DarthPenguin

On 5/26/2026 at 6:52 PM, bushido_man96 said:

That's one book I've never picked up.  You'll have to let me know what you think.

I've got a copy. It seems decent but is also a little old fashioned; could do with a few more pictures. I have tried to follow the principles a few times but not really noticed any difference tbh. Though the issue is likely with my performance of the requirements. It feels to me that it could do with a more up to date version with more detail etc

Wednesday 27 May

BJJ session

We worked gi chokes from a knee shield half guard. First as a warm up worked retaining the knee shield when being smashed. Then worked a baseball choke style variant from half guard bottom; a brabo choke from half guard bottom and finally a lapel cross choke from half guard bottom. Was a really good session

Tuesday 26 May

Lifting Session

Squat

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

81kg x 5

81kg x 5

81kg x 5

 

Bench press

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

67kg x 5

67kg x 5

67kg x 5

 

Assisted Pullups

-40kg x 7

-40kg x 7

-40kg x 7

 

Triceps pushdowns (straight bar)

32kg x 6

32kg x 5

32kg x 5

 

Captains of crush grippers (reps are per hand and did both hands)

Trainer x 15

0.5 x 5

0.5 x 5

1 x 1

1 x 1

1 x 1

1 x 5sec timed hold

1 x 5sec timed hold

 

Monday 25 May

Karate Session

Warm up as per usual and then the class was focused on kicking drills to make sure we were chambering properly. we split into trios with a belt being suspended around mid shin level. We then drilled kizami mae geri; mae geri with back leg and landing back and kizami mae geri landing back. We then combined them into a combination over the belt. Then worked ushiro geri kicking above it. Was a fun class and a good drill to do

6 hours ago, bushido_man96 said:

Thank you, @DarthPenguin!  I'll have a reflections post up sooner or later; I'm waiting for sensei to type up my review.

I will look forward to reading it then

Now you have had a chance to be there for a while, how do you feel the Aikido is integrating with your other styles?

On 5/18/2026 at 4:25 AM, bushido_man96 said:

5/13/2026

Another morning Aikido video review session.  5th, 6th, and 7th kyu material, doing walk-thrus along the way.

Aikido Testing:  6:15 - 7:20 pm.  Testing is finally here.  I'll do another testing reflection post that will go more in-depth on my thoughts, along with the evaluation review I got from the testing panel.  I sat with sensei after testing, though, and got the evaluation right there.  He gave me some things to work on, and congratulated me on a clean pass.

Congratulations! Glad to hear it went well and the jacked up back didn't hold you back from testing!!

Sunday 24 May

Lifting Session

Squat

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

81kg x 5

81kg x 5

81kg x 5

 

Bench press

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

67kg x 5

67kg x 5

67kg x 5

 

Assisted Pullups

-40kg x 7

-40kg x 7

-40kg x 7

 

E-Z Bar biceps curls

36kg x 6

36kg x 5

36kg x 5

 

Captains of crush grippers (reps are per hand and did both hands)

Trainer x 15

Trainer x 15

0.5 x 8

0.5 x 5

0.5 x 5

0.5 x 5

Trainer x 10

Friday 22 May

BJJ session

This session was working closed guard passing. For warm ups we did a few drills of either breaking posture of the top person when you were in closed guard then some drills of breaking the guard followed by standing up in guard. The standing up drill was either the two hands into armpit and stand up in a pike position to start or the single arm grab and step one foot up then the other. Bottom person was instructed to sweep if the standing person was sloppy and left it open easily.

Then worked some passing. First worked the sao paulo pass from closed guard. Really useful practice as i realised i wasn't putting quite enough weight down onto my posting head and was leaving a tiny amount of wiggle room. Then worked opening the guard and either passing with a knee slice or going to headquarters position and passing from there. Couple of rounds then class was done

Thursday 21 May

Lifting Session

Squat

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

80kg x 1

105kg x 2

105kg x 2

105kg x 2

 

Bench press

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

70kg x 1

88kg x 2

88kg x 2

88kg x 2

 

Deadlift (conventional)

60kg x 5

80kg x 3

100kg x 1

114kg x 2

114kg x 2

114kg x 2

 

Triceps pushdowns (straight bar)

32kg x 5

32kg x 5

32kg x 5

-25kg x 2

-25kg x 2

-25kg x 2

-25kg x 2

-25kg x 2

Welcome and i echo @bushido_man96 here - good to see someone other than the two of us with a log! Will look forward to reading it

Tuesday 19 May

Lifting Session

Squat

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

80kg x 1

105kg x 2

105kg x 2

105kg x 2

 

Bench press

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

70kg x 1

88kg x 2

88kg x 2

88kg x 2

 

Assisted Pullups

-25kg x 2

-25kg x 2

-25kg x 2

-25kg x 2

-25kg x 2

Sunday 17 May

Lifting Session

Squat

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

80kg x 1

105kg x 2

105kg x 2

105kg x 2

 

Bench press

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

70kg x 1

88kg x 2

88kg x 2

88kg x 2

 

Assisted Pullups

-25kg x 2

-25kg x 2

-25kg x 2

 

Saturday 16th May

Karate Session

Second seminar day, this time the all-grades seminar with Kawasaki Shihan. Once again really good with the focus still on hip opening / closing but this time it was more focused on transition between stances and correct stances. One again it was really good and a lot of good learning. We then spent quite a bit of time working on correct usage of the hips in Heian Shodan

Friday 15th May

Karate Session

We had a special seminar for Brown and Black belts with a visiting sensei, Norio Kawasaki Shihan. Fantastic seminar with lots of great details on the correct usage of the hips in techniques with particular focus on expansion and contraction. Also tried Hangetsu for the first time!

Thursday 14 May

Lifting Session

Squat

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

80kg x 1

94kg x 5

94kg x 5

94kg x 5

 

Bench press

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

79kg x 5

79kg x 5

79kg x 5

 

E-Z Bar curl

36kg x 5

36kg x 5

36kg x 5

Sunday 10 May

Lifting Session

Squat

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

80kg x 1

94kg x 5

94kg x 5

94kg x 5

 

Bench press

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

79kg x 5

79kg x 5

79kg x 5

 

Assisted Pullups

-40kg x 6

-40kg x 6

-40kg x 6

-40kg x 6

-40kg x 6

 

 

Thursday 7 May

Lifting Session

Squat

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

80kg x 1

94kg x 5

94kg x 5

94kg x 5

 

Bench press

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

79kg x 5

79kg x 5

79kg x 5

 

Assisted Pullups

-40kg x 6

-40kg x 6

-40kg x 6

-40kg x 6

-40kg x 6

 

E-Z Bar curl

36kg x 5

36kg x 5

36kg x 5

Tuesday 5th May

Lifting Session

 

Squat

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

83kg x 5

83kg x 5

83kg x 5

 

Bench press

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

69kg x 5

69kg x 5

69kg x 5

 

Deadlift

60kg x 3

80kg x 2

90kg x 5

90kg x 5

90kg x 5

On 5/5/2026 at 6:27 PM, Furinkazan said:

In my observation (mostly on the internet), it's mostly karateka that appear to be fixated on McDojos.  I don't see it happening anywhere near as much in BJJ discussions,, unless the context is them referring to all places in which TMA is taught as "McDojos."

 

 

it does crop up in BJJ discussions - it is one reason why people often put their lineage to avoid any issues. People pass around comments on schools that are known to be McDojos and just hand out belts - there is one in my city that is pretty well known and tbh it is a laughing stock in every other academy nearby. You do feel sorry for the students though as it was part of a well known affiliation and the head coach comes across as being legit but then folk would turn up at other schools with advanced belts and be properly humbled. A lot then end up leaving and moving to the other academies

 

On 5/5/2026 at 6:27 PM, Furinkazan said:

If this is happening in the US (I'm not aware of it), I don't know what the profit margin is.  If you look at the maximum number of students that the square footage of the floor in most dojos can fit, I'm not sure the tuition is even covering the rent, much less the reinvestment into the physical dojo via the purchase and replacement of training equipment and the like.

What i meant was in the USA martial arts academies are more likely to be someones job/livelihood than they are over here. Here it is typically a hobby or a way to make extra cash. For someone who makes their living from teaching martial arts then McDojos that make martial arts look bad may mean less interested students > less income or they may feel pressure to do the same to be competitive / make a living. Either thing being an overall negative

Monday 4 May

Karate Session

Another good double session. First session we worked through the Heian kata and also some kihon, lots of good details. For the second session it was dedicated to Jiyu Ippon kumite and again it was good - lots of useful pointers for everyone

Sunday 3 May

Lifting Session

Squat

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

83kg x 5

83kg x 5

83kg x 5

 

Bench press

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

69kg x 5

69kg x 5

69kg x 5

 

Assisted Pullups

-40kg x 6

-40kg x 6

-40kg x 6

-40kg x 6

-40kg x 6

Thursday 30 April

Lifting Session

Squat

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

83kg x 5

83kg x 5

83kg x 5

 

Bench press

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

69kg x 5

69kg x 5

69kg x 5

 

Assisted Pullups

-40kg x 6

-40kg x 6

-40kg x 6

-40kg x 6

-40kg x 6

Tuesday 28 April

Lifting Session

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

83kg x 3

83kg x 3

83kg x 3

 

Deadlift (conventional)

60kg x 3

80kg x 2

108kg x 3

108kg x 3

108kg x 3

Monday 27 April

Karate Session

Really good double session. In the first session we worked a lot on bunkai from Heian Yondan which was useful and got some really good pointers on minute adjustments to stances / which leg muscles to tense more etc. Second class we worked a bit more kihon which was also good. Lots of details and was really useful

Saturday 23 April

Lifting Session

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

83kg x 3

83kg x 3

83kg x 3

 

Assisted Pullups

-32.5kg x 3

-32.5kg x 3

-32.5kg x 3

-32.5kg x 3

-32.5kg x 3