bushido_man96

This is interesting to consider. I think it's interesting in that, for a high percentage of the people who will ever practice the Martial Arts, most of them will never have to experience an actual self-defense scenario. However, they may very likely face a lot of competition, either at tournaments or in class, if they choose to. Therefore, not being as exposed to the need to use their self-defense as much, it doesn't linger at the forefront of people's minds. It is unfortunate if that is the case, and I have a great appreciation for those that keep the self-defense aspects going in spite of this.

As a student of the Martial Arts for many years, and instructor myself, I really hate to see this kind of advise given out. A student can get good at multiple styles, especially ones that don't have a lot of crossover. If a student has the time to devote to a couple of disciplines, and is willing to do it, then they should do it. Well, I think this depends. What kind of fighting are we talking about? Are we talking about competition? Then yeah, being in peak physical condition, along with being really talented, is important for successful competition. If we are talking about self-defense, cardio is still important, but not nearly as much so for surviving a self-defense situation, as it's not likely to last as long as a competition bout is. When it comes to self-defense, I'd rather have lots of time in skill and drill.

Have you looked into these any further? If so, what has your experience been so far?

That sounds like it was quite the refreshing trip! Awesome!

That's great news, Bob! Good to see things getting on track!

Welcome!

You might consider a sit-down with her and the parents, and talk about how it's important to learn to work hard and push through adversity, and still find the enjoyment in things, especially the accomplishments. This can be a tough conversation to have with someone so young, but the parents might be able to help out with it, too. See if you can get her to flip her attitude on the matter, and motivate her to work hard and find the enjoyment in the training.

6/28/2021 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 260x1, 310x5, 310x5, 310x5. Press: 45x5, 85x5, 115x1, 135x1, 151.5x3, 151.5x3, 151.5x3, 151.5x3, 151.5x3. Deadlifts: 135x5, 225x3, 275x1, 315x1, 345x1, 345x2. Neutral-grip Chins: 2, 2, 2, 2, 2. It was a mixed bag today. Squats going well, and I finally hit sets of 3 on my presses at this weight. Deadlifts, however, were bad. The first rep was a grind, and the second was stapled to the floor. I rested a bit, and then decided to really bear down and pull again, and it was a slow grind, and I should have stopped there, but I pushed another rep. Now, I've got really bad pain at the bottom of my back to right of my spine. Hurts, hurts, hurts.

That's great news, Bob!

6/24/2021 Firearms Training: 3 hours of long gun training, rifle and shotgun. We trained clearing malfunctions and working to hit different targets, and also transitioning to handgun. 6/25/2021 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 260x1, 305x5, 305x5, 305x5. Press: 45x5, 85x3, 115x1, 135x1, 151.5x2, 151.5x2, 151.5x1, 151.5x3, 151.5x2, 151.5x2, 151.5x2, 151.5x1. Deadlifts: 135x5, 225x3, 275x1, 295x1, 315x1, 340x5. Squats went well, press sucked, and deadlifts almost killed me. I laid on the floor for a few minutes after the deadlift set. I don't know what happened with the press.

Congrats, Mo! Thanks for all you do at KF!

We all have those days, but you're right. All we can do is take a breath and keep moving.Agreed. Those are the days during which we tend to learn the most about ourselves.

I think I'd beg to differ. The ITF the North Koreans are doing are heavily laden with sine wave motion, and the performance of their forms will not resemble much of anything like Karate or TSD.

Man, the ups and downs are real, aren't they! Heal up soon!

That was always my problem, too, Danielle. I'm weighing 245 lbs now, and it's the lightest I've been in some time. I'm only getting a few at a time, though. I can't recommend enough to get some incremental plates. I bought a set some time ago, and it was a great investment, especially for pressing, and for training my kids. 6/21/2021 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 245x1, 300x5, 300x5, 300x5. Press: 45x5, 85x5, 115x2, 135x1, 151.5x3, 151.5x3, 151.5x3, 151.5x2, 151.5x2, 151.5x2. Deadlifts: 135x5, 225x3, 275x1, 295x1, 335x5. Neutral-grip Chins: 2, 2, 2, 2. Squat sets felt surprisingly good, until the last set, which just seems to be how the last set goes. Press dropped to sets of 2. Deadlift might just be a PR. 6/23/2021 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 255x5, 255x5, 255x5. Press: 45x5, 85x5, 115x1, 138x5, 138x5, 138x5. Neutral-grip Chins: 2, 2, 2. Assisted Chin-ups: 100x9, 100x7, 100x6, 100x6. I love Wednesday light day. It's a nice break between the two heavy workouts.

That's what I think I need, a hardwood stick. My rattan always starts to fray.

Good ole Paulus! Great resource!

I think the best thing you can do is address it with the parents. You are correct, there is no point in wasting her time or their money for them to pay for something she doesn't enjoy doing. They may have an ulterior motive that they want her to be in there to learn some discipline, respect, etc. However, I don't think that would be a good enough reason for her to stick around, especially if she tends to be a distraction to the class.

If that is the path you want to take, why do full contact Karate tournaments when you could compete in MMA? You'd have to work all the ranges of combat, and it would be more complete than just doing stand-up tournaments.

Great to hear you are back in the dojo! Good luck with your upcoming testing!

6/18/2021 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 245x1, 295x5, 295x5, 295x5. Press: 45x5, 85x5, 115x2, 135x1, 150x3, 150x3, 150x3, 150x3, 150x3. Deadlifts: 140x5, 225x3, 275x1, 295x1, 330x5. Neutral Grip Chins: 2, 2, 1, 1. Bodyweight 245 lbs. Second set of squats seemed like something different went wrong on each rep. Third set was good, until rep 5. Press was good, got all sets of 3, finally. Deadlifts was really heavy. Finished with some chin up reps, which I'm really excited about, even though I can't do very many.

6/16/2021 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 250x5, 250x5, 250x5. Press: 45x5, 85x3, 115x1, 136.5x5, 136.5x5, 136.5x5. Chin-ups (neutral grip): 2 and a partial, 2 partials. Assisted Chins: 105x10, 105x10, 105x10, 105x10. Light squat and press day. I tried some neutral grip chins, and got a few! I reached 10 reps on each set of assisted chins, and will add weight for next time.

Lots of great points made here so far. The way curriculums have developed to reflect what is learned at each rank, would probably really limit most students if they chose not to test after 1st dan level. Personally, I think at times, at least in my experiences with my school, we worry too much about the testing, getting to the next testing, and making sure students have the testing material down, instead of exploring more aspects of the Martial Arts world. If I had my way, I'd change some of that.

Congrats, JR! You've been an awesome staff member, and you're posts are always great!

Congrats, Liam! Your contributions have always been awesome, and you've been a great member of the team!