bushido_man96

Not to derail this topic too much, but I can sympathize with you here. My current TKD organization has taken to adding curriculum for the black belts. Some of it is in the form of the "black belt basics" that the GM has come up with (they are kind of like forms, but I always viewed them more as organized floor drills). The other is in the form of three-step sparring. Personally, I don't like them, I don't think they make much sense, and it just seems like he wants the black belts to have something else to learn and test on. Adding curriculum for the sake of adding curriculum, in my mind, just ends up with some questionable curriculum.

Often those ideals we apply to our Martial Arts training are those that come from life as well. After all, most of us are studying the MAs in order to better ourselves. In the end, we better ourselves and our MA practice, and hopefully have some effect on those around us. Being mostly a Korean style practitioner, I'd not seen that saying before. To me, it means seeing, studying, and understanding not only what was done in the past and how it was done, but why it was done. I can dig some of this out of my Aikido experiences. Many of the wrist grabbing techniques stem from defenses in having the sword-hand or hands seized. We spend time studying the how's and why's of defending such an attack, but in our current time, not many people are carrying swords around. So, we begin looking at how to apply the same concepts and principles with what we are likely to face today. The Sensei at times will make mention that a specific technique is very "aiki," and at times will make mention of a "tactical" application. I can see On-Ko-Chi-Shin at times like this.

7/15/2024 TKD Class: Black Belt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Went over the remainder of my DT class plan on weapon retention in the holster. I still struggle with making the kimura work. My short arms don't help, and I've found with the vest on it restricts my ability to lock that in even more. I've scrapped some things from the original lesson plan, trimmed it down and think it's looking better now. Having these brainstorming sessions is quite helpful.

Congrats Reece! Well deserved!

A few years ago, our CI added a new requirement for test eligibility -- students had to re-test over all their kyu-level material and show a dan-level proficiency with them. Once they have done so to his satisfaction, he awards them an "advanced brown belt", or brown belt with black stripe running down the middle. This is one of the ways he has trimmed the black belt test down to a 2 hour (or so) test. When our students test as a recommended (or provisional) black belt for the full 1st dan, they have to demonstrate all forms and all one-steps. This makes for a bit longer of a testing, but it's a good thing. We don't want 1st dans that have to ask the low ranks how to do their forms. This gives them more incentive to up their practice on their own time. And I agree, they need to be able to demonstrate the material at a black belt level. The idea behind 1st dan and up getting random forms tossed out to them at testings is to make sure they've kept up on all the material, as well.

Sounds like an interesting crossover.

We don't set a time limit or constraint on testing; it takes as long as it takes, depending on the number of people testing. Those testing for 1st dan tend to take the longest, as they are required to do all the colored belt forms, all the one-steps, then their own form, testing sparring, and board breaks. At the next level, testing will usually consist of a pre-test, where black belt basics are done, then low rank forms of the instructor or tester's choice, all low-rank one-steps. I think the HQ school does this on the morning before testing, and then we go right into testing. Actual testing itself will consist of likely a couple of selected low rank forms, a lower black belt form, your current form, three-steps, sparring, and board breaks. When I go back this December to finally test again I'll be back with a better report.

7/10/2024 TKD Class: T-shirt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. I spent the first half hour of class working kicks on the standing bags, and focused on starting outside of kicking range and working on covering distance to land the kicks. Being short, I'm usually outside of kicking range when I start. Most of it is done with footwork and trying to disguise that footwork, but some of the kicks I did with a slide as I kicked to cover distance. Even did this with some spinning kicks. Last half of the time I went through my black belt curriculum: Do-Gon 6, Choong Jang hyung, and three-steps 1-6. I finished up stretching in The Rack, ran it up to 140 degrees pretty comfortably. Chair back at 2.

7/8/2024 TDK Class: Black Belt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. I got to use the class to go over my lesson plan for DT this month. I got about halfway through the plan, but we didn't spend a lot of time drilling. The focus will be weapon retention in-holster. Some of the old GRACIE applications I was trying need a bit of refining, especially some of the techniques that end up taking the attacker to the ground.

Awesome stuff Ken! Glad to hear it!

My kid's did the same, but grandpa bought the fireworks. Had a good time and the whole block put on a show.

7/3/2024 TKD Class: T-shirt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. I went through all the forms today, Chon Ji up to Choong Jang, 16 hyungs in total. Had brain farts on Gae Baek and Yoo Sin, but got those sorted out.

Most insurance companies are likely to require basic first aid skills in order to cover the school, as well.

7/2/2024 Aikido Summer Camp: 4:30 - 8:00 pm. There was a lot of kotegashi covered in this session, with some other stuff thrown in. The camp basically follows the class schedule, and today kids classes were scheduled, so there was some basic stuff thrown in with some activities for them. I got to help a little bit doing this, which really helped me in breaking down technique for myself. 4:30 - 5:00 had a lot of kids in it, but we did hit on a few techniques. We did sankyo and then went to shionage (can't remember for the life of me what the attack was). Sankyo was done with an ura variation, which had lots of footwork. It also had a lot of combat applications, with a punch/hikite to facilitate whipping the attacker around, and an elbow strike while stepping through and under the raised arm to the ribs. Shionage went much better, as I focused on staying close and keeping the attacker's elbow connected to my head as I turned and followed through. 5:00 - 6:00 was another kids class. We did some randori based drills/games. One of them was called "matador," where we stand on a line and wait for "bulls" to attack (on a straight line). The kid holds a towel as the "cape," and when the "bull" approaches (using fingers as horns), the matador will side side step, or forward angle step, or backward angle step. The goal is to wait until the bull reaches the cape and to time the steps properly for good tai sabaki. Next was the "bullpen," where boundaries were set for an outside ring and an inside ring. Everyone walked in a circle along the outside ring and the matador was in the inside ring with the cape. Sensei would call out a name, and that person would attack in a straight line from where they were and move all the way across to the other side and rejoin walking line. Goal for the matador was the same, but they had to be aware of where the attack was coming from (side, front, behind, etc). 6:00 - 8:00 we began with some randori drills that evolved from the "matador" game. We didn't use a towel, but we did start on a line and the attackers came at us on the same line with a double lapel grab. The goal was to side step, forward angle step, or backward angle step and defend/pass the hands as they came towards us. Again, timing was the key. If we did not defend the hands, the attacker was expected to adjust their reach to try to grab us. Next was a lot of kotegashi, lots of variations. Most of the attacks early on came from a double lapel grabs, but we also did two hands grabbing one wrist. We did lots of variations, and I struggled with several of them. I spent a lot of time paying attention to the footwork. I was having trouble getting the kotegashi to stick at times, and I'd get it set late. An instructor told me he thought I was T-rexing my arms too much, and getting a little more extension, think like holding a sword, would help. It sure as heck did. I was able to get the lock set more quickly and resulted in better throws. There is a kid in the group that is like Gumby. I'd start to turn him, and his joints were just gone. I'm not talking double jointed, he was like no jointed. I told Sensei I'd just punch and kick him a lot. He was very frustrating to work with. This was another productive session, even if I spent some of it in frustration with my understanding (more like lack thereof) of some of the techniques. But I did find a few that I could make work, and focused on them. There are several more sessions throughout the week, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to make anymore. If not, these few sessions were a lot of fun. Some things I'm seeing is that if something goes wrong with a technique, I'm seeing options that I could switch to. I'm also starting to understand the transitional application of stance work, especially moving from one stance to another in performing a technique. I just need to add it to the footwork and be more cognizant of it. I pay attention to footwork, but need to pay attention to the hips and legs as well. When trying to get the technique right, I'm often focusing on what my hands are doing.

7/1/2024 Aikido Summer Camp: 8:30 - 11:30 am. A nice, long, and informative morning session. The camp actually started the day before, but I'm limited in the times I can show up due to my work and sleep schedule. From 8:30 - 9:30 we covered a lot of nikkyo with an ikkyo entry, starting with a static approach (letting the grab happen) on a same side lapel grab. We'd strike for distraction and step up as we did so, then step back and draw like hikite in what I'd liken to a V-step to draw them off balance. I did much better at getting the hand trapped on my chest and not leaving a gap. As we went along, we added some steps and spin to takedown and pin; this got a little confusing for me. I just need to get the footwork down. I worked with one hyperflexible kid who's arm just kind of flopped around; I ended up transition to a straight armbar several times just to take him down. Then sensei showed me a "connection" to bring the arm back where I needed it to be to finish with nikkyo; I just had to leave the bend and just hook his elbow back a bit. Water break, then from about 9:45 - 11:00 we covered more in the nikkyo family. We did more ikkyo entry into nikkyo, and then moving into gokyo. We also did "omote" and "ura" variations. "Omote" means "step in front" basically and "ura" means "step behind." The ura variations usually meant more footwork to step behind and really generate energy/momentum, and I seemed to have a little more trouble with it. I found myself liking the omote variations better. For the ura vartiation, when "cutting" the arm and stepping behind, I just needed to point my elbow down (the elbow of my arm that is doing the grabbing) to create more room for me to step around. This registered pretty well. Gokyo is a straight armbar, and I've done this technique in all kinds of variations with all the DT training and in Combat Hapkido, so this technique felt pretty good to me. We had a final water break and finished the last half hour of the session with yankyo. This one was tough, as it involves finding the radial nerve pressure point to help facilitate downward pressure into a takedown. Sensei said he wanted us to practice finding the nerve and applying yankyo that way prior to finishing, but emphasized that finding the nerve each time isn't as important as using the technique to get to the leverage point is. I found that if I just focused on getting to the leverage point I had good success with the technique. Knowing where and how to hit that nerve (sensei stated that it works on about 80% of the population) is just kind of a bonus "icing on the cake" for the technique. Fun session, and I felt I learned a lot about nikkyo and feel much more confident in performing the technique. I should be able to make an afternoon session tomorrow, and look forward to learning more.

Fast Ice by Clive Cussler.

Those sound simple enough. When you round kick, are you striking with the top of your foot or with the ball of the foot? Or do you switch it up, or do you start with the top of the foot and work up to ball of the foot?

6/28/2024 TKD Workout: rowing, 1:15/30 sec rest, resistance level 9, 300 m per sprint, 10 minutes. Floor stretch. 1st Dan material: Choong Moo, Kwang Gae hyungs. Do-Gons 1, 6, Choong Jang hyung. On Do-Gon 1, I tried to focus on looking before I change direction, and on Do-Gon 6 I kept losing my balance on the spinning kicks. Three-steps 1-6, floor stretch, then The Rack; chairback at 2, up to 150 degrees. 55 minute session.

6/26/2024 TKD Workout: rowing, 1:15/30 sec rest, resistance level 9, 300 m per sprint, 10 minutes. Floor stretch, gravity stretch. Brown belt material: Toi Gye, Hwa Rang, Choong Moo hyungs, blue/brown belt one-steps (I need to confirm the order on the last couple... ). Do-Gons 5 and 6, Choong Jang hyung, three-steps 1-6. Floor stretch, pushups 3x6, then stretched in The Rack; chairback at 2, 150 degrees. Session lasted an hour. The session felt easier, but I think I might not have been working as hard. I don't recall if I mentioned this already, but I've made the decision to test for my 5th dan in December. I passed the time requirement a long time ago, and now I think it's time to get it done.

6/24/2024 Aikido Class: Morning Basic Class: 8:30 - 9:30 pm. From a same side lapel grab we did ikkyo, and then transitioned it to nikkyo, and takedown to a pin. This was done from a static start. Once grabbed, we respond with a strike to the head (backfist) with hikite to draw the attacker off balance. Then we'd slide both feet back a little. This worked to draw them in and off balance. I needed to focus on keeping the attacker's hand connected to my front chest with no gap to retain the lock. Once taken down, we did the "three palm" pin. We spent a bulk of the time on this technique, but also did shionage from a same side wrist grab, also static. I have trouble with shionage. Aikido Class: Weapons Class: 5:00 - 6:00 pm. Lots of kids in this class, as the Aikido dojo has offered up a few weeks worth of classes to the local recreation department. We practiced lots of basic strikes with the jo and bokken. It was also good practice helping out the kids. TKD Class: Black Belt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Warmed up with Do-Gons 1 and 2, then went into Ho Sin Sul work. We did lots of grip work, practicing getting a good hold on an attacking hand. We partnered up, and the attacker would do a same side lapel grab, collar grab, shoulder grab, or choke, and the defender would just reach over and grab the attacking hand and focus on getting a good grab at the right spot to facilitate joint manipulation. Then we'd twist the attacking limb off and stop at the point of basically having an armbar, going from inside to outside. We did the same with same side wrist grabs, first coming over the top and trapping the hand, and then turning the hand of the grabbed wrist palm up and trapping from underneath. We did around 20 reps per side on each. We finished with attacker doing a choke from the front, and defender would drop step and trap that side and palm the chin/face/ridgehand the neck with the other hand. We also did this with a choke from the front with a push (more aggressive, and probably the way it would happen). The momentum from this can facilitate a throw/takedown very easily. This was a really fun day of training. Three classes in one day! My work schedule was switched up this week, giving me Monday off. I love having this kind of time to train.

I've heard about those stories with toes getting wedged between mats and almost ripped off. Crazy stuff. What a nightmare!

I'd take you up on that. Most of the schools I've been a part of have not indulged in this kind of training. I've dabbled a bit in the past, years ago, but without really knowing anything about what I was doing. I've seen a partner forearm blocking drill that I think would work really well, but never any of the leg kicking stuff. I do think this kind of training would be beneficial, so long as it's done right. I'd be afraid of getting that "no pain, no gain!" style instructor that would batter someone up to the point that movement was difficult and actually causing injury.

The NHL must be one of the only organizations that will still award an MVP to a player on the loosing team. Interesting, and I think there are times in other sports where that would be warranted as well.

6/19/2024 TKD Workout: Rowing: 1:15/30 sec, resistance level 9, 300 m per sprint, 10 minutes. Blue belt material: Yul Gok, Choong Jung hyungs, blue belt one-steps. Black belt material: Do-Gons 4, 6, Choong Jang, three-steps 1-6. Floor stretch, then The Rack, chair back at 2, PNF stretch up to 150 degrees. 6/20/204 Range Training: We got new patrol rifles, so we spent time setting them up, getting familiar with them, sighting in the iron sights, putting some rounds down range on steel, and then qualifying.

6/17/2024 TKD Workout: 4-cycle okinaga breathing in the car on the way, approximately 4 sec cycles. I tried to extend it to 5 sec, but I'd end up coughing for some reason. Rowing: 1:15/30 sec, resistance level 9, 300 m per sprint, 10 minutes. This was definitely a step up in the difficulty. Floor stretch. Green belt material: Do San, Won Hyu hyungs, green belt one-steps. Do-Gons 3 and 6, Choong Jang hyung. Three-steps 1-6. Floor stretch, then used The Rack with the chair back at setting 2. Did some PNF stretching up to 140 degrees. 50 minutes total for the workout.