The Martial Artists' Training Log

[bushido_man96]

4/14/2024

Dryfire practice. 15 minutes. Draw and fire 4 rounds, then reholster. I'm noticing the most movement when I reset the trigger. As I went along, it started getting better. I still have some moments of trigger slap as well. I missed the last department range day due to being out of town for a doctor's appointment, so looking forward to the next one.

4/15/2024

Aikido Class: 5:00 - 6:00 pm. Weapons class. Jo warmups, doing 4 high, 4 low, and then combining them. Jo kata 1, both right and left sides, and the left side is getting much better. Next was bokken kata. Got through bokken kata 1 several times, and I need to lock down the spinning maneuver at the end. I attempted bokken kata 2, and got about half-way through it. There are some interesting turning cuts in that one that I'm still fighting with, and at the end of this kata is an even more intricate spinning move (double spin essentially). I don't handle this spinning very well. At the end of class we did some tai sabaki with the bokken.

TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Black Belt Class. Pre-class stretching in The Rack. CI had to take off, so I taught the class. Warmed up with Do-kangs 1-5, but they did not look or feel great. The pain I had in my left knee was exquisite, and it made transitioning into front stances difficult and jumping nigh impossible. I didn't jump much on the last stretch of the 5th Do-kang, which is all jumps. One of the black belts just earned his full 3rd dan, so we spent time working through Yoo Sin. The other student was a 1st dan, so I gave him some little bits to focus on in Kwang Gae.

[bushido_man96]

4/22/2024

Dryfire: 10 minutes of dryfire practice. I noticed some trigger slap going on, and worked to correct it.

Aikido Class: Weapons Class. 5:00 - 6:00 pm. Just me and the sensei, and he was recovering from an illness, so we kind of took it easy and really just had a great MA discussion. I talked about some TKD history, and he hadn't realized it's roots in Karate. He talked about some of his perspectives through Aikido, and he's been doing a lot of researching on what has been recorded of O'Sensei's teachings, and what he actually meant. I guess we kind of discussed our search for truth. I also did get some review of jo katas 1 and 2. I really enjoyed our discussion.

TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Black Belt Class. Do-Kangs 1-6. I think I might have 6 almost down now. I need to focus more on a block/block/strike scheme that starts and ends each segment of Do-Kang 6.

[bushido_man96]

4/29/2024

Aikido Class: 8:30 - 9:30 pm. Morning Basic Class. We started with stretching and aiki-taisos, and moved into some ukemi, then some technique work. While rolling, I focused on keeping my arm extended out and in contact with the ground as I did my forward rolls. This helped me to keep from crashing into my shoulder, which I've been prone to do.

For the technique work, we did kote-gashi and shio-nage. I tried to stay more upright when doing kote-gashi, focusing on projecting forward and fading back as I was stepping and turning. For shio-nage, I needed to focus on keeping things in contact with my head as I turned.

[bushido_man96]

5/6/2024

Aikido Class: 8:30 - 9:30 am. Morning Basic Class. I was early enough that I warmed up with some run-throughs of jo kata 1. I managed to get right and left side done a few times. After aiki-taisos and stretching, we moved to ukemi. I focused on my forward rolls again, trying to focus on the same thing; not crashing onto my shoulder; with moderate success.

Next was technique work. We started with ikkyo. I kept messing up by stepping with the inside foot, nearly stepping on my partner's toes several times. The way he showed was stepping with the outside foot after the step back and getting the grab. I also needed to focus on rotating the hips into what I'd refer to as an over-rotated front stance. There were some nuances with manipulating the arm into position as well. We finished with gokyo, which was just like ikkyo but finished with an armbar. I needed to not crowd myself and give more space, and finish with a turn of the hips towards the armbar. I also needed to place my arm more towards the wrist side of the elbow to make it more secure.

Edited May 23 by bushido_man96

[bushido_man96]

5/8/2024

Solo Workout: 4-cycle okinaga breathing in the car on the way to the gym. Didn't really time myself, just tried to extend each cycle a little as I went. At the gym, I started on the rowing machine, doing 30 second "sprint" followed by 30 seconds of rest, and did that for about 10 minutes. I'm going to extend the sprints to a minute.

Went into the mat room and got Do-Kang 6 down. Now I just need some stamina to get through it without looking like a fool. Then I got three-steps 1-6 down. Finished with a stretch, and got up to 140 degrees in The Rack.

[DarthPenguin]

It does seem like you are really getting into your Aikido now

are you finding any good carryover with your TKD?

[bushido_man96]

It does seem like you are really getting into your Aikido now

are you finding any good carryover with your TKD?

I do find some carryover, and I even think I've seen some points on shio-nage that can help with one of the goofy three-steps we have to do now.

Otherwise, what I find myself doing at times with Aikido techniques is seeing where I could insert TKD strikes or kicks to facilitate a technique. On the flip side, I see points in my TKD where I can work in some of the tai-sabaki to help with getting to different targets, or to the back of the opponent.

Lately, I've been having a lot of fun working with the sensei on oyo and henka waza. The first is where he starts a technique, like ikkyo, and then something changes (like the opponent counters with some new technique or a movement) and he has to adjust but still stay within the technique, hence applying ikkyo again. The second (henka) starts the same way, let's say with an ikkyo application, but the uke counters, and this time he adapts and moves to a different technique, like kokyo-nage for instance. He's been having me work with him on this due to my extensive time in TKD, and seeing where I feel I can counter or move in order to thwart the technique. We end up brainstorming different things and basically nerding out over the possibilities (while still keeping them realistic and applicable), which has been an absolute blast.

Joint locking techniques have always been tough for me as a Martial Artist, and I have no doubt Aikido will eventually get me up to speed in understanding all the moving parts in applying the techniques.

5/13/2024

Aikido Class: Monday Morning Class. We started off with ukemi, and we did some continuous front rolling "in place," which went ok. I got a little dizzy after a time and had to break, but it went ok. When we switched to the back rolls, that sent my world to hell in a handbasket; I definitely have to watch myself with the back rolls. Just one roll and I was stopping to collect my head. I did some backwards breakfalls instead, which the sensei said is absolutely ok to stick with.

For technique work, we did kote-gashi, but we did it from a static position, without energy, which is different than how they usually do things. I'm more familiar with this type of application from our Ho Sin Sul and Hapkido training. I need to focus on extension and staying low/dropping with my body/center. This method was great for breaking down the technique. After this, I got to work with the sensei on the oyo waza; adjusting to a counter and staying within the form, i.e., if ikkyo is countered, adapt and reapply ikkyo. Like I said earlier, this was a lot of fun. He was doing kote-gashi, and I'd counter with a follow-up punch that he'd have to fend off and the apply the technique. Like I said earlier, this was a real geek-out session for me.

[bushido_man96]

5/14/2024

Dryfire: 10 minutes. When I trigger reset, I pull right with my finger, which I can see pulling the dot up and to the right. I spent time working on fixing this. It got better as I went along. I really need to focus on what my trigger finger is doing.

5/15/2025

Dryfire: 10 minutes. Working on controlling the trigger finger more. Draw and fire 4-5 rounds each time. The more shots in a row I put downrange, the more pronounced my hand shake becomes. I've got to figure out how to nullify this.

[bushido_man96]

5/16/2024

Solo Workout: Rowing: 10 minutes, 1 min on/30 sec rest, trying to reach 200 m per sprint. For TKD material, I did Do-Kang 6 x2, three-steps 1-6, Choong Jang, and Yoo Sin. Finished with a stretch. First I did floor stretch, then moved to The Rack. My right leg is definitely tighter than my left leg.

I felt a lot looser on the second go of Do-Kang 6. My legs were still pretty stiff on the first run through, and the kicks stay about belt level.

[DarthPenguin]

It does seem like you are really getting into your Aikido now

are you finding any good carryover with your TKD?

I do find some carryover, and I even think I've seen some points on shio-nage that can help with one of the goofy three-steps we have to do now.

Otherwise, what I find myself doing at times with Aikido techniques is seeing where I could insert TKD strikes or kicks to facilitate a technique. On the flip side, I see points in my TKD where I can work in some of the tai-sabaki to help with getting to different targets, or to the back of the opponent.

Lately, I've been having a lot of fun working with the sensei on oyo and henka waza. The first is where he starts a technique, like ikkyo, and then something changes (like the opponent counters with some new technique or a movement) and he has to adjust but still stay within the technique, hence applying ikkyo again. The second (henka) starts the same way, let's say with an ikkyo application, but the uke counters, and this time he adapts and moves to a different technique, like kokyo-nage for instance. He's been having me work with him on this due to my extensive time in TKD, and seeing where I feel I can counter or move in order to thwart the technique. We end up brainstorming different things and basically nerding out over the possibilities (while still keeping them realistic and applicable), which has been an absolute blast.

Joint locking techniques have always been tough for me as a Martial Artist, and I have no doubt Aikido will eventually get me up to speed in understanding all the moving parts in applying the techniques.

5/13/2024

Aikido Class: Monday Morning Class. We started off with ukemi, and we did some continuous front rolling "in place," which went ok. I got a little dizzy after a time and had to break, but it went ok. When we switched to the back rolls, that sent my world to hell in a handbasket; I definitely have to watch myself with the back rolls. Just one roll and I was stopping to collect my head. I did some backwards breakfalls instead, which the sensei said is absolutely ok to stick with.

For technique work, we did kote-gashi, but we did it from a static position, without energy, which is different than how they usually do things. I'm more familiar with this type of application from our Ho Sin Sul and Hapkido training. I need to focus on extension and staying low/dropping with my body/center. This method was great for breaking down the technique. After this, I got to work with the sensei on the oyo waza; adjusting to a counter and staying within the form, i.e., if ikkyo is countered, adapt and reapply ikkyo. Like I said earlier, this was a lot of fun. He was doing kote-gashi, and I'd counter with a follow-up punch that he'd have to fend off and the apply the technique. Like I said earlier, this was a real geek-out session for me.

That does sound like a lot of fun. Also good that the Aikido sensei is open minded and can see the benefits of testing things using some other principles. Always a good sign