bushido_man96

I notice the sad face here, so I was wondering, why the sad face? I really don't think its too big of a deal that it has changed some over the years. Even the "ancient masters" made changes. Its a mark of exploring and improvement.

If you are happy, then stay. As also suggested, checking out other schools and getting a feel for where you lie in regards to them might help ease your mind a little. But if its not a bother to you, then don't worry about it.

Thank you, sir! I've been having a great time, and learing a lot. A great opportunity, in deed.

6/5/2013 Gracie Combatives, Day 3: More review, and more reps, which is helping a lot. We added cuffing setups to the Kimura and the arm bar. We aslo worked from the headlocks some more, and had a variation where we were headlocked on the ground. We would secure the arm, get a leg over, and straighten/walk up onto their back, or if they had a leg based, we would basically post onto our head, hips up and on our toes, drive our shoulder into their shoulder, upon which time they would release, and we could work to cuffing. We also did some punch defense with bad guy in guard, blocking with knees and securing the arms at the biceps, trying to get the foot to the hip, achieving this on both sides. From there, we would go to a leg down, shrimp a bit, knee blocking the other arm, bring the other leg up and over to touch heel to knee. We could strike from there, and keep them away for the most part. I think we could go to the armbar from there, as well. We did another variation from guard, where the bad guy would be savvy and keep his head close to our body, and pop up for a quick strike and then back down. We would get our arms inside, push his head away from our gun side with both hands, then bring the leg up and grab the pant leg, and secure the other arm, and try to hold. If they posted their hand or went for the gun, we would go to Kimura. Lots of fun stuff, but trying to remember and write it down later is hard at times, but I keep trying to think through it. More reps tomorrow, and I hope it all falls into place. So far, so good.

I agree with Wastelander on having off days. If you are going to be training that much, then it would probably be wiser to decide if you want more focus on MA or on lifting. Pick one, and let the other supplement it. If you only get two days a week lifting, then so be it. I've read that for MAists, the 5/3/1 has some really good setup variants that makes it great for atheltes who don't focus on lifting, but use it as a supplement to their other training. Also, if your current gym doesn't have a squat rack, then try to find another gym. If you can't find one, then do what you can to buy your own, especially if you plan to really committ to the 5x5 program. Otherwise, your progression will catch up with you, and you won't be able to add weight to your squats.

Personally, I think there's a bit too much bicep dumbell exercises in there. You don't need quite that much, especially if you are looking to build power, as your thread title describes your routine. I don't see a lot of power building in it at all, other than the squats. What is the "lifeline" used with the shoulder press, and are those with dumbells or barbells?

An update here. So far, the course is going really well. Royce is such a great teacher, and so smooth with everything he does. He has an assistant with him as well, Mark Baumeister, and he is a great guy as well, and has been very helpful with me so far. Both guys are just so cool, mellow, and easy-going. They are both very approachable, and always helpful, always positive. Royce is really big on giving us lots of reps, lots of review, and going in slow motion as we train. He also has us talk our way through the techniques while doing them, which is great for memory retention, and great prep for teaching this stuff later on. Royce has been teaching us the techniques a bit at a time, moving from the setups to the submissions, and then adding in the movements into cuffing techniques after compliance has been gained. This course has been an awesome experience, and I'll remember this forever. Royce has been cool enough to pose for a few pictures with me, as well as Mark, and Royce also signed one of his books I've had for quite some time. For those of you looking into some info of the techniques we've been working on, I've been updating that in The Martial Artists' Training Log thread in the Health, Training, and Fitness forum.

Today, he showed us a combination (I guess you would call it that) where we try to set up for that sweep, and then bad guy bases out to avoid the sweep. From there, we went into the elbow escape. Pretty smooth, but man I need a lot of work.

You're welcome, Bob. I think its a ways down the line, but I wonder if my teacher will still be active by the time it happens, or not. I hope he is, because he has a lot more contacts throught the association then I do, and I would be lost wandering in the wilderness. But, if I had to go it alone, I have some ideas of how I would want to run things.

I like to stretch at the end of a class, because the muscles are nice and warm. But, I have a hard time getting them to warm early on, and my kicks tend to suffer for it. I can't kick nearly as high as I used to early on in a class. I think more dynamic warmups might help with that, but I've only messed with dynamic stretching a little bit.

They don't control what gets shown at all. The Olympic Broadcasting Service films it all and it's up to the networks to pick what they want to broadcast and then to put their commentary and graphics on top. During London the BBC were pretty amazing and we had access to every single sport... could watch whatever you wanted. I suppose this might be a bit controversial on here... but why is wrestling being in the olympics such a big deal? I know that it was part of the Ancient Greek Olympics but so was chariot racing and running in full or partial armour (the hoplitodromos). It's one of the most "democratic" in that it doesn't require a lot of money to participate and almost all cultures have a traditional form of wrestling. Combine that with the number of countries have strong wrestling traditions and a long history of competition and you have a strong Olympic tradition. There is part of me that wonders why so many things are included in the Olympic games that have never been true competitive sports. Synch. swimming, diving, table tennis etc. My question, why not? And I'm all for bringing back Hoplitrodromos. Either in classical divisions with greaves, breast plate and helmet, or modern with full level III military grade vest, helmet and combat boots. But, I'm weird like that. Do we still get the triatholon? Ride, shoot, fight? I tend to agree with ShoriKid here. I think that Wrestling entails everything that an Olympic sport should be. Athlete vs athlete, who are very skilled, strong, fast, well-conditioned, and talented at what they do, and the sport is decided by the athletes, and not by a judging committee that interprets artistic design. If the things like the Spartan races continue to gain popularity, I wouldn't be surprised if they end up making it to the Olympic games eventually.

I've been told that in the past as well, and we've been told to breathe at the Gracie Combatives class, as well. When we did the mount game at the end of the session, after a few minutes, Royce got under a guy, and said, "What's the hurry?" Then he proceeded to show that he could be relaxed and shuck a guy. Of course, he has so much experience, he makes it look easy, but, I see where its important to slow down where you can and breathe. When I get nervous, I try to remind myself to calm my breathing down.

I think he could have justified a pre-emptive strike in this case. Someone gets in your space like that, there is a reason. Many times, its for intimidation, but also this sucker punch. A pre-emptive strike and he probably would feel better about the situation. All in all, it sounds like his training served him well, and he did a good thing to help a friend, and put a bad guy where he belonged. Two out of three ain't bad.

Alex, it was so much fun! I'm having such a good time, and learning so much. 6/4/2013 Gracie Combatives, Day 2: Did a lot of review, and then added a few new components. Did a cross hand/strong hand gun grab, that goes to the same base as the weak side grab, securing weapon and wedging forearm into the neck to try to make space and get away. From their and after a few elbow shots, we went into a standing Kimura, or rather the start of a Kimura standing that finished on the ground. It looked awkward at first, but I really liked it as I got into it more. We did some headlock variations where the bad guy was up against a wall, but good guy was not against the wall. Then we did a variation where good guy is on the wall and the bad guy is outside it. That was a fun one, getting all wadded up with the other guy's weight on your head. We also did an arm bar variation for control/cuffing off the headlock finish. When reaching for his hand to "shake" it, we find it is a fist instead, we bring the hand back around, secure it front below our chin, pinch the arm with our head and shoulder, put our hand on the bad guy's face, then all our weight on that bad guy's face, and then bring the leg around for the armbar. At one point when being the bad guy, the fellow on top was having trouble with which hand pressured the face, and I mentioned that I couldn't see which hand he had, what with my face being in a precarious position. Royce asked me, "Brian, you couldn't see which hand he had?" I answered in the affirmative, and he said, "We'll fix that." Then he had me talk him through the technique, telling him to put which hand where and how, where to step, where to take down, etc. That was another learning experience, but it makes sense, because I'll have to (hopefully) be instructing others how to do it. Good stuff. The last few minutes of the day, he had us do a drill with one person mounted on the other. Once the mounted person got a leg free, we switched positions. The mounted person was supposed to resist as much as he could, and the other person would try to start the pass or hit a sweep. That was an eye-opener, too. I had a terrible hard time trying to get a pass, but eventually would. I was rolling with an actual blue belt for this drill, and it was just so hard for me to figure out. And he would get his leg out so quick it seemed. Honestly, I did get frustrated, but he worked with me, and helped me out. I really just need mat time. Stretch afterwards. I forgot to mention yesterday that I even got Royce to sign one of his books for me.

Stronglifts is a good plan. Other good alternatives are Starting Strength and Wendler 5/3/1.

We've been doing an elevator sweep, I believe. I like it.

I don't know many so far, but the one I've been liking the most so far has been the Kimura. We've done it sitting and standing now, and the standing variation was really nice.

Cool accomplishment. Congrats to him.

Welcome to KF, Hendrick!

I think your best bet would be to continue to study the arts you have available to you, building a solid foundation. When you move off to college, then check into Kung Fu instruction. You could look into videos to do some learning, but you'd do better to have a partner, and even better to have an instructor.

5/29/2013 After basics, forms, and one-step, I focused on some counters to be used in sparring. One was a switch leg round kick counter that can be used off a back leg round kick attack. The next was a spin outer crescent kick off a back leg round kick. Some had a tougher time with the crescent kick, so I had them start with their backs to the target pad, look over a shoulder, and then kick from that direction, spinning around to land behind when finished. This helped them get the idea of the move down while only doing half the spin to start out. It also allowed them to focus the kick better, and not drag it through a wider range of motion than needed to hit the target. Then we went from a back leg crescent into a spin crescent, to give them an idea of the mechanics on each of the kicks, and focusing the target. Then I showed this a as a variation to the spin side kick counter we use a lot.

I think sparring is good at all levels and ages. It works great for kids' Wrestling, and it works well for the kids sparring in our school. Give them the proper equipment, and sparring provides a great learning environment. I'd say its more detrimental not to spar.

5/29/2013 Taught TKD class: 6-7pm. I did some shrimping before the class, using the longer length of the dojang floor. The carpet style mats make it a bit tougher, though. For class, I did a consolidated basics set, then went into forms review. Some of the kids definitely need more review on the low rank stuff, and next week, I'll make sure I only focus on the first few with them, so they can get them down, at least. Afterwards was one-step review, and then I had them do some drills with the paddles. I tried to focus on some kicks they could use for counters. We did some back leg round kicks, using a switch foot motion, and then moved onto spin outside crescent kicks. A few needed some tips on getting started, but they all picked them up pretty well. 6/3/2013 Gracie Combatives, Day 1: 8 am - 3 pm. What a great time! I just hope I can retain most of this info he is giving us. Royce is such a great teacher, and is so mellow and cool. He does a great job of explaining what we are working on, and doesn't use a bunch of terminology. He's also really big on going in slow motion. No need to get in a hurry, and just rep the moves nice and easy. He also makes us talk our way through the techniques, which is a great help in memory retention, and since hopefully I'll be teaching the department when I get back, it will come in very handy. I've been working on writing it down, but some of it is already slipping it seems! Anyway, a rundown of what we covered: Punch blocks hooking the grip around the biceps, then disengaging or ducking under an arm clinching from behind. Another variation is from a shadowboxing start, stepping into clinch and outside the week side, then getting around to the back. From there is another disengate option, or a takedown by rolling back while blocking their far foot, and rolling up into a mount. From the mount, we've worked on an Americana arm lock. We went from being in guard, working on some reversals, and then into some options on getting out of the guard; a disengage, or a step over into mount, or standing up in base, and sweeping the leg around and getting to side control. We also did an elbow escape (I think that's what it was), getting to guard. From there, bad guy posts hands or goes for our gun, and we went to Kimura arm lock. We did a headlock defense where we secured the punching arm, stepped around in front, continued to spin and set down, rolling over to mount, then used the forearm and arm to frame the head, push down to get a release, then grabbed the top hand in a handshake, and worked towards the cuffing position. I think that covers the most of what we did. There were lots of good reps, and lots of talking and explaining while doing the moves. And 4 more days of training. How awesome! Stretched in the evening.

Yeah, I don't think that is my cup of tea. I like to sleep at least once during my 24 hour time frame. Kudos to that dude, though. What an animal!

No, no, I don't think you should have stayed retired. With your knowledge, its great that you still get out there and share it. Nor will you have to worry about being "granted" the title; you get the opportunity to earn it. Good luck with it!