DarthPenguin

I assume this is for April Fools? Either way might be amusing!

17 hours ago, bushido_man96 said:

Gracie Submission Essentials, by Helio and Royler Gracie.  Trying to soak up what I can for BJJ classes.

You have likely already had it recommended / read it but the best book i have read myself for BJJ is Saulo Ribeiro's Jiu Jitsu University. Well written, clear pictures etc. There are also loads of instructionals etc. available online either to buy on topics or online resources to subscribe to. If you decide to go for any of them then my personal advice would be to identify firstly the style / area you wish to learn more of and then try to find an instructor with similar body type who teaches it. Eg for me i like to look at stuff by Roger Gracie as we are very close to the same size i think (granted he is a million times more flexible, stronger etc but body dimensions wise we are similar). Reason why i think this matters is everyone does things a little differently and if i learn techniques that have been adapted to themselves by a 5'6" instructor, while they will be correct and would work they won't be as optimised for me as they would be from someone with similar proportions

On 3/24/2026 at 2:29 AM, bushido_man96 said:

That's great that you've found a great place to train.  What prompted the move?  You may have spoken of it, but I have forgotten if you did.

...scratch that.  I just caught up on the previous posts.  I'm sorry to hear that.  Did you ever stop to ask what the deal was?  I would assume they would inform you.  I'm assuming the new club is the same style/organization?

Same style (shotokan) but different organisation, though still a large Japanese body. Spoke to the Chief Instructor beforehand and no issue to keep grade etc.I will answer the other questions to you directly if that is ok - there are not that many clubs up here and i have done my best to leave politely / respectfully without causing any issues and want to keep it that way (friends of mine who i train with were spoken with prior to my making my decision to move for input but i don't want to muddy waters!).

Really happy with the new club though

Yeah i have enjoyed the anime tbh. One thing i like about it is they haven't made Luffy more "heroic" than in the manga - they did that with Goku in Dragonball (in the Anime he is trying to be a hero often and save people in the manga he just likes to fight and saving people is a nice consequence). Luffy helps people but it is because he wants to or likes them, rather than going about trying to overtly save the world (where i am in the story anyway).

Am looking forward to watching live action season 2 though

On 3/18/2026 at 11:47 PM, Patrick said:

Anyone else watch the One Piece live action series on Netflix? It's such a fun show.

watched the first season and will watch the second shortly. Have been watching the anime with my son from the start though - we are now partway through the Fishman Island arc so about episode 540 or so!

Congratulations @Zaine , well done! 20yrs is a fair innings too!

Monday 16th March

Karate Session

First session at new club. Really enjoyed it. Nice atmosphere and lots of very skilled karateka to learn from. Everyone was very welcoming. Also got to learn some new stuff i have never tried before (they covered some advanced kata which is typically used for 4th Dan grading but said it was useful for us to all get some exposure). Great class and i think i am currently very happy with my decision to move!

 

Friday 13 March

Lifting Session

Back squat

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

86kg x 5

86kg x 5

86kg x 5

 

Bench press

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

69kg x 5

69kg x 5

69kg x 5

 

Really tight on time here so tried to get the minimum in for the key lifts

Update Re: Karate

unfortunately due to multiple things i have decided to change clubs (so wont be sitting grading!). It has become quite obvious that the instructor (for whatever reason) is not treating me fairly. Not going to go into details here but i would prefer to change clubs and wait a year or more to sit grading than stay in this one now. It is a shame but to use the awful phrase "it is what it is"

Saturday 7 March

Lifting Session

Back squat

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

86kg x 5

86kg x 5

86kg x 5

86kg x 5

 

Bench press

20kg x 5

40kg x 3

60kg x 2

69kg x 5

69kg x 5

69kg x 5

69kg x 5

 

Pull up assisted

-40kg x 5

-40kg x 5

-40kg x 5

-40kg x 5

 

Standing military press

34kg x 10

34kg x 10

34kg x 10

 

Triceps pushdown straight bar

20kg x 10

20kg x 10

20kg x 10

 

E-Z Bar curl

26kg x 10

26kg x 10

26kg x 10

Thursday 5th March

Lifting session

Quick one here. Got a new set of catchers for my rack and wanted to test them as i can now do incline barbell bench if i use them (coildnt get bench into place beforehand)

incline bench

20kg x 10

30kg x 10

40kg x 8

45kg x 5

50kg x 5

55kg x 5

55kg x 5

55kg x 5

 

Pendlay row

55kg x 8

55kg x 8

55kg x 8

Wednesday 4th MArch

Karate Session

Getting more annoyed now tbh. Literally did not get called up for kata when everyone got called up by grade (was only one left out with no comment made). Then when the entire class got up and ran through kata from Kihon kata to Bassai Dai the instructor literally stood behind me and faced away.

Tuesday 3rd March

Conditioning workout

quick one here. EMOM ABC complex with 2 x 16kg KB. did 16 sets just to get a little movement in

Monday 2nd March

Karate Session

This class was warm up, then kihon then lots of kata. Tbh was not very happy as i am meant to be grading in two weeks and got literally 0 comments from the instructor. As we are a small class this is a little concerning - when i think about it it has also been the same for the last couple of weeks. Hopefully it is that i am just so amazing (lol i doubt that) but i should be getting more feedback

Monday 23rd February

Karate Session

Same session as per usual: grade required kihon, kata and then kumite. Nothing too exciting to report tbh

7 hours ago, bushido_man96 said:

We finished with open rolling.  Coach said I'm doing some good things movement-wise, I just got to keep at it.  I rolled with a new guy who had wrestled in high school, but was a few years out of high school.  While we were rolling he bellied out and I eventually worked a crossface into a RNC for the tap-out!  It felt pretty good.

 

Awesome. It feels really good when you begin to see things coming together - you know it has taken long enough (it does for me anyway) that you have actually gotten a little better over time and not just got lucky. I have always said "you can land a lucky punch but you don't land a lucky armbar or choke!"

On 3/11/2026 at 11:35 PM, bushido_man96 said:

I went with the white belt first.  I was able to stay on top, advance position, and was starting to work for an Americana submission when time ran out.  It was encouraging.

Next was with the wrestler.  Holy cow.  He just killed me.  Lots of good pressure, strong, athletic, could scramble.  Somewhere during that match I smoked my right knee somehow, and it was really burning for a time.  It got to feeling better after class.  This match was not encouraging.

Last I went with the blue belt.  I felt like I had a good match with him, until eventually I fell into bottom side control, which always sucks.  My knee was burning pretty good, and it cut this match a little short.

sounds like a really positive class! Being able to advance and keep your position etc. is definitely a win. If a decent wrestler then that would be a nightmare anyway so again don't be too disheartened! Final one, if you felt like you had a good match then that is what is important. 

Definitely sounds like it is coming together  Is it still just nogi or you guys training in the gi now too?

On 3/5/2026 at 9:02 PM, aurik said:

- Make sure you aren't buying more than you can afford.  A bank will come up with a number you can QUALIFY for, and then the agent will probably try to sell you in that region. Do your own math and be realistic in what you can actually afford, and stick to that.

 

I know we are in totally different locations with different processes and rules so there isn't a lot i can offer that is relevant to the USA but i can say that Aurik's comment above is mega mega important.

For myself, when my partner and myself bought our current house we took a mortgage that was about 2X combined salary (at the time) even though banks would lend up to 4.5X (and prevailing wisdom was to get as high up the ladder as possible at all times). What this meant was that when interest rates rose (as they had to do since the rates of 0.5% etc. are historically artificially low and usually are somewhere between 4-6%) we had no issues and the mortgage payments etc were still fine. Whilst we saw plenty of things on the news here from people massively struggling to pay their mortgages as they were either on a tracker rate (which had massively jumped) or their fixed term had ended and new fixed rates were high.

Personally i would add to the above that i like to take a fixed rate for the longest sensible term (in my view) so i have certainty as to costs and affordability. Is it the cheapest option? No, you might well get a tracker rate for cheaper for some of the time period but i know my billing amount and it is one i can pay. Removes the risk of a sudden unaffordable hike

Saturday 21 February

BJJ Session

This session was all closed guard based. Firstly worked a few rounds of drilling a standing pass to closed guard. Then worked cross collar chokes, a few variations, starting with 'standard one' then also one using the opponents lapel as a gripping point. Key detail for the second one was to make sure and 'shave their face' with arm before taking second grip as it made the choke a lot tighter. Couple of rounds to finish then done

Thursday 19 February

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

 

 

Standing military press

34kg x 10

34kg x 10

34kg x 10

 

Really short of time again so got key lifts done then out

 

Wednesday 18th February

Karate Session

Managed to fit in a session tonight too as other commitments were cancelled. Usual Kihon etc. Didn't get called out with the rest of the class to do my kata which was a little surprising since i am meant to be grading mid March! Multiple rounds of kumite too, both jiyu ippon and jiyu kumite

Any more takers? so far we have myself and bushido_man. Not really enough for a league!

On 2/21/2026 at 7:12 AM, sensei8 said:

I’ll not be interested this time around because last time I did it here at KF, I SUCKED!! It had been such a long time since I played fantasy baseball that I was beyond rusty and I ruined it all for everyone else across the board. 

If you do run it again I’ll definitely read the updates the whole season.

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