DarthPenguin

Hello, nice to (virtually) meet you

I would echo what Wastelander said - you aren't competing with those schools and tbh their very existence may help siphon off those who aren't looking for what you teach. Personally i would say to be upfront, honest and detailed in what you can offer. Strong website with clear details and credentials for you and your instructors/lineages. Nothing negative about the other schools (not that i think you would) but only positives about what YOU can offer. As an example, yesterday i saw some posts from a school in the UK that promoted only self defence etc. Looked quite sketchy and the usual 'we teach street protection / self defence'. Personally i have found that a lot of these type of schools are sketchy (in the UK anyway). I took a look at their site out of curiosity and was pleasantly surprised at the detailed instructor bios and the clear lineage : the head coach was a multiple dan in Kyokushin, with his instructors etc clearly listed; affiliations with Geoff Thompson etc and all called out. Everything was listed and easy to check into if someone would. I came away thinking that the school must be a lot better than my original impression and that the CI is definitely legitimate. The fact that a self defence focused school can't point to competition successes etc to advertise itself means that there are a lot of dodgy individuals who take that path to make a quick buck (again from what i have observed in the past). But if you have a clear, solid lineage that can clearly deal with it. Don't need flashy videos etc. For myself i would like to see : Instructor : Spartacus Rank/s : whatever it is. Rank in this style and any others held e.g X Dan in style Y under sensei Z ; clear listing for each and possibly even a link to instructors site if there is one Bio : short training history bio or one for the style Links to governing body / accrediting body (if there is one) Pages on the benefits / what you would get out of training Links to affiliated / related schools elsewhere - it is nice to know you are training in a style with more than one location sometimes (if possible) - can help deal with legitimacy concerns in the students minds Anyway, hope that was of some use - apologies if it seems a little rambling!

As an update i have had covid since just before new years (annoyingly) so not been able to train properly out of stubbornness though i have still been trying to use my new ski erg machine once a day. Started with 600m on the 1st and adding 50m a day. Have managed it every day so far. Thought it would be good to get it into my daily routine as can always do with more conditioning work. Am trying to build it up to 2k to start and then the plan will be to do that a few times a week and shorter distances on other days. Will then gradually work on increasing distances further. Am liking the machine so far though

This is a surprisingly tough question! For me the 4 would be : - gichin funakoshi - jigoro kano - masatatsu oyama - helio gracie / carlos gracie* I put both of the brothers as you hear conflicting stories from different people as to who came up with bjj! Most people say Helio but i have heard plenty say Carlos did. Hopefully the others are self explanatory enough. My main debate was on including Mas Oyama but i decided that kyokushin has had enough of an impact on martial arts that i thought i had to include him

For me i always find it works quite well to increase the reps to 12 for all sets and then increase the weight, hopefully for a minimum of 8 reps per set or try for 10 then keep at that weight until sets of 12 and then increase. I find that works quite well as for me my rep strength is very different to my max strength. Probably similar to what you do already!

Going back to this original question for some clarification. Seeing the way the conversation has evolved, I think defining some things is important. How do we define "overcoming" the attacker? Are we talking about standing over our fallen opponent in victory? Or are we talking about doing just enough to get away and be safe, and avoid injury as much as possible? Are we talking about two people having a disagreement, and then "stepping outside," dual style? Or we talking about the sudden violence of an ambush attack? I think identifying these parameters can add some nuance to the conversation. Very good point! The above parameters would make a massive difference. One other thing that just came to mind is that when training a lot of larger trainees can (intentionally or otherwise) hold back quite a bit when sparring with others, which could potentially be a bad habit or fight to their internalised view of 'fighting fair' and could also have an impact. A few personal examples i can think of : - i hadn't realised how much i hold back sometimes when sparring until one of the 3rd dans called it out explicitly that i could go a little harder with some of them even though i am a lot larger (we took a while and worked out a level of force that people were comfortable with) - on the mentality point, i have a very good friend who also trains and we are a very similar size. He was going on and on one day about how 'deadly' some of his techniques would be in a fight. We were near a road and i asked him to demonstrate and pretend we were just fighting, as he was quickly setting himself i grabbed him, and went to throw him into the street (i kept a very tight hold so he didn't go onto it) and explained to him that while he prepared and got ready for his 'fight' i had just thrown him under the wheels of a bus so i win by squish! He wasn't ready for someone to fight outwith the rules of what he thought were sensible and fair. Hopefully the above isn't too disjointed!

Saturday 23 December Lifting Session Seated overhea barbell press 20kg x 5 25kg x 5 30kg x 3 35kg x 3 40kg x 3 45kg x 8 Face Pull 20kg x 20 20kg x 20 20kg x 20 Cable Lateral Raise (reps are per arm) 5kg x 11 5kg x 11 5kg x 11 Lat pulldown 60kg x 12 60kg x 12 60kg x 12 Leg extension 35kg x 10 35kg x 10 35kg x 10 Triceps rope pushdown 35kg x 12 35kg x 12 35kg x 12 35kg x 12 biceps cable curl 35kg x 12 35kg x 12 35kg x 12 35kg x 12

Tuesday 19 December Lifting Session Bench press 20kg x 5 40kg x 5 52.5kg x 3 60kg x 3 70kg x 7 Machine chest press 100kg x 10 100kg x 10 100kg x 10 100kg x 10 100kg x 10 Machine seated row 100kg x 7 100kg x 7 100kg x 7 100kg x 7 100kg x 7 Lat pulldown 60kg x 10 60kg x 10 60kg x 10 Triceps rope pushdown 35kg x 12 35kg x 12 35kg x 12 biceps cable curl 35kg x 12 35kg x 12 35kg x 12

I had a quick look and couldn't see a Happy New Year thread so i thought i would add one! I hope that you and your families all have an excellent 2024 and that it is superior in every way possible to 2023!

For myself i have set quite a few though i also like to set a clear target to achieve for them. Have also got an 'optional one' that i would quite like to do but will have to see if i can fit it in! Martial arts training wise : - pass my ikkyu before summer and see if i can successfully sit shodan before xmas - see if i can manage to get 1 stripe added to my bjj belt - try to get to judo once a week (this is dependant on the kids going to bed so is somewhat out of my control) strength / fitness - manage a 100kg bench press again this year with a stretch target of 2 reps - get back up to a 200kg deadlift for first time in years (will work off a calculated 1rm though will test it properly when i am confident i am close) - add in more conditioning work using my new ski erg. Am trying at the moment to use it every day to get used to it. Will programme it in more later in year optional - i would quite like to learn japanese. I've always wanted to do so and i think my 7 year old wants to try too so i am thinking we could learn it together. This will depend on how much time is left in the day after work, family and training though so i will see!

best of luck, though i'm sure it won't be needed!

Thursday 14 December lifting session Trap bar deadlift 70kg x 5 80kg x 5 90kg x 3 102.5kg x 3 115kg x 12 incline barbell bench press 50kg x 6 50kg x 6 50kg x 6 50kg x 6 50kg x 6 Straight arm pulldown 35kg x 10 35kg x 10 35kg x 10 35kg x 10 35kg x 10 plate loaded leg extension 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 face pulls 20kg x 15 20kg x 15 20kg x 15 overhead triceps extension 30kg x 12 30kg x 12 30kg x 12 biceps cable curls 35kg x 12 35kg x 12 35kg x 12 Everything after the deadlift was down as a two exercise superset with max 1min rest between paired sets (so leg ext-> face pulls -> 1min rest max -> leg ext etc.)

Tuesday 12 December Lifting Session Seated overhead barbell press 20kg x 5 25kg x 5 32.5kg x 5 37.5kg x 5 42.5kg x 8 cable lateral raise 5kg x 20 (10 per arm) 5kg x 20 5kg x 20 Face pulls 20kg x 15 20kg x 15 20kg x 15 triceps rope pushdown 35kg x 10 35kg x 10 35kg x 10 35kg x 10 biceps cable curl 35kg x 10 35kg x 10 35kg x 10 35kg x 10

Sunday 10 December Lifting session Squat 20kg x 5 40kg x 5 67.5kg x 5 80kg x 5 90kg x 6 Chest flye 15kg x 10 15kg x 10 15kg x 10 15kg x 10 this is per hand weight cable triceps overhead extension 25kg x 10 25kg x 10 25kg x 10 biceps cable curl 35kg x 10 35kg x 10 35kg x 10 session was esrlier in day than usual and i felt weaker. Also was pushed for time so didn't do as much as usual

Thursday 7 December Lifting Session Bench press 20kg x 5 40kg x 5 50kg x 5 57.5kg x 5 65kg x 8 Chest press plate loaded 100kg x 6 100kg x 6 100kg x 6 100lkg x 6 100kg x 6 Plate loaded seated row 100kg x 6 100kg x 6 100kg x 6 100kg x 6 100kg x 6 one hand rope cable row 20kg x 20 20kg x 20 20kg x 20 for this exercise i was trying to mimic pulling for an ar, drag so i turned at the waist. reps were 10 per hand Triceps rope pushdown 30kg x 11 30kg x 11 30kg x 11 biceps cable curl 30kg x 11 30kg x 11 30kg x 11 Ski erg 1km 5min 10 sec

Sunday 3 December Lifting session Trap bar deadlift 70kg x 5 82.5kg x 5 95kg x 5 107.5kg x 12 Incline barbell bench press 50kg x 5 50kg x 5 50kg x 5 50kg x 5 50kg x 5 Straight arm pulldown 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 Leg Extension plate loaded 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 Face pulls 20kg x 11 20kg x 11 20kg x 11 20kg x 11 20kg x 11 Triceps Extension overhead 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 biceps cable curl 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 ski erg 1km 5 min

Thursday 30 November Lifting session wanted to try out some more equipment! plate loaded chest press 50kg x 5 80kg x 5 100kg x 5 100kg x 5 100kg x 5 100kg x 5 100kg x 10 plate loaded seated row 50kg x 5 80kg x 5 100kg x 5 100kg x 5 100kg x 5 100kg x 5 100kg x 5 Chest flye 10kg x 10 10kg x 10 10kg x 10 10kg x 10 weight is per hand Triceps rope pushdown 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 Biceps cable curl 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 Face pulls 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 Ski eg 1km 5 min

For us the kyu testing fees are £30 which also covers a pre-exam course from the examiner. Always thought it was a fair fee as it covers the cost of the hall rental, the examiners travel costs etc

yeah i think it is probably individualised and also situation specific. What i mean by that is everyone will have a different preference and the other person/s involved will make a difference : eg i would likely be fine with friends of mine being closer than someone i don't know and probably would have a difference between someone i don't know who looks like an 'upstanding member of society' and someone who looks like a troublemaker (ignoring how accurate or inaccurate such judgements may be)

Wednesday 29 November Karate Session Warm ups Usual warm ups Kihon Went through usual grade kihon then a kicking version of kihon kata that we had never done before Kata multiple run throughs of Bassai dai, plus one each of all the kata leading up to it kumite several rounds of jiyu ippon kumite

Tuesday 28th November Miscellaneous workout as just got most of new equipment built and wanted to try it! Plate loaded horizontal chest press (using jammer arms and upright bench) 40kg x 5 50kg x 5 60kg x 5 70kg x 5 80kg x 5 90kg x 5 100kg x 10 Thought i would try this and it shows that when not having to rely on all the stabiliser muscles that i am stronger than i thought (as a comparison my best ever bench 1rm is 100kg x 1) Triceps Rope pushdowns 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 30kg x 10 now have a proper pulley/cable machine Ski erg 400m in 2min 7 sec Got this as a cardio machine and wanted to give it a quick try!

Sometimes you just need to do what you can do - even if just isolation exercises it will still have some benefit! I have to remind myself of the same thing often!

Hi Aurik, sorry to hear about your loss. Hope you and the family are doing ok

Hi All, While it is not something we celebrate over here i know it is a massive deal in the USA so i thought i'd wish everyone celebrating it a happy thanksgiving. I hope you all have/had a great time with your families

Yeah they would work for that population. In a similar way to the vibration machine craze from a few years ago. They were designed for astronauts to allow them to minimise muscular atrophy (the electric thing may help with the same) since the lack of gravity on space station made conventional weights useless. They were not developed to be superior to weights!