bushido_man96

I remember Phillips, and is subsequent arrest for domestic violence. It sounded like he was not a good person. Too bad he had to die in prison.

There is likely a process he can go through to contest everything. In the state of Kansas, we have the civil side, which affects driving privileges, and the criminal side, and both are handled separately. I wonder if Wisconsin has a similar process. At any rate, I'm sure he can afford a driver, and he likely won't see any jail time out of the deal. His attorney will likely cost him more than the fines he'd pay.

Yeah, it's been hot here too. I'm working nights, and the first part of the evenings are still pretty sultry, even when the sun goes down. And the humidity is bad, too. Supposed to cool off this week, which will be much appreciated.

That seems to be very similar to the BJJ way of attaining rank. You don't realize until they tell you. I must say, there are some things I appreciate about this approach.

I assume you are talking about the outfits the guys in the background are wearing? Those are different.

I know this is very late, but I had been waiting for Sensei's written feedback, but I think I'll have to remind him about it. Testing for 5th kyu, and these are my thoughts on how testing went. I hope to add Sensei's thoughts from the testing at the end. The first thing I got reminded of in testing is that things got sped up and the attacks came a lot faster, and at odd angles from some of the ukes. I also felt like the techniques were chunky at times. My work schedule (it was 3:00 pm – 11:00 pm at this time) and a hurt back also limited some training time. At times I felt some ukes were being overly compliant. A few times I didn’t feel like I had finished a technique and uke was falling down. I don’t like that, not one bit. I goofed on some weapons stuff, but got it fixed pretty quick. Sensei mentioned that if something got botched to just adapt and finish with whatever is there. I did this a few times. At the end, though, he wanted to see shomenuchi kokyunage or iriminage. I wanted to show both, but at one point I was messing up the entry for iriminage and ended up not doing either of the techniques. My partner just kept batting me on the head with shomen until I finally did an ikkyo. We were also allowed to ask for any technique we wanted to do. Others did kotegashi I think. I went with nikkyo from a same side lapel grab attack. I got it a few times, but also botched it and did a modified armbar takedown that was more Hapkido or Taekwondo or Defensive Tactics-like than an Aikido technique. I met with Sensei afterwards. He said I was the only one that ended up getting all the weapons material correct. He said my iriminage 5th kyu technique was solid. He said despite how I felt about testing I passed very clean. That felt good to hear.

7/31/2026 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: 6:45 - 8:15 pm. Three warmup rounds, moving through positions. I found a few sub opportunities along the way, and I would just enter the technique, but not set it for a sub. More guard play today. Which is good for me, because I end up there a lot. We played the game where the guard player controls the posture for a 3 count, or pulled the hip bump sweep, then switched roles. Then we progressed it to starting to set up the sweep and switching to a Kimura instead, or a guillotine if they decided to barrel forward into us and forcing us back down. From the guillotine position we could get a hook with our outside foot and flip them over and transition to the D'Arce of anaconda chokes we did the day before. I liked this series, and although I may not have all the sub options down, I feel good about the sweep into the Kimura We did do some live rolling tonight. I got 4 rounds in I think. I got tapped once on an ankle lock. As we were going I saw an opportunity to get into the leg entanglements and decided to just give it a try. I thought I had an opportunity for a kneebar, but when I sat back into it I didn't have my partner's movement restricted enough. We ended up scrambling around and he set the ankle lock while I was looking for one on him, and I didn't start to turn in time. There was a newer student there that I could hit submissions on, but otherwise, I was just surviving.

I think this is true. When a GB decides to make changes, how often to they speak to the students about how such changes may impact them? I think often, especially GBs populated with older Far Eastern men at their heads, they expect a student body to just acquiesce to the changes they make, because "loyalty." Then you end up with upset students, some of which might be high enough rank or have enough backing by their own students to break away, thus weakening the organization overall. The GB should address the student body and determine how changes might affect the rank and file of the organization before making wholesale changes. Unless they just truly don't care if they lose those students.

7/30/2026 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: 6:45 - 8:15 pm. Three warmup rounds. Got in some good positions and held them. Moved from mount to side control and back a few times. We spent time drilling the front headlock position and working on guillotine, anacondas, D'Arce chokes, and a Navy ride, and transitioning between them, or from one to the next. It was a lot of information. Then we went to closed guard and did some drills were the goal was to prevent the top player from posturing up and maintain it. Next we worked on a hip bump sweep, and progressed the drill to where the bottom player could win by containing the posture or using the sweep. We finished by doing a flow in guard from triangle to armbar to Omo plata. No free rolling, but that's ok because my back was still hurting anyway.

That foot pain is a bummer. Do you think its gout? Have you had it checked out? Good to see you working around it. I was curious, in your BJJ sessions, do you work takedowns very much, or do you tend to start on the floor?

I do remember the debate over those two. They were both highly touted. I think evaluation has gotten better over time, but in the end, as Marty Schottenheimer was known to say, your drafting a 22 year old kid that now has more money at his fingertips than he's likely every had before (exception, Johnny Manziel), and you just don't know how it's going to affect that person. Of course now you have colleges paying the players, so they get exposed to that kind of thing before they get to the league (some of them, anyway). I think the other big factor is that even in the college level, some of these guys are just so much better than their college counterparts. In the NFL, that goes away. I remember a training camp story told by Mark "Stink" Schlereth where some kid from the SEC was raising a ruckus in camp about "that's SEC football!" after doing something he thought was pretty spectacular. Then Stink lined up on him and basically blocked him off the field and proceeded to tell him "if that's SEC football, I'll take that all day" or something of that nature. The league has a way of balancing things out. I think biggest bust in history has to be JaMarcus Russell, drafted by the Raiders in 2007.

7/28/2026 Taekwondo: 5:45 - 6:30 pm. Taught Traditional Class. Prior to class, I went through Choi Yong hyung about 3 times. Balance still sucks. I did the first half of basics along with the students. The other 5th dan jumped into class and worked out. Basics flew by, and I even added stepping hook kicks into the side kick section for the higher ranks. Forms/one-steps for white, high green, low blue, middle brown, 2nd dan, 3rd dan, and me and the other 5th dan did our form together. Sparring: 6:30 - 7:00 pm. We just lined up and sparred today, like the good ol days. My back was feeling better, so I jumped in to spar for the first time in probably 3 months. Myself, a 2nd dan, and a 3rd dan were in class, and we all got to spar each other at least once. It was good. I tried to focus on countering when my partner's kicking leg was setting down, but but I often ended up trying to counter during the rechamber, and it got stuck a few times. I've got to keep working on the footwork and combinations, maybe square up a little more and see if it helps my balance.

I guess I haven't seen those outfits.

That is an interesting thing. I imagine Van Damme is celebrated in Brussels like that, too.

Ok, not a karateka, but I do dislike some of my forms from TKD. In the colored belt ranks, I don't like Choong Gun hyung. There is a section in the form that I can only describe as being "long;" long techniques that tend to slow the rhythm and flow that I just don't like. I can perform the hyung fine, but I don't enjoy it. In the black belt ranks thus far, I truly dislike Yoo Sin hyung, for much of the same reasons that I don't like Choong Gun. The beginning starts nicely, with some short, sharp combinations and the moves feel connected nicely. The middle of the form slows down and drags out, due to the "long" techniques, with some funky motions that I don't like.

7/23/2026 Taekwondo: 5:45 - 6:30 pm. Taught Traditional Class. During basics, I hammered rechamber on kicks and hand/foot timing on hand techniques when landing. Forms/one-steps for white, low orange, high green, low blue, middle brown, 2nd dan and 3rd dan. I did one-steps with the middle brown belt. We worked on spin heel kicks and foot placement for setting up the kicking combinations in the one-steps. I also helped her work on the round kick targets. When they start adding in the spins, they tend to change the way they are kicking regardless of the person that is the target in front of them. Sparring: 6:30 - 7:00 pm. Lots of drills. I had attacker do a skipping round kick to score (making contact), and they switched doing that back and forth. Getting moving and feeling the contact. Then a round of skipping round kick/spin side kick combination. Then rounds of skipping round kick, two punches, and finishing with a BL round kick. Finished the class with some sparring floor drills, doing combinations based off what we did in the drills above. I let them experiment with some different spinning kicks in their combinations. Our orange belt girl really focused on not stomping the floor when stepping in stances. When she gets that under control, we should be able to start adding more for her to focus on.

Hoping and praying for good news, Bob!

That's too bad those attempts fizzled out like that. It seems that Martial Arts for Martial Arts sake doesn't happen as much as it should.

A lot of our students tend to be rather heavy footed when stepping forward into front stances. Honestly, it was one of the first things I noticed when I went to watch a class there for the first time. It comes from watching high rank instructors do it in basics and demonstrating it. Step heavy, like a "power step," to add power when striking. This orange belt girl told me her dad told her it "adds power." I told her it can, under the right circumstances. But her circumstances aren't right. We do have some forms were there are stomps associated with some stepping and striking, but not a lot. And it's never something I joined in with the others in the school/organization doing. I like to control my steps with a little more finesse and let the power come from the hips and driving off the back foot.

7/21/2026 Taekwondo: 5:45 - 6:30 pm. Traditional Class, which I taught again. Regular basics. Forms/one-steps for low orange, low/high green, low blue, middle brown, 2nd dan and 3rd dan. Sparring: 6:30 - 7:00 pm. No drills, just sparring rounds. I did a round where I told them I wanted to see everyone throw a spin kick counter at least once, and then 2 more rounds where I told them they had to throw a repeat kick of some kind and a spinning counter. We finished with some footwork drills. I told my low orange belt gal that I wanted her to stop stomping/slapping her feet into the floor when transitioning between stances. It's slowing her techniques and stops her from gaining an rhythm. She's too heavy on the foot that is stepping forward. I told her to think more like regular walking when moving between stances.

The TGIF sitcom Step-by-Step had a martial artist in it, the odd brother Cody that lived in a camper on the property. Cody was played by Sasha Mitchell, who went on to star in some of the "later" Kickboxer movies. I recall an episode of Family Matters where Steve Urckle used a machine he built to become like Bruce Lee and did a fight scene. Side note, he was named an "honorary" black belt by the ATA.

I know Tony Blauer puts out a podcast, but I've yet to listen to it, as I have several podcasts that I already listen to (not MA related).

Agreed. He was still moving forward when he landed, and that appeared to do his leg in. Torn ACL I think it was. He couldn't drive off that leg afterwards. He fought at 145, sure, but he probably walked around at 160ish on the regular. All those guys cut quite a bit; it's as unhealthy as it is for wrestlers. I don't think his body should have been shocked by how much he weighed.

For the kicks, work slow and work low. Make the kicks really sound technically at knee level, and that'll transfer over when trying to get higher. I also like to lay on the floor on my side, propped up on my elbow, and do sets of side kicks, round kicks, hook kicks, and combination thereof. Don't have to worry about balance, and go as fast or as slow as you like. "Doggy kicks," while down on all fours, are good too. I like to do side kicks straight to the back, and round kicks to the sides.

7/13/2026 Taekwondo: 5:45 - 6:30 pm. Traditional Class. I taught. In basics, I was still hammering the slinky coil/uncoil principle. I added a set of front thrust kicks after the front snap kicks, along with some outside axe kicks. Forms and one-steps for white, low orange, low/high green, low blue, middle brown, and 2nd and 3rd dans. Our young high green belt gal (early teenager) is good. Really good, very solid in her techniques. And she should be, as he came to us from a Karate school that closed in town where she was a red belt I believe. I told her she's doing great with her technique and her form, but then I told her that she is "just doing" a form, and that she needs to start focusing and putting some spirit and emotion into the form, so that she starts doing her form. I also did one-steps with her since we had an odd number of students, and we worked on distancing, judging it better to make the one-steps better and to get her more confident in her techniques. As @sensei8 would say, helping her "mature in her technique." We have a new little white belt gal in class too. She's young, I'd say 10 at the most. She is sharp! She has her form down already, and not only that, when she did her form today, she fixed a chambering issue with her blocks that I spoke to her about last week. She also has her one-steps memorized, to the point that the 3rd dan working with her was calling the one-steps out randomly and she was able to knock them out without a hitch. Very cool. 6:30 - 7:00 pm. Sparring. I continued working on the counter kick when the attacker is dropping their kicking leg down to the ground. I let it run as a more natural sparring drill this time. I finished it by having them in open stance and trying spinning counters to the head. Afterwards, I asked them what they found that worked and what didn't. I worked with a low orange belt gal (early teenager) in the sparring drills. She's a project. She doesn't process stuff very fast, and when doing moves and techniques, she delays before throwing them, and throws slow. It might be a confidence issue. I was working with her on thinking less, and most important, keeping herself safe while sparring - moving more and being active with her feet, having a good base, and being strong with her body (I tell her "body strong" constantly). I have to bring her along more slowly than some of the other students, but when something sticks, it's very rewarding. My back is still causing me problems, and I can't move worth a darn. I'm hoping next week things are better. I miss being in class, and going to BJJ class.