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Watched the classic Night of the Living Dead last night. It had been years since I'd seen it.

The Ravens are being investigated for possibly violating the injury report rules. Jackson was listed as a "full participant" in practice on Friday, but he wasn't. Then on Saturday he was ruled out. Why does this matter? Because it changed the betting lines. The Ravens went from 6.5-point favorites on Friday, to 2.5 after Jackson was ruled out. This coming just two days after the bombshell NBA betting scandal that rocked the sports world. A current NBA player and head coach were both arrested for illegal gambling, and further accusations of players giving inside information about player injuries to bookies, and players faking injuries to rig bets. Goodell should come down hard on the Ravens to send a message that this is not going to be tolerated. John Harbaugh claims that it was an honest mistake, but the league could still punish the team with a fine and a loss of a draft pick. In the eyes of many fans the integrity of sports have been compromised due to the increased interest these leagues have with the gambling world, where the gambling ads seem to get more common every year. The timing on this could not have been worse for the Ravens and this could prove to be a very costly mistake.

Us humans are our worse enemy. Our great advances in technology will be our downfall fall!! Our lives are not a movie!! Las Vegas has an army of taxi’s that have no drivers mainly near the proximity of key venues like the Vegas Strip, Allegiant Stadium, Convention Center, and the airport. Blows my mind when I first saw and read about them. There’s no way I’d ever ride in one…not me. I’ve seen with my own eyes Pizza Hut driverless cars delivering pizza. AI is just that to me, ARTIFICIAL, but the reality of it all is not from any movie. My wife loves the tv series, After Humans, that’s no longer funny to me. Us humans are our worse enemy!! Imho.

When I was in LA last week I saw self driving cars on the street for the first time up close. I didn't ride in one but the few people I talked to who did told me that they are great. I don't know enough about it to have an option, but I have concerns of self driving vehicles being hacked and replacing jobs. There will be no Uber drivers in ten years, it will all be self driving pick up. Same with truck drivers and bus drivers. AI is going to take jobs from people who are already struggling to get by and I have concerns that this will lead to more homelessness, more theft, and more social unrest.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Published in 1818 making it the oldest novel I have ever read. That is a record that has been held since 2012 when I read Mark Twain. Strangely, I don't recall ever reading any Mark Twain in school. Nor did I read Lord of the Flies.

They did. In fact, they got blown out. Broncos beat the Cowboys 44-24. Here is a list of other losers on Sunday: Giants, Falcons (upset of the day), Bengals, Browns, Titans, Saints, Panthers, Bears, and 49ers. Steelers and Packers playing tonight.

Good news… The Raiders can’t lose today!! They’re on a Bye-week. Bad news… The Cowboys can lose today!! Their not on a Bye-week.

Rome wasn’t built in one day. High kicks, and what’s required to achieve it won’t be built in one day either. Shindokan kicks are no higher than the stomach. For that reason, I took TKD lessons as a JBB for 1 year. GM Young Ik Suh emphasized proper stretching over everything else…slow and NO BOUNCING. He also emphasized in strengthening core and legs because what good is a high kick if there’s no effectiveness behind it?!?! At home, a chair…a ladder…a pulley rope…stretching chair…were my best friends. No one at home would help me stretch whatsoever. Dynamic and static exercises are key, but only with knee raises with the knee being held. While getting your kicks higher, one’s techniques must be correct. Pivoting support foot…making sure your hips are forward at its right moment. Like stretching needs to be slow, move slowly during practice…control the kicks; that will build muscles and your kicking range will not be hindered. Warm up first. Going regular whatever cold will open the door of injuries. Be consistent in your training, otherwise progress will be slower. Pivot, bring hips forward, and use your whole body. Knee raises/holds, slow mo kicks, hip exercises to increase mobility, leg swings, and for grins, hold the kicks out there at the full extension of the kick, like Bruce Lee did in Enter The Dragon when O’Hara barked orders at Lee while Lee was training in his bedroom.

Lower belt students, like Orange and green belts, will keep us Dan ranks honest and more aware. What’s your plans if your left knee continues to bother you?? If your left knee threatens to force you to primarily administer your right leg, you can be like Bill “Superfoot” Wallace by kicking only with the good leg…nothing wrong with that because kicking with one leg primarily did Wallace quite well.

10/14/2025 Taekwondo: 5:45 - 6:30 pm. Traditional Class. Left knee wasn't as sore tonight, so I could give a little more in basics. Good stretch after. Forms were taking a while longer than expected so I got everyone lined up for one-steps while a brown belt was working through her form. Did white and green belt one-steps. Sparring: 6:30 - 7:00 pm. Kept focusing on the footwork. Sparred well against the 2nd dan, and he did tag me a good one. I doubled up quite a few kicks. Finished with a 2-on-1 match against an orange and green belt. I think I sparred 5 rounds total.

PNF is tricky if you don't have a partner, but not impossible. If you have or can set up a pulley system, you can make it work with just yourself. If you can wedge yourself split towards a wall you can push against the wall for that resistance. Just some thoughts. Also, as a variation to the concentration kicks, you can do what I used to call "doggy kicks," by kneeling on all fours and doing the kicks. The side kick and hook kick you can do straight out behind you, and round kicks you can do to the side. Build the strength and not have to worry about the balance so much. Floor kicks are also good, laying on your side, propped up on an elbow, and do the kicks of your choice at the speed of your choice.

Thanks for the detailed response! I think i will try adding in the concentration kicks for definite (i think i used to do these in the past but haven't done them in years so a good idea). Partner PNF stretching is a good idea too but might be a little harder to implement as not sure if i can easily access someone when in the house etc to help! The strength point is a good one too - i was thinking that part of the issue might be that the outer hip muscles / my glutes may be weaker than they used to be so i have been trying to do a little more for them. I have tried to add in some sets of sumo deadlifts as i find i always feel them in the outer hip area (i used to do them years ago too), starting light and will eventually build it up - i can already feel it in that specific area when i do the lift. Also been adding in bulgarian split squats as i know they are good for the glute area; good for knee stability too and inner thing part of leg. Found a better way to set up to start them so feeling more comfortable doing them: currently been using 2 x kbs but going to try them soon with a barbell on my back and see how i do! Will definitely try some of your suggestions though and will let you know how it works out over time

The Hartford Whalers defeated the Quebec Nordiques on Thursday night, 5-4. It was the first time the two teams had faced each other in over 30 years when the Nordiques won 4-1 on May 3, 1995. The following season the Nordiques moved to Colorado and became the Avalanche, while the Whalers moved to Carolina to be the Hurricanes in 1997. Colorado and Carolina rolled back the clock three decades with the Hurricanes getting two points in the standings. I believe the teams have worn the throwback jersey's before and I think they scheduled do it again later in the season. I have an old school Nordiques hat and if I had known about that match up, I would have worn it tonight. Oh well. The San Jose Sharks also got their first win of the season, so now every team has at least one victory.

I've found a new favorite drink, virgin pina colada. However, I stop after one, and even then I feel kind of guilty because it is such a sugar bomb.

A very ugly performance by the Vikings on Thursday night. Coming off that loss to the Eagles they were hoping to bounce back, instead they got crushed by the Chargers 37-10. The Chargers ran right through the purple defense, and Carson Wentz is clearly not the solution for the Vikings as the grossly overpaid QB failed to get it done and might have been injured late in the game. After the big hit he was also seen on the sidelines throwing his helmet and screaming, clearly lots of frustration and anger boiling over for Wentz, and probably the entire team. The Vikings were 14-3 last year, second best record in the NFC, and are 3-4 so far this season. They play the Lions next Sunday, so it doesn't get any easier.

10/12/2025 Martial Arts Cross-Training Seminar Day 2: 2:30 - 4:30 pm. BJJ. We worked from standing/bottom seated guard. Bottom player tried to get hooks and destabilize, top trying to keep a foot inside their legs; if bottom player destabilized the top player, switch roles. We then moved to working an outside oshi to destabilize from the same position; then we moved to an X-guard. After those rounds, we advanced to both players seated, one in the outside oshi and controlling the leg for a heel hook/knee lock, the other trying to escape (smash pass, etc). We eventually progressed the drill to trying to get a submission. For free rolling, I made the conscious decision to start in that seated position for two rounds. I did 2, 2 minute rounds this way, and ended up spending 4 minutes on my back getting smashed, hating life and BJJ. I had felt pretty good about the drilling sessions, too. Bottom side control is my jam. 5:00 - 6:15 pm. Round table. We sat around and just kind of nerded out on Martial Arts and talked shop. Myself, our CI, and the Aikido sensei talked some about Bruce Lee's "punch is just a punch, kick is just a kick" quote in regards to different things, and how the fundamentals make that happen. Mainly, how it's important to learn to work within a structure/framework so that eventually you can learn to work outside of the structure/framework. It kind of came up in referencing the front kick Steven Seagal taught Anderson Silva. I also talked about some of my DT approaches and worked we did partner work on some of the concepts involving utilizing the startle-flinch response. The Shuri-Te stylists taught us Kihon Ippon and the first part of Naihanchi shodan and we worked some bunkai with each. This is really a great group we work with, and these sessions are a highlight of my training year.

That's good advice @DarthPenguin. I'll keep those in mind moving forward. Some lifting days I missed posting earlier: 9/26/2025 Squat: 45x5, 65x5, 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 185x3 (felt some knee slide on rep 1). Bench Press: 45x5x2, 95x5. Got very light-headed and had to stop. 10/10/2025 Dumbbell Incline Press: 20x10, 25x10. Lat Pull-downs: 130x10, 130x10, 130x10.

Strength is an important aspect that often gets overlooked. Most people think flexibility is the problem, when the actuality is the leg isn't strong enough to take advantage of the flexibility that is there. It looks like you're covering a little bit of that with the weighted exercises you describe. Good old barbell squats and deadlifts are important, too. One thing I would consider working on is what I call "concentration kicks." You could do them a few times a week to start out, and lots of variations on them. Basically, you use a wall or chair or whatever for balance, and work the four parts of the basic kicks: chamber, execute, rechamber, and return. Then fun part is that you can leave the return out of it more as you progress to get more intense work done. Here's an easy way to start, using side kicks: 1. Chamber, and do some of them slowly from the ground. 2. Execute the side kick, slowly, over the course of about 5 seconds to full extension. 3. Hold the kick for about 5 seconds. 4. Rechamber the kick over the course of about 5 seconds. 5. Return the kick to the floor, shake the leg out a little. You can either switch legs back and forth, or you can do one leg for all reps in a row. Start with 5 reps on each leg and see who it feels. You can do round kicks and front kicks as well. Now, the fun part is when you start repeating kicks instead of putting your foot down. So one rep could be 2 slow side kicks, out and back, before setting down. Then you can add to it by "pulsing" the extended kick, by making slight up and down movements with your leg to raise and lower your foot about 6 inches either way. Then you can make little circles with your extended foot. There are really lots of options. A big key for the side and round kicks is body alignment; make sure that upon extension of the kick that the heel, knee, hip, and shoulder all line up. Another exercise to add, if you can get a partner, is some PNF stretching. You can use the wall and get into the side kick position, and your partner holds your leg and stretches you up as high as you go. Hold the stretch for a while, maybe 20 or 30 seconds, then have your partner resist while you then try to pull the side kick down into him. Do that for 10 to 20 seconds or so, and then relax just a little, just a few inches. Then, take a deep breath, push it out slow, and have your partner shove the leg up just a little higher than it was for the initial stretch. Then, you can finish by having your partner walk out from under you and you try to hold the leg up as high as you can for a few seconds before putting it down. Or you can skip that last part to start. Again, body alignment is important. Hope these help out some.

Hi all, I have recently been trying to work more on increasing my kicking height and thought asking on here might be a good idea and give me some useful suggestions/ advice! Currently my kicking height is awful! Mostly waist height for side kicks etc, little bit higher for mawashi geri but not much - sometimes looks more when i am sparring as i am quite tall. Not a structural issue as when i was younger i could comfortably mawash geri above my head; side kick similar etc. so i dont think there is a hip issue or anything preventing me accessing that range of motion. Granted i am older now (soon to be 46) but cant see any reason other than flexibility / mobility why i can't get it back. Is my own fault as ceased to actively work on my flexibility as much when i stopped striking arts years ago and focused on grappling and then got injured etc. I dug out my copy of Stretching Scientifically by Kurz, gave it a read, and have been working on it daily for the last few weeks. Current plan i have put together and have been following has been as follows : Twice Daily (morning and night) : dynamic stretches: 3 sets of 10 for the following stretches front straight leg raises / swings sideways leg raises / swings backwards leg raises / swings twice a week ( carried out after lifting session) isometric / weighted stretching using the following exercises for 2 sets of 15 seconds jefferson curl (using a kb) side splits (though i am a decent way off it!) using body weight and actively tensing my inner thighs to pull myself in then in the stretch front splits (2 sets each for left and right leg forwards) with a kb in each hand horse stance (kb in middle) butterfly stretch (using kb in each hand on top of knees) For each of these the second set i try to increase the stretch a little I know it is a little early to see proper benefits but feels like it is improving a bit. Wanted to see if there is anything else that people would add/remove from the above or if they would change it then what they would recommend! Thanks!

Tuesday 21 October Lifting session / strength endurance focus Ran through 20 sets of the double kb ABC. Managed them in 14min so was quite pleased - used a pair of 14kb kbs as was trying to push the conditioning element rather than the strength one. Will try to work it back up to 30 sets in less than 30min etc and then increase weight. Plan is to do one of these sessions a week ideally Lat pulldown (underhand grip) 52kg x 8 52kg x 8 52kg x 8 EZ Bar curl 28kg x 6 28kg x 6 28kg x 6 Added in these other exercises as areas i think i need to improve and had a little time left

Sunday 19th October Lifting Session Back squat 20kg x 5 40kg x 3 60kg x 2 75kg x 5 75kg x 5 75kg x 5 75kg x 5 Barbell Bench Press 20kg x 5 40kg x 3 69kg x 5 69kg x 5 69kg x 5 69kg x 5 Barbell sumo deadlift 75kg x 5 Biceps cable curl (tri set with one hand cable rows and triceps pushdowns) 28kg x 5 28kg x 5 28kg x 5 Triceps straight bar pushdown 26kg x 11 26kg x 11 26kg x 11 One Hand Cable Row (standing) - with "gi grip" 26kg x 5 reps (per hand) 26kg x 5 reps (per hand) 26kg x 5 reps (per hand) Got hold of some scramble grip trainers and thought i would use them to. They let me take a "gi grip" when doing the row which i definitely felt in my grip! Bulgarian Split Squats (weight is per leg) - identical done with left and right 28kg (2 x 14kg KB) x 5 28kg (2 x 14kg KB) x 5 28kg (2 x 14kg KB) x 5 Captain of Crush grippers identical work done for left and right hands. Same reps and strength for each. Trainer (60lb) x 10 Sport (80lb) x 6 0.5 (120lb) x 2 1 (140lb) x 5 1 (140lb) x 5 1 (140lb) x 5 1 (140lb) x 4 1 (140lb) x 4 Trainer (60lb) x 53

Saturday 18th October BJJ session Good session this one, we were working on escapes from side control, using ecological drilling style approach. Initial goal was to get on your side; then get on side and get an underhook; then get out into turtle or dogfight etc' then do this but also add a sweep or throw or something to end up on top. Was useful session i thought - plenty to work on ( i was bridging too gently when trying to escape my hips with underhook but on the flip side i was please with my half guard recovery and found myself naturally working some sweeps from there to get on top that i had been wanting to practice. Rolling went well too - managed to pull off a couple of guard passes i have been wanting to work on

Woody Johnson is at it again, throwing his players under the bus. This time he called out QB Justin Fields saying, "It's hard when you have a quarterback with the rating we've got," after Fields was benched at halftime in Sunday's loss. He also said "if we could just complete a pass, it would look good. If you can't run the ball if you can't pass the ball, that is football 101." Football 101 is probably a class Johnson would fail miserably. Amazing that he continues to publicly shame his players but won't look into the mirror and take accountability for his failures as being the dumbest and most clueless owner in the NFL. The Jets could be the single worst run origination in all major professional sports leagues. The fact that Rex Ryan got the team to back-to-back AFC Championship games probably means he deserves hall of fame consideration. The Jets screw up every single thing they touch. Everything. Name one thing in the last 15 years the Jets have not screwed up. They screwed up Brett Favre, they screwed up Aaron Rodgers, they screwed up Chad Pennington, they screwed up Sam Darnold, and 25 years ago they screwed up Bill Belichick. This will be ten losing seasons in a row. You can fire the coaches, you can get new players, but you can't fire the owner. That is the problem. The problem is ownership. The one thing that has been consistent over 15 years of failure is the owner. As long as Woody is the owner the Jets will continue to be the laughingstock of the league.

Woo hoo! I am going to start the book tonight. It has been on my shelf for 12 or 13 years and finally I am going to read it. Thanks for the heads up!

+1 for reading Frankenstein. A lot of books from that era are written to the audiences of that era and can feel archaic to modern readers. Frankenstein grips you, though. Mary Shelley hit it out of the park. Also, it's the first sci-fi novel ever and, if nothing else, understanding the origins of sci-fi is a really interesting use of time.