Sure alright mate we all believe you.
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According to my wife when an arse is as big as mine all underwear is small !! 
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I wanted to note that my ādo some chins and pull aparts everydayā thing failed in the span of 2 days, in case anyone thought I was still being diligent about it. But stretching has been good.
Looked up the sparring rules for Tang So Do according to the āWorld Tang So Do Associationā and found out you can be penalized for MAKING CONTACT during sparring.
That took some wind out of my sails, haha. Iām all for safety, but itās martial arts. Iām happy I can at least instill some realism in my kiddo if we go down that route.
I tried really hard to be offended by your latest blog post but I couldnāt find anything offensive in there.
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@dagill2 sounds like I will need to try harder, haha.
TKD Lesson (1 hour)
Started off mixed. Warmed up with Chon Ji and things looked strong. My kid is still punching off center often. Iām pretty sure itās because they want to see what is in front of them, and theyāre uncomfortable having their own fist in the field of view. Punches looked much stronger though.
Wheels fell off a little when we ran into a problem Iāve dealt with before. My kid always jacks up the back stance and faces their torso the wrong way. I always correct it. However, my kid has now ingrained the incorrect way to do it into their motor patterns, to the point that they think that IS the right way to do it. Sorta like when you misspell a word so often autocorrect now defaults to the typo instead of the correct word. So today, when teaching a twin forearm block, I kept telling my kid to face their shoulders the right way into a backstance for it and they were ADAMANT that I was having them do the backstance wrong.
āEverytime I do the backstance, itās like this! How come weāre doing it differently this time?ā
āBecause every time you do it, you do it incorrectly and I have to correct you. This time Iām trying to get you to start out correctly.ā
Wasnāt received well, haha. Itās the balancing act between letting things be āgood enoughā in the beginning to move onto more material vs everything being perfect from the get go. Something that has to be communicated to the student.
Speaking of twin forearm block, itās this.
So what the hell is this?
This is closing the distance and setting up for a diagonal downward elbow strike
Fun fact: that photo is actually from a school I trained at in Portland OR for a hot minute.
But yeah, thatās how I interpreted it and taught it to my kid. We brought the front hand in a little closer to the body, but the idea is the either parry a punch and move to the outside OR just use the hand to jam and clinch, and then take that hand that is high up and use it to slam the elbow into the opponent. Taught my kid about going for the eyebrow/temple and opening up cuts. Showed them a scar over my right eyebrow and told them the story of how it got opened up by a headbutt, and then covered their eye and showed them how they couldnāt see any attacks on that side.
Maybe not all childrenās martial arts programs talk about opening up cuts, blinding opponents and attacking them where they canāt see, but what can I say: Iām unique.
We drilled moving forward into that stance, and did some elbow work on a thai pad and the kicking bag. Kid figured out to twist their hips into the elbow on their own. Proud of them for that.
That block was the next part of the sequence of Dan Gun. In the form, itās followed up by a face punch, which you could still do if you jam up the opponent, but having that backhand so high up makes it a little tough to generate power compared to just bringing down an elbow.
Wheels fell off again when we worked on transitioning stances. My kid has a bizarre habit where they act like a marionette the instant you touch them. My kid can balance on 1 foot on their own just fine, but if I hold their shoulders or feet to put them into position for something, they just collapse all their weight into my body and go limp. After they fell to the floor a bunch of times, I called off what we were working on and gave them some water. As much as Iām trying to let them get some little victories, I have to cool off too sometimes.
Mrs was home, so I got to show my kid how those āgrab behind the backā brakeaways looked on an opponent closer to their size. They tried it on their own and enjoyed it.
From there, we worked the newly learned elbow strike onto a thai pad. This led to a discusison on infighting vs outfighting. Got to relay my warstories to my kid about always being an infighter. I then let my kid choose the next activity. They wanted to drill roundhouses and then the teep-roundhose combo.
From my kid āRoundhouses are my favorite thing to doā
Me āItās a shame that isnāt from Tae Kwon Doā, haha. My kid thought it was cool they were learning a variety of martial arts at least.
Finished the day with a āstand on 1 footā challenge. Was cool to see my kid have some balance there. They did a great job. We even fired a few front snap kicks at each other.
After a little cooloff, whole family went for a 2.5 mile run with the kid on the bike. We got rained out yesterday.
And on the physique front, the wife gave me a hard time yesterday while we were getting ready for bed because my abs were still visible after a day of fake thanksgiving food, so thatās a good sign.
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Just read your postā¦ not offended, butā¦
āNo one should start lifting weights without at least 6 months of playing a sport under their belt.ā
I guess I shouldnāt have lifted???
āYour conditioning sucks. I am speaking directly to you at this time. No, stop thinking Iām talking to someone else. I mean you, right now.ā
Iād like to disagree? or maybe Iām just delusional
" if you donāt, youāre probably not training hard enough."
I donāt hate training yetā¦
everything else I agree with
Hey @anna_5588 Do you want me to address these thoughts? Itās primarily going to be stuff I have told you before, so I donāt wanna browbeat you.
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No. Your post was intended to āoffend ā so I thought Iād find some bones to pick
Iām intrigued on the thinking behind the conditioning one too. Because while in my case, its unquestionably correct, it was a pretty sweeping statement.
I do think the sports thing is pretty eye opening in this regard. I think you would have gotten much further with an organized sport as your baseline. Specifically in that youād learn about training for a goal vs training just to train. It also helps learn the difference between pushing hard enough to create stimulus vs running yourself into the ground. This would solve BOTH the conditioning aspect AND the ānot training hard enoughā portion.
@dagill2 It was a bit tongue in cheek, but in the case of Anna there is a bit of a trap there as well, in demonstration below.
@anna_5588 You think your conditioning is good? Awesome: stop training it! Or it sucks and thatās why you keep training it.
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lol no. Itās better than most, but given the level of conditioning in the general population, my conditioning is like getting a C in a class where most people have a D. Iām delusional, but not THAT delusional 
Monday I did grippers again. Got 5 reps with the 2.5, 18 reps with the 2 and 37 reps with the 1.
YESTERDAYāS AM WORKOUT
MAX EFFORT
(6) Mat Pulls
5x135
5x225
3x315
1x405
1x495
1x585
1x640
5x585
GIANT SETS (dead-row-chin)
2 second pause deadlift 325
3x9
T-bar rows 150
3x9
NG chins (various grips)
3x6
Band pull aparts
1x50
Notes: 3:45 between heavy pulls, 2:00 between giant sets. Little baby PRs from last week with a 5lb jump on the topset and a much faster set of 5 for 585. Biggest victory was zero issues with the hamstring and zero apprehension on the pull: was able to fully commit just like before. Did this workout after a 12 hour fast for my blood lipids, so thatās pretty cool too.
Humidity has gotten nasty around here and my left knee is swelling up like a grapefruit. Hoping it will sort itself out, as itās getting in the way of stretching. Training in the garage can get nasty. Iāll have to watch hydration.
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Whatās the thinking behind this, if you donāt mind me asking. Is it just a quicker way to get assistance in?
Itās quicker and it makes little work/weight go a long way. It also sucks a lot, which makes me stronger.
Iām really trying to bring my back back to where it was. Itās been on the back burner for a while now.
I dislike how much I wrote the word ābackā in those two sentences.
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I assumed āback burnerā was a deliberate pun, if it helps.
Thanks man.
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Good workout. Gym lighting has improved.
Do you normally struggle with hydration when it gets hot/humid, or do you just have to make sure you get enough water in?
@dagill2 I was on a roll at that point, haha.
@biker Thanks man. It actually hasnāt.
@garagerocker13 Itās just a new variable to account for now. I am sweating more in training than usual with the humidity, and since I never drink anything in training it will mean needing more outside of it.
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Fair point. I wish it was as simple as just getting more water down for me, but if I donāt have electrolytes with it I still get dehydrated.
Also, I know everyone says it but Iāll say it again, youāre freakishly strong and are capable of an insane amount of work. In on following your training log.
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As always, crazy numbers.
Have you found the grippers have made any noticeable difference in your training? Or are they just fun.