bushido_man96

2/21/2024 TKD Class: 7:00 - 7:30 pm. T-shirt Class. I did some bag work that pertained to just a lot of consecutive kicking. I started with front kicks, alternating legs, until my lungs just burned and my legs started to fail on me. Rest, then the same with back leg round kicks, then the same with some back kicks. After some more rest, I put them together and did front kicks until my legs were burning, then switched to the round kicks, then to the back kicks. Stretching in The Rack afterwards. I also watched the CI do a 3 brick palm heel smash. 2/26/2024 Range Training: 13 hours out at the range working with our new pistols and sights. The department upgraded to red dot optics, and these took some getting used to. We are going from focusing on front sights with one eye closed to target focus with both eyes open. We spent a lot of time working on punching out on the draw and acquiring that red dot, and of course, firing rounds doing different drills at different ranges. This first day was spent on the pistol range shooting paper targets for the most part, with some multiple target drills. We finished in the evening by shooting our department night qualification, which I shot ok, but not as good as I would have liked. 2/27/2024 Range Training: 6 more hours of training with the new gun. Also new to these pistols is a 3 lb trigger, as opposed to the standard 5 lb trigger that came on our Glocks. I do like this trigger better. We spent time in the morning working on the rifle range with metal targets, working on what was called "parallax" with the sights, which involved moving the red dot to the edges of the frame of the optic and showing we could still hit the target. We increased our range to around 75 yards, and some of the guys were hitting steel at that range. We went back to the pistol range and did some shoot and move drills on more metal targets, working on improving our times through the course of 3 runs on each drill. Some of these drills were done strong hand only and weak hand only, which I did not enjoy. We finished the day with a qualification, which I got through, but was hoping to see improvement on. Lots of practice going forward will help. 3/3/2024 Today I did about 10 solid minutes of drawing and dryfiring. I purchased a Dry Fire Mag off Amazon, which is really neat little tool. It's a magazine with a spring loaded segment at the top that allows you to dryfire a semiautomatic pistol without having to cycle it after every shot. This lets me stay focused on the target between shots and work on trigger control on consecutive shots. The red dot optic also helps me see where I'm pushing or pulling the pistol when I pull the trigger. I think it'll be a very valuable training tool.

Hey, grading for first kyu! That's great! Do keep us posted on that!

We had the district championship this past Saturday. Kenneth went 1-2, but qualifies for state as they take the top 4 and there were only 4 in the bracket. His first match he won by pin in the 1st period. He did a kind of slide-by move to get behind the kid, then took him down, turned him, and pinned him. Match 2 was a good match for him, even in a loss. First period was spent mostly on their feet, and the other kid was really clubbing him. I was yelling at him to club him back, but he wasn't hearing me. In the second period, the opponent took bottom, and got an escape point. At on point, Kenneth got a headlock, but he had too much momentum and got rolled through, resulting in a takedown for the opponent. Kenneth was able to stand up, though, but didn't quite get the escape before the end of the period. In the third period, Kenneth got awarded a point for the other kid stalling, but it was too little, too late. He lost, 3-1. Afterwards I worked with him on a form of takedown to try, and we talked about not "overthrowing" on the headlock. I also told him he probably should have taken bottom in the third period, as I think he would have been able to stand up on the kid. I think if he wrestles him again, he can beat him. Lots of stalling, and it probably should have been called more. Last match was against the kid who won, quite a bit bigger and more mature. This kid and the other loss were both freshman, and the win was against another 8th grader. With all that said and done, Kenneth goes to state as a three seed, which means he'll get matched with a 2 seed from another district in the first round. It could be a bracket full of high schoolers, but I told him to try to stay positive, and to think about working towards next year. It also appears we will be doing some post-state wrestling. Kenneth got a chance to go to the Heartland Middle School Duals in Iowa at the end of the month, which will be a fun and challenging experience.

League champion! Kenneth had two other people to wrestle at the league tournament, but for some reason, one of them decided to forfeit his matches. Funny thing was, he stood on the podium afterwards at third place...I thought that was odd, and not really deserved. Anywho, Kenneth had one match with the same kid he'd wrestled 3 times already this year, and he took him all three periods and won, 7-0. Now he's signed up for kid's wrestling, and will compete in the district tournament on March 1.

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.