bushido_man96

Could it be that it wasn't actually a part of the system, but more of a cultural aspect that perhaps Okinawan masters at the time weren't interested in learning?

Yes, good point to bring up. Both Hapkido and Aikido have their roots in Daito-Ryu. I wouldn't have recalled the names, though. More important Korean MA history. Welcome to KF! Glad to have you here.

10/8/2021 Strength Training Bench Press: 45x5, 115x5, 135x3, 195x1, 242.5x4, 242.5x5, 242.5x5. Power Snatch: 95x2, 105x2. Power Clean & Jerk: 115x1, 125x1, 145x2, 145x2, 145x2, 145x2, 145x2. That first set of bench was horrible. I'm not sure what the issue was, but I hit sets of 5 on the last two sets. I may need to adjust my warmup sets a tad. I think I strained my neck by pushing my head back into the bench. I got to fix that issue...my neck was sore for the weekend. I started wearing my wrist wraps when I clean and jerk, and they help a ton with my wrists. The rack is cleaning up, and the split is getting more consistent. Snatch needs more practice.

I would love to see grappling reach a progression like that in our school, but I don't see it happening anytime soon. Right now, it appears that it will stay relegated to the black belt class. Which is sad, really, as all the students can benefit from this knowledge.

10/7/2021 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 225x3, 295x1, 345x5, 340x5, 340x5. Press: 45x5, 85x5, 115x2, 135x1, 162.5x5, 162.5x5, 162.5x5. I miss loaded my first set of squats. And boy, did I notice it. Rep 4, I almost lost my balance forward, and rep 5 I thought was going to get stuck. Then I checked my book, and noticed my error. I backed off the weight to what I was supposed to do for the last two sets, and got it, but it still was a struggle. Press is going up, but it goes up sloooow.

It depends on what you're looking for. A yoga instructor isn't teaching self-defense; and the concern for technical proficiency probably isn't as high, either. 200 hours may very well be plenty for gaining proficiency in yoga to the point of being able to instruct others. In the Martial Arts, we're looking for different things; technical proficiency, knowledge of curriculum, etc.

10/6/2021 TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. T-Shirt Class. Warmed up with some speed bag work. Did Choong Jang three times, Se Jong once, and Gae Baek once. A little bag work, and then a few rounds of sparring. I did take a solid side kick to my side, too. We'll see how that feels in the morning.

Great to see you, ShoriKid! We did a little grappling work in our black belt class the other night. It wasn't very much active rolling, just drilling. It was a lot of fun. I worry that our CI considers getting into the grappling stuff too much would be "too advanced." It's not, though; it's just different.

10/5/2021 Strength Training Deadlifts: 135x5, 225x3, 295x1, 330x5. Bench Press: 45x5, 115x5, 135x5, 195x1, 240x5, 240x5, 240x5. The nagging pain I'd been having in my back for the past few weeks is finally gone! And deadlift did not reaggravate the issue, at least not today. Had a funny incident with bench. I've been going up by 2.5 lbs per workout. Today I had 235 loaded, and had my buddy come back to spot me. I was checking the weight over again, and then rechecked my log, and I should have been at 237.5. However, my buddy had thrown on 5 lbs, putting it at 240, and talked me into doing it. Went for 3 sets, and felt good.

That's a crazy roller coaster ride, Bob. If I were you, I'd hold onto the positive information you've been giving; dwelling on the negative will not help anything. Keep fighting; above all else, keep fighting!

10/4/2021 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 225x3, 295x1, 337.5x5, 337.5x5, 337.5x5. Press: 45x5, 85x5, 115x3, 135x1, 160x5, 160x5, 160x5. It's gotten to the point that I worry a bit about getting the squat sets done. But they keep going back up, and man, I love that feeling! TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Black Belt Class: Stretched and tried to loosen up prior to class. Do-Kangs 1-4, and then we went right into Ho Sin Sul. We did quite a bit of ground work tonight, working on a reversal, to passing guard, and even worked on Americana for a finish. Good class.

Congrats!

10/1/2021 Strength Training Bench Press: 45x5, 115x5, 135x3, 195x1, 235x5, 235x5, 235x5. Power Snatch: 95x2, 95x2, 100x2. Power Clean & Jerk: 115x2, 125x1, 140x2, 140x2, 140x2, 140x2, 140x2. Bench press continues to improve, but I'm feeling a catch in my right shoulder, which had the operation all those years ago. I feel a bit of pain, but nothing that subsists after the training session, so I'll continue to increase the weight. Power clean is an enigma or me. It seems like I either nail the rack, or I nail the split, but not both for some reason. I'm going to keep at it, though.

Sounds like you've got some positives in there, Bob! Hang tough, and I'll continue to pray for you!

It sounds like your learning how to adapt things to your body, which is a big step in advancing. Kudos to you! Keep up the good work!

9/29/2021 TKD Class: 6:00 - 7:00 pm. T-Shirt Class: I did a few rounds on the speed bag, even doing a combination to work in elbow strikes. I also did work on the standing bags, doing lots of round kicks and side kicks, and then some combination kicking, touching down and firing right back up. Stretched throughout. 9/30/2021 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 225x3, 285x1, 335x5, 335x5, 335x5. Press: 45x5, 85x5, 115x2, 135x1, 166x1, 155x5, 160x3, 160x3, 160x3. Squats went well. Feeling heavy, though, and after set 1, I was really doubting myself for the next two sets. But I got under the bar, and got them done. It was a grind, for sure. Press went poorly. I got 1 rep of 166, but failed the others I tried, so backed off weight, unsure of what to do.

So looking forward to it!

9/28/2021 Strength Training Deadlifts: 135x5, 225x3, 275x1, 325x5. Bench Press: 45x5, 115x5, 135x3, 195x1, 232.5x5, 232.5x5, 232.5x5.

This is a great observation, and not one that I thought about at first glance. You make a good point here. I agree. I always referred to this as the "pin mentality." Once a Wrestler gets over this, I think their BJJ level can improve drastically. Also a good observation. The BJJer didn't really panic, and you could tell he was pretty comfortable being on his back.

9/27/2021 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 225x3, 285x1, 332.5x5, 332.5x4*, 332.5x6*. Press: 45x5, 85x5, 115x2, 135x1, 164x4, 164x4, 164x4, 164x3. * On set 2, I ended up squatting one of the reps high (I think rep 5). I had a guy watching my form and overall giving encouragement. I felt it right away on that rep, too, and was very frustrated myself, knowing I cheated the rep. So, I did 5 reps on that set, but one was high, and didn't count. My buddy was giving my a friendly poking, too, saying I needed to get 6 reps on the last set to make it all count. I laughed it off, and said I don't know if there is any way I can hit a set of 6, after what rep 5 feels like. Set 3 rolled around, and after hitting 5 reps, I decided to go for that 6th rep, and I got it. That made me feel a lot better. Now, the press. I managed to miss load the bar, going heavier than I intended by 2 extra pounds. I decided to go back to pressing on days 1 and 3, and benching on days 2 and 4, after the way the press felt last Friday. TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Black Belt Class: Did all 4 Do-Kangs, and then worked on breakfalls and rolls with some of the students to get ready for Ho Sin Sul work. For Ho Sin Sul, we did "sparring," which went ok, I guess. I think soon we are going to start working more ground work into it.

That's a spot-on observation there, Bob, that not only were the Wrestler's takedowns so good, but the BJJer received them well, making sure he was in a good position upon being taken down. I think he could definitely work on some sprawls and other takedown defenses to help with that, too. I understand why you'd score the Wrestler the winner; he was very good at getting into a dominant position. I'd be interested in seeing some continuation, though, and if strikes were applied, I'd really like to see how the BJJer started defending the strikes, and if that would help provide him openings to advance his position.

9/24/2021 Strength Training Press: 45x5, 85x5, 115x2, 135x1, 160x2, 160x4, 160x2, 160x3, 160x4. Power Snatch: 45x3, 65x2, 95x2. Power Clean & Jerk: 115x2, 135x2, 135x2, 135x2, 135x2, 135x2. Press was a struggle. I think the bench press the day before really affected it, so I may switch those days back. I decided to start practicing the power snatch, too, so my lighter power cleans sets became my snatch sets. As it gets better, and the weight goes up, I'll figure out how to start working it's own day into the mix. Later that day, after my workout (of course), I got my wrist straps and 1.25 lb plates in that I ordered. The wrist straps will be welcome additions, and I may try to use them for the Olympic lifts, too.

Sports like wrestling and boxing have done very well without the use of a ranking system. However, if there is no ranking system, some method of determining a pecking order tends to rear it's head. In the case of boxing and wrestling, that outlet tends to be competition, or more specifically, competition results. Warning: going off on a tangent here.... Now, I'm not saying it has to be that way; I'm sure there are some schools and instructors out there that could pull off the teaching of Martial Arts without the use of ranks. The way you describe your school makes it sound like it is competition focused, which will not appeal to everyone, and may lead to a very limited student body. I, for one, would not sign up for a cardio class if I wanted to learn Martial Arts. I want to be taught Martial technique, concepts, and applications if I'm paying for it; I'll handled my own fitness levels outside of that. I look it at in a similar way that some styles like to use implements to "strength train." The clubs they swing, holding the jars, etc. I would not be terribly interested in that kind of training, because I spend time strength training using barbells. Spending a half hour of class time that I pay for wanting to learn Martial Arts on carrying jars or swinging an Indian club is not what I would consider a valuable use of my time. I'd rather spend that half hour on learning an application, or sparring, or self-defense work. Ok, tangent over... Now, back to the rank discussion. I do think it's possible to do without rank. I do think it may limit the student body your school attracts. And this is ok; some instructors would rather narrowcast than broadcast. I do find it interesting in that in this discussion you've mentioned your instructor's rank a few times; you've stated that he's a third degree. But what if he wasn't? You know his rank right now; what if you didn't when you first met him? Would that have affected whether or not you wanted to train with him? Will you and your instructor put your belts away and not concern yourselves with your ranks in the class anymore? Will some other titles end up being used, like "instructor" or "coach?" Or will there be complete autonomy within the group?

9/23/2021 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 225x3, 285x1, 330x5, 330x5, 330x5. Bench Press: 45x5, 115x5, 135x3, 185x1, 230x5, 230x5, 230x5. I switched the days I'm doing bench press and press. Now, I'll find out if bench affects the press more, or vice versa.

Cung Le was a lot of fun to watch.