DarthPenguin

I have noticed that (from my personal experience) the more skilled the martial artist the less they seem to care about the 'trappings' of rank and they more endure them : simple example, when my old bjj school first got affiliated with Rickson Gracie (i think most people would accept he can be classed as a master!) he made a point of shaking everyones hands, was very friendly, went out of his way to help students : if he could tell they were being too shy to ask him a question he would gently work it out of them etc. I compare that to another 'Master" level instructor i had that once almost banned me for the crime of studying all day and then coming to class and having a small crease appear in my sleeve from my uni books! I lost a lot of respect for him straight away tbh. Back to the main topic of the thread, sounds like you have made a brave (and from the information presented correct) decision Zaine. I would also second the idea of some remote link up with more infrequent face to face training. Most of the more senior martial artists i have met have had to do this at some point as the people they could learn from were such a small group. Indeed, when i first got into bjj there must have been only 1-2 BB in all of Scotland so most of the senior guys had to do the same and it hasn't hurt them longer term. Your Shodan should equip you with enough skill to be able to remotely work on what your longer distance instructor has suggested and you could always use the online options when needed too. Another consideration for me would be the intent behind your new school. Is it a means to give back to your art and develop yourself or is it an intended new career / business venture? IF the former then the higher ranking doesn't really matter, if the latter then unfortunately it may do. For a business i would assume that student numbers are important and a lot of people may just look for whichever instructor nearby has the highest dan, without reading more into it

I hope your tournament went well! Please update us! 12/8/2022 Strength Training Safety Squats: 60x5x2, 110x5, 165x3, 200x1. And then I had to stop. Health issues are really starting to cause my problems. My head wasn't feeling quite right (Meniere's disease acting up) and as I was doing my warmup sets, I had to stop and rest after each set. The Valsalva maneuver was causing me to get lightheaded, and at one point, the room started spinning. I just couldn't continue, and it's so frustrating. Hopefully you manage to get the health issues sorted! The valsalva can be funny for some people - i'm sure i have read about it causing blood pressure issues (though i may be misremembering). Anyway hope you are feeling better soon! Can quasi-relate, our entire house (myself, partner and the two kids) are all laid up with Covid at the moment which is affecting my training ability too. I know i am going to be tired for the grading on Sat but i will give it my best effort.

Pegboards sound like quite a grip / forearm workout then!

I'm curious to hear how it is - it might be a case of a good game that has had too high expectations. The Avengers game on PS5 was similar - i actually really enjoyed it but it was slated everywhere!

Excellent post - i've never used battle ropes but they have always looked interesting. You did mention one exercise i wasn't familiar with that has piqued my curiosity : what is / are pegboards in this context?

Thanks very much

Wednesday 30 November Karate Session Warm ups These were a little more than usual which is always good though a little less stretching. I was quite early for class though so had already had a chance to loosen up a little beforehand which helped Kihon We went through grading Kihon and also some additional Kihon at speed. Kata Multiple run throughs of grading kata. I think i have got the pacing down a lot better. Not getting picked up on the same things (which either means they are less bad or irrecoverably so!). Main comment was that my back foot in back stance on the final technique was pointing slightly backwards so i need to fix that - but i can live with that as an improvement! Kihon We ran through the required grading Kihon multiple times Got confirmation that i will be grading in 2 weeks - had been told this was likely to be the case but was confirmed (which is always good!). This time will be a bit different: there is usually a brown/black belt course run prior to the grading exam, but this time we are all being expected to attend the course and then grade. Will be a little more tiring but always good to get a session from such a senior instructor so i am looking forward to it

Good point, i hadn't noticed that. Congrats for that also Aurik

Congrats Aurik and Zaine, well deserved

I've heard of people playing it co-op (and seen videos too) but not sure if it is a hassle or not. Probably worth a google tbh For myself it seems a bit more of a single player game due to the story etc, though it is really good. Co-op can help you get past a really tough boss i think, but depends if you are wanting a mega challenge or not

Tuesday 29th November Lifting Session Bench Press 20kg x 5 40kg x 5 50kg x 5 57.5kg x 5 62.5kg x 5 50kg x 5 50kg x 5 50kg x 5 50kg x 5 50kg x 5 KB Split Squat (reps total and split equally between l and r) 8kg x 16 8kg x 16 8kg x 16 8kg x 16 8kg x 16 Have not done this exercise for years but thought it would be a good one to add back in to work on increasing single leg strength and stability. Started off light so i can get the form down KB swings 16kg x 12 16kg x 12 16kg x 12 16kg x 12 16kg x 12 Biceps cable curls 20kg x 12 20kg x 12 20kg x 12 Triceps straight bar pushdowns 20kg x 12 20kg x 12 20kg x 12 Grippers S x 18 S x 18 S x 18 Total poundage : 4720kg time : 35min density : 134.9 kg/min

Metal Gear Solid Phantom Pain was a great game! I played that loads on my PS4. Would be great if they released a native PS5 version : Kojima is a genius at taking advantage of a systems capabilities. Have you been an Xbox gamer for long? This is the first generation where i almost switched. Game Pass is very tempting. Am considering getting my boy a Series S as a way of 'dipping a toe' into the Xbox world

Sounds like a good session. How are you finding squatting every session? I used to do it and it is a tiring session but works well with limited time. Myself i used to use back squats as the heavy lift to push and front squats on the other days as my quads have always been proportionately weaker than my hamstrings. Do you find that the safety squat bar makes a big difference? I've never tried one before, but my brother in law has one and i think he likes it too. Saw video a while ago of someone doing bulgarian split squats with one as it made it easier to load. Hope the holiday week was good

Sounds like it might be a good investment - i'll add it to my list

Awesome! I managed to get one a while ago and it is a night and day improvement. Games wise i never used to be really into 3rd person action adventure games but there are a few really good ones : Horizon Forbidden West was fantastic as was Miles Morales. If you haven't played Ghost of Tsushima i would heartily recommend that too! Currently i am playing Elden Ring which is good though frustrating. Does have an unusual multiplayer mechanic though which you might enjoy.

Congrats

Thursday 24th November Lifting Session Squat 20kg x 5 40kg x 5 62.5kg x 5 72.5kg x 5 82.5kg x 5 62.5kg x 5 62.5kg x 5 62.5kg x 5 62.5kg x 5 62.5kg x 5 Push ups 12 12 8 8 16 One Hand KB row (total reps - equally split L and R) 20kg x 22 20kg x 22 20kg x 22 20kg x 22 20kg x 22 Biceps cable curls 20kg x 12 20kg x 12 20kg x 12 Grippers s x 17 s x 17 s x 17

I've never actually tried any landmine exercises - is a landmine attachment something you would recommend purchasing then? Kettlebells are good too. have enjoyed using them for years - have a few at home but want to get some more. I used to like using heavy ones for farmers walks too

Belated happy birthday - hope it was a good one (plus lots of good loot!!)

Wednesday 23rd November Karate session Different instructor today, session was slightly different but good Warm ups There were roughly the same as usual Kihon This was done a bit differently. We ran through all the kihon performing it as slowly as possible to really hone in on technique then went through it again at usual speed. Was a useful exercise i thought Kata As with the kihon ran through grading kata very slowly to check technique, alignment etc. Got a couple of useful pointers on where i am pointing the chambered knee for a couple of sidekicks. Ran through kata again at normal speed a few times afterwards. Comments were generally good, which is always good! Kumite Very brief this time - we ran through one round of the grading required kumite All in all a good class. i enjoyed the change of pace and gave me a fw good things to work on at home which is always good

Tuesday 22nd November Lifting Session Seated overhead Press 20kg x 5 25kg x 5 30kg x 5 35kg x 5 37.5kg x 5 30kg x 5 30kg x 5 30kg x 5 30kg x 5 30kg x 5 KB one hand clean 16kg x 18 (total reps - 9 l 9 r) 16kg x 18 16kg x 18 16kg x 18 16kg x 18 KB Swings 16kg x 11 16kg x 11 16kg x 11 16kg x 11 16kg x 11 Biceps cable curls 20kg x 11 20kg x 11 20kg x 11 KB side bends 16kg x 22 (11 reps per side) 16kg x 22 16kg x 22 Grippers s x 16 s x 16 s x 16 These felt a little tougher towards the end but still fine. Will work up to three sets of 20 then go up to the higher model total time : 38min total poundage : 5523.5kg total density : 145.4kg/min

Best of luck - plus stepping down as a moderator doesn't mean you need to step down as a poster!

Yeah i agree totally. I was just curious if people had any favourite exercises plus (if i'm honest) i thought it might be a good topic to get some conversation flowing, or for someone a bit shyer might present them with some (hopefully) useful ideas

Sounds like it was a fun card. I haven't seen a UFC in so long; I just can't lay down the money for it.Yeah you guys in the US get the bad end of the stick for PPV it seems. Most ufc cards are shown here on a satellite/cable channel as part of my regular subscription and whenever a boxing of ufc event is put on as ppv it is usually £20-£25 max. I have seen you guys get charged $99 sometimes which seems crazy to me!

I thought that it might be a good idea to start a thread with people's best exercises / lifts and how they translate to martial arts performance. Most of us (i think) have a limited amount of time to train so it makes sense to seek out exercises with the most 'bang for your buck' or with the largest benefit and least negative impact of martial arts training (i'm thinking here that you don't want to do anything that totally wipes you out and prevents you stepping on the mats / floor). I will go first (since i started the thread it only seems fair!) For grappling the most effective exercise i have found (by far) is the barbell power snatch from a hang. Whenever i program this in i notice an almost immediate improvement in hip explosiveness when grappling. In second place i would put the deadlift for the overall strength increases, grip strength benefits and hi strength. For striking i personally find that barbell squats and explosive bench presses with a close grip work well for me. Barbell squats to work on leg strength and abdominal tightness when moving (i always notice that when i squat heavily regularly my ability to 'tense' for an abdominal strike is much better). Explosive close grip bench always benefits my punch power. I like to try and feel like the weight is being thrown into the air and i am having to catch it and bring it down. I've never really found much benefit from weighted glute raises/bridges. I just find it really uncomfortable to get under the bar for the hip thrust and i don't think it strengthens anything i can't strengthen from deadlifts I'm interested to hear what other people like, or even what they find to be worthless!