JiuJitsu Rolls

A degree of scepticism arises towards contemporary weather forecast displays, stemming from their tendency to oversimplify complexity through pictograms and substantial numerical figures in climate informatics.

This project explores the nuanced stories and intricate, untamed emotions linked to martial art ‘Jiujitsu’ practices. It delves into the unstructured, highly qualitative data regarding our engagements with digital platforms and the physical strains we subject our bodies to under diverse weather conditions. This data is intricately interconnected with our emotional responses to evolving spaces, offering insights into potential future applications.

The primary objective is to unveil a comprehensive landscape detailing my journey in JiuJitsu martial arts practices. This involves documenting impromptu decision-making in selecting training partners and determining the intensity of my body's exertion during sparring sessions. The unorganized data generated provides the foundation for a curatorial process, guiding the creation of hand-drawn visualizations and animated representations. Each explicit and implicit feature of the items contributes to a unique individual story, collectively narrating a broader ecosystemic tale.

Legends below - how to read the visuals

Behind the scenes of creative work.

Below are personal data that was collected each evening throughout the week of 8th November to 15th November 2020.

Does Barometric Pressure affect us physically and emotionally?

This visual data explores the disruption of open source weather forecast display towards identity and mediation in our living practices. The discourse is built around three main landscapes: discussing our relationship with the digital platforms as open source and its accessibility, minimal and systematic data collection through observation of the self and the space, and associating data with the behaviours and habits through gestural and morphemic movement.

Bad Weather

My grandma used to say, ‘My knuckles and bad knees are the weather report. I can feel the storm coming tomorrow. Often accurate or rather convincing, in some ways, I am curious about what weather ‘feels like’ and whether it will hugely affect our ability to perform in our daily objectives.  In a predictable and readable weather patterns, air pressure often drops before a ‘bad weather’ - bad weather often refers to high humidity and strong wind, possible rain or storm. I’ve learnt that when the air pressure drops, human tissues tend to expand, and for damaged or relatively weak tissue, this can put pressure on joints and cause pain.

Jiu Jitsu Rolls

Five years ago, when I was introduced to Jiu Jitsu (floor grappling system martial art), I expected to feel out of place, assuming it was terrifying and physically demanding. I was eager to learn how to make my training less painful and enjoyable. Little did I know, Jiujitsu is not just a physical sport; it’s also a strategy game, mental conditioning and a lifestyle. The practice has changed my perception of my capabilities, and I see opportunities differently.

I train five times a week, each session taking up to 2 hours minimum. The first 15 minutes are warm-up mobility exercises and 45 minutes of technical drills (learning the basic techniques and understanding concepts with training partners). The last hour is for sparring sessions (free-form combat with training partners). During the sparring session, a call for lining up is formed according to ranking. The purpose of the lineup is for higher belts to call for training partners. A timer will be set for a 6-minute round loop throughout the hour. We often have goals for how many rounds we can do that night, and that’s where we count our ROLLS. Each roll has a different training partner - different sizes, weights, intensities, strengths, and counter styles. This is where I enjoyed the nuances of body conditions, mental state and pressure in changing environments.