bushido_man96

8/7/2023 TKD Class: Black Belt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Today was a Ho Sin Sul day, and we worked on fun defenses. It was a good review for me, and the students had some good questions and considerations as part of the class. We started class with Do-Kang 2, and prior to class I went through Chon Ji, Dan Gun, Bo Chung, Se Jong, and Yoo Sin hyungs. Missed strength training again today; having more issues with Meniere's flaring up, and we were down a vehicle again due to a dead battery.

I feel you here, Bob. I have Crohn's, which is why I've had several colonoscopies already (and I'm not even 50 yet). It came about when I was struggling to keep any kind of food down. Turns out my colon was all inflamed, and had to get the diet in check. Medication helps keep it in check now. The bowel prep is a nightmare for me now, since the prep is so high in sodium. The counter to that is that I have to fast, but that really doesn't make things much better. It's no fun, any way you slice it.

I didn't notice any fake single leg shots...unless it was very subtle and I missed something (very possible). Thank you for this evaluation. Very interesting. It's very hard for me to see the angles here. I'm guessing they are very subtle, and because I've never had any kind of experience with this kind of fighting.

That sounds like a great week of classes (except for getting your arm cranked...hopefully, that gets to feeling better sooner rather than later). Very cool on sitting in on the testing and watching. Hearing those evaluating the testing giving similar advised to what you saw and would have given is one of those higher level "aha" moments that Bob would talk about. Let's you know that you are actually getting this stuff too, which is a great feeling.

8/4/2023 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 205x1, 240x5, 240x5, 240x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 105x3, 115x2, 140x5, 140x5, 140x5. Deadlifts: 185x3, 225x2, 280x5. I focused on taking the Valsalva with my mouth open, and that helped to not build up so much pressure in my head, which tends to be compounded by the Meniere's. Press sets were heavy today. I see programming changes coming sooner rather than later. Since I missed Wednesday's workout, I tacked the deadlifts to the end of this one.

Colonoscopies are no fun at all, Bob. Good on you for not having to get one until now. Hopefully, it comes back negative. What are they looking for?

I think that's an awesome approach.

Mad About You was also a fun one.

8/2/2023 TKD Class: T-shirt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Ran through 16 forms today, from Chon Ji up to Choong Jang. A brief stretch at the end of class. I didn't get to lift today due to not having transportation available at the time. Had to get some new tires on one of our cars.

I'm enjoying a nice, cold glass of tropical punch Kool-Aid, right now. Quite tasty.

Sounds like a good week of training, getting lots of different things in. Definitely seek out that opportunity to train with that high rank!

7/31/2023 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 205x1, 235x5, 235x5, 235x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 105x3, 115x1, 137.5x5, 137.5x5, 137.5x5. Barbell Rows: 105x10, 105x10, 105x10. TKD Class: Black Belt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Went through all the one-steps, then started on three-steps; I focused on the first two so I can start getting them memorized. After that, we sparred. Had three good matches, felt like things went pretty well, had some things working for me. Got pretty gassed at the last match. I did manage to to take a knee into the rump, and an elbow on the ankle, but it's all good.

Welcome to KF!

I felt the same way.

This right here is the reason why the first thing i say to any new prospective parents is "hope you are blessed with a good sleeper" usually gets met with a slightly odd look as they wonder what possible relevance that could have... Nowadays I just wish I could be blessed to be a good sleeper myself!

I tend to do this at least once a week, on a night that I have class and need a quick one to cook up after. I usually season it with lemon-pepper, fresh rosemary, topped with lemon slices. I either steam or bake a vegetable and make a side of rice.

Home Improvement was always great. Step by Step. Family Matters. Fully House. I remember enjoying Spin City briefly.

7/28/2023 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 230x5, 230x5, 230x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 105x3, 115x1, 135x5, 135x5, 135x5. Barbell Rows: 100x10, 100x10, 100x10. Kicking off a big weekend of TKD for our school this weekend. Friday night, we had testing with our association's grandmaster and his daughter (senior master) in as guest judges. And on Saturday, the school hosted it's first ever tournament. TKD Testing: 6:00 - 7:30 pm. The black belts did a little bit of demo breaking at the beginning (I did not), with the CI doing his 6-board palm heel smash. The kids tried some new things, which went well. Other than that, we had several white belts test, and one green belt tested. Our adult white belt impressed the GM so much that he jumped her in rank to high orange belt, which was pretty cool. She's pretty technically sound for a white belt, so I think it's a good call. At the end of testing, the GM had our three teenage black belts do their first-ever round of three-for-all sparring, while two second degrees did a regular sparring match (it was a father-and-son match, so always fun). 7/29/2023 TKD Tournament: 9:00 am - 2:00 pm (including teardown time). I got in early to help with sign-ups and what not, then we had our black belt meeting, and then lined up as a group. Our CI and the Salina CI did some black belt introductions after our CI introduced the guest of honor, Grandmaster Yi. This was a small, interschool tournament involving the 4 KS schools in the association, so we had just under 50 competing, I believe. Next, we did a brief demo involving some basics and one-steps and three-steps (my and my partner, a very talented 4th dan, only did one-steps). After that, it was time to break off and go to work. The formalities handled, we started the competition proper, and I spent the day center judging a ring for forms and sparring. I have to say, our school has always had a high standard for technique, and it has carried on since the instructor that founded the school has moved on. I have to say, compared to some others I've seen out there, our school upheld its reputation. We had a pretty good day sparring, too. Good news that came out of this is that the headquarters school is planning on finally having another national tournament next year, around the same date we just had ours. This is a good thing, as the association hasn't had a national tournament in several years. Overall, I enjoyed being a part of it, and enjoyed judging the rings. One of the other area CI's came up with a forms judging system that streamlined things pretty well, and once he explained the system, I rather liked the simplicity of it. Much easier than what I had done in the past. Our CI is also looking at trying to host an open tournament at some point in the future, which I think would be a lot of fun, but will also come with it's own challenges. This was a good learning experience, and I expect some good things going forward.

How do you do it with your back?

Congrats!

7/24/2023 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 205x1, 225x5, 225x5, 225x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 105x3, 125x5, 125x5, 125x5. Barbell Rows: 95x10, 95x10, 95x10. A jumbled schedule at work this week, so I missed a few more days of training. TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Black Belt Class. We have a tournament coming up this weekend, so after doing a brief warmup, the CI, another instructor and myself watched our black belts do forms, and then gave them critiques for tournament competition, things to clean up, space out, etc. 7/26/2023 Strength Training Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 105x3, 130x5, 130x5, 130x5. Deadlifts: 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 275x5. The first set of presses made me question how much I loaded. Sets 2 and 3 went more smoothly, though. TKD Class: T-shirt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Rolled out a bag to do some bagwork tonight. Ended up toying around with 360 side kicks, and then jump 360 side kicks, along with the CI, who was asking about some technical aspects. Wore me out pretty good. At the end of class, we did some breaking with the rebreakable boards, doing a palm heel smash. I did two grey boards, then 3, then did 3 grey boards and one green board. Will keep working up next week, hopefully.

That sounds like a really fun week! You'll have to share some pictures when you are finished!

I can see how that will work well for someone who is really fast. Explosiveness tends to be a genetic trait, though, and when one isn't really explosive, using the hips to help generate power is a good alternative.

7/14/2023 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 230x5, 230x5, 230x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 125x5, 125x5, 125x5. 7/17/2023 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 205x1, 235x5, 235x5, 235x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 110x3, 127.5x5, 127.5x5, 127.5x5. I had thought about adding pull-downs back in, but I was truly gassed after that final squat set. TKD Class: Black Belt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Tonight was a forms review night, which I was ok with. If there were any issues with a form, we did it again before advancing. White belt through middle brown belt. I had good power throughout, and was a little sore in the arms the next day.

Welcome to KF!