DarthPenguin

Monday 19th January Karate Session Standard session again. Worked through all grading required kihon plus lots of reps of kata. Also got confirmation of date for my Shodan grading in March

Sunday 18th January Lifting Session Back squat 20kg x 5 40kg x 3 60kg x 2 80kg x 1 99kg x 3 99kg x 3 99kg x 3 Bench press 20kg x 5 40kg x 3 60kg x 2 70kg x 1 81kg x 3 81kg x 3 81kg x 3 Romanian Deadlift 72kg x 3 72kg x 3 72kg x 3 Assisted pull up with 25kg band 7 reps 6 reps 6 reps Standing military press 32kg x 10 32kg x 10 32kg x 10

Friday 16th January Lifting Session Back squat 20kg x 5 40kg x 3 60kg x 2 88kg x 5 88kg x 5 88kg x 5 88kg x 5 Bench press 20kg x 5 40kg x 3 60kg x 2 72kg x 5 72kg x 5 72kg x 5 72kg x 5 Romanian Deadlift 64kg x 5 64kg x 5 64kg x 5 64kg x 5 Assisted pull up with 25kg band 6 reps 6 reps 6 reps Triceps pushdown (straight bar) 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 Standing military press 31kg x 10 31kg x 10 31kg x 10

Monday 12th December Karate Session First session back for 2026. Standard session. Not massive numbers so lots of reps of kata, which are always needed!

Sunday 11th January Lifting Session Back squat 20kg x 5 40kg x 3 60kg x 2 88kg x 5 88kg x 5 88kg x 5 88kg x 5 Bench press 20kg x 5 40kg x 3 60kg x 2 72kg x 5 72kg x 5 72kg x 5 72kg x 5 Romanian Deadlift 64kg x 5 64kg x 5 64kg x 5 64kg x 5 Assisted pull up with 25kg band 6 reps 6 reps 6 reps Standing military press 31kg x 10 31kg x 10 31kg x 10

Friday 9th January Lifting Session Back squat 20kg x 5 40kg x 3 60kg x 2 83kg x 5 83kg x 5 83kg x 5 83kg x 5 Bench press 20kg x 5 40kg x 3 60kg x 2 68kg x 5 68kg x 5 68kg x 5 68kg x 5 Romanian Deadlift 60kg x 5 60kg x 5 60kg x 5 60kg x 5 Assisted pull up with 25kg band 5 reps 5 reps 5 reps Standing military press 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 30kg x 10

Yeah i have to agree. Can make an argument that Ukemi is the skill you are most likely to use in your life and the one most likely to save you from injury or severe harm. People don't get in that many physical confrontations but everyone has fallen on a patch of ice etc. at some point in their life

As a long time Bills fan i actually agree with the firing. To me it is like when the Buccaneers fired Tony Dungy years ago and got a lot of stick for it. He got them very close for years but couldn't get over the hump and next year they won the superbowl with Gruden. McDermott has done a very good job, but he has also had one of the (in my opinion) 2 best QBs in the league for years. To not get to even one superbowl isn't that great with the talent the team has - this season they really should have gotten there with the Chiefs not making the playoffs etc.. Hopefully the new HC gives them the needed boost. I wonder if Tomlin would be interested - he did win with Big Ben after all and i always think of Allen as a slightly improved version of Ben!

From what i saw it looked like some big names taking part which is interesting. Saw that the Bo Nickal vs Yoel Romero fight fell through last minute due to Romero missing weight too. Also saw they have signed one of the best wrestlers ever, Sadulaev, recently!

Amusingly Harbaugh actually got 7 calls with 6 vacancies at the time! Was quite amused by this as in essence one team offered him an interview with an incumbent head coach already! Had an interesting chat today with someone about which of the Steelers and Ravens jobs is the better bet: Ravens are closer to a SB ready team with Lamar and Henry etc. but the Steelers have lots of loyalty to the HC (only ever had 3!!!) so not sure which is the plum job. I think Steelers personally since Henry only has 1 yr left and then their window might close a bit

Congratulations!

Have once again been horrendously remiss in updating this! Kept training through most of December and even added in some regular runs (which i hate!) Won't bother with updates for missing period and will start with this week! Monday 5th January Lifting Session Back squat 20kg x 5 40kg x 3 60kg x 2 83kg x 5 83kg x 5 83kg x 5 83kg x 5 Had tested indicative max at end of January. did a few reps with 110kg and it flew up out of the hole but slowed down a lot at a sticking point nearer the top. From looking into it this is likely weak glutes / hamstrings so i will try to work on that too which should also help my kick height. Bench press 20kg x 5 40kg x 3 60kg x 2 68kg x 5 68kg x 5 68kg x 5 68kg x 5 Again i tested this end jan. Can just get 100kg for 1 rep and it is proper maximum but i also have a very marked sticking point near the top of the lift so need to strengthen triceps. Romanian Deadlift 60kg x 5 60kg x 5 60kg x 5 60kg x 5 Starting these pretty light but will be double overhand with no straps to also work on grip. This should help work on hamstrings / glutes Assisted pull up with 25kg band 5 reps 5 reps 5 reps pleased with these - have already really reduced the amount of band assistance from when i first started on them will build to 3 x 10 then reduce banding until i get to bw Standing military press 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 Again went light for these. Partly to work on SE as the weight flies up for first 6 reps or so then my shoulder start to fatigue a bit so i need to work on that and increase their work capacity which should carry over well to my martial arts training Close grip bench press 50kg x 10 50kg x 10 50kg x 10 adding these in to work on triceps strength E-Z bar biceps curl 26kg x 8 26kg x 8 26kg x 8 Overall good first lifting session of 2026, i was pleased!

Thanks for taking the time to pull together the detailed write up! As others have said the issues / questions you have raised are not new ones and are ones that many people have and reach their own conclusion on. I would be surprised if your current instructor hasn't had similar thoughts at some point in his personal journey and come up with his own answer to them - have you tried discussing it with him? It could be an issue for you of "you don't know what you don't know". Giving some personal examples: i was away from karate for an extremely long time, and only actually returned as my son wanted to train in it. So i went back, returned myself to white belt and started training. One thing i noticed straight away is that while i was away i had fallen into the camp of "they have lots of useless silly stances", when i came back i came to the realisation that the stances (in my view) are more of a type of body conditioning / stretching and a way of honing your body. When we do kumite we immediately shorten stances and go back to a more "kickboxing style" stance. My other experiences had then led me to a greater appreciation of what i am being taught. I have also over the years come across many people who have the idea that they are going to ignore conventional training because they want to focus on "self defence and what actually works in a fight". Usually when i look into it more or try to spar with them etc. they couldn't fight their way out a wet paper bag. They will focus on lots of silly partner drills with a compliant partner and believe that if someone comes at them then they will miraculously be able to protect themselves from the knife etc.. There are obviously exceptions to this rule. I had a former instructor who used to like teaching knife defenses by covering a plastic blade in some paint and that showed you the cuts or stab wounds you would have received which was very eye opening - he used to be ultra practical and tell you that in reality you will be cut/stabbed in that situation so don't get into it or worst case pick where you will be cut! It sounds like you had a decent Krav Maga school (which will have been good) but i must admit i am always a bit sceptical of them as from prior experience the style often seemed to boil down to "kick them in the balls", which while effective is hard to drill and practice! If you are wanting to boil everything down to self defence then fair enough but i would build a decision tree with some questions and take it from there. I would start with: do you want to protect yourself in a way that minimises the risk of your going to jail? If no, then tbh get some weapons and build skill in using them and improvised ones; if yes then next step is what type of situation do you think you would be in? Someone aggressive starting a fight in a bar / location or are you in a more dangerous area where you might be attacked by someone with a weapon? etc. etc. For me, when i asked those questions and follow ups (plus making allowances for age etc as i am 46) i came to a set of conclusions and i train Shotokan, Judo and BJJ together now. I also try to see where i can blend the styles together eg if someone closes range in karate kumite maybe i could use one of a few judo throws there and the one i use might be picked as it segues into a bjj technique i like etc. In my view, when it comes to self defence you need to focus on gross repeatable motor patterns since those are more likely to be repeatable under high stress situations. You also need to pick things that work for you and suit your body type e.g. i am 6'4 and about 230lb (in US units) so i will be suited to different techniques to someone who is 5'10 and 160lb. If i was to pick (from scratch) what i would want to learn to defend myself in my early 20s i would pick up 3 styles (one for stand up striking, one to deal with clinch range and one for on the ground) and would choose Muay Thai (you learn to judge distance, take a hit, deliver a hit and amazing conditioning), Judo (better judo schools in the UK than wrestling plus in public people wear clothes but if in the USA might opt for wrestling) and for the ground work BJJ. Learn all 3 to a black belt (or equivalent) level and you should be able to protect yourself in most situations, having applied your techniques on resisting similarly sized or bigger opponents. IF worried about weapons then add in some Kobudo. If you want to start (in essence) teaching your own style then, being blunt, you need to acquire rank in the component styles you are using as a building block. Not because rank in itself confers any validity but it does confirm that a skilled practitioner of that style has independently determined your skill level in that style to be X level. If i looked into a non mainstream style and was told it was self defence focused and made up by the instructor i would heavily scrutinise the instructors credentials: i would expect multiple dan ranks in traditional styles; a amateur/pro fighting record that can be verified; a law enforcement/ military background that i think would have conferred the skills. Eg if i saw one from an individual who said they were a Kru rank in Muay Thai, 3rd Dan Judo, BJJ Black Belt then i would take them seriously (or something like professional bodyguard in dangerous location X for high profile individuals - with evidence). If i saw "have trained in martial arts since i was little, lots of breaks, not achieved Dan rank in any but i have done lots of research etc." then i wouldn't even bother looking into it further as i would want some independent validation of skills. Likely a little harsh of me i know but just being honest!

Very fair point - while i loathe him he deserves respect for getting in there by a live puncher in Joshua. I genuinely don't think Joshua went at him full bore (i still believe he might have killed him if he did) but taking punches from a boxer like Joshua takes serious guts. He deserves a lot of praise for his bottle and courage if nothing else

Good topic and i totally agree, resolutions need to be trackable, actionable and realistic. I also find that applying some kind of penalty for not achieving them is also helpful (eg in prior years i would set goals and if not met by time X i owed someone else £50/£100)! My Martial Arts resolutions / goals are: Sit Shotokan Shodan with very strong attempt For this the goal is to sit it once in March and if needed resit in August. Not making the goal passing it (even though that is obviously the intention) since passing is out of my control to an extent but i want to do so. If i don't manage to pass it in March (which i hope i will since i have spent 1.5yrs at 1st Kyu making sure i am ready for it) then i want to make sure i smash it later this year Get to Judo 4th Kyu This one i am putting the grade as the more continuous assessment of the lower judo grades means i have a little more control over it and it isn't an assessment that i need to wait 3/6 mths to resit if needed Get a stripe on my bjj belt! Again this is being put as the continuous assessment makes it more achievable. I also want this as a target so i will have something to aim for / work on to demonstrate i am becoming less bad! Improve my kicking height, ideally to shoulder height for yoko geri and mawashi geri. Will do this by working flexibility plus strengthening hips, glutes etc which is the issue i think (ties into fitness section too) Fitness related goals Lifting manage to bench 105kg x 2 reps, current 1rm is 100kg and it is very much a real maximum manage to squat 140kg x 1. Think this is doable as when i recently testing i did 110kg and it flew up out of the hold and hit a sticking point 3/4 up which showed up glute/hamstring weakness so is fixable. Legs themselves could likely manage more weight set of 5 pull ups - currently can't do 1 but working on it and have been doing assisted reps and the level of assistance has been coming down a lot so i think it is doable general fitness run for 5k relatively easily have started a little running (which i hate but i think is worth doing), managed up to 3k so far though HR is on border or Zone 2 and 3. Want it to be a consistent low Zone 2 for full 5k.