Got my weight up to a solid 180 lb, up from 140 This past winter. (Just wanted to make note because it's difficult for me to put on lean mass and I'm proud of myself ) I haven't done my workout yet...will update later after errands and such are done and I get a chance to get back at it.
This morning: usual karate. Too hot for sword. Tonite: Karate; reviewed the fundamentals with shihan and sempai-hiji ate goho, tenshin happo, stepping and punching, stances, blocks. (torqued my shoulder a bit, but not too badly) Sword; rokku do 1-5, kamae exercises, batta ho patterns. Gotta work on tip speed.
Decided to start doing "dynamic" training. I started today with swinging a sledgehammer around and hitting stuff. I need to find some bulky, heavy things to work with too. Enjoying it so far.
So far: Sword-batto ho patterns. (tip speed improving ) staff-patterns 1-6. Sledgehammer swings for ~5-10 minutes.
Too sleepy to wake up and play outside today. Went to the gym and worked with my coach-the usual cardio/resistance routine, with more heavy bag work. I'm pleased with how my new MMA gloves worked out.
Found that my pushups are not as good as they used to be. Gotta focus on that this week. After working with my trainer this morning, I did an extra set of pushups and loads of heavy bag work.
Worked with my trainer this morning-a little bit of everything, and lots of cardio. Cooled down with katas and longfist. Also did loads of 30/30/30 drills and various other kicking/striking stuff on the heavy bag. Saturday was kobudo day. Reviewed all the staff patterns and started a staff kata. As usual, I've been doing my sword work every day during the cool hours. I feel somewhat guilty for not keeping this blog updated. :/ Sorry, readers and fans! Finished the day doing karate forms and swordplay in the rain.
Not a good day for my MA. Too hot to play outside, so all I could do was a bit of tenshin happo. By evening, it was cool enough for weapons and karate. Focused on batta-hos and kihons, with a bit of Tenshin Happo in there as well. Too hot to play with the sledgehammer.
I haven't been keeping this blog updated...shame on me. Well, back to it. Started this morning with sword and karate. Nice weather in the morning. This evening, I finished up practicing my karate and sword again. Then skipped rope a few minutes. Fun! Slowly but surely memorizing my forms. Can't wait to do application stuff this week.
Tonight in karate class we drilled forms and application as usual. I seem to be improving. In sword class I got to do cutting drills with a live blade for the first time. Every cut was clean except the one closest to the stand. :/ I'll get it next time.
ugh, haven't had time to keep up with this journal well. :/ Don't worry, I'm still busy. Got up too late to play with weapons. Hit the gym anyway. Leg press at various weights-double leg, started @ 220 lbs and worked down a few notches. Single leg, started @ 90 lbs and worked down a few notches. Calf raises on the leg press, single and double leg, heavy as possible. Then single leg body weight calf raises on a step. cardio on an elliptical machine for 2 minutes. Hip induction and abduction @ max weight I could manage Leg curl Pushups-standard plank and 4 variations chosen randomly Pullups-horizontal and vertical bars worked the heavy bag intensely for ~2-3 minutes Dumbell shrugs, from standing and squat positions deadlifts bicep curls at various weights and variations, 30 lbs-15 lbs, free standing, concentration, etc lat pulldown machine @ various weights more bag work for 2-3 minutes Side raises 12.5 and 15 lbs, 8 reps each forward raises 12.5 lbs, 10 reps tricep press-standard press and shrugs kettlebell swings at various weights, 1 and 2 hands 1 final round of intense heavy bag work. Fine. Wrist wraps and compression socks help a lot in injury prevention and getting more solid, intense strikes. Didn't get to work my mawashi geri as much as desired because the place was a bit crowded to acommodate my ginormous range without hurting someone. :/
You're so doing it wrong, you have to think of going through people as extra resistance Nice log dude - how do you feel about the rowing machines? Personally I'm not fond of the elliptical machine - it's nicer than the running machine but the last couple of times I used it I started lifting it off the ground
Thanks. It's not a really elaborate log here, but it helps me keep track of what I did and my progress, and the other details that are worth noting. I see what you mean about thinking of going through people as resistance. I try to do that when I'm doing the intense part of my punching/striking drills (I have a number of strikes in my repertoire nowadays thanks to my sensei :evil At the same time, I'm kind of paranoid about hurting my joints-especially the wrists and shoulders. I'm double jointed, and am prone to injury if not careful. I can certainly do well without wraps (as my sempais and trainer would attest), but I can hit harder with the wraps with confidence that I won't torque my wrist (I did it once-accidentally slipped out of proper punching form just enough, and never want to again :bang The ankle wraps don't make nearly as huge a difference as the wrist wraps do (not as many bones that are easily "popped out" or damaged), but they help on the heavy bag. If I had someone holding those cushy kicking shields for me, I wouldn't need it at all. (I miss those things! ) At the same time, the shields aren't as challenging as a bag-the bag is more like a person, too. I haven't tried many rowing machines. The last one I tried looked basically like this: I found that it offered very little resistance or challenge, and felt like it was a waste of time, so I haven't used one since. I'm sure there are better machines out there, and I'm willing to give any piece of equipment a try (I'm one of the few people I've seen using the hip abductor/inductor machine). WRT the elliptical, they can be buggers, indeed. It may be my weight or how fast I go, but there's only one or two I've ever tried that don't make weird wonky noises when I get to full speed-as if it's coming apart under me! That stuff always freaks me out, so I switch to a good machine quick like a rabbit. BTW, I find ellipticals more fun and challenging than treadmills. When winter comes, I'm going to try and get more old-fashioned jogging in. (summer doesn't end in Phoenix till sometime after Halloween :bang
Started doing handstand pushups the other day (leaning against a wall), and will be trying to get some in as often as possible now.
You monster!!! I was joking that you could line them all up and try and hit the pad while kicking through them Think you could describe how you apply some of your uke movements as strikes? Some of them seem pretty straightforward, but others less so... Yeah, I've done that once or twice. Not nice Wow, that's a posh rowing machine! The ones I've used always look like this: They don't offer amazing resistance admittedly, but I do find with my ankle injuries that I can crank it up to full resistance, go for 20 mins/half an hour at a rate that should burn 850+ calories an hour and get a reasonable warm up session out of it. I'd love to road run, but the vast majority of times my ankles/shin splints won't let me do it. Ellipticals are good if I'm in the mood, but I do find I very much have to be in the mood.
lol My shihan does a better job explaining it than I, but I'll try. Take your jodan uke, for example. If you're in close to the opponent, you can strike your opponent directly or block a strike he's throwing and push through as a counter-strike (or strike, depending on how ya look at it). A less obvious one is the knife hand block (IDR the japanese word now). In Mabuni's Tenshin Happo, that block is employed to block with the left hand and simultaneously grab the wrist. While holding the wrist, you do another knife hand to break the elbow. Tenshin Happo and most kata are full of ways to use blocks in an offensive sort of way. Indeed. :bang: You know, I think your pic bears a stronger resemblance to the machines I've used that my pic previously. :/ Sorry-I don't know the model and number. grrr Bummer. Have you ever tried those shoes with the giant spring in the heel? (I can look them up if you need it) My elderly mum wears those to help with arthritus and generally bad joints.
Pretty much what I figured then, that's cool Always nice to know I'm not totally insane You might need to post a pic, I'm not sure what you're referring to here.
