bushido_man96

Oooh, this is a good conversation. Thanks for starting this one off, Wastelander! I'll preface this by saying that one-step sparring (which is what we call these drills; step-sparring) is a part of the curriculum all the way up through our colored belt ranks. Each rank has it's own set; usually 5 for the lower grade, and an additional 3 for the higher grade. The colored belt are one attack only, and then a series of defenses. I have pretty mixed feelings on most of these one-steps. For the most part, I chalk them up to skill development exercises that teach how to put combinations of moves together, and learn how to target these techniques, control these techniques, and learn distance. Now, the downside is the formalized style of declaring attacks and then blocking. I do feel it is a good introductory method of learning to recognize an oncoming attack from a less-than-advantageous ready position, learning how to react to said attacks, and then developing a proper response to said attacks. Proper focusing when performing the blocks and attacks will show the student if they blocked properly and if they are at a proper distance to actually contact with counter attacks. However, the downfall of this process is that it continues in this manner, all the way up to the black belt level, only with more complicated ways of punching and kicking. The formalized way of attacking and defending is still present. This is the downfall. I truly feel that it is important to move beyond the formalized way of setting these drills up, and using different attacks that might be more common out in the world. After all, if we as instructors are going to train a series of responses, it's pretty important that we are sure these responses will work. To that end, I've found that (at least with some of the lower level one-steps in our system) these drills can be adjusted to work to that end. I move from the down block and kihap ready to a more aggressive, posturing stance for the attacker. The defender moves from the hands-at-the-sides ready position to a more staggered stance with the hands up in a "fence" position. From there, the defense techniques are executed in a less formal and structured manner, but still done as proper techniques with the goal being to end the assault. As much as I've enjoyed working these things out on my own, it isn't done in class, and I feel that not many of the more advanced one-steps are as adaptable as some of the lower ranking ones are. Now, with all that said, as black belts, we've begun doing three-step sparring, and these steps have become requirements for black belt testings now. I unfortunately see flaws in them, and wonder quite a bit about how much they help. Of the steps we've done so far, the attacks are all face level straight punches while advancing forward. What is newer is the inclusion of some joint manipulations to restrain the attacker and facilitate some kicking, but the problem is that the attacker is probably not going to just leave an arm hanging out to be manipulated after being punched three times. I do think there are some useful concepts that can be taken away from these drills, but some considerable time has to be spent to decipher it all, find what will work, or what works better for certain situations, and move forward from there.

Time to keep you posted!! I can now kick muay thai style well... with my left leg For some reason doing it with my right leg is harder. I'm getting better, but I am not quite there yet with my right side. It's funny, I am right handed, but for martial arts or sports I definitely favor my left side. Could be that you feel more comfortable balanced on your dominant side leg.

8/14/2019 Strength Training Warm-ups: 5 broad jumps, 5 box jumps, 5 medicine ball throws, 5 medicine ball slams. Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 256x1, 320x5, 320x5, 320x5. Bench Press: 45x5x2, 115x5, 135x3, 165x1, 197.5x5, 197.5x5, 197.5x5. Power Cleans: 115x3, 115x3, 115x3, 115x3, 115x3. Stretch: kick stretches and quads. MA Training Taught TKD Class: 5:30 - 6:30 pm. Basics, forms, one-steps. Hit on some key points on our step-over side kicks and the hop-side kicks, and the importance of getting the body lined up properly to execute a proper side kick. Kicking Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Another decent class, working three stations on the powerlines and three stations on the paddles, with probably getting around 300-500 kicks in total. And I made sure not to really pull down too hard on the axe kicks, and my leg did not suffer for it. Stretch after class. 8/16/2019 Strength Training Warm-ups: 5 broad jumps, 5 box jumps, 5 medicine ball chest passes, 5 medicine ball slams. Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 225x3, 265x1, 295x1, 325x5, 325x5, 325x5. Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 95x3, 115x1, 142.5x5, 142.5x5, 142.5x5. Deadlifts: 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 275x1, 305x5. Stretch: kick stretches and quads.

I'm looking forward to the Black Widow movie coming out. All I've seen has pointed towards Taskmaster being the main villain, which should be fun.

I'm three episodes in now, and I'm enjoying it. The action is good, and there's a little mysticism to it, but I think it's handled well, and not to blown out. Most of the action is MA-centered, which I like, and the story is decent so for. Well worth a watch.

I think in the years prior to the use of gloves in Western Boxing, I do believe the two styles had much in common, especially in regards to the use of trapping motions and what not. The evolution of Boxing, however, has made it very difficult to see any of these connections.

I'm glad it got your attention, JazzKicker. I highly recommend picking it up and reading it. Twice. I've got both editions, and have read them both. And worth it each time.

Congratulations!

Oh, yeah, Patrick, me and the boys don't miss a Marvel movie. You make a good point about the Hulk maybe getting too powerful, and I get that, but they could still do a good representation of his abilities without relegating him to being second-rate. I truly hope that Ruffalo signs on for some more movies, and with the more powerful enemies that are coming into the MCU, they start to allow the Hulk to open up to more of what he is capable of. You were right about Maw, he did kind of get his end quickly. But, did you notice in Endgame that it seemed like most of the Black Order survived until Tony's snap?

Nice. Simple and effective.

8/9/2019 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 265x1, 315x1. Bench Press: 45x5x2, 115x5, 135x3, 165x1, 195x5, 195x5, 195x5. Well, best laid plans...since the hamstring pull in kicking class, I didn't trust myself under the bar with my work sets on squat. I did one heavy single, and called it. Bending over and just getting into deadlift position put strain on the pull, so I skipped it. I skipped the warm-ups, too, for fear of the explosive movements ripping the hamstring up. 8/12/2019 Strength Training Warm-ups: 5 broad jumps, 5 box jumps, 5 medicine ball throws, 5 medicine ball slams. Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 265x1, 315x5, 315x5, 315x5. Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 95x3, 115x1, 140x5, 140x5, 140x5. Deadlifts: 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 265x1, 300x5. Stretch: kick stretches, toe touches, quads. MA Training Taught TKD Class: 5:30 - 6:30 pm. Basics: pointing out getting side kicks chambered properly, and overall breaking things down for lower ranks. Forms: quite a bit of time on forms, learning the new ones, being week one post-testing. One-steps: learning newest one-steps. Black Belt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Do-kangs 1-4, Three-steps 1-3. So, today was a day of highs and lows. I felt great about my strength training session, hitting 315 for 3x5, and getting deadlift back up to 300 for 5. But today was a rough one for my knees; they had been hurting most of the day, and when it came time for Black Belt Class, my performance was not nearly as good as it was last week. But, I fought through it, finished it out, and hit the NSAIDS after class. Perhaps next week will be better all-around.

8/7/2019 Strength Training Warm-up: 5 broad jumps, 5 box jumps, 5 medicine ball throws, 5 medicine ball slams. Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 265x1, 310x5, 310x5, 310x5. Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 95x3, 115x1, 137.5x5, 137.5x5, 137.5x5. Stretch: kick stretches, leg swings, arms and shoulders. MA Training TKD Class: 5:30 - 6:30 pm. I assisted in teaching this class. One of our third dans is going to be taking on some teaching, and I was initially planning on training in this class, but instead just leant a helping hand so the third dan can get some teaching experience. Kicking Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Another class that's been resurrected. This is a pretty informal class, where we pull out the Powerline bags and do several stations of kicking. We usually pair up on the bags, and do 5 of each kick back and forth, then switch and do the other leg, and then move onto the next kicking exercise, which is about four different kicking drills per "station." We also do some kicking drills using the paddles. Things were going really well, until I pulled my hamstring doing axe kicks on the paddles (I hate axe kicks). I wasn't doing the kicks very high, either, but the pulling down of the kick aggravated my right hamstring. This happened towards the end of the class, so I had a good workout in up to that point. Stretched afterwards. I skipped my pulling exercise in weights, the deadlifts, today. I did my lifting prior to class, and with the initial thought that I would be actively working out in two classes, didn't want to put the extra strain on my hamstrings (which didn't help in the end, anyways). If all is well on Friday, I'll deadlift then.

Like the saying goes... The family that trains together, stays together!! More like, "The family that trains together, is more likely to kick each other in the head."

Is the Hulk broken?? He's been constantly nerfed since the first Avengers movie. Remember the beginning of the Battle for New York? He opened up by crushing one of those monstrous flying beasts by decking it in the face. We haven't seen anything like that display of power since. Age of Ultron? I liked the increase in the storyline of Banner trying to deal with the existence of the Hulk, and the Hulkbuster scene was good, too, and I understand they have to end it with him getting knocked out or something to stop the slaughter, but they didn't even really give him any redemption at the end. The Hulk gets no interaction with Ultron until he's already broken. At least in Avengers he got to trounce Loki. Hulk vs. Thor in Ragnorok? I think that goes a different way, and didn't like how they ended that fight. The face-off with Fenrir was good, but that fight totally cuts out any interaction he could have had with Hela. I know it was a Thor movie, but come on. Seeing him attack Sutur was cool, although brief. Then, we get into the rest of the Hulk's "arc" through the Infinity War movies. He gets trounced by Thanos, then is non-existent until Endgame, where we get Professor Hulk, who doesn't do ANYTHING Hulk-like, except hold up a building that fell in. AT THE LEAST they could have given us a battle with Cull Obsidian (Black Dwarf) to peal back the fight that happened in Infinity War where Hulk wouldn't come out and Banner had to defeat him using his wiles. And was it too hard to ask for a round of redemption fighting Thanos? Apparently so. Instead, they fry half his body (apparently they nerfed his healing factor, too...) and instead turn the character into the biggest, greenest, goofiest PHD in the world. I could go on, but I won't. Yeah I will. I thought that Universal's reboot of the Hulk was enjoyable. Love the movie. I may be alone, but it was a good movie, with a good storyline. It also displayed Hulk's signature Gamma Crush and the power slap in the fight with Abomination. We haven't see the Hulk perform these moves since then, and I don't know why. If I had to guess, it has something to do with Universal studios having the rights to them, but I'm not sure. I know that's why there isn't another Hulk stand-alone movie, because of Universal. I'm assuming that's also why we don't get to see any more of the Abomination or Betty Ross, yet somehow Thunderbolt Ross has crept into Marvel Studios. Don't forget that The Leader is running around out there somewhere, too. Then there's the whole Edward Norton fall-out to Mark Ruffalo. I enjoy Ruffalo's portrayal of Banner, so that's not an issue for me, and he's not the only character to be recast in the MCU (Rhodie and Red Skull). Back to Endgame: they did a whole scene with the Hulk just before the restaurant scene that they cut out, where Prof Hulk saves a bunch of people from the top of a burning skyscraper (the scene even had Reginald Valjohnson in it as a tribute to Die Hard), and that scene got cut. And I guess the scene that angers me the most is when he goes to get the Time Stone from The Ancient One. Prof Hulk decides to try to fight first instead of talk, and gets Astral formed, then Banner spends the time to attempt to reason with her, while "Hulk body" takes a nap. Other than The Snap, no Hulk-like things happen in the movie. He snaps everyone back, which is huge, but it just doesn't seem like justice for the character, either one of them. And if he never completely heals, then I'll just probably be mad forever and may even just give up on Marvel altogether. But while I have kids, I'm sure I'll be taking them to these movies, so I'll just have to be angry about it, I guess. Marvel has plenty of time to make things right with the Hulk. He can be just as big a part of the cosmic universe as any of the characters, and more so than most. But I don't think Marvel Studios has even scratched the surface on his power level. So, yeah, I think the Hulk is broken. Rant to be continued after the next movie....

8/5/2019 Strength Training Warm-up: 5 broad jumps, 5 box jumps, 5 medicine ball throws, 5 medicine ball slams. Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 265x1, 305x5, 305x5, 305x5. Bench Press: 45x5x2, 115x5, 135x3, 165x1, 192.5x5, 192.5x5, 192.5x5. Power Cleans: 115x3, 137.5x3, 137.5x3, 137.5x3. MA Training Taught TKD Class: 5:30 - 6:30 pm. A small class, which was ok, because after basics I had each of the students doing their previous forms for review. During one-steps, I stopped them to explain that they need to use them to help build up their ability to react to the attacking techniques, and not "jumping the gun" so to speak. Black Belt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Do-Kangs: 1-4, breaking them down for the 1st dans to get a handle on them all. Did #4 twice, which is basically a lot of kicking combinations. Three-steps: 1 and 2. Stretch This was a busy day. I had to cut back on the sets for power cleans because I finished up lifting prior to teaching the 5:30 class. I got on the floor early to try to stretch out, but it was not a good stretching session. Then after that class, it was straight into Black Belt Class. It's good to have this class back, and there were 10 of us there, if I recall. A good training day.

Congratulations!

They've really got a great slate of things coming, and the future looks bright for Marvel. I just wish they'd fix the Hulk.

Happy Belated Birthday, Danielle!

Thank you, Bob! That means a lot. Unfortunately, I don't feel like a beast, though.... 7/30/2019 Firearms Training 5 hours of pistol, shotgun, rifle, and bean-bag qualification, along with use-of-force review. Always a good time. 7/31/2019 Strength Training Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 260x1, 295x5, 295x5, 295x5. Bench Press: 45x5x2, 115x5, 135x3, 165x1, 190x5, 190x5, 190x5. Stretch: legs only. This session got cut short due to having to go to work; the warm-up and the power cleans got cut. 8/1/2019 MA Training TKD Testing: 6:30 - 8:00 pm. Since it was a summer testing, it was a bit smaller than usual, but we still had a good group of about 10 testing, with a mix of ranks. Two were testing for their 1st dans, and they performed well. 8/2/2019 Strength Training Warm-up: 5 broad jumps, 5 box jumps, 5 medicine ball throws, 5 medicine ball slams. Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 265x1, 300x5, 300x5, 300x5. Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 95x3, 115x1, 135x5, 135x5, 135x5. Deadlifts: 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 265x1, 295x5. Stretch: kicks stretches, leg swings, quads, arm/shoulders and shoulder dislocations. Press is getting heavy, and I put my belt on for the last two sets. It seemed to help a bit.

You're more than welcome; we got your back!! Train hard and train well!! Agreed! Hopefully it helps!

Those weeks I did of Krav Maga were pretty brutal. I'd spend the whole week sore and beat up.

I agree with the above made points. It seems like an unreasonable reaction to me, but it's not my school, either. Did you feel like the school was a good school? Do you feel you were learning good skills there? Do you feel you could speak with the instructor to find out why he demoted you? I think these are all questions you need to ask and have answered, and move forward from there.

Congrats!

7/26/2019 Strength Training Warm-up: 5 broad jumps, 5 box jumps, 5 medicine ball throws. Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 285x5, 285x5, 285x5. Bench Press: 45x5x2, 115x5, 135x3, 165x1, 185x5, 185x5, 185x5. Deadlifts: 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 265x1, 285x5. Stretch: kick stretches, arm stretches, shoulder dislocations. 7/29/2019 Strength Training Warm-up: 5 broad jumps, 5 box jumps, 5 medicine ball throws, 5 medicine ball slams. Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 260x1, 290x5, 290x5, 290x5. Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 95x3, 115x5, 132.5x5, 132.5x5, 132.5x5. Deadlifts: 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 265x1, 290x5. Stretch: kick stretches, leg swings, quad stretches, arm stretches.

Welcome to KF, Steppenwolf!