bushido_man96

Love seeing the BJJ session update. Great that you have that opportunity!

DarthPenguin, there are times when it seems like the only thing that helps on the deadlift is leaning into my heels, but I'd rather not do it that way. However, it may just be necessary going forward. 1/13/2023 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 230x5, 230x5, 230x5. Press: 45x5x2, 65x5, 85x3, 112.5x5, 112.5x5, 112.5x5. Snatch Grip Deadlifts: 165x3, 225x2, 255x5, 255x5. Pretty good session today. Switching to 2.5 lb jumps on press going forward, and also starting to add the belt. Snatch-deads are still rolling along. As long as I use chalk, grip is solid, and not a factor yet. If I lose concentration on a rep, and don't lift my chest to start, it will drift, but unlike the deadlift, I find it easy to correct.

It's good to have you back, Montana!

I, for one, have no issues with this form of testing. I think it's a great process, Montana.

1/12/2023 Solo Training: 30 minutes of nunchaku again. 2nd class, adding to previous class and putting things together. Did 30 minutes on the elliptical in the evening.

Yes, the sessions are 2 or 3 lifts each, focusing on the big movements; squat, press, deadlift. My knees hurt too much to do any power cleans or snatches right now, and the accessory stuff really isn't a priority right now. Every lift I do is recorded. I don't recall suggesting any single-leg movements lately; you'd have to point that out to me. I don't particularly like movements like the Bulgarian split squats. 1/11/2023 Solo Training: 30 minutes of basic nunchaku work again; watched the first video from the channel I checked out originally. It consisted of moves he referred to as "simple ups," "front switches," "inward figure-eights," and I think "outside circle and catch." Strength Training Deadlifts: 135x5, 185x5, 245x3, 315x1, 355x5. Pin Bench Press: 95x5, 105x5, 105x5. Press: 45x5x2, 65x5, 85x3, 110x5, 110x5, 110x5. Bar is floating away on the deadlift now, and it's really frustrating. I'm doing everything I can think of to stop it; closing the armpits, pointing the elbows back, trying to put my shoulders "in the back pockets," and nothing seems to be helping. I thought I'd give pin bench presses a try, to see if I could eliminate some shoulder pain by limiting the range of motion. It didn't really help, so I went back to pressing, which is better on my shoulders. TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. T-Shirt Class. Stretched a little in The Rack, then did forms. Did two reps of Choong Jang, then did all the colored belt forms: Chong Ji, Dan Gun, Boo Chung, Do San, Won Hyo, Yul Gok, Jung Goon, Toi Gye, Hwa Rang, and Choong Moo. I can't hardly do the flying side kick in Choong Moo anymore; it hurts my left knee too much to land on that leg after kicking, and it hurts to push off to jump. Choong Jang hyung count: 22 Total hyung count: 44

That's the best kind! I kind of thought so; I get exactly what I want!

That's an awesome sized class! Sounds like a great time! Zaine, it looks like your on pace to go over your goal! 1/10/2023 Not a lot today, just an easy half hour on the elliptical with my wife at the gym.

Great to see you guys jumping in, Alex and DarthPenguin! It's what I've been hoping for; lots of discussion on what we Martial Artists probably view as a treatise! Art, how we do art, is our art. But, does it demonstrate our enlightenment, or does the act of creating art enlighten us further? Perhaps both can be true? And the second sentence seems pretty straightforward: creating art liberates us. It helps us grow, and become more free in the process. Free from restraint, free from all the rules at times, I guess?

That is a huge concern, DP. In training my co-workers the other day, I stressed that they "stay in the drill" for drilling purposes, but also stressed to them to watch as they are drilling, and be aware of where they can start throwing in strikes. I made sure to explain that when we actually have to defend ourselves, we aren't "doing the drill," but instead using the drill to get us to a position of control, and then keep control. I think a lot of this gets missed in more "traditional" instruction.

1/9/2023 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x5, 225x5, 225x5. Press: 45x5x2, 65x5, 85x3, 105x5, 105x5, 105x5. Took videos of my squat to form check myself. I need to let my knees travel just a touch further forward and then lock them in. Third set looked the best. My shoulder was feeling really good today when pressing. I sat in the sauna for about 15 minutes after, and before class started. TKD Classes: 5:30 - 6:30. Traditional Class. There were three young students in this one. I assisted with basics, breaking things down and helping out. When the students were doing forms, I jumped; two reps of Dan Gun hyung, two reps of Won Hyo hyung, and a rep of Do-Kang 1. I got two reps of Choong Jang in prior to class. 6:30 - 8:45. Black Belt Class. We did a ton of Do-Kangs in this class. Do-Kang 1 once, Do-Kang 2 twice, Do-Kang 3 once, Do-Kang 4 once, Do-Kang 5 once, and learned Do-Kang 6 for the first time ever. Lots of kicking, lots of spin kicks. I really felt doing the spin heel kicks in my right adductor tendon, so I'm hoping that doesn't inflame it. Do-Kangs are considered our "black belt basics," but they are required to do at black belt testings, so they basically count as another form. So, adding to the form count. Choong Jang hyung count: 20 Total hyung count: 32

You can't use the wrong muscles to flex the foot into that position; the muscles that do it are the muscles that do it. Pretty simple. You could try standing/walking on the edges of your feet, for small bouts, though. It should help you develop the proprioception to tell that you have your foot in the right position. The only thing that will change when you kick is that you want to make sure you have your heel forward as much as you can.

I've seen many techniques like that too, DP. My time at academy comes to mind. Some things that are done as Ho Sin Sul in our TKD school come to mind. Some of the one-steps and definitely the three-steps we do. I'm to the point that I shrug my shoulders and move on.

You've got a good pace going, Zaine! Keep it up! 1/6/2023...this one is a three-parter! MA Training: 1 hour of nunchaku training. I was digging around in the basement, and found an old pair of foam-handled, chain nunchaku. I figured, since I had the time, I'd see if I could find some YouTube tutorials. I found one that had some follow-along classes, and jumped in. Got through the first two classes on the channel, and I may repeat those two classes the next time I get the chance to. Did this in the very early morning hours. Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 95x5, 135x5, 185x3, 215x5, 215x5, 215x5. Press: 45x5x2, 65x5, 85x3, 100x5, 100x5, 100x5. Snatch Grip Deadlifts: 165x3, 225x2, 250x5, 250x5. A good lifting session this afternoon. Doing my best to eliminate knee slide in the squat by not bouncing in the bottom. Press was ok. Some discomfort in the shoulder, but not so much that I couldn't do it. Second set of snatch grip deads was exhausting. MA Training: 15 minutes of doing forms. Got 5 reps of Choong Jang hyung; the 4th and 5th were done back to back, with a little bit of power and speed peeled off. It was really fatiguing on my legs. I did this right after lifting, so that was part of it, too. Spent 10 minutes in The Rack stretching afterwards. Choong Jang count: 18

Well put, DarthPenguin. We are thinking along the same lines; you said it with much more clarity.

1/5/2023 Half hour of "cardio" split between an elliptical and a treadmill. Did Choong Jang hyung 6 times in the living room today. Moved some stuff around and was able to get some decent reps in. Choong Jang hyung count: 13.

1/3/2023 DT Training: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm. I taught 4, two-hour sessions of DT for my department today. It's the second session since we started it back up. Covered a lot more Spear material, getting a lot more dynamic as we went along. We got the mats in that the boss ordered for us, so it was fun to use those. In the coming months, we are looking at getting some high gear training suits, too. I'm lucky to have a boss that sees the importance of regular DT training, and is all in on the process. That night, I was pretty sore, especially my feet and my back, and as I wandered around the house, I was pretty achy. Guess my age is starting to show! 1/4/2023 Strength Training Deadlifts: 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275x1, 315x1, 350x5. Triceps Push-downs: 65x12, 65x12, 65x12, 65x12. I was still pretty sore from training the day before. But I got the boys around, and we went to the gym together. I was going lift, but I didn't thing I was going to be pushing to very hard, with my back being so sore. But, as I went through the warmups, I went ahead and loaded my work set for deadlift, and pulled it. Felt good to do that, too, on a day where I didn't think I was going to have it physically. Still fighting some bar floating, but overall, got the set done. I had my youngest son pull a PR single for 315. On the triceps push-downs, I'm doing a rep progression. When I can hit 4 sets of 15 reps, I'll add 2.5 lbs. TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. T-shirt Class. Finally back to class, after a two month hiatus due to my work schedule sucking. I sat in the sauna and then had a brief stretch in The Rack prior to class. I did a little bit of work on our makeshift makiwara, doing 5 knifehand strikes each hand, then 5 reverse punches each hand. Did my form, Choong Jang, 7 times. First three times were with pretty good speed and power. Last 4 were more paced out. Nothing major done on the bags; just goofing really with some new bags we got that I don't really like. Also tried going "up the scale" again on the rebreakable boards. Got just a few, so need to get back to work on this. Finished class with a nice stretch. The CI mentioned that the school got set up with the college again to offer TKD class as a college credits. Hopefully, that gets some students in. He has also been speaking with the local Aikido dojo CI/owner about doing a club through the college. There has been an Aikido club at the college for some time, but they have talked about setting up a "Traditional Martial Arts Club," which could be an interesting thing. I looking forward to hearing more about the possibilities involved with this. Choong Jang Hyung count: 7

"Not clear" thinking. I think that's what I'd like to key on, and I'm interested to see what everyone else has to say on it. I guess it would be any thinking that would interfere with your current focus? One probably shouldn't be thinking about a date Friday night when practicing at class. Also, one probably shouldn't be thinking about a side kick while performing front kicks. Perhaps being in the moment, and not outside of it.

Happy New Year, KF!

Zaine, I love seeing the running kata total. Keep up the good work! I don't think I'll be able to commit to even a 500 hyungs goal for the month. Doing the math made it 16 hyungs per day, and I don't have that kind of time. But, what I will do is keep a running total of how many times I do my current form, Choon Jang, for this month, and see how high I can get the total. 1/2/2023 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 95x5, 135x5, 185x4, 205x5, 205x5, 205x5. Press: 45x5x2, 65x5, 85x3, 95x5, 95x5, 95x5. Going back to low bar squats, going to see how my shoulder handles it. Man, it felt so much better than safety bar squats. The stress on my lower back was different, and it also felt different driving out of the hole. Went back to press, too. Will see how my shoulder feels in a few days. I have DT training tomorrow, and that tends to really overwork my shoulder.

12/30/2022 Strength Training Safety Squats: 60x5x2, 115x5, 165x3, 210x1, 235x5, 235x5, 235x5. Triceps Push-downs: 62.5x15, 62.5x15, 62x5x15, 62.5x15 (bottom ROM). Snatch Grip Deadlifts: 165x3, 225x2, 245x5, 245x5. Shoulder pain today, so no presses. Snatch deads went good; last two had trouble with it wanting to float away from the shins.

My side kick is a waist level kick right now, too. I'd have to get really warmed up to get it high. But in all actuality, you have more power at waist level and lower anyway. So just drill the heck out of that waist level side kick! And the more you do it, the more you'll see your flexibility starting to come back.

Nice!

That's a great arrangement, Zaine. 12/28/2022 Strength Training Deadlifts: 135x5, 185x5, 235x3, 305x1, 345x5. Press: 45x5x2, 65x5, 85x3, 90x5, 90x5, 90x5. First 3 reps of deadlifts were good. Last 2 were floating away from the shins again. Press went ok; I feel it in my shoulder when the rep comes down more than when I send it up. But I'm not noticing much residual soreness after the workouts at this point. On an up note, my boys came into the gym today (still out of school on break). I got to watch my oldest boy squat 440 lbs for 3 sets of 5, and my youngest pull 270 lbs for a set of 5. And we laughed and joked and had a good time, like we usually do at they gym.

Yes, for sure it is harder this way. It's part of the reason we do it that way in basics. In order to get the side kick done correctly, with the body and leg in proper alignment, you have to focus on a), making sure to keep the body side-on (the cross-over will cause newer students to over-step and bring their back hip too far forward), and b), emphasizes getting the chamber into the proper position by getting the body back into that side-on position. When I first started doing it that way, it was weird, but the more I did it, the more I understood why, and the more it's helped with my side kick technique. But as an instructor, I've got to really harp on students when doing the kick to make sure they are really breaking it down and not skipping steps.