bushido_man96

I agree, Ken. A three-peat is going to be very hard to do. It's going to be tough for KC to keep Sneed on the roster. They've already started working on signing Jones, so I think that is where they will focus their efforts. Sneed may have to sign elsewhere to get his market value, but I wouldn't rule out Mahomes perhaps restructuring again to help keep pieces for at least one more year. I'm enjoying the success now, as it can end at any time.

That's a win, for sure, Patrick. We had to replace our dishwasher recently, and I hate our new one.

Wow, thank you all for the kind words. I don't know what I'd do without KF! You all make this place a very special corner of the world for me. Thank you, everyone.

This is freakin' awesome! Don't screw it up, Disney, it's already perfect! Just build on it!I can't wait to see it all come to life! Especially the Arthurian aspects.

Congratulations Zaine! That's awesome!

That is so awesome, Noah! Watching your youtube shorts with your late sensei, your syllabus is one I'd love to have some experience with, and you deserve those promotions! Well done!

Agreed 100%. I'll admit there have been times when I'm screaming in my head "just do the kick!" But of course, it's much easier for me as I've been doing it for just over 30 years. I have to step back and solve the problem from their perspective, and that helps me grow.

2/19/2024 Aikido Class: 5:00 - 6:00 pm. Weapons Class. Jo warmups with partners, switching between 4-high and 4-low. Then jo kata 1. Got all the way through it a couple of times (on the right side). Switched to bokken, and did practice cutting down the floor, and then with partners down and back on the floor. Finished with tai-sabaki. TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Black Belt Class. Just two of us, so we went through all of our Black Belt Basics (do-kangs), which are basically floor drills done in pattern. Did 1-5, and then spent time getting 6 down. Stretched in The Rack.

It looks pretty light-duty to me. Probably a lightweight shoe for kicking in and keeping the nasty fungi from the floor off the feet. I'd carry them in the training bag and wear them at training.

I agree that this sounds suspect. Two 10th dans and a 9th dan in the same place? Very suspect. Is it the only other option in your area? Another question I had was whether or not your current CI had a plan for the club to keep running after he retires? Is there anyone in the club qualified to take over?

Same with me. The main reason I don't have my dan grades in a notebook is because they are too big, and a frame protects them nicely.

I think I'll try to watch it. I watched the XFL more last season than I did the USFL; I thought it was better quality, and I liked the rules innovations they had made. I hope the new combined league keeps most of these new rules. My son and I watched the XFL Championship last season, and it was pretty entertaining. It's not the NFL, but it'll do until the NFL and college football start back up.

Last week, Kenneth got 5 matches in a tournament. Quite a few, which was good. Unfortunately, one of them was against one of his teammates, which is never really fun. He had some challenges today, and he lost one match to a kid that is a really good wrestler. He held his own, but unfortunately didn't score any points, and got pinned in the third period. He won the rest of his matches by pin. He was really upset about the loss, which I understand, but he still had a very good day. This week is the league meet, and that will wrap up the middle school wrestling season.

2/12/2024 Aikido Class: 5:00 - 6:00 pm. Weapons class. Jo warmups with partner, did high 4, then low 4, then high 8 and low 8, doing one each side before switching to the next. Got into a rhythm, which was nice. Then jo kata 1, getting a few moves farther than I did last time. Then we moved to bokken, doing practice cuts down the floor. I worked on extending more. Then we did some cutting/blocking up and down the floor with a partner. Finished with owase countering. TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Black Belt Class. Warmed up with do-kangs 1-4, then we worked on board breaking techniques. I helped out on some technical aspects for the most part, but did get a little work in. I worked with the CI's daughter on some sparring aspects.

What a game! I was pacing to start the fourth quarter. So much anxiety the whole way through. So many ups and downs. Up - McCaffery fumbles on the Niner's opening drive. Down - Chiefs fail to capitalize on it. Up - Huge reception by Hardman to set up a scoring opportunity. Down - Pacheco fumbles on the next play. Just to name a few. That punt muff by the Niner's sure seemed like the turning point of the game. KC defense stayed just as solid as it had all year. Spags has been so awesome at calling the defense, and he get the most out of his players. Chris Jones is a game wrecker, and George Karlaftis is really getting good. Patrick Mahomes is inevitable. A fourth quarter drive to tie the game, and then a game-winning touchdown drive as the first OT period wound down....just amazing. I never thought I'd see something like this as a KC fan. I'm going to enjoy this ride until long after it's over. Now, with the offseason looming, KC has a lot of work to do. They have to figure out how to re-sign Chris Jones, Lajarius Sneed (who should have been an all-pro this year), and Willie Gay Jr. The first two will be asking for, and are worth, top dollar at their positions. I really don't know that KC can retain both of them. I believe Donovan Smith is also a free agent. Welcome back Mecole Hardman! He was pretty absent during the portion of the regular season that he was in KC, but he really showed up in the Super Bowl. Happy for him. I couldn't believe what happened to Greenlaw on the sidelines. What a crazy freak injury. Hopefully he gets back to full health for the start of next season. Nick Allegereti, KC's backup left guard, also suffered a UCL (elbow ligament) injury in the second quarter, but was able to continue to play the game. After the game, they confirmed it was a full tear. What a trooper! He played very well in the AFC Championship and Super Bowl. Finally, KC has become the first team to go back-to-back since the 03-04 Patriots, which is incredible. It would be incredible to see a three-peat, but that hasn't been done yet in the NFL. If anyone is going to pull it off, I'd bet on Mahomes to do it. However, there was also like a 10 year gap between Brady's third Super Bowl title and his fourth; the NFL is a funny place to live. Back to work next season, and I can't wait. What a crazy ride this year. Anyone going to be checking out the UFL spring league?

Congrats!

Why is that?

That sounds like a really cool business!

I'd say a big guy getting blindsided by a smaller guy is likely to hurt, too. The blindside attack is kind of a force multiplier in a way, hence why people will do it.

I saw that advertised some time ago. It looked like it might be fun. Sounds like it's worth a watch.

The farther back you get in TKD history, especially the founding of the original kwans, the more true this is. It truly was "Korean Karate," because all the instructors had learned some form of Karate in Japan and brought it back to teach in Korea. All that started to go by the wayside when they started trying to unify the kwans.

2/5/2024 Aikido Class: 5:00 - 6:00 pm. Weapons class. We jumped right into the weapons work, starting with jo warmups, doing what the sensei referred to as "8 high" and then "4 low." Frist has 8 moves, done with a partner, and the second is 4 moves, with low attacks. Afterwards, he ran a format where he showed us jo kata 1, then we all did it at his pace, and from there it was practice by getting through as much as you could remember and then starting over. I can get about halfway through jo kata 1, and then it fades, but I felt good about that progress. We did the bokken next, with some strikes up and down the floor for warmup, and then bokken kata 1, which I can get through. We finished with a little work on proper kiai (what I've always called ki-hap). TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Black Belt Class. Warmup with do-kangs 1 and 2, then we moved right into the "Ho Sin Sul sparring." It went ok, and at one point the CI and I ended up in a ground fight. And I got gassed out. I forget how tiring grappling is. Add that to the fact that I'm not good at it, and that compounds the issue. I was able to work myself into some positions that I was trying to get to, which was good, but I always ended up back in some bad position. Overall, though, not a bad time, and I'd love to do more of it.

That's hard to say at this point. If he keeps putting in the work throughout high school (which I think he will), I could see him giving it a shot at a smaller school. Both my boys did Kids Wrestling (club wrestling is a better term, I guess), and my older boy had more success in kids wrestling than my younger son has to this point. Middle school wrestling is kind of a mixed bag. His experience in kids wrestling has definitely been a boon to his success in middle school so far.He plays football and baseball too, so he has options going forward. If he had a choice, I think he'd want to try to play football somewhere. If he does, if its a smaller school, he could probably give the wrestling team a shot, too.

One of my first TKD instructors texted me this week and told me he just got his BJJ black belt. He was at it for about 10 years, which tends to be the average. He also stated there were no testings/gradings (hence, no fees for that sort of thing either). It does take quite some time to move up in the ranks, and it isn't unusual to see a blue belt running classes. As for what students get thrown into in their first classes, I couldn't tell you. I'm sure this may vary from school to school, but I wouldn't doubt that new students get thrown into rolling on the first day. After all, what better way to learn to apply what you learn in the drills? I think this is a good thing. After all, you can't learn to swim without getting into the water.

Sounds great. Do you have some opening thoughts? I liked what someone posted earlier in the thread about how even though they were younger and larger than their grandmasters they know they have no chance. I think that was Montana.I'd like to take that thought back to whether he meant to beat them in a fight, or survive long enough to get away from them.