DarthPenguin

Best of luck with the test! You've put the work in so now it's just about showing it off!

Wednesday 8 November Karate Session Warm ups as per usual Kihon Didn't do full range of grading kihon but a lot of focus on 'snap' and kime in techniques. Lots of focus on minor details which was good! Kata Majority of class focus was on kata. Multiple run throughs of Bassai Dai, working on refining small details. Also a few run throughs of Heian Godan doing the same. Also worked on Heians Shodan, Sandan and Yondan. Ran through Kihon kata a few times too for my sons benefit. Overall a good class, enjoyed it and a lot of useful focus on details

Tuesday 7 November Lifting Session Abridged session but managed to get in main lift Trap bar deadlift 70kg x 5 80kg x 5 92.5kg x 5 105kg x 3 117.5kg x 8 Happy with these. Lifts went smoothly. Am also gradually increasing the beltless sets. Currently trying to do every set less than 100kg with no belt. Will look to gradually increase that as top set increases

Congratulations!

Very succinctly put! Would agree it distils things down though once you go up a layer then the complexities and difficulties crop up (different peoples ideas of what is good etc.) though that opens up a whole other can of worms!

What would (in my opinion) work better would be to sit down and decide what you want to work on : more explosiveness; greater maximum strength; gain muscle; more endurance etc. Work out where you currently stand and where you want to get to and when you want to get there for. This has to be realistic though (eg if your max deadlift is 100kg it would be silly to say you want a max of 250kg in 6mths time etc.) Then look at how you can get there - the training methods needed and the equipment needed. If you lack either then see how you can get there. There will likely be many methods to use so you can obviously tailor this to what you have available / are willing to source (what i mean by this is if your goal is to increase leg strength, you currently have a max back squat of 40kg, but no rack or barbell available but you have dumbell pairs going up to 30kg then you can just decide to do dumbell squats/lunges etc rather than having to do back squats until you max this out.). Set some clear metrics for how you will gauge your performance improvements and if things are/are not working. Then go for it. As with anything there are no shortcuts - similarly to martial arts, you can't just walk in off the street with no training and get a karate bb in 1 year! Likely you already know all the above (apologies) but thought it worth laying out again anyway as is often good to hear!

Monday 6 November BJJ Session Made it along to bjj session today. First session since i was not well so was good to be back though tough. Adding it in is final layer of adding in 'normal stuff' Really good class. Was dealing with responding to opponent attempting to stand in closed guard to pass. Worked on either taking k-guard on one side and working for a sweep or fighting for a strong collar grip and breaking posture back down. Also did a little rolling but will take it easy going forwards. Was trying to really focus on active gripping as i can have a tendency to be a little passive due to my arm length and just 'hang on'. Managed to hit a couple of submissions i wanted to work on (still working cross collar choke and canto chokes) so i was pleased

Saturday 4 November Lifting session Squat 20kg x 5 40kg x 5 60kg x 5 70kg x 3 80kg x 3 90kg x 5 these felt lighter than expected. Always takes me a while to get back into my squatting groove after not having done it for a while so i was pleased seated overhead press with leg raise superset 30kg x 5 30kg x 5 30kg x 5 30kg x 5 30kg x 10 leg raises 10 10 10 10 10

Thursday 2 November Bench press 20kg x 5 40kg x 5 52.5kg x 3 60kg x 3 67.5kg x 8 Seated overhead press 20kg x 5 25kg x 3 32.5kg x 3 37.5kg x 3 42.5kg x 5

I would say that they are (likely) an example of marketing hype. Through prior jobs and personal life i have had a lot of interactions with nationally ranked (in the UK) bodybuilders (natural and otherwise), powerlifters and a few professional sportspeople and strength coaches. Almost to a person they would respond with laughter if these type of things came up. If these things worked, or even gave a 0.01% edge on the competition then they would jump right in. Personally i would say that there are no short cuts. There is no realistic substitute for a properly planned exercise programme (be that with weights or bodyweight) with a clear plan for increases and progression. Gradually improving and building from there. It has stood the test of time (with the implements changing) for thousands of years really.

I don't disagree but it just seems quite brave. Though it probably came up in the discussions when he agreed to the role.

Been pretty irregular month with kids being ill etc which has thrown a spanner in the works. Tuesday 31st October Lifting Session Trap Bar Deadlift 70kg x 5 80kg x 5 85kg x 3 97.5kg x 3 110kg x 12 was quite pleased with that as didn't think i would manage as many reps as just getting back into it Reverse E-Z Bar curl 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 Abridged session as had to get back for the kids but i wanted to try and get something in! On the plus side, while i will have lost some strength in last few months, it is maybe not as big a drop off as i had feared

What did you think of his decision to bench Garoppolo straight away? Seemed quite surprising to me and a little risky for an interim coach who presumably wants the permanent job!

Watched the first few innings then needed to go to bed (was 2am here). Think that from the two teams the better team won. Thats another ring for Scherzer though. I'm going to be interested to see the eventual difference in their first ballot support between him and Verlander (they are both no doubt first baller HoFers, am curious who will get bragging rights). Personally i would pick Verlander by a hair but i could see it either way

Not good! Hopefully you can get it sorted soon and get the heating back up and running too

Ouch, hopefully it abates soon!

I've been seeing that too. The Bengals haven't looked great, either. But if both teams pull it together down the stretch, they'll be hitting their strides before the playoffs. I fully expect that to happen. Bengals looked good this week! I think you're probably right though, i expect both teams to come good in the end. Problem is we might give Kansas City home field throughout the playoffs which will make it a lot tougher

yeah i have watch the first three too. I thought the first episode was patchy but that it improved a little over the next couple. I'll likely watch the season and see if it is just taking time to find it's feet. The show does make me think how much they miss Niles as a character, his son is meant to be the 'new him' but is nowhere near as good (i think)

Should be an interesting series but i won't deny i am a little disappointed that the Phillies lost - partly as i think Harper deserves a WS at some point and partly as i think they are just a better team! This is one of the WS where i think it won't be the best team in the league that wins, just one that got hot at the right moments in October. Should be quite an even series though which is always good!

I'm finding this season very odd as a Bills fan - one minute we absolutely destroy a very good Miami team and look like a strong bet for the superbowl - the next we somehow lose to the Patriots! I'm just hoping this is one of the odd years where we get players back for the playoffs, squeak in and make a strong run

Training time comes down more to 'sessions attended' than years. eg BJ Penn famously got his bjj bb in 3 years (and won worlds) when std time is 10-12 years but he trained basically full time. Assuming the average ma student trains twice a week every year then they probably manage 100 sessions a year, 1.5hrs per session, so approx 150hrs per year. Compare that to someone training all day 5 days per week. Assuming a 50/50 split between conditioning work and skill work that might be 20hrs skill training a week, so in 8 weeks (2 mths approx) they will have trained more than a hobbyist in a year. Their year would be like 6 years for the hobbyist. Add in being a world class athlete and they could get very very good (in normal person terms) in that 2 years. Where this falls down is prime Mike Tyson was a world class athlete, training full time with years of experience, so he has that skill acquisition times more. The one that always intrigued me was Amir Khan the boxer. Amazing hand speed, good power but a glass chin. I always wondered how he would have done in mma rather than boxing - the lighter gloves would have sorta compensated for his chin, since everyone would get hit harder, and at his weight classes they don't ko as often. Imagine his physical attributes with a lifetime of mma training - would have been interesting!

Saturday 14 October Karate Session Warm up Usual Warm up for session Kihon Worked through standard kihon from kiba-dachi rather than moving which is unusual for us. Then worked through combinations of kicks and strikes as per grading requirements Kata Ran through Bassai dai and also went over Kihon Kata and Heian Shodan Kumite We practiced footwork for kumite, taking an angle for a yoko geri or mawashi geri - working on not leaving yourself open post kick too. Then did multiple rounds of kumite Overall good session .First one for a few weeks as feeling a lot better now and i enjoyed it

100% agree here. Tbh the size/weight is more important than the height. someone equally skilled, my height but decent amount lighter i usually feel i can 'bully' a little when sparring; someone equally skilled, shorter but same or greater weight usually feels a LOT harder (especially if they can take a hit) - it's why they have weight classes and not height classes Would you say then that reach advantages are overrated? Not challenging your opinion, just asking. I think reach can be advantageous, but again, it can be situational. Someone who is 6'3" with long arms and legs but only weighs 130 lbs....typically, I am not going to worry as much about their reach. I'll take a few tags to get inside that. Now, if that person is 6'3" and 230 lbs, then that'll be a different story, even though I would still have weight on them. 100% agree and said a lot more succinctly than i managed it!

100% agree here. Tbh the size/weight is more important than the height. someone equally skilled, my height but decent amount lighter i usually feel i can 'bully' a little when sparring; someone equally skilled, shorter but same or greater weight usually feels a LOT harder (especially if they can take a hit) - it's why they have weight classes and not height classes Would you say then that reach advantages are overrated? Not challenging your opinion, just asking. For me, personally, i find that weight is more important than reach, though i would still say that reach is important. I would describe it as a bunch of different factors that can help. If someone is equally skilled and the same weight then reach does help. I think Mike Tyson illustrates the point quite well - when he was at his peak he covered up with a fantastic defence and got into close range before exploding. His defence was good enough and he was strong enough taking hits that he could get to the point when reach became a disadvantage. Reach plus size is the best (obviously) like Lennox Lewis or Wlad Klitschko, neither of whom had a great chin but were able to use their reaches and sheer size to have fantastic success. I would also say that reach helps more if it is full contact. In semi contact people can march through your strike as they don't get hurt (assuming it's continuous) and get into a range where you are less effective. Full contact you can try and hurt them before they get into their range. I think what it actually comes down to is there are a huge amount of factors at play and everything is individualised - apologies if the above is a bit rambling!

Excellent! I loved Frasier though i have already heard negative things about the reboot. Hope it's good though part of me wonders where they can go - by the finale they had pretty much exhausted most sensible plotlines; fingers crossed though!