bushido_man96

Thanks, Alex. I'll keep working at it!

Yes, a variation of that. We haven't drilled it from the more upright position you've shown here, but its the same sweep. I was rolling with a big guy the other day, and man, that was tough, keeping him in guard. I couldn't lock the guard, so had to basically just dig my heels into his back. And trying to elevator on him was not really working.

I think you've got a long road to hoe here. To be honest, I don't think you are going to be able to start making the kind of money you would like right off the bat. Its going to take time to build a student base and getting the business going. I hope you can start hitting your goals soon, but getting a business up and running and supporting itself is difficult, let alone while trying to give a third of your profits to another cause. That said, I don't think its impossible, just that it might take more time to establish than you want it to. If you want to advertise on social media, like Facebook or otherwise, look for some area advertisers that specialize in such activities. If you want to give it a go on your own, start by creating your own FB page for your school, and share it with all your friends, and have them try to spread the word, as well. Some promotional ideas are allowing discounts for couples or families that sign up, or running a bring-a-friend promotion in which you discount your current students if they can convince a friend to sign up. Ideas like this could help you to get the ball rolling, and I hope it helps you out. Best of luck to you!

If you want to build muscle, the single best way to do that is to get on a strength training program utilizing multi-joint, compound lifts, like the squat, press, deadlift, bench press, power clean, and such. If this is new to you, I recommend reading a book titled Starting Strength, by Mark Rippetoe. He has the information you need on how to do the lifts correctly, on why you should do these lifts, he provides a basic 3-day-a-week workout program involving linear progression that will get you off to a great start. He also recommends drinking milk as part of the plan to gain some weight.

Nice regimen you have there, Alberic. I like seeing new and different approaches to training. Glad to have you here at KF, as well! 11/30/2015 Strength Training Squats: warm-ups: 45x5x2, 135x5, 165x5; work sets: 197.5x5, 228x5, 258.5x10. This was a quick run through at the gym today, since I had to spend an extra hour of my time in line getting my tags renewed. Taught TKD Class: 6:00 - 7:00 pm. Basics, forms, one-steps, and some sparring. I had a lot of white belt kids, and just a few higher ranked ones, so the white belts did lots of combinations, and went over the various sparring rules with them, along with having them work on some different things to make their combinations practice more purposeful. The two higher ranked kids got to spar a couple of extra rounds together. 12/01/2015 Strength Training Front squats: 45x5, 95x5, 115x5, 135x5. Power cleans: 127x3, 127x3, 127x3, 127x3, 127x3. Taught TKD Class: 6:00 - 7:00 pm. Prior to class starting, I was holding focus pads for the kids, and they all ran through working a combination: back leg front kick, land forward and reverse punch, step forward and lunge punch with the same hand, followed by another back leg front kick. They really got moving with it, too. They flowed well, all of them, and was the first we had done this particular combination. Basics, forms, one-steps (making sure all white belts got through all 7 one-steps), and sparring. More higher ranked kids in this class, so they did some more sparring.

Congrats!

Alex makes a lot of good points here. I don't think it would be the best option to have on the belt, I don't necessarily think it wouldn't work. These guys aren't going to be learning to twirl these like Bruce Lee did in Enter the Dragon. The methods they use will be much simpler, more like baton usage as far as striking goes, but with the added element of control it can offer. With that said, I do think the collapsible baton is a better option than these. I don't know how many departments actually use the nightstick anymore, but I haven't seen one anywhere I've gone. Collapsibles like the Manadanok or ASP have become the norm. As for the term "non-lethal," its mainly based on how the tool is trained. Try not to get too hung up on the terminology. Can a baton kill? Yes. Do we as officers train to kill with it? No. Most baton training systems are designed to subdue as opposed to try to kill someone, by training officers to not aim at areas like the head and neck, but at the fleshy parts of the arms and legs, or the joints. Although it can kill if need be, that's not the point of it, like a firearm. I don't know of any departments that train with firearms to shoot someone in the legs or arms. Training is to hit center mass, therefore, the tool is lethal.

These are all valid points to make in regards to LEO training. Our department trains monthly with firearms, either qualifying, or working some other aspect of proficiency, like Simunitions training or training malfunction drills, shooting from vehicles, etc. And this is not the norm for many departments. Monthly training is a great thing. Also, not every department has specialized units. That's a benefit of bigger, better funded departments.

If these are your two options, you should go watch a few classes of each if you can, and then speak with each of the instructors, and ask any questions you have about training, schedules, etc. You'll want to make sure that the quality of the class is high.

I'm happy for you and your child's experience here! Its a great thing, and it sounds like you are on the right track to keep her interested and excited about going. It also sounds like she's really self-motivated, which is a great thing. Do keep up posted on her training, and your training!

I like the padwork, a lot. I saw a clip of Iain Abernethy demonstrating some pad work on my FB page the other day, as well, and it caught my eye. I think being able to translate forms work or other prearranged movements into padwork helps the practitioners see the benefit of it. The pads also offer feedback that doing a kata or form alone cannot. Thanks for sharing these links.

Thanks for taking the time to link those examples to it. I appreciate that. Something you mentioned in the ball and chain recap was in regards to "not initiating a scramble," and that the scramble belonged to athleticism. That is probably my biggest weakness in the DT mat room; I'm not in good shape, and would not consider myself athletic, and I have a tough time keeping up with the younger, more athletic guys in the room; especially talented Wrestlers. So, that is something I constantly battle in the mat room.

This was something different. We do work on an elevator sweep, but we don't utilize both legs like you did here. We usually teach it when we teach getting back to guard from top person in side control, or in working an elbow/knee escape. But, we don't train in a gi, either, so I'm not sure how much of a difference that would make.

These are all great points, and the fact that MA really as no "off-season" is one of the major reasons I haven't started my boys in TKD. I don't want to start them and then after 6 months, they decide they don't want to go anymore. Nor do I want to push them into it just because its what I like to do. Both of my boys Wrestle now. I do count that as Martial Arts training for them, and it is possible for it to be a year-round activity, but it is a very long season, and it really drives kids physically and mentally, especially when looking at competing just about every weekend. When that season is over, its maybe a week off, and then we jump into baseball. The fact that baseball is something fresh, they usually are ready to jump into it. So, what is the answer to avoiding burnout in young Martial Artists? I don't know. Perhaps breaking the year up into segments would be a good idea for the youth of the Martial Arts. Maybe a 3 months on, 1 month off rotation? As long as they stay active in some way during that time, jumping back in shouldn't be too tough. Perhaps instead of taking a month off, that month of the rotation is just a one-class-per-week month. They can keep movement patterns fresh, but not worry about training for testing or anything like that.

Instead of playing catch-up here with my workout log, which seems rather a pointless endeavor, I want to just hit on a few milestones that I've hit in training up to this point, mainly in the strength training aspects, and then pick up with the training log from there. 9/21/2015, I did 322 lbs for 3 sets of 5 on squats. My previous 1RM was 325 lbs, so I was pretty pumped to be hitting this weight for reps and sets. 9/25/2015, Kendall and I missed this day of training due to illness. 9/28/2015, came back from the sick day, and my body had trouble maintaining the squat weight I worked up to. I backed the weight off to 315 lbs, with my last two sets done at that weight. 10/5/2015, after feeling like I was not recovering enough from my squat sessions, I decided to switch to the 5/3/1 programming that I had Kendall working on since the start of his football season. I like the programming here because it offers me some flexibility in exercises, especially when it comes to time constraints, and part of the programming is to max out the reps on the last set of the major exercise for the day, which has been fun. On Mondays, I do squats and power cleans. On Wednesdays, I do press and assistance exercises like pull-ups and lying triceps extensions. On Fridays, I do deadlifts and power snatches. I'm still using linear progression at the novice level with the power movements, as I haven't loaded a lot of weight on them yet. What's nice about this program is that if I need to, I can slide power cleans to Tuesdays if it works out better for my schedule, and I probably will do that once the loads get heavier. For now, though, this is my program. 11/9/15, last set of squats was 279.5 for a set of 5. 11/12/15, last set of press was 128.5 for a set of 5. 11/13/15, last set of deadlifts was 294.5 for a set of 7. 11/20/15, power snatches at 97. 11/24/2015, power cleans at 127. 11/24/2015 Taught TKD Class: 6:00 - 7:00 pm. Fealt so good to be back!

We don't really have anything written down, but we do have a set of basics that is always done at the beginning of class, which helps as an organizational tool. It also provides students with a workout set to use when at home, in case they have trouble coming up with something on their own.

I'm with you here. When its cold, its harder for me to get warmed up and loosened up, and I just don't feel as good when I train. It just takes me gritting my teeth and getting to the school, and then things start to feel better.

Its tough to determine. It really depends on the kids, and how they develop physically as well as how they train. Once they start getting into the junior high age groups, you start to see how they are approaching the training outside of the school, and how it affects them in the school. At least, in my experience.

Solid post!! This is a good point, but I think its important to not let go of that experience. After all, its valuable and hard won. But setting it aside so as to have an open mind during the class is the hard part.

I have an experience based off this. I went to an "invite-a-friend" night to a class in a style the instructor called "3-in-1," where they practiced TKD, HKD, and BJJ mixed together. When I got there and spoke with the instructor, he insisted I wear my rank (I can't remember if it was 3rd or 4th dan at the time) and line up at the head of the class. I did so, but was rather reluctant to. I did appreciate the recognition of rank and the respect he showed me, but it was a bit uncomfortable. If I would have been showing up just for an open workout together or something of that nature, then it would have been cool. But to come to a class I was invited to, and line up in front of those who were his students, was an odd feeling.

That clip of GM Cho is impressive. He is really popping that thing!

I like to watch MMA. I don't like to watch pre and post fight interviews. If we did away with all that, I think the fights would be much more fun to watch. But, Rousey said a long time ago she didn't mind playing the heel. A big part of the fight game is the mental game they play, too, and so we have the face offs and the disrespectfulness. That said, I think the rematch will be a much better fight. Rousey is a competitor, and this will drive her to get better. Watch her stand-up improve.

I like these options here. It reminds me of what I've heard called the "fat man roll" in Wrestling, where you hook the arm and then roll them. My son has tried to use it quite a bit. Very good tips on checking the leg, keeping pressure on the partner, and then turning back to side control. I like it. Thanks for sharing again, Alex!

9/9/2015 Strength Training Squats: warm-ups: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x3; work sets: 251x5, 251x5, 251x5. Push Press: warm-ups: 45x5x3, 95x5, 115x5; work sets: 138x5, 138x5, 138x5. Jump Chins: 6, 6, 6 (supersetted with push press). Lat Pull-downs: 120x10x3 (supersetted with push press). 45 degree Back Ext: BW+10x10x3 9/11/2015 Strength Training Squats: warm-ups: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x3, 275x1; work sets: 316x5, 316x5, 316x5. I was pumped about hitting this number, getting to put three 45lb plates on each side. Press: warm-ups: 45x5x3, 75x5, 95x5; work sets: 124x5, 124x5, 124x5. Deadlifts: warm-ups: 135x5, 225x5; work set: 325x5. 9/14/2015 Strength Training Squats: warm-ups: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x3, 295x1; work sets: 318x5, 318x5, 318x5. Push Press: warm-ups: 45x5x3, 95x5, 115x5; work sets: 139x5, 139x5, 139x5. Jump Chins: 6, 6, 6 (supersetted with press). 45 degree Back Ext: BW+10x10x3 (supersetted with press).

You may want to try something a bit lower intensity, like just some medium or faster speed walking for 20 to 30 minutes, until your back gets better.