The Rat Race

The day started off fairly well, but work was non-stop from the get-go.

By 7am, I was already sitting here at my desk and cranking away at an article for Black Belt Magazine. Between tape transcription and editing content, that kept me tied up until 11am. I did, however take breaks now & then to pop out a few pistols here & there.

Began the day with 5L/5R, and then kept shooting throughout the day.

From 12noon - 8pm, I was with patients & clients NONFRICKINSTOP. It got to the point that when the receptionist came to tell me that my next appointment had arrived, I had to just keep them waiting another few minutes to pistol out 2L/2R and then wash my hands before the next intake. Thank God for a few KB clients mixed in there too, since that gave me a chance to do a bit of random GTG work here & there (snatches, cleans & front squats... albeit no numbers I can remember).

Came home, ate my first & only meal of the day, and did 10 reps of Taegeuk Sam Jang using the same pacing that I did yesterday. It's funny... I've been focusing so much on throws and takedowns over the past few years that even doing reps of a relatively lower level TKD pattern like that can still get my legs feeling a little worked. I used to pride myself on my kicking back in the day. These days, I'm far more well-rounded in terms of my martial artistry & combative capabilities, but I want that footfighting athleticism back too.

Feeling the urge for more iron in my diet, I finished off with 4 sets of 25 swings @ 28kg, 20 BW Kossacks (10 ultra slow/10 fast), and 30 seconds of cobra.

Until the RKC later this month, my martial pursuits are going to be pretty limited to the Taegeuk review (so my fellow RKC Team Leader & 7th Deg. TKD black belt Jon Engum can prep me to finally do my black belt test) and Combat Shuai-Chiao. I'll be with Master Engum in St. Paul and in Copenhagen, so I'm hoping that we can steal away some good training time here & there.

Ever since the days when I was teaching Kung-Fu at UCLA, I've always wanted to be able to do TKD. Most of my friends were Korean and all of them did TKD together. I used to cross train with them once in a while since I liked how their sports science influenced training methods made sense. The UCLA TKD instructors always encouraged me to train for my black belt, and through the years, some of my TKD colleagues have even offered me honorary black belt rankings, but that was something I wanted to avoid. Over a decade after graduating from UCLA, I decided that this is going to be the year that I finally get that accomplished. Olympic style TKD is one of the most athletic and fast-paced of the stand-up martial arts. Don't believe me? Check this out! These guys are the modern whirling dervishes or the Korean answer to the Tasmanian Devil.



After I return from Hungary, I'll be doing whatever homework I need to do for the TKD, and prepping hard for my CSC 3rd degree black belt test. I will probably have to demonstrate some 16 throw combos & counters, fight Sanshou rules (imagine Thai style kickboxing with extra points for big throws), and then finish with fighting Shuai-Chiao rules. Lots of preparation to be done before then!

Courtney & Squealie just rolled in the apartment from Covina, so I'm off to bed now. G'nite, folks. Have a strong day and a strong finish to your week!