DarthPenguin

I would be surprised if anyone's style covered that - off the top of my head the only style i can think of that might do so is 'proper' krav maga - i was once told by someone that real krav maga is not taught outside the israeli military as a lot of the techniques require you to use a rifle/gun to perform them. bushido_man is in law enforcement i believe so he might learn some tactics for defence from guns as part of his work, but you would need to ask him.

For everyone else i think the best style of defence is , as an old instructor of mine used to teach, to utilise this technique :

1) lift both hands into the air

2) ask politely, what would you like? Please take it

3) hopefully not be shot

Never considered 'gun defences' as worth learning. Gun crime is pretty much non existent over here (no one has guns) so it wouldn't be a good usage of time really for me

Belated happy 4th of July to all our American members on here! Hope you all had a nice celebration

Rather than steps i prefer to use the distance travelled metric instead - everyones stride length is different so i think that distance is more useful for me.

I shoot for an average of about 5k per day (so a little over 3 miles) which can be managed with not much extra effort just from walking to shops rather than taking the car etc.

Wednesday 28 June

Karate Session

Small class tonight, 2 instructors and 3 students (one of whom was my 6yr old!) so after warm ups we were split into 2 - myself and the other brown belt with one instructor and the other instructor with my son.

Warm ups

Usual warm ups

Kata

We went straight into kata, working a lot on details. Performing the kata to counts then running through it. Worked through Heian Shodan and Heian Nidan.

Was really useful to go really into detail and pick up minor flaws that don't easily get spotted with a full class

Also ran through Bassai Dai and Tekki Shodan a couple of times each.

Kihon

We then went through grading required kihon to finish the class with a lot of emphasis on the kicks

A really useful class

Tuesday 27 June

Lifting Session

Seated Overhead shoulder press

20kg x 5

30kg x 5

35kg x 5

40kg x 5

45kg x 5

35kg x 5

35kg x 5

KB Swing

24kg x 20

24kg x 20

24kg x 20

24kg x 20

24kg x 20

24kg x 20

24kg x 20

kept the session short and sweet as needed to get back to work quickly.

Monday 26 June

Karate Session

Warm ups

Similar warm up to usual though with some additional sprints across the hall added in

Kihon

Worked on new grading required kihon. Wasn't doing too great with the first combination adding an uraken in immediately after yoko geri kekomi as i wasn't squaring my shoulders enough post kick to then do the uraken. Worked on it quite a bit at home post session and feels a little more natural now

Kata

Worked on Bassai Dai. Went over it in detail with one of the 3rd Dans who gave me a lot of pointers for little details. Really useful session. He pointed out also that as i am large i should emphasise large motions with it as they look a lot better. He also gave me a nice tip for blading my foot on side kicks - something i always find tough!

Kumite

A few run throughs of jiyu ippon kumite which i am required to do now. Went fine. Feedback of hit harder! 3rd dan pointed out that while i am blocking with plenty of force (i spun someone round with a soto uke) it is obvious i am not going full power (common decency i thought!) and i should go harder as it will be expected in grading. Was slightly surprising feedback as i thought it always made sense to be careful but he said that strikes and blocks are treated differently in that regard and as i go through the grades i am expected to demonstrate that i can use more power

For myself rather typical. People started picking on me when i was about 5 due to my ethnic origin (am mixed race, which was a bigger deal back then!). Was getting in fights daily so my dad sent me to a karate class in one of the crazier parts of the West of Scotland - was a 1.5hr drive each way and my dad took me 4 times a week! Enjoyed the class and it paid dividends so a win/win!

Have pretty much trained ever since other than the odd bit of time off due to injuries and when kids were first born

Welcome, nice to (virtually) meet you.

An excellent post - really insightful and i 100% agree with your alternative categories. As another example i spent many years training in a taekwondo offshoot which would have branded itself as modern but which i would definitely include within your Preservation category - cross training was massively frowned upon etc.

Another thing which i think the progression based fighting traditions do well is implement the concept of adapting a technique to suit your body type and for it to still be correct - eg performing an armbar slightly differently; a scissor sweep etc. while in a Preservation style this is usually frowned upon more (if sparring/fighting then you get a little more leeway but if you have an ankle issue and perform a sidekick with ball of foot rather than blade of foot you will be told it is wrong rather than an allowable adaptation - even with chamber and kick motion being identical)

Thursday 22 June

BJJ Session

Was able to get along to lunchtime session today. Small session with 5 of us plus the instructor.

We were working a pass and cross choke from top half guard. Deep collar grip for both and then either punch fist to floor for the pass or deep grip and go for other collar for the choke - either option depending on opponents reaction.

Drilled these both quite a lot and then had some sparring. Was really pleased as i managed to hit a couple of cross collar chokes from mount, which is something i have been working on a lot, and also managed a de la riva sweep to mount which is something i wanted to try more.

Overall a really positive session

Wednesday 21 June

Karate Session

Not many people here tonight - one 3rd dan teaching and one participating, me and two of the kids (one being my 6yr old)

Warm ups

slightly different to usual but was good to mix it up

Kihon

Given some longer combinations to work on and myself and the 3rd dan were left to it mainly so the kids could be focused on - which was fine.

Kata

Went through Bassai-Dai, which i was pleased i have remembered correctly etc. Now to work on the rhythm etc and making it decent! Also did a couple of run throughs of Kihon kata for my son to follow along with

Kumite

We did a few rounds of ippon kumite. Pretty standard and went fine

Tuesday 20 June

Lifting Session

didn't have a huge amount of time today due to kids but also had deadlifts to 'make up' so did a quick session of overhead press and deadlift supersets

Trap Bar Deadlift

70kg x 5

80kg x 5

95kg x 5

110kg x 5

125kg x 5

Seated overhead press

20kg x 5

30kg x 5

35kg x 5

40kg x 5

45kg x 5

Called it there. Got the main lifts out of the way then back to the mini people!

One thing I'm starting to realize: your gi will affect how often you show up to train.

If it's uncomfortable, doesn't feel fight, you don't feel good in it, it doesn't fit correctly, you're not satisfied with the breathability, etc, your attendance is not going to he as high as it otherwise would be.

I'm just now realizing this, because I am not satisfied with the gis that I currently use.

When I switched from Shorin-ryu to Shotokan, I switched from Hirota MH-11 to the Tokaido Kata Master 12 oz. I was loyal to Hirota, but I wanted something with the association label (which Tokaido has, but Hirota does not).

Big mistake.

I was going to try to go for using the Tokaido gis for at least a year so that I would feel like I got some ROI out of them (I bought them in March), but I don't think I'll be able to hold out that long. I think I'll be purchasing two MH-11's soon.

I'm curious about this as i usually here good htings about Tokaido gi's (though i have also heard there is a difference in cut between their 'European' Gis and their 'Japanese' ones). What didn't you like about the Tokaido one? I'm extremely happy with my Hirota MH-11 too and tbh when i want a new Gi will likely get another but a Tokaido would have also been on the shortlist!

Tbh I have also met plenty of people with 'good' degrees that were not the cleverest (one surprising example was a former colleague who had a Phd in Maths from an excellent ivy league university and was so inept that she eventually was let go as clients wouldn't let her work in their buildings - even for free!).

I have a group of friends who all also have either an M.A. or and M.S. We often joke that higher degrees do not make you intelligent, but actually sap your intelligence. We become experts in one field and the price is general knowledge about other things

In relation to this individual though that doesn't quite hold. I'm an actuary (As she is) so my job involves financial mathematics and statistics. She held undergrad, masters and Phd in maths so she should theoretically have been an expert in her own field and was very much not!

Tbh I have also met plenty of people with 'good' degrees that were not the cleverest (one surprising example was a former colleague who had a Phd in Maths from an excellent ivy league university and was so inept that she eventually was let go as clients wouldn't let her work in their buildings - even for free!).

I have a group of friends who all also have either an M.A. or and M.S. We often joke that higher degrees do not make you intelligent, but actually sap your intelligence. We become experts in one field and the price is general knowledge about other things

Definitely - I think it is a common mistake many make that education guarantees intelligence. I will accept that there is a significant correlation but there are a lot of other factors at play too. I know plenty of stupid people with degrees and conversely the cleverest person i have ever met in my life doesn't have one (I work with a lot of people who have 1st class degrees from Oxford and Cambridge etc : i don't though) and he was orders of magnitude cleverer!

Personally i liken intelligence to horsepower in an engine. Some people have a 'lower horsepower engine' and optimise it's performance maximally; some have a 'high horsepower one' and don't use it's full power output - though may be applied in other ways.

Sounds like you had two great Martial Arts days there. Congrats on grading up! The seminar sounds like it would have been a good time, too.

Thanks - was a lot of fun but (I think this may be a Scottish only phrase) i was left feeling a little like a burst couch afterwards! All fine now though

Couldn't do my usual scheduled deadlift day at the weekend either as didn't want to interfere with the grading and seminar in any way so going to blend it together with overhead press day today

I'd hate to suggest this, as it would be kind of expensive, but have you thought about ordering two uniforms, one bigger than the other to fit your body better, and mix in the bottoms from the smaller order?

I don't know of any company that will sell tops separate from bottoms. But somebody should consider doing that.

I think Isami used to sell tops and bottoms separate. I had a quick look on th chokesports site and they still have them as separate options for some items. Hirota will also individually tailor a gi to your measurements if you provide them - won't be cheap but that is another option

Sunday 18 June

BJJ Seminar

Attended a BJJ seminar at my academy with Jon Thomas ( a well known American BJJ instructor). Seminar was covering open guard, collar and sleeve particularly. The day before was double sleeve which i had to miss due to grading.

Seminar was split into 2 x 2hr blocks with a lunch break in between.

Really enjoyed it, material was good and he delivers things very articulately. Only slight negative i would say is that his superb online videos are sometimes easier to follow as he runs through the techniques quite quickly in person.

He did say though that he tries to get through as much material as possible in a seminar so that people have something to work on and have ideas of what can be done in each position rather than a huge amount of detail on one technique.

He gave quite an interesting speech on the benefits of a system as opposed to principles, which meshed really well with my mathematical mind (i think he has a mathematical background too and it showed). He believes that having a system of in this position i can do moves X,Y and X, opponent has moved in this manner so no i can do X, Z and A etc is much easier to utilise in practice.

Took a couple of techniques from it that i will try to make use of in future which i liked a lot.

Overall an excellent seminar!

Saturday 17 June

Grading and pre-grading course

Course

Course was excellent (as usual) lots of details and little suggestions which i always like. Was pretty tough as i ended up having to hold kiba dachi for ages while the black belts were being given pointers on their kata and we were all going through them to a count

Grading

Hall was absolutely boiling and very humid so it was a tough one. Passed fine though so was pleased. Was also happy that in his post grading feedback he didn't pick up on a couple of things he has mentioned in the past (which i worked on a lot for this grading) so they must have improved. Couple of useful comments from him which made perfect sense and i will try to implement straight away.

Thats me back to brown belt (3rd kyu) now, so gradually working my way back through the grades Am enjoying the learning and (most importantly) i can feel like i am gradually improving again with each belt level and regaining prior skills - regrading from scratch was definitely the right decision to make!

Excellent! Hope you guys had fun!

interesting, i 'll need to look into it. Currently i am on Diablo 4 and then i will see when i am mostly done with it if there is time to get Ragnarok (some good deals appearing now) or if it is too close to Spiderman 2 time!

Thanks for the info Patrick, it was a really interesting read - totally hope i didn't inadvertently offend! Actually my personal view is that education is a very nuanced subject - getting good grades does not mean that the teacher is good (the pupil may have got them regardless) and the same for poor grades. Tbh I have also met plenty of people with 'good' degrees that were not the cleverest (one surprising example was a former colleague who had a Phd in Maths from an excellent ivy league university and was so inept that she eventually was let go as clients wouldn't let her work in their buildings - even for free!).

I can see a lot of benefits to home schooling actually - sitting the SATs as you both did seems to be a sensible idea as i assume it means that there are no glaring holes or omissions in the variety of areas that have been covered. Home schooling allows the learning to be tailored to the needs of the learner too i imagine, so weak points can be easily addressed and areas of strength identified

Again, hopefully there was no accidental offence - totally wasn't my intention, i didn't even think of that as a possibility!

Wednesday 14 June

Karate Session

Extremely warm (for Scotland) today (27 Degrees C) so we trained in gym gear

Warm ups

Same as usual

Kihon

Went through grading kihon as needed for Saturday. Everything seemed to go smoothly

Kata

Ran through a lot of kata today. Several run throughs of Tekki Shodan before grading. Also did all of the Heian katas once each and Kihon kata too.

Kumite

I did multiple rounds of the grading required ippon kumite. Myself and two black belts worked together with them rotating in so i did lots of reps. Good comments and one useful tip, on the yoko geri i am being too nice and leaving the kick out a little longer than needed to give them a change to block it nicely, was suggested i should snap it back faster and if that causes them an issue then thats their problem!

Final session before grading on Saturday so hopefully all good. Am attending a BJJ seminar on the Sunday too so this will be a hectic martial arts filled weekend!

Tuesday 13 June

Lifting Session

Bench Press

20kg x 5

40kg x 5

52.5kg x 5

60kg x 5

67.5kg x 5

52.5kg x 5

52.5kg x 5

52.5kg x 5

KB Swings

24kg x 18

24kg x 18

24kg x 18

24kg x 18

24kg x 18

24kg x 18

24kg x 18

24kg x 18

Banded Triceps Pushdowns

25kg x 14

25kg x 14

25kg x 14

25kg x 14

25kg x 14

Banded Pull Aparts

12.5kg x 10

12.5kg x 10

12.5kg x 10

12.5kg x 10

12.5kg x 10

Sounds interesting - i assume having parents with a broad education / level of knowledge makes a massive difference. I can imagine some people really struggling to teach maths/physics/computer science without a related background.

Sounds like it worked out well for you though (i think you have mentioned you have a masters degree before so they must have done a good job!)