bushido_man96

That sounds great. Do you plan to return to the class? 1/21/2022 Strength Training Deadlifts: 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 285x5. Bench Press: 45x5x2, 115x5, 155x3, 205x1, 220x5, 220x5, 220x5. Stretch: hams, quads, glutes. 1/22/2022 Joint TKD/Aikido Class: 4:30 - 7:00 pm. Held at the local Aikido dojo. We began class with an Aikido bow in ceremony, and then started with our CI showing some TKD basics. Some striking, some kicking, and some combinations. We moved to some Aikido break falling, first in floor drills, and then some with partners, doing an "anchored" break fall. The bokken came out and we did some striking work with them, followed by a disarm technique. We finished by doing some partner work with TKD and Aikido practitioners paired together, starting with a simple attack, and each showing how they would defend it. I thought this was a very productive first class with another local school. Both sides seemed to enjoy each other's approaches, and I really hope we get to do some more of this.

It sounds like a good time! Keep us posted on your progress!

1/20/2022 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 155x5, 225x3, 250x5, 250x5, 250x5. Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 115x2, 140x5, 140x5, 140x5. Stretch: hams, quads, glutes.

Welcome to KF, Grapplezilla! Website looks good! I've two boys in school, and one of them still wrestles (the other wrestled up until this year, his sophomore year). I love the sport, and think it has so much to offer. I look forward to seeing your perspectives!

I suppose you can dress it up however you want. That old saying about "you can put lipstick on a pig..." In the end, you got what you wanted out of the situation. If the ends justify the means...

I'm glad you are enjoying it, Grapplezilla!

This is interesting. I do have an internal dialogue when reading. I've never been a fast reader, and it frustrated me for many years, especially involving reading assignments in school. When I read a book, I can't skim worth a darn. I find myself basically reading to myself. When I was younger, I'd be mouthing the words silently as I read over them. As I've gotten older, I don't mouth the words as much (although I do catch myself doing this sometimes), but my ability to read quickly hasn't improved that much. I've also found that when I've tried to some meditative practices, I have trouble doing them. Thus, I'm not a big fan of silently meditating. I think taking on a deaf student would be a very rewarding prospect, and commend you for it. Thanks for sharing this thread; very interesting.

ashworth, how are you liking Tai Chi so far? What has the experience been like? 1/10/2022 Squats: 45x5x2, 165x5, 225x3, 250x5, 250x5, 250x5. Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 115x2, 140x5, 140x5, 140x5. So, missed some more time...took another hit of Covid this winter, which dropped me out for 5 days. Finally back to work though, and back to the gym. 1/17/2022 Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3. Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 115x3, 135x5, 135x5, 135x5. Stopped quickly after squats. I could tell I was heading for some major soreness if I continued. I'll do more on the second squat session of the week. 1/18/2022 Deadlifts: 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 275x5. Bench Press: 45x5x2, 115x5, 155x3, 205x1, 215x5, 215x5, 215x5. On an up note, our TKD school is going to have a joint training session this Saturday with the local Aikido dojo. It's going to be about a 2 hour session, with each of us sharing our thoughts and approaches to MA training and self-defense in general. It should be a lot of fun, and I will share some highlights here.

I guess this is worth a try, but don't be surprised if you still don't fill a training hall. Royce Gracie had told me in the past that he offered free training to the law enforcement officers that lived in his area, and rarely did any show up to train. That said, you'll probably get a few that will. To that end, you will likely need some kind of insurance coverage if you train somewhere other than your home. Even then, if someone gets hurt, it's hard telling how protected you can be from someone who decides to seek damages. Looking further into some local laws may help with this matter. As far getting a gi with a logo printed on it, you should be able to find that somewhere. You could probably go to a local screen printer and talk to them about the color of gi you want to use, and what it would take to put the design on it. A more expensive yet probably more reliable option would be embroidery. I wouldn't get too close to the Cobra Kai design, though, as it could lead to trademark infringement issues. Best of luck moving forward with this. Where do you plan to do your training? What will your curriculum consist of? You talk about the Boxing aspect a lot in your posts, and I think it's interesting. I've always liked and respected Boxing, and feel it has much to offer.

As for life lesson #1, not being "fair" and full of dishonest people...yes, I know this. I've been around for a while. I work in law enforcement, and see it often. The dojo or dojang should not be the place for it, though, in my opinion.

I like these guidelines you've laid out. The world of grappling can seem so overwhelming to a newcomer. Welcome to KarateForums!

This season was overall, a good one. I felt like the choreography for the tourney this time around was subpar, and could have done without the musical interlude altogether. The rivalries at times felt like they were being pushed too much, in spot that they didn't need to be. Overall, I still enjoyed it, and look forward to next season.

If it were me, Bob, I'd see what I could do about getting you to deadlift. If flexibility is an issue, I'd start with sets of high rack pulls, and then progress my way down the rack to get as close to the floor as possible, and then start pulling from there.

If you want to increase your flexibility, you need to stretch at the very least after each training session, and probably some in between, too. What we used to refer to as the "Chinese" splits, getting your legs spread out to each side and resting on your heels with the toes pointing up is a good stretch, and then "American" splits to both sides. Butterfly and hurdler stretches are good, too. Standing stretching, using a ballet bar or something else, are helpful because you can get into the kicking position and stretch that way. If you have a partner, you can do some PNF stretching. Have your partner hold your leg into a stretch position, either supporting the leg on your shoulder or something like that, and they stretch you up as high as you can go. After holding for 15 or 30 seconds, you should contract your muscles and try to pull the leg down against the resistance. Do this for about 10 seconds, then relax, take a breath, and have the partner take the stretch up higher. Repeat a few times. Now, leg strength is just as important as flexibility. You may be able to do the splits, but if the muscles aren't strong enough to hold the leg up, then you have a different problem. I do barbell squats myself. 3 sets of 5 at least 2, if not 3 times a week, adding a touch of weight each workout until you can't anymore. Stretch after you lift. Also, spend time using a wall or chair for balance and do "concentration" kicking. Chamber a side kick, extend out slowly, hold it for about 10 seconds, then rechamber nice and slow. The more you do it, the more time you can add. Lastly, you must remember body mechanics. Make sure you have your body aligned properly and you properly pivot your base foot when kicking. This maximizes the efficiency in kicking, whether slow or fast.

I feel part of the issue is that few people were aware of BJJ-style grappling at that point in time. Everybody could recognize a punch or a kick, but a kimura or heel hook? Not so much. Imagine that there were some alternate dimension where everybody grew up seeing BJJ instead of professional boxing and the cool movies in hollywood displayed wrestlers instead of karateka or kung fu guys. Schoolyard fights would consist on guys wrestling each other like kids do instead of flailing their arms trying to punch each other in the nose. Then suddenly there is an "ultimate fighter" tournament where this guy is doing this wild, innovative thing which consists of closing his fist and thrusting it into people's faces or using his foot as some sort of stick to kick people with... he'd have had the same success the gracies had in UFC1. I'm not sure that holds water. Grappling has been existing in cultures for many years, and even the ancient Olypiads had separate boxing, wrestling, and pankration events. Of the those three, Pankration was held in the highest regard. Lots of people spent lots of time honing their skills in stand-up combat for lots of years, but when running into even a middling level grappler, the stand-up skills can be mitigated when going to the ground. It would be nice to see your reversed scenario have worked, but in the end, I don't think it would have changed a thing.

This is an...interesting approach. I'm honestly not sure how I'd handle it. It would depend on my performance at the testing and how confident I was in my performance. I think the approach the student that addressed you was an admirable one. It's also a touch of dishonesty, which might make one think that this instructor gets his kicks by watching the students squirm. Lots of different ways something like this could go. I'm glad that something positive came out of it in the end. RW, that sounds like a nightmare scenario you were tied to. What a terrible experience!

Agreed. I think its important to understand that this is not unique to the Martial Arts in general. Lots of people every year start new activities only to quit them a short time later. There can be many reasons, too; time commitment, monetary issues, scheduling, etc. Physical limitations could also play a part. Years ago, I was told the "10% rule." It basically states that of the amount of students you have come through your door, you will likely only retain 10% of them through a dedicated course. Think about how many people you started with in class, and how many of them are still around. So it is with many things.

12/31/2021 Strength Training Bench Press: 45x5x2, 115x5, 155x3, 205x1, 232.5x5, 232.5x5, 232.5x5. Power Clean & Jerk: 115x2, 115x2, 115x2, 115x2, 115x2. Lat Pull-downs: 190x5, 190x5, 190x5, 190x5, 190x5. Triceps Press-downs: 70x10, 70x10, 70x10. Stretch: quads, glutes, hams. 1/5/2022 TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:15: T-shirt Class. Went through a bunch of forms, white belt up through Gae Baek. Walked through Choon Jang prior to this, as well as walking through the three-steps. 1/6/2022 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 165x5, 225x5, 225x5, 225x5. Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 115x2, 135x5, 135x5, 135x5. Lat Pull-downs: 190x5, 190x5, 190x5, 190x5, 190x5. Stretch: quads, hams, glutes. Had another long layoff due to plumbing issues at the house. We had cold weather and a pipe burst, so I was kind of held hostage at home for a few days waiting for a plumber to show up. 1/7/2022 Strength Training Bench Press: 45x5x2, 115x5, 155x3, 205x1, 220x5, 220x5, 220x5. Power Clean & Jerk: 95x2, 115x2, 115x2, 115x2, 115x2, 115x2. Lat Pull-downs: 192.5x5, 192.5x5, 192.5x5, 192.5x5, 192.5x5. Triceps Press-downs: 72.5x10, 72.5x10, 72.5x10. Stretch: quads, hams, glutes, arms, shoulders, chest.

With a straight face and all....

If it's been 6 months, I would think she is probably better and could participate without any issues. Does she participate in any other physical activities, and has she been participating in them without issue? If she is, then I wouldn't see why she shouldn't be allowed to come back. Nor do I think a doctor should be able to exert that much control over what someone does or doesn't do.

I don't think it was that rigged. Yes, it was their tournament, but they Gracies had been doing challenge matches for some quite some time before these tournaments started. There were plenty of good fighters in the tournaments, and I don't think any highly graded or skilled Karatekas being brought into the tournament would have changed any of the outcomes.

Congrats!

Maybe it has something to do with the coronavirus? I know that I would not be thrilled to be inhaling someone else’s hot dragon breath at point blank range. Socially distanced kata practice seems pretty attractive given the current pandemic situation! I’m not exactly sure that we ever saw a good matchup of “elite athletes” in the early days of the UFC since I seem to remember it essentially being a Gracie promotional campaign. It would have been nice to see someone of the caliber of a JKA instructor or the son of an Okinawan master that was eating/breathing/living karate like Royce did with his father and BJJ. I don't know about that. Dan Severn was an elite wrestling talent. Art "One Glove" Jimmerson was a professional Boxer at the time, and a former Golden Gloves Champion. I think there was plenty of talent in the early UFCs. The sport just hadn't evolved yet.

12/30/2021 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 165x5, 225x3, 290x5, 290x5, 290x5. Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 115x3, 135x1, 150x5, 150x5, 150x5. Deadlifts: 225x3, 275x2, 305x5. Lat Pull-downs: 187.5x5, 187.5x5, 187.5x5, 187.5x5, 187.5x5. Stretch: hams, quads, glutes.

Congrats, ashworth!