bushido_man96

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.

I agree here, Luther. The family that kicks together, sticks together!

I agree completely. I really believe I started making improvements in all aspects of my Martial Arts when I started teaching on a more regular basis. Attention to detail becomes so important, because you have so many eyes watching you demonstrate all the time. And they students will attempt to do it the way you showed, so it has to be spot-on. Another aspect it that it makes you more flexible in your thinking and approach to teaching. It's easy for us to teach things the way we learned them, but at times we have to pivot because not everyone learns the same way. Sometimes we have to find different verbal or physical cues to get a concept across. This is a great thing, as it expands our thoughts and can even force us to talk to other instructors for methods and approaches that have worked for them. The more ways we can see the same thing, the better we make ourselves. I'm a big believer in the adage, "When one teaches, two learn."

I would agree that it's not a marketing ploy. Hwang Kee, back when General Choi and then the KTA was making the push to unify all the kwans, was pretty resistant to it, and never did get pulled under the umbrella. Some of his students, however, did do so, hence why there ended up being MDK TKD and MDK TSD.

His Super Bowl resume is outstanding. His draft pick rating over the course of the past few years has not been impressive. I don't think there are many teams that have done a decent job identifying and drafting talent over the past few years want to give up that aspect of control, and that is part of the control that Bilicheck wants. I saw a new story the other day that I don't think has any credence to it at all in which the author stated he thinks there's a high probability that Reid retires after this year and Bilicheck takes over as KC's new head coach. I don't think there is any way that happens, because Brett Veach has done a fantastic job of signing and drafting players. I also don't think Reid retires after this year. I think he has a few more years in him.

Jerry Jones likes to be in control and have the spotlight. Bill Billichek likes to be in control. This is an arrangement that will not likely happen. Jones had enough trouble with Parcels.

Sounds great. Do you have some opening thoughts?

Another scramble yesterday, and Kenneth got 2 wins via pin. Kenneth won his first match by pin in the second period, with a pretty nasty throw from a headlock. The kid he wrestled was one he wrestled several times last year, but the kid had gotten quite a bit taller and filled out a bit from last year (but I believe the kid is wrestling a weight class below Kenneth). The kid is notorious for coming in high and trying to headlock. Kenneth countered it beautifully with his own throw in the second period, and went right into the pin. He told me after the match he told the kid to learn from his mistakes, especially seeing as he had made the same mistake twice in the same match. The second match was against a kid much bigger than Kenneth, but not as experienced, and he wrestled him earlier in the season. He took a totally different approach in this match; he snapped the kid down to the takedown, and then worked to pin him from there. When he snapped him down, the kid was flat out on his stomach, and he had a perfect setup to run an Iowa, but he spun around him instead and worked his pin that way. I let him know about that after the match. I wish he would have had more matches, but another pair of wins is great.

That's the thing in the NFL. Just because someone "hasn't done it yet" doesn't mean they can't do it. Sometimes you just run into the better team. I remember the Broncos losing several Super Bowls before they finally got theirs. And the woes of the Vikings and the Bills in Super Bowls is legendary as well. It's hard to get there, let alone win one.

1/31/2024 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 215x3, 215x3, 215x3. Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 95x3, 120x5, 120x5, 120x5. TKD Class: 7:05 - 7:50 pm. T-shirt Class. Lots of bag work tonight. Warmed up with jabs circling the bag, both right and left hand, a couple sets of each. Next was jab/cross, circling the bag, from both sides. Then jab/cross/hook, circling the bag, both sides (switching leads, that is). Finished with some uppercut work. Next was kicking. 10 each of front kicks (front and back legs), round kicks, and side kicks. Then I started my angle work. Side step and lead leg round kicks, then side step and back leg round kicks, then both of those with front kicks. Finished with a little speed bag work, and then a nice stretch in The Rack. I did some PNF type stretching by contracting my muscles against the leg supports.

I appreciate that.

This is a great point. Many times, what students learn from a master has to do with what time in that master's life they learned it from them. A young, spry master will move and respond to things much differently than an elderly master. As much as we'd all like to think we do things the same now as we did when we were 20 years younger, the fact of the matter is that we have likely made some adjustments as we've gone along. It's the natural evolution of things. I think this carries over into how a master teaches things, as well. I believe our Martial Arts are supposed to evolve along with us, and different students of ours will reflect the different aspects we've presented throughout our journey. I've been through this. I've attained black belt certificates in two different TKD organizations. Two different curriculums. However, it didn't change the fact that I was already a black belt. They can choose not to recognize it, but they can't take it away from me.

Boy, it really sucked. In the future, we should maybe go straight to the root canal. Save a lot of pain and suffering.

Sorry about that, Ken. I thought the Lions had a good shot to win that game. I didn't get to watch all of it, so I don't what flipped on them. I saw that they jumped out to an early lead, but the Niner's closed it by the time I had to leave. The good news is I think the Lions are built to make a run for a few years. I agree that they've got a great coach who can keep improving over the next few seasons. That Ravens defense was stout in the second half. KC couldn't get any offense going, which was a problem in the regular season in the second half of games. I'm going to chalk it up to a great defensive team making some great adjustments. MVS, for all the struggles he's had this year, came up big in the last two games when the Chiefs needed him. Kelce has been great the last two games, and now I just need him to set some Super Bowl tight end records. The KC defense came up big with two turnovers, the obvious difference in the game. I never thought as a Chiefs fan I'd see a run like this. It's truly just awesome to watch.

If this is the case, then I think it is far easier for the smaller person to turn the tables enough against a larger attacker in order to stifle the attack, reduce the damage done, and get away from the situation. This brings on a whole bunch of other aspects. Starting with being aware of your surroundings (situational awareness), learning to notice pre-contact cues given off by an attacker, things of that nature.

I don't know what other parts of the US or the world is like, but around here it isn't uncommon for a husband and wife couple to start up a small business and run it together. Many successful business start and continue this way. Sure, there can always be things that upend a business, but things can happen if isn't run by a couple. The important thing is for two responsible adults to remain professional at all times. I'm willing to bet that MA politics have wrecked and ruined more associations, clubs, and schools than couples have. I'll never apologize for meeting my wife in the do-jang.

1/29/2024 TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Black Belt Class. Light stretching prior to class (really light, like almost take a nap light). At the beginning of class we went through all one-steps and three-steps. I managed to stumble my way through 12 three-steps, with a little help. After that was sparring. There was only three of us, so we did some round robins, two matches with each person. I sparred each person differently, which was kind of fun. The first match, a younger kid who is really tall, way taller than me, I tried to work my angles on, and did for the most part. He got a kick to my head once, and I didn't let that happen again. In our second match, I started up a step spin side kick, and while I was coming in, he lifted his leg up, and my kick went under and stung him in the back of the leg, close to his butt. Charlied him up a little, but he was ok. The second person, the CI, who is about my height, I sparred more by keeping him at a distance with my kicks, side kicks and round kicks. If we crashed together, I'd work back outside to my kicks, or spin and counter. One left me on the floor (too close to throw a spin crescent), but it was fun. At one point in our second match, my do-bok tie came undone, so I grabbed it and started twirling it around. It made for a good distraction. The kid chuckled about it, and I told him, "Sometimes fighting isn't about fighting." Finished with a stretch.

Thanks, DP. This weekend's tournament was another success. He had three matches; would have four, but a kid forfeited a match. He pinned all three and took first place again.

I haven't posted an update here in way to long, so here we are. My youngest son is still wrestling, and this is his 8th grade year. His first tournament, he won two matches by pin, and got first place. Unfortunately, he lost out on having another match due to weather preventing some teams from making the trip. His second tournament was the same Saturday of that week, and he wrestled three matches, winning all three by pin, locking up another first place medal. He did so while being in a lot of pain due to a dentist visit that happened the day before. He had a cavity filled, and the dentist stated it might need a root canal. Well, the filling didn't really take, and he ended up running a fever and having horrible pain in his jaw. He wrestled anyway, winning his three matches. The next several days were filled with pain and fever, and he had to stay home from school, and ended up getting the root canal in the middle of the week. After the root canal, it was a night and day difference. He finally went back to school today (Friday), practiced without any issues, but has lost about 10 lbs due to not being able to eat much from the pain. He missed the Thursday tournament this week, but he will be wrestling this Saturday, and I'll update that this weekend.

1/25/2024 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 210x3, 210x3, 210x3. Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 95x3, 115x5, 115x5, 115x5. After too many days off again, things felt ok. 1/26/2024 Strength Training Deadlifts: 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275x1, 300x3, 300x3. Bench Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 95x5, 120x5, 120x5, 120x5. It's been 15 days since my last deadlift session. Too long. Still, I was able to up the weight and pull the required reps and sets. However, it has taken a toll on how my head is feeling. Hopefully, it passes after some time.

Great news, and still plenty of time to get things in order.

I'm still surprised by the Mike Vrabel situation. I really hope he finds a job soon. He did a great job in Tennessee, and I think they will realize how good a job he did after releasing him.