Karate training in the Middle East - Page 3

BigAl · 06-18-2008, 03:34 PM

Been getting in some weight training and a conditioning circuit for Kyokushin that I really like and kicks my butt physically. A lot of bodyweight exercises, dumbbells, medicine balls, and standard barbell plates. Trying to make them eventually a mix of modern exercises and traditional hojo undo eventually. Good workouts.

Worked nights as well as days the past few, so I've been slacking in my kihon a bit but working on it once again.

Bloke · 06-18-2008, 04:09 PM

Glad to hear its all going well big Al - How long left?

BigAl · 06-19-2008, 01:55 PM

My leave will be coming up "soon" (can't say when naturally, due to security reasons) so I'll get to go home for a bit, see the wife, hang out with the family, play with my new dog (who I haven't even met yet), and train at the dojo a few times. From there, it's looking like near the end of the year.

Dent · 06-19-2008, 02:17 PM

Osu!

Well, stay safe, keep training, and come back to us in one piece.

Osu!

BigAl · 06-21-2008, 04:12 PM

Thanks Dent!

Some good kihon workouts since last time, not as often as I'd like but getting them in. (Friend sent me Morrowind which is corrupting me, as well as several fantastic self-defense DVDs to watch). Hit the weights today for some sumo deadlifts, dumbbell clean and presses, dumbbell farmer's walks, and some pullups. Abwork, kihon, and stretching later.

mickeberg · 07-01-2008, 12:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigAl

So, month three of doing Sanchin 2-3x daily.

I have heard from Osada Sensei (daido juku) that the Sanchin kata is the only kata that the champion in hokutoki is practicing.

But you should not pratice it to late at night och to early because of the pressure that it can build up inside of you.

I heard also that one practitioner has gone crazy when he was practising the sanchin kata to much. I dont know if this is true. I hope not...

BigAl · 08-04-2008, 01:08 PM

I do it at night before bed and haven't had any problems falling asleep. Well, not any additional ones :P

I realized it has been a while since I posted anything on here, been pretty busy naturally. All is well for the most part, just got back after two weeks at home of snogging the wife, petting the dog, swimming in the pool, seeing family and friends, grilling steaks, and sleeping in.

No dramatic increases in my training as of late, it's been difficult to fit in at times. I did however recently add in two more areas I'm going to experiment with.

The first is a larger emphasis on stances. "The hidden secret of karate", as I read it. It makes sense, as a solid stance helps you deal with the rebound of your strike better and especially since I've been working more on driving the foot into the ground it makes more sense to give it a bigger emphasis.

The second is pretty cool. I bought a few cheap candles and set up my drawers so that it's at about chest height and am working on trying to extinguish the flame with seikens, shutos, urakens, mae geris, yoko geris, and mawashi geris. For the urakens and mawashi geris, I'm trying to extinguish it on the return, not with the actual strike itself. It's pretty fun and challenging, and it's a good feeling when you get it.

BigAl · 08-20-2008, 11:34 AM

Been a while since I posted. Moved around a lot and didn't have much internet access.

Yesterday, I ran in the morning for about 20 minutes. Perfect time to run out here in the desert, still fairly cool and lots of light out. That night, I did some combatives training. Worked on grappling for a bit, drilled (1) arm bars from the guard, (2) scissors sweep, and (3) push sweep then did some rolling. Only rolled twice as the first match wasn't too bad, maybe 3-4 minutes before I got caught in an armbar, but the second was a 10 minute battle before I tapped to an Americana. We then worked on striking, and since I was the main striker there, it was mostly me sharing knowledge and drilling the guys in low kicks and some punches. Also did some neck wrestling and a freestyle wrestler was showing us some work with Russian ties. Pretty informal stuff, but a lot of fun. Did a kata workout before bed, 3 reps of 10 different kata.

Today I lifted for the first time since I got back to Iraq early this month. Went lighter on the lifts I was supposed to work hard today, don't want to kill myself the first day back into it. Did some heavy bench and overhead squats, light snatches and deads, then finished off with some abdominal training.

meguro · 08-20-2008, 04:31 PM

Osu! Very interesting reading, BigAl. Sounds like you roll with some heavy duty grapplers. How much did size/strength have to do with your opponents' matches with you? Are they of equal size but more experienced? Smaller but more experienced? Just huge with a few tricks?

Stay safe.

BigAl · 08-20-2008, 06:08 PM

A lot of it is struggling for control and positioning, so there is some physical fitness you need, but I've seen small guys take out much bigger guys when rolling. There's a good mix of guys who are pretty new to the game, and some who are pretty skilled. Not everyone's all into BJJ, one guy is actually a really good freestyle wrestler. It's more an informal get together and train kind of thing. Only been there once, hope to hit it up again tomorrow.

BigAl · 08-22-2008, 04:47 PM

Figured I'll try to post in the occasional workout.

Today is a light day for me, still pretty sore from Wed and the impromptu push-up contest we had yesterday didn't help, nor did moving around a lot of heavy stuff. I did a power yoga workout for flexibility, which helped a lot to reduce the DOMS in my hamstrings and delts. After that I did a good kihon workout: totaled 500 strikes, 250 blocks, and 300 kicks. I did all three Taikyokus three times apiece, then finished off with some isometric kick holds and the Iron Hammer for some conditioning.

EDIT: All of this includes my daily dose of Sanchin, naturally. It's getting to the point where I feel weird if I miss a scheduled time because it's such a part of my daily routine now. It's like forgetting to brush your teeth, not applying deodorant, or missing your car keys.

BigAl · 08-24-2008, 08:20 PM

Today is my "kata workout" day where I do lots of different kata at various speeds as my sole workout of the day. Rather than my daily dose of picking 10 kata and working on each 3x apiece, I decided to pick one kata today and work on it 30x. Since I only just learned it before leaving, I decided to pick Yansu. This was a fun workout, and by the end of it I could already feel some improvement.

meguro · 08-25-2008, 10:51 PM

Osu!Yansu, argh! I'm still trying to unlock it!

Stay safe.

BigAl · 08-25-2008, 11:46 PM

Thanks meguro.

Got a good weight training session in despite lifting at 2330 and not finishing until almost 0100. Some good lifts with the clean and press and the squat, went light on pull-ups and clean and jerks, then finished up with three sets of abdominal circuit training. Didn't get much in karate-wise, just stretching and Sanchin right now.

In other news, we now have another dog. Our dog Thor was part of a local litter and it seems another family can't take care of the one they adopted so rather than let her go off to another family we decided to bring her home with us and to one of her brothers. Loki is now the newest member of our family, pics will be coming soon.

meguro · 08-26-2008, 06:33 PM

Osu! BigAl, I'm amazed that you can train and post in an environment I would describe as less than ideal. Keep it up.

Regarding practical warfighter training, do you work on marksmanship, shooting with the non-dominant hand/eye, quick reloads, and stuff like that? I understand if you can't or don't wish to comment.

Stay safe.

BigAl · 08-27-2008, 03:50 PM

Thanks meguro. It's not bad when you're in between missions, you get a bed and A/C and some good meals so you can manage to fit some time in for yourself on occasion.

Did a conditioning workout today, got my heart rate zooming and didn't perform as well as I expected but it was still fun and challenging and actually got rid of a lot of my DOMS from the previous workout.

Each exercise was done for 60 sec, with a 60 sec rest between exercises. Didn't manage to get rep counts since I had to count to myself, need to get a stopwatch or something.

(1) Dumbbell snatches with a 45# dumbbell
(2) Parallel bar dips
(3) Power cleans with 95#
(4) Deep knee bends
(5) Dumbbell windmills with 45# (too much for this, I think, maybe 30#)
(6) Chinups
(7) Push presses with 95# (clean from floor then press for reps)
(8) Hanging leg raises
(9) Turkish get-ups with 25# dumbbell (too light, 30# next time)
(10) Sanchin kata

Doing one circuit for the first few weeks, then bumping up to two and eventually three. Got the whole thing done in about 20 minutes. Finished up with a lot of stretching and some hangs from the pullup bar to loosen up the back.

**MilkManX** · 08-27-2008, 06:59 PM

Sounds like a good one! I need to work on my dumbell Snatches!

BigAl · 08-28-2008, 11:44 PM

Somewhat of a light day for me. Did a good bit of kihon (about 500 strikes, 200 blocks, and 300 kicks) and then some stepping drills, maybe 300 reps there, and did 5 kata three times apiece. Finished off with some light stretching and some stance work.

meguro · 08-29-2008, 06:50 PM

Osu! light day huh? Do you have any training partners to hold the pads when you strike or to practice kata with? It might help make the time fly. You know me, with the short workouts and all.

Stay safe.

BigAl · 08-30-2008, 05:59 AM

When he's around, I do. We did some padwork about two weeks ago but he hasn't been around since. I'm still hunting down this heavy bag that's around here somewhere.

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