The Nugget Climbing Podcast EP 58: Carlos Tkacz — Lessons from Teaching, a Free Training Book, and Self-Publishing Sci-Fi
Carlos Tkacz is a teacher, author, and lover of literature. He also lives in a van and climbs V13. We talked about many things, including a reading list given to him by his friend, impactful quotes, lessons learned from students, starting climbing in his 20’s and discovering training, writing a training book, self-publishing sci-fi novels, public speaking advice, and sharing ideas.
Support on Patreon:
Show Notes:
http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/carlos-tkacz
Instagram Links:
Nuggets:
2:35 – The record button
3:37 – Stickers and paintings
6:37 – Books from the reading list
11:16 – James Baldwin quote
12:38 – How Carlos uses Instagram
16:16 – ‘Turbulence’ and East of Eden
22:45 – Plans to go back to school for a Ph.D. in Literature, and living in a world of stories
26:18 – The moment Carlos knew he wanted to be a teacher
31:01 – Teaching Communication 101
34:54 – Public speaking advice #1, and the fight or flight response
38:38 – Public speaking advice #2
39:17 – “Drink deep or not at all.”
43:02 – Zen Buddhism, and being skeptical of little enlightenments
44:11 – “The sign of a true education is to be able to entertain an idea without believing it.”
47:50 – Mr. Ruff, and writing an editorial about gay marriage
49:33 – Two great stickers
49:54 – Living on public land in Bishop and taking a year off
52:05 – Quarentraining, and social connection through climbing
56:20 – Sending ‘Diabolique’ and becoming a climber at age 23
59:01 – Resonating with Patxi Usobiaga’s masochism in ‘Progression’
1:02:43 – Carlos’ climbing progression, ups and downs, and the broken pinky story
1:07:04 – Shifting to focusing on bouldering
1:08:03 – Early training iterations, Taco Bell + bananas, and moving the pieces around
1:11:20 – Writing a training book on accident
1:14:50 – The Japanese team, and top outdoor boulderers
1:17:25 – Jimmy Webb, gymnastics, survivorship bias, and structure as a tool for resilience
1:20:43 – Overview of ‘Training 102’ and Carlos training philosophy
1:27:31 – Drills, and higher intensity core exercises
1:30:17 – Rotating exercises and addressing weaknesses, and programming
1:32:39 – Training friends and testimonials
1:35:33 – What a typical week of training looks like, climb outside, and how Carlos trains within a year
1:38:35 – The nutrition chapter, eating disorders, Carlos’ experience with vegetarianism and veganism, and his current way of eating
1:41:36 – Eating the same thing every day
1:42:49 – Planning nutrition, eating more, and becoming more flexible
1:45:37 – The food industry and the unique challenge of balancing a healthy outlook on food and weight
1:46:25 – The ‘Light’ documentary, and finding the line
1:47:47 – Scarcity vs. opulence, discipline as a path to freedom, and Carlos’ upbringing
1:59:26 – Carlos’ Sci-fi novels, and writing a thousand words per day
2:04:03 – Two different types of creatives, and using his first few books as practice
2:05:05 – Plot overview of The Void Within
2:10:07 – Star Trek vs. Star Wars, Captain Pips, and Carlos’ conversion story and swearing off violence
2:11:51 – Losing the mental battle in Hueco, and making a trip to Roy
2:14:52 – Gratitude
2:17:00 – Excited with sharing ideas with students
2:20:40 – Where to connect with Carlos