bushido_man96

12/30/2025 Pre-class, I did some speed bag work and some crescent kick stretching over a kid Wavemaster. Taekwondo: 5:45 - 6:30 pm. Traditional Class. I ended up teaching this class (first class back after rotating shifts). I did do some basics along with the class and got a little bit of work in. It was a nice dive back into things. Went through white, low orange, and low green belt forms. With one of the low orange belts I emphasized for them to try to "see everything, but don't look at anything." Concentrate on awareness and focus during forms work. One-steps were done for the same. The other two school owners were present so they jumped into class and were partners with the students, so I focused on the low orange belts working on their one-steps. Sparring: Several rounds of free-sparring and combinations (for the white belt). Then went into blocking drills: 1. Lined everyone up into one line down the room, facing the mirrors. Sparring stance and moving, I came by with a blocker and swung to force them to block on the side the attack came from. Again during sparring I saw too much "fencing" trying to parry everything with the lead hand. This forced them to block with the rear hand on that side. I had them add a counter after the block. 2. I put everyone facing a partner in a sitting stance and had them do blocking contact drills that are basically conditioning drills on the forearms. The main thing I was looking for was good arcs of travel for the blocks contacting each other. I did this with inside blocks and then with low blocks. Then I briefly showed them a "six-star hit" where you contact low with the top of the forearms, then the same arm circles up and contacts with the inner forearms, then the same arm circles back to a low block contacting with the outer forearm. The students kept their forearm pads on so it wasn't a taxing conditioning drill, but more of a timing and rhythm drill, and getting the arms traveling in the proper arcs.

I imagine there are rules against that. Buying an interest in a team so one can play for it is an interesting way of circumventing the free-agent system, and probably the salary cap, which would be frowned upon I think.

12/26/2025 Speed Bag: 1:00/30 sec. 4 rounds. Spot Kendall. 4 rounds. The bag that was hung was a smaller bag than the one we usually had, and it moved much faster and I was able to get a much better rhythm going.

Kane and Wilder wrote The Little Black Book of Violence, and although it doesn't necessarily have legal advise in it, it does a good job of laying out the consequences of getting into altercations, what to expect from law enforcement, etc. However, I would tend to agree with @Montana's advise to seek out the government websites. Reading statutes is helpful in understanding what law enforcement is looking for when they investigate various violent person crimes. Speaking with local law enforcement officers is a good idea, too, especially DT instructors or use-of-force specialists.

Although I'm not looking to set concrete goals like above, my hope is to put more time into Aikido and BJJ. This will get easier when wrestling season is done. I do hope to test again in Aikido this year.

12/19/2025 Heavy Bag Workout: 1:00/30 sec. 4 rounds, orthodox/southpaw alternating. Went to spot Kendall in the gym. 4 rounds, orthodox/southpaw alternating. Went to spot Kendall in the gym. 4 rounds, orthodox/southpaw alternating.

I've got the same book, but haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

Crosby would be a very sought-after pass rusher. It'd be a shame for the Raiders to lose him, but if left the division, I'd be ok with that (unless he came to KC, that is...).

Happy New Year to everyone here at KF! I hope this new year brings forth challenges and opportunities!

Yes, but my understanding was that he wasn't put to sleep.

This would be tai sabaki, correct? When I teach DT, I focus on this a lot. I don't want to be in a "fair fight," where two people are squared off and it becomes a match of skill on skill. I want my deputies and detention officers to get to the flank or behind and then overwhelm then and get them to the ground and get them secured.

Did Paul get knocked out? I'd heard that he wasn't, but the fight was over because of the broken jaw.

You have to try to see it from both sides; yours and theirs. An instructor spends a few months or years teaching a student, and all of a sudden the student appears (to them) to be acting like they've got it all figured out and can teach it better than them. Or this student is pointing out what they believe to be the flaws in what they've been teaching. This can rub people the wrong way, especially those who have a lot more time and experience with a subject than you might have. To the first quote above, what I would suggest is to bide your time and put in the work to attain your instructor certification or rank. By doing that, you will have shown others in the field that you've put in the time to get there, and when you start suggesting different ideas and approaches, you'll have that clout to go along with it. Not everyone will agree with you, but having that pedigree will help you get more established and give you more pull within the wider community. In the end, this will help you get down the road to where you want to be. Remember, Martial Arts is a journey, and it's never truly finished. So what's the hurry?

This might have been the game of the year. What a game.

Yes, they would. I think the hope would be that the discipline and ethos of the training would hopefully turn them away from being a bully. Unsure how much stock I could put in that.

I find it interesting in Aikido that we have the uke, who receives the technique, but we don't actually refer to any technique as an uke. But, especially in Aikido techniques, where the focus in on blending with the opponent, uke is a very apt term.

One of the hallmarks of being a Martial Artist is training through adversity. This is an adversity for you. It's up to you how you approach it. One other question: in the dojo you train at, do you have the rank or certification that allows you to teach, and if so, do you take that opportunity?

Merry Christmas KF!

Thanks for the run-down. It's great to read. I do have a few things to offer. For one, you really aren't saying anything new here. There are people training out there that feel the same way. As you mentioned, you do have a small group of like-minded individuals training with you, and you find great enjoyment in that. I'd cling to that, and keep training otherwise just to keep training and learning. Keep an open mind; you might not like everything an instructor teaches, but he may teach something that you do like, and that can make the whole experience worthwhile. I've done Krav Maga training in the police combatives setting a few times. I found the training quite valuable, however, I'm not sure I'd want to train that way all the time. It's quite taxing on the body, but it is very beneficial training. However, we did not do any sparring in those settings, which I'm sure would be very different, and very beneficial. Have you had the opportunity to attend any of Iain Abernethey's seminars? It sounds to me like that kind of training approach would be right up your alley. If he ever comes close to my area, I'd like to attend one, even though I'm not even a Karate practitioner. You should look into Blauer Tactical Systems. Tony Blauer has spent years looking into the psychology of fear and fear management, and the physiology of self-defense. He's mainly in the Law Enforcement/Military circles, teaching defensive tactics, but his organization does have some general public offerings, like his "Be Your Own Bodyguard" seminars. You could move, that's an option. However, I don't think you'll necessarily find more interest by moving. What I would recommend is to keep training in the style you mentioned you chose, gain more rank, and then strike out on your own. Having some certified rank behind you will go a long way in lending you some credibility in establishing your own dojo. In the meantime, build your curriculum, write up handbook on it, and make a plan for delivering your system. Now, I would also mention this: you've mentioned that you have a small group of like-minded individuals you train with, and I'm just guessing that is a pretty small group. It's highly likely that you'll be appealing to a very limited group of people, so it could be likely that you never have more than a handful of students at any time. And that's ok. But if you find that you lose students due to your approach, you may consider some training options for those seeking a different experience. If you don't care about that, and you only wish to train others the way you want to train, just realize it may limit the students that come to you for training. This sounds a bit extreme. If you truly enjoy training, keep it going. If it bothers you so much that others don't want to do it your way, then I guess you'd have no choice but to quit to save yourself the mental anguish. I could have quit training at my TKD school some time ago because of several things I don't like about the training approaches, teaching to the tests, curriculum additions, and because we don't always approach things from my point of view. But if I do that, then I wouldn't get the opportunity to present things my way when I have the opportunity to teach. I'd rather bide my time and work my things in when I can. And by continuing to train, I stay in the loop and find new and different opportunities to improve myself or learn something new. I also realize that not everyone wants to train the way I train, and not everyone seeks out the same goals in training that I do. And I'm ok with that. I'm not going to pound the table to those who don't believe or want to do things my way. Instead of pounding the table, I'll sit at the table, take notes, write up articles, concepts, and syllabi, and move myself forward on my journey in the Martial Arts. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I hope this helps you out.

Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to all the voters!

I guess it wouldn't surprise me if the Raiders did fire Carroll, but I think it would be a big mistake if they did. But if they did fire him, then it would mean more instability for an organization that is KC's arch rival, so if they do, then so be it. If they struggle a few more years, all the better for KC.

I hope he recovers well and completely, and early! It's very likely that the Chiefs open the 2026 season with Mahomes on IR, though. That's a long recovery, and happening this late in the season doesn't help with the timing for next season. Cook has been a great player for Buffalo, taking some of the weight off Allen's shoulders. Maybe the Chiefs can get a chance to draft Love in the first round to shore up their running game.

The Rams/Seahawks tilt should be a good one. I believe its in Seattle, which gives the Seahawks a slight edge. If they win that, they could take a big step towards that #1 seed. The Buccaneers can right some wrongs by beating the Panthers twice. If they pull that off, they should win their division and secure a home playoff game.

I agree. I've had both of my boys wrestle and I am very confident that they can defend themselves if need be.

12/12/2025 Heavy Bag Workout: 4 rounds, 1:20/1:00, bare knuckle. Alternated southpaw and orthodox rounds, boxing. Just a brief workout today. I didn't even have workout clothes with me, but was able to get a little work in. 12/15/2025 Defensive Tactics: 8:00 am - 12:00 pm, 1:00 - 5:00 pm. Eight hours of DT instruction for our department today. Covered some basic armbar/lock takedowns, some punch blocking exercises, then tying it all together. Finished with a more "live" scenario in which they had to fight off an initial attack, then a secondary attack, and then either control into cuffing or create a safe amount of distance to transition to Taser. I ran four, two-hour sessions. It seemed to go pretty well, and I had some pretty good feedback. I have a mix of some seasoned officers with some training, seasoned officers with no training, and some newer employees with some athletic backgrounds, and some with no backgrounds at all.