DarthPenguin

I don't recall you ruining it for anyone! I haven't played it since we last played either: plus i have the additional detriment of being in a country where baseball is barely ever mentioned so don't have the same exposure to information you all do (if this helps to persuade you!)

Hi all, A couple of years ago (just realised it has been that long!) we had a Karate Forums fantasy baseball league - i was wondering if anyone would like to have one again? There is always a fair amount of engagement on the NFL thread and wondered if more people would be open to a fantasy baseball run through this time. If so then please post on this thread / mark with a thumbs up and i will see the numbers. Was thinking an auto draft league (you rank your players pre draft) and rotisserie (so just score points rather than weekly match ups) but if people would prefer head to head then thats fine. I think auto draft will best accommodate the different time zones etc. for the players

yeah i watch it too (though only a few episodes into season 2 so far). I really like Walton Goggins and find he is usually only in good stuff (i always loved him in the Shield). Is good so far, though makes me wonder if they would ever make a Skyrim / Elder Scrolls show

Monday 16th February Karate Session Usual warm ups then kihon. Spent quite a bit of time working on my Shodan kihon for grading. I have been doing quite a bit of extra stretching (dynamic twice a day) and extra leg lifts etc to strengthen outside hip muscles and i can see that they are helping with kicks - i am getting much better "thrust with slight hold" for yoko geri kekomi than i was previously. Ran through the Heian katas mainly this session and no time for kumite.

Friday 13th February 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 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 72kg x 5 Barbell Overhead Press 20kg x 5 30kg x 5 35kg x 5 Was really pushed for time so an abbreviated session. Got main lifts in then left

Monday 9th February Karate Session Usual class warm ups then onto Kihon. Worked some more advanced kihon, there is a dan grading coming up in March (i will be sitting Shodan and some others Nidan) and we worked on the Nidan combinations etc. Kata wise ran through all the Heians and Bassai Dai as will be grading requirement. couple of Rounds of Jiyu Ippon kumite added in too.

Sunday 8th February 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 Pullups (assisted) -25kg x 7 -25kg x 7 -25kg x 7 Triceps Pushdown (straight bar) 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 Cable hip flexor lift (weight is same per leg : reps here are reps per leg and did same for each leg) 4.5kg x 15 4.5kg x 15 4.5kg x 15

Friday 6th February 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 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 68kg x 5 Cable hip flexor lift (weight is same per leg : reps here are reps per leg and did same for each leg) 4.5kg x 10 4.5kg x 10 4.5kg x 10 Cable Seated Shoulder Press (weight is total weight split in half per hand) 9kg x 10 18kg x 10 27kg x 10 32kg x 10 32kg x 10

Garrett also got DPoY. Was the closest MVP race in years (since the Manning and McNair tie). It always reminds me of why i prefer the football awards which are for "best player" with teams results contributing rather than "most valuable player" which i think is often a lot harder to quantify. Realistically Michael Jordan should have 10-12 MVPs since people talk about it as best player etc.. With it being most valuable i (admittedly i am a biased Bills fan here) would give it to Josh Allen a lot more than he has received as that team would crater without him. Best player this season though is slightly different and i think fine for Stafford!

Yeah it really is a farce tbh. I am not a fan of the way the baseball one has played out (airbrushing out some of the best players in history in Bonds, A-Rod, Clemens etc. when other self admitted cheaters from the past are in has always seemed wrong to me) but at least they have been upfront that these issues would impact candidacy. No-one mentioned things like this in advance so it shouldn't make a difference tbh. Much as i dislike the Patriots both Belichick and Brady should be clear unanimous first ballet hall of famers. If not then the bar is so high that no other player / coach can currently clear it (maybe Mahomes gets to 8 SB wins and that becomes the bar but i doubt it will happen). If they said upfront that these issues would be considered then fair enough, but this just looks awful. Certain individuals should just require no thought tbh: worst case there are 6 great candidates all hall worthy at the one time and one has to lose out due to the 5 max rule, but Brady doesn't lose to anyone on accomplishments, neither does Belichick (other than the career wins to Shula) so they get in anyway and another great waits a year.

Monday 2nd February Karate Session Usual warm ups to begin the class. Worked through grade required Kihon and then a little more, working on some new combinations. Plenty of kata work in this session. Ran through Bassai Dai couple of times and then lots of detail work on Heian Godan and Heian Yondan

Sunday 1st February 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 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 68kg x 5 Romanian Deadlift 60kg x 5 60kg x 5 60kg x 5 60kg x 5 60kg x 5 Assisted pull up with 25kg band 7 reps 7 reps 6 reps Standing military press 33kg x 10 33kg x 10 33kg x 10

I will also add a vote for Hirota here too - depending what you mean by big of course. I have a size 7 and i really like it (6'4" about 230lb in US measurements). Didn't need altered at all - just some careful warm washing / drying for fit. Price was reasonable too from Japan to UK

Saturday 24th January BJJ Session This session was all about retaining back control. Worked on keeping grips and hand fighting to keep the grips / open up choking opportunities. Worked some claw grip to secure the neck and also worked a little on read naked chokes. My back control is awful so it was a good session and lots to work on! Though my recovering to mount when someone is escaping back control is still not too bad - session did show up though that often i default to moving to mount rather than fighting harder to keep on the back, so it is definitely something to work on

Friday 23rd 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 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 81kg x 3 Romanian Deadlift 72kg x 3 72kg x 3 72kg x 3 72kg x 3 Assisted pull up with 25kg band 7 reps 7 reps Standing military press 32kg x 10 32kg x 10 Was short of time so had to cut the final pull ups and standing press sets short (am doing them as a superset). Got main lifts done though which is the main point

Definitely. Is kinda like the absurd bar the Baseball HoF used to set that no one could be unanimous etc. even when it was blatantly obvious they should be. If Belichick isn't first ballot (much as i loathe him) then no other coach can be going forwards (unless they get 7 HC superbowl wins / 9 total wins maybe). Apparently it is 'punishment' for the cheating scandals but if that is the case then he should have had the punishment levied up front - defer his eligibility for a year or something

cheers!

Thanks! It does help with accountability too

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