The Martial Artists' Training Log

[DarthPenguin]

On 10/14/2025 at 10:05 PM, bushido_man96 said:

BJJ:  7:00 - 8:00 pm.  Started with 2 warmup rounds, 5 minutes each.  They felt like an eternity.  I ran for my life against a young athletic kid in the first round (we were supposed to be going nice and easy...), and I struggled in the second round as well.  Then we drilled.  More side control work.  I still didn't feel like I had anything energy wise.  Lots of struggles on bottom.  I do a lot of work to get a little, then lose what progress I made.  I did learn a ghost pass or escape that I think I can try to use.  No free rolling;  head still not doing great.

As someone who is also not in their 20s anymore i can empathise about going against the young massively athletic kid (though remember you are always free to decline to roll with someone if don't feel safe!).

Also, remember you are allowed to adapt techniques to your own body type a little and also can focus on what works for you: isn't like karate or tkd where there is a syllabus you need to work on for each grade, you can find what works for you. For me, our head coach is small and incredibly flexible - his stuff will never work for me (though he is amazingly knowledgeable etc and a great teacher) but one of the other coaches teaches a much more methodical pressure based game which suits me a lot more.

Some advice i was given years ago is pick a technique or two to work on and gradually improve it: eg if you can only get the initial grip then work on getting that consistently when you want it; then work on layering on the next step and consistently getting to that point. If you lose it then who cares you have already improved and work in this manner until you can reliably pull off the technique / escape etc that you are trying then rinse and repeat for more techniques. You don't need 100000000 escapes from side control; you need a few that you can reliably execute and ability to survive etc.

[bushido_man96]

That's good advice @DarthPenguin.  I'll keep those in mind moving forward.

Some lifting days I missed posting earlier:

9/26/2025

Squat:  45x5, 65x5, 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 185x3 (felt some knee slide on rep 1).

Bench Press:  45x5x2, 95x5.  Got very light-headed and had to stop.

 

10/10/2025

Dumbbell Incline Press:  20x10, 25x10.

Lat Pull-downs:  130x10, 130x10, 130x10.

[bushido_man96]

10/12/2025

Martial Arts Cross-Training Seminar Day 2:  2:30 - 4:30 pm.  BJJ.  We worked from standing/bottom seated guard.  Bottom player tried to get hooks and destabilize, top trying to keep a foot inside their legs;  if bottom player destabilized the top player, switch roles.  We then moved to working an outside oshi to destabilize from the same position; then we moved to an X-guard.  After those rounds, we advanced to both players seated, one in the outside oshi and controlling the leg for a heel hook/knee lock, the other trying to escape (smash pass, etc).  We eventually progressed the drill to trying to get a submission.  For free rolling, I made the conscious decision to start in that seated position for two rounds.  I did 2, 2 minute rounds this way, and ended up spending 4 minutes on my back getting smashed, hating life and BJJ.  I had felt pretty good about the drilling sessions, too.  Bottom side control is my jam.

5:00 - 6:15 pm.  Round table.  We sat around and just kind of nerded out on Martial Arts and talked shop.  Myself, our CI, and the Aikido sensei talked some about Bruce Lee's "punch is just a punch, kick is just a kick" quote in regards to different things, and how the fundamentals make that happen.  Mainly, how it's important to learn to work within a structure/framework so that eventually you can learn to work outside of the structure/framework.  It kind of came up in referencing the front kick Steven Seagal taught Anderson Silva.  I also talked about some of my DT approaches and worked we did partner work on some of the concepts involving utilizing the startle-flinch response.  The Shuri-Te stylists taught us Kihon Ippon and the first part of Naihanchi shodan and we worked some bunkai with each.

This is really a great group we work with, and these sessions are a highlight of my training year.

[bushido_man96]

10/14/2025

Taekwondo:  5:45 - 6:30 pm.  Traditional Class.  Left knee wasn't as sore tonight, so I could give a little more in basics.  Good stretch after.  Forms were taking a while longer than expected so I got everyone lined up for one-steps while a brown belt was working through her form.  Did white and green belt one-steps.

Sparring:  6:30 - 7:00 pm.  Kept focusing on the footwork.  Sparred well against the 2nd dan, and he did tag me a good one.  I doubled up quite a few kicks.  Finished with a 2-on-1 match against an orange and green belt.  I think I sparred 5 rounds total.

[sensei8]

Lower belt students, like Orange and green belts, will keep us Dan ranks honest and more aware.

What’s your plans if your left knee continues to bother you?? If your left knee threatens to force you to primarily administer your right leg, you can be like Bill “Superfoot” Wallace by kicking only with the good leg…nothing wrong with that because kicking with one leg primarily did Wallace quite well.

[bushido_man96]

On 10/26/2025 at 5:21 PM, sensei8 said:

Lower belt students, like Orange and green belts, will keep us Dan ranks honest and more aware.

What’s your plans if your left knee continues to bother you?? If your left knee threatens to force you to primarily administer your right leg, you can be like Bill “Superfoot” Wallace by kicking only with the good leg…nothing wrong with that because kicking with one leg primarily did Wallace quite well.

For right now, I plan to just continue to monitor and adjust, and keep a steady influx of ibuprofen going.  I think the issue comes from constantly getting in and out of the patrol car at work, planting the left foot after opening the door and standing up on that left knee while twisting on the way.  Repetition issue.  Combine that with being a heavier guy already and adding the approximate 30 lbs of gear for the day, and the problem compounds.

10/15/2025

Aikido:  6:15 - 7:45 pm.  Loosening, aikitaisos, internals, basic strikes and front kicks, followed by some forward and backward rolls and forward breakfalls.  Lots of randori today, starting simple and getting more complex and dynamic with the drills.

[bushido_man96]

10/16/2025

Aikido:  8:45 - 9:45 am.  Abbreviated aikitaisos, focusing on rooting.

Katatetori sankyo omote, then learned ura.  Lots more footwork in ura.  After the cut down, continue to apply sankyo downwards, then step behind/tenkan to takedown and pin.

Katatetori kaitennage, done with same footwork as above, starts with a tenkan.

Worked on panda rolls, which help me not get as dizzy.

[bushido_man96]

10/17/2025

Strength Training

Hammer Iso Incline (seated):  45x5, 45x5, 45x5.

Hammer Iso Bench (seated):  25x10, 35x10, 45x8, 45x8, 45x8.

Lat Pull-downs:  130x10, 130x10, 130x10.

[bushido_man96]

10/21/2025

Range:  8:00 am - 12:30 pm.  Pistol, back-up, rifle, shotgun, bean bag qualifications.  Didn't go as well as I'd like, but I'll keep working on it.

Taekwondo:  5:45 - 6:30 pm.  Traditional Class.  Basics were labored; short of breath and out of shape.  Still some pain in the left knee.  I did have a good stretch after basics.  I didn't do my form today; we had a big group with lots of white belts in class.  Did white belt and high green belt one-steps.

6:30 - 7:00 pm.  Sparring.  Several rounds of combinations with some first time white belts.  Three other rounds with kids.  I'm moving more, trying to stay on my toes more.

One of the gym owners (the 3rd dan) and I spoke with a couple of college kids that stopped in after class.  They pay the drop in fee so they can get some mat time grappling.  They are brothers, and both wrestled and have some BJJ background.  They play football at the college here and are from Oklahoma originally.  They were nice kids, and said they be open to sharing some mat time.  I also spoke with them about the BJJ school, and they may look into that.

[bushido_man96]

10/22/2025

Aikido:  6:15 - 7:45 pm.  Loosening, aikitaisos, and some rolling.  I tried to panda roll, but I still don't get how to do it on front rolls.  Black belt demos were done today, and I was uke a few times.  The rolling started to get to me after a while.