bushido_man96

The other option, of course, is to stand up to them. However, if they have numbers, and are willing to approach you outside of class, then it might not be the best of ideas.

You are right. Especially if you have a partner who is willing to tell you what he is seeing when you are doing your techniques. Videotaping may also help to figure this out as well. My buddies and I videoed ourselves doing our SCA combat once, and we learned quite a bit from watching that, too.

A Game of Thrones; Eddard Ned has spent the last 4 days searching for Arya after the last hubbub that went on with Jofferey and Mycah. There were many search parties out looking for Arya, and no one had found her yet. Finally, Jory found her, and she was taken before the King and Queen before being brought to Ned. Basically what happens is a small questioning of what had happened during the incident. Arya told her story, and then Jofferey told his. Arya the truth, Joff lied his butt off. The sealer of the deal was to be Sansa, who was brought in by Jory to tell what she told Ned the day it happened. Well, Sansa was weak, and didn't give anything up, for fear of losing Jofferey...so she sold out her own sister. Arya attacked her, but was peeled off. Robert was going to let Ned off with punishing Arya, and he would punish Joff, and that would be it. However, Cersie had to speak up, and wanted the wolf killed. Nymeria could not be found, but Cersie decided that Lady would be a suitable substitute. Sansa cries a lot, and in the end, I think she ends up blaming Arya for the whole ordeal, as opposed to Joff. In the end, Ned ends up beheading Lady, because Robert won't do it himself. The chapter ends with the Hound's return with a body; it was Mycah, who he ran down. Notes: We see the rift between Cersei and Robert in this chapter, and how Cersie likes to manipulate people. Sansa is also shown as not very trustworthy. The camp was made at the castle of Raymun Darry, who was an ally of Rhaegar during the war. There was a lot of tension between the Lannisters, the Darrys, the Starks, and the Baratheons while there.

That is kind of cool. Can you confirm that it was LaBell?

If it has gotten that bad, and you don't enjoy it any more, then I would look for another place to go.

1-15-08 Solo Workout: 10:30 - 11:10. Started with a little bit of Ho Sin Sul with my instructor, and then went into forms workout on my own: Chon-Ji, Dan-Gun, Bo-Chung, Do Kang 1, Do Kang 2, Do-San, Won-Hyo, Do Kang 3. Then stretched: Side splits and American splits x 3 each, reverse hurdler and butterfly x 3 each, hurdler and lean back x 3 each. Defensive Tactics: 11:10 - 12:00. Today we went over the intinerary that we are going to be using for the DT class that my partner is going to put on for the PD here. Then, we worked on rear takedowns to arm bar and cuffing, statue drills, and wrist wheel takedowns to rollover and cuff. Back/shoulders/biceps Assited pull-ups: plate 10x10, plate 9x6, plate 8x4 Seated cable rows: 120x10, 130x8, 140x6 Upright row: 70x10, 8, 6 Overhead dumbell shoulder press: 40x10, 45x8, 50x4 Preacher curls: 40x10, 50x8, 55x6 Legs Squats: 135x10, 155x8, 8 Dead lift: 135x10, 155x8, 8 Abs Decline sit-ups: 3x10 Stretch Front kick stretch: 3x30 sec. Quad stretch: 3x30 sec. Bicep stretch: 3x30 sec. Tricep stretch: 3x30 sec. Arm-across chest stretch: 3x30 sec. Taught Kids Traditional TKD Class: 4:00 - 5:00. Only two kids in class today, so I got to focus on their technique a lot, and give lots of individual attention.

Very good points here. When you are too close, the first thing you have to do is create distance to help yourself out.

That's cool, Zanshin. I am kind of the same way; I could care less about the Samurai; Medieval Swordsmanship is my interest as well. The small shield he uses, is it a buckler, maybe?

That's cool. Let me know what you find out there.

1-14-08 Black Belt Class: Tonight, we did all 5 of our Do Kangs, which are "black belt basics." They are kind of like forms, I guess, but get progressively tougher. After these, I did 10 push-ups, which was tough, because my arms were worn out from the hand techniques. Then, we moved on to forms, and we did all 10 colored belt forms. I did a short stretch afterwards, and then did 10 more push-ups. It was a good workout, but I need to improve my ability to keep pushing through and keep my power up for my forms.

That's an original idea. I had not heard that one before.

My buddy that I work on Defensive Tactics with has quite the bag: usually a portable DVD player, his knee brace, lots of DVDS, some manuals, some soft air pistols and some rubber band guns...with ammo. I have my own rubber band gun that I take with me now, too.

This is just speculation, but from what I know of TSD, I think they are similar to TKD type sparring rules; kicks to the head and body, punches to the body, and maybe no punches to the head (not for sure, though). I also think that it is light to medium contact, calling breaks for points. Just a guess, though. It may depend on the organization as well.

One way to vary your round kick is to chamber the kick like a front kick initially, and then turn your leg and hip over when you turn into the kick. It will not have the same amount of power as a full chamber, but with practice, it can get the job done. Use the pivot and hip turnover to generate power.

It sounds like you have a bit of bad and good going there. At least being able to get back to TKD is something to look forward to.

It has to do with becoming a better person through the training. Many focus on the 5 tenents, which include integrity, self-control, indomitable spirit, perserverance, and loyalty. It has to do with the idea that as you gain rank and power in your techniques, you also gain responsibility, and have to conduct yourself so as not to abuse what you know.

They sure do change a lot, that is for sure. I would like to see one of those clinics, DWx.

This 15 volume set of encyclopedia covers just about everything technical for ITF TKD (at, least the way it was when they debuted). Hardbound, with a ribbon book mark in each volume, these books are pretty nice, and the English translation is pretty good. Each volume covers something a bit different. Volume 1 covers basic history of TKD. It also covers the ideals, philosophies, and methodologies of Gen. Choi. Some notes I made from v. 1: *importance of student development over commercialism *importance of developing students outside of the dojang as well as inside *students should be encouraged to study in other dojangs *instructors should answer questions honestly and admit when they do not know the answer *instructors should not expect favors from students; cleaning school, etc. Volume 1 also includes layouts for testing cycles, testing requirements, and training schedules. Volume 2 covers: *Power: Reaction force, Concentration, Equilibrium, Breath Control, Mass, Speed, Reflex. *Attacking and Blocking tools, Vital spots. *Complete charts relating attacking tools to blocking tools. *Stances *Belt System-color significance *Instructions for making/training on a makiwara, along with training for heavy bag, focus pad, shield, a very interesting blocking apparatus, stretching pulleys, wooden horses, jars, stance moulds, and speed bags. *Stretches Volume 3 covers Hand Techniques for attacking and blocking, along with some applications and dodging footwork. Volume 4 covers Kicking, including flying kicks, defensive kicks and checking kicks. Also covered is stepping with the sine wave. Volume 5: Sparring *What level of sparring for each rank *Pre-arranged sparring (1, 2, 3-step sparring), including footwork *Semi-free and free sparring; also points out limitations of free sparring *Foot sparring, which he says is derived from the old Taek Yon *Hoo Sin Sul: here, you can begin to see some forms applications *Throws and falling *Some weapons defenses, which are kind of questionable Volumes 6 and 7 cover fundamental and basic movements, including stances, walking, and turning. Volume 7 is a bit more advanced, including flying kicks, flying multiple kicks, and dodging/jumping hand strikes. Most of the techniques are shown from a beginning stance and position, and are then executed like a floor drill style. Volumes 8 through 15 cover all of the forms of the ITF system. Included are lots of photos; a large photo of the technique, and on the facing page, smaller photo sequences beginning with the previous position, showing the transition, and then the finished technique position, along with an appliaction picture. Footwork diagrams are also provided to show direction of travel. Each section begins with the new moves/basics/stances for the form being shown. *v8: 4 direction punch, 4 direction block, Chon-Ji, Dan-Gun, Do-San *v9: Won-Hyo, Yul-Gok, Joong-Gun *v10: Toi-Gye, Hwa-Rang, Choong-Moo *v11: Kwang-Gae, Po-Eun, Ge-Baek *v12: Eui-Am, Choong-Jang, Juche *v13: Sam-Il, Yoo-Sin, Choi-Yong *v14: Yon-Gae, Ul-Ji, Moon-Moo *v15: So-San, Se-Jong, Tong-Il Overall, if you are an ITF practitioner, or a practitioner of the Chang 'On forms, then this volume of encyclopedia can be very helpful to you. They are well written, and fairly easy to understand. Even if the style of forms you do is varied in some way, these books will still help to point you in the right direction. If anything, it is nice to see the way Gen. Choi laid things out.

One thing that I forgot to mention that seems to be an ongoing theme in these early chapters is the direwolves' penchant for protecting the Starks. Summer, Bran's wolf, killed the assassin. Nymeria attacks Jofferey, and even Lady is protective of Sansa when she is startled by Sandor Clegane and Ser Ilyn Payne. Ghost attacks Tyrion as well in protection of Jon.

One other thing you can do is tie it, and then untie it, and tie it again, and repeat,...a lot. Like, for an hour straight, for a few days...

Kicking the head of BOB is a different experience than the regular bag. I especially like to focus instep round kicks to the neck of BOB. Some of my classmates think I am disturbed...

What kind of changes specifically? for exemple, in heian godan or bassai-dai when we raised the knee before de gedan-barai in kiba-dachi, in this book, we do the move without the knee, directly in kiba dachi. It's just a minor changes, not really important, you know, if you want to sell a new book, on the same subject, you need to something new...... In every book that I read on the ITF forms for TKD, I see all kinds of minor changes to the forms as well. Of all the book that I have read on this forms system, I have learned that A) none are the same, and B) none of them exactly match how my association does the forms, either.

I hear ya, ps1. I don't know that I would care to step into a ring and fight MMA, but I would sure give the training a try.

Depending on what you are doing I think the music might actually help you. Think about it, if you can't concentrate with music on, how are you going to concentrate during a real fight. During an actual conflict there could be countless distractions. That is true, but at the same time, you might zone everything else out in a real fight. My brother played football throughout middle school, high school, and at a small college, and I asked him once if he ever heard or saw the crowd when he played. He said the only things he ever saw was Dad walking the sidelines; everything else was blurred out and fuzzy, and he could hear Mom yelling in the crowd. Otherwise, that was it. That is just one person's experience, though. Everyone is different.

1-11-08 Biceps/triceps/shoulders Dumbell bicep curls: 3x10x20 lbs. Dumbell triceps kick-backs: 3x10x20 lbs. Overhead dumbell shoulder press: 3x10x20 lbs. Cross-body dumbell hammer curls: 3x10x20 lbs. Overhead dumbell triceps press: 3x10x20 lbs. Dumbell shoulder raise: 3x10x20 lbs. Legs Lunges: 3x5 each leg x 20 lbs. Side kick hold and pulse: 3x10 each leg. Stretch: 20 minutes, seated splits, reaching to each side, reverse hurdler. Abs Crunches: 3x15