bushido_man96

12/16/2022 MA Training: half hour of solo training. 10 minutes of simple footwork; stepping forwards and backwards, transitioning to different stances and concentrating on making quick steps by staying low and focusing on the weight shifting. The steps were accompanied by chambering the for a kick and chambering the front or rear hand for a punch. Did forwards and backwards, single steps, lunging with front leg or crossover with the back leg. Also did some side stepping. Then spent the next 10 or so minutes adding in hand checks and finishing with either a lunge or reverse punch. Finished with some stretching. The catalyst for this particular workout came from the pages of Tae Kwon Do, Secrets of Korean Karate, by Sihak Henry Cho. The style of sparring described in this book doesn't really correlate to the type of sparring we do at our TKD school. Our school spars using Olympic rules, but depending on the tournaments attended, it is either continuous or stop for point. Most of the students at our school spar in this continuous fashion, so I'm going to try an experiment when I finally get back to class. I like to change up the way I spar, and I do it often, sewing confusion in the other black belts I spar. In one of the last classes I was at, one student was calling out to another student, saying "that's not the way he was sparring me!" I relished in that. I'm interested in seeing how this straight-line style of sparring will work the next time I get to spar.

I know that feeling! My kid still yells at the screen with headphones while playing Minecraft. Not sure what is going on that needs yelling at, but I'm given to understand that the yelling is well-deserved. Same story at my house....

Hehe, my kids play with headphones on, but that sure doesn't keep them quiet!

Good luck! And be sure to pace yourself!

It's great to see that kind of dedication in her! Awesome!

12/14/2022 MA Training: Spent 20 minutes solo training in the house, doing very basic blocking and striking techniques. I stayed in place, either stepping forward to block or back, and then added in a counter, usually a punch. Working on getting synced up in a rhythm again.

I don't think I'll be leaving the school for any reason. If anything, it still provides me a place to train, even if I solo train. There aren't many options here for me to train at. There is a fellow around here that does some ground/submission stuff out of his fitness center, but I'm reluctant to seek any training out there, just from what I know of the place. There is a Karate dojo I'm not really interested in, and also and Aikido dojo. I have trained at the Aikido dojo before, and I like the instructor. I don't necessarily see eye-to-eye with all the training philosophies, but I can train around those issues. If I were to pick another school, that would be the one I'd look to. I guess the major thing I wouldn't look forward to is a newly minted 5th dan starting to pull rank on me. That would rub me the wrong way, indeed.

There's a little bit to unpack there, DarthPenguin, so I'll address them. 1. As for the impact on me and my training, probably not too much. I'm at the point in my journey where I feel I learn more from exploring different things myself, researching and experimenting, than I do from an instructor trying to teach me a new form or set of one-steps. 2. I wouldn't feel the need to leave the school, for sure. Truth is, the student population has dropped so much in the last few years, there aren't many students to teach...not adult students, anyway. What would bother me the most, and this is superficial I admit, is that the higher ranked CI would not be a better instructor than me. 3. I feel I am the better teacher. Maybe that's bragging, but it's how I feel about it. The current CI probably has 1/3 of the training experience I have. I don't think he's a bad instructor at all. He does things differently than I do, and that's always expected. I just don't feel he's a better instructor than I am. Another concern that I've heard brought up in the past is that the GM may not promote to 5th dan if the tester isn't running a school. If that would end up being the case, then the whole situation would take care of itself.

Those are great words, Zaine. Thank you. Contemplation continues.

Thanks for those kind words, Bob. You are very, very welcome.

I know, Bob. It strikes me this way, too. I don't know why, but I feel that if the new owner/instructor gets higher ranked than me...I don't know. All the ceremonious bowing to one with a "higher rank," but lacking so much in experience, turns my stomach a bit. He is currently a 4th dan, same "rank" as I am. Like I mention, it's a weird spot I find myself in, and I don't like it. My other major concern is the sheer cost of the next test, which is ridiculous. In order to stave some of the cost, I had the previous CI start an escrow account for me, basically adding $5 or $10 (I don't remember which) extra out of my monthly dues to put towards the next testing. With that in mind, I should probably go ahead and follow through with it. Like I said, it is a weird position for me, and I'm not necessarily proud of the way I'm approaching it. I've got to get my mind right and test for me, and not anyone else.

I haven't posted here in a while, but I've picked up some more reading lately, and it's brought me back here. With some new faces around, I'm interested in hearing the thoughts and takes of the greater community here To me, this 'expression' seems three-fold here; when we are truly expressing ourselves (and not just going through the motions), we reveal the essence of our "soul," our passion; our expression reveals our "schooling," or what I would guess would be our roots, where our foundations are, be it Martial Art or other athletic or academic expressions; and our "cool" would seem to me to be how we express these thing with our own personal flair. In the Martial Arts training sense, we all have an instructor or instructors that we come from; the one's who began molding us early on in our journeys. As we grow and develop, what we learned sticks with us, but we also learn to start keeping some things and stripping away others. What once was theirs (our teachers) becomes ours, and if we are fortunate enough, we get the chance to start passing it along to others. And in time, they will do the same, and it will become "theirs."

Sure hope your feeling better, Bob! Sounds like things are going well!

I hope your tournament went well! Please update us! 12/8/2022 Strength Training Safety Squats: 60x5x2, 110x5, 165x3, 200x1. And then I had to stop. Health issues are really starting to cause my problems. My head wasn't feeling quite right (Meniere's disease acting up) and as I was doing my warmup sets, I had to stop and rest after each set. The Valsalva maneuver was causing me to get lightheaded, and at one point, the room started spinning. I just couldn't continue, and it's so frustrating.

I hope your tournament went well! Please update us! 12/8/2022 Strength Training Safety Squats: 60x5x2, 110x5, 165x3, 200x1. And then I had to stop. Health issues are really starting to cause my problems. My head wasn't feeling quite right (Meniere's disease acting up) and as I was doing my warmup sets, I had to stop and rest after each set. The Valsalva maneuver was causing me to get lightheaded, and at one point, the room started spinning. I just couldn't continue, and it's so frustrating.

I understand what you mean here, and am finding myself in a similar crossroads in my training. I rarely teach classes anymore, mainly due to the fact that the classes are so small. That, and I'm of the opinion that the gusy who own/run the dojang now are the one's that should be doing it, and not me. But I always love to teach, and will do so when the opportunity arises, but in more of an individual nature. I've gotten to the point where I'm not sure I want to test again. I kind of want to, and one reason is a bad one...I don't want to get "outranked" by the guy running the show now. It's an ego thing more than anything, but I couldn't take this person outranking me seriously. What I have been enjoying is defensive tactics training, and really getting into that for the department I work for. I've restarted with one successful session, and am prepping for the next one in January. I've already got the session planned, and am looking at planning the next one, too. My boss is all-in on providing the training for the department, making it mandatory. He let me order some wrestling mats to train on, some rubber guns for weapon retention training, and we've already got some striking pads for hand and kicking techniques practice. I'm really focused on this. So, back to the thought of testing again. If I did, and passed, it would put me at 5th dan, which is a Master rank in our organization. I wouldn't really want to be called Master, nor would I consider myself a Master. A Master-level instructor, maybe, but just due to years of experience. So, like I say, I'm at a crossroads myself.

Sorry to hear that, Ken. It sucks when injuries set back training. In the meantime, you could probably get lots of kicking practice in. Train around the injury, and perhaps you won't go crazy missing it.

12/6/2022 Strength Training Safety Squats: 60x5x2, 100x5, 140x3, 180x1, 215x5, 215x5, 215x5. Deadlifts: 235x3, 305x2, 340x5. Deadlifts felt good, but...not? Only one rep really pulled away from my shins, but I pretty much corrected it on the following rep. The set was a grind, but other than grinding, there didn't seem to be a lot of difference in rep 1 and rep 5. 12/7/2022 TASER Training: 3 hours of Taser recertification at work today. After some classroom time, everyone went through a few scenarios. It went well.

Thanks very much Second this post! Good luck and go get it!

I agree with Bob; keep up the hard work and the testing will take care of itself. And same to your daughter! What a great deal! The family that kicks together, sticks together!

That remote opportunity sounds like the way to go. I'm sorry to hear that you had to leave the school you were at, but also happy to see you realize that it was time to do so, and that you know your worth. It seems to me, especially in the world of Martial Arts training, that many students think they always have to be beholden to someone of higher rank. I think there comes a time in one's MA journey, especially if it has spanned a couple of decades, to evaluate the training that we do, and determine what it is we want from training ourselves, and begin to seek such pathways out. It appears that is what you have done. What's more, you know what you like, and what you don't like, especially out of the attitude and presence of a higher ranked instructor, and have made a good decision based on this knowledge. Going forward, you can use these experiences to help younger, less experienced students know the difference between bad and good, and perhaps help others make similar decisions, if need be, in order to convince them to extend their journeys, rather than end it based off of some knucklehead's actions. I applaud your decision here. Thank you for sharing it with us.

I used squat three days a week regularly, and I like it. Keeps the movement pattern fresh, and works the whole body. It's absolutely the best lift for skeletal loading. As it gets heavier, I'll end up making Wednesday a light day to aid recovery. If and when I get my arm fixed up so I can start pressing again, I'll probably get back to a 4-day split, with just two squat sessions a week. I don't particularly care for the safety squat bar, but I like it better than not squatting. I can't really hit a low bar squat position with it, so I tend to be a bit more upright, and it hits the quads more than my hamstrings. There is a product out there called a Marrs Bar that I'd like to try, which is very similar, but the way it's built, the bar rides lower, into that low bar position, but still taking the stress off the shoulders. At any rate, I'll continue to use it until I get my arm fixed and rehabbed, and then can get back to my regular routine. 11/29/2022 Rowing Machine: 15 minutes, resting 4 times throughout. 11/30/2022 Strength Training Safety Squats: 60x5x2, 100x5, 140x3, 180x1, 210x5, 210x5, 210x5. RDLs: 45x5, 100x5, 140x3, 185x2, 205x8, 205x8, 205x8. Barbell Rows: 155x8, 155x8, 155x8. Stretch: back, quads, hams, glutes. I hadn't had a light day session in a few weeks, due to scheduling and whatnot. The rows felt like they suffered the most.

Congrats to all who won, and thank you to all those who voted! This is such a great community, and the awards aren't possible without all the great interactions that take place here!

11/28/2022 Holiday week, and we had all kinds of stuff going on, so it was a messed up week for training. But, now we're back... Strength Training Safety Squats: 60x5x2, 100x5, 140x3, 180x1, 205x5, 205x5, 205x5. Deadlifts: 225x3, 295x2, 335x5. Stretch: back, quads, hams, glutes. A good workout today. Kept the squats at last week's work weight. Felt good, and not experiencing any soreness. Deadlifts I went ahead and upped the work set 5 lbs. Pulled well.

Congrats, Wado Heretic!