[Bubble Boy]

My 2006 log:
Judo Workout, PHASE 3, Brown to Black

My favorite thread:
Tattoo/Gothic hot chicks

Quick bio:

41 years old.
5'8"
180 lbs

7 years of recreational Judo. I'm a brown belt. Judo is an enthusiastic HOBBY of mine, and I have zero illusions of being some kind of expert. I enjoy the exercise, the self-defense aspects, and competition (both in the dojo and at tournaments). My competition results are probably just under or at .500. Unimpressive, but I have taken second place at a tough novice tournament. In my defense I can also confidently say that I am an offense oriented fighter. I don't usually wait and react to the other guy. I press the action and go for throws. Early in my career I got countered A LOT, just because I was trying for stuff. Early outside critiques of my tournament matches have said this: at least I'm trying to actually do positive Judo, not just spazzing out and attempting only counters.

I now compete in the expert Masters division only.

Previous to Judo I trained in Tang Soo Do, Hwrang Do, Kung Fu (the three internal styles of Bau Kau, Hsing I, and Tai Chi), Kajunkenbo, Stick Fighting, Tae Kwon Do, and then Aikido. I did most for maybe 6 months before moving on, but I stuck with the 3 Kung Fu's for a year or two, and with Aikido for at least 3 years and got my brown belt in it.
I moved out of Aikido right around the time of the first UFC's. A visiting Sambo / Judo champion from France DEMOLISHED my Aikido instructors (who were admittedly very HARD STYLE Aikidoka) during an Aikido randori session, and with Royce tearing people up, that was the kicker.

I did tinker in Judo in high school because my best friend was a brown belt in Judo and he showed me a bunch of stuff after I witnessed him whoop ass in a school-yard fight.

I've also had some "specialized" training for the law enforcement aspect of my job. I did 4 months of specific defensive tactics (actually a lot of aikido / judo stuff) that incorporated pepper spray, batons, hand cuffing, tasers, firearms, and other tactical skills. I have to update in this stuff once a year, and I go out and tactically shoot (handgun, shotgun) once every 3 months with the organization I work for.

Oh. I'm not a kick boxer. But I thought if I put Kick Boxing in my log title, then I'll get my rear in gear and start doing some of it. I'm going to set up my garage this year as a personal kick boxing gym: heavy bag, speed bag, etc. I've got a few people to coach me and work out with.

My lifting is simple, and also here I'm just an enthusiast who wants to get stronger. The real lifters are over in S & P and have logs here too.
My routine looks something like this right now:
Dead lift day with assistance lifts.
Bench day with assistance lifts.
Squat day with assistance lifts.
Strongman day.

My PR's on the 3 lifts are 225 lbs each. Some decent numbers to build on I guess. I want to start consistently benching over 200, get comfy with a 225 squat, and get to 315 on the dead lift.

My cardio is mostly mountain biking and hiking, the hiking usually with a weighted vest. A knee injury in 2006 really set back my running.

Lately I've really been intrigued by no-gi grappling and Brazilian Jui-Jitsu. I'm hoping to incorporate more into my training this year.

I don't do any Yoga at all right now, but flexibility is my most glaring weakness. Time to develop it. So again, in the title to motivate me to actually do it.

I'm going to buy a C.O.C. gripper.

Weighted pullups and weighted dips will become a part of my normal routine.

I plan to do ONE Judo tournament this year, and ONE BJJ tournament this year. That's it. I will only compete if I'm going in 100% injury free and in very, VERY good shape.
I want to get my judo ref cert, so I'll probably ref one or two other judo tournaments this year also.

2006 was the Year of the Injury.

This year I hope to stay relatively injury free in Judo, and to train steadily, improving on my weaknesses and fine tuning my strengths. It'd be nice to move up a belt rank, but it becomes less and less of a concern as I get further along in my judo career. Weird.

more to follow...

[Bubble Boy]

...continued ramblings:

Something I found out last year was that "phases" work well for setting and attaining goals, which really, when you think about it, is half the battle. By a phase I mean short term goals (e.g. preparing for a tournament in January) embedded within a long term process (working out throughout the year).

So the rough layout of this log will consist of, in reality, a series of short logs and short term phases compiled and accumulated into a full log by December 2007.

NOTE: Watching an amazing instant classic of a game right now on the boob tube: Fiesta Bowl, Boise State vs Oklahoma. WHAT A GAME.

Back to the boring stuff:

My judo training is at a crossroads.
My judo hx:
Trained in an old gym on paper thin mats with BAD ASS black belt Ramone Rivera for several months.
Trained with Dave Brisco, 5th Dan, for several years, in his garage. LOT's of randori. Best Harai ever. Still consider him my sensei.
Around the same time spent a good deal of time training at the Northern Arizona University (NAU) Judo Club under a wide variety of solid Judo coaches.
Maybe a year of garage grappling / judo at a club I kind of started. Lot's and lot's and lot's of newaza rolling. *wistfully sighs, thinks of the good ole' days*
Over the past couple of years training with the highly respected Arizona Judoka Randy Hale. He's probably the top Arizona judo guy in his age division, and has won International Master's competition. Doesn't mean I'm any good, just means the guy who tries to coach me is damn good.
However, Randy's gotten pretty busy lately with some business ventures and family issues.
I imagine that a new era has arrived and the trainer and training will change once again for 2007. That's fine, and what comes down the road will be greeted with open arms. I postulate that there'll be some road trips back up to NAU, some other trips to various judo clubs, still working with Randy, and some BJJ training with Hans and others.

I don't even want to deal with nutrition, but...

Same old tired, tired story: junk food and beer.

I work a lot of it off with my workouts, but still.

I love my beer, not to the point of being an alcoholic, but enough to add a few pounds to my waist. 2-3 drinks a night is supposed to be actually good for you, but I think a true athlete doesn't touch the alcohol. That little bit of change might be huge for me.
The junk food is pathetic really. It's an old and sad story in my previous logs, but...damn. I'm gaining weight because of my weight room stuff, and the chubby 10-15 lbs of gut lard on top of that.. If I want to fight in the correct division, I need to get under 170. That's about 10 lbs. Man, if I could get to 165 I'd be as happy as a pig in shit...A 2007 resolution.
The real goal is to gain as much strength and power as possible while staying as lean as possible...

...more to follow...

[ScottAM]

Are you a cop? I read your old log but never commented so "long time listener first time caller" kind of thing

[ordean]

Ok the new year brings a new round of Bubble Boy's log. Hoooooray!!!

[Bubble Boy]

My last workout of 2006:

New Year's Eve

Strongman Circuit

With a 20 lb weighted vest on did 4 circuits of:

25 sledgehammer swings (10 pounder)
12 swings with a 30 lb cinder block (horse stance, swinging between legs and up over head)
Wheel barrow push (filled with rocks, with hllls. Maybe a 150 yards?)
30 end over end log rolls (120 lb log)

Whoo! ^^^^That was a tough circuit^^^^ I kind of lumbered through it, walking exhausted from station to station. I suppose a New Years goal would be to do 5 circuits, fast, running from station to station.

Hey ScottAM, I'm a forest ranger.

Whad up Ordean! Let's go knock some skulls at the State Judo Tournament in February, whaddaya say?

[ordean]

Originally Posted by Bubble Boy

My last workout of 2006:

Whad up Ordean! Let's go knock some skulls at the State Judo Tournament in February, whaddaya say?

All I did on new Years is a keg stand....I also fell asleep on the hotel bathroom floor after puking....so it was a bit of a work out.

I'll be there tonight and we will see. My knee is still f'ing with me but If I start training now I may be ok....... when is the tourny?

[Hans Burnett]

hi,, just droping into the new log. i will be there tonight and i will be there for the states in february, pending that i can car pool w someone or beg my gf to drive me because my hoopty ride will not make it past walmart

[Bubble Boy]

01-02-2006

Judo / Bjj

Well, the Hans twins were there tonight. And Kevin brought me a nice gift from Disneyland. And we all brought our beer bellys and lack of cardio, except for the smart and good looking Hans (that would be the one from Korea) who seemed to be moving adequate O2 like a normal human being, unlike the rest of us. My cold is lingering and I ain't got know lungs. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Anyway, had a good roll around for about an hour, standing to ground work. It was a tapathon for me (meaning, I was tapping out left and right), but just rolling was good exercise. Korean Hans was going completely with Judo rules on the ground and would get a pin and just hold it. This was actually a good thing in my opinion, cause it helps in getting ready for the judo torunament. He grapples on the ground like I used to. He lives for the pin. We'll break him of that eventually. He's also a high brown in his standup. Very solid there, and caught me twice CLEANLY with kosoto gari.

Here's Kevin's sweet gift to me. It says VVJC (Verde Valley Judo Club) PINK BELT on the ears, and actually has my name stitched into the back:

[sweepsubmit]

I <3 BB! I think i read every page of your last blog. Keep up the good work and keep reppin' Judo.(greenbelt here). Good Luck in OH SEVEN.

[Bubble Boy]

Motivation for the judo club. Tournament in February bitches!!!!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWnwRGdnl9E

Originally Posted by sweepsubmit

I <3 BB! I think i read every page of your last blog. Keep up the good work and keep reppin' Judo.(greenbelt here). Good Luck in OH SEVEN.

Thanks! I think 2007 is gonna' be a damn good year.