Wednesday (05/09/18) No real set workout today, other than some random AMRAP Bodyweight Exercises, scattered throughout the day, whenever I had a spare 10 minutes - Working to a loss of form, rather than failure (though I'm sure that the latter would not have been too far off!) Exercises: Push Ups - 34 reps Squats - 121 reps Mason Twists - 73 reps (or 146, if you count each side singularly) Bicep Curls (TRX) - 61 reps Plank - 2m 58s (I know that it's just an arbitrary time, but I'm little disappointed that I missed the 3 minute mark so narrowly!) I also squeezed in a some pre-dinner Saifa Kata practice, (like I haven't done enough recently) and then finished up with 3 x Sanchin Kata (no tension / mild tension, with eyes closed / Full Tension) I figured this would have been a nice alternative to making today a rest day, but, given that I still felt every single rep, from my past 2 days in the garage, a rest day may have been the wiser option. Travess
Thursday (06/09/18) I'd expected today to be an active rest day, with nothing done, except a couple of walks, and teaching a couple of Karate classes, but I'd got my wires crossed on the latter, and ended up training instead of teaching. Karate @ 90 minutes - Tonight's session was broken down into 4 parts, with the 1st 45 minutes being split between 2 group solo exercises. Kata - This was pretty light, running thru Shisochin 5 or 6 times, stopping to discuss a few work-on points between each. Kihon - This was anything but light though, with 30 minutes of solid line work, working multiple combinations, mixing up hand techniques, kicks, and angle changes. The next 45 minutes was then split again, this time between 2 partner drills. Sparring - Working on reactionary defensive drills, covering level changes, controlling the range and angles Pad Drills - These looked at the body mechanics involved in rolling between combinations of straight strikes, hooking techniques and level changes. This was one of those session that I wish I'd worn my HR monitor for, as I'm sure that I may have maxed out a couple of times. (The back of my freshly washed and ironed Gi was litterally transparent by the end of it all.) Tomorrow - Friday (07/09/18) - is definitely fixing to be a Rest Day now! Travess
Saturday (08/09/18) As my Wife is at work today, (but potentially her last Saturday ever!) any workout would need to be a housebound one, so I put together a couple of little Timed Circuits, one Cardio Based, the other Strength/Bodyweight Based. Warm-up Stretching 3 x Kata - Ni / Saifa / Seyunchin Circuits #1 and #3 - Bodyweight (on TRX) - Bicep Curls / Calf Lifts / Tricep Curls / Squats / Low Row / Reverse Lunges / Y-Flyes / Hamstring Lifts - 45 seconds on each station, with a 15 second rest between each Circuit #2 - Cardio - Shadow Boxing / Staircase Sprints / Sprawls / Jumping Jacks / Box Jumps / Squat Kicks / Frog Hops / Shadow Fighting - 45 seconds at each station, with a 15 second rest between each Cool Down Stretching Kata - Tensho Note: The 2nd cardio circuit was called off, due to my girls screaming at me for their lunch ! Duration: 45 minutes Starting HR: 75 bpm Max HR: 173 bpm Average HR: 124 bpm Calories: 264 used Travess
Sunday (09/09/18) - Rest Day Hadn't planned on having another rest day, with only a single training day separating this one and the previous one, but I had a dull ache in my hip joints, which lasted the entire day! Monday (10/09/18) By the time I got home from work this morning, I had been awake close to 25 hours, so my planned pre-sleep workout went right out of the window! Still, at least I still have training this evening, which I am sure will more than make up for it... Karate @ 120 minutes - Got to the hall early again tonight, and grabbed one of the other instructors from the kids class for a spot of Sparring, ahead of the start of the session. 7 x 1 minute Rounds, with each round broken down, without pause, into 3 x 20 seconds segments - Moderate Contact/Intensity, then Heavy (but falling short of full) Contact/Intensity, and then finally dropping it right back to Light Contact/Intensity - As we were not going all out for each round, we kept the rest period between rounds to just 20 seconds. Note: This was limited to stand-up striking sparring - No takedowns or throws, but foot sweeps were allowed. Once the session was underway, we were warmed up (not that I needed it) with some group Kata practice - My group were given Shisochin, which we ran through half dozen times. The chief Instructor is on a bit of a Kihon kick (no pun intended) at the moment, so we continued our warm up with some line-work, focusing on Multiple Stance Transitions, with Multiple Techniques per Stance, with each count. The remainder of the session was spent on Pad Drills - First up was Mae Geri Kekomi (front thrust kick) using it to drive the pad holder back, to create distance. Next up, we worked on Mae Geri Keage (front snap kick) which we did initially with a static pad holder, then again with the pad holder walking in towards us, using it to stop the pad holder in their tracks, and double them over - This drill was then repeated, only minus the pads, as more of a Conditioning Drill, kicking out the hip, of our incoming partner - Sensei demonstrated this on me, and it felt like a steel piston rod, being fired in to my hip joint! As the session drew to a close, Sensei asked if anyone wanted to stay on, for an additional 15 minutes of padwork - I of course accepted - The drills that followed, were based around consecutively doubling up strikes with the same hand, before bringing in the other. Another extremely high energy, high intensity session, that I was still feelibg halfway into my nightshift. Travess
Tuesday (11/09/18) Got a chance to 'play' with my new weights again today... Warmed up with a few mobility exercises and stretching drills. Bench Press (Level) 10 x 25kg 8 x 30kg 6 x 35kg 16 x 40kg (4 sets of 4) Pull Ups (Assisted) 50% Bodyweight - 10, 8, 6, 5, 4 reps Bicep Curls 12 x 10kg 16 x 15kg (2 sets of 8) 18 x 20kg (3 sets of 6) Deadlift 5 x 20kg 5 x 25kg 5 x 30kg 5 x 35kg 5 x 40kg 5 x 45kg 15 x 50kg (3 sets of 5) Had planned on Bent Over Rows today too, but dragged my feet too much before hand, and ended running out of time. Travess
Wednesday (12/09/18) I wanted to squeeze in a few rounds on the Heavy-Bag ahead of the weekend, as today would likely be my only opportunity. Warm-up 30 min walk (school drop off) Tidying away weights and bench Sanchin Kata 4 min Shadow Boxing Tabata Bag-Work - 9 x 'themed' rounds (1 min rest between each) Round 1 - 3 mins 3 min Hands Only - Working the angles / Single power strikes / Close range strikes. Round 2 - 3 mins 1 min Hands Only - Single Power Shots 1 min Hands & Feet - Setting up low kicks 1 min Hands Only - Working the angles Round 3 - 3 mins 1 min Hands Only - Close range strikes 1 min Hands & Knees - Close range strikes 1 min Hands & Feet - Following up from a push kick Round 4 - 3 mins 1 min Hands & Feet - Anything goes 1 min Hands Only - Pyramid striking 1 min Hands & Feet - Anything goes Round 5 - 3 mins 2 min Hands & Feet - Anything goes 1 min Hands Only - Bodyshots only Round 6 - 1 min 1 min Hands Only - Working the angles Round 7 - 1 min 30 sec 1m 30s Hands & Feet - Setting lead leg round high kicks Round 8 - 1 min 30 sec 1m 30s Feet Only - Anything goes, with lots of high kicks Round 9 - 4 mins Tabata Hands Only - moderate/high output for the 20 seconds , maximum output for the 10. Cool Down 4 min Shadow Boxing Tabata Tensho Kata Duration: 1h 25m Starting HR: 77 bpm Max HR: 185 bpm Average HR: 127 bpm Calories: 579 used Travess
Thursday (13/09/18) AM: I had planned on today's training being limited to tonight's Karate class, but I got bored waiting on a (late) delivery, so killed the time with a single EMOM exercise, consisting of 10 Push Ups per minute, over 10 minutes, for a total of 100 Push Ups. (I was gonna bang a best effort plank in there too, but the delivery turned up a couple of minutes after the push ups, and I had somewhere to be) PM: Karate @ 90 minutes - a few of us are heading to a 2-day Paul Enfield Seminar in Birmingham over the weekend, so we used the time to go over some of his source material on Kata and Partner Drills, which we drilled and discussed at length, separate from the main group of the class. Friday (14/09/18) - Will be a Rest Day Travess
Saturday (15/09/18) Today was the 1st day of the 2-day Paul & Michelle Enfield Seminar, which I had been looking forward to, since, oh, I dont know, I first started Goju Ryu! (and disappoint it did not!) Michelle started the day off with about 20 minutes of Junbi Undo exercises, most of which I'd done before, but these had their own 'flavour' to them. Once suitably warmed up, Paul got us underway, starting on the basic foundations of his Connector Drills, looking at Limb Control and Redirection, to Create/Maintain openings and/or opportunities. The methods/goals of each connector drill then evolved, so that they covered many different ways to Shut Down / Strike / Throw / Displace or Trap, regardless of whether your partner was attacking or defending an attack. The range of all drills covered today were 'danger close', so in addition to creating the opportunities, we also worked on optimising the opening, with Power Generation Drills, for Strikes, Joint Attacks, Pulling/Pushing, Throws/Takedowns, each of which requiring minimal to no room set up/execute. Sunday (16/09/15) Today's seminar was (technically) split into 2 parts, with the 1st looking at Tensho 'based' Drills, whilst the latter focused more on Saifa type movements, but with the principles of each 'segment' being interchangeable with the other. At just 2 and a bit hours, this was a short seminar, but they still managed to cover a full 2-person Tensho Drill, that covered the entire Kata, then, following the same redirecting, trapping principles, we transitioned in to Bunkai for varying sections of Saifa kata. Both Michelle and Paul got very hands on with myself and my Instructor, throughout both days of seminar, leaving us in absolute awe of their knowledge, ability and (as they smashed us all over the dojo) their power. 10/10 experience - One of the best seminars that I have ever attended. Travess
Monday (17/09/18) AM: More of a single exercise 'workout' than an actual routine, I decided to do a little remedial timed Push Up work this morning (which is still a so-so area for me) I gave myself a target of 100 Push Ups, with no rep or set count in place, only doing what I could, when I could, and resting when I needed to - Target reached in 7m 27s PM: Karate @ 100 minutes - I scheduled a little Sparring time for 2 of our 1st Kyu students, ahead of tonight's session, which I planned on supervising. One of them (J) I have worked with quite a bit of the past few months, but the other (M) I have not (due to scheduling issues more than anything else) 5 x 1 minute rounds, with no set rest duration, other than how long it took for me to offer pointers, based on the previous rounds success/issues - Rounds 1 + 2 were an uphill struggle for M, but by 3 + 4 their fight IQ seemed more on point, and by round 5 they seemed like a different fighter (based solely on the points of improvement covered at least.) I also gloved up to spar M, to get a feel for myself were they were at, and also to up the pressure (without upping the impact) to see what affect an adrenaline dump would have - M came undone a little bit here, but we were able to come up with some clear goals on ways to improve, and drills to try, so it was still a positive exercise. Once the session got underway, we were given time to run through a little Kata, so I did Ichi, Ni, Saifa and Seyunchin - The rest of the session was then dedicated to revision, and introduction to the rest of the senior/intermediate students, of some of the Connector Drills, that we learned over the weekend. My role in this was as both Uke and Advisor. Been a heavy few days, and with me working tomorrow night, Tuesday (18/09/18) will likely be a Rest Day. Travess
Wednesday (19/09/18) I have been seriously lacking any motivation the past 48 hours, which if I am honest, had more to do with yesterday being a 'rest day', than me actually needing any rest. I had been hoping to get my second crack at 2nd Dan before the end of the year, but was informed on Monday evening, that my earliest opportunity would now not be until March. Now, whilst I fully understand and support the reasons for this decision, it did not stop the wind being taken out of my sails a little - Kinda felt like a 3-year-old being told 'No'... So, whilst sat in a seriously reclined lounge position today, with my feet up, and the words 'Sod this, I'm just not in the mood' swirled around repeatedly in my head, I was faced with a choice - Let this loop of defeatism drive me crazy, or just jump up, without a 2nd (or 100th) thought, head straight out into the garage, and beat it into submission. Warm-up Starting off with some Kata - Ichi, Ni, Saifa and Seynchin - then finishing up with Ashi Waza - Footwork Drills Routine A little convoluted (as usual) Part 1: I started with 5 x 3 min rounds - 1 min Rowing / 1 min Shadow Boxing and 1 min on the Heavy-Bag - giving myself a 1 min rest between each 3 min round. Part 2: I reduced the round duration by a minute, down to 5 x 2 minute rounds - 1 min Shadow Boxing and 1 min Bag-Work (dropping the rowing, for now) - this time only giving myself a 45 sec between each 2 min round. Part 3: This time changing it up to 6 x 1 min rounds - 2 x 1 min Rowing / 2 x 1 min Shadow Boxing and 2 x 1 min Bag-Work - now with just a 30 sec between each round. Cool Down: Kata - Sanchin and Tensho - and 5 minutes of Meditation - Breathing exercises. No HR monitor or watch, but my final HR, taken manually, was 176 bpm, and my over all wotkout time was in the region of 60 minutes. Travess
great come back; I can imagine that news felt demoralizing Amazing to see you crack on with it. Train even when you don't want to I try and trick myself into it when I feel down- plan an easy workout with scope for more, and often I feel glad I did it and go into a full workout.
Thanks @axelb - Like I said, it was a knee jerk reaction, and my training is gonna be ongoing, regardless of 'time in grade'... ...So, big picture and all that. Yeah, I think yesterday was equal parts lulling myself into it, whilst also making sure that I truly 'Exercised' (intentional misspelling) all my demons - Was still feeling it hours later! Thursday (20/09/18 - Part 1) AM: I wasted no time this morning, waking myself up with a pre-breakfast 20 minute EMOM Workout - Alternating between 12 reps each of Push Ups, Sit Ups, Bicep Curls and Squats. I'm often of the mindset that jumping straight into a workout is the best way to start your day, but I seldom, if ever, follow through on that - So, whilst the scale of today's workout may not have been massive, I still feel better for doing it. To be continued... Travess
Thursday (20/09/18 - Part 2) - Gonna keep this brief... Karate @ 90 minutes - We jumped straight in with 30 minutes of Padwork tonight, really being put thru our paces, and breaking a sweat. We then slowed things down greatly, with 30 minutes of grade group Kata practice - I helped one of our 1st kyu students out with Shisochin, which he is still trying to pick up. Slowing things down further, we spent the remaining 30 minutes on Bunkai for our chosen kata - I offered up a few examples, before letting my partner lead the way. Tomorrow 'may' be a rest day. Travess
Friday (21/09/18) Rest Day Today being a rest day didn't stop me from doing a Low Weight (25kg) Bench Press AMRAP (41 reps) though. Saturday (22/09/18) I don't really include that many details from the Kids Karate class that much anymore, but we had a new addition to the Dojo today (in the form of this little guy/guyette...) ...and I thought I'd introducing him/her (name pending) here too. We (wife, kids, and myself) were meant to be heading out for a nice family walk along the bank of the Thames today, but with the weather being what it is, we (they) decided to call it off... ...into the garage I go! No real warm up (but I had just got home from teaching a bunch of kids how to perform a Harai-Goshi) I kind of (unintentionally) ran my workout with the 'Rule of 3' today 1 x 3 minute rounds 1 min Rowing / 1 min Shadow Boxing / 1 min Bag-Work 3 x 1 minute rounds Alternating between Rowing, Shadow Boxing and Bag-Work for each round. (which I repeated 3 times) I then ran 3 x 2 minute themed rounds - Hands Only, Feet Only, and finally, Hands and Feet, to finish up. Note: I gave myself a minutes rest following each 3 minute round, and a 30 second rest between each 1 and 2 minute round. Cool Down Stretching and Breathing Drills I stuggled to maintian my pace towards the end, which I am sure was as a result of pure fitness, having an 'off day' or just my pace being a tad excessive for the task at hand. Travess
Sunday (23/09/18) - Rest Day I did not plan on today being a rest day, and I was definitely feeling motivated enough to train, save for the extremely laid back mood that seemed to keep me out of the garage. Monday (24/09/18) Karate @ 90 minutes - We got underway some slow and deliberate Kata - Ichi, Ni, Saifa and Seyunchin - as a means to get warmed up. We then broke down into pairs, chose a section of Kata each, and were tasked in deciphering a piece of Bunkai from that section - I chose the 1st couple of moves of Shisochin, whilst my brother (partner) chose the last couple. Once we were both comfortable with what we had came up with, we went thru each piece again 16 times - 4 times at 25%, 4 times at 50%, 4 times at 75% and then 4 times at Full Speed and Power. Following this, we returned to Solo Kata practice, but only going over the short sequence that we'd used for the above piece of Bunkai. We were to perform this with more function than form, ramping up the intent, and intensity, whilst playing with the focus - Changing the way you'd apply it if it were against a shorter person, a taller person, a larger person, or even someone wearing a motorcycle helmet etc... We shifted our focus slightly for the last 20 minutes, looking at Kata Based Sparring Drills, specifically from Saifa Kata - Starting from a Stand-up Grappling position, and adding a new option with each 3 minute round. Rnd 1 - Playing for Grips Rnd 2 - Playing for Grip, and Initiating a Clinch Rnd 3 - Playing for Grip, Initiating a Clinch and allowing Elbows Rnd 4 - Playing for Grip, Initiating a Clinch and allowing Elbows and Palm Strikes We weren't going all out, so but we were definitely giving each other a feel of what it'd be like, if things were ramped up further. Travess
Tuesday (25/09/18) I've not got to 'play' with my weights in a while, so I scheduled a little garage time for myself this afternoon. Warm-up Tensho Kata - There is a lot of wrist rotation in this kata, which really loosens up the joint. Empty Bar Reps - a 'dry' run of the below exercises. Lifting (60 mins) I broke these down into sets of weight lifted today, rather than by exercise, so that I didn't have to keep constantly adding and removing weights. 30kg 5 x 5 Standing Row 2 x 5 Level Bench Press 2 x 5 Inclined Bench Press 35kg 5 x 5 Standing Row 2 x 5 Level Bench Press 2 x 5 Inclined Bench Press 40kg 3 x 5 Level Bench Press 5 x 5 Deadlift 45kg 4 x 5 Deadlift 50kg 3 x 5 Deadlift 3 x 3 Level Bench Press AMRAP* 63 x Bicep Curls (TRX) Cool Down Tensho Kata Stretching Note: *I had intended to include bicep curls in my weighted/garage workout, but I found one of the 1st kyu students from my club just finishing up in there, so I amended my routine, as I had a deadline to be back in the house, to take over looking after my 2-year-old. Travess
Wednesday (26/09/18) I had planned on today being combined cardio day of Rowing and Bag-Work, but after yesterday afternoon's Standing Rows and Benching, I figured that my arms/shoulder/chest could do with a break. After giving it some thought, and after swearing off them as part of part of my regular training, I decided it might be high time that I started Running again. Now, I'll probably cap all my runs at 60 minutes, (inc. warm up and cool down) so nothing massive, and I'll not be pushing for pace the way I used to, but I feel that they could still be a beneficial part of my training. Warm-up (5 mins) Relaxed Walk Run (50 minutes) Distance: 5.3 miles (running only) Pace: 9m 26s per/mile (running only) Cool down (5 mins) Relaxed Walk Duration: 60 minutes Distance: 5.85 miles (over all) Pace: 10m 16s per/mile (over all) Starting HR: 72 bpm Max HR: 188 bpm* Average HR: 159 bpm Calories: 720 used Note: *I had wanted to try and keep my max HR below 165 bpm today, but there was a bit of a hill around the 3-mile mark (see pic) which put pay to that idea. Travess
when you get hills like that it's hard to drop the HR down without walking. Good stuff, and I like the plan keeping running in there still
Which is exactly what I did, for 60 seconds, once I got around the top of the hill. If you'd have said that to me shortly after my run, I'm not entirely sure that I would have agreed with you, but hours later, I'm glad that I did too. Travess
Thursday (27/09/18) I had 30 minutes to spare, between the end of the kids class and the start of the adults class, so my daughter and I ran through Ichi, Ni, Saifa and Sanchin together, to kill the time. (Love this!!!) Karate @ 90 minutes - Having only just run through a few of our Kata with my daughter, I now got to do all the same ones again - with the added bonus of Seyunchin - as part of our warm-up. This was quickly followed up with 20 minutes of Kihon, which really got the sweat flowing, before we paired off for just under 50 minutes of Themed Sparring Drills. Starting with 4 x 2 minute rounds (with the same partner) of Stand-up Grappling (without strikes) Rnd 1: Playing for Grips Rnd 2: As per Rnd 1, plus Initiating a Clinch Rnd 3: As per Rnd 2, plus Breaking the Posture Rnd 4: As per Rnd 3, plus Shooting In (for a double leg takedown, but completing) This was followed by another 5 x 2 minute rounds (again, with the same partner) of Stand-up Grappling (this time with strikes) Rnd 5: As per Rnd 4, plus Elbow Strikes Rnd 6: As per Rnd 5, plus Knee Strikes Rnd 7: As per Rnd 6, plus Foot Sweeps Rnd 8: As per Rnd 7, plus Palm Strikes Rnd 9: As per Rnd 8, plus taking your partners Back Up until this point, everything had been moderate intesensity, and light contact, but now that we had covered several aspects of fighting from a clinch/grapple position (barring takedowns and throws) it was time to glove up, and escalate/pressure test eveything that we had covered thus far. 'Sparring' for a further 13 rounds, (switching partners after each 2-minute round this time) as per Rnd 9, but with Sensei randomly giving the command on when you could attempt to take your partners back (which he did several times with each round/partner) Then, as a means to cool down, and in a massive change of pace, we returned to Kata - sticking with Saifa - firstly at 100%, then 50%, and finally 25%, before finishing the session with a relaxed (no tension) Sanchin Kata (I did mine with my eyes closed) A very tiring, warm, sweaty, painful (thanks to a wayward knee to the unmentionables, and a rogue headbutt that split my lip) and yet still thoroughly enjoyable session. Travess
