The Martial Artists' Training Log

[DarthPenguin]

10/4/2023

TKD Class: T-Shirt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. I warmed up with all 5 Do-Kangs, and then rolled out the heavy bag, strapped on the rebreakable board holder, and went back to work. I started with just one grey board, doing punches. I got it with the right hand, but not the left. Went down to a blue board the left hand and got it. Kind of the same deal with knife hand strikes. On reverse knife hand strike, I got one blue board on each hand. For kicks, I did back leg round kicks and spin heel kicks, using one grey board for each kick, both sides.

One of the many things I don't like about this rebreakable board setup is that I can't rotate the boards between having the crease going horizontal or vertical; it's always vertical. Round kicks I prefer to have the grain vertical, as well as front kicks. I did not like the way the right leg round kick felt on contact with the board being horizontal.

interesting, when i used to use these we always had the opposite issue that we could only get rebreakable boards with the crease going horizontal and for some things we would have liked vertical!

Might be too expensive but if it is something you are planning to practice a lot more again maybe it's worth getting some more boards with a horizontal crease and working between the two sets?

[bushido_man96]

Might be too expensive but if it is something you are planning to practice a lot more again maybe it's worth getting some more boards with a horizontal crease and working between the two sets?

I'd have to look into whether vertical are offered for the brand or not. I'd have to see if they have any boards made so the magnets line up differently.

10/9/2023

Aikido Class: Weapons Class: 5:00 - 6:00 pm. Opened with some two-cycle Okinaga breathing, where the emphasis became on really extending the exhalation of the breath. Difficult still, but not as uncomfortable as the four-cycle Okinaga breathing.

After breathing, we did jo kata 1 (just on the right side), several times at count, and then kind of on our own for the last run through. Sensei pointed out a few things as far as posture and hand positions went, and the direction and trajectory of some strikes. Overall, I felt pretty good about it, but it will still take some time to get it memorized. Next was bokken kata 1. I feel like I've got it down; it seems much more straightforward to me, and it's quite a bit shorter. After doing that several times, we practiced a sword disarm, which was very Aiki in nature. I really enjoyed it.

TKD Class: Black Belt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Pre-class warmup was going through Chon Ji, Dan Gun, Bo Chung, Do San, and Won Hyo. We had a freshly graded 3rd dan recommended who got to learn Se Jong today, so me and the other three students practiced Do-Kangs. We did 1, 2 twice, 3 twice, 4 twice, 5 and then 6. I had one student repeat 4 a few times so he could get it down.

[bushido_man96]

10/12/2023

TKD Class: T-Shirt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. I was very conservative tonight, with the way I've been feeling lately, and I also had pain in my right foot, making it difficult to push off, plant, or pivot on the foot. Still, I got some work in. Picked up on forms where I left off on Monday, doing Yul Gok, Jun Gun, Toi Gye, Hwa Rang, Choong Moo, Kwang Gae, Poe Eun, Gae Baek, Se Jong, Yoo Sin, and Choong Jang. Finished going over three-steps, 1-9.

[bushido_man96]

10/16/2023

Aikido Class: Weapons Class: 5:00 - 6:00 pm. We did some 4-cycle Okinaga breathing to open the class. I did ok in some spots, and not ok in some others. Holding the breath after releasing all my air is still a very foreign and unnerving concept. After we were done, Sensei said the last cycle was a 40 second interval, so 10 in, 10 hold, 10 out, 10 hold. Very tough.

Next, we got right into weapons work with the bokken. After some initial practice of the basic strikes and thrusts, we did want I think he was referring to as some pre-aikitaiso movements, with tai-sabaki. Then it was into partner work, which was fun. I think there were what he referred to as the main aikitaiso movements, which he likened to TKD one-steps. After the "preparation" movements were performed, and my partner attacked, I would do a blocking movement into a strike. There were three different "timings" to work at, but I stayed pretty basic throughout, focusing on the footwork and the strikes landing properly. After exchanging attacks with shomenuchi (straight forward/downward strike), we attacked with tsuki (thrusts). This was really lots of fun today. This is by far my favorite hour in the week right now.

TKD Class: Black Belt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. The CI was out with his daughter's concert tonight, so the class was mine to teach. We warmed up with Do-Kangs 1-4 (I sat out 4 due my head not feeling well, and it has lots of spinning in it), then we broke up to do forms. The 3rd dan rec and I went through Se Jong several times, and the second dans did their black belt forms, Kwang Gae, Poe Eun, and Gae Baek. Next, we did three-steps, 1-9, and tinkered with trying to recall 10-12.

After the curriculum portion of the class was over, I freelanced. I taught them the block/pass/pin drill, one part at a time, against both haymaker punches and straight punches. After getting through all three phases, I went back to the first phase and began adding "inserts," which is placing a strike at the time of the block (or pass, or pin) or right after. It's an enjoyable drill, and I find it quite practical, as well. A good class tonight, I thought.

[bushido_man96]

10/17/2023

Firearms Training: 8:00 - 10:30 am. Had some fun at the range today. We did several different shooting drills, using both strong hand and weak hand, and supported and non-supported grips. We did some shoot and move drills, which will be drills we do when we make some changes to our pistols coming up soon. I felt like I had a really good day, hitting the targets pretty consistently.

[bushido_man96]

10/18/2023

TKD Class: T-Shirt Class: 6:30 - 7:00 pm. I only did a half-hour of class tonight; it's been kind of an off week for me, and I haven't liked how I've been feeling as of late. Pre-class, I spent some time in the Hot Box, and then in The Rack.

I started with some wall kicking, doing front kicks, then side kicks, then round kicks, 5 each leg, and 3 sets of each. I focused on chamber, trajectory, lockout and holding, and then rechamber. It wasn't tension kicking, but it wasn't full speed kicking, either.

After that, I set up the board holder on one of the bags, and went "around the horn" with hand techniques. I started with one blue board, and did a knifehand strike, reverse punch, upset knifehand strike, and reverse ridgehand strike, all with the right hand, and then with the left hand. I broke them all first time, so I went up to two blue boards, and did that all again, breaking each one the first time. By the time I was done, my hands were a little sore. On my knifehands and ridgehand strikes, I had some "finger slap" going on, where my finger would slap into the board upon striking with the striking tool. That stung more than anything. I thought I was holding my hands pretty tight, but maybe I can make them tighter to avoid that next week.

[bushido_man96]

Well, I had another bad week. Meniere's acting up, and caused me to miss classes this week.

I'm feeling a little better to start this next week, but now my work schedule is changing, and I'll be working in the afternoons. I'm hoping I can make a morning Aikido class one day a week (but it won't be weapons focused ) Otherwise, it will be solo training going forward.

[bushido_man96]

10/30/2023

Aikido Class: 8:30 - 9:30 am. This Monday morning class is plenty early enough to not interfere with my work schedule, so looking forward to it as long as my head holds out. Sensei referred to it as a "technical basics" class, which it was. We did some basic warmups and aiki-taiso movements, spending some time on the mechanics and doing a few with a partner to get the feel for being "grounded" and "centered" to make the technique work better. Then we did some breakfall work, which was very broken down into steps, and done from our knees. We worked on getting the arm to break the fall first, while pushing off with a leg in order to stop the momentum with a different foot hitting the ground. We kind of rolled over in a one-two-three count, and I started to get the hang of it towards the end. I've done breakfalls before, but not usually this technical. We got to finish class with 13 jo kata, which was fun, and I got a pretty good handle on it, and was able to start moving through it with some confidence, with which came some power in the techniques.

[bushido_man96]

11/6/2023

Aikido Class: 8:30 - 9:30 am. After some stretching and rolling, we worked on some basic wrist cross grabs, and then we used what we worked on to do geo-waza. It was quite a bit of fun, and we kept the techniques to grabbing attacks. Sensei gave us the option to pick which "level" we wanted to go at, either slow enough to give ourselves time to think, or we could put a little pressure on ourselves if we didn't react to the initial grab then the attacker would initiate another one. My partner and I stayed around this 2nd level, and we really got quite a bit of moving around done. I rolled around a lot, and my abs were a bit sore the next day from all the rolling. Very fun class.

[bushido_man96]

11/11/2023

Strength Training

Squats: 45x5x2, 95x5, 115x5, 135x5.

Press: 45x5x2, 65x5, 85x3.

Jerk: 75x2, 85x2, 95x2, 105x2.

Got disgusted with myself, so went back to the gym. I didn't go crazy, as I don't want my head to explode on me, but I'm going to be playing around with some options to see if I can start getting some work in.

A side note: the Aikido instructor told me the other day that my rolling has been looking pretty good, especially for being out of it for so long. He checked his records; the last time I'd attended an Aikido class was 11 years ago. My, how time gets away from us.