bushido_man96

The Murray story will be an interesting one to follow. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up with the Jets. I think KOC wants another year to see what he has in McCarthy. The Chiefs traded All-Pro DB Trent McDuffie to the Rams for a load of picks, including their #29 overall pick in the first round of this year's draft. They got two more picks for this year, and one for next out of the deal. An interesting note: KC has not extended a DB since Eric Berry. Jaylen Watson is also a free agent, and if the trend continues, he'll walk and the Chiefs will likely use the #9 pick on corner. I'd much rather see that pick go for someone like Jeremiyah Love or Kenyon Sadiq. We shall see what happens though. And this just in: the Raiders have traded Maxx Crosby to the Ravens for 2026 and 2027 first round picks. This gives the Raiders the 1st and 14th overall picks in the first round of this year's draft; not bad if you're looking to rebuild. And the Ravens just get richer on defense. Crazy.

3/4/2026 Strength Training Bench Press: 45x5x2, 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 150x5, 165x5. LTEs: 35x10, 35x10, 35x10. I felt the residuals of the bench press in my head briefly after the set. I got the wrist wraps, and they helped a lot with holding the weight. Doing the LTEs, with my head off the end of the bench, caused a bit of a headache during the set, and getting up needed to be done more slowly.

It sounds like your test prep is coming along nicely. It's great that you have such a good training partner to reflect with. That helps immensely.

3/2/2026 Strength Training Deadlifts: 135x5, 165x3, 185x3, 235x3, 235x3. RDLs: 140x5, 140x5, 140x5. The deadlifts build up the pressure in my head pretty fast. I may end up doing a lot of singles pretty soon. I'll continue to monitor. So far, things haven't gotten so bad that I have bad residual effects post workout. Aikido: 6:15 - 7:15 pm. Weapons Class. Jo work. The senseis' had a family emergency, so the blue belt ran the class. It went well, although he was a bit curfluffeled by the impromptu teaching. Warmup with hi-4, low-4, hi-8, and hi-10 on my own. I tried to pick up speed and flow more. I went through jo kata 1 on my own a few times; I'm missing something at the end, and need to review the video. The rest of class was spent on kumi jo 1 and 2, doing both sides and switching the attacker and defender roles. My knees were hurting a bit from the deadlift session prior to class.

2/28/2026 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: 10:00 - 11:00 am. Open Mat. Lots of 4 minute rounds, and there were just three of us, so round robin it was. Prior to class, coach showed me a video by Bernardo Faria of the technical breakdown of the over/under pass, then he showed me a dynamic application in a video of from a high-level competition. It helps to see both, because when things get dynamic, it rarely looks textbook. I had one early round where I spent most of the time on top. By hook or by crook, I managed. Then, I rolled some more, and that didn't happen again... Towards the end of class, coach let me work just offense so I got to move through advancing positions to submission. Stretched between rounds.

That's crazy to hear, Bob. Hopefully it isn't something bad and the doctor can deal with it easily!

2/26/2026 Aikido Video Review: Good habit to get into while eating breakfast. I reviewed video for katatetori sankyo omote and ura. I like to call them ikkyo/sankyo, as we get to the ikkyo position first and then transition to sankyo. Strength Training Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 95x3, 115x3, 115x3, 115x3, 115x3, 115x3. Clean & Jerk: 65x2, 85x2, 95x2, 115x2, 115x2, 115x2. Aikido: 3:30 - 4:30 pm. Club Class held at the campus. Very laid back class, as no other instructors were available. The club president ran the class, and after some loosening drills and aikitaisos, we did weapons work with the jo. Paired warmups with hi-4 and low-4 combined, then lots of review of jo kata 1. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: 6:45 - 8:00 pm. Four warmup rounds to start. I think they were 4 minute rounds. The instructional portion of the class was spent working on isolating an arm in side control, elevating the shoulder off the mat and getting the bottom person on their side. We worked to a Kimura mounted with them on their side. We did quite a bit of work on this transition. We finished with a few rounds of free rolling, working on going from standing and posting on the hips of the seated bottom player to control the knee and then pressure in to pass to camping position, then to side control. This helped secure the leg so I didn't have to fight the knee shield so much. I did get a stretch in.

2/24/2026 Strength Training Squat: 45x5x2, 95x5, 115x3, 135x1, 155x5, 170x3, 185x1. Left knee was really sore. Taekwondo: 5:45 - 6:30 pm. Traditional Class. Taught. Prior to class I tried to do a little bag work in an attempt to warm up my left knee. It did not work. It was hurting pretty bad, and really limited my mobility. Basics: got through these, albeit it took a big chunk of the class. Lots of students today, too; 13 total. It's also the first week after testing, so we're hitting a lot of new material. Forms: We had white belt, high orange, low and high green, and a low brown belt that I had do low blue belt form. Finished with two 2nd dans doing Gae Baek. Sparring: 6:30 - 7:00 pm. Started the sparring session off with 10 minutes of one-steps. Then we got into some rounds of sparring. The rounds were short and quick with little rest between. Round 1: Regular sparring. Round 2: Any kicking had to be front leg kicking. Round 3: Closed stance only. No techniques could be thrown if stances were open. Round 4: Open stance only. Round 5: Each pair of sparring partners were confined to a puzzle mat square (same square). At least the front foot had to be in the square. They could switch stances, but a foot had to be in the square really quick.

I'll suck, too. But it should be fun. We can play in the Toilet Bowl together, Bob!

Yeah, they will still be in the Kansas City metro area proper. Coach Andy Reid also quashed any rumors that Tyreek Hill might return to KC. He said "nothing's happening there" at this time. Things can always change, though. Hill would have to come in on a really cheap "prove it" deal to get back to KC.

I don't think so. I think they just have collegiate hockey and national teams. I'm not sure how financially viable a women's professional hockey league would be. My understanding is that the WNBA is barely viable.

2/22/2026 Strength Training Bench Press: 45x5x2, 95x5, 115x3, 135x5, 145x3, 155x5. I need wrist wraps for this lift. My left wrist especially hurts on lift-off. Once it's out of the rack, it seems to be ok. I ordered a new pair as my oldest son has inherited my old pair. I'll play with my tolerance with the rep/set scheme as I move forward the next few weeks.

Regionals did not go well. Kenneth had his worst meet of the year. He had a bye first round, and then his first match up was against a very tall opponent he wrestled and lost to earlier in the year. Kenneth did well, though; he stayed tied up with him and got him to the mat a few times, but the kid was so tall he was able to leverage his way through and turn Kenneth. He ended up getting pinned in the third period. His first match on the backside was against a kid he had wrestled and beat 6 times this season. Well, the other kid won this time, in the first OT period. Kenneth had a great path on the backside ahead of him; all three opponents he had wrestled and beaten. He just didn't get it done this time, and the kid that did beat him in OT ended up qualifying for state. I've been sick to my stomach since then. It does sound like he plans on doing the Kid's season.

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.