bushido_man96

Last tournament was a mixed bag for Kenneth. He won his opening match, and his second round match was against a very good wrestler, who was ranked earlier in the season, and has pinned Kenneth every time they've wrestled so far. This time, Kenneth went all three periods with the kid, and lost by a score of 13-8. It was a very positive outcome, as he wrestled with him the entire match, and even got some offensive points. He's still got to improve his top game a bit. After that loss, he went backside and won his first backside match, and then faced a kid he'd wrestled several times this year and beat by pin every time. Well, this time the kid hung with Kenneth and Kenneth ended up losing the match by points. Kenneth needs to take a different approach with him if he wrestles him at regionals tomorrow. With the regional tournament looming, it's do-or-die time. Kenneth will have to place in the top 4 to get to state. This regional will be the strongest one in the state for his weight class, as well. I'll be back with results in a few days.

2/20/2026 Strength Training Deadlift: 135x5, 165x3, 185x2, 225x2. RDLs: 135x5, 135x5, 135x5. I have to be really careful with the deadlifts. That lift fills me up with a lot of pressure, and I don't want to send my head reeling. This lift will be a touchy one, and I'll really have to play with the set/rep scheme to see what I can get the most benefit out of. I may play with a rack pull to see if the shorter ROM is better for my head. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: 6:45 - 7:45 pm. Started with several warmup rounds. The way things started out, I thought we were just going to be rolling for the night. But we spent the rest of class working on leg entanglements with the top player standing and the bottom player seated. We started simple with the first game having the top player try to pass to the side of the legs and the bottom player trying to stop it. The drills progressed to the bottom player trying to destabilize the top player and the top player defending it and trying to get one leg inside. That progressed to the bottom player starting with hooks at the ankles and working to destabilize and get one leg wrapped from inside the top player's leg around the outside and get the heel into their hip, and destabilize from there. Top player worked to get one leg inside and defend. My arms were sore from yesterday and they soon died off in class. I struggled to create the proper distance and angles to get the leg wrap. I got it a few times, but I struggled most of the night with it.

I'd be interested.

The KC stuff was in the works for a while. I thought it was finalized a while ago. It will be strange to not be at the old Arrowhead Stadium. I had not heard about that story with the Bears. Very interesting.

When the mainland Japanese got a hold of the styles coming in from Okinawa, they were really big on getting things codified into formal rank systems. They seemed to not like the lack of structure and more "open and free" training approach the Okinawans used.

2/19/2026 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: 6:45 - 8:15 pm. It was just me, a blue belt and the purple belt instructor tonight. Started off with a couple of 4 minute warm-up rounds. About halfway through the first round I thought to myself, "What the hell am I doing here?" Nothing seemed to go right. I got really close to making a pass-by takedown that I saw a video on work. Then we spent the bulk of the class working on takedowns at various points of advantage and disadvantage. One of the drills started with a single leg picked up. After the drilling portion of class, we rolled a few times to finish out. If anything, the grappling warms me up really good and I get some really good stretching in after. At a few points I felt I was advancing position, if just a little. I keep seeing opportunities to get to the outrigger position, and keep getting closer. My arms were toast tonight, and at a few points we had to do some pushups after the drills. I'm already heavy, and that really sucked.

I actually like this approach. I think it keeps an instructor from being tied to a curriculum, which lends itself to "teaching to the test." I see that way too much in my TKD experiences. I think this is very much like the approach of BJJ promotion.

2/18/2026 Strength Training Press: 45x5x2, 65x5, 70x5, 75x5, 80x3, 85x3, 90x2, 95x2, 105x2, 115x1. Next time I'm going to do fewer sets but go heavier sooner. I was noticing some residual pressure in my head after pressing.

If you're on the outside, would you prefer to block to the outside, or block the strike inside and stay outside limb? Or does it matter to you?

2/17/2026 Taekwondo: 5:45 - 6:30 pm. Traditional Class. I got to be a student in this class. The class started off with a real downer: my favorite, old pair of dobok pants now have holes in the crotch. I'm really unhappy about that. They are a nice, thinner pair that I can really move well and kick in without having to hitch the things up at the hips. I'm hoping I can get them patched up by the local tailor. Anyway, basics were good, although tiring. We did extra jumping kicks at the jump front snap kick portion of basics. I did jump front snap kick (#3), jump round kick (#3), followed by hop side kick, all with the same leg. Then in the combination portion of basics, I did #2 round kick/spin outer crescent kick combination, and after that combination I did back leg inside axe kick followed by a jumping 360 degree inside axe kick. I hate axe kicks, so they weren't fun, but overall I was looser than I thought I'd be. During forms I got to do Choi Yong once. My balance was off on the repeat kicks and the reverse side kicks. Finished out doing white belt one-steps with a rather fresh kid student. Sparring: 6:30 - 7:00 pm. I sparred three different black belts tonight, and I sparred each of them differently: 3rd dan adult: The other co-owner of the school. I used a side-on stance, Superfoot Wallace style, mainly trying to use front leg side kicks to set up front leg round kicks and hook kicks, high and mid section, along with reverse side kicks or hook kicks. It went ok, but I wouldn't say I ever got the upper hand. I need to get better at sliding and kicking, and getting lighter on my base leg when doing so. 2nd dan adult: I sparred in a more standard manner, but came out of the gate a little more aggressively. It went ok; he did get a good score on me, and I got a few on him. 2nd dan teen: Actually the teenage son of the adult 2nd dan. They are both about 6'2" or so. For this one, I picked a puzzle mat square on the floor and said, "I'm sparring from that square." For the most part, I kept to it and held my ground. I couldn't chase a whole lot because of that, but he kept coming back to me, so it worked. I had a few more rounds with some of the lower ranked kids as well. I was tired, but it was a good night.

2/16/2026 Strength Training Going to try a different approach and see how it affects me. Squat: 45x5x2, 85x5, 105x3, 135x1, 155x1 Aikido: 6:15 - 7:15 pm. Weapons Class. Warmup with high-4, low-4, high-8 with the jo. Went at a pretty good clip and got a good warmup. Kumi jo: 1, then 2, then 3, switching attack and defense roles back and forth. Lots of reps, which helps with the memorization. Then we did 1-3 on offense, then switched to the defense. Finished with kumi jo 4, then stretched.

2/12/2026 Taekwondo Testing: 6:00 - 7: 15 pm. Another small testing, mostly lower ranks, but it went fairly well. I sat on the testing panel along with the other 5th dan/school co-owner.

Thanks, @sensei8.

In TKD, we have testings scheduled for the year, and they run about every two months. Personally, I think it's too short a cycle. If students are ready based off their performance of the material in class, they are allowed to test. If not, they are not. In Aikido, its different. I think the Sensei only has a couple of tests a year, maybe four (quarterly). There is an accumulation of hours requirement along with doing a "demo," which is basically a pretest, in front of the Sensei.

Testing went from 6:00 – 7:15 pm. Low orange belts (forms): We had two testing, one young kid and one a teenager. Their technique is coming along nicely and they had pretty good power. Some minor things need cleaned up, but at this point, they are progressing well. I noted on stances that they need to make sure the back stance is an L with the front foot pointed forward, and not too stretched out. I see too many back stances that are as long as some front stances, and that makes it difficult to pick the front leg up without shifting bodyweight, thus telegraphing. On the front stance, I keyed on shoulder width. I see a tendency to step out too wide when stepping forward, instead of stepping more forward and keeping the stance width about shoulder width. It draws power away from a stepping forward strike or block but cutting off the finish. High orange belt (form): Just one here, another young teenager. He’s already a really tall kid, and athletic. He’s one of 5 from this family in class. His technique was good and he had great power. He got in a bit of a hurry moving through the form and didn’t finish a few stances. He’s at that point where he needs to try to be fast, but not be in a hurry. Low green belt (form): One young student here. Stances, stance, stances. This kid took off like a rocket when he started, but he has regressed, and gotten lazy with his stances. Stances aren’t just part of the technique, they are there own techniques as well. When he was stepping to the 45 degree angles in the form, his second one was too flat, but that’s a pretty easy fix and more of a concentration thing. Master North had our adult 2nd dan come out on the floor and had the low green belt “teach” the form to him. He did a pretty good job, really. Not bad on some of the techniques, but not so good on the stances. I see this happen quite a bit, too: students get so worried about keeping the hands coordinated that they forget what the feet are doing. This student will definitely have to zero in on the stances before he tests again. I plan to speak with the other instructors about this as well. Low orange belt (one-steps): Something I tend to see at this young phase as well; they were just kind of going through the motions. They want to get the memorized so they can test, and aren’t at the point where they are putting more behind the techniques. I told them they need “emotional content” in their techniques (and none of these kids know that reference anymore…). One of the one-steps has a takedown in it, and the students tend to step and stop, making sure they are setup right, instead of stepping through more fluidly to finish the takedown. High orange belt (one-steps): Again, this kid had good power and flow. A few of the kicks he was using his instep as the striking implement, though. For one-steps, we emphasize proper striking tool, like ball of the foot for front and round kicks, heel for side kicks. Low green belt (one-steps): He did these better than he did his form. Good height on kicks, good power. He still needed some more energy, though. Testing Sparring: There were no kihaps! I made sure to point this out. I talked a bit about the importance of a well placed kihap, but not to necessarily kihap on every technique. The low green belt had some good angles. High orange belt needed some more combinations put together. After all the physical stuff was done, we had out closing thoughts and belt presentation. The school owner made some interesting points: “Information + Information = Information.” “Information + Application = Transformation.” The other school owner also had a good one: “How do you eat an elephant? One piece at a time.” I really liked this one, taking one thing to work on and fix at a time, and then moving to the next one. I spoke a bit on the importance of working on little things in basics, because if they are cleaned up there, they will transfer to the forms and other material. Overall, another good, albeit small, testing.

2/10/2026 Taekwondo: 5:45 - 6:30 pm. Traditional Class. I taught this class. Prior to class I was able to run through Choi Yong three times. My balance was bad on the repeat kicks. I was extremely short of breath and had kind of a cold sweat going on. For class, I got through basics (went at a better clip), then went through white belt, low orange belt, low and high green belt, and middle brown belt forms. One-steps were done testing style, with an attacker doing down blocks continuously so the students testing could get through them all. Sparring: 6:30 - 7:00 pm. Padded drills, switching sides and switching roles as they went. 1. Closed stance, attacker does front leg round kick (#1 or 3), defender blocks and does a front leg round kick counter as quick as they can. 2. Closed stance, attacker does front leg round kick, defender blocks and spin side kick counter, or just did the spin side kick counter upon recognition of the attack. 3. Open stance, attacker does front leg side kick, defender blocks and side steps the back leg to a 45 degree angle forward and counters with punches and kicks. I call this the "Crossing the T" drill. After the drills we had time for one round of free sparring. I encouraged the students to try to work the drilled components above. Stretched afterwards.

By "turn-around roundhouse kick," do you mean like a round kick that comes from a spin side type of turn, or the 360 degree spinning round kick? 2/5/2026 BJJ: 6:45 - 8:00 pm. Warmup: 2 rounds, 4 minutes, light rolling. The focus of the class tonight was getting to position to work leg locks. We started out with one seated and the other kneeling, and working to get a leg over on the knee from outside the opponent's leg. This advanced to trying to keep the leg in the 50/50 position and establishing a good knee line. We worked a little on setting a heel hook and an ankle lock. Then we did some scrambles from the 50/50 position. For free rolling, I did 2 rounds of 4 minutes each. Then stretched.

2/3/2026 Taekwondo: 5:45 - 6:30 pm. Traditional Class. Basics and forms. Helped white belts and high green belts. For white belts, I focused on stances. For the high green belts, I focused on the circular scooping block section of Won Hyo hyung. Sparring: 6:30 - 7:00 pm. White belts did combinations then did one-technique, two-techniques, and three-techniques drills. The other students worked the following drills: Closed stance, attacker does #3 round kick, defender slide back/block and reverse side kick counter. Open stance, attacker does #2 round kick, defender blocks/reverse side kick, or if more advanced, just reverse side kick counter. We finished with several short rounds of sparring. I encouraged the students to work on set-ups and the counters we drilled.

Yes they are. Shortly thereafter, Chris Jones sent a message on social media, tagging Hill and basically stating it's time for him to come home. I'm not sure how I'd feel about that, especially coming off this recent injury. No doubt Hill is a unique talent, and Reid has always been good in dealing with players that tend to be troubled off the field and keeping them in line. Maybe it would be good to have him back, if he is healthy and affordable.

The Lost Forms of Oh Do Kwan Taekwondo, Volume 1: Taegeuk 1-3 Hyeong, by Orjan Nilsen. The author shows these three forms that were a part of early TKD curriculum in several kwans that had roots in Japanese Karate. The translations are taken from Choi's early TKD textbook. It has photos of how the form was done in the Oh Do Kwan, and also descriptions of differences from other Kwans. It also has some nice bits of kwan history, which I really enjoyed.

I like a reverse side kick/spin back kick, but I like to do more of a switch-foot version of it than a jumping version, as it is quicker, and I stay closer to the floor and thus have less of a telegraph. That, and I'm also older and my knees hate me, so I don't jump as much as I used to. I think I probably showed you that switching version I do when we trained together. 2/2/2026 Aikido: 6:15 - 7:15 pm. Weapons Class. Jo warmups: high-4, low-4, high-8, low-8, and high-10; about 5 total minutes of continuous partner work here. The rest of the class was spent on kumi jo 2 and 1. After that, we did some "free" kumi jo practice using some practice sticks (soft) to finish out the class. It was "one-to-one" striking/blocking. It helped to see some attacks and to block and counter. I did get a little frustrated with practice tonight, trying to memorize and just overall make things work and flow.

2/1/2026 Aikido Video Review: I reviewed 5th kyu material form our Aikido dojo's Youtube channel. Shomenuchi kotegashi: Open stance, irimi step (back foot steps forward and at an outside angle, an "entry" I guess), then tenkan, then the zengo(?) turn (I think it's called zengo). At any rate, tenkan and then shift the hips to a front stance while applying the lock. Finish with the standing kotegashi pin. Shomenuchi ikkyo omote: Open stance, blend, lead hand to wrist, other above elbow near the triceps/armpit, front foot forward/outside angle side step, then "V-step" to kneeling ikkyo pin. Shomenuchi ikkyo ura: Open stance, irimi step (like above), then tenkan and apply pressure to takedown. Kneeling ikkyo pin. Munetski kotegashi: Closed stance, irimi step, tenkan, switch hips to front stance (zengo?), standing kotegashi pin.

Well, I'm waiting for the UFL to get started now. Anyone else watch any of those games?

1/29/2026 BJJ: 6:45 - 8:20 pm. Started with three warm-up rounds, then worked from the armbar position. We started by trying to hold the position with just our legs, and the games progressed from there. We progressed to working the S-mount position to an actual armbar. At one point we were working an S-mount with the legs across the body and applying pressure down towards the bottom person's hips; this was very awkward, especially on the smaller/thinner guys, as I felt like I was high-centered. We finished with three rounds of free rolling, then I stretched. A new guy with previous experience that was there helped me with fighting out of his half-guard.

It's nice that you can get so much focused test prep. That'll help out tons and tons, for sure.