Water Cooler Chat

Arianera

There seem to be a reasonable number of Martial Arts Practitioners currently using MFP to track our fitness goals. While a number of us have become MFP friends, I thought it might be fun to start chatting back and forth through the group as well as through our activity feeds. So I am starting this thread to see if any of you want to join me in sharing our daily training successes and gripes around this virtual water cooler.

I'll start. I had a good time at last night's Teen/Adult class. Work has been very busy and while I felt guilty taking the time, I really needed the chance to just move. It was a very large class and we spent most of the time working on what my school calls "jujitsus" or escape moves. It's a lot of fun to stand in the middle of a small group of students with your eyes closed until someone grabs you, and then see just how quickly and effectively you can put what you have learned into practice.

trackercasey76

That sounds Like a fun and "real World" training drill, I think I will bring this up to my instructor.

Out_of_Bubblegum

Sounds like a fun class! I always enjoy self defense drills.. Application and breakdown are really great for re-enforcing the movements, and learning to apply them in the right situations.

My most recent success was last night during practice. I've been working diligently the last 2 months to improve my endurance, and last night did a "stress test" of sorts. I performed all of my forms from white through 4th dan, then did them all in reverse order. This took 55 minutes altogether, and though I was exhausted after about 40 minutes, and really had to put in a lot of extra effort to finish the workout, I never gassed out.

Now that I've removed my first endurance roadblock, it's time to start working on the next - muscle fatigue. I find that my performance ramps up to peak within about 10 minutes (warm-up), but only lasts maybe 10 more minutes before it starts to decline. It feels like mostly it's core strength that is failing, as my stances are good during forms work, my arms can go pretty much all day, and my calves are not burning during sparring - but it gets harder and harder to kick with power and control the longer into the workout.

victal

I have just finished my 90mins class. Today we did kata for the full class. We also do bunkai so we understand why we do the kata the way we do, which I really enjoy as it helps me get my head round the sequence I have to learn. I've nearly learnt my kata now for my next grading, it will also be the kata I am performing in an upcoming tournament I am competing in, so fingers crossed!

Arianera

Victal - good luck on your upcoming tournament. How long do you have to train between now and then?

BWMalone - endurance is definitely one of my weak points, but it has improved in the 10 months since we joined our current school. Glad you are seeing improvements.

When my 5th grade son and I went looking for a new karate school (after the one we were at closed) one of the things that was attractive about the school we are at now is that they intermittently have a family class. We can't always make it because of other obligations on Saturday mornings, but when we can, my son and I like to train together.

The family class tends to be lower intensity than the typical Pre-teen (8 - 12 year old) or Teen/Adult class, since it's pretty much a recruiting tool for the school and my son and I are currently the only non-white belts who participate. This session is being fun because the other family registered has a 3 year old and a 7 year old, and the 3 year old is a bundle of energy that is loving karate. But I don't mind reinforcing the basics and there are plenty of opportunities in the class for smaller groups to break off and work on belt-level material.

Ari

Out_of_Bubblegum

Glad you like the family class so much, Ari - must say it would be a lot of fun to train With my daughter (as opposed to training her)... and I love basics work sometimes more than anything else.. With every improvement in basics comes even more improvement in advanced techniques.

lmp379

We worked all kata last night at our dojo with some drills in the mix. Doesn't matter to me what we do in class, I just like to keep moving.

Arianera

Unfortunately, our dojo has been closed for the last two nights due to the snow (the weather wasn't too bad - but they have the policy that if the school district is closed, or cancels afternoon activities they close too). So I did a home exercise video off FitnessBlender.com instead.

Out_of_Bubblegum

I've been traveling the last 2 days - haven't gotten any practice in since Sunday - definitely itching to get moving again tomorrow night.

kellypence

Hi all, I'm Kelly, train in Tang Soo Do. Class last night was intense because we have a belt test in 2 weeks. We drilled kicks and spent a lot of time on forms. Pleased with how my forms are at this point, but kind of nursing a tweaked left hip which has me kind of concerned, as I'm also starting training for the Broad Street Run (Philly 10 miler) with Team in Training this weekend. I see a lot of stretching in my future!

Out_of_Bubblegum

@kellypence‌ Sounds like a great class, Kelly! TSD and TKD have a lot more in common than different - I really enjoy classes like that (forms heavy).

Hip issues are never fun. Take forever to really heal.. can feel great for days then "ping" again.

Make sure you do your stretching AFTER your workouts and runs, never before.

rayfu75

I train judo, kickboxing, and brazilian jiu jitsu. Getting prepared for bjj competition in Feb so training has turned up a bit. was rolling (grappling) with my instructor and felt really good. I was able to keep him away and my open guard was feeling great......until the moment he switched gears and I was just a rag doll that was being given false hope lol

Arianera

Hi Kelly! We're practically neighbors (I'm just over the bridges from Philly into Jersey). Please be careful as you train for the Broad Street as the footing outside is tricky this time of year. Plus, a little extra time to let your hip recover will likely pay off.

Welcome to the other folks who just joined us. Several folks are training for competitions, I'm curious how often you complete and how many other adults are competing in your area?

The school I am studying at isn't competition oriented, though they do have regular sparring classes/training sessions for the kids and teens. They do hold one in-house competition a year in the early summer. I'm undecided whether I will participate, since I get horrid stage fright, but am sure my son will want to. I will probably end up working up one of the forms when the time comes around.

Ari

Out_of_Bubblegum

@rayfu75 -That's actually awesome that your instructor flipped that switch... that's validation that you've improved and he's giving you your next challenge... Great job! I love it when I can ramp up with a student.

If ever you get to that point where you can hold your own against him regularly when he's going full out, then it's going to be a lot harder to get better.

Arianera

Another great (and exhausting) Teen/Adult Class this morning. My son had a conflict, so I just went to class alone today. There are 2 other adults that train regularly on Saturday morning and they are fun to work with. My school has traditional kata, but they also have shorter sequences that they teach that turn into partner exercises like bunkai.

I don't know why they use two different names for these sequences - some are called moves and some are called "Kempos" - but I guess it has to do with tradition and where hown they originated. We learn 3-5 total per belt level. I learned the 3rd sequence associated with purple belt today. I love learning new material.

Ari

victal

90mins of sparring in my class today, when your the only female and you have to spar with males (all black belt 3rd dans)! I'm glad I had pads and gum shield, some are very powerful, but my strength is speed and agility. I am now going partying with a red eye, forehead, fat lip and a slight limp, where I was taken out on my front leg by my 5th Dan sensei, So all good, brilliant session!!!!

Out_of_Bubblegum

Sounds like you both had great class! I've had to cool it the last few days and take care of my family who's been taken out by a bug that's been going around... unfortunately had to cancel going to see my instructor (a rare occurrence these days). Hoping to hit our Sunday morning sparring class tomorrow though.

heronh

I haven't been training for a couple of weeks now

heronh

I haven't been training for a couple of weeks now

heronh

I haven't been training for a couple of weeks now I hurt my knee and jumped back into training too quick and I'm paying the price now. Why?! Oh why haven't I learn? I'll probably be out for another 2 weeks. By the way I train Muay Thai.
Victal, take it as a compliment that the men are not taking it easy just because you are a girl Wear that face with pride! I HATE HATE when guys tries to go easy on me. Since women always want to partner with women, I don't get to work with men a lot, and when I do they hold back and it's weird it's always the less experience that do that. And mind you I am not a petite chick, I'm 5'8 165lb(The more experience don't do that.)

rayfu75

@heronh that is the way my wife feels when sparring (kickboxing or brazilian jiu jitsu) against men. She's very competative and wants to push her limits to the edge. As a male that trains with women I personally use sparring sessions to work on things I don't normally work with male training partners. Sometimes that means I get caught which is good for both myself and my training partners (imho).

@bwmalone so the next day after my sparring session with my instructor he stepped in on my first sparring session and made sure there was no doubt left that he was in deed superior in technique to put it lightly. lol