The Martial Artists' Training Log

[bushido_man96]

3/10/2026

Taekwondo:  5:45 - 6:30 pm.  Traditional Class, I taught.  Which was probably a good thing, because my knees were really achy tonight.  Got through most of basics, while still helping some of the lower ranks with a few things here and there without slowing the rest of class down too much.  We had white, low/high orange, high green, and low brown belt forms and one-steps.

Sparring:  6:30 - 7:00 pm.  Started off with several rounds of sparring.  One of the things I noticed and talked about was using good footwork when retreating.  I have several students that are pretty aggressive moving forward, but when they feel jammed up and want to make space, they basically walk backwards.  I talked about the speed advantage of someone moving forward while someone else is moving backward.

After several rounds of sparring I had the students pair up in a closed stance and close enough together they could lock hands to help balance each other.  I had them work on repeat kicking drills, with their partner helping them balance while providing a target for them.  First I had them do repeat round kicks, 2 at a time, middle/high, middle/middle, or high/middle, depending on their ability.  They did that back and forth for a bit, and then I switched them up to front kick/round kick, focusing on the pivot and hip switch to go from the front kick to the round kick.

After the class time was spent, I gathered the twin high green belts and worked a floor drill with them to help them get down the circle block/#2 front kick/reverse punch section of Won Hyo.  They've been struggling with putting the block together, so I broke down the block into a few segments and them had them gradually smooth it out.  Hopefully it helps them out.  If not, I'll try something different.

[bushido_man96]

3/11/2026

Strength Training

Clean & Press:  65x1, 75x3, 85x3, 90x3, 95x3, 100x3, 105x3.

Clean & Jerk:  110x2, 115x2, 120x2, 125x2, 130x2.

Deadlifts:  155x3, 205x2, 240x3, 240x3.

I enjoyed getting more cleaning and more overhead work in.  However, I do believe my knees will ache tomorrow.  I want to use cleans as warmups for deadlifts, but I'll cut back the total reps next time.  I think I'll preload the vitamin I as well.