bushido_man96

Good luck with your upcoming test!

Happy Birthday KF! What a great run we've had here!

That's the beauty of this place. The price of the class includes all of the materials. They provide the W-2 steel, the clay, the wood, the rayskin, the bronze, the silk cords... everything. They do some add-ons for some of their classes, but again, they rpovide all of the materials and equipment. That is really cool. How long is the class? Does it take place over the course of a couple of weeks? What is the cost, if you don't mind me asking?

That's quite the layout, Keith. Thanks for sharing your perspective. At our school, we have "traditional" classes, and these classes are all pretty much the same layout: basics, forms, one-steps, and sparring (if the instructor doesn't lollygag and actually get to it; all too often anymore, there isn't as much sparring). We have separate classes as well; we have out black belt class, in which we've been doing a rotation of forms focus one week, and a Ho Sin Sul focus the following week. The other class is a "T-shirt" class, which is more informal, and students can roll out the bags and kick all class, and we'll often spend time sparring, or we can pair up and do some different partner work if we would like to.

Yeah, that's the approach that I take. I know I'll get back to it, with a slight reset, and just start back down the road again. 5/20/2023 Women's Self-Defense Class: 9:00 am - 12:00 pm. This was put on at the TKD school, arranged by the CI and a domestic violence and abuse advocacy we have here called Options. We started the gig with about 16 attendees, and finished with 14 after a few had to leave early. Overall, it was a decent seminar.

Thanks, me too! Am cheering myself up with the fact that Saturday is deadlift day! I'm at the point that I never cheer for deadlift day anymore!

That sounds really cool! Do you have to supply the materials for the katana class? Or are they provided? I'm really interested in seeing how that goes for you!

I've seen classes where there is total consistency, and no variation; as a student, I hated that. It's good to see some variance.

I weigh around 260 lbs right now, so whatever percentage that is. 5/12/2023 Strength Training Rowing Machine: 2 minute warmup. Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x5, 225x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 115x3, 135x2, 159x4, 159x5, 159x4, 159x2. Snatch Grip Deadlifts: 205x3, 245x2, 270x5, 270x5. 5/15/2023 Strength Training Rowing Machine: 2 minute warmup. Lat Pull-downs: 160x10, 160x10, 160x10. Iso-Lateral Bench Press: 85x10, 85x10, 85x10 (42.5). I didn't do any of the big lifts on this day because I was starting to have some issues with light headedness, which is often a precursor to a Meniere's flare up. If I get under heavy weight and Valsalva, it can set it off (had that happen before). So I did the assistance work I felt I could do, so I wouldn't skip the day altogether. That night, the wheels came off. Had a flare up that night, woke up with my head spinning. I've been fighting it all the following week, too, and missed a whole week of training. Hoping to get back on track soon.

Yuck, food poisoning. Glad you are feeling better!

Thank you for posting this review.

5/8/2023 Strength Training Rowing Machine: 2 minute warmup. Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 245x1, 275x5, 275x5, 275x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 115x3, 135x2, 158x4, 158x4, 158x4, 158x4. Lat Pull-downs: 157.5x10, 157.5x10, 157.5x10 Iso-Lateral Bench Press: 80x10, 80x10, 80x10 (40). Couldn't get any sets of 5 on press today, but could get 4, so the setup is now 4 sets of 4, for a total of 16 reps, until it drops to sets of 3. TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Black Belt Class. Pre-class calisthenic warmup. Hit forms in class today. Chon Ji, Dan Gun, Bo Choong, then rest; Do San and Won Hyo, then rest; Yul Kok and Jung Gun, then rest; Toi Gye and Hwa Hwrang, then rest; Choong Moo, a rest, and then Gae Baek. We rotated with another first degree who was being evaluated on his performance.

Congrats!

5/5/2023 Strength Training Rowing Machine: 2 minute warmup. Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 270x5, 270x5, 270x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 115x3, 135x2, 157x4, 157x5, 157x5, 157x1. Lat Pull-downs: 155x10, 155x10, 155x10. Iso-Lateral Bench Press: 75x10, 75x10, 75x10 (37.5). I get the feeling press is going to slow down. Only got 4 reps on the first set, but tried for the 5th. Surprisingly, the next two sets went for 5. Finished with a single to get my 15 total reps. Starting to chalk my hands for squat, and it's helping with the bar slippage.

This is what I'm using: https://www.lifefitness.com/en-us/catalog/strength-training/plate-loaded/plate-loaded/iso-lateral-bench-press It seems to be doing the job right now. I don't notice a lot of stress on my shoulders, and I feel that I'm getting the work in my chest that I want. 5/3/2023 Strength Training Rowing Machine: 2 minute warmup. Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x5, 225x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 115x3, 135x2, 156x5, 156x5, 156x5. Deadlifts: 185x5, 225x3, 315x1, 360x5. Iso-Lateral Bench Press: 70x10, 70x10, 70x10. You mentioned the press, DP; it's definitely getting harder now. I'm trying as hard as I can to relegate the most layback to the last few reps of each set, but I find myself doing more layback as the weight goes up. There is nothing wrong with this, other than I wish I didn't have to layback so much at such light weight. The deadlifts felt heavy today. But slow and steady they went up, which is what counts.

Good on the band assisted chins/pulls. Can you do any unassisted at all? I've been hitting the lat pull-downs regularly so I can hopefully get to where I can do a full chin up.

I have seen the same issues in flow drills as well, Noah. I've seen some put together merely because they "look cool," which is even worse, as there is no practicality based behind them. I honestly think that is the issue with some of our one-steps and three-steps.

It's good to hear that moving around is helping with your pain. Motion is lotion. The seminar sounds like an excellent opportunity. Enjoy that!

Being in the moment, to me, sounds like Zanshin, which he really only discussed briefly at the end of the chapter. It probably should have been more of the focus of the chapter.

4/28/2023 Strength Training Rowing Machine: 2 minute warmup. Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 260x5, 260x5, 260x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 115x3, 135x2, 154x5, 154x5, 154x5. Lat Pull-downs: 150x10, 150x10, 150x10. Iso-lateral Bench Press: 60x10, 60x10, 60x10 (30). 5/1/2023 Strength Training Rowing Machine: 2 minute warmup. Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 265x5, 265x5, 265x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 115x3, 135x1, 155x5, 155x5 1/2, 155x5. Lat Pull-downs: 152.5x10, 152.5x10, 152.5x10. Iso-lateral Bench Press: 65x10, 65x10, 65x10 (32.5). I'm starting to notice the weight shifting forward on some of the squat reps, so I'm trying to fix that issue as the weight gets heavier. On rep 5 of press set 2, I must have got it out of the groove, because it died halfway up and came back down. I grinded out a full rep to complete the set. These sets are definitely feeling heavier, and I'm starting to notice I'm having to get more layback earlier in the sets to finish them. My work schedule has rotated again, and I'm back to working afternoons with weekends off, which is not good for the TKD class schedule.

Keep up the hard work! You're at the point where the rubber meets the road; you can see why some people start to drop out at this point. But you've resolved yourself to see it through; good for you!

I don't know these kata, but I find the list interesting none the less. Thanks for sharing it.

I've done some striking flow drills in the past, some from DT courses I've attended and found useful. We've started doing them more in our self-defense focused classes. Some of the basic ones we do are more for a warmup than having a practical application. When we get into the other ones, I have a tendency to want to get outside on the drills, putting me at an advantage to the attacker, so a lot of mine will start involving stepping. I've also done some in a grappling context, again picked up from a GRACIE DT seminar I attended years ago. I really like doing these.

One of the legends. RIP.

4/24/2023 Strength Training Rowing Machine: 2 minute warmup. Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 255x5, 255x5, 255x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 115x3, 135x2, 152x5, 152x5, 152x5. Lat Pull-downs: 145x10, 145x10, 145x10. Iso-Lateral Bench Press: 50x10, 50x10, 50x10 (25). I really hammered through the session today, and it went pretty quick. I'm going to focus on this pace. Had some family stuff going on, so didn't make it to class this night. 4/26/2023 SIMS Training: 2 hours of SIMS training at the work today. Six scenarios; some building searches, and some traffic stops. Always a little stressful, always learn a lot. Great use-of-force training. Strength Training Rowing Machine: 2 minute warmup. Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x5, 225x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 115x3, 135x2, 153x5, 153x5, 153x5. Snatch Grip Deadlifts: 185x3, 225x2, 265x5, 265x5. Iso-Lateral Bench Press: 55x10, 55x10, 55x10 (27.5). The light squat seems to still be helping out like I want it to, so I'll stick with it moving forward. In a few weeks, I'll look at adjusting the load. I got the press warmed up and the first set done between the two squat sets, which made the workout run smoothly and I stayed nice and warm the whole time. My right knee was really hurting from the SIMS training earlier; lots of kneeling down and looking under vehicles aggravated it. I really felt the pain in my knee when pulling, but I stuck it out, and was glad to get the sets done. Iso-Bench is still going well, so long as I find and keep that right groove. As the weight keeps going up, I'll start reducing the reps. Press has been feeling pretty good this week. TKD Class: T-Shirt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. I spent the first 2/3 of class working on Sanchin kata. I'm not all the way through it yet, but it's coming along. I'm still not sure I'm doing the stance properly; not sure how wide I should be, or how deep I should set, so I'm just playing with it as I'm going forward. Working on the breathing, too. I'm not going to be doing some of the funny breathing methods and making funny noises like I've seen in some videos, but I'm working on inhaling/exhaling at the proper places. Although the moves are fairly simple, I found myself getting some pretty good work in. Next, we sparred. I hadn't sparred in quite some time. There were 7 of us in class, and everyone got to spar everyone. We did 45 second matches, then rotated, rested shortly, and went again. My kicks seemed to be working decently; need to clean up some of the spinning stuff, and especially focus on the timing for the spinning counters. Overall, I felt like I was moving well and putting things together ok.