bushido_man96

I don't like MRIs either, Bob. Very discomforting. I'm hoping your test comes back great!

I do full ROM deadlifts; I don't have much use for sumo deadlifts, which is really just a bastardization of the deadlift due to rules issues in powerlifting federations, allowing competitors to reduce the range of motion of the lift, and therefore lift more weight, and therefore win a competition. The wide grip bench press has a similar effect. Then, gym bros picked it up and do it often because it is A) easier, and B) allows them to say they can "deadlift" more than they can actually "deadlift." It's a lot easier to move 400 lbs 6 inches than it is to move it 2 and half feet. Anyway, I digress... 2/10/2023 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 270x5, 270x5, 270x5. Press: 45x5x2, 65x5, 95x3, 115x1, 139.5x5, 139.5x5, 139.5x5. Snatch Grip Deadlifts: 165x3, 245x2, 275x5, 275x5. I narrowed my grip a bit on squat, when I didn't think I'd be able to. Maybe that will take some stress off my elbows as the weight goes up. Pressing is still good, and the shoulders seem to be holding up nicely. Snatch deads went well today, but man did they feel heavy. Rep 5 was a real grinder on both sets. I think I did a good job of keeping the bar on my shins on the way up; I had a nice blood stain coming through my sweats on the inside of my right knee! 40 minutes on the treadmill with my wife.

What do you mean by "curriculum black belt" and "instructor black belt?" It's a good thing this post got brought back to life--I completely missed this question! I actually ended up tweaking this, a bit, but the idea was to have a black belt rank for those who learn all of the adult curriculum that I established as being required, and another black belt rank for those who want to be instructors, which would require them to ALSO know the youth curriculum, as well as the Bugeikan material, so that they were equipped to teach everything that I teach. I ended up just going with one black belt rank, and a Shidoin certificate for those who learn the rest of the material and want to teach. I see what you mean here. What you are suggesting sounds like a separate instructor certification. I've heard it said that in the UK, 100 miles is a long way, but 100 years is a very short period of time; in the US, 100 miles is a short way, but 100 years is a long time.

I trained at an ATA school for a little while, and they did a very similar thing. Starting at first degree, you'd first have to earn a "first degree recommended" rank, followed by a "first degree decided rank". The recommended rank is temporary, while the decided is permanent. Of course, they required you to do a number of midterm tests between ranks as well, each one with its associated test fees. But of course, that's ATA for you. Yep. My first structured MA experiences came through the ATA. I held a 2nd dan and Instructor Certification.

I think this is very awesome. I remember seeing the videos your instructor was doing, and how well put together they were. It seems like he didn't have an issue with ego either, making him very pliable as an instructor, and a student. You had a great experience.

That sounds like a fun time training! Good luck moving forward, and please keep us posted as to how training in both goes.

There's a lot of interesting political history between the ITF and the WTF. General Choi was basically banned from the country for a while, and started spreading his ITF around the world, while the Korean government was spearheading the startup of the WTF through the KTA. Squatting doesn't bother my knees. In fact, it has helped them over the past few years. TKD has been causing me knee pain for quite some time, and my left knee recently has been the one really bothering me. I spend a lot of time in the car for work, and getting in and out, putting that left leg down and basically doing partial one-leg standups and twisting out of the car doesn't help it at all. 2/7/2023 30 minutes on the treadmill with the wife (not on the same treadmill; that would be weird...). 2/8/2023 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x5, 225x5. Press: 45x5x2, 65x5, 95x3, 115x1, 138x5, 138x5, 138x5. Deadlifts: 185x5, 255x3, 325x1, 370x5. Lat Pull-downs: 130x10, 130x10, 130x10. Did a light squat session today, mainly to help warm things up for the deadlift. Recalling my press workout from the previous session, I misloaded my micro plates, so have to go back and fix that. In order to keep things on schedule, I put the weight where it was supposed to be today, had I done the proper weight last session. Last warmup on deadlift seemed awful, so I wasn't anticipating a fun work set. But, it went up. First 2 reps were good, 3 starts to grind, and rep 4 drifted a little. Rep 5 wasn't bad, but wasn't great. TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. T-Shirt Class: Started with a real light stretch in The Rack, but not so much to aggravate the adductor tendon. I followed that up with a twelve 30 second rounds on the standing heavy bag; I did a round of hands only in orthodox stance, then a round of hands in southpaw stance, and then a round of kicks; 1 minute rest between 30 second rounds. After that, I went through my black belt forms: Choong Moo, Kwang Gae, Poe Eun, Gae Baek, Se Jong, Yoo Sin, and Choong Jang. Had trouble with balance tonight, and once I started on forms, my left knee flared up on my again. It did NOT want to be in a left leg front stance. I think a knee wrap may be in order. And some more Biofreeze.

Our school also has those "ho" ranks; we call them "recommended" ranks. 1st degree recommended, then 1st degree; same for 2nd and 3rd.

Lots of good advice in here. My journey has been a little bit different, but not much. Just like when strength training, there is a law of diminishing returns when it comes to fine tuning your Martial Arts training. You see big jumps in technical improvement from white belt to the intermediate ranks, and then some (but not as much) from the intermediate ranks into the pre-black belt and 1st dan ranks. As I've gotten more advanced, I harp on making sure I have my stuff memorized, and then when I'm having trouble with techniques, or a string of techniques, I figure it's pretty much up to me to figure out how to break them down and make them better. Balance is a thing I have issues with now, especially in some transitions between stances. I have to break them out and drill them. I find myself experimenting with different things when it comes to working self-defense techniques. I end up with a combination of concepts from my training in class, and from the various defensive tactics courses I've taken. It's also worthwhile to seek out another style, like Zaine mentioned. There's an Aikido dojo in town that I trained at for a brief stint years ago, and if I ever test for my 5th dan, I may consider spending time at that dojo again. I don't agree with all of the philosophies and approaches at that dojo, but I can still learn some things there, that's for sure.

Congrats, Ryan!

I will probably end up doing this! I'm not a fan of ebooks, as I like to have the pages in my hand. I will be purchasing this one now, too. I also saw several other titles that piqued my interest.Back down the rabbit hole I go!

I got through the dagger section, and am into the sword section now. I'm really looking forward to getting that other book by Windsor to see some flow back and forth. I like the entries and locks that he demonstrates; it's just keeping them straight and trying to follow into other plays that gets tough. From what I remember reading about swordplay, several of the masters get into half-sword play, not unlike the plays that have you gripping the dagger and shortening the blade. Several of the disarms also involved grabbing the "blade" of the dagger and wrenching it around. This would be very different with an edge on it, and would be fun to see modifications.

Am curious here - is there such a large difference between IFT and WTF taekwondo that a 3rd Degree BB needs to start again? I had (incorrectly i think) always assumed it was mainly a ruleset difference so the grades would be very transferable. I pity the lower ranks that match up against her in competitions/gradings etc!! The forms curriculum is entirely different; whole new set of requirements. We don't do sine wave, so she doesn't have to learn how to do that. We also have a set of one-steps that go with each rank, and she has to learn those, too.How fast she advances will basically just depend on how well she can keep up with the new material, and how the CI feels about jumping her in ranks. 2/6/2023 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 235x1, 265x5, 265x5, 265x5. Press: 45x5x2, 65x5, 95x3, 115x1, 136.5x5, 136.5x5, 136.5x5. Lat Pull-downs: 127.5x10, 127.5x10, 127.5x10. Squats. The sets felt good. I used a different bar today (one I'd used in the past), and two things happened. One, I didn't have it rolling around on my back, but, two, it wanted to slip down towards my wrists as the set progressed. Not sure what I'll try next. Press was good, and the pull-downs are coming along nicely. I'm still using a pause at the bottom of the pull-downs. TKD Class: 5:30 - 6:30 pm. Traditional Class. Helped teach again, with the two now high orange belts. I emphasized the importance of breathing in general, tightening up the abs upon technique completion, and ki-haps. Worked on lots of little technique things, and getting bodies aligned for good side kicks. I was the demo for their new form, Bo Chung. They finished learning their new one-steps. Black Belt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Do-Kangs 1-5. After 1 and 2, students were split so the CI could teach new material. I took some others and we did Do-Kangs 3-5, then the first 6 three-steps, and then worked Ho Sin Sul. We did some basic same side and cross wrist grab releases and strikes, an arm bar, a shoulder lock into what basically is Shio Nage, and some work with a rear bear hug. We finished with some altering some one-steps and doing defenses against haymaker punches. My knees really hurt in class tonight, and I could tell they were limiting my performance.

Welcome back, ryanryu! It's great that you've found your way back!

Oh boy, is that another book available to buy online? If so, it sounds like I must have it, too!

I know the ATA gets a lot of flack, but one thing I think they do right is they hold a week-long instructor certification camp that trainee instructors must attend before becoming a certified instructor. They do lots of different workshops on ideas behind teaching and such. I felt like I really got a lot from it when I went. This was quite a few years ago now, too, so I don't know how much things have changed. My current organization awards certification upon reaching 3rd dan (for adults). I don't think this is so great an idea.

2/4/2023 TKD Testing: 3:00 - 5:00 pm. Had several orange belts, and a few black belts testing today. It was going pretty well, but unfortunately, our 2nd degree pulled his hamstring while testing. I'm really hoping he didn't tear it, but time will tell. Two of the kids that tested did pretty well. As per usual, testing tends to bring out the best in them. Still things to work on, but that's true of any low rank. We have a WT stylist in our school now, too, and she's 3rd degree in WT. She tested as a high orange belt, and as expected, showed well. She should be moving up the ranks rather quickly, I'd guess. I did get to spar a round with a first degree that was testing for 2nd rec, so that was fun.

Great reviews, scohen! Thanks for taking the time to do them.

With many traditional styles being tied up in a rank/belt hierarchy, it's only natural that people naturally look to higher ranks as those experienced enough to teach. You make a good point about those styles that don't use ranks. I think usually it comes down to knowing the ins and outs of the style, and knowing who's been around and done things, or coached those who have.

2/3/2023 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 260x5, 260x5, 260x5. Press: 45x5x2, 65x5, 95x3, 115x1, 135x5, 135x5, 135x5. Snatch Grip Deadlifts: 165x3, 245x2, 270x5, 270x5. Squats don't feel really heavy yet, but I'm still fighting the bar rolling around on my back. I tried to focus on pulling the bar down, and it seemed to help some. Press went good; back to a plate on each side. Will drop the increases to 1.5 lbs per session now. Snatch deads were good, but the last rep of set 1 really slowed down. Set 2, after a rest, went good. 30 minutes on the rowing machine with my wife, doing intervals of about 45 seconds, 6 intervals total. I pretty much rested between intervals, as opposed to continue to lightly row. My hip flexors got really tired.

That will be helpful. I'll look into that. I have to check, but I may have a book by Guy Windsor. I know I've heard that name before.

All good responses, thank you. To the last three posts above in regards to osoto-gari; that I probably what I would liken it to, but not set up in the same way. The problem starts in that the one-step begins with a step back and knife hand block to a stepping punch; the step back puts the kids out of range, and then they have to step in and perform the reaping motion. What is typical for our kids is that they start too far away on the one-steps (afraid of being too close to strikes), and that ruins everything from there forward. Perhaps sometime I can do a video that would show both examples of the one-step and post a link for you all to view. It might help make more sense. At any rate, it's not that I don't think these kids could learn how to do it. I think they can. But they aren't, and that comes down to the instructor. And I do think showing it with the step behind, which basically blocks the leg and facilitates forward motion into a trip, is a way to build up to the reap.

Our CI advertised on social media, but they didn't use any kind of demonstration videos. Nor do we have a female instructor at this time, which I'm sure doesn't help, either.

That's still awesome, Brian! Any amount of karate practice is a great amount of karate practice! Thank you, Zaine. I think this month I will try to start learning Sanchin. 2/1/2023 Strength Training Deadlifts: 135x5, 185x5, 255x3, 325x1, 365x5. Press: 45x5x2, 65x5, 95x3, 132.5x5, 132.5x5, 132.5x5. Lat Pull-downs: 125x10, 125x10, 125x10. Deadlifts were a grind, more so than last week. Could have been due to poor sleep and eating. But for the most part, I kept the bar on my shins on the way up on all the reps. Next up for press, back to a plate on each side. TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. T-Shirt Class: Did some stretching in The Rack; this did not help my adductor issue. Really flared it up. I did all of my black belt forms today: Choong Moo, Kwang Gae, Po Eun, Gae Baek, Se Jong, Yoo Sin, and Choong Jang. Finished up going through the first 6 three-steps.

Interesting thoughts! For myself i always found that front squats had a quick impact on my abdominal strength and i noticed i could perform more ab-work in class when doing them. Back squats though strengthened my legs more and i think led to more powerful kicks / other leg techniques. It possibly also comes down to how you perform your back squat. I typically do quite a high bar back squat with a lot of knee flexion as i prefer it that way. For someone with a really low bar squat the answer is likely different. The downfall of front squats is that they ultimately can't be loaded as heavy as a back squat, and are thus more limited.I've got terrible knees, and front squats just hurt too much. A well down, technically sound, low bar back squat is a hip dominant movement, and thus doesn't impact the knees like a front squat or a high bag squat does.