bushido_man96

This could be the practice depending on the set up of the organization that he is under, and that you are likely under. If it were me, I don't know that I would teach under those circumstances. That is, unless he is covering some of your expenses, as well.

6/1/2011 SL 5x5A Squats: warmup: 45x5x2, 105x4, 125x2; work: 190x5x5 Bench press: warmup: 45x5x2, 115x3, 135x2; work: 155x5x5 Barbell rows: warmup: 65x5, 5; work: 95x5x5 6/3/2011 SL 5x5B Squats: warmup: 45x5x2, 105x5, 135x3, 155x2; work: 195x5x5 Overhead press: warmup: 45x5x2; work: 75x5x5 Dead lift: warmup: 65x5, 85x4, 105x3; work: 160x5 6/4/2011 Light stretches in the seated split position. 6/6/2011 SL 5x5A Squats: warmup: 45x5x2, 85x5, 125x5, 165x3, 2; work: 200x5x5 Bench press: warmup: 45x5x2, 95x5, 125x3, 135x2; work: 160x5x5 Barbell rows: warmup: 65x5, 5; work: 100x5x5 I was pretty jacked up about hitting 200 for reps on squats. Its feeling heavier, but I am still making all my sets. Also tested body fat and BMI: Body fat: 31.2% BMI: 38.6 Weight: 254 lbs -- still holding steady here. 6/7/2011 TKD Taught Little Lions: 5:15 - 5:45, working on balance (and generally keeping the kids in line). Taught TKD class: 6:00 - 7:00. In between the classes, I did Chon Ji through Yul Guk hyungs. Stretch: seated splits moving left, right, and center; butterfly, glutes, reverse hurdler. 6/8/2011 SL 5x5B Squats: warmup: 45x5x2, 115x5, 135x5, 155x3, 175x2; work: 205x5x5 Overhead press: warmup: 45x5x2, 65x3, 2; work: 80x5x5 Dead lift: warmup: 65x5, 5, 105x3, 125x2; work: 180x5 Afternoon stretch: standing quad, front and side kick bar stretches, shoulder dislocations. Evening stretch: seated splits, moving left, right, center; butterfly, glutes, flying side kick stretch, reverse hurdler, seated quads, hip flexors.

That may be, but it also has the luxury of being able to do the workout at home, without hiring a personal trainer or driving to the gym. If someone likes to work out at home, then it would probably be a good fit, if they want to pay for it.

You're welcome. Let me know how it works out for you.

Training alone is hard to do. But, I would say to stick with it, and don't let yourself get down. Shizentai made very good points. Even if you only work yourself for a half hour a day, you can find various ways to mix things up and keep it interesting for yourself. Putting out an ad for training partners isn't a bad way to go, either. There may be someone like you nearby that is looking for the same thing. Best of luck to you, and keep your focus.

I think this is a driving force behind a lot of people that start taking Martial Arts. It was a goal I had at first, for sure. But, as I kept with it, I found, as many others have as well, that it isn't all about that black belt (although it is a fantastic goal and achievement). It becomes about the pursuit itself; the journey. The big thing to me is being able to see beyond the black belt, and that its worth continuing on after reaching that goal. I think those that really wanted to do it would still have done it. Look at styles like Wrestling, Boxing, Muay Thai, MMA gyms; no belts there, but they still have many practitioners. I'm not sure how much the stigma of the black belt is responsible for bringing in new students, but I'm sure it is somewhat responsible. But, when you look at the number that start compared to the percentage that stick it out, it must not be that much of a driving force.

Congrats!

Does Wing Chun spar much, or do they do more of the sticking hands exercises for their sparring?

If I remember correctly, the number 9 is quite significant/important to the Korean's. It makes since that the ATA would honor that by having a 9 belt system. Yes, Bob, that is correct. The ATA did a lot of things with the number nine, like the number of colored belt forms, the first one having 18 moves, 1st dan having 81 moves, and things like that. They wanted to do Korean cultural symbolism and the like.Doesn't the Songahm Star also reflect the number 9 very well? One has to respect that, and surely do. 81 moves in a form is a lot. Gojushiho only has 54 steps, as the name implies, and in many, many Karate styles, Gojushiho is their longest kata. Yeah, Bob, that's right. The Star is also a philosophical emblem in the ATA as well. Its basically the embusen (hope that's right) of all the ATA forms, and they follow on the pattern of the Star. If we get hooked up, I've got some books on it that lay it out. Yeah, 81 moves is a long form. I was always out of breath when I was done.

Yes. Do this. It appears that you preceive that you lack adequate time to train. So, do this. Go buy a day planner, and carry it with you ALL THE TIME. Write in it on the times and days that you do ANYTHING. No matter what it is. Write down what time you wake up. When you eat. When you watch TV. When your various appointments are. When you take time to read, or play a game, or go to school classes, etc. Do this for a few weeks if you can. While doing this, you should begin to see time frames shake out that you can use towards training. You might have to give up a few hours per week of video game time, or TV, or something like that, but you will start to see how much time you do have that you COULD put towards training. From there, search out a school that is within some travel constraints and the time frames you have available, and GET STARTED. I call this a schedule audit; you look to see what you do, when you do it, and what you can cut to add in something else. Give it a try.

I don't like the gear we wear in our TKD class; the chest protector changes the way I move and block when I spar without it. As far as training with or without gear goes, its important to do both, and lift or levie restraints according to how much you wear. RedMan suit? Pound away. Cloth hand and foot gear, maybe back the contact levels down a bit. I think its important to do both. I don't think I know what the magic mix is, though.

I think you make an interesting point, JusticeZero, and I think "change" in this instance is a better word choice than "evolve." In order to evolve, things are established and then grow from each other; like BJJ from JJJ and Judo. But with TKD and Taekyon, the level of seperation between the two is quite a bit greater; there actually seems to be a void between two. So change fits here, I think. Whether this is the case or not with TKD, we will likely never know. But, its a good point to theorize from.

My current instructor started his training under the GM of our organization when he went to college. I think he took it as a college credit to begin with. It went on from there.

Everthing in moderation, even moderation. I agree! I tend to moderate more between the meals than during the meals. That counts, right?

Good luck in your rehab. Whatever it is you decide to do, make sure to listen to your body as you do it.

For the muscle, rest it for sure. Rest both legs. Just walk for now, and don't kick or run too much. Sudden changes of direction and sudden stopping and starting will aggravate it, too. Rest is going to be your best friend for now. RICE is a good idea to follow, especially the REST part of it. For the odd-shaped arm, I'd continue to work both arms, and do compound barbell exercises to make them both work, as opposed to dumbell exercises.

I can't read that article right now. I guess I've worked out in hot and humid conditions for so long, I've never thought about having to acclimate to it. Keep your hydration level up by drinking more water throughout the day than you normally would; not just when training. Some elctrolyte replacements may help, too, but I usually just stick with water.

Its up in the self defense forum, under the gun disarm thread. Cool, thanks. I look forward to checking it out. My computer has been on the fritz of late, and I've been going through KF withdrawals... 5/27/2011 SL 5x5A Squats: warmup: 45x5x2, 105x4, 135x3; work: 180x5x5 Bench press: warmup: 45x5x2, 105x4, 115x3; work: 150x5x5 Barbell rows: warmup: 65x5, 5, 75x4; work: 90x5x5 Really felt the squats in the calves. 5/30/2011 SL 5x5B Squats: warmup: 45x5x2, 100x4, 120x2; work: 185x5x5 Overhead press: warmup: 45x5x2; work: 70x5x5 Dead lift: warmup: 65x5, 85x4, 105x3; work: 150x5 Felt it in the calves again.

You could try something like the burpee workouts, and I've also heard that P90X is a nice program.

Patrick is absolutely right!! Nothing would ever replace face to face training. This [skype] now allows me to train long-distance with other martial arts that I wouldn't normally have been able to do. No, it's training without hands-on, but still, Skype has an immeasurable value that I tend to tap into. In closing I'd like to thank Patrick for helping us so that we can learn about Skype and other venues...his assistance is very valuable. And finally, the internet will reach the pinnacle of what it can be!!!

You can get a camera for your computer, and it would basically be a video conferencing thing.

That would be kind of cool. It would make me turn my head away from all the fiction I've been reading of late. But, there are lots of titles out there; finding the good ones is hard sometimes.If you can think of an idea to start a book list, post it up here, and we can try to kick this off.

Well, some of the earliest civilizations date to Africa, I believe, so it wouldn't be hard to believe that it has a rather rich Martial heritage.

I agree with tallgeese, ps1, and JusticeZero. If they had some plan to really integrate all those styles into the training in a more inclusive manner (like an MMA gym...), then I think it would be more worth your while. I'm afraid that the way it is set up now, you'll be taking a long time to really retain anything from cycle to cycle. That said, if you are an orange belt in TKD, which I think is a fairly low rank, indicates that you haven't been with it very long. Perhaps give it another testing cycle and see if things change about the way you feel about TKD.

Solid post! I can think of several moves and concepts I've learned over the years and initially thought were useless/don't work for me. Yet, as my skill increased (and of those around me as well) I ended up using the very things I had thought were unnecessary. Had I just thrown them away, I may never have been able to step up to the next level each time. When I see the "throw away" line from Bruce Lee, it usually makes me think of forms. Although Lee was familiar with forms early on in his training, it is well documented how he felt about forms in the latter part of his training, along with the "aliveness" aspect he wanted so much out of training. Along with that, we see how certain styles are always bound to the curriculum they teach, be it forms, one-steps, a certain way to spar, etc. I think these are mainly the things Lee didn't like, and are likely the root of his "throw away" quote. I think you just opened a can-o-worms. Might as well start fishing. Hehe, I may have. I'll go fishing if you want to! I don't claim to be any kind of Lee expert, or to know what he would have been thinking at times. That's just how I read it from what I have read. I'm sure there are others who knew him personally that might be able to tell me differently, and that's cool with me. I will say this, too. Lee managed to say a lot of things that were pretty ambiguous. And I think that was for a reason, too.