[TheDavid]

And so it begins...

I've lurked here for years and finally got an account and decided to start up a log of my own.
Right now I'm training hard in Judo, Kung Fu, kettlebells, and dabbling a bit in steel bending.
I'll use this log to keep track of everything and document my progress.

Training History: 8 Years
Went through various types of kung fu, tai chi, boxing, kickboxing, and then for the past 6.5 years have been doing Black Tiger kung fu. I've also added a san da regimen for the past three to keep in top shape and train for competition.
I've been doing Judo for about 2 months now and am loving it!

Goals:
405 Deadlift (I do this specific lift once a week)
Compete minimum of three times: Judo will easily cover this but I'm going to fight at a lei tai tournament in May and possibly san da if something comes up.
200 (55Pounds) Kettlebell Snatch in 10 Minutes.
Become competent at short bending and work on scrollwork. I have a huge shipment of 3/16, 1/4, and 5/16 round steel I'm picking up next week.

Stats:
24
6'1"
184.4 (This Morning)
Plan to compete at the 181 limit for Lei Tai and 178 limit for judo (81 Kgs)

[TheDavid]

Friday 28 Dec 2007
Weight: 184.4

Morning:
Played around with some kettlebells. I have a 40 and a 55 pounder. Did the following (inbetween weights are with plates taped to the bottom of the kettlebell...god bless duct tape)
40X3
45X3 2 sets
55X1 2 sets (New PR for the left to press this...yeah, my shoulders are weak!)
50X3 3 sets (Left failed on the last rep of the last set)

Misc. 8 pound sledge levering.

Afternoon Striking Practice:
Warmed up with shadow boxing, working on extensive combos and speeding up some kicks...all around agility training and head movement emphasis.
Did a high tension, hard chi gung set that lasted 10 minutes. Then 10X3min rounds on the heavy bag emphasizing the following (I do each round both orthodox and southpaw:
Jab and Pushkick
Cross-Hook-Rear Roundhouse
Clinch knees, elbows, waist movements for hip throws mixed in. Occassionally backing off to fire off spinning backkicks.
1-2 and mixing in lead leg sidekick
Looping jab, cross, hook, cross mixing in switch kick.
Done for today.

[DEVILsSON]

Welcome to the board.


Sounds like you got a good idea of what you're doing. I would still do some barbell or sandbag lifting to complement your kettlebells. deadlifts are great but I hope you're also including squats, ohp, pull ups, etc.

good to see another person into bending as it's fairly rare. If you're not a member of gripboard.com and/or grippermania.com join them as there are a lot of great benders and gripsters there. Where are you at right now? Do you do any other gripwork aside from bending and levering?(blockweights, grippers, rolling thunder?)

in any case good luck and stick around.

[TheDavid]

Originally Posted by DEVILsSON

Welcome to the board.


Sounds like you got a good idea of what you're doing. I would still do some barbell or sandbag lifting to complement your kettlebells. deadlifts are great but I hope you're also including squats, ohp, pull ups, etc.

good to see another person into bending as it's fairly rare. If you're not a member of gripboard.com and/or grippermania.com join them as there are a lot of great benders and gripsters there. Where are you at right now? Do you do any other gripwork aside from bending and levering?(blockweights, grippers, rolling thunder?)

in any case good luck and stick around.

I usually do pullups and heavy overhead presses twice a week as my kettlebell routine. I also have a 130 or so sandbag I shoulder for conditioning and some strength work...I squat it sometimes to.

I am a firm believer that squats are not bad for your knees but that the way I squat, is bad for my knees. I have taken numerous "resistance" training courses and have yet to be given proper instruction on the squat. I have talked to personal trainers at the university gym and have gotten nothing beyond the usual half-parallel bullshit. In fact, when I asked for some tips on my deadlift form, the trainer said it was a modified squat and that the romainian deadlift was a deadlift proper...go figure.
I also do one-legged squats and lots of other bodyweight squats...nothing compares but right now it is not the number one focus for me.

I've loved grip for a long time! I can close the COC #2 and have worked on and off on the #3 but haven't closed it yet. I also have some block weights weighing 27.5, 35, and 40 pounds that I play with from time to time.
I also do ironpalm with a 50 pound bag of steel shot that I toss up and catch with my finger tips.

Thanks for the words of encouragement!

[TheDavid]

Saturday 29 Dec 2007
Weight: 182.8

Usually do Judo for a couple of hours on Saturday's but the club is closed for the holidays until the 7th of Jan. So instead went and put in a couple of rounds of thai pads.

Warmed up with some jogging around the gym and a good amount of stretching. Then did some iron body for the legs and sides. The the pads:

I do these four combos on the pads: 1)looping jab, cross, hook, cross. 2)cross-hook, elbow. 3)1-2, shovel, thumbs down cross. 4)rear shovel, lead thumbs down cross, hook, lead straight. Then we mix in roundhouse, lead sidekick, spinkick, and push kick. The pad guy also throws right or left hooks at me, I block and give him a knee. He also throws leg kicks which if I don't check, I plant the leg and he gets a free hard kick.


6X3min rounds of random combos.
2X3min of 1-2-3-4 and double roundhouse mixed up.
2X3min of just kicks.

Not too much but the pad guy pushes the pace very frantically so I get a good workout. Plus I wear 24oz gloves to maximize the conditioning.

Later is kettlebell...

[DEVILsSON]

There's a thread you can try searching for that gives 50 tips for squatting...by stronglifts

Generally though:

-shoulder wise stance
-toes/feet pointed out at 45 degrees
-chest out and shoulders back
-thumbless grip and hands as close to your body as possible
-elbows as vertical as possible
-bar positioned on the back part of the shoulder/low portion of the trap(might take some flexibility drills to get it comfortable)
-looking straight ahead or slightly up

on the way down:

-deep breath and push out abs(against belt if u wear one)
-push knees out
-sit back/push ass back
-go down as low as you can handle but definitely 2-3 inches below parallel
-slight lean forward to counteract hips going back is fine

on the way up:

-push back and up on the bar with your head/traps
-keep hips from popping up
-lead head first while looking slightly up
-squeeze bar as hard as you can with your hands while trying to get the bar into a U by bring elbows as close to your body as you can all while coming up out of the hole.


-slightly staggered stance helps with back uncomfortableness and if you got a weaker leg it gives it a break...1-2 inch stagger is all you need
-when you're pointing toes out it helps to spread the groin and go down deeper....
-slightly wider stance and sitting back helps take away pressure off the knees and on to the hips...

-those are some great accomplishments. Seems like you're a fairly well-rounded gripster.

good luck

[TheDavid]

Thanks Devilsson...I may incorporate squats slowly but surely but it won't be a focus of mine for now.

Saturday I did the following kettlebell workout...nothing big:
Warmup with various swings, highpulls, bottoms up presses, and snatch with the 40 and then the 55.
3X3 Windmill with 55
Snatch ladder to 6 and back down with 55 done in 5:40
3X20 swings each arm with the 55 than rest 30 secs and repeat.

[TheDavid]

30 Dec 2007
Weight: 184

No training today...Sunday and Thursday are my days off. Just some walking around the neighbourhood.

[TheDavid]

31 Dec 2007
Weight: 184.4

Morning:

Went over a collection of technique working on being as explosive and as refined in my technique as possible. This was the first fighting set of the black tiger curriculum. It provides all the basic punches, counters, backfists, etc, and due to the footwork, provides a decent anaerobic workout.
Most people dismiss form work but they have a solid place in my routine, not to the detriment of bag work, pad work, conditioning and sparring, but nonetheless...
I went through it 3 times.
Then 4 3min rounds of shadow boxing with 30sec rest. Worked on flowing all my punches and kicks and mixing in judo footwork for throws.

While sitting around in the afternoon (I'm on winter break from university and work very little), I played with some shoulder presses and did the following:
1X2 40pound (Warmup)
3X1 55Pound
3X2 55 Pound (This was aweome even though I failed on the 2nd rep on the first set on the left side. Then I manned up and got er done)
3X1 55 Pound.
Misc, levering with the 8pd sledge.

Late afternoon kettlebell workout:

Warmed up with various halos with the 40 and 55, swings, highpulls, and some snatches.
Then did:

Turkish getup: 1X3 40 Pound (Warmup) 2X3 55 Pound

Bent Press: 1X1 55 Pound

Snatch Ladder with 55 Pounder: 2,2,3,4,5,6,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 =100Reps in 6:25. I was happy.

Swings: 2X40 with 55Pounder.

That's all folks.

[TheDavid]

The 1st Jan 2008
Weight: 184.8 (Too much pizza last night)

No group training session which is where I get all my standup sparring in. I did a brief workout instead.

6X3min shadow boxing with 33sec rest.

Iron Rings (Four brass rings on each arm, 20 minutes of toughening for the arms, hands, and torso.)

Had a great stretch afterwards and then did some ab superset:
GetupSitup 3X5 each side with 20,40,40
Windmill 3X5 each side with 40,55,55.

Happy New Year Folks!