DarthPenguin
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Posts posted by DarthPenguin
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On 10/6/2025 at 10:32 PM, bushido_man96 said:
I just get smashed every session.
that happens to everyone! is a progression: when new you get smashed by everyone and basically suffer for a year or two > some people you can smash and everyone else smashes you > can smash more people but those who smashed you before often still smash you etc.
The smashing never ends unless you were a teen / child prodigy and end up Mica Galvao!
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For me i generally practice either the full thing with pacing as i would usually do it (so if two techniques are chained together i would do that - if a long pause etc i do that) though with less force / power than when performing it for testing or even in the class. If not running through i might perform a small sequence i want to work on, but again i will chain it as if i was performing it. In my head i think of it like the way i would perform BJJ drills: eg if drilling an arm bar from closed guard then when first learning you take the grips, pause, break posture, pause, perform hip movement, pause, legs for armbar etc. but once you know it, when drilling you might not go full force but you try to flow more.
For me i find it helps with making sure i don't lose the transitions from one technique to the next, though i am less experienced than many of you so possibly i am wrong lol
I do like Zaine's idea above though - sounds interesting! We did something tangentially related in a style i used to train where for grading you had to perform the 'form' of the prior grade with 'free direction' where you were expected to add in changes in direction / jumping variations of kicks etc. as you saw fit. Was quite a useful drill to work on what parts of the combinations in the form lent themselves to a change in angle etc and which should flow together:" eg a right leg mawashi geri followed immediately by a left leg ushiro mawashi geri may be easier to remain facing same way, but for the block afterwards or hand technique afterwards maybe you could adjust your footing and target a different direction etc
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that makes sense - also it might be a reflection in the different way things are run in the USA for martial arts compared to the UK (not saying either is better!). In the UK people are typically graded from a central body and it would be them who would apply promotions / demotions etc.. If someone graded in a reputable org then it would usually be expected (from my experience) to transfer over to a new org: eg a JKA BB in shotokan would likely start at same grade in JKS, JSKA etc. Though i hear more often about in USA if someone moves school they have to start again from white belt even if same style.
So for you guys this might be just an instance of the disciplinary process being more local - which has its benefits probably as less formal than going via the governing body itself: so the CI can "teach her a lesson" without it affecting her future grades etc
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Wednesday 1st October
BJJ Session
Really good session. Was working submission chains from side control using the far side lapel. Initial submission was a lapel americana. Then worked transitioning to a paper cutter / cross choke style choke if they pulled their arm out. Then transition to armbar if they defend the choke by framing. Really liked the chain and can see it being something i will actively try to develop.
Couple of rounds sparring. Went well. managed several guard passes using the two passes i wanted to work on (over under with collar hand deep and lots of pressure and double under pass with pressure). Pulled guard to start everytime and managed to work a sweep too which i was pleased with. Only got one submission but managed to take top control and move in it smoothly which is what i was mainly working on. Overall really pleased! Now to prepare for getting absolutely smashed next session as that is usually how it goes!!
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Tuesday 30th September
Lifting Session
Back squat
20kg x 5
40kg x 3
60kg x 2
80kg x 1
90kg x 3
90kg x 3
90kg x 3
Barbell Bench Press
20kg x 5
40kg x 3
60kg x 2
83kg x 3
83kg x 3
83kg x 3
Barbell sumo deadlift
90kg x 5
Biceps cable curl (tri set with one hand cable rows and triceps pushdowns)
26kg x 7
26kg x 7
26kg x 7
Triceps straight bar pushdown
26kg x 13
26kg x 13
26kg x 13
One Hand Cable Row (standing)
26kg x 10 reps (per hand)
26kg x 10 reps (per hand)
26kg x 10 reps (per hand)
Tried these standing and actually felt tougher than last time. Will try again next time and decide after a few goes. Is less hassle to set up too which is good!
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 4
1 (140lb) x 4
1 (140lb) x 4
1 (140lb) x 4
Trainer (60lb) x 51
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Monday 29 September
Was a public holiday so no karate. Decided to do a little cardio on the indoor cycle. did 5.4km in 13min. Intent was gentle pace and managed that
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Sunday 28 September
Lifting Session
Back squat
20kg x 5
40kg x 3
60kg x 2
80kg x 5
80kg x 5
80kg x 5
80kg x 5
Barbell Bench Press
20kg x 5
40kg x 3
60kg x 2
74kg x 5
74kg x 5
74kg x 5
74kg x 5
Barbell sumo deadlift
80kg x 5
Thought i would switch to these for a while as they will help with strengthening hips. Added in cable rows to cover row pattern
Biceps cable curl (tri set with one hand cable rows and triceps pushdowns)
26kg x 6
26kg x 6
26kg x 6
Triceps straight bar pushdown
26kg x 12
26kg x 12
26kg x 12
One Hand Cable Row (seated)
26kg x 10 reps (per hand)
26kg x 10 reps (per hand)
26kg x 10 reps (per hand)
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On 10/1/2025 at 2:19 AM, KarateKen said:
I didn't realize it was so different where you are. Here in the US to get a UFC PPV you also have to order a month of ESPN+ streaming, so you need to sign up for the streaming service to be eligible to order the PPV. Crazy. Sounds like you are getting a better deal.
I don't know anything about the WWE or TKO but it seems to be more of a trend to push out the middle class and only cater to the wealthy for live sports. The cost of tickets in many markets have gotten nuts. Also there has been a cultural shift in sports in the USA, and that is one toward gambling. The leagues are in business with the casino's now, players are doing ads for sports gambling that run during the game, broadcasters and pregame shows talk about betting odds, ESPN even owns a sports gambling website. In 2018 the US Supreme Court ruled that sports gambling is legal according to federal law and while not all the states are on board yet, many are. Gambling can now be done from your phone while you sit at the game. As a result, online sports gambling has become one of the fastest growing addictions in America. Major pro sports are becoming less about the father/son tradition of bonding at the games and more about gambling and corporate greed. The salaries are higher than ever, and so are the ticket prices. Then you add the taxes, fees, parking, and cost of concessions (20 dollars for a beer) and you can see why many people are getting priced out of the market.
The thing is over here gambling has always been allowed and sports gambling is a huge deal - multiple bookmakers on every high street etc; several football clubs are sponsored directly by Bookmakers (they wear the bookmakers name on the front of their jersey) : i support Glasgow Rangers personally and they have "Unibet" as a jersey sponsor etc.
So i don't think it is necessarily gambling companies that are the issue with the prices, just seems to be a shift in mindset over time: tbh not going to go into much more detail here as i have my own thoughts on that and it would likely get too political for on here!
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It really is just pure greed!
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5 hours ago, sensei8 said:
I was amongst the unhappy fans about Goodell’s SB announcement. It’s their product and they’ve the right to market it any way they feel fit to.
Money speaks in volumes and is the root of evil. Putting SB on a PPV is as evil as it gets. I suppose only the rich are to enjoy PLE and not anyone else.
How rich do the rich need to be?!? There’s no affordable PLE sports and entertainment in Las Vegas, or any where else!!
Tbh as someone abroad i have always thought you guys get the short end of the stick with charges for sports. UFC and boxing are an easy example: if i decide to pay for a boxing PPV here (and it is normally only the biggest high profile fights that are a PPV) it is about £20/25 usually - i was shocked to see it is $99 in the USA and covers a lot of the fights. Similarly my subscription to TNT sports (formerly ESPN etc in the UK) includes almost all UFC events - i only pay for the biggest ones that are a PPV and sometimes i object on principle to paying when i already have a subscription!
You guys definitely get ripped off - I also saw the head of TKO openly saying that WWE prices needed to change as they were stupidly priced to allow families to attend and it was leaving potential profits on the table! Sheer greed - if families can't attend then they are costing themselves potential future customers!
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8 hours ago, KarateKen said:
Well without getting into a style debate the argument was always that an armbar in BJJ is the same as an elbow lock JJJ, meaning that you can learn the same techniques in different styles. Such as Karate and TKD have a lot of overlap. However, you are correct, different styles can do different tyles of kicks. Like in a TKD class that is sport focused you might learn to do the slap kick, a roundhouse kick using the instep of your foot to hit your opponent, where in MT you are learning to roundhouse kick with the shin, and in Karate you might be learning to roundhouse kick with the bottom of your foot. So, yes, I agree they can be different.
That is true but not what i meant: i meant that someone who has not trained against resistance is materially different to someone who has done so.
So if someone has never sparred/done kumite/randori and is a black belt then it is probably not as important when they enter some competition in another style that is related as someone who has performed it against resisting opponent. eg ask me if i want to fight someone who has done Muay Thai for 10years, never fought and only done bagwork or someone who has done it for 2years but spars weekly and had a couple of fights : i will pick the first person every single time
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Thursday 25 September
Judo Session
First session for ages and felt it! was good to get back on the judo mats. Standard warm up which slaughtered me lol and then practiced throws of the day. Gradually felt smoother as the reps went on. Newaza went well and we didn't do any Tachiwaza. All in all a good first session back
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Wednesday 24 September
Power interval on ski-erg
258m
246m
235m
216m
236m
For the power interval it was 5 intervals, 1min max effort then 3min rest. Will try to gradually build up to 2min effort over time
Reverse Barbell curl
16kg x 10
16kg x 10
16kg x 10
Got a new rackable curl bar and wanted to test it
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Tuesday 23 September
Lifting Session
Back squat
20kg x 5
40kg x 3
60kg x 2
80kg x 5
80kg x 5
80kg x 5
80kg x 5
Biceps cable curl (superset with squats)
26kg x 6
26kg x 6
26kg x 6
26kg x 6
Barbell Bench Press
20kg x 5
40kg x 3
60kg x 2
74kg x 5
74kg x 5
74kg x 5
74kg x 5
Barbell Bent over row
74kg x 5
74kg x 5
74kg x 5
74kg x 5
Triceps straight bar pushdown
26kg x 11
26kg x 11
26kg x 11
26kg x 11
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 4
1 (140lb) x 4
1 (140lb) x 4
1 (140lb) x 4
1 (140lb) x 4
Trainer (60lb) x 50
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8 hours ago, KarateKen said:
Hey a punch is a punch and a kick is a kick.
Am I right people??
Not quite sure i get what you mean here?
on the face of it yes a punch is a punch etc. but i think you have to also factor in the constraints under which the techniques were learnt / practiced. Someone who has done a sparring/fighting heavy style such as Muay Thai, Kyokushin, Enshin, TKD will be more likely to apply a punch effectively in competition than someone who learnt it in something like Tai Chi and has never actually punched anyone or anything. The original rise of Judo sorta proved that when Kano added randori and practising techniques against resistance then his Judo Ryu beat the other schools that did older Japanese Jiu Jitsu without resisting partners.
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Yeah i would say the sensible course of action is to talk to the tournament organiser and ask them. What style they do/have done is also relevant
Eg. if the student is a BB in Kyokushin/Ashihara etc. and entering a TKD sparring competition then they likely should be above the green belt division. If they are a bb in one of the styles of karate that has almost no actual kumite then maybe the Green belt division in TKD is appropriate.
Definitely should be disclosed in a respectful manner and let the organisers make the call
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9 hours ago, sensei8 said:
Seeing that it’s a TKD tournament, and that student has a green belt in TKD, I’d say that that student should wear a green belt, but at the same time, that student should inform the Arbitrator that they have a black belt in Judo, for integrity sake, and allow the Arbitrator to make the proper decision.
Not quite sure how the black belt in judo would have any impact on TKD tbh (other that maybe comfort in a competitive setting) so don't see why it would need to be disclosed.
I have always liked the BJJ way of dealing with other grappling arts tbh: it is convention over here that if someone is judo BB and enters a BJJ tournament they enter as a Blue Belt as a minimum due to experience. Karate, kickboxing etc. grades don't matter as it is a totally different fighting style.
I try to do the same when it is a related style: when i came back to karate a couple of years ago i told the instructors my prior experiences in other styles and whenever i was sparring with someone new i would let them know (often the instructor did too) that i had prior experience in other striking styles (including karate) and whilst i was wearing a white or low kyu belt they could spar harder. I did the same at my judo club before any newaza. But didn't bother mentioning any striking experience as it didn't seem relevant.
For me the rule of thumb would be: is the competition using a similar skillset to one you have acquired elsewhere and have been assessed to a higher level of competency that in the style you are competing in? If yes then needs declared to the comp organisers and let them decide how to deal with it. If no then it's irrelevant and if in doubt then check.
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13 hours ago, KarateKen said:
An impressive early season game by Lions Monday night in their 38-30 victory in Baltimore. They sacked Jackson seven times, forced a Henry fumble, and had two drives of over 95 yards for touchdowns. The last time the Ravens had given up a 95-yard TD drive at home was in 2001. Fantastic performance by the Lions offense who ran the ball very well and Goff looked great, making a perfect throw late in the game on 4th down. They will fly home tonight and play the Browns on Sunday. Lions improve to 2-1, Ravens fall to 1-2.
As a Bills fan anything that can impact the Ravens playoffs seeding is fine by me! Have always had a soft spot for the Ravens too since the Ray Lewis days but they are one of the biggest threats to the Bills finally winning a superbowl so every close loss they can rack up is a win for the Bills!
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Monday 22 September
Karate Session
Usual warm ups. Much smaller class tonight with the only adults being myself and one black belt with the rest of the class being younger kids. Repped through a few more techniques and showed the kids a couple of kata then mainly games / running etc. for the kids. Not a huge amount of different techniques worked on but since we were doing lots of reps of punches i took the opportunity to really focus on punching with a very relaxed arm and tensing at the end of the strike. Punching felt good actually - is something i was wanting to make sure i focus on more to improve speed and kime
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Sunday 21 September
Strength Endurance Circuit
Worked through all exercises as a circuit. No rest between exercises inb circuit but 3min rest between circuits. Will work at reducing this down over time then gradually adding in more reps of the circuit and then increasing weights
Circuit
Barbell power clean 25kg x 10
standing overhead press 25kg x 10
Fat Bar floor press 25kg x 10
Fat bar bent over row 25kg x 10
KB swing 24kg x 10
flat leg raise x 10 reps
Ran through circuit 3 times.
Once done i decided to do a high rep drop set of triceps pushdowns for some endurance etc
25kg x 15
20kg x 15
15kg x 12
10kg x 18
5kg x 50
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Friday 19th September
main lifts day 2 wk 1
Back extension
11 reps
8 reps
Back squat
20kg x 5
40kg x 3
60kg x 2
75kg x 5
75kg x 5
75kg x 5
75kg x 5
Biceps cable curl (superset with squats)
25kg x 5
25kg x 5
25kg x 5
25kg x 5
Barbell Bench Press
20kg x 5
40kg x 3
60kg x 2
69kg x 5
69kg x 5
69kg x 5
69kg x 5
Barbell Bent over row
69kg x 5
69kg x 5
69kg x 5
69kg x 5
Triceps straight bar pushdown
25kg x 10
25kg x 10
25kg x 10
25kg x 10
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 4
1 (140lb) x 4
1 (140lb) x 4
1 (140lb) x 4
1 (140lb) x 3
Trainer (60lb) x 41
When i get up to 60 reps for the high rep set i will shift to the 80lb gripper for it. Once i can get 5 x 5 on the 140lb i may look into buying and trying the 1.5 (167.5lb) gripper. Want to see if i can work up to eventually managing a few reps with the 2 or maybe 2.5 if it goes really well
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Thursday 18th September
Conditioning session
Tried some 'Fobbit' Intervals using my ski erg. Interval was 2min ski-ing at a gentle pace then 10 reps KB swings, then 2min skiing then 10 reps double kb push press then repeat for a total of 20min. Will gradually work to improve time to 30min then work on improving skiing pace and weights used
skining : total distance covered 2.176km
KB swings:
28kg x 10 reos x 4 sets
Double KB push press
2 x 14kg KB x 10 reps x 4 sets
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Tuesday 16 September
Day 1 of wk 1 of 2dpw Tactical Barbell fighter routine
Back extension (BW) on hyoer extension bench
10 reps
10 reps
10 reps
Have started trying to add either these or QL raises into every session as i had tweaked my back a while ago and these seemed to help!
Back squat
20kg x 5
40kg x 3
60kg x 2
75kg x 5
75kg x 5
75kg x 5
75kg x 5
Lifts all felt smooth and pretty easy which is good!
Biceps cable curl (superset with squats)
25kg x 5
25kg x 5
25kg x 5
25kg x 5
Barbell Bench Press
20kg x 5
40kg x 3
60kg x 2
69kg x 5
69kg x 5
69kg x 5
69kg x 5
Slightly odd numbers but i went and got some more change plates since i decided if i was going to follow percentage based programmes i should do it properly and minimise the rounding where possible.
Barbell Bent over row
69kg x 5
69kg x 5
69kg x 5
69kg x 5
Trying to do same weight for bench and row
Triceps straight bar pushdown
25kg x 8
25kg x 8
25kg x 8
25kg x 8
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 4
1 (140lb) x 4
1 (140lb) x 4
1 (140lb) x 4
1 (140lb) x 2
Trainer (60lb) x 40
Want to gradually get better at this again to improve grip strength when grappling. Added in high rep set at the end too
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Monday 15th September
Karate Session
Started class with usual warm ups and Kihon etc. Realised i have not been 'active' enough in recovering my kicks so they have been slower than needed, focused a lot on actively pulling my kick back using the relevant muscles and noticed an instant improvement.
Lots of kumite drills in this class. Worked quite a bit of jiyu ippon kumite and also some jiyu kumite. Working on stuff for when i sit Shodan in March (injuries etc permitting!)
Take Me Out...Yes...It's BASEBALL!
in General Chat
Posted
As a longstanding Mariners fan i hope you are totally wrong! Though as i have followed both the Bills and Mariners for years (think i am unusual over here as being a foreign fan who doesn't support the 'reigning champions' lol) i have my fingers crossed that this year ends up being an awesome title laden year!
Also, Raleigh for MVP!