14 posts tagged “karate”

This past weekend, our dojo hosted our annual Traditional Tournament. This tournament differs from every other tournament in that it's closed, correctness counts, it's little more relaxed and the judges are BRUTAL. If you've read some of my previous posts, you're aware that I wasn't looking forward to competing. As far as I'm concerned, divisions like kata and weapons for a first degree competing with 2nd, 3rd and 4th degrees was a wash. At that rank, you've been doing the material longer, your technique is more refined etc.

Boy did I ever get lucky.

At our tournament, black belts *randomly select* their kata from a bag and perform it on the spot; weapons are drawn at random but the competitor selects the form. If you lose your balance, drop your weapon, mess up or forget, you automatically get a zero.
Weapons were up first and I drew nunchaku first. My gut reaction was "Sweeeeeeet!". The only weapon I'd taught for the past few weeks was Shodan requirement for nunchaku, I thought it was a lock! Then I broke the ice on earning goose eggs. I hit the third turn and totally forgot what I was doing.I was smart enough to not move or make it immediately obvious that I forgot --after about 6 seconds of standing motionless,  in what could have been a quite epic kata, I made a face, and that was it. I bowed out amongst jeers of disbelief from the black belts behind me. I felt a little vindicated afterwards however: the next to competitors that drew nunchaku scored zeros as well. The only person to finish with nunchaku won first place.

Next up was open hand. I was totally nervous about open hand as I've been trying to be more precise in all of my strikes and more "correct" in my stances...wholesale changes like that rarely transition beautifully. I watched quite a few competitors (I was next to last) in my division do absolutely great, then it was my turn. All I could hope for was Tenchin, because I knocked it out of the park about three days prior. It was even better, Seisan, my favorite open hand kata. I was so shocked by the good fortune that I knew for sure I was going to mess it up. I thought about every time the stars lined up (looking Picklez directly in the eye, blue tape on the floor, or a combination of both) I screwed up. I knew Picklez was behind me and the ring (you guessed it) was marked off in blue tape. I was doomed for sure. I took three deep breaths and proceeded to look right through everything. I didn't see faces, I saw bodies; I heard trees rustling, I was in the zone. When I got my scores, I was little disappointed...I'm not sure why, but then again, I wasn't paying attn to the other scores, so I didn't really have a right to be. Scores were tallied, 3rd place. Not bad, but I still think it was luck of the draw.

Later on was point sparring, also known as "The only game of tag you'll ever play where you're likely to get hurt". I did pretty well. First match was lights out; best point sparring I'd done since I was a yellow belt. Second match I approached like a semi knockdown fight --I knew he had something up his sleeve, it was a matter of being patient. I found myself in the first/second place match --nice, especially since I HATE POINT SPARRING. I lost a close one, but it was a very good match with 3 E's: Entertaining, Exciting, Enjoyable. I received many complements on my sparring.

Little known secret: I managed to tweak the tendon in my left foot in point sparring. Why won't the damn thing heal? It's been like 3 yrs now. Any who, I digress, next up Semi Knockdown fighting. I was a heavyweight again this year (I got a slight reprieve last year because there were only 3 lightweights..I say slight because Dub-D was one of them and he hits hard) and had to fight a gentlemen who is pretty much *the* fighter in our style. He's big, he can take a punch (and throw a pretty mean one), he's an intelligent fighter and he's quick for a big guy. I wasn't intimidated, and I don't think he expected me to be.

I have a chip on my shoulder about big guys. I'm always outweighed, and I hate being bullied...this was not the guy to have that chip with. I got a lot of advice, some of which wasn't all that feasible given the condition of my foot:
"Stick and move Hangtime" --> gee thanks, but I knew that already.
"You can't fight toe-to-toe Hangtime, circle, circle" --> Yup, I was aware...
"Kick the legs Hangtime" --> What fight are you watching?

Any how, there was one highlight of the fight for me, which quickly turned into the end of the match; after throwing a few blows without retaliation, I realized he was trying to intimidate me by showing he can take a hit; what I think he doesn't know is that I knew that already...I also think that he doesn't know that I can be a really big smart ass, so I engaged him: two punch combination to the chest @ 60% power, then two to the solar plexus @ 80%...

...you're expecting two more at 100% right...WRONG, knee kick somewhere around the breast bone/solar plexus (I was aiming for the latter, but moving backward it's hard to get one right on target...) to which he aptly responded with a flurry of punches followed by a sweep and follow up; he managed to get part of my foot --OUCH! A few more sweeps and an inside leg kick and time was up. No brainer, he won.

At the end, the "Dojo Champion" was announced; as if there was any doubt, our dojo won; there's something to be said having the tournament in your own backyard.

All in all a good day. There are definitely things I need to focus one and get better at, but I can't say I'm the least bit disappointed about the day as a whole. Read Picklez post #200 for the hilarity that ensued afterwards; fun times had by all (even Overboard).

Now on to the fun stuff
In this post Picklez commented on my potential status as a "legend" in martial arts; well, I think legend indicates something far greater than one can set out to achieve; it's something earned, don't get me wrong, but you don't wake up and say "I'm going to make myself a legend". However, one can make moments in their life memorable. Those memorable moments can add up to becoming legendary, however it's a status bestowed not taken. I personally do not see myself becoming a legend in martial arts, our style, or even our dojo. Case in point; only I would make a comment like "he's having a Hangtime-like testing" (and yes I have said this about 1 student recently), but no one else would think of that. I say all of that to say this, I don't need nor really want to be a "legend" in martial arts; just knowing I took a medal over my fourth degree sensei is enough for me ----OOOOOOOOHHHH BURN, you like that don'tcha. </gloat>

Competition Update:
Nope, still not excited yet.

Yesterday, Overboard and I did something I don't think we've done since we've started dating; we did karate together. Surprising that I don't take advantage of having a Nidan at my disposal, but honestly, we just don't have time. It was fun and the experience kinda made me reminisce on my days as a yellow belt receiving one-on-one instruction. It's hard to believe that the tournament is less than a week away. I'm still not excited per se, but I have a feeling that "CM" isn't going to show up, but Hangtime...in other words, someone's going to get a run for their monies.

We point sparred in class last week and I had a blast. It was a change of pace leaving class after having sparred and not feeling like I just got pounded on. As much fun as it was, I'm not looking forward to "tournament tag" because I feel like I could take someone's head off with my best "tag" techniques. Picklez and I talked about it, I still don't have a warm and fuzzy. I just don't want to spar with someone I really like (which is probably a 99% guarantee at our tournament) and pop em one really good and turn something fun into warnings about attitude and contact. Semi-knockdown I have mixed feelings about.

Wedding Plans:
I really think I am in the worst stage of it all right now; groomsmen gifts. I hate gift buying. While I know that no one is going to say "You idiot, this is the worst give ever!"....wait, my mom *has* done that before --not using those same words-- but she did eventually give the gift back to me), but I digress. I hate shopping for other people. That and the point/meaning is a small token of appreciation and every time I look it turns into a "Christmas-esque" experience. I set a price limit, and it seems like the items that I say "...well, that would be a good gift...", it's way more than the set price limit, which I refuse to stray from by more than $5.

Otherwise, the next thing is tuxedo fitting. I don't need to get all of the guys together for this, but I think it might be kinda nice to turn it into a "manly" event. Overboard and the girls are having a "Bridesmaid Luncheon", which I don't really want to do, but if I could do a "Groomsman Kegger" I think it'd be fun...at least until the hangover kicks in. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do.

New Year's Resolution
One of my resolutions was to be able to do a few pushups (I think 5) with Overboard on my back. I think I am pretty close. The first step was to lose a little weight myself and not feel like my arms are going to separate from my body while doing one...

<tangent> I for the life of me could never figure out why I can lift weights etc with no problems but then feel like crap doing a push up. It's terrible....</tangent>

I've made 50 push ups and 100 ab reps my workout warm up. I have a hope to someday take on Mr. Tu's challenge of 300 a day...not very likely however. For grins and giggles, I did a few "modified" push-ups this morning, above my normal 50, to put a little more bodyweight onto my arms. I did about 25 in just under 30 seconds, not too bad. I think I could probably bang out five...I just might give it a shot.

Stay Fly,
Hangtime  

I've been struggling for weeks whether or not to write this blog, but honestly, no harm no foul.

For the past 4 or 5 years or so, I looked forward to "tournament season". Working on a kata to near perfection and making people sweat at the thought of being in the same division, being faster in "tag" (point sparring), and displaying that size is, in fact, not an advantage when it comes to fighting and all of the kudos etc that go along with competing.

For some reason, this year, I just don't care.

I am smack in the middle of planning a wedding, I'm a shodan now, which means, it's an "x" man race to third of fourth place, behind all of the third and fourth degrees in my division (luckily, Picklez and Latino Heat are getting old and will be moving up in a year or two O-: --yea, I went there), and my focus as far as karate goes is on making sure other students are doing their best. I am so totally unmotivated about competition, that it's sickening to me. Pressure has nothing to do with it; I don't feel any, but I don't have the "killer instinct" that (I think) I'm known for. I even seriously suggested purposely dropping my weapon, for the sake of not having to do the kata. Fight training is not as fun as it was in the past, nor is it a priority to me. I don't know if it's the wedding, the rank, being burnt out at the thought of competing, knowing I'm out matched or what, but if it's down to waking up @ 5am to train or sleeping in, I'm sleeping in.

This lack of motivation isn't across the board in terms of training, I'm very motivated by testing in January, and even more so than normal because Overboard and I will be Mr. and Mrs. Hangtime, and she's aiming to be ready to test then too. I just can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's that my focus is on the wedding, and in September, I'm going to want to hit the ground running for November (Dothan), but I can't say...I just don't know.

Fighting Knockdown in July is not going to happen, and fighting Semi is just not as...sexy...to me any more --> am I going to fight Semi, who knows; am I seriously going to train for it, nope. No desire to.

In closing, I guess this was just to get it off of my chest. Overboard and I have talked about it before; I think she finds it kind of odd too. She shrugged it off, but I could kinda tell by the look on her face she found it weird. I guess we'll see what happens September 1...after the honeymoon.

-HT

With 2007, the grand year that it was, coming to an end, I'd like to focus on what I will accomplish next year. I know I know, everyone sets resolutions and most of them are broken before March, but these are easy ones and ones that I will strive to keep!

Life:

• Try to get in bed by at least 10:30 pm. I can survive off of 6 hours...but I don't want to just survive.
• Stay consistently organized --even Overboard will have to admit, I'm getting better...
• Get more involved with my community. I've been gushing to Overboard how much I enjoy where we live. I'd like to make it a long term home. Thus, I don't have an issue in contributing my time and interest in making it a better place.
• Meet more neighbors --goes hand in hand with community. Of 112 units in our community, I'm can honestly say I've only held reasonable conversation with 3 people not named Overboard...2 board members and the other serves on a committee with us.
  
• Continue to become a better teammate to Overboard. Our room reorganization and hosting efforts last weekend proved that we're an excellent team, I just want to continue to build on it. She put it best: "We got through this (arranging our living room) without either of us making the other feel like an idiot".
  

• Be at least somewhat consistent with working out: I'm not saying I'll be at the gym every day or even 3x a week...I guess all I can ask for from myself is 2x a week, every week.
• Be better prepared for my Nidan test than I was for my Shodan test. Not saying I wasn't adequately prepared, but I want to do better (note: If I am eligible to test for Nidan, it won't be until 2009, but all the preparation will be in 2008). I guess, this will be my next step in my black belt goal to push the others around me at my rank.
  
• Hands only push ups. At least 5. This is a push up without your feet touching the ground...mainly only breakdancers can do these.
• At least 5 pushups with Overboard on my back. I'm good for about 1.5 right now.

No, I'm not making some veiled reference to Overboard; we're just fine and will continue to be.

As most of you know, I achieved the rank of Shodan this year (read: I got my black belt); I used this year as a "comfort" year (save Superfights; I was out to win). I think it's time to end the honeymoon.

"But Hangtime, you've only had your black belt since May."
I'm aware, but truth be told, why should that matter? I walked into our dojo's Traditional Tournament this year with the mindset of "I'm just here to get that first time (as a black belt) out of the way; no expectations". I don't do anything without expectation; everything has a goal.

"Gee Hangtime, this is all a little random..."
Maybe it is, just a touch. While on the way home, I popped in my training CD, and I was reminded of a mindset I haven't had in quite awhile...July 28th, as a matter of fact. There has been a slight lack of desire to be the best, and when I say slight lack, I mean total absence. I can't have that. I've never been that way; complacency is not in my vocabulary.

Back to the Traditional: Picklez and I were placed in a very strange situation this year --we had to compete against each other. Throw in Latino Heat, and well, I automatically assumed I can do no better than 3rd. Why should I assume automatic 3rd or worse? Don't get me wrong Picklez and Heat are phenomenal Martial Artists, no matter how much Picklez may deny it. Let's face it (and I'm sure they know it too), they were competing against each other. No way was a "day one" Shodan going to run with a Shihan-dai and a Senpai. Don't get me wrong, I mean no disrespect, I'm just simply throwing my hat in the ring for next year to make it a competition for them. :-)

Be Solely!
Hangtime

While in the pool at my swim lesson yesterday and I noticed all of these saying written on a dry erase board, including one of my personal favorites, "Pain is just weakness leaving the body."

Later on in the evening, I came up with one of my own...it made me chuckle, might be a little brash (but anyone who knows me knows I can be a little at times...), but is completely honest...

"Successful training isn't measured in reps and weight, but in the look on the motherfuckers face when he punches you and you smile...and then kick the shit out of him." -Hangtime.

Be Solely.

So I had the holy begeebes scared out of me last night; I stepped on the scale and it registered 189.2.

Now, Overboard would accost me for weighing myself at night, which is understandable, I guess, but the only thing I'd eaten in hours was a cheeseburger (hold all comments on the correlation between the cheeseburger and my weight until the end of the post, thank you). I have never, in my 25 years on God's Green Earth have I weighed so much.

Now, to many people, 6'2" 189lbs of muscle (and yes, the 6 pack was fairly intact) isn't bad...but many people aren't fighting in 8 weeks, and need to be under 185...comfortably under 185 (so I can eat that day).

Firstly, under normal circumstances, I probably wouldn't complain about (who knows, I might be fighting heavyweight next year) my weight; Overboard says she like me a little more on the heavier side, and well, I aim to please (within reason). A number of people I know have commented on the, more "appealing", "heavier" look; it has it's pros and cons, in my opinion.

First thing that comes to mind is diet. Yea, I should suck it up and go back to last years diet, but rice, veggies and chicken breast isn't all that appealing 8 times a week. Yea, there are variations, but basically that was it. 1/2 cup rice, 1/2 cup veggies, 1/2 -1 chicken breast 2 meals a day. Lest we forget the "protein only past 8" fiasco...I nearly put my hand through a door in Publix. Not a pretty sight.

Second thing is my workouts: I worked out 2x a day at least 3 days a week last year, I even went once or twice during the weekend. I can't do that now mainly because I was supplimenting last year. My weight is too high for that now. I can't pump an extra 100 grams of protein into my body plus creatine. I'd be 200 lbs before the end of June.

Thirdly, I don't eat like a bachelor any more. Overboard is a great cook, and I like to eat. I learned from last years experience; depriving myself of certain things isn't good. Don't get me wrong Overboard cooks extremely healthy, but again, I like to eat!

So here is the problem; I have to get the excess off. I have been walking a fine line between getting stronger, but not building too much muscle. How my weigh ballooned up 5 lbs, I dunno; Overboard says it's been grilling and the hectic weekend, etc. We'll see if/when it goes down...well, it will, but when.

Be solely!
Hangtime

Also, it is worth noting that even though I'm not working out as much as I did for last year's tournament, the quality is slightly better this year.

I remember commenting before our tournament 5/5 that a number of our students should give fighting a shot; I could tell a distinct difference in some individuals, but I was hesitant to comment on the class as a whole...

...until last night. I took a gang beatdown (but kept on tickin') that, I have no shame in admitting, hurt. I will also admit that not too many people could stand up to that.

A few awards/highlights from last night:

Best Groin shot: "JB". "JB" enjoys sparring...I think JB also enjoys puttin' one on me. I remember the first time we sparred, it ended in bloody knuckles and gi's...both of us.
Finalist(s): "NS"

Most improved:Tie --NS, and Sweet, excuse me, Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet Tooth; Sweeeeeeet Tooth was breathing a bit better last night...we spoke about mouthpieces over the weekend, so that may have something to do with it. NS showed power that her sister, JS, is typically known for.
Finalist(s): MV, LV, RV (yes, they're related)

Most accurate: Chief. 100% of all punches to the solar plexus...'nuff said

Best Punches: I think this one goes to The Tooth...elbows too

Best Kicks: --tie: College Girl (sparring) and Chief (conditioning). Chief threw some stingers, College Girl took some pretty adventerous head shots...and yes, a few of them worried me.

Best usage of Instructional Advice or, Most adventerous: Papa S. Papa S tried to use the bicep punch last night...it didn't quite work out for him (it annoyed the hell out of me, actually), but he stuck with it. Tooth reaped the benefits however, after a few stiff elbows to the same region.

Tough Man (or Woman) -- tie: Mamma D (knick name pending) and College Girl. Both took pretty hard shots last night...not that I go around whalin' away on women, but hell, I was tired. Both took pretty stiff shots to the midsection, both kept comin' at me.

Highlight (well, lowlight): The look on NS when kicking me in the Baby 'Times during free sparring.
Highlight: Winnning a dollar by doing a TGU with Picklez bag.
Highlight: 30 second head start with Tooth...he got tired...'nuff said :-)

Tonight is another round...more gang style torture, but I need it, so I'm not complaining. The unfortunate downside is Overboard will be there; hmm, I hope I didn't throw any underwear on the floor before I left this morning.

Be Solely.
HT

No, that's not my admitting that I am Turk to Shawn's JD from Scrubs, it's a play on my new favorite exercise --the Turkish Getup (TGU).

Minute of Strength #5: kettlebell turkish getup

2 comments

I started a new MS page dedicated solely to training (like a weed):   http://www.myspace.com/teamatlfighter 

This is my first post specifically about training. Check the MySpace occasionally for other updates...enjoy!

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Back in the fall and throughout the winter, I bulked up a little. I thought "no harm, no foul...being heavier might help me".

In some ways it did...

...in some ways, it didn't.

So, I decided I needed to get back down to my comfortable fighting weight. So the first steps of this years training has been to start a fairly strict diet. It just happened to coincide with my girlfriends diet, so its working out pretty good so far.

During this diet period (which, admittedly is more for beach appearance than for fighting purposes, but it serves a dual purpose) I have been focusing on tightening up my body, especially my abs, and cutting down on the fat.

I think that I am probably as strong as I've ever been and my cardio is very good. I have been focusing my cardio on:

1). "Sprints". That is, half mile (sometimes mile) as fast as I can hammer it out.

2). Time: 2 or 3 miles, as fast as I can get them done.

3). Distance: 20, 30 or 40 minutes, as far as I can get.

...in that order. Before our tournament (which is a warm up of sorts) I would like to be up to 60 minutes (again) at below 10 minute mile pace...it's an interesting goal, I'll let you know how that goes.

Until next time, be solely like a weed...

OSU!

C