bushido_man96

Hello, and welcome to KF! Well, for me, the only Karate kata I've ever learned was Naifanchi, so that would have to be mine! (Although I do need to practice it....)

Wow, 20 years! What a milestone for this great community! And I do mean great. I signed up March 31, 2006. Fifteen years with KF, and I wish I could have been there from the beginning! When I first found KF, I was actually looking for martial arts chat rooms. I didn't find anything like a chat room that satisfied what I wanted, but I did find KF. And what a gem I had found! The contributors were great; martial artists of all kinds of different levels of experience and backgrounds, sharing their knowledge with each other in such a positive manner, even if they did disagree here and there. I found a place where I could share my own thoughts and experiences with a myriad of other like-minded individuals who were more than happy to offer up their own thoughts and experiences on the subject matter at hand. With so many helpful and passionate members, it's hard to go wrong. Over the years, I've received so much great advice, critiques, and suggestions from some great martial artists, and I have done my level best to offer the same in return. I think above all else, KF has provided me with a positive atmosphere in which I've been able share my many musings on the martial arts over the course of my journey. At this point in my life, I can't imagine not being on my MA journey. Echoing that, I now can't imagine being on my MA journey with having KF alongside it. Of all the postings and articles I've had the privilege to contribute to KF, the most rewarding circumstances that have come from my time here were the chances when I got to meet Patrick in Kansas City and when Bob, better known as sensei8, came to my hometown to meet and train with me for three days. Those are moments I'll cherish forever. Congratulations to Patrick especially for providing and maintaining such a great community for 20 years, and to those members who came before me and laid such a great foundation for the atmosphere and character of this community. Here's looking to the next 20!

I'm going to have to wait to see this one. But I'm looking forward to it. It does appear it will have more of an edge than the original.

Hello there, and welcome to KF! I think between 5 and 10% is pretty reasonable. Do you plan on that being from the monthly dues, or will that include testing fees, as well (if you charge testing fees)? Something else you might consider is if you ever decide to stop promoting your business under his name, or if he moves on and retires, what kind of arrangements can be made for you to either take control of the entire interest, if possible.

Danielle, do you wear a belt when you press? If not, it might be something to consider. It can help give your core something to push against, helping it be tighter. I've found over time that the heavier the press gets, the more layback I end up having. 4/21/2021 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 245x1, 300x5, 300x5, 300x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 105x2, 125x1, 144.5x3, 144.5x3, 144.5x3, 144.5x3, 144.5x3. Barbell Rows: 95x5, 115x5, 140x8, 140x8, 140x8, 140x8. It was great to see squats get to 300 for reps. They were heavy, and grinding. 4/23/2021 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 245x1, 305x3, 305x5, 305x3. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 105x2, 125x1, 146x3, 146x3, 146x3, 146x3, 146x3. Deadlifts: 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 280x1, 325x5. Squats...they stalled out big time today. I didn't feel like there was any way I was getting 5 reps out of my sets, so went with 3 each. And they were grinds. I felt and video confirmed that my knees were floating forward at the bottom. So, time to make a change in programming here, I think. The deadlift set was a really monster. On video, each pull looked good, and the back stayed in extension, but each pull was super slow.

4/19/2021 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x5, 225x1, 245x1, 295x5, 295x5, 295x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 100x3, 115x1, 143x3, 143x3, 143x3, 143x3, 143x3. Deadlifts: 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 245x1, 320x5. Squats were in a better groove today, but they were a grind. Sunday was a travel day for me, away for baseball games, so my diet didn't get all it wanted, I think. Press; first set was from dead stops, but after that, I was breathing at the top and rebounding at the bottom. Even then, rep 3 on sets 4 and 5 were sloooow. I don't know how much more I can add to the bar here before I make changes. Deads were a grind, but they came up. I'd say about 6 seconds per pull.

That stinks, Wayofaswede. Hopefully, you're back to in-class training in no time! Right now I'm missing some classes, but it's due to kids' baseball season and my work schedule. It's tough, but got to get that solo time.

Danielle, great to hear things are opening back up! I look forward to seeing those numbers go up! Bobd, thanks for joining the thread here! Strength Training 4/17/2021 Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 245x1, 290x5, 290x5, 290x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 100x3, 115x1, 141.5x3, 141x5x3, 141.5x3, 141.5x3, 141.5x3. Deadlifts: 135x5, 205x3, 225x2, 245x1, 315x5. I missed getting in on Friday, my usual day, so made it up on Saturday. Squats just felt like they were rolling around on my back each set. Not sure what the deal was. I was happy on deadlifts to get back to three plates. For press, I'm moving to 1.5 lb increases, to see how much longer I can prolong the linear progression.

Bob, I too agree with that analogy, that it's important to be able to be flexible in teaching, and being able to change things from one student to another in order to get the same ideas and points across. As far as interesting others....I don't know! I just hope some more pop in here and there and offer up some thoughts.

I think at times we veer into thinking that all black belts should be the same as far as skill level and physical abilities go. I think that is a dangerous rut to fall into. It's easy to appreciate someone who is a physically gifted athlete, when things seem to come so easy to them. I had an instructor that I thought was kind of an issue with him. He was a great athlete, and I think he thought that it shouldn't be an issue for all students to get to be that good, as well. In reality, that just doesn't happen. I wouldn't call myself a physically gifted individual. I don't know if I'm a good fighter or not, because I don't fight. But I do know that I have a pretty good grasp of the material I've been taught over the years, and I know I'm pretty good at teaching it. Give me a physically gifted individual and three years time, and I can probably make them better than me, as far as physically performing, anyway. But I also believe that I am capable of taking a less than talented individual, and given the time and effort, I can make them pretty good, too. Will they be able to achieve what the natural athlete can? Perhaps, perhaps not. But I know enough to understand that the athletic black belt will look different than a more average practitioner will at the same rank.

That is what I've heard a lot, as well. I think it'd be a fun one to try.

4/12/2021 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 245x1, 280x5, 280x5, 280x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 95x3, 115x1, 137.5x4, 137.5x4, 137.5x3, 137.5x3, 137.5x1. Deadlifts: 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 245x1, 310x5. Squats felt really good. I mean, really solid. Press...I knew this day was coming, where sets of 5 were just going to be too much. Each set was to failure, except the last one, which was the single I needed to get 15 total reps in. I tried to get 5 on the first two, but it would only go about 1/4 the way up. Same with rep 4 on sets three and four. Deadlift was a long, slow pull, all 5 reps. 4/14/2021 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 245x1, 285x5, 285x5, 285x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 100x3, 115x1, 140x3, 140x3, 140x3, 140x3, 140x3. Barbell Rows: 75x6, 115x5, 135x8, 145x8, 145x8, 145x8. Press is sets of 3 now. I tried for rep 4 on the first set, but it didn't want to budge. 5 sets of 3 it is for now. With as heavy as the deadlifts are now for me, I've decided to move to a Wednesday light day for my pulling work. My knees don't like power cleans, and I have a hell of a time racking it properly (I think due to arm proportions, or flexibility), so I'm doing barbell rows now in the middle of the week. Work and kid's sporting events have prevented me from making any TKD classes this week, which is a bummer.

Welcome, BobD! Was the "American" TKD you did, perhaps, in the ATA? I was a former member myself. I look forward to hearing about your experiences! If you are so inclined, there is a running Martial Artists' Training Log thread in the Health and Fitness forum where you can basically share your training journal!

4/8/2021 TKD Testing: 6:00 - 7:45 pm. Another small testing, but with two students, and adult and a child, testing for 1st degree. We had a couple of green belts testing, an orange belt, and a white belt who is taking to the art like a duck to water. Although small, and still finding things to work on, the testing was a good testing. 4/9/2021 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 245x1, 275x5, 275x5, 275x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 95x3, 115x1, 135x5, 135x5, 135x4, 135x1. Deadlifts: 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 245x1, 305x5. Squats seemed to feel a little better today, as far as form went. Set three felt pretty good, although the grind is still there. Presses, on the other hand, were hard. Rep 5 on sets 1 and 2 were touch and go, but go them up. Set 3, rep 5 died halfway up. It could very well be that I lost track of my time, and didn't rest enough between sets, but I'm not sure. I'll pay better attention to that at the next session, but I expect this to start happening more and more as the weight gets heavier. I'm getting to the point where the goal will be to hit 15 total reps, regardless of how many sets it takes to hit that volume. I may consider switching to sets of 3, but if I can grind out just the first set to 5, I think that's good for me to try to do. Deadlifts were a religious experience at 305. Slow, grinding pulls, from first to last. But, it seems I was able to keep my back set, as I didn't feel that I was losing any tightness on the way up. I count that as a win. I'm considering removing deads from Wednesday, and doing barbell rows then. We shall see.

Made me smile, lol I'm glad! I wonder how many get it...

The authority of Master Ken!

If you would have put a bookstore next to the KF dojo, I might have got distracted and clicked the wrong door....

Congrats, GojuRyu Bahrain!

4/7/2021 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 270x5, 270x5, 270x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 95x2, 115x1, 132.5x5, 132.5x5, 132.5x5. Deadlifts: 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 245x1, 300x5. Oh boy, where to start with today's session. I'll start with squats, since that where the session starts. Man, it was hard today. I could actually feel some soreness in my legs for the first time in a long time. The first two sets were just junk. Form felt ugly. Last set, although tough, felt the best form wise. But man, that last rep on each set was a grind. I've been having Kenneth try to coach me through them with a little motivation. Presses. The technical fix seems to be working, but it's still just getting harder to complete the sets. I thought the last rep on set 3 was going to stall halfway up, but a little extra layback pushed it through (although I'm avoiding excessive layback as much as possible). Deadlifts. Slow, grindy. I had good pulls, kept the bar close, and double knee hitches, but that last rep was an especially loooooooong pull. So, I feel I'm at a crossroads. I feel like I have more to give in the linear progression, but everything is so grindy now than it was the last time I went through. I'm also 30 lbs lighter than I was when I was squatting 325 for a set of 5, so I should take that into consideration. I'm also walking a fine line of trying to get as much protein as I can into my system without pushing myself to the limits of my Meniere's. I've got some new protein powder that has a bit lower sodium content per serving, so I may be able to up my protein some more without any repercussions. Time will tell. I'm not sure if I should keep grinding, or start thinking about a Wednesday light day and making the move to HLM programming. MA Training TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. T-shirt class. I did some kicking on the bags, some basic stuff, and then some fancier stuff off the bag (jump 360 crescents). As I mentioned elsewhere, I also spent quite a bit of time assisting a brown belt with his spin crescent kicks. I love the challenges of teaching. After class and lifting today, I felt....old, I guess? Body was sore, especially my legs, which haven't been sore in some time. Knees also sore. Back aching. We also had a weird weather day. Yesterday was sunny and 70, and today we had a cold snap with a freak rain/snow mix, and it never got over 37 degrees today. Perhaps my body was responding to that, too. It just didn't feel like a good day. But, I got through it, so there's something to that.

Ryugi makes me think....perhaps CapCom is the distributor... Sorry, my bad....

I always appreciate your input, Bob. You see things differently than I do, and it helps me see more of what I can't. I like the points you are making here, especially about needing to step back away from something at times, and just "let it be." I see this as having many ways to approach and teach a singular concept. I actually had a little experience with this tonight in our kicking class. We have a student who is an older guy (but not as old as me, but started TKD as an adult), who is a big man who played Division II college football here in KS. We were working on getting his spinning outer crescent kick down. I must have broken it down 5 or 6 different ways, searching for the answer to the questions his body kept asking. It's one of the things I love about teaching.

Welcome to KF, Questor!

I don't know about other options, but I like your design!

4/5/2021 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 265x5, 265x5, 265x5. Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 95x3, 115x1, 130x5, 130x5, 130x5. Deadlifts: 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 245x1, 295x5. Press is getting harder and harder to complete the sets. I've been re-reading Starting Strength, Basic Barbell Training, and as always, I pick up on a few more things than the last time I've read it through. This is probably my third time reading it. I've fixed some technique issues on the press start, and it makes much more sense in my mind now. However, I'm finding it necessary to switch to taking a quick breath at the top, and then get a rebound out of the bottom to keep the set going. It was a challenge to eek out rep 5 on the last two sets.

Congrats, Zack! Keep on trucking!