the eXternal mind

So as some of you may know, I used to train under the Dillman system of pressure point fighting. It’s nice, and I do believe that pressure points exist (however, as nerve stimulators). But, there is just no way that the scientist in me can believe in these “no touch” knockouts. I don’t think very highly of the Dillman system anymore mainly because it’s too commercialized, inpractical, and dishonest (they sell snake oil). For example, watch this National Geographic review of George Dillman and his system. The touch knockouts seem real, but the no touch stuff is what martial artists call Bullshido. Towards the end, even Leon Jay (one of the three “masters” of the system) can’t even knock a simple person out and George Dillman makes excuses. That’s ridiculous!

On a cooler note though, one of the dojos featured in the short clip (the opening dojo with the weapon racks in the back) was where I used to train. Now, I’m a lone wolf training on my own. For something more realistic and more honest, check out Erle Montaigue and what he says about Dillman.

As mentioned yesterday, I tested for just about 8 hours continuously (from around 8PM to 5AM). The reason why it’s 8 hours and not 9 hours (for those who can subtract times) was that I took a small break and did some quick studying for the hour between the two tests (12AM to 1AM). Now, this was pretty much all my fault for the mind fateiguing tests. It started earlier this week when for some reason, I wasn’t reading numbers correctly. Therefore, I read that the math exam was due the next day at 4PM instead of at 10AM. I was planning to take the math exam the next day, but the best laid plans of Mike and women[1] were easily foiled.

The other time I read numbers wrong was in this email giving instructions on how to obtain Stephen Hawking lecture tickets (He’s coming to Caltech next month!). I thought it said the tickets were being released to Caltech students this week so I quickly rushed over to the ticket office and found myself explaining about the tickets to a highly skeptical looking fellow. Of course, the tickets were not being released until next month.

So in retrospect, I survived both tests. They weren’t spectacular, but I didn’t completely bomb them either. Over the last few days, I’ve noticed my writing skills diminishing. Hopefully, that wasn’t in indicator of how my analytical skills were too. Today, I took my Chemistry final which seemed to turn out alright. I’m worried about some of the finer details which I could get a lot of points docked off of. Finally (no pun intended), I hope to finish two research paper write ups for another Chemistry course and then I’m free! That means I can watch even more anime, read even more manga, and play even more games! Yay!

[1] There were actually no women involved. Sadly, I don’t encounter them too much at Caltech.

Alright! Today was the last day of classes so that means next week is finals week. Everyone here is just exhausted. Even though I managed to get some decent sleep in earlier this week, I still felt very tired (this doesn’t happen to me often). I suspect it’s the continual buildup of tension and mental stress that afflicts the mind and body. Coincidentally, Hell Week #2 happened to manifest as 2 weeks this term with each week slightly less stressful than a one week Hell Week #2, but nevertheless, it wasn’t fun. I’m so glad it’s still pass/fail this term since only about 5 kids in my math class of about 80 students would get A’s. Ahh, and I still have tons of work to do!

Oh and, I’m heading back home on March 18th. Who’s going to be around?