bushido_man96

I know how that goes, @aurik, dealing with inconsistency in training. I've been fighting that the past few months. Every now and then I have a good week, but more often than not it seems I have bad weeks with a good day here and there. I have to pace myself in classes, too. As we get older, we just have to figure out how to manage our time and energy better. It's tough, for sure.

The competition committee has been busy the last few years, and I think some of it was sparked by some of the XFL rules; kickoff rules, for example. Then there were the gripes about OT and both teams getting possessions in the playoffs. Andy Reid was actually in favor of that change, even though they benefited from the previous format. If they league goes to an 18-game season, it'll be at the expense of another preseason game. I can see another bye week being added. But adding another playoff game would be a bad idea. At that point, the league starts to get watered down, and sub .500 teams will make the playoffs regularly. I also heard rumblings for changes in playoff seeding, where division winners with worse records won't necessarily be awarded a home game. I'd like this change, because I don't think a 6 loss division winner should be seeded higher than a 4 loss team in a tougher division. We'll see what happens.

4/4/2025 Aikido: 1:30 - 3:00 pm. We had a guest instructor in today, and it was fun to see his perspectives and class approach. We did aikitaisos, then we stood in stance and the Sensei would call out step forward or slide forward, then we'd do it back. Then he had us close our eyes while doing it. This affects me much more now than it used to. We also did some tai sabaki shomen strikes against the attacker coming forward with shomen. First two went outside the attack, to the head and then to the wrist, and the other two were to the inside of the attack, to the head then the wrist. Then it was lots of technique work: Shomenuchi kokyunage ura: I must remember to bring my elbow down to help finish. Shomenuchi iriminage with tenkan: I need to not step away as I feed the uke's head into the crook of my elbow. I also need to focus on keeping my center down throughout the entire technique. Shomenuchi Iriminage: This one was different. We stepped inside and at an angle did an arc hand placement on the chin of the uke, and push their head backwards to break their balance. I see the block/strike we do in our white belt #2 and #3 one-steps here. And I can either step in at the angle or back at the angle, and block with the shomen with the free hand if need be. It has a very intercepting vibe to it, and like it. I will play with this application in those TKD one-steps. Katatatori nikkyo with pin: From same side lapel grab. Here the guest Sensei talked about uke staying engaged and "in the fight" to an extent so that nage has to get the technique right and not have it given to him. This was a good class. I had to get up slowly from the falls so as not to aggravate my head and get dizzy. Made it work, and working with the guest Sensei and the other black belt he brought with them was fun. I really wished we would have had a chance to sit and chat for a while, but perhaps next time.

I don't think it's a lost art. I think it's just that fewer find the true meaning of it.

Congrats, @crash!

Welcome to KF!

Lots of moving. I saw some rules are being talked over. The playoff OT rules are now extended to the regular season. The suggestion to ban the "tush push" has been tabled at this time.

4/3/2025 Aikido: 8:45 - 9:45 am. After really brief warmups, we got into testing prep. We worked shionage omote and ura from same side wrist grab, and then nikkyo omote and ura from same side lapel grabs. I didn't fall down a lot, and when I did, it was front falls really slowly controlled, and I had to make sure I got up really slowly. Lots of problems with my head this week. But this class was a great focus, and I really felt the techniques smoothing out the more we worked them. Lots of good reps. TKD: Rank Class: 5:45 - 6:30 pm. I got to teach this class. After getting some upper body basics down, I wanted to do a side kick focus to help out the white belts. Doing our side kick basic, I had them do it in two counts, with the first focusing on the chamber position in the proper place, so on count two they were pushing the heel out as a side kick and not as a round kick. I had the black belts working on hook kicks. After the side kick work, I had them from the same stance working reverse side kicks, turning and looking over their shoulder, getting the feet pivoted, and driving the heel by the knee to get the kick in a straight line. This was a little tough for the white belts, but they were picking it up, and I could see they were understanding the principles. I had the black belts doing reverse hook kicks. Next was forms. I had four white belts do Chon Ji hyung, first at my count and then at their count. They all had it down, and now it's just technique clean up working forward towards testing. Black belts, one did Yoo Sin, other did Gae Baek. I didn't do my form. One-steps was all white belts. Two of them had black belts to work with, so I supervised the pair of white belts working together. I did one rotation so I could see a few others working together. Again, it looks like just technique clean-up moving closer to testing, as they all pretty well have the material down. Unfortunately, while watching one-steps, my head got really light all of a sudden. Not spinning, but definitely a change. I didn't chance going to BJJ tonight.

We have a place to hang a heavy bag, but we don't use it too much. We do use standing bags quite often. We do have clapper pads and focus mitts that I think we should use more often, but that depends on who's teaching class. I don't like to use Martial Arts class time to work on "cardio" or "strength training." The fact of the matter is that it isn't often strength training at all. You just end up doing a workout with some other tools to make the students hot, sweaty, tired, and sore for a few days, and in the end it provides no actual accumulative benefit, because it isn't done consistently enough to provide a benefit. Aside from that, there are better ways to get stronger, the most effective being having a good strength training program that uses free weights about three times a week. And this good program will take about an hour to an hour and a half to complete. If I want my students to leave class hot, sweaty, tired, and sore, I can still do that with Martial Arts focused training. My classes are for learning Martial Arts, and not cardio kickboxing or Tae Bo. Places like LA Fitness that sell a ton of memberships per year tend to have a very transient group of people training there; many sign up, but not as many are actually in there working out. Sure, there are the regulars that make it a point to stick to their fitness regimens, but if you polled the number of members that actually keep going to work out 'regularly' (we'll call that three days per week), it's probably a significantly lower percentage of the actual registered gym membership. This is a bit extreme. The Martial Arts aren't dying. Things ebb and flow. The Martial Arts have never been about "broadcasting" at any rate. It's always been about the select few that stick it out for a lifetime, and get to bring some people along the way. Not everyone that joins stays with it for life; but you can get some good students that stick around for two to four years. Instructors have seen this pattern for years and years. It's unfortunately nothing new. I find that a lot of adults have lots of things going on and either don't think they have time to put into MA training, or would just rather not fill up the few hours of time they have on their own with anything else. Our TKD school has been struggling with getting more adult students in since Covid, and most of the adults get into it because they have kids into it as well, and they do it as a family. However, the Aikido dojo I attend classes at has a very decent adult following. I agree with this. If I'm not using the time in class to teach the students MA skills, then I'm not giving them their money's worth. Nothing I do "strength focused" is actually going to be beneficial to them in a strength capacity anyway. Like I mentioned, it might make them sore for a day or two, and they might think it's worth it, but it really has no long-term benefit.

3/28/2025 Aikido: 8:50 - 9:50 am. Warmed up with aikitaisos and some internals focus, rooting through the feet (gripping the ground with the toes), and then down through the legs. I had some trouble "feeling" this, and Sensei had me lay on the ground. He lifted my extended leg, and had me try to fold it at the knee by brining my heel back toward my butt like a leg curl. He said that's not it; then he head me try to pull my heel straight back to me; I likened it to a squatting motion and that made it click. After testing the internals again, it made a huge difference. It's kind of like using tension in my legs to pull my butt towards the floor, I guess. Next, technique work. Kokyunage from same side wrist grab, or kotegashi from same side wrist grab, our choice. I needed more work on kokyunage, so I worked that one. Next was shomenuchi iriminage. We worked the entry first, and then worked the entry and the second step. Then we added the feed into the finish. I stayed low, which was an important note against taller uke, which tends to make me stand up more because I feel like I have to "reach" up to them. Lots of good technique work here, and I feel I'm getting closer to being able to test. TKD: Rank Class: 5:45 - 6:30 pm. I taught this class. Got through all of basics, but didn't have the white belts due the last two combinations, and had them focus on the more basic ones. I also took a few minutes to work on out the kinks the white belts are having when we turn in basics. I just worked it as a floor drill of it's own, and they pretty well caught on. I only see a few hiccups now. For forms, I observed Chon Ji for the white belts, Won Hyo for a high green belt, and I did Choi Yong with the black belts. For one-steps, I helped out a few white belts getting through theirs. BJJ: 7:00 - 8:00 pm. We worked guard passing again. I got both of the boy into the class tonight. Warm-up: 2 rounds, 3 min each. Nice and easy. Game 1: Standing guard pass, bottom player keeping feet forward to opponent, seated and moving, defend the pass. Standing player, try to connect, pressure, and pass. 3 min as standing player, then 3 min as seated player. Game 2: Standing player working angles and getting one leg inside seated player's legs, then working to knee slice or camping position to an over/under pass. The seated player was looking to destabilize. I have real trouble working from that camping position. Coach described it as pretty transitional, and not hanging out there too much. 2 rounds, 3 min each. Game 3: Top player now started from the knee slice/outrigger position, and try to maintain position, get pressure down. Bottom player trying to destabilize. When on top, I have to maintain a good frame on the far hip to keep them from slipping the knee in. 2 rounds, just working back and forth, 3 min each. Game 4: Back to game 1, but putting it all together to either pass if on top or destabilize if on bottom. I messed up often, but I could see how I was messing up (usually not framing on the hip when on top), so I guess that's improvement. 2 rounds, 6 min each. Both boys were in class tonight, which I thought was nice. However, Kendall just seemed to be in "big brother mode," just trying to alpha is little brother. Kenneth got frustrated and was going to leave. Kendall left, so I talked to him and had him stay and work with a guy in the class that is super good about working with everyone and not just torching everyone. That helped him out and he learned a few things. He's kind of in the boat Kendall was in at the beginning; he could wrestle someone down and get to a pin, but wasn't really sure how to finish. He'll get there. I have to figure out how to get Kendall into a "learning" mindset and out of the "winning" mindset. The easy way to do that would be to tell coach to roll with him and not hold back, and just make him tap every 5 seconds. But I'm not sure that would help either. Probably just tick him off. So it'll be a process. My head had been screwy all week, so I didn't do any live rolling, but I did get with one of the guys to work the position drills again. I really focused on the frame on the hip and blocking the knee slipping in.

I have to avoid caffeine due to Meniere's disease. However, years ago I started struggling with fried or greasier foods and found out that I had Chron's disease. You might get with a gastroenterologist to see if you have developed Chron's or colitis.

It's not just Westerners. The Koreans in Olympic TKD competitions, along with all the other nationalities competing, really like their long and frequent yells.

Nah, no red flags. That's how wrestling works. Plenty of great athletes have flamed out of the NFL and gone on to be successful in other careers: Brock Lesnar had a decent MMA career, but got cut in Vikings camp I believe. Dwayne Johnson also didn't make the cut for the NFL. Kimbo Slice played football collegiately for Florida State University and enjoyed his own run of fame. Carl Weathers was cut from the Raiders roster and enjoyed a movie career. Steveson is going to be just fine. The opponent he lost to, Wyatt Hendrickson, is no slouch of a wrestler, and he is also going to the Olympic trials. So no red flags; this is the competitive nature of wrestling.

I've moved on to Taekwondo Textbook vol 2, Basic.

I'll have to look into the print subscription, see what that's about. I picked up a print magazine on Amazon called Deadly Art of Survival. Mostly bios of various Martial Artists, but a good read so far.

This may still happen. The announcers were talking about it off and on during the broadcast. He's planning another Olympic run, but after that, I can see him getting into MMA.

I don't know if anyone kept up on the NCAA Wrestling finals, but Wyatt Hendrickson beat Gabel Steveson for the HWY title. There was a wrestling camp announced today that Kenneth got signed up for in June, and Wyatt Hendrickson is going to be the camp clinician. It was a great deal, and he's super excited to go.

3/24/2025 TKD: Forms/One-Steps Class: 5:30 - 6:00 pm. Three of us, counting the CI, so we all did colored belt one-steps in a round-robin style. Worked well, we got through them all, and it afforded us each a little rest after each one-step. Sparring Drills: 6:00 - 6:30 pm. Warmups: knee-ups, down the floor forward and stepping backwards going back. Stretch kicks going down, then round kick knee chambers going back, really extending the knee forward and locking out and stretching the hip. Standing bag drills: In-and-out FL round kicks: 1 min each side, 30 sec rest between rounds. Stance switch then switch round kick: 1 min each side, 30 sec rest between rounds. FL side kick/spin side kick, alternating: 1 min total. FL side check kick to round kick: 1 min each round, 30 sec rest between rounds. Black Belt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. We did "exploratory" one-steps and two-steps. We started with one-steps, with one random attack from either side. The defender would defend as normal and then counter, but the attacker would block/move/counter the defender's first technique. Then the defender would have to adjust and finish the one-step from there. We did the same for two-steps attacks. It was a fun approach, and we looked at different counters and talked out some of the things we did. It was a fun hour of work. I wanted to stretch afterwards, but my left hip kept charlying up, making it a pain to stretch.

3/20/2025 So this ended up being a good day of training! Aikido: 9:00 - 10:00 am. Back to morning classes! This was spring break week, and I was the only one in that morning. The sensei had been sick the night before and was concerned about being too close, so this provided an interesting training opportunity. He offered we could do weapons training, which I always enjoy, or we could practice my testing techniques using a kata approach. I opted for the latter, as I really want to test. And I really enjoyed it. It probably has something to do with the fact that I've been doing forms and one-steps for so many years, but I found it really helped me get lots of reps and really see what my hips were doing. We did dynamic ikkyo, both omote and ura, then we did the static version, which is done from a lapel grab. Next was shomenuchi katatori iriminage (I struggle with this one, and I think the kata approach helped out a lot). I really enjoyed this approach, and hope to do it some more. I plan on picking one prior to class and using it as bit of a warmup. TKD: Rank Class: 5:45 - 6:30 pm. Got through all the basics, but it took about 30 minutes. I watched white belts do their forms, then taught Won Hyo to a high green belt. Finished with white belt one-steps. BJJ: 7:00 - 8:30 pm. We worked in gi tonight, and the focus was on standing passing. Game 1: Top/standing player was attempting to do a Toriando pass by getting grips on the knees or ankles, getting the bottom player onto their back, and then get around a leg by collapsing them and then stretching one out and sneaking the far leg around to then pass to side control. Bottom player tried to sit up, retain posture, and defend the pass. To pass was to win. 8 min, round robin. Game 2: Same game, but now the bottom player had the added benefit of trying to off-balance/destablize the standing player, and by getting the standing player's hands or butt on the ground gave them a win. If the seated player could pull in close underneath the standing player, they could get hooks and sweep by pulling them over you. 8 min, round robin. Game 3: Same game, but the standing player got to expand the pass game to more than just the Toriando; knee slices, etc were all-go. Coach explained to us that we have to make their grips a liability. Trying to do that sounded easy enough, but the game moves so much that a disadvantage may only last a second, and you've got to capitalize on it quick. 8 min, round robin. Only three of us in class tonight, so got lots of work, and lots of tired. After all that, the other student in the class, who said he'd had other experience in striking styles, specifically mentioned Shotokan, talked through his frustrations. He talked about how he had trouble seeing "the way forward." He felt he could defend well, but had trouble seeing what "winning," like successfully gaining a position, was like. We talked about our thoughts for a while, and I likened it to having the "empty cup" approach. I think he struggles with the ecological approach, especially coming from styles where we stand up and learn techniques in the air before moving to application, and perhaps from a more pliant partner experience. I think he'd rather do a more static approach to training, where we talk through a technique like an armbar applied when in mount, or drilling the triangle choke from guard. I think it would help him see "the way forward" better, even though when we start rolling all those steps get pretty jumbled and thrown out the window. I offered that it might be beneficial to start with a static drill like that, and then move into the games using that as the image to fall back on. Coach was really open to listening, and he may change up his approach some. Personally, I haven't minded the approach he's used thus far; it's very different to what I'm used to, but that's what I like about it. It's taking me out of my comfort zone and really showing me my weaknesses.

I used to subscribe to Black Belt, and always enjoyed it. I honestly didn't know the magazine was still printed. I assumed it had all gone digital, and I don't prefer to consume content that way.

3/18/2025 Aikido: 6:15 - 7:45 pm. Tonight we focused on testing techniques, and the sensei was marking down notes on them to see if we were ready to test. From same side wrist grab, we did kokyunage and kotegashi. We did ikkyo from same side lapel grab. I focused on relaxing my grip more, keeping my center lower, and flowing in the technique better.

There is something to be said about finding the right community. Great people with great attitudes in a great atmosphere goes a long way in keeping people around.

Thanks DP. I think he's grown a lot in confidence, and am really looking forward to the next three years.

3/17/2025 TKD: Forms/One-Steps Class: 5:30 - 6:00 pm. I had a 10 minute warmup prior to class, and spent it going over ATA forms again, going through Songhams 1-5. My legs felt really heavy. In class, we did all of our forms, which was 17 in total (plus the 5 prior to class). I goofed in Yoo Sin, and went back through it and fixed it. I also forgot Gae Baek in order, so did it last. Sparring Drills: 6:00 - 6:45 pm. We focused on spin side kick counters, from open and closed stances, no hogu. After class, we finished with body conditioning; blocking sequence on the arms (10 each 'side'), leg kicks inside and outside (20 total each leg), body punches (20 total), and slapping the sides (20 total). Floor stretch.

Ok, State Championship tournament has come and gone, and I'm going to give this one a thorough rundown. We got in on the afternoon of 3/14, and Kenneth weighed in at 242 lbs. Day 1, 3/15/2025 Match 1: Unfortunately, this match was a scratch. Not sure what was up with the kid, but the new was the kid he was supposed to wrestle was 0-4 or 0-5. Still, would have rather wrestled than not. A note here on the bracket. The way it plays out, is depending on which district you get matched up with (they rotate them each year), the 1 seed gets a 4 seed from the other district. The 2 seed gets the 3 seed, etc. Well, the way it worked out, there was no 3 seed from the opposing district, so the kid Kenneth actually beat twice to get the 1 seed had a natural bye in the tournament, and Kenneth did not. I think that is something that needs to be addressed, as the higher seed should get rewarded with the bye if it's there. But, be that as it may, I'm certain Kenneth would have taken care of business if he would have had a first match. In a way, he ended up with a bye anyway. Match 2: At the start of the match, Kenneth was tying up well. His opponent did a lateral drop, but Kenneth had good pressure and hip placement to sprawl out and come back up with the opponent. So they were back to neutral and fighting for position. His opponent started a slide-by and ended up giving Kenneth a headlock. With that, Kenneth took him over and worked to pin. The opponent was rolling around and trying to roll Kenneth through, and he ended up rolling back into Kenneth, which allowed Kenneth to sink it in even deeper. He tightened it up and got the pin, nearly choking the kid out in the process. 2-0 on the day. Match 3: Semifinals! No matter what happened now, making it to the semifinals meant the lowest he could place was 6th, securing his first ever podium finish at state. Kenneth opened up with two underhooks and a throw for 3 points. The opponent rolled through and Kenneth "cut him" (let him up). They hand fought and pummeled, and the opponent went for a headlock, and Kenneth got a body lock with an underhook and threw him again, scoring another 3 points and also getting 4 back points for a near-fall. They ended up out of bounds and got reset, and Kenneth kept him broke down with a tight-waist/ankle and rode out period 1, up 12-1. To start the second period, the opponent chose top, and Kenneth did a "quad-pod" stand-up, and got caught in a cow-catcher. He sprawled out, got back to the quad-pod, posted his arms out and scored an escape. Kenneth got to the underhook body lock again and threw again for 3 more points, going up 16-1. Kenneth held him down after the takedown and pinned him for the major decision. 3-0, and into the finals! Now the lowest he could place was 3rd, and I'll elaborate on that in just little bit. Day 2, 3/16/2025 Match 4: This was going to be a tough match. The opponent was 4th place last year in this same tournament. The kid was very tall and was a very solid wrestler. When they started off, Kenneth was getting his inside ties and was doing ok pummeling for position. The opponent took shot a single-leg and Kenneth sprawled out, and they got up. The opponent came in for a headlock and Kenneth got his body lock again. From there, neither could get the position they wanted, so they backed out to collar ties. The opponent went for a trip but they had worked over to the edge of the mat and were called out of bounds and set back to neutral. Now here, it seems like Kenneth got pensive about tying back up. This was bad, because Kenneth was on his heels moving back slightly, and I started yelling at him to make some connections so he could work again. Too late. The opponent shot a blast double that finished out of bounds. The reset with Kenneth on bottom position, and from there Kenneth got broke down with a head lever and got turned for a pin. 3-1 for the weekend, and one would think that since this is the finals, Kenneth finished 2nd place. But not so fast.... Starting last year or the year before, KS Kids Wrestling started initiating the "true second place" rule. The way this works is that the wrestler that takes 3rd place can challenge the 2nd place finisher for "true second" if the 3rd place wrestler had not been beaten by the 2nd place finisher earlier in the bracket. We got to watch the 3rd/4th place match as they were up before his match. One of the wrestlers was the kid Kenneth beat in the semifinals, and I was hoping that kid would win, then there'd be no challenge. But the other wrestler won, and he was hanging around watching Kenneth's finals match. The 3rd/4th place match was a sloppy one, though. The two came in high on each other, basically in a headlock battle to see who would fall down first. They both had height and weight on Kenneth, but I really wasn't too concerned about either of them. The kid watching Kenneth's match yelled out in excitement at his chance to challenge for true 2nd when Kenneth lost. What I was really worried about was Kenneth's head-space after just losing a title match, and getting him mentally reset to take on one last opponent. So, I gave him a pep talk that I can't repeat here, but the abridged version of it was that he wasn't going to let this kid come take his runner-up finish away, was he? He agreed, and waited about 10 minutes for a few other true 2nd matches to finish up before we began. Match 5: This was literally the last match of the day; tape was getting pulled up and mats were getting rolled up all around us. So they go out, shake hands, and it's on. Kenneth gets inside ties, and the taller opponent tried the headlock like he did in the 3rd/4th place match. Kenneth explained to me that the opponent had the headlock on the wrong side, on his own (the opponent's) side, and he couldn't throw him. Kenneth had a true headlock. They ended up backing out of the headlock positions and pummeled for position. Kenneth got two underhooks and a body lock to a trip for a takedown and 3 points, and the opponent did a knee-slide out of bounds. They reset with Kenneth in top position, and Kenneth broke him down with an ankle ride. Kenneth defended a "big man roll" and broke him down again. He got a chicken wing and turned his opponent for 2 back points, and his opponent crawled out of bounds again and got called for stalling. That ended the first period with Kenneth holding a 5-0 lead. To start the 2nd period, Kenneth chose neutral, and he pummeled to an underhook, and the kid went for Kenneth's head, and Kenneth got the body lock with an arm in, and threw him nicely, landed on top with basically a barbed wire pinning combination set in, and Kenneth settled in, T-ed out, and got the pin! While getting pinned, the opponent got his hand pulled away from Kenneth's face by the ref; the opponent was trying to push Kenneth's head away, and nearly gouged his eye in the process. Either way, it wasn't enough to stop the pin from happening, and Kenneth secured his 2nd place finish! 4-1 record for the weekend! I was so happy for Kenneth, with this being his first podium finish, after 7 years of wrestling. It had been a long time since that 6U 4th place finish. Kenneth was so happy, too, and we got to share that moment together, and I'll always remember it. And he's got one up on big brother Kendall; Kendall's best state finish was 3rd. What I really think kicked things off for Kenneth this year in wrestling was the success he experienced at the Heartland Duals we went to last year. I think it set him up with some understanding of how to compete and that he knew he could compete. This year he got past the point of worrying about everyone being heavier and taller than him; he knew in high school wrestling he'd have to be a giant slayer this year, and he carried that attitude into the Kids season. It has all paid off. I'm looking forward to three more years of wrestling. Come what may, we got to have this year, and this year was great.