tallgeese

Congrats on doing so well! Even more on having such an enjoyable experience.

12/2 BJJ nite: Worked on taking back from guard, moved to breaking guard. Fininshed iwth rounds of closed guard v. pass. 45 min free roll 12/3 1 mile on treadmill legs abs

12/1 After a day of lugging shields around for team training I'm calling it good. Not really applicable to personal self defense, but cornering and weapon handling skills time is always good. Not to mention the workout my back got.

You still go back to the minimal space to throw one. I know, power can be generated in small spaces. However, good players will give you next to none. Really, train with strikes on the ground, against a good player, and see if it's as easy as one would think. It's not. The distraction you MIGHT get by such a tactic will most likly be offset by the disadvantage you set yourself up for by engageing in such a movement. Grapplers will often capitailze on the space one gives them by moving for a strike. Again, I'll rarely say never, but they are of minima use in this particular situation. The best way to deal with a grappling game is to develop one yourself. Try it. Get a friend who's a good grappler. Then, glove up and try to strike him. Yes, you might distract him, b ut you'll find you also open yourself up for much unwanted offenstive attention.

11/30 early: 1 mile on treadmill legs abs late: conditioning circuit- box jumps knee in drills torenado passes triangle drills shots The shoulder is not getting better so I'm taking out lifts and conditioning with the shoulder girdle. I can't stop rolling, so taking out some of the irritiation from lifting and conditioning is the best I can do. In days past, I'd have just gutted thru it. Now days, I just can't yell louder than the hurt does so it's train smater not harder mode right now.

11/29 am: 3 mile run pm: BJJ nite Drilled taking back from guard and passing. 6, 2 min rounds of closed guard from pass. 45 min free roll.

I agree, time spent in skill work will pay dividends for sure. So will some strenght training. Additionally, think about doing some work with resistive bands. You can buy a harness for punching that provides resistance or construct your own for much less. There are also plenty of conditioning work you could do that would work the explosive factor of your striking. For instance, push ups over a medicine ball, even done plyometrically will help.

I occassionally use them in conditioning. Mainly swings, cleans, TGU's, things like that. They are pretty useful.

11/28 2 mile walk with the family. I'm going to call it an "active rest day". Yes, GS, yes it is. And bonus points for the IG-88 reference!

11/27 early pm- conditioning: box jumps rows burpees KB swings t bar row with belt run toreando pass on Boomer crunches triangles shots 1 min each, 2 circuits. My kid ran along side and did a variant of each as I went, how cool. late pm: Technique on Boomer. Focused on some gi chokes from side and north/south I've been trying to work into the game. Then flow work. Promplty destroyed all work I did by running to Chipolte for dinner. Hey, I said I was trialing a new workout run up, not diet.

Lupin makes a good point. Good way to get some extra drill time in. As with all things, it will also come with time. Keep going to class and it will improve. Keep us posted.

There was a time when my easy answer would have been to go for the Judo because it will help you the most in a sd conflict in conjunction with your karate. But, I've gotten older and wiser and would say what you really need to ask yourself first is why you're doing ma's in the first place. If it's sd, then sure, take up the Judo. It will be a great compliment. However, if your goal is understanding combat and less about actually doing it, then maybe fencing will give you a perspective that broadens things up for you. Lastly, if it's only a fitness thing for you, then dance would probably serve just as well and give you some cross over conditioning. Here's the thing though, if you're in this for the haul, there has to be some fun to it as well. If you need a break or something different to say enthused, then look harder at the fencing or dance. Don't be afraid to experiment.

Good question. As pointed out, there are too many variables to know for sure: your school's tactics, your personal mindset, your attackers attributes, environmental concerns, ect. That said, without being there you just don't know. Unless you're in a profession where that's going to happen legally, hope you don't have to find out. Some good general advice has been put forth. I'd add that now is time to start doing scenario based training. Get a full armored attacker, the more mobile the better (I like Blauer gear) and have him try you. Here's the thing, it can't be sparring. His mindset has to be an actual assault. Pull up some video of actual, real world attack and model his behavior after those. Check out you tube, old episodes of Cops, ect. for ideas. Start slow and work up. Now add weapons, both for he and you. Hit him with whatever is furnishing your school occasionally. Back when I had a rental property and things that didn't cost much to get, we drilled this in my actual home vs. a home invasion. It's instructive. Do the same thing out of a car if you can. Again, best to set this up BEHIND the school and out of sight. Again, will it be "real", of course not. But it will give you a better feel for your capabilities and let you size up where your mindset is. This kind of "stress inoculation" helps build your mindset in preparation for conflict. I recommend Grossman's "On Combat" for more in this area. Lastly, I agree with above, train with some contact. Not every time, not all the time, but some time if your goal is self defense. It's imperative that you understand what it feels like to work through aggression to win a fight on the street.

11/25 3 mile run Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

11/24 am- conditioning: 2 sets of the following, 1 min each roman chair set ups t bar row with belt kettlebell swings box jumps pushup variants shots hip drills triangle drills shrimping pm: BJJ nite free roll for 90 min. Worked hard on omo series and x guard.

Welcome aboard!

Tough spot. 80-100 obs is not easy to overcome. Still, it will depend on what kind of club you're at. Early on, the focus should be on relaxing and using technique, not muscle. relaying on it will actaully stunt you're growth as a grappler. I fell into this trap for several years training out of an mma club. It took moving to a pure BJJ acadamy to really start to see the difference. If you can find guys that really want to expand their game and try not to muscle, roll with them. This will give you a chance to vett you're game and they theirs. I'd find them, and spend most of my time rolling with them. I've learned to have no problem not rolling with guys that just want to use physical attributes to roll. That's fine if your prepping for a tournament or checking yourself occassionally for progress, but to TRAIN it's counter productive. It might help if we knew what kind of grapping club you're at: BJJ, shoot, mma, ect. Having been thru the gambit over the years there are very real, if sometimes subtle, differences in the traditions and ethics of each. It might help us sort out a solution for you.

Minimal, really. Good position is usually so tight that it minimizes the ability to get at the target locations. Even if you're pulling guard, a good player faced with strikes will break the posture and keep you tight. It's easy to say, hit the groin, but really it's pretty hard to do reliably if the guy knows what he's doing. Not to mention that distances are so minimal that stirkes are often too short to attain the speed for the F=MxV formula to really help you out. I will not say, never, but I will say that a groin shot wil rarely be the answer to out fighting someone on the ground.

Top. It's easier to keep him from biting you and if it's the infections kind of zomibe and not the voodoo type, you can't risk being turned. If you're in guard, best to blast him back and get back up or room to make the head shot. Btw, greatest thread EVER.

Wwelcome to KF!

I agree, we'll have to break out jits agaisnt the hordes of terrified looters trying to take our ammo. Cross train and load up on ammo.

11/23 am: 2 mile run pm: lift- DB cleans leg press lat pulls bench incline bench curls tri pushdowns shoulder press

11/22 am: 2 mile run weight circuit: DB cleans Leg Press Bench Incline Pull Downs Rows pm: 1.5 hours of drilling in the Halligan Combat Systems training. Worked his stirking, weapon retention, knife defense and offense. Great breakout session in the confrence I'm al.

The experience. It's what makes every technique you learn work under duress.

Happy B-day KF! Almost a decade. Wow.