The Martial Artists' Training Log

[bushido_man96]

1/19/2024

Strength Training

Lat Pull-downs: 160x6, 160x6, 160x5, 2 partials.

Pec Flies: 75x12, 75x12, 75x12.

Triceps Push-downs: 60x12, 60x12, 60x12.

Barbell Curls: 45x12, 45x12, 45x12.

Lying Leg Curls: 90x10, 90x10, 90x10.

I didn't feel like I could go heavy today, so did these exercises instead, just to get some work in.

[bushido_man96]

1/22/2024

A day of Martial Arts Training.

Aikido Class: 5:00 - 6:00 pm. Weapons class. Started with okinage breathing, which is still uncomfortable for me. We did some warmup with the jo, which included some partner work, which is always fun. We did it a more dynamic fashion, which was a lot of fun. Then the instructor used some jo-nage techniques to demonstrate the lever/fulcrum dynamic of the weapons. Lastly, we used the idea of the techniques being done with a stick when we don't hold the stick, a way of "connecting" both hands, where ever they may be, in the technique.

TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Black Belt Class. Warmed up with Do-Kangs 1-3. We spent the rest of class doing some defense against a haymaker style punch. The first we did was Aikido-esque, intercepting the strike and working to a kotegashi takedown. After quite a bit of practice with that, we did defenses with more striking involved, finding what targets where available based off how we blocked and what positions we put ourselves in.

[bushido_man96]

1/24/2024

TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. T-shirt Class. Did some bag work, punching and kicking, but really focused on staying on my toes and bouncing around. A little rough on my knees at first, but after warming up, felt better. After some single kicking work, I did some "angle work," where I'd start with a sidestep, and then do a punching or kicking combination. I got off the bag and did them as floor drills for the rest of the time, as the standing bag doesn't really move away from me. I did several different combinations to keep things fresh, and tried to keep them realistic. I'll have to see if that's the case once I start trying them in sparring. Spent the last 15 minutes of time in The Rack.

[bushido_man96]

1/25/2024

Strength Training

Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 210x3, 210x3, 210x3.

Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 95x3, 115x5, 115x5, 115x5.

After too many days off again, things felt ok.

1/26/2024

Strength Training

Deadlifts: 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275x1, 300x3, 300x3.

Bench Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 95x5, 120x5, 120x5, 120x5.

It's been 15 days since my last deadlift session. Too long. Still, I was able to up the weight and pull the required reps and sets. However, it has taken a toll on how my head is feeling. Hopefully, it passes after some time.

[bushido_man96]

1/29/2024

TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Black Belt Class. Light stretching prior to class (really light, like almost take a nap light). At the beginning of class we went through all one-steps and three-steps. I managed to stumble my way through 12 three-steps, with a little help. After that was sparring. There was only three of us, so we did some round robins, two matches with each person. I sparred each person differently, which was kind of fun.

The first match, a younger kid who is really tall, way taller than me, I tried to work my angles on, and did for the most part. He got a kick to my head once, and I didn't let that happen again. In our second match, I started up a step spin side kick, and while I was coming in, he lifted his leg up, and my kick went under and stung him in the back of the leg, close to his butt. Charlied him up a little, but he was ok.

The second person, the CI, who is about my height, I sparred more by keeping him at a distance with my kicks, side kicks and round kicks. If we crashed together, I'd work back outside to my kicks, or spin and counter. One left me on the floor (too close to throw a spin crescent), but it was fun. At one point in our second match, my do-bok tie came undone, so I grabbed it and started twirling it around. It made for a good distraction. The kid chuckled about it, and I told him, "Sometimes fighting isn't about fighting."

Finished with a stretch.

[bushido_man96]

1/31/2024

Strength Training

Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 215x3, 215x3, 215x3.

Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 95x3, 120x5, 120x5, 120x5.

TKD Class: 7:05 - 7:50 pm. T-shirt Class. Lots of bag work tonight. Warmed up with jabs circling the bag, both right and left hand, a couple sets of each. Next was jab/cross, circling the bag, from both sides. Then jab/cross/hook, circling the bag, both sides (switching leads, that is). Finished with some uppercut work.

Next was kicking. 10 each of front kicks (front and back legs), round kicks, and side kicks. Then I started my angle work. Side step and lead leg round kicks, then side step and back leg round kicks, then both of those with front kicks.

Finished with a little speed bag work, and then a nice stretch in The Rack. I did some PNF type stretching by contracting my muscles against the leg supports.

[bushido_man96]

2/5/2024

Aikido Class: 5:00 - 6:00 pm. Weapons class. We jumped right into the weapons work, starting with jo warmups, doing what the sensei referred to as "8 high" and then "4 low." Frist has 8 moves, done with a partner, and the second is 4 moves, with low attacks. Afterwards, he ran a format where he showed us jo kata 1, then we all did it at his pace, and from there it was practice by getting through as much as you could remember and then starting over. I can get about halfway through jo kata 1, and then it fades, but I felt good about that progress. We did the bokken next, with some strikes up and down the floor for warmup, and then bokken kata 1, which I can get through. We finished with a little work on proper kiai (what I've always called ki-hap).

TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Black Belt Class. Warmup with do-kangs 1 and 2, then we moved right into the "Ho Sin Sul sparring." It went ok, and at one point the CI and I ended up in a ground fight. And I got gassed out. I forget how tiring grappling is. Add that to the fact that I'm not good at it, and that compounds the issue. I was able to work myself into some positions that I was trying to get to, which was good, but I always ended up back in some bad position. Overall, though, not a bad time, and I'd love to do more of it.

[bushido_man96]

2/12/2024

Aikido Class: 5:00 - 6:00 pm. Weapons class. Jo warmups with partner, did high 4, then low 4, then high 8 and low 8, doing one each side before switching to the next. Got into a rhythm, which was nice. Then jo kata 1, getting a few moves farther than I did last time. Then we moved to bokken, doing practice cuts down the floor. I worked on extending more. Then we did some cutting/blocking up and down the floor with a partner. Finished with owase countering.

TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Black Belt Class. Warmed up with do-kangs 1-4, then we worked on board breaking techniques. I helped out on some technical aspects for the most part, but did get a little work in. I worked with the CI's daughter on some sparring aspects.

[bushido_man96]

2/19/2024

Aikido Class: 5:00 - 6:00 pm. Weapons Class. Jo warmups with partners, switching between 4-high and 4-low. Then jo kata 1. Got all the way through it a couple of times (on the right side). Switched to bokken, and did practice cutting down the floor, and then with partners down and back on the floor. Finished with tai-sabaki.

TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Black Belt Class. Just two of us, so we went through all of our Black Belt Basics (do-kangs), which are basically floor drills done in pattern. Did 1-5, and then spent time getting 6 down. Stretched in The Rack.

[bushido_man96]

2/21/2024

TKD Class: 7:00 - 7:30 pm. T-shirt Class. I did some bag work that pertained to just a lot of consecutive kicking. I started with front kicks, alternating legs, until my lungs just burned and my legs started to fail on me. Rest, then the same with back leg round kicks, then the same with some back kicks. After some more rest, I put them together and did front kicks until my legs were burning, then switched to the round kicks, then to the back kicks. Stretching in The Rack afterwards. I also watched the CI do a 3 brick palm heel smash.

2/26/2024

Range Training: 13 hours out at the range working with our new pistols and sights. The department upgraded to red dot optics, and these took some getting used to. We are going from focusing on front sights with one eye closed to target focus with both eyes open. We spent a lot of time working on punching out on the draw and acquiring that red dot, and of course, firing rounds doing different drills at different ranges. This first day was spent on the pistol range shooting paper targets for the most part, with some multiple target drills. We finished in the evening by shooting our department night qualification, which I shot ok, but not as good as I would have liked.

2/27/2024

Range Training: 6 more hours of training with the new gun. Also new to these pistols is a 3 lb trigger, as opposed to the standard 5 lb trigger that came on our Glocks. I do like this trigger better. We spent time in the morning working on the rifle range with metal targets, working on what was called "parallax" with the sights, which involved moving the red dot to the edges of the frame of the optic and showing we could still hit the target. We increased our range to around 75 yards, and some of the guys were hitting steel at that range. We went back to the pistol range and did some shoot and move drills on more metal targets, working on improving our times through the course of 3 runs on each drill. Some of these drills were done strong hand only and weak hand only, which I did not enjoy. We finished the day with a qualification, which I got through, but was hoping to see improvement on. Lots of practice going forward will help.

3/3/2024

Today I did about 10 solid minutes of drawing and dryfiring. I purchased a Dry Fire Mag off Amazon, which is really neat little tool. It's a magazine with a spring loaded segment at the top that allows you to dryfire a semiautomatic pistol without having to cycle it after every shot. This lets me stay focused on the target between shots and work on trigger control on consecutive shots. The red dot optic also helps me see where I'm pushing or pulling the pistol when I pull the trigger. I think it'll be a very valuable training tool.