Shu's Training Journal (or "Old Man Kung Fu")

Kung Fu II Time!

Yay! Back after a two-week break.

Good class. Looks like we're reverting back to the old format a little. Start with warm up kicks...go into combos...crank up the intensity...then cap it off with forms. So...

Getting Better:
-Endurance and mobility. For having missed so many classes, I felt pretty loose. And I'm not too sore. Maybe that's validation of the strength training stuff.
-Roundhouse Kicks - More height and better snap.
-Attention - It's weird, but I seemed to be able to pick things up faster today. Learned a few new moves of Tong Keun and it seemed to stick.

Needs Work:
-Side Kick - I know I say this every time...but I have GOT to get this kick down!
-Cyclonic Kick - I'll chalk it up to being rusty.
-Front Sweep - Left hip was a little stiff. Took a while to loosen it up. Seeing the doctor next week for my annual physical and I'm going to ask him about it.

Notes:
-Fitbit results from today: 317 calories, avg heart rate of 100 BPM, max heart rate of 134 BPM
-Felt good to be back. Looking forward to sparring tomorrow...

 

Are you doing anything in between martial arts training that might help your hip (e.g. Pilates, Body Balance, yoga)?

Things like Pilates that strengthen ‘core stability’ can often be a big help over the long-term. (More core stability means more powerful punches and kicks too.)

 

Nothing that specific, but I'm stretching and stuff during my normal workouts.

The weird thing is, the more a work my hip (kicks, squats, leg press, etc...) the better it feels. Which leads me to believe it's some muscle or tendon related thing.

Yoga's not a bad idea, though...

 

Kung Fu II Sparring Time!

Really good class tonight. So good, in fact, I'm wearing my Bruce Lee t-shirt as a I type this!

For starters, it was a small class. Just four people...two grownups and two young 'uns. The other grownup is a little older than me, but he was State Tae Kwon Do sparring champ for four years in a row. So in a weird way, we sort of evenly matched.

But mostly, before we spar, we each ask if there's something the other wants to work on. Then we accommodate. So today, for example, I wanted to work on foot work. So he can straight at me with combos. He wanted to work on certain techniques, so I fed him attacks that forced him to throw those moves.

When I sparred one of the young 'uns, he told me he liked fighting me because I was a good teacher <insert blush emoji>.

Anyway...fun class tonight.

Getting Better:
-Very loose tonight. No tensing or flinching. Also...very light on my feet.
-Faster combos. My speed is coming back!
-Variations. Sparred a few round with my left side leading (I normally fight Southpaw). The left hip was loose and I nailed someone with a left roundhouse. It really catches people off guard.

Needs Work:
-Power. Although, I was intentionally pulling most of my hits, it wouldn't hurt to crank up the intensity just a little
-Reaction time. There were a couple of rushes that shouldn't have got me but did.
-Combinations. Need more tools in the tool kit. Brushing up on the side kicks, fakes, feints and spin kicks will help

Notes:
-Fitbit results from today: 404 calories, avg heart rate of 112 BPM, max heart rate of 154 BPM
-Sifu commented that I was fighting well and my footwork was good.

 

With age, I reckon things like yoga/Body Balance/Pilates become increasingly valuable to maintain the ability to do martial arts.

 

Gym Fu!

-Jump Rope - 1 min
-Heavy Bag - Hands - 3 min
-Jump Rope - 30 sec
-Heavy Bag - Hands/Feet - 3 min
-Jump Rope - 30 sec
-Heavy Bag - Anything goes! - 3 min
-Push Ups - 3 x 20
-Incline Rows - 3 x 20 (see notes)
-Curl/Press - (25 lbs/arm) - 5 x 5
-Kung Fu Squats - 3 x 20

Notes:
-Fitbit results from today: 255 calories, avg heart rate of 121 BPM, max heart rate of 141 BPM
-15 second rest between reps for weights, 30 second rest between reps for body weight exercises
-The Incline Rows totally wiped me out! But it's the first time I raised the rep count to 20. Started really feeling it halfway through my 2nd. I only got through about 12 on my 3rd set. Had to take a little breather before cranking out the remaining 8.
-Need to work in more core and holistic exercises.

 

Yikes! Forgot to log my Kung Fu II Time! from last night (10/2/18)

We did a lot of random Rank Test combos. Was kind of interesting. One moment we'd do something from the Blue Belt Testing sheet, then we'd do something from the Purple Brown Testing sheet. Definitely kept us on our toes!

Getting Better:
-Jumping, spin kicks (at least on the right side. Left side still remains stubbornly tight at all times.
-Roundhouse kick power and height
-Left side kick

Needs Work:
-Cyclonic kick. Any improvement I was building up...has gone.
-Tong Keun Form. In my defense, four people have taught it to me four different ways. And in my mind only the way Sifu taught it is correct!
-Older forms. I was trying to help out some of the more junior kids in the class just before ours. And I couldn't remember Sabre Form!

Notes:
-Fitbit results from yesterday: 279 calories, avg heart rate of 96 BPM, max heart rate of 124 BPM



Gym Fu Today (10/3/18)

-Chest Cable Crossovers - 27.5 lbs/side - 5 x 5
-Lat Pull Down - 150 lbs - 5 x 5
-Preacher Curl - 80 lbs - 5 x 5
-Tricep Press - 80 lbs - 5 x 5
-Seated Leg Press - 170 lbs - 5 x 5
-Seated Calf Press - 170 lbs - 5 x 5

Notes:
-Fitbit results from today: 120 calories, avg heart rate 100 BPM, max heart rate 120 BPM
-Just a quick workout to get the muscles going. Decided to focus on weights and some other cardio (row, bike, etc) when the heavy bag isn't available.

 

Kung Fu II Time!

This is the first time I've been twice in a week (not including sparring) in a long time. Good class. Mostly focused on technique.

Getting Better:
-Combinations have more speed and "snap"
-Stances are lower (thanks, Horse Stance Squats!)
-Basic kicks are looser and higher
-Endurance

Needs Work:
-Cyclonic kick. Two days later...it's still bad.
-Tong Keun Form. Two days later...yada yada...still bad

Notes:
-Fitbit results from today: 284 calories, avg heart rate 95 BPM, max heart rate 128 BPM

Sifu gave us a little wisdom tonight. He said "What is intelligence? It's the ability to have control. Think about it. You get mad, you lose control...you get stupid!"

 

Gym Fu Time!

Mixed things up a little today. And it sure felt good!

-Rowing Machine - 1000 m - 5:45 minutes (see notes)
-Push Ups - 3 x 20
-Inverted Rows - 20, 18, 16 (see notes)
-Lunge Steps - 3 x 20
-Plank - 2 min
-Mountain Climbers - 3 x 20

Notes:
-Fitbit results from today: 192 calories, avg heart rate 109 BPM, max heart rate 130 BPM
-Took me just under 6 minutes to row "100 meters". I'll keep trying to reduce that time, then eventually increase the distance in a set time.
-The Rowing Machine absolutely devastated my back and biceps, because I was really struggling on those Inverted Rows
-30 second rest between all reps
-Though it doesn't look like much on digital paper, the whole routine took about 30 minutes...and I'm pretty sore!
-Didn't feel the need to specifically target arms today since the other exercises hit them indirectly

 

Kung Fu II Time!


While Sifu was helping another student out, Sijay Ida got drafted into running the class. So...she made us do forms.

The whole class.

Like, the entire hour (excluding warm-up)

Still, it was good to brush off some of the older forms and get crisper on the newer ones.

Getting Better:
-Kicks - More flexibility and power
-Endurance
-Flexibility in general

Needs Work
-Forms!

Notes:
-Fitbit results from today: 252 calories, avg heart rate 90 BPM, max heart rate 127 BPM

 

Kung Fu II Time!

Good class. Focused a lot on technique. I like it when we do that.

Getting Better:
-Technique in general
-Jump/Spinning kicks
-Butterfly Kick - There's a good chance that I can hit what I'm aiming for now!

Needs Work
-Sweeps - Just need to follow the momentum and let 'em go!
-Cyclonic Kick - Ugh. As one of my younger classmates said "I can't even!"
-Stances - Hurt my knee a little doing...something in class. That impeded my ability to get down low for the rest of evening.

Notes:
-Fitbit results from today: 380 calories, avg heart rate 107 BPM, max heart rate 138 BPM

 

Kung Fu II Sparring Time!

Fun class tonight. Fairly even mix of young 'uns and adults, so it was a diverse set of rounds. Sifu wanted to focus on combinations and simultaneous blocking/striking (a hallmark of our style).

Getting Better:
-No more flinching!
-Reaction time - Throwing out more combinations faster
-Variety - Mixing it up more. Switching stances...fakes and feints...various kicks
-Endurance - Fitbit said I burned a lot of calories, yet I was barely winded.

Needs Work
-Footwork - Seemed a little clunky tonight. Gonna chalk it up to no jump rope/heavy bag time this week.
-Continuous fighting - For some reason, I was fighting as if we were point sparring. So after I'd score a good hit I'd drop my guard...only for my opponent to come in a clobber me!
-Simultaneous blocking/striking - Though we drilled it at length during class, I was still lapsing into sequential moves

Notes:
-Fitbit results from today: 517 calories, avg heart rate 125 BPM, max heart rate 167 BPM

 

Gym Fu!

Man, this year is absolutely killing my workout flow! Had to miss Kung Fu all last week because of work related stuff. And I only got to sneak in one workout (which I forgot to record). And I think this week will be more of the same.

But at least I kicked it off with a workout. Here's how it went down;

-Inverted Rows - 20, 20, 15
-Knuckle Push Ups - 20, 20, 18
-Cable Curls - 70 lbs - 5 x 5
-Tricep Press - 100 lbs - 5 x 5
-Kung Fu Squats - 3 x 20
-Rowing Machine - 1000 m - 5:10

Notes:
-Fitbit results from today: 233 calories, avg heart rate 119 BPM, max heart rate 153 BPM
-Took a 30 sec break between each body weight set and a 15 sec break between weighted sets
-For some reason, I was really gassed out today. Started really feeling the burn on the last set of all the body weight stuff
-By the time I hit the rowing machine, I was completely drained. But somehow, I beat my previous time. The goal is to get to 1km in less than 5 min.

 

Gyming Up a Storm

-Jump Rope - 1 min
-Heavy Bag - Hands - 3 min
-Jump Rope - 30 sec
-Heavy Bag - Hands/Footwork - 3 min
-Jump Rope - 30 sec
-Heavy Bag - Hands/Feet/Footwork - 3 min
-Cable Crossovers - 70 lbs/side - 5 x 5
-Fixed Lat Pull Down - 130 lbs - 5 x 5
-Preacher Curl - 60 lbs - 5 x 5
-Cable Tricep Press Down - 100 lbs - 5 x 5
-Seated Leg Extension - 100 lbs - 5 x 5
-Seated Leg Extension - 80 lbs - 5 x 5

Notes:
-Fitbit results from today: 280 calories, avg heart rate 107 BPM, max heart rate 144 BPM

 

Kung Fu II Time!

Nice to be back in class after just a long break. Although a little break seems to have done me some good...

Getting Better:
-High Kicks - Sifu even commented they were looking better
-Looseness - Not as tight as I used to be. Moves are freer and more fluid. Sifu calls our style a soft/hard style. Now I finally get it!
-Four Kicks - Caught myself in the mirror doing this one and I must say...I impressed me.
-Strength - The off-hours training seems to be paying off. We did 100 Push Ups today (10 sets of 10 different push ups), and it wasn't bad at all.

Needs Work
-Forms - Unfortunately, my sporadic attendance has taken a toll on my forms. I've forgotten a lot of a lot of them. This is no bueno.
-Flexibility - Even though things are loosening up...they could always be better.

Notes:
-Fitbit results from today: 343 calories, avg heart rate 101 BPM, max heart rate 144 BPM

 

Kung Fu Sparring Time!

It was a little touch and go at first. At first, it was me and two young 'uns. And I kept having a flashback to the episode of "Seinfeld" where The Gang found out that Kramer's Tae Kwan Do class was all a bunch of little kids...and him.

But fortunately, another adult showed up and it was all good.

Kinda funny...Sifu left us to ourselves to spar while he supervised the kids. We just kept going and going and going. Finally, I wondered why I was getting so tired. Turned out we'd been sparring for 15 straight minutes! Sifu never called the round!

Anyway...it was all good.

Getting Better
-Hands - Heavy bag is paying off. My sparring partner wanted to focus on hands...so we did. In our class, that's sort of my "thing" since my kicks are just so-so.
-Endurance - Despite the length of our round, I only started getting gassed around the 10 minute mark. And that's probably because I didn't pace myself.
-Kicks - The roundhouse and push kicks came out faster. Now I just have to work on getting them higher.

Needs Improvement
-Side kicks - Not bad. But too low.
-Endurance - I did alight. Should have done better.
-Block/Strike Combos - A hallmark of our style is chaining blocks and strikes or using them simultaneously. Still throw them as "1 and 2" instead of "1-2".

Notes:
-Fitbit results from today: 472 calories, avg heart rate 110 BPM, max heart rate 163 BPM
-Sifu had a great suggesting for me; since my sidekick is still..."improving", use a push kick instead. It really worked!

 

Kung Fu II Time!

There's a rank test this weekend, so most of the class was spent going over the appropriate forms and techniques.

Getting Better
-Strength - One of the drills is to do a series of "skipping" kicks continuously down the line without lowering the leg. I can actually keep my leg extended for the duration of the exercise now.
-Power - Punches and kicks have more snap. Probably due to increased endurance and "looseness" of the limbs
-Overall Technique - They're starting to look a lot more kung fu-ey!

Needs Work
-Cyclonic Kick -It continues to be my kryptonite
-Forms - This is what happens when one goes to class sporadically. Or stop practicing forms!
-Memory - Forgot to turn on the Fitbit until class was half over. DoH!

 

Kung Fu Sparring Class!

There's a rank test tomorrow, so I ended up supervising some of the teenager who will the testing tomorrow. We did some point sparring, some continuous sparring and some 2-on-1 (a requisite for the Blue Belt).

I did okay. Definitely felt the results of missing the gym workouts...especially jump rope and heavy bag.

Getting Better
-Endurance - The 17 year-old kids are all gassed out and the 50 year-old man is barely breathing hard? I must be doing something right! (Or they're all doing something wrong...)
-Evasion - Rarely got hit (except during point sparring...see below)
-Aggression - Since I typically fight defensively, it kind of freaks everybody out when I come after them.

Needs Improvement
-Footwork - Tonight I felt sluggish. Again, I chalk that up to not jumping rope.
-Combos - Tonight, they felt stale and sloppy. And I chalk this up to not working on the heavy bag. Even once or twice a week makes a huge difference.
-Point Sparring - Not very good, tonight. See above excuses...er...I mean...reasons.

Notes:
-Fitbit results from today: 385 calories, avg heart rate 121 BPM, max heart rate 157 BPM
-Not much finesse. Mostly jam kicks and charge. Threw a few roundhouse kicks but mostly used hands
-HOWEVER towards the end, this one kid was getting a little cocky, and suddenly I rediscovered my Muay Thai leg kicks! Not full power, of course. But he...did not like those.

 

Gym Fu Time!

-Push Ups - 3 x 20
-Inverted Rows - 3 x 15
-Preacher Curls -70 lbs - 5 x 5
-Cable Rope Press - 100 lbs - 5 x 5
-Kung Fu Squats - 3 x 20
-One Foot Stance - 5/side
-Inside Crescent Kicks - 5/side

Notes:
-Fitbit results from today: 155 calories, avg heart rate 102 BPM, max heart rate 137 BPM
-30 sec rest between weighted sets, 15 sec rest between body weight sets

 

Kung Fu II Time! (Nov 6th)

Yikes! I forgot to log the activity last night. Overall good class. After a Rank Test, Sifu pays very close attention to what the students do well and what they don't. Especially to what the don't! So the post-test classes are usually pretty intense for a few weeks.

Case in point, when we did Horse Stance, he made us balance a staff on the tops of our thighs. We only had to do it for two one-minute sessions. But if anyone's staff touched the ground, we had to start all over again.

I'm slightly ashamed to say I couldn't do it without cheating just a little bit...

Getting Better
-Flexibility - Kicks are getting higher, but I'm also doing better at with the "corkscrew" power (turning at the waist to drive the punches)
-Balance - Nary a waver when standing at One-Foot Stance
-Punches - Seem pretty solid

Needs Improvement
-Kicks - The usual story. Just need to practice them more
-Forms - Ditto. Just need to practice them more

Notes:
-Fitbit results from today: 264 calories, avg heart rate 99 BPM, max heart rate 133 BPM


Gym Fu Time! (Nov 7th)

-Jump rope - 1 min
-Heavy bag (hands) - 5 min
-Jump rope - 30 sec
-Heavy bag (hands/feet) 5 min
-Inverted Row Underhand - 3 x 15
-Tricep Dips - 3 x 15
-Weighted Punches - 5 lbs/hand

• Jab-Cross - 20
• Jab-Cross (walking forward then backwards) - 20
• Jab-Cross-Hook - 20

-BOSU Ball Push Ups - 3 x 15
-Lunging Steps - 3 x 14

Notes:
-Fitbit results from today: 280 calories, avg heart rate 122 BPM, max heart rate 148 BPM
-Mixed up the order today. I've always started with chest as a sort of full body "warm up". It was interesting to do it last today after hitting the rest of my upper body.
-Was feeling a little under the weather today. Not sure it was allergies or what, but I had a tough time breathing and was a total sneeze-monster! So I scaled the number of reps back to 15
-30 second rest between all sets