Do, or do not, there is no "try."

[LisaC]

Well, I couldn't start my log until I had a title [no title, no log, those are the rules]. So here I go!


My goal is to lift strongly so that I can do the other things in my life well or even better:
TKD jump spinning kicks and low horse stances
remodel my house - painting, drywalling, kneeling into cramped corners to remove decades-old tack strips
a full day of gardening
a vicious four square game at work
learn to telemark ski
cycle a century or two

I'm nearing the end of Stage one, so I'll post my start/finish lifting data next. Let me just say that I am stoked that my rest week coincides with my spring break.

Lisa

[MuscleMom23]

Ahhh master Yoda LOL!

Another TKD junkie. What style? What rank?

Welcome to the wide world of logging.

[mel]

Yoda!!!!!

I love your goals! Such fun things to be doing and a great reason to get strong!

Good luck to you!

mel

[LisaC]

Hi Kelly-

Our school is part of the ITF branch, but we use a different belt system and do our forms in a traditional karate style. And our sparring is strictly non-contact.

Here's a link to my current form:
YouTube - Joon Gun Hyung

Our sparring is a bit different from what people generally associate with TKD - no big red or blue targets on our chests. One minute straight of jumping kicks is pretty tough right now - two minutes at black belt level. Yikes - I'm still a ways away from that test though - I'm at 4th kup, which in our system is 2nd degree purple.

[LisaC]

Started NROLW - Feb 16

167ish pounds - 24 BMI according to book
currently 164-168: who knows? the scale always says something different.

Workout A
Initial weights/Current weights:

Squat: 50#/70#*
Push up: 60 deg/bench height
Seated Row: 40#/85#
Step Up: BW/BW**
Prone Jackknife: 8/19

*Squats have taken me a long time to figure out. I stayed at 50# for several workouts trying to figure out how to stop dropping my torso as I lowered. Now I'm eyeballing a spot on the wall about 10-12 feet high and it's working. My balance is much better and I'm able to get that "drive down with your heels" feeling.

**I hate these. I've gone back and forth between stepping up onto a bench with 20# DB, knowing that I was "cheating" a bit, to trying step downs with BW only, not letting my trailing foot plant on the ground at all, a la pistol squats. I hate these.


Workout B

Deadlift: 65#/100# (F__ yeah!!)
Shoulder Press: 12#DB/15#DB*
Lat Pull Down: 55#/85#
Lunge: BW/15#DB**
Crunches: BW/10#plate

*My left shoulder is still screwed up from a pinched nerve last year. I can feel how much it has strengthened, but it's tender still.

**It seems like only yesterday that I hit the puke zone in workout 1 on these.


Current workout:

Last night was workout 7B for me and it was the first time that I've crapped out on a workout. I felt strong as heck on the deadlifts, even emitted a girly grunt on the last rep with 100#. But then I got to the lunges and felt a pain under my right kneecap when stepping forward with that leg. Went to BW only, and the pain was still there. crap. I wonder if it's from whacking my kneecap with the bar on deadlifts, I do have a lovely bruise there...

Two more workouts and my rest begins on Monday. I'm skipping the AMRAP because I know that I need a rest _now_ but want to complete the last two workouts.

[ledove]

Originally Posted by LisaC

Hi Kelly-

Our school is part of the ITF branch, but we use a different belt system and do our forms in a traditional karate style. And our sparring is strictly non-contact.

Here's a link to my current form:
YouTube - Joon Gun Hyung

Our sparring is a bit different from what people generally associate with TKD - no big blue red or blue targets on our chests. One minute straight of jumping kicks is pretty tough right now - two minutes at black belt level. Yikes - I'm still a ways away from that test though - I'm at 4th kup, which in our system in 2nd degree purple.

Aww, but it's so much fun to hit things/people

[LisaC]

Originally Posted by ledove

Aww, but it's so much fun to hit things/people

Hah - I know, I'm usually the one that gets a little carried away and needs to be reminded...

We do get the hitting part in though... Broke two boards with an outward knife hand strike (non-dominant hand) the other day - yeah! Take that, imaginary mean person's ribs!

[ledove]

Originally Posted by LisaC

Hah - I know, I'm usually the one that gets a little carried away and needs to be reminded...

We do get the hitting part in though... Broke two boards with an outward knife hand strike (non-dominant hand) the other day - yeah! Take that, imaginary mean person's ribs!

*snort* Yeah, that could work, too Board breaking is loads of fun. So are cinder blocks... Oo, cinder blocks--I want another crack at one. Missed both attempts at my black belt test

We do continuous round sparring in my school. Chest protectors are required for the lowest two belt levels, optional after that, and not allowed for black belts.

It may sound weird, but I like being hit hard when we spar--reminds me to work on not being hit. If that made any sense...

[GinaKina]

Originally Posted by LisaC

I wonder if it's from whacking my kneecap with the bar on deadlifts, I do have a lovely bruise there...

I'm so glad to hear that someone else periodically gets their knee on the deadlift. I've always wondered about my form because every few weeks or so I smack myself.

You've made awesome progress! I just did 6B today, I love the program

I did TKD for awhile when I was younger, but my school closed and then I went to college. I got disqualified from a non-contact competition once, because...well I think it's pretty obvious...opening roundhouse kick to the head probably wasn't a good idea. She cried, etc, etc, no medals for me. Although they let me play with the boys after that and I got second place. Reading about all you guys talk about TKD makes me miss it.

[ledove]

Originally Posted by GinaKina

I did TKD for awhile when I was younger, but my school closed and then I went to college. I got disqualified from a non-contact competition once, because...well I think it's pretty obvious...opening roundhouse kick to the head probably wasn't a good idea. She cried, etc, etc, no medals for me. Although they let me play with the boys after that and I got second place. Reading about all you guys talk about TKD makes me miss it.

Very nice.

(But how in the world do you have a "non-contact competition" in sparring? We call that "forms".)

I did a bit of karate as a kid, but really started TKD in college, after an ankle sprain sidelined me from soccer and then my black belt friend decided she wanted a sparring partner. It's a college club, so everyone is 18+. (I graduated a few years ago, but they still let me come.)

You know, Gina, we've had quite a few members who did a martial art as a kid and want to pick it back up, and they always remember a lot more than they think they do. You can always tell the ones with previous experience. So maybe if there's a good school around you, you might want to pick it back up again. (But find a school that lets you hit people.)

Re: Deadlifts

There were a lot of threads discussing deadlifts a while back, esp. whacking knees with the bar. The "search" feature should pull them up. I do remember people advocating Starting Strength as a great resource for fixing DLs and squats.

[MuscleMom23]

What no contact LOL! We were not supposed to contact but I managed to get more than my share of bloody noses, black eyes and broken toes. Finally I said enough!

I had to go to work with engineers looking like I got the bad end of the stick. I was one of the only ladies. I made it to about 2 levels below blackbelt. DH was a blackbelt and I kept asking why he didn't beat the snot outta guys who beat it outta me LOL! They were terrified of him because he is tall with big feet .

I do miss it, it is cost prohibitive in my area, I was hoping to get all my kids in it. Besides the only studio around is my "previous" rival studio... I have to drag some old pics out and scan them LOL!

[LisaC]

My deadlifts are feeling pretty good overall - no lower back pain whatsoever - I think that it's the dragging the bar over my knees part that occasionally goes wrong. The pain under my kneecap was a little scary. Aspercreme and rest will hopefully do the trick.

Re sparring -

It's pretty fun, actually. For testing, our sparring is really just for demonstration of that level's kicks - blue: jumping; purple: jump spinning; brown: multiple kicks in air. There's two people aiming their kicks towards one another, but the emphasis is on technique.

Tournament sparring is another matter. We score points if an attack - hitting or kicking - is within a certain distance - 8 inches or so for white belts, an inch or so for black belts. As an example - Gina's opening roundhouse kick to the head would have scored had she stopped the kick and rechambered within a few inches of her surprised competitor's head. So it emphasizes the self-control tenet. I still smack and get smacked once in a while. If serious contact does occur, both competitors are held to blame - the hitter for not being under control, and the hittee for not dodging the blow. Though the hitter can be penalized for total lack of body control or blind technique.

I know that many martial artists think that this style is a waste of time .... That's okay .. I'm still very new to all this and am happy where I'm at now. We get into controls and breakaways sometimes, and I realize that I want very little to do with joint work - one loss of concentration could really screw things up...

[ledove]

Originally Posted by LisaC

It's pretty fun, actually. For testing, our sparring is really just for demonstration of that level's kicks - blue: jumping; purple: jump spinning; brown: multiple kicks in air. There's two people aiming their kicks towards one another, but the emphasis is on technique.

We have "combos," a couple of kicks & hand techniques together, at each belt level to show the new techniques. Invisible opponents

Originally Posted by LisaC

Tournament sparring is another matter. We score points if an attack - hitting or kicking - is within a certain distance - 8 inches or so for white belts, an inch or so for black belts. As an example - Gina's opening roundhouse kick to the head would have scored had she stopped the kick and rechambered within a few inches of her surprised competitor's head. So it emphasizes the self-control tenet. I still smack and get smacked once in a while. If serious contact does occur, both competitors are held to blame - the hitter for not being under control, and the hittee for not dodging the blow. Though the hitter can be penalized for total lack of body control or blind technique.

I can understand the self-control reason for non-contact. The joke in our school is that you don't want to spar the yellow belts (first level with sparring) because they have no self-control. But after an opponent tells you you're hitting too hard--or not hard enough--you learn to adjust. (Hey, I think I just came up with a new drill for the yellow belts in their sparring class. Maybe they'll stop bruising me up!)

We have the "both fault", as well. Some of the more serious hits I've seen/had were from either not moving out of the way or moving in to the hit (while thinking you were actually dodging). And yes, the hittee gets told it was their own fault. But if you're a black belt, everything is your fault. Doh!

I've judged a few tournaments, and we always emphasize "appropriate contact level" for each belt level. For example, the yellow belts can not hit very hard while the black belts had better hit pretty hard for the hit to count. Of course, they can still only hit to the target areas. Especially with the lower belts, we have to remind that if the hit is too hard, it will not count. It's control, but kinda backwards, I guess.

Originally Posted by LisaC

I know that many martial artists think that this style is a waste of time .... That's okay .. I'm still very new to all this and am happy where I'm at now. We get into controls and breakaways sometimes, and I realize that I want very little to do with joint work - one loss of concentration could really screw things up...

Meh, I'm not good with remember all those joint manipulations, and I shudder anytime we work on moves that will dislocate elbows if done fully. I dislocated mine falling during sparring; not from contact, just stupidity.

I've honestly never heard of "no contact sparring" before. It just seems strange to fight without hitting anyone or being hit since I've been hit for so many years. We've done some as a warm-up to sparring or as a drill, with any hit being a set of pushups, but never a fight that way.

What targets to you aim at? We have sides of the head, right above the forehead, chest, and ribs. Do you guys do a lot of strikes toward the face, kidneys, throat, and other areas that wouldn't work for contact sparring? I could see that as a definite advantage of non-contact sparring, something that would be useful for self-defense teaching. (Whereas we have to teach the kids to spar and later teach them to fight (mostly throwing out all the Rules).)

Still, I think between no-contact and contact sparring, I'd rather have full contact, crazy as that is. There's something fun in it. Kinda in the same way I think Alwyn's workouts are fun. Fun as in "I survived. I must not've done something right..."

[beach_plums]

Love the title!

All this talk of TKD makes me miss it. I did it for a while too, then switched to Kung Fu for a while. I fractured my wrist sparring, took time off to heal, and never quite made it back. In the process, I had a girlie moment and started ballet--quite a change! I'm over the girlieness though, and am considering going back to some form of martial arts after snowboarding season is over.

[GinaKina]

Originally Posted by ledove

(But how in the world do you have a "non-contact competition" in sparring? We call that "forms".)

I don't know, it was this weird tournament that was hosted by one of my instructors old students...so we always went to it. Uhh...it was point sparring and the idea was that the kick WOULD have made contact, so you got the point that way. It was kind of silly.

I've thought about getting back into it...it wasn't THAT long ago...8 years or so. I agree that I probably would remember more than I'd expect to.

[LisaC]

Sweet! I am done with Workout A!!!

final stats:

Squat: 75# (wow - I thought I'd be stuck with the bar for a long time)
Push up: final set of 8 from floor (elbows <90deg)
Seated Row: 85# (these make my eyes sweat)
Step up: BW on knee high step (did I mention that I hate these?)
Prone Jackknife: 15 (killer)


Velogirl and I brought a friend to the gym today whom we know would dig this workout - she's a very powerful cyclist. Showing her the moves and helping her fine tune her squat form made me realize just how far I've come over the