DarthPenguin

Congrats to Kenneth! Sounds like he is doing really well Out of curiosity what age range is 'freshman' - i know of it as first year of university but not sure how it translates to school (we have a totally different system here). He is doing great to hold his own with older boys. They will have plenty of age related advantages. If he keeps this up he will be a monster when older!

Surely if someone is forfeiting ALL their matches they should be made to withdraw from the event? I can see the point if someone gets hurt in their first match etc. and has to pull out, but going to an event and choosing not to compete should be a withdrawl. Sounds like the ultimate default medal!

Congrats to him on his BB, it is a massive achievement for anyone and a dream of the far off future for me lol Interesting to hear your comment on Blue belts leading classes. Would be really surprised to see that anywhere now really: certainly in the USA where there are a lot more bjj practitioners. Years ago you would occasionally see it in Scotland (when i originally started there were only 2-3 black belts in all of Scotland), but now, while it is still not a common sight, there are plenty more and lots of Brown/Purple belts so most clubs would be run by a brown belt at minimum, though some individual classes would be taken by others. I was chatting to someone about it the other day how it used to be very rare to see a purple belt 'in the wild' taking part in classes, brown belts were almost unheard of and Black Belts were like mythical creatures, but nowadays you see all of them regularly in class and not just teaching!

I read the book years ago and it was really good (from what i remember anyway!) so will definitely give it a try!

Thanks, i will do!

Thursday 29 February Lifting session Trap bar deadlift 70kg x 5 80kg x 5 90kg x 3 100kg x 5 112.5kg x 3 125kg x 8 These felt good though i need to work on my grip more! last few reps my grip was beginning to give out. could have possibly managed more reps if not for that Cable flyes (weight is per hand) 25kg x 6 25kg x 6 25kg x 6 25kg x 6 One hand triceps pushdown (reps are L+R) 25kg x 12 25kg x 12 25kg x 12 25kg x 12 One hand cable preacher curl (reps are L+R) 25kg x 12 25kg x 12 25kg x 12 25kg x 12 Overall pleased with session. Have had a sore shoulder recently but didn't play up!

Wednesday 28 February Karate Session Good class, did warmups then grading required kihon as usual. Did a lot of kumite practice, rotating partners. First three unannounced jodan attacks each, then three any level, then jiyu kimute. Then worked through all katas from Kihon kata to Bassai Dai. Also good news that the CI told me he would like me to grade for 1st kyu in a fortnight!

Welcome, nice to have you here Is a friendly bunch of people. There is also an 'introduce yourself' spot if you feel like saying hi and sharing a little info (though it is by no means mandatory!!)

That’s a tough one for me because they were collectively funny!! Separately, I think Kramer was the funniest of them all, imho. Kramer was the Iggy from Taxi of the Seinfeld show to me. They both are hysterical and brilliantly played. I can't imagine their could ever be a better actor for either role. Though I do wonder how someone like Jim Carrey would do as Kramer, him and Richards both have a gift for physical humor. This is likely nigh on blasphemy but i never really watched Seinfeld! Has it aged well? I really liked the lady who went on to be Selina Meyer in Veep and i know she is a major character so it has got me tempted to give it another shot a few times!

Yeah that is what i recall too - at the time though most people would have agreed with Belichick as conventional wisdom was that he would be done very very shortly. Guys like Brady, Brees, Rodgers etc have changed that a little now i think but then when they start to lose it it seems sudden (i always think of Manning and Brady basically falling off a cliff at the end!)

Yeah i will definitely be watching it. Not sure if i would agree that he is one of the most popular guys, would say he is one of the most polarising guys. Most people i know can't stand him. Personally i don't mind him winning at the weekend as i would quite like to see Merab crush him! I do like Burns and Holland too so should be a fun card!

Yeah, they may also get into the same territory that the patriots got into (if not there already) where players take a pay cut to join them later in career for a good shot at getting that ring. Once you get into that tier it can really help with sustaining a dynasty. Mahomes now does seem to have a decent shot at getting close to Brady's 7 rings. For the niners i think next year will be huge - last year of the huge discount on Purdy and they will have some very difficult choices coming up soon. As for my Bills? If Derrick Henry is still a free agent (haven't checked recently) then we should get him!! When thinking about it we want to have a line built for a large strong powerful back rather than an agile back as it will protect Allen more when he runs too!

Have you tried ice/heat in the area?? Have you wrapped an Ace Band-Aid around your ribs?? Does it hurt to move and/or breath?? Hope you're feeling better soon, Ken. No, nothing like that. I don't usually feel anything unless I am lying down. Even then it doesn't hurt, more sore than painful. Hopefully it is just that little ache you sometimes get when something is just finishing up healing! Injured ribs are no fun so hopefully it clears up soon!

Saturday 24th February BJJ Session Really good class which was on transitioning between a few different types of pins: side control ; north/south; knee on belly. Worked on drilling keeping it when opponent moved and moving to other position when required to keep the pin. Was a really really useful class though i did feel it later!

Thursday 22 February Lifting Session Seated overhead press 20kg x 5 25kg x 5 30kg x 5 37.5kg x 3 42.5kg x 3 47.5kg x 10 These felt better than usual so was pleased with them Zercher squats 20kg x 5 30kg x 5 40kg x 5 did a quick experiment to get an idea how the movement felt as i think i will add it in in future One hand cable row (reps are L+r) 30kg x 20 30kg x 20 30kg x 20 30kg x 20 Single arm preacher cable curl (reps are L+R) 20kg x 22 20kg x 22 20kg x 22 20kg x 22 Triceps pushdown straight bar 45kg x 11 45kg x 11 45kg x 11 45kg x 11

Yep i would definitely be interested in taking a look too - out of sheer nosiness if nothing else!! Also might help others who look into the school as if the details are added this thread might come up when someone does a google search and prompt people to look into it a little more

It's an interesting one - for the last few years it is almost like they are conducting an optimisation process to work out the lowest money they can get away with spending on receivers (due to the brilliance of Mahomes) and reallocate to other areas of the team. Eventually they will hit the tip over point (As a Bills fan i hope it is this season!!!). Also as a Bills fan i would have much preferred them to prioritise Sneed over Jones. Both are superb but there are a lot more decent CBs out there i think than gamechanging DT's

Congratulations! Very well done. Very well deserved too!

Most definitely an impressive amount of typing!! More seriously, well done. Bushido_man's posts are usually some of the most thought out and reasoned ones on here and obviously take a lot of effort to pull together!

Congratulations Sounds very well deserved (and long overdue!). Which style did they grade you in (As i know you have rank in several!!)

Thursday 15 February Lifting Session Bench Press 20kg x 5 40kg x 5 55kg x 3 62.5kg x 3 70kg x 9 Face Pulls 20kg x 15 20kg x 15 20kg x 15 20kg x 15 20kg x 15 Cable Chest Flyes (weight is per hand) 20kg x 11 20kg x 11 20kg x 11 20kg x 11 20kg x 11 Single Arm cable preacher curl (reps are per hand) 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 Single arm reverse triceps pushdown (reps are per hand) 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 Ski Erg 2km 10min 42 sec

Tuesday 13 February Lifting Session Trap Bar Deadlift 70kg x 5 80kg x 5 92.5kg x 3 105kg x 3 120kg x 8 Incline bench press 55kg x 5 55kg x 4 - stopped here as shoulder was feeling funny. Had tweaked it a little the other day and decided it was better to be sensible Lat Pulldown 75kg x 5 75kg x 5 75kg x 5 Triceps Overhead Extension (cable) 40kg x 10 40kg x 10 40kg x 10 Biceps High One hand cable curl (reps are per hand) 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 Cable Crunch 10kg x 10 10kg x 10 10kg x 10

Yeah from a UK perspective 10th Dan's are incredibly rare (can't think of a Shotokan one in the UK off the top of my head - there is a Judo one in Edinburgh and when he got it it actually made the national news as there are so few globally!) but it is theoretically possible that someone could make it and have friends that are at the same level and live together. Vanishingly small chance but still technically possible. The Kyu thing and not mentioning the style are both big red flags. When i think about it the style one is pretty bad too. To get to any really high Dan rank (say 7th Dan plus) is a lifelong commitment. Someone who has been that dedicated to a style is going to be (rightfully) proud of the work they put in and would be very open about their style. I will stick my neck out here and say that would be pretty much universal across all combat sports with a ranking system.

Multiple red flags popping up there! Even ignoring the oddity of there being two 10th Dans and 9th Dan teaching together in a random location which is so unlikely as to be almost impossible to quantify (plus to be a legit 10th Dan in shotokan you would need to be an absolute minimum of 70yrs old, with 3rd dan at 21 and then minimum possible times in Grade). For me, not knowing what a Kyu grade is is actually a bigger red flag as it's the standard term in karate for a pre-black belt grade! To not know that they are almost certainly not legitimate so i would stay clear!

Yeah the cap is going to be a hurdle but if i was being brutal i think that there would be other cb's available who would be less of a drop off from Snead than DL from Jones. He reminded me of Aaron Donald this season in his ability to totally wreck an offence almost singlehandedly. To me he looks like at the end of his career he will be a clear first ballot HoF so if i had to pick one of the two it would be him!