DarthPenguin

Tuesday 6th September Lifting session Seated overhead press 20kg x 8 25kg x 3 30kg x 2 35kg x 1 40kg x 5 45kg x 3 50kg x 4 25kg x 10 25kg x 10 25kg s 10 50kg set felt toughest on first rep. once that was done the others were quite smooth. Overhead press has always been my weakest exercise due to long arms etc. Happy that it is progressing Bent over row 65kg x 10 65kg x 10 65kg x 10 Wrist pronation / supination 5kg x 10 5kg x 10 5kg x 10 Did these holding the end of an olympic dumbell bar. Felt tough but also showed that my right wrist/forearm is stronger so definitely worth doing. Possibly a legacy of prior injuries on left side. Want to strengthen grip/forearms so will definitely keep in Wrist roller 3.75kg x 10 3.75kg x 8 3.75kg x 8

Yeah that makes sense. I think i have been slightly overdoing the volume on the warm ups. Took a look back at my decade old gym logs (when i was less feeble!) and i used to do very similar to what you say above. Deadlifts are the lift that i probably do closest to that currently and it seems to be the smoothest progression over time. Have started implementing slightly reduced warm ups already

Saturday 3rd September Lifting session Deadlift 70kg x 5 80kg x 3 90kg x 2 100kg x 1 110kg x 5 122.5kg x 3 137,5kg x 3 70kg x 10 70kg x 10 70kg x 10 Cut the volume on final warm up sets a little in case that would help after bench issue earlier in week. reps felt smooth. heavy set felt heavy but fine, happy with how it went Squats 47.5kg x 10 47.5kg x 10 47.5kg x 10 Wrist roller 3.75kg x 8 3.75kg x 8 3.75kg x 8

All fair points. The first set is just with the empty bar to loosen up, so could cut it to 8 i think. Issues i think were i did too many reps of the final warm up set and i also did much too slow a negative on the set that was missed. Was thinking about it later and realised i did it massively slowly. Recovery wise i was a little achy when doing the weights session from bjj the day before but felt normal after the weights session and have felt normal the rest of the week too, so might just have been an off day. Will wait and see if similar issue pops up once more then i will make some adjustments if needed. Cheers for the input

Congrats!

Another option would be a pocket inside the gi jacket, under the side that folds over on top. No-one should be getting their fingers caught in that either. Obviously would depend what you were looking to put in there but i could see it working fine for notes/reminders etc

Wednesday 31st August Karate session warm ups kihon We worked a little more from freestyle stance, practicing punches with a little shift in etc. body conditioning drills we took turns having people stand one in front and one to either side with them doing a light mae geri to the stomach (in front) and either left or right leg mawashi geri to stomach. Kept moderately light (though the instructor was asking people to hit me harder as i am reasonably big lol). Lesson from it is i need to do more ab work! Kata Several rounds of kata. For Heian Sandan i was focusing too much on the stomps and bringing my hip through properly without making it into a crescent kick motion, as a result i wasn't snapping the elbows in enough. Think i fixed it once pointed out. Also ran though Heian Nidan, which reminded me how much i prefer Heian Sandan! Kumite Just worked several rounds of the grading one step kumite with one of the blackbelts. Technique is fine, was just told i should do more 'staring out your opponent' as the grading examiner likes the martial spirit shown. Simple fix to make so started implementing it after first round

Tuesday 30th August Lifting Session Bench Press 20kg x 10 40kg x 5 50kg x 3 60kg x 3 67.5kg x 5 77.5kg x 3 85kg x 0 failed on this for the first time in a long time Failed the 1+ lift but i was feeling quite fatigued coming into the session after bjj the day before. Am going to put it down to not doing upper body work after a grappling session for a quite a while. Will repeat this weight cycle for bench and see if hit the weight at end next time. Other sessions had felt good and weights went up smoothly. If doesn't go properly will reset back a few weeks. Not going to drop the bjj session so will adapt the lifting to it. Seated overhead press 25kg x 10 25kg x 10 25kg x 10 This felt more fatiguing that usual for a light weight due to the shoulder fatigue i had going in. Got it done though as i think it will be worth it Bent over barbell row 60kg x 10 60kg x 10 60kg x 10 these were fine. Focused a lot on form here. will increase the weight next session but still planning gradual increases Wrist roller 3.75kg x 8 3.75kg x 8 3.75kg x 6 These went fine, Final couple of reps were tough as expected.

Monday 29th August BJJ Session Went to the Monday lunchtime Gi session. Will try to make this a regular class going forwards. Techniques We were working on chaining some guard passes today. Start with a knee cut pass, then when opponent stuffs it with knee shield and pushing 'slicing' knee back, shift to a shin slice pass, then when opponent stuffs that, shift back to knee slice pass. Then worked on the opponent catching you in 'quarter guard' when slipping through and a neat way to bring yourself to full mount from there. Focus of classes for next few weeks is going to be chaining techniques. Thursday class is going to be submissions which i am looking forward to as i find chaining submissions is probably my weakest chaining part. Drilling Worked positional sparring for the earlier techniques. Bottom partner starting in half guard with knee slice knee partly through. top partner working for pass, bottom to sweep or keep guard. no going to closed guard etc. worked several rounds of this Rolling Couple of rounds of rolling to finish off

Saturday 27th August Lifting session Squat 20kg x 10 40kg x 5 50kg x 3 65kg x 3 75kg x 3 85kg x 8 47.5kg x 10 47.5kg x 10 47.5kg x 10 Deadlift 70kg x 10 70kg x 10 70kg x 10 Wrist Roller 3.75kg x 8 3.75kg x 6 3.75kg x 6 Was pushed for time today so made sure to get the main lifts in and also wanted to make sure i used wrist roller. Will add one more exercise in next time. Will likely be something lighter as squats and (light) deadlifts is still a taxing session

It's always great to get this kind if individualized attention and feedback. Best of luck on your upcoming test! Thanks! I take the view that my instructor wouldn't let me sit it if i wasn't able to do it, so as long as i perform to usual standard it should be fine. If not, then whats the worst that happens - i have to resit it again in a few months. If so it just means i need to improve more which is fine!

Thursday 25th August Lifting Session Seated Overhead Press 20kg x 8 25kg x 5 30kg x 3 37.5kg x 3 42.5kg x 3 47.5kg x 6 25kg x 10 25kg x 10 25kg x 10 Bench Press (ss with KB one hand row) 45kg x 10 45kg x 10 45kg x 10 One Arm KB Row 24kg x 10 24kg x 10 24kg x 10 Wrist Roller 3.75kg x 6 3.75kg x 6 3.75kg x 6 Overall was pleased with the session. There has been a stomach bug going around the house all week and i had quite a dodgy stomach going in. Pleased i managed to hit the required numbers on the 3+ set though i would have liked more reps ideally. Wrist roller was beginning to burn a lot at end of final set but that is a good thing!

Wednesday 24th August Karate Session This was a really good session. The other instructor took myself and one of the other students aside and ran it as a mock grading, checking all the things we need to cover for the grading in a few weeks. Pleased with the feedback, got a couple of minor things to work on, but otherwise if i perform the same at the grading i should pass smoothly. Will try to work on the details for next few weeks and no slip up on anything else!

To your point here, when I was doing Longfist, the CI didn't use a rank system. He just taught you the next thing when you were ready. Sometimes, he would teach you the next thing if he thought that it would help you understand and become proficient with something that you were currently struggling on. It was a really refreshing thing to be a part of. That sounds very refreshing tbh. Is one of the things i like about bjj, while there is still a ranking system, it doesn't affect the techniques you are taught (it does affect those usable in competition i know).Technically you could stay a white belt forever and keep learning new stuff - you might get a bit of gentle ribbing for never taking a promotion but it wouldn't stop you learning

Totally agree. Reminds me of a conversation i had with someone last night about a grading they are worried about sitting. I said to them that what does it matter in the big scale of things? Will they be become better overnight since they have a new belt? No. Will they become worse overnight because they didn't get it? No. A new belt will open up new material for them to learn. Thats it really. Can they learn this material without the belt? Yes of course they can. If they don't want to grade then don't grade! If they do want to then do it. But don't get worried about it! I have used the phrase "i would rather BE a belt than HAVE a belt" before and i think it is in a similar vein.

Is the main focus of the session the deadlift or the olympic lifts? I know it is common to do the power movements first, so the olympic lifts are done first, but i always quite liked doing deadlifts first and then whatever olympic lift i was doing. Rationale was i wanted to maximise my power/strength for the deadlift to get maximum benefit and then do the power work. I thought that since the olympic lift part was to work on explosiveness and it uses as much fast twitch muscle as possible, that even if slightly weaker post deadlift i could still use as much as possible to do the olympic lift. Also, doing it this way means you may only get one olympic lift in post deadlift if short for time but you will have done both max strength work and power work in the session, rather than only power work. If the purpose is power generation though then keep it the way it is. Maybe split the snatch and clean & jerk to separate sessions?

Thursday 18th August Lifting Session This session got cut a little shorter than planned as got called back in by the other half as both her and my 5yr old had picked up a tummy bug! Got the main lift done though Deadlift 70kg x 5 80kg x 5 90kg x 3 102.5kg x 3 117.5kg x 3 130kg x 5 70kg x 10 70kg x 10 70kg x 10 Later that evening i added in some kihon practice to get a little more exercise in but not push it overmuch. Did the following : Gyaku Tzuki x 100 Age Uke x 100 Soto uke x 100 Uchi uke x 100 Went at a medium pace most of the way through but sped up the final few reps for each technique. Was concentrating on form throughout

Wednesday 17th August Karate Session There was a really small turnout as the schools started back today and some people are still away on holiday etc. Was just two of us and the instructor, which from a selfish point of is great as it becomes a semi private lesson and lets me find out more areas to work on! Warm up Usual warm up carried out Kihon did quite a bit of kihon. Slightly slower grading kihon, with lots of focus on stance depth and kime. Realised i can manage a much longer stance more easily when i minimise the 'coming up' during steps. Then went through techniques much harder, trying to replicate a grading. Was helpful. I'm not making a blade well enough with my foot on my yoko geri's so was working to fix that Kata We spent the remainder of the class working on our grading kata. Lots of run throughs of Heian Sandan. Initially to my own timing then to count, ironing out issues the instructor could see, repeating this a few times, then a few more times to my own count. Was very helpful. Managed to iron out most of the issues as they were mainly misconceptions on my part eg i was deliberately straightening up on the second pair of uchi uke/gedan bari rather than the first but the instructor said it should be the first one. Need a little more work though on pushing my hip through for the fumikomi stomps without travelling too wide an arc. On the whole though am happy that i can see improvements. will work on it at home as usual too

Tuesday 16th August Lifting Session BJJ coach is away this week so sessions moved about a bit. Bench Press 20kg x 8 40kg x 5 50kg x 3 62.5kg x 3 72.5kg x 3 80kg x 5 45kg x 10 45kg x 10 45kg x 10 Trying to add a little more volume and felt good. Will do so gradually. Reps felt smooth though final rep on max weight set felt tough (but it should do). Was really trying to concentrate on form and felt decent Seated overhead press 25kg x 10 25kg x 10 25kg x 10 these felt good and surprisingly fatiguing in the shoulders (i must use more shoulder than i think when i bench!). using the 50% of TM number and seems reasonable Bent over barbell row 60kg x 10 60kg x 10 60kg x 10 60kg x 10 These also felt good Wrist Roller 3.75kg x 6 3.75kg x 6 3.75kg x 4 Gradually increasing these. will work up to 3 x 10 and then increase weight Rest periods kept quite low too. Apart from heaviest bench sets i stuck to 50sec for everything else

Thanks! I've always found reviews to be very useful myself when purchasing stuff (especially since a lot of 'decent' ma stuff ends up having to be ordered from abroad for me. Hopefully can start a trend!

How do you find the olympic lifts benefitting your ma training? Am curious. I used to find that doing a hang power snatch had an almost immediate impact on my hip explosiveness when grappling. Can't do it at the moment due to low ceiling height, but was wondering if they have a similar benefit for a striking style?

Strongly concur with this! But thankfully, people like Chuck Liddell and Stephen Thompson have demonstrated its value in competitive mixed martial arts at the highest levels. (former champ Glover Texiera is also a high ranking Kempo guy under Hackleman) I've learned over time that looking to the most talented in conversations like these doesn't end up proving much. It's likely that these individuals would have made whatever they were doing look good, when in fact, it has more to do with the fact that they are just really naturally talented, and they ended up making what they do look good. Totally agree here. I am reminded of a video i saw once of GSP being shown some silly gymnastics trick involving a gym ball and performing some moves on it while standing etc (cant remember exactly which). First time he literally fell on his face. The guys showing him were all amused and a little smug at their skills. 30min later he could do it (and to the untrained eye he looked as good as them doing it). Some people are just immensely physically gifted and whatever they do they will be good at it. For example look at Floyd Mayweather. Imagine how good an mma fighter he would have been if that had been his focus etc.

This is likely a stupid idea! But would it be possible to wear chestguards with a sensor in them and maybe small sensors in gloves/footpads that register when a hit is landed with sufficient force? I'm envisaging something like the fencing system. Not quite sure how best to work it for the face though (other than a helmet). That would then allow the (i think excellent) judo style scoring system that Wastelander mentioned above to be implemented. The system could judge is it is an 'ippon worthy' strike, 'waza-ari' etc and go from there. Would remove a lot of the tag aspect while still preserving the single strike ending the contest aspect

Yeah when i first tried 531 (this is years ago) i had an issue with the numbers being lower (at the time i was doing 200kg x 5 for DL and the TM concept seemed odd). I found though that it worked well with other training : as long as you are doing a lot of conditioning work on 'off days' or in my case it was martial arts classes mainly, then it works well and lets you recover. Anyone i knew who tried it and didn't add in the conditioning etc (solely lifting) didn't like it as much. When i went through phases of lifting mainly in the past i found that i did well using Jamie Lewis (from Chaos and Pain site) style routines - but everyone is different. I'm just taking a long term view of it. I keep logbooks and have spreadsheets set up that calculate my estimated 1RM for all of the lifts plus keep track of the rep maximums for every weight. As long as i can see that things are ticking upwards over time steadily then i'm happy. Could i get stronger faster with another programme? Probably yes, but that runs the risk of injury/more fatigue for the ma training which for me isn't worth it. I appreciate the input though Thanks for taking the time to comment - always good to get additional input

Do you have to practice the techniques 'live' with a training partner? IF so then it could work but otherwise i doubt it. I would liken it to an instructional dvd. Initially you can view a technique and be confident you know the sequence etc but un til you have tried it on a live resisting opponent then you don't really know where it will fall apart and are unlikely to be able to apply it. The more experience someone has then the more likely they are to be able to just apply the technique, since it is more than likely a modification of a technique they already know / another application of a principle they can already apply etc. I can see how it would be useful to see how some things work but without pressure testing on a resisting opponent then i doubt it would be of any real use - indeed it might be dangerous as it leads to a false sense of confidence in a real situation. It is possible to get to a good standard learning techniques from videos but you have to then drill them strongly against resisting opponents. My original BJJ coach (he is a legit BB) started out this way and attended as many seminars etc as he could with BJJ BB's to get input on the techniques etc and improve his skills. Is a tough road though and needs a lot of dedication and self awareness