State of My Arts

My wife and I have just recently decided that we’re looking to buy a new house.  Wherever we buy, it will have an exercise room, though, sadly, it won’t have a dojang with 12′+ ceilings.  Heh.

That excuses my lack of posting for the last week or so, and will help explain why my posting will sporadic in the future.  Putting the current house on the market is going to take a lot of work.  But I really have no excuse for not posting for a few weeks prior to that.

Training is proceeding apace, and I do have some things in my mind that I’d like to post.  The process of getting it from my head to the computer is the problem.  Kind of a PEBKAC thing going on here.

Training

I’ve been out of commission for a while now.  My last full martial arts class was last Wednesday, 11 days ago.  Nine days ago, I went to Friday night’s Hapkido class.  I wasn’t feeling great at the start of class, and got progressively woozier until I decided I kind of had to leave and go home.

Spent the weekend with possibly a mild fever, an increasingly sore throat, and a great deal of lassitude.  The work week was much the same — I worked from home on Monday and Tuesday, went to work on Wednesday (a mistake, which I mitigated by leaving after less than half a day), stayed home on Thursday, then went in on Friday.  Congestion has replaced the sore throat as my primary complaint, but it is also one that screws with the inner ear such that doing martial arts would not be a good idea.

Unfortunately my hunger didn’t go away this week and the combination of eating and not exercising has left me kind of squishy.  With this week being Thanksgiving, I’ll put on some more weight and get more out of shape.  Oh, well.

Training

Now that I’ve hit 3rd dan in TKD, I’m reflecting a bit on where I’m headed.

In TKD…

I’m continuing to teach, that’s a given.  My training will continue as it has been.  I’ve been emphasizing low, centered movement, but I’m still working on improving that.  I also had the chance to watch part of a video from my black belt exam where I was sparring.  To my own eye, I looked slow and fairly immobile.  Some techniques were good, but my movement was only middling.  I need to work on quickness and slipping techniques.  My body type isn’t really built for that (6′ 195, large thighs), but I think I need to improve in quickness and balance.  Added core strength would be a plus.

In Hapkido…

Okay, this one is really easy.  2nd dan test in 2 weeks.  Many of the same principles I mentioned in the TKD section also apply here.  I need to transition from entries into techniques more fluidly.  We’ve been doing a lot of countering drills, feeling the balance and shifting to a different technique when the opponent’s energy changes.  It is great stuff, but I still find it difficult to quickly recognize the balance and positioning, and then figure out my best more from there.

In BJJ…

Finally going to start it back up!  It has been 10 months.  I’ve missed grappling, so I am looking forward to going back.  Here, quite simply, I need need to work on not injuring myself.  I’m going to try to work on technique and fluid movement without relying on muscling my opponent around.  Easier said then done… once the blood starts flowing in a grappling match, my competitive instincts take over.

In Kali…

Well, something has to slip.  I stopped it leading up to my promotion exam, and I didn’t miss it.  I think that means I’m not ready to be a student.

In Fitness…

P90x has been great.  However, for 2/3 times per week, I’m not sure it is the best use of my time.  The number of reps in the workouts is high, but maybe I’d get better results by splitting those reps across more days.  I think I’ll do the Plyo workout periodically.  Maybe I’ll try out kettleballs sooner or later.  If the weather cooperates, I might going jogging more often.  I went for around 2.5 miles on Sunday, and it was almost fun.

BJJ, Fitness, Hapkido, TKD, Training

Saturday was the “Super Circuit Saturday” class I had mentioned.  It’s one of the few ways to have fun while working out.  There was a decent showing, and everyone seemed to be working hard.

Sunday was a P90X lifting routine and the P90X Ab Ripper routine.  That was plenty.

Today was a test prep class.  Lots of basic kicks and punches with a stationary partner to use for target practice.  We always try to control distance and hit the dobok but not the person.  Then we did some Ho Shin Sul (self defense), followed by one-step sparring, followed by poomse.  I’m feeling pretty good about things, though I did have a couple of errors in my forms.  I’ll try to clean those up a bit more in the next couple of days.

I’m also working on a couple of essays that I’ll need to turn in before the test.  And that’s about it.  Tomorrow is a teaching night, and I probably won’t do anything other than review my forms.  On Wednesday, I’ll go to the Hapkido class and then help teach the intermediates (I’ve offloaded the primary instructor duties for that night to one of the other instructors).  I probably won’t stay for the TKD class, but I’ll leave that open.  Thursday will be a rest day, then Friday’s the day itself.  Should be fun.

TKD, Training

I already mentioned Monday.

• Tuesday: Taught the beginner class (big emphasis on basics: stances, blocks, punches).  Then I stayed for cardio kickboxing.  It was kind of fun.  Some movements I just couldn’t follow, but for the most part I didn’t look too silly.  Except for my pasty white legs.  Very reflective.
• Wednesday: Hapkido class (wrist grabs, punch defense).  Then I ran the intermediate class — sparring night.  Got the gear on early, and spent a large portion of the class doing movement/counter drills with techniques landing on the hogu (chest protector).  Then during the advanced TKD class we also did some similar drills, and I had a chance to work on my advanced forms again.
• Thursday: A one-hour massage.  Aah.  That felt really good.
• Friday: Hapkido class.  Lots of work on entries — I really need to improve on continuing my movement from entry through takedown/locks.  I’m entering okay, but then I don’t have an immediate plan and I’m spending too much time trying to feel balance and deciding what I’m doing from there.

Some more notes: On Wednesday, I joined in some of the sparring drills for fun.  But at one point when doing a back kick my feet shot out from under me.  I fell okay — more of a front fall than anything.  But I still tweaked my left wrist a bit.  Didn’t actually realize that I hurt it a bit until the following morning.

Tomorrow is “Super Circuit Saturday”.  We like alliteration — we’ve also got our Monkey in the Middle (aka Simian in the Center).  Anyhow, this is kind of a free-form circuit workout.  We’ll have the music going and a whole bunch of stations set up, from kicking bags to medicine balls to mats to jump ropes to weights, and so on.  It is always fun.  Back in March, I ripped my dobok pants doing squats during one of these classes.  Heh.  I’ll actually be running the class, so I’ll need to do some of the setup, and I’ll be keeping the stopwatch and bellowing out the order to change stations.  We usually do about a minute per station, and we’ll be doing that for about an hour.  Then I’ll probably have the class do a few lower-energy things, like breathing exercises.

Test day is one week from today.

TKD, Teaching, Training

Yesterday, I mentioned that there were a couple things I wanted to work on.  Well, tonight we covered some of them.  I got more work on Pyong Won, and we spent 15 or so minutes on bong forms.  We also did some of the 360 kicks that I wanted to do.  Not quite enough reps to satisfy me, but it was still good work.

I might go to the cardio kickboxing class tomorrow night for a little change-of-pace with my cardio.  We’ll see when tomorrow rolls around if I’d rather do that or Plyo.

TKD, Training

Testing day is right around the corner.  This week will be a good, hard, physical week.  Next week will be toned down a bit so that I’m fresh for Friday the 25th.

It kind of seems as though I’ve been turning this into a fitness blog rather than a martial arts one, but I suppose that’s just a reflection of my outlook on the matter.  I don’t have a tremendously athletic build, as I have a tendency towards stockiness (having once been over 60 pounds heavier than I am today).  So I have to work hard for what I’ve got.

Anyhow, on that theme, today was a lifting day (P90x Shoulders and Arms), followed by a 2 mile run with 3 pound dumbells.  I wasn’t sure how far I’d get on my run, so I was very pleased that I made it through 2 miles.  On an unrelated (cough) note, my left shoulder and neck are pretty well locked up and are pretty sore right now.

On the martial arts side, yesterday was a good test-prep class.  We spent a good amount of time doing One Step Sparring techniques.  I was partnered with the head of the TKD program, and there wasn’t anything in particular that I needed to clean up there.  He also took a look at my bong forms later in the class and gave me a couple of good tips there.  We also went through most of the other forms that I’ll be doing, which was a good review.  And, for good measure, we worked escapes from various grabs as well.

I still need a  bit of work on Pyong Won (4th black belt form).  I’m hoping one of these classes this week involve a bunch of kicking drills — a good ol’ kick the target class.  It has been a while since I’ve done a bunch of spinning back hook kicks, 360 kicks, jump back kicks, and the like.  Nice thing about being an instructor, I can always lead the intermediates in that sort of class and join in along with them.

Other than that, I’m feeling pretty good about things.  I have a couple of essays to write, and I should get on those soon.

TKD, Training

I was off of training for a few days.  In fact, I didn’t work out Thursday all the way through Monday, which means I had five days off.  It felt pretty good.

But then, it felt good to get back to it today as well.  I did the P90x Plyometric workout, which always leaves me gasping for breath.  Then I taught a decently-sized beginner class of 8 students.  I ran them through an aerobic workout, then on to a poomse section.  My thought in recent weeks is to do at least 10 minutes of forms each class as a group.  However, I think I need to spend more individual time with the students.  I’m seeing some small individual errors that are hard to correct in a group setting.  Maybe next week I’ll break down into individual forms work.

After class I worked on my two bong (staff) forms, as well as Pyong Won, the 4th black belt TKD form.  Just a quick 10 minutes worth of work, but I am a little rusty on those.  Well, in truth, I’m still working on learning Pyong Won.

On another note, I finally finishing reading Warrior Mind, the martial arts book written by one of the senior students of my instructor’s instructor.  It is an interesting book, and I’m promising a full review of it shortly.

TKD, Training

It is now 4 weeks until my 3rd dan test.  Last week I was mulling over what I should change up in my routine to get the most ready for my test.

Well, last Sunday I went through the P90X Plyometric routine — and boy, is that a killer.  I forgot exactly how tough that routine is, since I had only done it once before.  I resolved at the time to do that once a week — though I’m now out of whack with that, as I will relate henceforth.

Last week was as follows: Sunday: P90X Plyo; Monday: Black Belt TKD; Tuesday: P90X Chest, Shoulders, Triceps (lifting), plus Beginner TKD teaching; Wednesday: Hapkido, Intermediate TKD teaching, Advanced TKD; Thursday: rest; Friday: Hapkido; Saturday: Intermediate/Advanced TKD. 

The item missing from that list is lifting on Friday.  I just wasn’t up to it that day.  That was just as well, since the Hapkido class involved a number of hip throws.  The class that night was 4 students, and I was the 2nd lightest of that group.  So I got the easier duty of throwing the female black belt in attendance.  The only tricky thing about throwing her is that I need to squat lower to get my center below hers.  Still easier than throwing the 220- and 250- pound gentlemen.

Today, I opted not to do the Plyo routine.  I felt like lifting, since I hadn’t done that for 5 days.  Today was the Back and Biceps routine.  My biceps are pretty darn fatigued now (mission accomplished).  Usually at the end of the lifting routines, I’ll do the 15 minute abs/core routine.  Didn’t feel like doing that, either, so my guilt-ridden conscience prompted me to go for a short run, somewhere between a mile and a quarter and a mile and a half.

My weight is currently in the 195-ish range (194.6 this morning).  Dropping another couple of pounds would be nice, though I’m running a little low on time to do that barring a concerted dieting attempt.  This week is the weekend of Labor Day, and I’ll be taking a 4-day weekend (from work and training) and eating a lot of unhealthy food.  Then there will be two weeks of regular training, followed by the week of the test.  During that week, I won’t be doing any extra exercise, just TKD classes on Monday and Wednesday.

And I’m sure I’ll be ready to go.

TKD, Training

I’ve been sticking with the P90x workouts I detailed five weeks ago.  I have been happy with my results so far.  The weights and reps have been slowly increasing.  I haven’t measured my biceps or other parts of my musculature recently, but I think there’s been improvement there.

By far the most encouraging thing about my workouts, though, is the stability of my shoulder.  I’m no longer feeling any slippage or crunching of scar tissue in my AC joint when I do pushups.  Wide grip pushups are relatively easy, while military-style pushups are more troublesome from a strength standpoint than from a stability standpoint.

My left side is still lagging behind my right in a lot of the exercises.  It is especially noticeable during bicep exercises, which is a little surprising (I’d have expected a bigger difference in shoulder exercises).  The right side of my back is a bit weaker than my left due to the muscle paralysis that I’d gotten nearly two years ago from Lyme disease.  Last week those same weakened muscles were spasming a bit on me, so my shoulder blade wasn’t quite working the way it should.  The spasming has relaxed, and things are good.

This past Wednesday during TKD class, the instructor pulled out the stopwatch for 2-minute max pushups (and situps).  I was able to do 70 full-range pushups, though a couple of them were a bit sketchy.  This was at the end of class, and it was also at the day after doing a couple hundred pushups as part of my Sunday P90x workout.  Not up to the 90+ I could do a couple of years ago before these shoulder issues took me down, but it is definitely a sign that I’m making good progress.

Training