Training log.
- Thread starter Kframe
- Start date
Yes I did Mon Mon, thank you.
Time for a after practice review. This wont be a blow by blow as that wouldn't be cool. Practice Saturday was good. We did lots of ukemi today. I have much to learn with my ukemi but I did have a victory. I managed a Back roll the second time I tried it. At first when I completed it, it felt wrong, as I went over my shoulder but sensei said it was good. I remember looking at him and saying "that's it?" and he replied "yep" .
I was nervous about the back roll, but now im even more nervous about the new rolls he just introduced to me.. He put two chairs up and a bo staff between them on the lowest level. We had to roll over it. It was done in a step by step fashion. With the bar on the first level I was able to nail it perfectly. The problem arose when he put it on the next level. You have no choice but to dive over it at the last step. I got the first part of the landing but I got scared and screwed up the roll. I plan on having this by the next practice session.
So ya, I managed the back roll and im happy. How ever my progress with it will be very slow and incremental. He had us working on a drill for it, were we go half way through it and touch our feet to the ground be hind us. I cant get that compact, its my gut. Sure during the roll I can use the momentum of my legs to carry me around but until I lose the gut I wont be able to do it very slowly with that level of control.. He said he understood my problem, that its like carrying a full rucksack upfront. So as I loose weight ill get better at back rolling.
After class I asked about consecutive striking and striking from the rear side with out a step. To clarify the question I used the example of the good old 1/2 from boxing. While I did get a good explanation of why and we attack like we do and how and when we strike from the rear side with out a step, he also demonstrated why. He had me get into my boxing stance and throw a 1/2 at him. I obliged. I however did not pull any punch's and the speed was light sparring speed with about 30% power. Im not entirely sure what he did. He wanted to demonstrate the drawback of that attack. How it breaks your posture and can put you off balance.
I had every intention of hitting him. He moved so quickly that I had a tough time keeping track of him. He managed to get to the outside as my cross fired off and I have no clue what happened after that.. Some kind of arm takedown. Which I thought was impossible as I was in full boxing mode with quick retraction and snappy punches. I had intended to keep striking if I had the opportunity. I felt(didn't see it thought but only felt it) a parry of some kind and then something on my arm and I was taken forward and down and landed on my side, kinda.
He must have let go of my arm, because I screwed up the ukemi and managed to land on my own elbow. So now I have a pulled muscle just under my ribs. It was all in fun and in my mind it was a test. I was going to continue striking if I had the opportunity but was unable to do so. I just had a difficult time following his movements. Seeing as this was the assistant instructor, im impressed with his movement.
The head teacher started a new beginner class on Wednesdays(which takes care of my other concern its a 1.5 hour class) and I intend to ask him to walk me through what he did.
While it doesn't really address my issues with self confidence it does at least give me a indication that my instructors were well trained.. Im beginning to think that maybe my issues are related to my own history and emotional hang ups then any problems with the art it self.
Time for a after practice review. This wont be a blow by blow as that wouldn't be cool. Practice Saturday was good. We did lots of ukemi today. I have much to learn with my ukemi but I did have a victory. I managed a Back roll the second time I tried it. At first when I completed it, it felt wrong, as I went over my shoulder but sensei said it was good. I remember looking at him and saying "that's it?" and he replied "yep" .
I was nervous about the back roll, but now im even more nervous about the new rolls he just introduced to me.. He put two chairs up and a bo staff between them on the lowest level. We had to roll over it. It was done in a step by step fashion. With the bar on the first level I was able to nail it perfectly. The problem arose when he put it on the next level. You have no choice but to dive over it at the last step. I got the first part of the landing but I got scared and screwed up the roll. I plan on having this by the next practice session.
So ya, I managed the back roll and im happy. How ever my progress with it will be very slow and incremental. He had us working on a drill for it, were we go half way through it and touch our feet to the ground be hind us. I cant get that compact, its my gut. Sure during the roll I can use the momentum of my legs to carry me around but until I lose the gut I wont be able to do it very slowly with that level of control.. He said he understood my problem, that its like carrying a full rucksack upfront. So as I loose weight ill get better at back rolling.
After class I asked about consecutive striking and striking from the rear side with out a step. To clarify the question I used the example of the good old 1/2 from boxing. While I did get a good explanation of why and we attack like we do and how and when we strike from the rear side with out a step, he also demonstrated why. He had me get into my boxing stance and throw a 1/2 at him. I obliged. I however did not pull any punch's and the speed was light sparring speed with about 30% power. Im not entirely sure what he did. He wanted to demonstrate the drawback of that attack. How it breaks your posture and can put you off balance.
I had every intention of hitting him. He moved so quickly that I had a tough time keeping track of him. He managed to get to the outside as my cross fired off and I have no clue what happened after that.. Some kind of arm takedown. Which I thought was impossible as I was in full boxing mode with quick retraction and snappy punches. I had intended to keep striking if I had the opportunity. I felt(didn't see it thought but only felt it) a parry of some kind and then something on my arm and I was taken forward and down and landed on my side, kinda.
He must have let go of my arm, because I screwed up the ukemi and managed to land on my own elbow. So now I have a pulled muscle just under my ribs. It was all in fun and in my mind it was a test. I was going to continue striking if I had the opportunity but was unable to do so. I just had a difficult time following his movements. Seeing as this was the assistant instructor, im impressed with his movement.
The head teacher started a new beginner class on Wednesdays(which takes care of my other concern its a 1.5 hour class) and I intend to ask him to walk me through what he did.
While it doesn't really address my issues with self confidence it does at least give me a indication that my instructors were well trained.. Im beginning to think that maybe my issues are related to my own history and emotional hang ups then any problems with the art it self.
Posting a overview of todays training because it was a great one and helped me with some nagging issues I was having..
Today was like starting over again for me. Sensei pulled out a focus mit and we did the punch and Omote shuto and Jodan uke. Having to hit something with these attacks threw me off. I thought I was doing my home practice correctly but I was mistaken. There was problems with my footwork and syncing my hands.
In fact I was struggling so hard I was frustrated. He got out some tape and put them at the correct angles and that helped me a lot..
That drill helped a lot, and I had a good time. I now know what I need to do to step up my home training and I will do so. Of course I have to purchase some things to do so, but they are cheap. They will have a good effect on my training once up and positioned for practice.
I did learn my sensei can put a lot of power behind his strikes, I was really impressed with it. Holding the pad, he was able to move me back, and I was braced with my feet trying to not get moved....
We discussed the theory behind our strikes and that a lot of my issues with striking will be solved with time and practice.
One thing he noticed was, I retracted after I hit the pad. He told me not to do that, as I should not give back the space that I took from the opponent.. I have to work on that. I do it subconsciously as I did box and that is part of the game.
I have so much to learn its daunting. Todays practice helped a lot and helped to guide me with a lot of my questions regarding striking.
Today was like starting over again for me. Sensei pulled out a focus mit and we did the punch and Omote shuto and Jodan uke. Having to hit something with these attacks threw me off. I thought I was doing my home practice correctly but I was mistaken. There was problems with my footwork and syncing my hands.
In fact I was struggling so hard I was frustrated. He got out some tape and put them at the correct angles and that helped me a lot..
That drill helped a lot, and I had a good time. I now know what I need to do to step up my home training and I will do so. Of course I have to purchase some things to do so, but they are cheap. They will have a good effect on my training once up and positioned for practice.
I did learn my sensei can put a lot of power behind his strikes, I was really impressed with it. Holding the pad, he was able to move me back, and I was braced with my feet trying to not get moved....
We discussed the theory behind our strikes and that a lot of my issues with striking will be solved with time and practice.
One thing he noticed was, I retracted after I hit the pad. He told me not to do that, as I should not give back the space that I took from the opponent.. I have to work on that. I do it subconsciously as I did box and that is part of the game.
I have so much to learn its daunting. Todays practice helped a lot and helped to guide me with a lot of my questions regarding striking.
Personal notes.
Class is starting to take on a very nice feel. As time goes on I get another question answered and another goal to attain.. I am finding my self less and less worried about the style of striking in this art and more worried about perfecting the basic punch I am being taught. I am starting to come to a primitive understanding of it, and why we don't do as much rear hand non stepping repeated striking. That I am starting to understand has to do with many things, like range and the aims of what I am being taught. Standing in the "pocket" exchanging blows and defenses, is fighting not self defense, nor is it something that would be used on a battle field I feel.
So my primitive understanding is leading me to the notion that it is at my level being used as part of the entrance. The no retracting, while I am very uncomfortable with it, serves a purpose, not giving back the space you just took. I wont be just hanging there at that perfect boxing range but moving to do something to end the situation and my lead hand I just struck with will likely be involved in what ever that is.
Im sure there are flaws in my primitive understanding but my understanding has to start somewhere.
We also did some knife defense against the common attacks you see on those scary Youtube real knife violence videos. Such as the Grab and stab and others. This was a incredible work out for me. What I found strange was, that it felt like sparring. Even though it wasn't. I also discovered some things from my mma experience that while good in mma, not so good on the street. During one point I had taken him down, and I had good control off the knife. I managed to land in what was side control, and I instinctively moved into mount. At which point I let go of one hand and was only controlling the knife with one hand. My mind was focused on going to mount and I remember wanting to put him into a Americana as his arm was ripe for it.
I had lost control and by mounting I exposed my femoral arteries. At another point, after a take down, I got lost. I had his arms but lost control trying to maneuver to side control. It then became a fight, as he was resisting regaining his knife control and going for the kill. I had instinctively made it a fight. Which is not good.
Another time, i landed in what is called open half guard. I had accidentally kneed him in the crotch, during the take down. I had his weapon in control but began to fight for the guard pass. I noticed that in each take down I would in my mind tick off the positions i was entering and the BJJ positional hierarchy. Which stipulates i be on top in mount in mount control. Position before submission.
I guess in a nutshell i was instinctively turning things into a fight, which usually when i forgot my self i ended up getting killed. I thoroughly enjoyed class the knife defenses were very basic and simple. Nothing flowery or unrealistic, that i know of. He even let me pick the scenario, and so i went with what i saw as a common knife assult on youtube. The grab and stab.
The class felt great, had more of a rbsd feel then what i would expect from such a traditional art. I have come to the conclusion that most preconceptions i am having with this art are probably not true? At least with regards to were i am training. They take this seriously, simplicity and directness is important.
I come away from each class happy and feeling good. This words to this music video sum up my feelings regarding martial arts journey to this point and my current feelings.
The feeling of the music and words are what i want you to feel..
"I wanna heal, I wanna feel what I thought was never real
I wanna let go of the pain I’ve felt so long
(Erase all the pain till it’s gone)
I wanna heal, I wanna feel like I’m close to something real
I wanna find something I’ve wanted all along
Somewhere I belong"
"I will never know myself until I do this on my own
And I will never feel anything else, until my wounds are healed
I will never be anything till I break away from me
I will break away, I'll find myself today"
Class is starting to take on a very nice feel. As time goes on I get another question answered and another goal to attain.. I am finding my self less and less worried about the style of striking in this art and more worried about perfecting the basic punch I am being taught. I am starting to come to a primitive understanding of it, and why we don't do as much rear hand non stepping repeated striking. That I am starting to understand has to do with many things, like range and the aims of what I am being taught. Standing in the "pocket" exchanging blows and defenses, is fighting not self defense, nor is it something that would be used on a battle field I feel.
So my primitive understanding is leading me to the notion that it is at my level being used as part of the entrance. The no retracting, while I am very uncomfortable with it, serves a purpose, not giving back the space you just took. I wont be just hanging there at that perfect boxing range but moving to do something to end the situation and my lead hand I just struck with will likely be involved in what ever that is.
Im sure there are flaws in my primitive understanding but my understanding has to start somewhere.
We also did some knife defense against the common attacks you see on those scary Youtube real knife violence videos. Such as the Grab and stab and others. This was a incredible work out for me. What I found strange was, that it felt like sparring. Even though it wasn't. I also discovered some things from my mma experience that while good in mma, not so good on the street. During one point I had taken him down, and I had good control off the knife. I managed to land in what was side control, and I instinctively moved into mount. At which point I let go of one hand and was only controlling the knife with one hand. My mind was focused on going to mount and I remember wanting to put him into a Americana as his arm was ripe for it.
I had lost control and by mounting I exposed my femoral arteries. At another point, after a take down, I got lost. I had his arms but lost control trying to maneuver to side control. It then became a fight, as he was resisting regaining his knife control and going for the kill. I had instinctively made it a fight. Which is not good.
Another time, i landed in what is called open half guard. I had accidentally kneed him in the crotch, during the take down. I had his weapon in control but began to fight for the guard pass. I noticed that in each take down I would in my mind tick off the positions i was entering and the BJJ positional hierarchy. Which stipulates i be on top in mount in mount control. Position before submission.
I guess in a nutshell i was instinctively turning things into a fight, which usually when i forgot my self i ended up getting killed. I thoroughly enjoyed class the knife defenses were very basic and simple. Nothing flowery or unrealistic, that i know of. He even let me pick the scenario, and so i went with what i saw as a common knife assult on youtube. The grab and stab.
The class felt great, had more of a rbsd feel then what i would expect from such a traditional art. I have come to the conclusion that most preconceptions i am having with this art are probably not true? At least with regards to were i am training. They take this seriously, simplicity and directness is important.
I come away from each class happy and feeling good. This words to this music video sum up my feelings regarding martial arts journey to this point and my current feelings.
"I wanna heal, I wanna feel what I thought was never real
I wanna let go of the pain I’ve felt so long
(Erase all the pain till it’s gone)
I wanna heal, I wanna feel like I’m close to something real
I wanna find something I’ve wanted all along
Somewhere I belong"
"I will never know myself until I do this on my own
And I will never feel anything else, until my wounds are healed
I will never be anything till I break away from me
I will break away, I'll find myself today"
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I have discovered some of the perils of self training at home. I am struggling with the basic punch. What is pissing me off the most is, I was a boxer.. Punching should be easy. I have done it a million times. I keep screwing it up.. Instead of bringing my legs in line as I punch, I am moving in to a not posture that is not lined up. Hard to explain but for those that do this kind of art understand.
Its hard to explain this as it is complicated. Step off line while receiving. Bring rear foot across the line, in line with your lead foot while punching. The rear foot is pointed away(as per the classical stances). I keep moving behind my lead foot. Almost like a circle step with my rear foot.
I find my self so angry about this. I know the only solution is more practice but seriously after 2 months in, I should have this by now.
On a higher note im starting to finally figure out some of the basic locks.
I feel like a bad student. I can watch them demo, watch the senior students do their practice of the tech of the day. Yet my dysfunctional brain has to be led through it when it comes to my turn. Despite having watched it a few times.
I enjoy my class and my teachers. It is a serious challenge right now, but im not giving up. I just don't remember mma and boxing being this hard technically at the beginning.
Its hard to explain this as it is complicated. Step off line while receiving. Bring rear foot across the line, in line with your lead foot while punching. The rear foot is pointed away(as per the classical stances). I keep moving behind my lead foot. Almost like a circle step with my rear foot.
I find my self so angry about this. I know the only solution is more practice but seriously after 2 months in, I should have this by now.
On a higher note im starting to finally figure out some of the basic locks.
I feel like a bad student. I can watch them demo, watch the senior students do their practice of the tech of the day. Yet my dysfunctional brain has to be led through it when it comes to my turn. Despite having watched it a few times.
I enjoy my class and my teachers. It is a serious challenge right now, but im not giving up. I just don't remember mma and boxing being this hard technically at the beginning.
Unlearning is harder than learning and you're learning an entirely different way of moving and generating power. It's going to take time and you most certainly will feel clumsy, uncoordinated, and downright stupid as you fight old and ingrained habits and methods. There's no easy way around it...
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Chris Parker
Grandmaster
Ah, mate... regarding the bold, talk to anyone who's been doing this a long while, and you'll hear pretty much all of the ones worth their salt tell you they're still working on it themselves! 2 months really isn't anything yet... especially when you're fighting against prior training.
I trained for many years in Kyokushin karate before I started BBT, but my punching and kicking has mostly benefited from that. We have former boxers in my club too, and I see the type of punching you are describing. You just have to keep training. But a boxing punch is still an effective punch, so I wouldn't think so much about unlearning it. Just tell yourself that you are learning a new punch which is different to the one you already know. Just like any other technique. Do it slowly at first so you learn the movement and speed it up as you get better.
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Thanks for the words guys. I know its something ill be working on forever. Im frustrated because when I started boxing it took me a month to learn the punching, in mma it took me about 1.5 weeks to learn our kicks(all two of them). Im just not used to it taking so long to learn what amounts to a defensive counter.
Had a new student join. She like me, has prior MA experience. Its nice to see someone else struggle with some of the same things I am.. She came from TKD and some kind of womans self defense, were she was a instructor. While she is immenantly more physically fit and able bodied then I am, she is having the same issues. Immediately right off the bat, she nails all the Kaiten rolling. Which im not surprised as she has good balance and fitness I attribute to her TKD. Were she started having trouble is with the one thing that comes second nature to her and that is the kicks.
This art kicks differently then either her or I am used to. She is instinctively wanting to do a hard chamber then snap out. Which is not what we are doing at our basic level. Our kick is like a rock on a string that is being swung. The chamber happens at the end of the travel of the leg and then out.(Of course the instructors can bring their knee during the chamber to there shoulders, I cant) I realize that's not likely the best description, but I think you get it.
Its kind of funny, her first question to me was "when do we spar?".
This art kicks differently then either her or I am used to. She is instinctively wanting to do a hard chamber then snap out. Which is not what we are doing at our basic level. Our kick is like a rock on a string that is being swung. The chamber happens at the end of the travel of the leg and then out.(Of course the instructors can bring their knee during the chamber to there shoulders, I cant) I realize that's not likely the best description, but I think you get it.
Its kind of funny, her first question to me was "when do we spar?".
My muscles in my Upper legs, are on fire. My inner thighs hurt so much. Earlier in the week, I told sensei I was having problems with the dive rolling because I was afraid of them. He said we would cover them at the end of class.. I thought it would be a short tutorial or discussion, I was wrong. 15mins before the end of class, he gets out 2 hanbo(3 foot sticks) and puts them a few feet apart. Says ok roll over them and don't touch them or the space in the middle. We all did a few rotations through that, then he moved them further apart.
This went on for a while. The got a wood sword out and held it a foot off the ground between the sticks and we had to roll over it. He finished the obstacle rolling with a chair on its side. That was the hardest thing to dive roll over. Though I was freaked out at first with all this dive rolling, his advice to " don't mind fark it, over thinking will screw you" helped a lot. I just had to do it. We finished up with Standing at the wall, and walking up to the end of a mat and jumping out long and low as we can and rolling as far as we can with the goal of clearing 2 whole mats.
This practice made my legs so sore and used, I was still considerably stiff and sore 3 days later which is today. So today was more difficult rolling. We did the 2 hand versions of everything we know up to that point. Then after that it was the one hand version followed by the NO hand version. Needless to say, Back rolling is far far more difficult with no hands then with hands.....
I would also like to note that my inner thighs are even more sore now then they were after Wednesday. How ever most of that is on the left side as opposed to the right side. Where as my right side was the sorest from Wednesday on, now it is my left side.
To make my day even more awesome, was that after todays beginner class, I was asked if would like to attend the next class. The next class is the advanced class, for greenbelts and above(just greens right now in it). I am very happy to have been invited to participate. Were as I normally just watch.
They went over the very same rolls we had just done in the beginner class.. As I was already very sore, this was a challenge, but I made it through. I think I understand why he invited me, because he wanted to cover some basic Mount escapes. Having done some good bit of mma, this makes sense to invite me, if only for the sport perspective. The emphasis here was different. Were I on instinct immediately start looking for submissions, they were always looking for escape. I liked that the mount and guard escapes they were using were not overly complex and felt to me to be effective. We even covered some GNP defense.
Overall, this was a fantastic class, and I had tons of fun. Being able to help guys through the basic positions and being able to demo things for him and on him was very nice.
Now im sore, and im glad to be eating this baked skinless/boneless breast in front of me. Hopefully my legs recover faster this time around..
This went on for a while. The got a wood sword out and held it a foot off the ground between the sticks and we had to roll over it. He finished the obstacle rolling with a chair on its side. That was the hardest thing to dive roll over. Though I was freaked out at first with all this dive rolling, his advice to " don't mind fark it, over thinking will screw you" helped a lot. I just had to do it. We finished up with Standing at the wall, and walking up to the end of a mat and jumping out long and low as we can and rolling as far as we can with the goal of clearing 2 whole mats.
This practice made my legs so sore and used, I was still considerably stiff and sore 3 days later which is today. So today was more difficult rolling. We did the 2 hand versions of everything we know up to that point. Then after that it was the one hand version followed by the NO hand version. Needless to say, Back rolling is far far more difficult with no hands then with hands.....
I would also like to note that my inner thighs are even more sore now then they were after Wednesday. How ever most of that is on the left side as opposed to the right side. Where as my right side was the sorest from Wednesday on, now it is my left side.
To make my day even more awesome, was that after todays beginner class, I was asked if would like to attend the next class. The next class is the advanced class, for greenbelts and above(just greens right now in it). I am very happy to have been invited to participate. Were as I normally just watch.
They went over the very same rolls we had just done in the beginner class.. As I was already very sore, this was a challenge, but I made it through. I think I understand why he invited me, because he wanted to cover some basic Mount escapes. Having done some good bit of mma, this makes sense to invite me, if only for the sport perspective. The emphasis here was different. Were I on instinct immediately start looking for submissions, they were always looking for escape. I liked that the mount and guard escapes they were using were not overly complex and felt to me to be effective. We even covered some GNP defense.
Overall, this was a fantastic class, and I had tons of fun. Being able to help guys through the basic positions and being able to demo things for him and on him was very nice.
Now im sore, and im glad to be eating this baked skinless/boneless breast in front of me. Hopefully my legs recover faster this time around..
