemon juice and olive oil.

Koichi Tohei's 10 Rules in Daily Life

Koichi Tohei was was a 10th Dan aikidoka and founder of the Ki Society. He developed his own style of aikido called Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido (literally "aikido with mind and body unified"), often known as Ki-Aikido. He was also a prolific writer and philosopher, and his books on ki are well-worth reading even if you don't practice any form of martial arts. 

Here are his 10 Rules in Daily Life...

1. Have Universal Mind
2. Love all creation
3. Be grateful
4. Do good in secret
5. Have merciful eyes and a gentle body
6. Be forgiving and big hearted
7. Think deep and judge well
8. Be calm and determined
9. Be positive and vigorous
10. Persevere

Recipe Wednesday: Borscht

Ever since I saw John Wick, I've been in something of a Russian frame of mind. Taking up Sambo isn't exactly convenient right now, and I have no real desire to get vory tattoos. However, I am dabbling a bit in Pimsleur's Russian language program, and I have been making more Russian food, especially borscht, which I love. 

The first time I ever had borscht was about 20 years ago at a Russian restaurant in Las Vegas whose name escapes me. Even though it was located in a dinky strip mall, the interior was all wood and decorated like a dacha. The customers wore lots of black leather, smoked cigarettes, and resembled extras from Eastern Promises. To call the staff surly and brusque would be an understatement.

Ah, but the food! I ordered borscht primarily because I had never had it and it is such an iconic dish. I wasn't disappointed. 

In the following years, I rarely ate borscht. It isn't an easy item to find in Hawaii restaurants. Late last year, in a Wick-inspired haze, I decided to try to make it myself.