bushido_man96

I've really lost track of time. I didn't know he hadn't fought in over three years.

Win in Your Head, Win in Your Heart, Win on the Mat 3/29/2024 “Win in your head, win in your heart, win on the mat,” was a pre-match tradition I started with my oldest son when he was a young wrestler, and I share this tradition with my youngest son as he wrestles. The saying was meant to inspire them in their preparation for matches, and although it held meaning for us through wrestling, it applies to other athletic endeavors as well, especially other martial arts performances. It has always held meaning for me and my boys, but I wanted to finally put it on paper. As I describe each aspect, I’ll do so in a wrestling context, but know that it can easily apply to other martial arts. Win in Your Head This covers the physical aspect of the physical endeavor. This means you need to know you have the knowledge to compete, which comes from practice. Drilling takedowns, stand-ups, switches, reversals, turks, etc, until you know you can make them work. This drilling should build “physical confidence,” or the ability to perform the techniques confidently and effectively. This confidence should also allow you to make adjustments to the techniques or to other techniques as necessary. Win in Your Heart This covers the mental and spiritual aspects of the physical endeavor. You have to know in your heart that you can compete. Don’t look at the size of your opponent. Be confident in your physical abilities so far and know you can win. Don’t lose your match before you even start it. To quote Dan Millman, “If you face just one opponent and doubt yourself, you’re out-numbered.” Embrace the spirit of competition with another human being. You honor each other by facing each other. Embrace the fires of adversity, bathe in them, and grow stronger. Win on the Mat This is where it all comes together. All the blood, sweat, tears, meditation, and focus come together as you pit yourself against another person. Let your body do what you’ve trained it to do. Let your heart fuel you. You’ve trained yourself with the moves to win. You’ve seen yourself win through visualization and actualization. You know in your heart you can win. Now it all comes together. It’s a rather brief dissertation, but I hope others can find some meaning and inspiration in these words as they move through their training journey and their life.

Sure. Each belt color is broken into two ranks, a low and a high, instead of adding more colors. It goes this way: 9th grade White Belt 8th grade Low Orange Belt 7th grade High Orange Belt 6th grade Low Green Belt 5th grade High Green Belt 4th Low Blue Belt 3rd High Blue Belt 2nd Low Brown Belt 1st grade recommended Middle Brown Belt 1st grade decided High Brown Belt I hope that makes sense. The lower of the colored belt rank is denoted with a belt with a white stripe through the middle, and the higher is a solid color. Then our black belt ranks start. This is a great idea. It at least allows the students to see what the process and order of the testing will be. I would like for us to do it. Thank you, Bob. That means a lot. I can remember testings where I've actually gotten frustrated with some things I've been seeing, knowing there were classes that I had hounded on them about it, and expect them to be fixed, and have mentioned as much in the post-testing comments. I constantly take notes on the back of my testing score sheets. This post is a reflection (and expansion on) the notes that I take. I don't know why I didn't think to start putting this stuff down on paper sooner, but I've got a lot of testings to look forward to, and I plan to post more of these. Exactly. I can understand being a hard-nosed grading judge, and I'm ok with that. But on the white belts who are just beginning. I'm not saying that the white belt test is a mail-in test; not at all. I still expect the students to work hard and perform to the best of their abilities. If they did not, then I would be disappointed, and I would note that in post-testing discussion. As I mentioned in my post, if the student showed a complete lack of interest and energy in the test, it might be grounds for failure, but it would have to be completely on their lack of effort, and not on the instructor's failure to prepare them.

Why do you think that?

Wado Heretic, you should put together a binder of all this history! I'd take a copy of it!

8/2/2024 Strength Training Leg Press: 45x10, 245x5, 245x5, 245x5. Bench Press: 45x5x2, 95x5, 95x5, 95x5. Lat Pull-downs: 115x10, 115x10, 115x10. Bench didn't seem to bother my head like pressing has. The leg press didn't bother my much either. I'm going to run the leg press a while and alternate between bench and press.

These are the reflections I had on this recent testing at our TKD do-jang. Testing scoring: 60 – No-change 65 – Recommended rank/below average 70 – Average 75 – Above average I judged a testing at our do-jang today, and it got me thinking about testing white belts (it was a small testing, with five white belts and one high orange belt testing). I listed the scoring table above for context on these notes. In thinking about a white belt testing, I came to this conclusion: if a white belt should fail a testing, that failure is on the instructor, not the student. Barring a catastrophic brain meltdown or a mental reaction to stress (panic attack, anxiety disorder, etc), I truly believe this is the case. As an instructor, being exposed to the students daily, the instructor should know if the student is ready to test or not, and if they are not ready, they should not be allowed to test. If an instructor allows a white belt to test that isn’t ready (or any student, for that matter), then that is akin to malpractice in my eyes. This brings me to scoring white belts in testing (how I do it, anyway). Most white belts aren’t going to blow away a judge on a testing board. Sure, exceptions exist, like naturally gifted athletes that pick things up quickly, or students with prior martial arts experience, but these students aren’t the norm. As a testing judge (tournament judge is whole different animal), my expectations aren’t low for white belts, but they aren’t high either. A white belt won’t test like a black belt, or even a mid-rank colored belt (we have young black belts that when asked if students performed their one-steps correctly, they start to get into minuscule technical aspects, and I have to remind them that they are white belts). So how do I score? Barring a complete lack of effort from the student, I score average. I might modify it with an up or down arrow next to the 70, denoting if I think the student is on the high side or the low side of the score (we don’t use .5’s for some reason), but otherwise average. I expect some fudge in stances, less power and speed and the like. Distancing on one-steps will vary greatly and will probably be subpar due to general insecurity in striking so close to someone and not understanding their range. But I know their kinesthetic awareness will improve with time. White belts tend to get nervous, too. The first test is always an eye-opener. As an instructor in the past, I’ve taken the time to explain to new students how a testing will run, the procedures involved, and what to expect, but even with all this preparation, most white belts will still be uneasy going into the test. They are unsure of what to expect, there’s the added tension of judges sitting up front watching them, etc. A big part of that first testing is learning how to handle the nerves. New white belts face a lot in their first testing. One never knows what a student will eventually be capable of. There are hopefully plenty of testings down the road in which I will score tougher. Other notes: We had a high-orange belt that tested very well. She had good stances, decent power and technique in her form. This faded a little on the one-steps, I believe due to being nervous about the distancing. She had a decent go at sparring, too. She needs more of it, for sure (as does the whole school, not much time is spent on it at the end of classes due to getting through basics, forms, and one-steps). She also needs to learn to use her rear hand for blocking. Like many beginners/early rank students, they tend to try to block or parry everything with their lead hand. It’s a weird habit, but funny to watch as a high rank. We had three black belts do a brief demo today. Even though they weren’t testing for rank, I told them that I tested them anyway. While doing their Do-Gons, they ran some things together during transitions. They would start a step transition before getting the previous technique finished. Getting in a hurry. Impatient. I told them they needed to learn how to speed up without getting in a hurry. Fast techniques is a good thing, but they can’t run them together and end up with sloppy transitions. On a final note, there was a blue belt that wasn’t allowed to test, due to not being ready with the material. This is a quality I admire in our school.

8/1/2024 TKD Testing: 6:00 - 6:30 pm. Small testing, 5 white belts and a hi-orange belt. I wrote a reflection article on the testing I'll post in the testing forum. I sat at the judging table, and have a few brief notes. I noticed for the low ranks that had good power in their forms, it faded when they did one-steps, likely due to not being comfortable with the distancing. Some of the black belts did a brief demo, and I caught a few things for them to work on as well. They need to speed up without getting in a hurry. They ran some things together and ended up with some sloppy transitions. A very brief but decent testing. Not much to expect out of low ranks, but I like to see where they start and where they go.

It's too bad those annoying guys show up in training. Sounds like you did his ego a favor, though. Hopefully he learns to shut up and train, but not likely.

7/31/2024 TKD Class: T-shirt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Got started a little later than I wanted to, due to some other stuff coming up before starting class. Once I got in there, I did more bag work, doing my 12 variations of kicks with the front kick and with the round kick. I did 5 each leg, so ended up with 240 total kicks. I did a quick stretch in The Rack, but the chair back was set at 1, and I ran it up to 145 degrees.

Congrats!

That's good stuff. You really run the gamut on your music selection. I like it!

That's a cool story.

7/30/2024 Strength Training Press: 45x5x2, 65x5, 95x5, 95x5, 95x5. Lat Pull-downs: 112.5x10, 112.5x10, 112.5x10. Triceps Push-downs: 52.5x15, 52.5x15, 52.5x15. Valsalva on the press was fitful with pressure in my head, but I'm going to keep working at it. On a proud dad note, my youngest son, Kenneth, hit a 425 squat PR this morning. He's starting his freshman year in less than a month.

7/29/2024 Aikido Class: Weapons Class: 5:00 - 6:00 pm. Just me and the sensei today. We warmed up with jo, doing hi-4 sequence, then lo-4, then combining them, doing 4-hi on each side then 4-low on each side. Last was the hi-8 sequence, in which he gave me some pointers on getting the last few techniques to flow together, which was nice. Next was jo kata. Quick review of jo kata 1 on both sides. Then we went into jo kata 2, which I like, just need to memorize. There are some interesting strike/block/strike sections that flow really nicely. Jo kata 1 has lots of yoko strikes, where jo kata 2 has lots of shomen strikes. There is also a strange step-through uppercut technique that is difficult to get power into. We did work with it on a heavy bag, which helped a lot in using my hips properly. Last was bokken kata 2. The key to this kata is to keep in mind to constantly pressure forward, like one would in a sword fight. This helped in getting some of the techniques more meaning and intent. Doing the spin at the end is a challenge, as my head doesn't like all that spinning, especially done quickly. TKD Class: Black Belt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Just me and a 2nd dan, so I led us through material. Prior to class, I stretched on The Rack, getting up to about 135 degrees with the chair back at 2. We went through all 6 Do-Gons, and the 2nd dan needed help on 5 and 6, so I got to do them and "teach" them, which helps me even more with retention. Do-Gons 5 and 6 have some spinning kicks in them, which I had to moderate to keep my head in a good place. Next, we did our forms. He did Gae Baek, and after doing it on his own, I had him go again and stopped him in spots to correct technique and to show him how to add power in spots. I did Choong Jang as well. We finished with all colored belt one-steps, and then did all 12 three-steps. I hung up on a few, but got through them. Lots of material covered, but a good workout.

Kind of how I see it as well. As much as I have enjoyed the series it feels like it is time to conclude. They have done a great job with the show, all it needs now is a strong ending. I agree. As much as I've enjoyed watching the series, I don't think I could make myself go back and watch it all over again. I think I'd be rolling my eyes too much.

Yeah, it was all kind of crazy. When that saw kicked on, I thought for sure someone was losing a limb or a finger or something. But, no...

That was quite the dissertation, Wado Heretic. Very informative!

7/23/2024 Strength Training Rowing: 4 minutes at resistance level 9, 875 meters. Press: 45x5x2, 65x5, 90x5, 90x5, 90x5. Lat Pull-downs: 110x10, 110x10, 110x10. Triceps Push-downs: 50x15, 50x15, 50x15. 7/24/2024 TKD Class: T-shirt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. More bag kicking, this time with round kicks: #1, 2, 3, 4a, 4b, 5 basic kicks. Back leg side-step kicks: FL, BL (touch-&-go), FL #3. Front leg side step (open step) kicks: switch kick, switch/then kick, stutter step kick. I then did the 1-5 basic kicks again, but added a step back prior to each kick, so messing with the range. I did 5 reps of each kick, on each side, so ended up with 210 total kicks. I did three-steps 1-12, then stretched in The Rack with the chair back set at 2. Got up around the 145 degree mark.

Where does that rank as far as total games played? How many games are in a hockey season, and how many do teams usually play in a week?

I think I'm 4 episodes in, and it's been enjoyable so far. It seems to me like they try too hard to manufacture conflict in spots, but otherwise, I'm ok with it.

7/21/2024 Going back to strength training to see what I can and can't do. Tired of sitting around, gaining wait and getting flabby, so it's time to do something about it. Press: 45x5x2, 65x5, 85x5, 85x5, 85x5. Lat Pull-downs: 100x10, 100x10, 100x10. Triceps Push-downs: 40x10, 40x10, 40x10. I'm not going to squat or deadlift right now, because I think the up-and-down motion coupled with the Valsalva maneuver causes issues with my head. I may look at trying to leg press soon, but I want to see how this all goes. It felt good to press again. 7/22/2024 Defensive Tactics: 5:00 - 11:00 pm. I taught three, 2-hour sessions of in-holster weapon retention, standing and on the ground. I tried my best to cover all the bases with standing and ground attacks. Through some of my review, some of what I had planned didn't make the cut, but I was able to get through everything I had planned for the session. Now, the goal is to get to where theses sessions aren't spent learning, but drilling. That way we can work out kinks, troubleshoot, etc.

That was probably the TKD coming out in me. I was frustrated with a particular uke, and wanted to just punch him instead of trying to throw or lock. Otherwise, Aikido is going quite well. The dojo was closed last week for summer break, and I missed this Monday because I taught DT sessions at work, so I need my Aikido fix bad! 7/17/2024 TKD Class: T-shirt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. I worked on basic kicking on the bag. My plan is to plan out some in-depth kicking on the basic kicks. I did most with front kicks, but got some round kicks in, too. Here's what I did on the bag: Basic kicks: #1 front kick (FL) #2 front kick (BL) #3 front kick (FL) #4 front kick (BL) #5 front kick (FL) These kicks are the old ATA numbering system that has stuck with me throughout my training. From your stance, a #1 kick is done with the front leg with no movement or stepping in the stance; just pick it up and kick. #2 is a plain old back leg kick. #3 is stepping back leg to front, then kicking with the front leg. #4 is a back leg kick again, and is defined by the movement of the front leg prior to kicking with the back leg. There could be an a) and a b) to it; a) being the front leg steps forward and then kick, b) being the front leg steps back and then kick. #5 is a crossover step with the back leg, then kick with the front leg. Odds are FL, evens are BL. Side-step kicks: Side-step #1 FL front kick Side-step #2 BL front kick (this is touch-and-go, when the BL steps, fire it right off; tough to do but can be done) Side-step, #4 BL front kick (after the side-step, the front foot steps to the back foot) From my fighting stance, I step the back leg to the side and cut an angle in order to cover distance and avoid attacks. Depending on the situation, I'll cut in tight on a 45 degree angle, or more to the side at a 90 degree angle. From there, I can kick with either leg. These are all a BL side step, but I could probably do a FL side step as well... Switch-foot kicks: "Switch kick": done with the BL while in the process of switching feet Switch feet, then BL kick with what was the FL; I don't always switch the hips all the way back; it's a quick footwork move "Stutter-step": it's a switch where the FL moves back first and then the BL moves forward, done in a manner that allows you to advance forward from a 1/2 stance to a stance length; the kicking leg was the initial FL That was 11 different ways of doing a front kick in that session. I did 10 each leg and did them all from a right and left stance. 220 total kicks in the session. These all worked well with front kicks, but some of the dynamics will change with some of the other kicks, especially the side kick. The switch side kick can be done as a spin side kick switching the feet, but doing a BL switch side kick is going to be tricky. But I'll play with it and see.

Excellent news, Bob!

Do you use chalk for deadlifting, DP?