Andrew's workout blog

[fa_jing]

1 arm DB press is good, even on a flat bench. I also like alternating DB presses, even though the core work isn't the same.

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Rarely seen training partner by- 2+ hrs
Waiting for him to show- mobility work, BT 3x, side flexions- very cool

Poon sao 20 min
4th section entry 20 min
Pulling attack 15 min
3rd entry 10 min
Showed basic bong action in poon sao, how it bred 4th entry, how same entry mechanic was present in pulling attack, how 3rd entry is pulling attack upside down
Punching 15 min- went through some mechanics based on 4th entry

Today,

Workout #1).
DE
Box squat, high bar, high box (manta ray, 16.5")
wk3-70%rm1
8x2
260
45s ri

Jerk
wk1
70% rm1
8x3 (alternating sets of r and l)
125
45s ri

speed DL of 25lb plates
8x1
60% rm1
283

1 arm DB press on swiss ball
3x8
51lbs
1min ri

DB rows
3x6
101
1min ri

Workout #2)
Training partner back from Thanksgiving- 2hrs
Hitting pad with step and single punch- multiple sets alternating w/ MB passes, shoulder strikes
Intro to shoulder strike from 2nd section
Free chi sao 20 min


Kev,

I'm planning on maxing on some stuff over the next few weeks. I expect some gains but not dramatic ones. My sense is that I need to do the competetive lifts more- the ME good mornings built some good stuff, but using good mornings for 60%+ of my ME lifts isn't a good long term strategy for a raw lifter. I need leg strength as well as back strength as a raw lifter. Unilateral leg work is necessary for me to keep healthy- my r-l imbalances are so bad that I can feel my back torquing because of my hips at various points- the split squats, split jerks, and lunges have been useful. As a relative beginner, changing the middle week of a 3 wk ME cycle to 4x2 w. 90% rm1 feels like an excellent strategy. I get much more confidence on my last week and feel like my groove is better. Upper body work is lagging- not a surprise as appearantly the loss of the standing press in oly competition lowered the age of competitors- it seems to take longer to develop that sort of strength and mass (and I've only been doing upper body work for about 2yrs). Other stuff- use a belt over 90% rm1, it's useful and feels safer, heavy work under that level seems to do ok for core development. Dropping RDLs from my assist work was a mistake; adding good mornings was a good move.

Body comp-wise, my weight hasn't moved more than 5lbs in the last 8 months, but people keep insisting I've lost weight. I think I've taken about 2" off my waist, put an 1" on my chest, and 1" on my arms. Legs have stayed the same (28" I think, but are much leaner).

More thoughts as they come to me.

I'm gonna be out of town from mid-April to mid-may or so- if you're here when I am, I would be happy to show you some k-bell stuff- maybe we could head to Venice and use my buddy's bells out on the beach. . .

Fajing,

up the single arm DB presses are total keepers. . .

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Sparring 1+hr
Boxing- did some work just covering- working timing crashing shots and small head movement. Stayed very tight on free rounds- footwork compensating and setting things up nicely.

Kickboxing- worked on drawing leg contact, quick contact and chi gherk to foul the leg as it was being set in order to set up my hands- nice.

Multiple attackers- prepping someone for their 10SG- great interval work.

Decent night.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

rest

Today,

Workout #1).
3 hang power cleans/ 2 jerks (set r, set l)
4 sets
163
3min ri

RDL
3x6
323
1min ri

Windmill
3x5rl
61lb db

Lateral trunk flex/extend
3x8rl

Workout #2).
Training partner by 1hr
chi sao basics and changes


Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Adam Singer seminar- 3hrs
All performance coaching. When coaching, get people to go loose and a little outside your regular game; don't stick to money options, otherwise it's hard to see where they need work.

Warmups- dynamic mobility stuff- some jumping jack variants- need to dig out that ref on jjs messing w/ coordination and send it to him

Boxing- coaching point for me- putting a lot of weight on the front leg w/ the jab- watch the shoot or leg kick. Rear hand coming forward on my jab (wedge habit from man/wu)- opens me for overhands. One to burn out; he's right.
-box them at length, CM type stuff when you're closer

Boxing to clinch- keep tight, go for centerline control.

*Technique*- overhead hammerhand to neck tie from CM head on forehead. Can actually get a nice hit in on the way- much like old school MT thing GD was showing me

Boxing to takedowns- whole room needs to learn to shoot. So true

Boxing to takedown, let the takedown happen- stand up quick

Boxing to clinch- control then reset

Clinch to control- control then reset, *don't* start from pummelling

Clinch to takedowns +hits + knees- indicate takedown and reset

*technique* if in elbows tight CM-type structure open the center w/ a knee up the pipe or body shot- essentially a level change to open the hands (other obvious option would be the double, based on this idea)

Clinch to takedown +hits + knees + jits with hits

Jits w/ hits from/in
-guard
-cross/side (any side contro,l side headlock, 1/2 guard)
-side mount (mount when guy underneath is turned on side)
-mount

Q&A-
that throw I've been doing is called a pancake, and the form was ok, do it as the guy pressures in for the underhook, try to avoid letting him bury the underhook

conjugate periodization= good thing. No special max lifts

intervals for anaerobic thresh-hold conditioning

lactic acid tolerance training, different energy system work

Energy system work should fit a fighter's fighting style- balls to the wall all the time should condition differently from slow and explode, and obviously the intervals at which you explode and duration you explode would determine some of your conditioning parameters

Great seminar.

Andrew

[stricker]

*Technique*- overhead hammerhand to neck tie from CM head on forehead. Can actually get a nice hit in on the way- much like old school MT thing GD was showing me

Boxing to takedowns- whole room needs to learn to shoot. So truesounds like a really cool seminar. quick question, can you go into a little more detail about that technique, how does it compare to stardard straight punch into neck tie (beginning of dummy form)? what was the old school MT thing??

and yeah, im hearing you on the whole room needs to learn to shoot thing. they are seriously hard and theres never enough time just drilling them.

[AndrewS]

Sunday,

Seminar w/ Sifu Emin.
Basic meltdown. Fatigue caught up with me. Had to take off after 1 1/2 unproductive hours, was at that point where nothing good was coming of being there.

Yesterday,

rest

May lift some today. Still feel lousy.

Jon,

The old school MT thing was a weapon-derived attack coming from a high guard and dropping a hammerhand in crashing down, like pi chuan. What Adam was doing was keeping his hand on his head to cover, as he closed behind a punch, then, from on top of his head, slamming the hand down in a hammerfist to get the necktie, picking up the incidental hit on the way with some authority.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

'ME'
Box Squat- low box/low bar 13.5" box
90% rm1
4x2
300
3.5 min ri
Felt decent. Will max next week, see how those go. Saw a post by Kev M- good idea for testing my max PL squat- set up my box to just around parallel, and do these touch and go, rather than with the 2s pause on the bottom, just using the box as a stopping point.

Good Mornings
3x5
245
1mi ri

Split squats
3x5rl
105
1 min ri

1 arm db press
3x5rl
61

side trunk f/e
3x10 rl

Feel a little better.

Andrew

[stricker]

cheers andrew, i'll have a play with it next oppurtunity.

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Sparring 1hr 15min
Chi sao- free, 1/2 hr. Something's off, can't quite place it. Not just loss of edge, but something else. Very frustrating.

Free rounds- no great revelations. Brought the hook in against the neck tie. Using someone else's headgear- wound up riding up on my mouth for the last minute of each round- ugly.

Ground+ strikes- working on keeping people down. Got a nice 1/2 guard sweep w/ an overhook/ underhooking the far leg- gotta play with that position- think I had some more options there.

Decided not to lift.

Trying to sort out my recent exhaustion- went off Alpha Male about 10 days ago- that may have been fueling my recovery more. Will cycle back on soon- maybe I'll throw some glutamine back in the mix post-workout and see how that serves me. Clearly need more sleep.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

post call. Rough night; new nursing class seems to think that they need to wake me up every hour no matter what. Managed not to snap.

MxS- upper body
1 power clean, 3 front press, pull ups (1-3) during ri (going EDT here)
90%rm1
10x3
143lbs
24 pullups
90 s ri

Front squats
3x5
165
90s ri
No knee pain, gonna treat these gently as I add them back in.

SLDL
5x3rl
61lb db
1 min ri
The extra few inches difference between the 72lb k-bell handle and a db w/ 25 lb plates is pretty extra ordinary. Nice flexibility work- my L glut is weak, but my R is tight, harder to go low. Definitely worth working on these.

Pairing quad dominat bilateral and ham dominant unilateral work and ham dominant bilateral and quad dominant unilateral seems like a strategy I should keep.

Alwyn Cosgrove article on undulating periodization on t-nation interesting, gotta find the original ref and rational. Looks like Westside-style RE exercise cycling to me.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1). GPP/recovery
Sled-drags +89- done as bear craws, 50m
k-bell swings 53lb k-bell, alterntating 30 reps
Waiter's walks w/ 36lb k-bell, figure 8, 30s rl
5 rounds total.
Bearcrawls absolutely brutal. Gotta do these for 25 m, maxing speed. Should do wonders for my scramble

Workout #2).
RDLs
5x3
363
2.5 min ri
Could have done 383 easy.

Split squats
3x6rl
105lbs
1 min ri

1 arm db press on swiss ball
3x8rl
61lbs
1 min ri

Need to get a burst-proof ball.

The holidays have arrived- everyone is skipping training or heading on vacation, and I'm glad of the time off. Need to rethink my martial training. Lifting proving far more fun and less taxing even on ME days than training otherwise. Maybe I'll go hit Jerry's next Wensday, check that MMA school in Culver City next week. . .

On-call today,

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

post-call

Workout #1).
Rarely-seen training partner over- latest project mostly wrapped up- 2+hrs
Practice good for me mentally- been chewing over the nature of 'my' game, how others break it, how to assimilate those methods by which it's broken and how it to counter it when it's used on me, based on what others do. Messed around with that while analyzing problems this person's been having- hitting the 5year wall while some of his peers are making breakthroughs. He's a little gunshy coming in, doesn't finish his footwork, and presses limbs/lacks torso sensitivity. Did some structure to structure motion with him, showing him some body to body stuff, and the same body use with long-bridge elbow force implemented (one of Emin's sweetest games). Went off on the whole yi/chi/jing thing- he's pretty much got decent SNT structure when coached, but loses it in motion- he doesn't feel- himself or others- and lacks the strength-endurance to hold his structure- he rapidly decays. Playing through this I found a nice algorhythm to get him moving a little and build him to he can maintain good body use-
elephant chi sao
lat sao, cross punching, heavy pressure
long bridge chi sao for softness

cycled these for rounds, stopping before failure- 60-90s. Wouldn't drive him back in either of the first two unless he tried to step through me- so he didn't just try to run from pressure.

If he can do 10-12 sessions of this with me over the next 2 months, I'll bet he cracks the wall he's hit.

Pretty encouraged- got me thinking, some good ideas on how to break my own plateau right now.

Workout #2).
Evening
Training partner by- 1 1/2 hrs
Structure drills to warm up
cross punching lat sao- driving back and forth, after 3-4 rounds, brought in angling footwork-did the same 'no retreat unless you try to drive me back' thing
neck-tie pummel in between rounds of cross-punching w/ light striking and elbows
chum kiu
lan/fook transition application vs. push
-from crossed arms
-from arms down (double tie sao to fook)
-getting power on the drop back as beat #1 to set up heavy shot on the way in

lan fook-transition application in neck-tie pummel- baiting them in, slipping neck tie on pressure, power out the other side- did a bunch of rounds, including light elbows and hand strikes.

Should add heavy lat sao stuff into canned workout #2). for this partner.

Skipped lifting- trying to take it easy and not fry myself.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Phantom training partner back again- I guess the MPAA cut is done. 1 1/2 hrs
Rounds of:
free chi sao
elephant chi sao
3rd section entry
heavy pressure cross punching lat sao
long bridge chi sao

Messed around with some stuff on natural motion, moving from idealized poses to actual application, broke out the pak/fak app from 3rd vs. a slip.

Working on cleaning up his pressure. Session #2). I'll be curious to watch the training effect of this regimen.


Workout #2).
DE
box squat, high bar (manta ray) low box (11")- this puts me about 4" below parallel- nice and deep. Hips definitely hinkier the lower I get.
wk#1).
10x2
60% rm1
225
45s ri

split jerk from the rack- wk #2).
8x3
75% rm1
135
1min ri
stuck these hard. Left arm a tad wobbly on the last 2 sets- shoulder girdle giving a bit

Speed deadlift off 25lb plates
8x1
60%rm1
283
1min ri
didn't feel like there was weight on the bar. Playing with form a bit, rolling the bar into my shins. Will add a few pounds or work off a higher platform next go- maybe some chains?

Bradford press
3x8
95lbs
1min ri

Side trunk f/e
3x10 rl
1min ri

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Something I wrote up on EF-
Hey Omar,

hint- my bat signal goes off better to *Andrew*.

Caught the thread and saw Jeff Cox posting on it, 'Dr. Tzuan Tzu'.

Briefly (time for a squat workout)- my take on Wing Chun-

Most Wing Chun sucks. This is due primarily two things- unrealistic training methods (see, 'why most TMA sucks'), and the complete misunderstanding of body usage, perpetuated by the first form not being used under pressure.

As I mentioned elsewhere power in Wing Chun can be whole body, local backed by whole body, or local. The vast majority of practioners work using only local power, not even backing local power with the body.

To me (and if you run this by ReneR, you'll get a similar take)- there's one action in Wing Chun from which all others derive- the punch. *Everything* is simply a reshaping, mutation, and refinement of the forward intent of that punch and the body use behind it.

SNT is the 'little idea'- how to use the body. People usually use the arms, but to me, to do this right and usefully, each action will be backed by either subtle motion in the shoulder girdle, torso, and legs so that it is backed by whole body, or by the *intention* of motion, recruiting those elements to coordinate with the body, generating some interesting power.

-an example- the tan/jum/gwat/lau/low palm sequence- 6th section- generally this is done as hand waving. It's cannonic application is with the double knives against the long pole, stepping through and cutting, arm supported by hip, and it's classic empty hand application is against a kick above the waist, shielding with a small body turn while going in, rotating while going in and scuffing by with high low gan (the gwat), then making the lau (scoop) as the back arm lifts driven by the back hip, which converts to the low palm as you plant. When I do the form, I try to drive this section with that intent *without* motion- the power and feel generated this way are palpably different.

In some ways one could compare SNT to the classic taiji 'opening of the form' as you cycle through peng/lu/an/ji without moving your feet or turning your waist, but still are using the body.

What this, of course, does is teach people absolutely wrong motion at first, which they then spend years unlearning if they ever accept that it was wrong. Personally, I won't show a piece of form without showing the 'pure' mechanic and a couple of immediately usable apps along side it which enforce good body use.

Power drive kicking in, time for DE workout. CK, BT, and my thoughts on knives and poles later.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

More from EF-

Some more musings-

Chum Kiu- Omar, I see your point about Chum Kiu. While some claim it's the core of the system from a tactical standpoint (realizing that forms can be interpreted as codices of body mechanics, tactics, and applications), the thing is almost deliberately obscure. I have my read on how it works, and don't have a 'better' form off the top of my head, but it's so subject to mis-interpretation in terms of what optimum coordination is, that it gets utterly confusing. The double tan- bong/wu electric slide is a particular nuisance. Personally, I find the double jum/double piercing arm, double lan section to be most accessible and useful for teaching some dynamic mechanics, but the whole thing is kind of a mess if it purports to teach you what to do in motion.

FWIW- CK reminds me a lot of the jerk- body fires, elbow fires, body sets under. That seems to be a theme, yet there are places where it's more purely 6 harmonies type motion with hip/shoulder elbow/knee wrist/ankle coordination- the double tan/double bong section through double man.

Biu Tze- You're selling this one short, man. Biu Tze is the exploded view of SNT mechanics, and, perhaps not surprisingly is reminiscent of the TST's 'tien gan' exercises (at least what Alex H showed me of them). It goes through nice big ranges of motion which allow some of those tight positions in SNT to be achieved (kup jarn helps develop bong sao a lot), and the tripled up ballistic performance of many of the motions is, by my lights, low rep high intensity exercise developing speed and power by using the stretch-shortening cycle. The weird finger/wrist stuff seems to help relax your forearms, which, in my experience, helps your shock power. The whole thing can help loosen you up and get you out of that horrible 'stuck in the form' feel- it's kinda about keeping the connections while letting go a bit. More than that, it gets really in your face about torso usage and its coordination with the elbow, putting a big sign on the stuff you *should* be doing in SNT, but probably aren't. The step up biu/fak and circling steps are as obvious a statement on footwork as you'll find in the art- shift your weight to one leg- circle the other- each point on the circle is a possible step with or without a weight shift- everything from backwards on an angle to going behind- and the biu/fak is like 'hey *******, this is how your legs power and coordinate with your arms'. BT isn't necessary, but it's **** helpful.

I haven't learned the dummy, pole, or knives, but I have some ideas on them and have done a little on both dummy and long pole (more with the dummy).

The dummy is, to me, how to put it all together, examples of *how* to coordinate these mechanics so they support each other, so hand sets up other hand to set up leg to set up hand to set up. . . all working off the timing of dealing with something too big and strong to move, but with just a shade of give. I'm kinda drooling to learn this formally, given how useful I've found just messing around with it.

Long pole- using the posterior chain. High rep speed-strength-endurance work. Seems like a similar role to that of the pole in Baji, looking at Tony Yang and Bob F's articles.

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

GPP/recovery
6 rounds
sled drag +134lbs around the waist, 50m
k-bell uppercuts either 30 w/ the 36 or 20 w/ the 53 followed by 20 hot potatos- 3 of each
15min 30s

Went to a bodyworker afterwards and got some work done- rolfer who started out with craniosacral work then did myofascial release on my lower legs and hips. Interesting. Gotta see how the next squat workout goes.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Training partner by- 3+hrs- he wanted to clean his tan up
Structure drills+bw squats + carioca running + pressure lat sao rounds for warmup
Poon sao 20 min
chi sao w/ palm attack, focus on changing palm back to tan so as to open and make free- finally kinda caught this with just doing the reductionist tan from the punch/huen- went into chan sao to neck pulling hand coordinating power with the step
2nd section- crashing tan return from dummy vs. withdrawing double gum armlock- went into snatch drop and plyo out of the drop with this
Brought same tan back to poon sao
Russian arm drag from pummelling as same tan sao (from DG DVD)
Russian arm drag/tan as BT/Wooden dummy chi sao to enter from poon sao for low palm- nice little laignappe.

Today,

ME
Box squat, low bar parallel box, touch and go (15")
95x3
155x3
205x3
245x3
275x3
305x3
335x1
365x1
400xX
400xX

Very upset. Considering this should approximate my low bar PL squat, I'm at best no stronger than 6-8 months ago. Perhaps more positively- workout #1 I hit my old PR. Will hit some doubles at 345 or so next DE day.

Good morning
3x6
245
1min ri

Side bends
3x8rl
81
1 min ri

Frustrated.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Alternating rounds starting from chi sao and clinch-40-50%
10 x3 min

Decent little workout.

Played with catching an underhook, long bridge space control, shutting down legs with hands, setting up hands with legs, that weird effortless knee thing Ernie and I were talking about the other day, setups for single leg. Was trying to get my partner to connect clinch and chi sao, blur them so he realized the skills were the same, finished by doing a little technical chi sao emphasizing that the *qualities* that were working under pressure in terms of structure, intent to set up with each action, and fluidity of transition should be present in the soft stuff.

Holidays cutting into training, no lifting today.

Andrew

[stricker]

cool stuff on the forms andrew, they make a lot of sense. especially the SNT and realising its not just standing there waving your arms about. i think you sold chum kiu a little short though hahaha.

also bodywork is good stuff, had some deep massage done on my neck that gave me a permanent increase in flexibility, i could never do side to side parallel movement before.

happy holidays!

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Phantom partner- session #3).
More of the same, worked 3rd entry and jut dar sequence from 4 a bit. Got chatty and didn't get as many rounds in as I'd have liked. If he makes it by tommorrow, I'll cook him.

No lifting- holiday madness.

Hey Jon,

I've spent a lot of time on CK, and at this point I'm kind of annoyed by it. While I find it very useful, it's so freakin' oblique in places, I can't help but wish it could be put together in a way which would make it more useful as a teaching/learning tool, rather than a package for retaining material once understood.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Phantom partner materializes again- 2hrs, session 4).
Same scheme-
Free chi sao
heavy pressure poon sao moving
reps on 3rd and 4th sections
heavy pressure lat sao

Bought Hope her car.

Turned 34.

Didn't lift.

Today,
And again- 2 1/2 hrs, session 5).
As above, did some leg work- need to add that into his diet.
Benefits showing- his body is connecting up better, getting a sense of projecting force into me, clearly the lights are on when it comes to using his intent rather than chasing choreography.

All the free chi sao is proving useful for me- I'm playing around messing with my mechanics and have finally found something very interesting and distinct- playing with staying loose and soft arms and body, but then messing with holding space and keeping elbows strong while allowing *no* pressure to come to my body- very interesting whippy shock quality came out, think I found another piece of Emin's game. Have to play this one conservatively- too much footwork seems to commit my stabizilation given my mass, trying to *not* let the torso go to jelly and do the floppy body thing, but just not take the pressure on the body while holding pressure with my arms- very cool. Snappy crisp faks and chan saos popped out spontaneously without increasing pressure.

Really fun working out with this guy- good friend, and the fresh hands and fresh set of teaching problems working very light giving me a chance to play with some ideas and reopen the laboratory.

Will lift later today.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Friday,

Got some lifting in
Bar complex
Hang power clean- front squat- split jerk
4x3
165
3min ri
Fun. Jerk form suffered, and there was major drift in my grip over reps. When I do this again I'll clean from the floor, then jerk, then front squat.

RDL
3x5
343
1min ri
1st set without straps, needed them for the next two, not enough recovery time for grip

DB press on MB
3x5rl
71lbs
1min ri
This starts to become some work

Mobility work

Yesterday,

Phantom training partner by for session #5).
Free chi sao
elephant chi sao
basic structure drills, static and moving, no variability (leading up to more 3rd stuff)
pressure lat sao
legs
Found a cool little sweep from matched leg control, going to the outside- lift the knee as they plant to drop them and straighten the leg- essentially kicking- nice variant on sticking to low round kick on the way back and messing with the foot plant to set up hands.

Too busy to get anything else done.

On call today.

Ho. Ho. Ho.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Postcall-

Session #6 with phantom training partner- seems our schedules hook up over holidays- 1 1/2 hrs
Free chi sao
Elephant chi sao- single step forward and back using tan/jum to hold- need to rethink some things on this, but felt good.
Poon sao w/ releases- focusing on forward footwork, arms springing but feet covering ground so quickly arms don't reach extension- *excellent* results for bringing up his use of body and moving from technique to mechanic/feel
Single arm reflex from distance, done on closing- still chasing hands- also a useful drill for him
During free rounds- playing with locking him down and smothering him from long bridge- induced the same (bad) reaction in him that Emin gets out of me. Interesting to look at it from the other side- need to log in breaking that little quagmire using changed arm/body relation (arm soft/body strong- CK double fook idea).
Leg to leg from neck tie- fun. He has a bunch of thai experience so this is a very cool range to hang in with him. Playing with using whole leg to adhere/pressure and yield to see where it goes- wound up finding that d*mn hook kick to the kidneys from close- change the stick point creeping up the thigh over to hamstring on just below inguinal region for position- not sure how to max the power from here-sway back or counter-rotate in (drive in with opposite hip to pull same side hip back)- party trick anyway, but cool to figure out.

Have been lame on lifting lately. Will actually try to come up with a full year schedule for '06, planning on holiday lameness in December, wedding and honeymoon in April/May.

On call today,

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

post-call

DE
low box (11") high bar (manta ray) squats wk #2
65% rm1
8x2
245lbs
45s ri
Breaking forward a bit, gotta keep upper back strong. Leg strength felt good.

Split Jerks wk#3
80% rm1
8x3
145
45s ri
Easy. Form felt good. 90%rm1 lifts clearly doing something.

Speed DL of 25 lb plates
60%rm1
8x1
1min ri
Nice bar speed, figured out how to roll the bar into me and rip it off the ground. RM1 testing soon.

Split squats
3x6rl
105
1min ri

side bends
3x10rl
81
1min ri

Good to get moving again.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Phantom partner- session #7).
Still hammering basic template that's evolved, essentially same as session 6. Spent some time getting him to just close on me based off my motion to get him to step deep enough, before interrupting his force during the close- will add this in as a regular part of his diet to get him dialed in- think I have a pretty decent sense of his set of problems at this point (and, along the way, have seen where I'm doing the same things myself to a different degree)- being unable to shed pressure given when I add momentum, holding a point rather than reaching inside, failing to transition between body methods to disapate pressure.

[interesting conversation w/ Ernie yesterday- I he noticed that I tend not to bother trying to get through when I run into force- a necessity for me to improve as I'd be fairly one dimensional if I cut through everything I could cut through- should play with this part of my nature- try rather than changing or flowing around, try to feel how to cut the subtle angle at contact and go through without changing visibly. ]

Came up with a nice drill out of leg to leg- get mirror outside control, stick and drop knee to floor through other person's leg to collapse them- counter with weight shift back, relaxing collapsed leg to deadleg it out (pull it out of the bucket), go behind, perform same action- cycle. Interesting weightshift dynamic- could probably fit this into shoulder strike drill nicely.

Overall making good progress- I'll be curious to see how the interaction goes when he catches his regular training partners when they're done with the holidays. Hopefully, he'll have 4-5 more sessions in by then and will be further cleaned up.


Workout #2).
Extra workout
Standing db press
61lbs
Bent over DB row
101lbs
5x5
90s ri
(press 5l5r, row 5l5r, rest)

Good mornings
3x15
205
90s ri

Decent little workout- feel like I'm getting back in my groove.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

GPP/recovery workout
bear crawl sled drags 25m, +89lbs
8 rounds, approximately 10s ri- Tabata intervals
Legs felt ready to explode at end, barely able to stand, collapsed in garage for a few minutes and put my legs up to let blood run out. Brutal. Need to do these regularly.

Circut
k-bell swings 36lb bell 30 reps
waiter's walks 36 lb kbell 30s r 30s l
sled drag 50m, +89lbs- all directions
8 rounds total
Hip pop on k-bell swings got a bit sharper- think I picked up something new here.

Listening to Blackalicious' last disc- 'Passion' may be one of the best training cuts evah.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

New Year's Eve
PTP by again, session 8.
Mostly play time.

Garage rained out while I recover from rest of New Year's Eve.

Last night-
Field trip. Feeling systemic holes in my game- same things that were going wrong with sifu, I'm now more acutely aware of. Dropping the heavy sled drags from my regular routine has definitely weakened certain connections, but problems run deeper than that. I've seriously deteriorated in skill over the last year or two in certain areas, and find that I've hit a real wall when it comes to my development, one I have doubts about being able to get through using my present approach. Not sure what route to take to a solution. Rewriting S&C program based on present aims. Will go looking for heavyweights tonight or next week.

Andrew

[Kevin Bell]

Hey Bro,

You ever thought of looking into the High/low approach - basically a unification of of WSB - Charlie Francis method.

[AndrewS]

Hey Kev,

I haven't heard of it- I scoped Francis' and J. Smith's sites looking for details, but didn't find anything. Can you elaborate?

Andrew

[Kevin Bell]

Andrew,

It's an approach constructed by James Smith that he use's in the interest of developing very strong, powerful, fast, agile and well conditioned athletes.

He does this by breaking down the main training components of the WSB and CFTS relative to CNS impact - High CNS; Max effort, Dynamic effort, Medicine ball plyo's, Max speed sprints etc and Low CNS;Repitition effort, SPP, EMS Recovery protocols, tempo runs and the like.

He's just published a book on it called High/Low Sequences of Programming and Organising Training - got the book and it's quality and right up your street i reckon. Theres about 15 sample templates in there but of course as with anything you can tweak them for yourself.

Kev

[AndrewS]

Friday,

Workout #1).
Training partner back from holidays- 1 hr 15min
free chi sao
kwan response to indoor pak, kwan ideas, fine tuning on each hand

Workout #2).
ME
low bar parallel box squat (15") touch and go
90%rm1
4x2
335
4min ri
Definitely working in 90% land- second rep slow on last 2 sets

Good mornings
3x6
257
90 s ri

Paired
Single leg db dl
3x5rl
61lbs
side bend
3x8rl
91lbs
90 s ri between pairs

Yesterday,

Wing Chun- 4 1/2 hrs
PTP by for 1 1/2 hrs- chi sao, closing drills, pure body mechanic drills- session 9- had him working with newly returned partner who he has about 20lbs on, useful to watch them work- able to pick stuff out better, see which coaching cues are more effective.

After he took off- next man arrives- spent the remainder of the day on Chum Kiu, working through apps, mechanics, ideas up to side kick. Useful getting that many reps in, especially doing them alongside pad work and partner drills to clean them.

Too tired to lift, or for that matter, go out and do anything. Colleague returns from vacation soon, and I leave this job and take 5 mos vacation soon. . .

Today- on call

Kev-
thanks for the tip- I found the book for sale from EFS- next time they have a free shipping sale, I'll pick it (and the other sundries on my list) up.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Postcall

Workout #1).
PTP- session 10 1 1/2hrs
Free chi sao
3rd section entry
isolated single arm components of 3rd entry, reps
pure body mechanics, kao/gan defense- working on keeping power/footwork
Timing entry/defense- joining timing and mechanics
Trying to get him feeling w/ power release, not just firing
Legs- outside crashing footwork from 6th section, fak/bong dan chi, etc

Workout #2).
Training partner 1 1/2 hrs
Free chi sao
Pad work- bong/fak/lop on thai pads, to bong/fak/lop + punch, timing punch off back foot (belly pad)
bong/fak/lop+/- punch as inpak defense, how it grows from kwan
kwan review

Too tired to lift, feeling kinda sick. Slowly getting rolling.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

DE-lower
warmup
low box (11") high bar (manta ray)
week #3
70%rm1
6x2
265
45s ri

Slow coming up the last couple of reps, but form feeling better. Hips felt good.

Speed DL
-off 3.5" deficit
50%rm1
10x1
250lbs
1min ri

Wk #1 of Eric Cressey's 12 weeks to a record deadlift
<http://www.elitefts.com/documents/frequent_pulling.htm>

RDL
3x6
343
1min ri
These were work.

Split squats
3x8rl
105
Side trunk f/e
3x10

Last two setted together, 90s ri between couplets.

Can feel lack of GPP/ drop in work capacity. Need to add extra sled and k-bell work back in to regimen.

On call today.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Postcall

GPP/recovery workout-

Bodyweight- squat variant, split squat, or lunge 20 reps
K-bell swings 36lb bell 20l20r or 40 alternating
Sled-drag +89
5 rounds

Did an H&P on a buddy so he can get medical insurance- needed a MD's confirmation that at 250 and 6' w/ a 48" chest and 17 1/2" arms w/ squat and DL at 500+, he's not obese. Amusingly, it seems I'd forgotten to tell him he's one of my groomsmen- oops. He's all stoked to learn some greco, so it looks like we may go find my old coach and partner up. His wife is gonna be one of the bridesmaids, too. Good people. I'm lucky.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Workout #1).
PTP session #11). 1 1/2 hrs
Rounds-
Free chi sao
closing drills, no hands
pressure chi sao
3rd entry and defense- defense using only body (used footwork idea in closing drills)
legs- from clinch
lat sao- light, 1st program

Structure somewhat better, got him flowing a bit more. He's better at correcting his mistakes on the fly. Think I'll try to add pad work in to tweak his mechanics a bit more, esp. w/ no stress over getting hit on the way in. Got him to move in properly by going light on free chi sao, giving him holes randomly. Gradual process.

Workout #2).
ME
low bar parallel box squat (15") touch and go wk #3).
95x5
155x3
205x3
255x3
295x3
325x3
355x1
385x X
385x X

Frustrating- weak out of the hole. Form felt a lot better even at 355, then lost it at 385 about 3" out of the hole- *ss came up?. I'm *not* built for squatting. Some bottoms up squats from below parallel sound like a good idea for a ME exercise.

Snatch grip DL
4x3
345
2min ri
wk #1) Cressey's DL program. Felt good.

Paired
A1 SLDL
5x5rl
61lbs db
A2
side bends
5x5rl
91lbs

Had some time to kill while Hope finished up so
sled drag +99
MB slam w/ 12lb ball- 20reps
5 rounds

Low back felt a lot better w/ MB slams and backwards dragging around the waist.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Workout #1).
Whole gang here- 3 1/2 hrs
Individual coaching
Chum Kiu many reps + apps
Bong wu electric slide as partner drill
Sticky pak from man vs. jab
- found a nice app- when guy jabbing shoulder rolls to cover punch off the pak, pak hand winds up outside- double up on the pak, downweighting w/ body, bring rear hand in w/ rear hip, smashing into back foot w/ pak to freeze them
Kwan- idea throughout CK, SNT
Kwan vs. in-pak from chi sao- rounds w/ rotation
-focus on fook change to bong (lead)
-dan chi fook change to bong vs. steady pressure tan, vs. escaping pinning action
Lat sao- kwan idea to build either fak or straight shot

Workout #2)
GPP/recovery
Swings (36 lb kb)- alternating
100, 50
Snatch + OH squat (36lb kb)- alternating
20, 10,10,10
Swings (53lb k-bell)-alternating
50, 30

Decent day's work.

Seminar tomorrow.

Probably should have skipped that second workout.

Oh well.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Sunday,

Seminar w/ Sifu- 4hrs
Applications of 5th section- many reps
Knife defense
Stick defense
Got some work in. Picked some nice throwing stuff out of knife defense apps- think I figured out that elbow smash knockdown- will try to take it into clinch.

Monday,

PTP- session 12, 1 1/2 hrs
Pressure work
Projection w/ pulling attack
Free chi sao

As Sunday was supposed to be rest day, took rest of day off.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Private lesson w/ sifu 1hr
Applications of 6th section- many reps, technical. Cleaning up hip mechanics

Workout #2).
PTP- sess. 13). 1hr
Chi sao
Pressure chi sao
lat sao
leg to leg
time to mess with this a little- things are getting stale- needs more closing work

Workout #3).
DE
Box squat low bar below parallel box- 13"
10x2
60%rm1
225
Worked technique, especially down in the hole- driving elbows up under bar helping drive neck into bar

Speed DL off 3 1/2" deficit
8x1
55%rm1
275

RDL
3x8
343
90 s ri
These are becoming work.

Maybe 2x15-20 next, then 3x3?

Skipped last exercise pair- needed to get going

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Training partner by- 1 1/2 hrs
rounds
lat sao
pad work (tuning shots)- time for focus mitts now- his punch has cleaned up nicely
kwan- from chi sao, lat sao, distance
in-pak from lat sao- managed to convey two different flavors of in-pak- out on the end of power and in back- show how chi sao skills come in to set up action out of lat sao- connect to same thing in sparring
Heavy pressure chi sao- positions

Still taking it easy- he's still a bit beat up from seminar.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Workout #1).
GPP/recovery
Unilateral bodyweight exercises 20 reps
Figure 8 waiter's walks w/ 53lb k-bell 30s/ side
k-bells swings w/ 36- 40reps
sled drags +134
6 rounds


Workout #2).
Training partner by- 1 1/2 hrs
legs- 5 rounds
kicking 3 rounds to loosen up
dealing with caught kicks 3 rounds- reps only- think these may make it into everyone's diet for the next couple of months
lat sao- free to cool down

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Group practice- 4 1/2 hrs- whole gang once again!
One person with a tweaky knee (from Thurs training)- went through entering footwork, knee alignment to prevent medial meniscus strain, some foot stuff to improve ability to take and give force.
Closing- reps, into closing with angles, passing, passing with angles- good warm up
Partner work (rounds)
- closing on person stepping in, offlining in middle of closing motion- adjusting on the fly
-closing on the step in, person stepping in moves out and off (draws the close to set you up)
-gloves on- went light (10-20%)- perfect intensity for everyone to experiment, kept the rounds at a bit over a minute to avoid fatigue and injury (keeper)- step in with jab, offline for second shot to practice first drill 'live'
-gloves on- same, now with boxer drawing and moving out more
-gloves on- above+ combis/followup shots
Couple of rounds free chi sao at end

Above went on for about 1 1/2 hrs

Break

SNT
Chum Kiu-reps
CK- apps from '99 seminar notes- bong wu turns vs. gwat dar focused on mechanic- rounds. Cleaning up mechanics, nice for bringing out kwan
-app-outside jut dar (from lifting punch/jut dar transition)- focus on shock power vs. shoulder push- many reps
-closing- jut dar vs. punch
-bong to stop jut from catching wu
-wu transforms to counter jut
All above with motion
Showed jut/chuen from 2nd part 1st section out of this- makes *much* more sense to show this reverse engineered- much less mechanical.
Kwan response to inpak from poon sao
Jut/chun from kwan vs. inpak- obvious linkage of pieces of 1st section, but appearantly a revelation once the timing came out.
CK one more time

These guys make me remember why I love Wing Chun, as much as it p*sses me off.

Ran errands- too tired/late to lift. Max effort just doesn't seem right at 1045 at night when I have to work the next morning. Been very tired lately- will stop the refined carbs w/ AM meal I added in recently, cut back on caffeine, see if that helps.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Postcall- feeling sick.

Workout #1).
PTP 2hrs
Closing
Drill- step in on the other person's motion, join, displace stance with body power. Same with angling mid-trigger motion, to force midstep adjustment while still displacing- trying to train out his tendancy to 'fishtail' and bleed power out the back leg
Person being displaced- relax body, stay connected, down and solid as soon as the other person's power goes out
Chi sao- free
Chi sao- kwan vs. jut dar from 4th section
3rd section entry- reps
Displacement drill- displace, dissolve, displace cycle free- essentially pulling attack abstraction. Back to old stuff from Phillip from mid-90s

Workout #2).
Training partner 1 1/2 hrs
Rounds- vs. boxing, boxer trying to draw motion with jab to set up person to close, then move off, forcing adjusting steps
Worked some tools with this-
-sticky pak from pulling attack/ CK- riding the jab back
-converting sticky pak to heavy pak midair when the person covers chin with shoulder roll
-inpak with high elbow to open and cover other side from coming in
-gan to open when bound up long, short, or covering
Did maybe 10 rounds of this

Chi sao

Did above displacement sequence- came up with a linear variant.
Nicely looked at in series of skills
response to initial displacement
-regain balance, change weight and angle, step through
-regain balance- keep weight and angle and step through
-dissolve and displace in single beat.

Looking back this is a nice way to show the body stuff from the pulling attack, will keep this abstraction.

Lifting has fallen by wayside lately- trying to get back on track. URI sx this AM- if better tommorrow will try for AM DE workout so I'm not 2wks off schedule.

On call today.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Post call

Workout #1).
DE- redid last weeks DE w/o
Box squat low bar below parallel box- 13"
10x2
60%rm1
225
Worked technique, especially down in the hole- driving elbows up under bar helping drive neck into bar

Speed DL off 3 1/2" deficit
8x1
55%rm1
275

Got some nice technique work in- worthwhile- can feel my squat cleaning up.

Split squats
3x5rl
115
1min ri

Wheel
5x6
1min ri

Workout #2).
Sparring called on account of sickeness- partner by did 1hr ground work- about 20 2 min rounds
Mount escape w/ basic shrimping
Tight mount w/ head and arm- getting the lan in to frame and shrimp- making space
Arm triangle from head and arm control
Defending arm triangle from head and arm- found a nice way out- bend arm (pull elbow to mat) frame w/ other hand to drive head off and to side (frame hand on head if possible), other hand on hip, bridge to take weight further onto head side, kick leg out under and hook leg and arch- gotta play with this, but it feels nice.
Keylock from tight mount
Keylock defense (w/ arm triangle as option)
Free rolling.

Good workout- nice to review some of this stuff, making me hungry to get back into a class.

Andrew

[Nexus]

How is your overall health as a result of all these workouts in your blog? heights/bodyweight, how do you feel healthwise? Hows your eating habits?

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

GPP/recovery

bodyweight squat or single leg variant- 20
MB throws 10r10l
Kbell swings- alternating 53lb bell, 20
Figure 8 waiter's walks w/ 53lb bell 30s r 30 s l
sled-drag +89

6 rounds, 28 min.

Nexus,

I've stayed about 250 at 6' 1" for ages with la ittle bouncing around- I'd lean out more if I watched my diet, but in my case, watching my diet means know where the best pastrami in the city is, some spectacular mole, a pipeline for cheap grassfed meat, excellent Peking Duck, where local chefs like to eat after work, and who's cooking where, so there may be some reasons I'm not as lean as I'd like. I have shifted my body composition significantly over the past couple of years, while my weight has stayed roughly the same, putting on a good bit more muscle- waist on pants has gotten looser, the thighs tighter, etc. My blood pressure is under good control as are my LDL and HDL. When I'm not sleep deprived and overtrained, which are common, as I do 5-7 26+ hr shifts in the hospital a month while trying to keep up my training and social life, I feel great. A number of old injuries and problems have diminished significantly, and I simply feel like I move better and more fluidly, especially on the ground.


Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
PTP by 1 1/2 hrs
Free chi sao
Closing w/ angling+ displacement
3rd section entry
3rd section displacement mechanic

Much time wasted hearing how difficult this stuff is, rather than working. *sigh*

Workout #2).
Training partner by, 1 hr 15 min
No time to lift so
Chi sao- 14 2 minute rounds
-pulling attack + displacement, just working mechanics- repped out
In between rounds

Alternating hand k-bell swings w/ 72lb -20
MB slams w/ 12lb MB- 20
10 rounds

Good work.

Caught Dred Zeppelin last night- blast from the past, but much fun. Elvis impersonator fronting a reggae/ska inflected Zeppelin cover band.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Saturday

PTP by -1 hr
Chi sao
displacement drills
closing
Heavy pressure chi sao

Other folks out for the day- foot injury and girlfriend

Spent the rest of the day being manly and building stuff- now have 4 platforms made of 4x6" and 3/4" ply for use as pulling blocks, for box squats, step ups, etc, *and* built a heavy duty target for my sledgehammer (4 2' lengths of 4"x6" between 1/4 ply topped with multiple layers of rubber matting and carpet).

Sunday- off

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
ME
Low bar high box squat (pause) 18", widened out stance to nearly touching base of rack
95x5
165x3
225x3
275x3
305x3
345x2 bombed 3rd rep
345x3- easy
365x1 easy
385x1 easy
400x X bombed again- lost groove
Wider stance definitely helped. Definitely getting a better understanding of the lift technically. Will hit some doubles next time out.

Snatch grip DL- wk 2 of Cressy's 12wk program
22x3
318x3
368x3
368x3
3min ri

Paired
Single leg single arm DL
5x3
66lb db
side bend
5x6
91lbs
60 s ri

Workout #2).
Training partner and FNG by- 2hrs

Brief intro on why the weird stance
Rounds (2min)
Leg to leg
-pressure, position, leg split/ go behind
+ sweeps
+ low kicks
+ foot traps and knees
+upper body clinch

Did about 1hr- probably 20+ rounds

Step and punch vs. focus mitts 3x20
alternating w/
MB catch and pass from same mechanic 3x20 (6lb mb for the guys, 12 for me)

Got FNG moving pretty well and understanding why fast- he's pretty impressed- has a decade or so of boxing and kickboxing and moves pretty well- nice athleticism and timing. If he comes back, he'd be a decent addition.

Today,

Workout #1).
DE Upper
Front press wk 1 65% old RM1
8x3
105
45 s ri

Alternating
Pullups
5x2
Bradford press
5x6
85lbs
60s ri

Workout #2).
Block 1- 20 min
Sledgehammer 2 min
k-bell swings w/ 36lb bell- alternating- 40
5 rounds, continuous

Block 2- 20 min
Sled drag +89lb
Figure 8 waiter's walk w. 53lb kbell 30s each side
7 rounds

Feel pretty decent.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Sparring- 1hr
First practice back after 6 week break for everyone. Everyone off, *and* swinging for fences. Ugly. Got dropped by a body shot during a kickboxing round. Rang a couple of bells and started getting mean with low kicks. Nothing really felt good except my gas was a little better than I expected. Well, everything starts somewhere.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

DE workout

Low bar low box squats, medium stance wk#2
65%
8x2
245
45s ri

Felt great.

Speed DL off 3 1/2" deficit EC wk3
12x1
300
1min ri
Think I could have done twice this number without batting an eye.

Good Morning
3x5
265
1 min ri

Split squat
3x6
115
1min ri

Wheel
3x8
1min ri

Decent day's work. Wanted to do a second workout, but motivation at 1030pm was kinda gone.

Oh well, think I found a wedding ring, so at least something productive got done.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout#1).
PTP-1hr
Free rolling
Heavy pressure chi sao for positions 3-4 rounds
Closing w/ displacement 2-3 rounds 3rd entry
Catch and release, then w/ displacement 2-3 rounds
Heavy pressure chi sao, free emphasis on flow, not running away

Good, quick, focused workout. Wound up having a long chat about thai boxing afterwards- old school and dirty tricks- very interesting.

Workout #2).
GPP

Block 1- 15 min
KB jerk w/ 72lb k-bell 3r 3l, 7 rounds
Walking lunges 30m- 7 rounds

Block 2 20 min
Sledgehammer (2min rounds) 6 rounds
Sled-drag + 89lbs 5 rounds

Workout #3).
Training partner 1 1/2 hrs
Warmup w/ reps on knife and stick defenses, 2 angles on each. I hate knife and stick defenses.
Poon sao 20 min
Attacks on the wall 4x2 mi rounds
Free chi sao to cool off

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Group workout, 3 1/2 hrs
Warmup- 2nd section arm defense
Man out on dummy working inpak
One straggles in
Rounds -in pak out of poon sao- maybe 12-16 1 min rounds
Close and displace in response to person closing- 4 rounds
Close and displace in response to person closing and angling- 4 rounds
Close and displace from poon sao, one person releases at any point- 4 rounds
One wanders off
Close and displace from poon sao, person being displaced triggers displacement by walking in, other person has to feel- building the 'pulling attack'- 9 rounds
Some talk on mechanics
In-pak as feeder exercise up and back the driveway
Another straggles away, forearms with a little blood
Chum Kiu
Up and back the drive way w/ double bong double tan section
Pad work with double bong section
3 rounds of above
Chum Kiu
-continous reps 15min
-hold each position 1x through form 15 min
-1x more through form

Decent day's work

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
PTP- 1hr 15 min
Heavy pressure chi sao
closing and displacement
release drills from poon sao
release drills w/ displacement
free chi sao
Rounds of above
Things starting to come together w/ his stance statically and a bit in motion. A few more weeks of this, then some technical polishing on positions.

Workout #2).
ME

Low bar high box (18') wide stance squat
90% rm1
4x3
345
no belt or wraps- felt easy
4min ri

Snatch grip DL
4x4
368
3.5 min ri

Skipped assisted work, thought partner was coming by- he took the night off.

Workout #3).
Heavy bag 10x 2min rounds, 1 min rest
20 kbell swings w/ 36lb kbell in rest intervals.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
PTP by- 1hr 15 min
Heavy pressure poon sao-positions- 4 rounds
In-pak
2nd section
Release drills
Free chi sao

Mechanics coming together for him.
Played around a bit afterwards and got some nice coaching from him on how to get my hip into my thai kicking better- really got a nice feel for both projecting hip in on up kick and how to make turning over happen from relaxation- will see if doing it this way still hurts my hip.

Workout #2).
GPP

Block 1- 15min
Kb jerks w/ 72 4r4l
walking lunges 30m
8 rounds of each

Block 2- 20 min
Sledgehammer -2min
sled-drag +133, 60m
6 and 5 rounds respectively

Workout #3).
Training partner 1 1/2hrs
Interested in tightening up structure
Heavy pressure poon sao 4 rounds
tan/pak from jut chuen 4 rounds- started working this vs. person walking in w/ punch as trigger to make his structure come out more
Gan dar/ bong wu- 4 rounds- focused on chain of mechanics, and sequence of elbow/hip interactions
Inpak- 4 rounds
jut dar vs. kwan 2 rounds- same feel as bong wu

Decent day's work.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Sparring 1 hr 15 min
Boxing- worked on footwork/range- just hanging out on the edge letting the other person break distance then stepping so I'm in the nice tight place and seeing what came up- landing more and more nice tight shots doing this, but definitely eat a few messing with it. Seeing more stuff- it seems I do better when I throw less.

Kickboxing- working on hip mechanics for low kicking. Didn't do much with my hands or high/low setup stuff, just messed with projecting my hip into shots more, hunting legs.

Stand up from takedown w/ strikes- have a tendancy to tackle/shoot rather than base out- figured out it's because keeping my head tight makes me feel safe (and opens me to guillotines)- gotta mess with angles on the way up.

Ran my arm triangle defense by t- he's doing basically the same thing w/ a 1/2 butterfly rather than a hook, anticipating the attempted transition to side mount, riding the leg with the 1/2 butterfly and/or catching it with the other leg.

Pull elbow back more when basing.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
DE EC wk4
low bar low box (13") medium stance squat wk 3
6x2
265
45 s ri

Split squat
5x3
135
1min ri

Side bend
3x10
91lbs
1min ri


Workout 2).
Training partner by 2+ hrs
Forms
Side kick from chum kiu
-on pad
-from lat sao vs. push
-from lat sao vs. head butt as part of combi- elbow/fak/knee/side kick from the knee (unlocking motion)

poon sao
catch and release
catch and release + displacement

Workout #3)

Heavy bag (2min)- thai kicks working on hip mechanics
k-bell swings w/ 53- 20 alternating
sled drags +178 for 60m
10 rounds
First 7 done in 30, then took a couple of minutes to breathe and powered through the last 3

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Post-call. Last day- am on vacation until the end of June. Time for the Mexico, marrige, honeymoon, reading, and lots of training.

Workout-
PTP by 1 hr 15 min
Chi sao- w/ some pressure, focusing on one for one- every action full body, absorb and counter w/ full body, one guy absorbing and countering, one coming through. Did some free motion stuff w/ pak vs. jab bringing out inpak mechanics/feel into outdoor pak vs. jab to shut down hook off jab and double jab, while covering straight line. Cutting huen sao using bodyweight came in a bunch in there, too. Fun.

Spent the rest of the day running errands and sleeping.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20min
I've drank the t-nation koolaid, and am going for pre-breakfast low intensity cardio as often as possible.

Workout #2).
1 1/2hrs
CK
SNT
alternating 5x through-
heavy bag
dummy
Biu Tze

Workout #3).
DE upper
Front press
wk2-70%rm1
8x3
115lbs
45s ri

Pullups
5x3
2min ri

Bradford Press
3x8
85lbs

10 minute circut
Bodyweight stepups 10r10
k-bell swings- alternating hands w/ 52- 30 reps
Managed 4 rounds

Got most of the wedding invites out today, time for Valentine's Day dinner. . .

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min

Workout #2).
GPP/recovery
15 min
figure 8 waiter's walks w/ 72lb kbell, 30sR 30sL
Sled-drag 60m, 89lbs
6 rounds

15 min
BW squat variant or single leg variant- 20 reps
Sledgehammer rounds (1min)
8 rounds- did 2 extra, messed up on time

Workout #3).
Sparring called on account of work
Training partner by- ground 1 1/2 hrs
16+ rounds
Mount escapes
Mount escapes vs. person striking
Arm bar from mount- reps
Arm bar from mount- defend by coming up if they don't control the leg
Arm bar from mount- defend by countering arm capture
Arm bar from mount- elbow to floor defense
Arm bar from mount- figure 4 defense
Free from mount- review arm triangle, arm bar, keylock defenses.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

No AM cardio

Workout #1).
MMA class at BHJJ- 1 1/2 hrs
Warmups
Rounds- hands, knees, hands w/ takedowns on grappling dummy hanging, ground and pound on grappling dummy

Rounds-
boxing
thai boxing
wrestling
sub grappling

Fun and a nice bunch of guys. Got tapped by the brown belt on the ground a bunch- no surprises there. He caught me with a weird keylock from the 1/2 guard twice. Very boney springy feel to him and nice transitions. He was setting up traps and letting me attack- left me puzzled as taking apart someone that good in pure sub grappling is not a problem I'm used to. Managed a nice pass on him- stapled one leg to the ground, going in one direction, underhooked his other leg and passed the other way- nice switch up and one of the few slick things I did.

May head there for some training for a bit- still looking around.

Workout #2).
Private lesson- WT 1hr
5th section- reps
Starting to flow pretty nicely- all the torso stuff in motion is paying off. Worked lan vs. pull from distance- roll it up, force along whole forearm (peng) really uproots- felt like I had the back hand lined up for a shot properly w/ hip and elbow working. Gotta remember to keep force in distal forearm- really makes a difference. Hard pull forces conversion to kick- feels great to train this w/ intent to crash w/ lan (stuttered force- give in, push the elbow/arm in even faster). *Love* this app boxing.

7th section- clean the mechanics, loose my cheats- this section keeps me honest- gotta work it w/ si-sok more.

Mellowed out the rest of the day- hips somewhat creaky.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min

Workout #2).
Max Effort- week 4 EC's program
Deadlift
133x3
223x3
323x3
383x3
423x1
443x3
463x1
483x1 PR Belt, no straps, hook grip
508x X
508x X

Lost it just below the knee, rounded horribly somehow. Need more reps at 90%+ rm1. Rack pulls necessary. Did put 10lbs on my PR, but bombed on that 508- too big a jump. 493 would have been reasonable. Might have done better if I didn't triple at 443. Oh well, this was ME, not RM1 testing, gotta remember that. One single just before my working triple is definitely the way to go- Siff mentioned this in 'Supertraining' somewhere if I remember correctly.

Single leg single arm DL
3x5rl
66lb db
1 min ri

Wheel- from standing
3x3- far out as I could go
1 min ri

Workout #3).
Training partner by- 2hrs
2nd section- light to warm up shoulders, 8-10 2min rounds + explanation in between
Poon sao- 20 minutes- 3 count at each position, smooth on the transitions w/ pressure checks.
Dan chi- fook/bong transition moving, focusing on keeping shoulder connected, holding ground 8 2min rounds

Fair day's work.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20min

Workout #2).
WT 3 1/2hrs
Everyone by and in a chi sao sort of place developmentally.
Poon sao- positions- man out on dummy doing bong drills
Crashing (low) bong off dummy vs. in pak
Dan chi fook bong transition
Gan dar vs. bong dar from in pak
Heavy pressure 'hydraulic'

Workout #3).
DB overhead press
10x3rl
66lb
Bent over BB row
10x5
165lb

90s rest between exercise pairs

K-bell swings- alternating hands, 36lb bell
3x40

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Sunday,

AM elliptical 20 min

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min

Workout #2).
Training partner 1 hr
Free chi sao
Closing w/ displacement
3rd entry w/ displacement from closing
Kao/gan counter- focus on stance/footwork- couple of rounds using body only- no kao
Transition same idea back to crashing bong from dummy vs. inpak

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min

Workout #2).
DE
Box squat- wide stance, high box, low bar + chains wk 1
10x2
225
45s ri

Deadlift-speed pulls off 4 1/2" platform + chains @55% wk5 EC
10x1
263
1min ri

Good mornings
2x15
225
90s ri

Split squats
3x5
135
1 min ri

Side bends
3x5
96
1min ri

Busy running about preparing for vacation, wedding.

Figured out that I'm messing up my maxes, at least by Wendler's article on EFS. I've been working off of trying to hit 90%rm1 on my last triple then do 3-4 singles going for my PR- following Prilepin's tables to hit 6-7 lifts > 90%rm1. Wendler recommends

1x5 @ 50%
• 1x3 @ 60%
• 1x2 @ 70%
• 1x1 @ 80%
• 1x1 @ 90%
• 1x1 @ 95%
• 1x1 @ 100% or new PR.


I think I'll slot this into a 3wk max effort wave as follows-

Wk#1).
Aim for 90% rm1 on last triple, then hit 2-4 singles/ doubles based on old RM1

Wk#2).
4x2-3 @ 90% rm1

Wk #3).
Wendler's table above, looking for new max.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min

Workout #2).
Training partner 1 1/2hrs
Everyone out of town, so sparring got called and he and I got to work together again- longest layoff we've had in 6 yrs
Poon sao-4x5 min, each position
5th entry from distance
-crash
-kick
-either- attempt to crash, kick if pull is strong enough
Wound up feeding him BT chi sao for the last 1/2 hr or so- cool stuff

Workout #3).
Push-press
45x10
95x5
110x3
130x2
148x1
163x1
173x1
188x1 PR
198x1 PR
203x1 PR

Happy day! My last best jerk was 203 with a 183 pr on the push press. I definitely had 208 in me, maybe more.

Paired
Floor press
5x5
163
Bent over row
5x5
163

90s ri

1st time doing floor presses- picked a comfortable weight and worked on form a bit.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Workout#1).
Elliptical 15 min

Workout #2).
Private lesson WT, 1 + hr
6th section
many reps through each piece of cycle.
Worked in both kick footwork variants, counter from pivot back, not leading version
Kwan vs. gan dar from high fak-> lop fak counter w/ forward bong to feed under jut and fak
Issues
-don't go too deep, if too deep elbow, not fak. Pull fak side hip back more- brings shoulder back to make room for fak
-need a strong fak for me to feel it to drive bong forward enough to crash and control both arms
-coordinate under jut
Shoulder bong sequence- high fak- smash and take balance even if the shoulder covers if they only cover by raising shoulder- forward roll with shoulder and sticking with uppper back covers.
Finished w/ 7th section

Workout #3).
GPP
15 min
Jerks-72lb kb, 5r5l
walking lunges 30m
8 rounds each

20 min
Sledgehammer 2 min rounds
Sled drag+133, 60m
6 rounds each

Shoulders have had some volume lately. . .

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min

Workout #2).
Training parner 1 1/2 hr
Poon sao- 20 min
In pak
Lead punch conversion to pak/fak vs/ slip (application of 3rd section), pak/rear punch with other direction slip- focus on pak to freeze feet and slow followup combi
3rd section
Spent some time messing around with some of his thai insights, compare/contrast, working stuff out

Workout #3).
ME EC wk5
Low bar wide stance high box (19")
95x5
135x5
195x5
230x3
275x2
305x1
345x1 belt goes on
365x1
395x1 PR!
415x1 PR!!!

30 lbs over last max on this lift! 2wks ago. Have definitely been using the wrong scheme for RM1.

Rack pull- off 5"platform- a little above mid shin
3x5
403
3min ri

Single leg DL
3x5
66db
1min ri

Pair
Wheel-standing
3x3
Terminal knee extension- red band
3x20

Fair days work. Want to hit the bag some, but am packing for Mexico in AM. Wonder if I can find a squat rack in Akumal. . .

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Back from Akumal,

got a bunch of snorkelling in- hung with some sea turtles and a bad*ss ray.

Tues-
speed bear crawl up the main pyramid at Coba, tablemakers all the way down clutching the rope through an elbow- why do I always forget I hate heights when I see tall things?

Weds
Box squat to bench
10x2
225
45s ri

Speed DL of 3" platform
8x1
290
1min ri

GM
3x6
295
90 s ri

Split squats
5x6
135
1min ri

Thurs
Push press
4x2
205
3.5min ri

Bench
5x5
165
Bent over row
5x5
165
90 s ri between pairs- figured I'd mess around with technique, having a bench to play with

Bradford press
3x6
95

Sick Saturday

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Feeling much better from Saturday/Sunday illness and flight.

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min
Hit 5 1 min intervals alternated w/ 1 min moderate pace in middle of this- felt good.

Workout #2).
Training partner 1hr 15 min
Poon sao 20 min
He started moving in- could feel his connection go when he started moving- pretty cool, his baseline is pretty stable statically now.
Double punches from 4th section 15 min
Some dan chi isolating this stuff- whys and wherefores
Did these working from poon sao idea (grown from poon sao)- trying to bring his stability into his motion
Interesting digression on handfighting in old school thai boxing- he's starting to connect his thai experience with this much better.
Entry and project- 3rd section 2x2 min
Palm from 3rd section entry 2x 2min
Counter to 3rd entry 4x2 min

Workout #3).
DE
Low bar high box wide stance squat + chains
wk #2- 65% new rm1
8x2
270
45 s ri

Speed DL+ chains off 4 1/2" platform- EC wk#6
8x1
290
1 min ri

Seated GM
3x8
155
1min ri
Didn't feel like doing standing GM- worried a bit about pushing it after light week, long plane ride, night of vomitting

Split squats
3x8
135
1min ri

Side bends
3x10
96lbs
alt w/
TKE
3x20

Back in the swing. . .

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Tues,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min, w/ some intervals
10 rounds heavy bag

Workout #2).
Visitor in town plus training partner 3 1/2 hrs
Ground path
stance fundamentals
Static stance drills
Moving stance drills
Leg to leg basics
No hands takedown defense as evolution of above
Thai plum pummel
Relation of above to chi sao/body use
Plum defenses

Weds,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min
Heavy bag 10 rounds

Workout #2).
Private lesson w/ sifu 1+hr
7th section
Jut/punch/kao - find the tension to get the rhythm/shock
Jut-palm
Kao- 3rd set SNT/6thset SNT/huengwat idea
Work single arm
Tok defense-3 variations- *don't* disengage shoulder
-immediate forward jut/gum (small cycle?)- will bounce force back in to disrupt other person
- dead arm, girdle connected
-kao/shan pick a side, countered with punch to create turned tan dar, huen, recycle to 7, or go to 5th, or into 3rd
Free chi sao- stop searching for force
Lift the tan, esp against down force to spread, then drop the sledgehammer

Workout #3).
DE upper
Push press wk1
70%rm1
8x3
145
45 si ri

A1
Floor press
5x5
175-missed last rep of last set- tried to do something with my lat on my left side, lost all power
A2
Bent over row
5x5
175
90s between exercise pairs

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min
Heavy bag 10 rounds

Workout #2).
Private lesson w/ sifu 1hr
7th section - kicking/chi gherk elements.

Got some nice insights into nature of kick/ knee path/usage. Very cool. Fried for rest of day.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Workout #1).
Training partner 1hr 15 min
poon sao 20+ min
kao/shan vs. tok 4x2min
3rd section variations 6x2 min

Workout #2).
ME
Low bar med box squat, wide stance
Started w/ 15" box, went up to 17" as 4" drop seemed drastic
95x5
155x3
225x3
295x2
335x1
345x2
355x1
360x1
Back got tweaky on last rep.
Feeling kinda sick- more short of breath than I should be, feeling weak

Rack pull from 5" box
3x4
403
3min ri

Nose running- definitely sick

Cut rest of workout short.

Workout #3).
Training partner by- 1hr
Poon sao 20min
Gum/lop vs. tok 1x2min
2nd section chicken wing 2x2min
Lop fak from 5th section, defense 2x2 min
Lop fak vs in pak - 8SG- 1x2min feed
kao shan vs tok, counter 6x2min

Cold in full bloom, will skip run to Venice to catch Ernie and crew.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

sick.

Workout #1).
Heavy bag 10 rounds

Workout #2).
Training partners by 3 1/2 hrs
Staff figure eight, high low
double stick high forehand w/ drop back, low backhand w/ step up
empty hand pressure high low as above
Focus mitts- straight, lifting punch
Worked above with footwork swithches to bring out mechanics, them w/ feet same just using hip mechanics
Thai pummel w/ pressure, footwork switched and same
Poon sao w/ pressure
Lat sao- punch to punch technical w/ much pressure
-Jum vs. cross
-jum->gwat vs. cross w/ arm high covering opening
-Bong dar vs gwat dar from above
-In pak
-Bong dar vs. Inpak
Did rap on pak, in pak, in pak as way to train out pak, pak vs. jab (limits, why to do as w/ inpak)
Poon sao- man out on dummy doing in pak progression

Skipped lifting, head running like a stream. . .

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Sunday, Monday- sick

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min
Heavy bag 10 rounds- sticks and kicks

Workout #2).
Private lesson w/ Sifu -1 hr
7th section and free

Still not feeling 100%, skipped lifting for a friend's birthday party. . .

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Still not 100%. . .

Workout #1).
Elliptical
20 min
6x1min intervals 1 min mod pace in the middle

Workout #2).
Private lesson w/ Sifu 1hr
Application of 7th section
More tuning, many reps, going constantly. Some technical gems, but a good bit of sweat.

Workout #3).
DE- bailed on sparring- was s*cking wind after training w/ sifu, feeling kinda like vomitting earlier in evening.
High box (19"), low bar, wide stance + chains
6x2
295
45s ri

Speed DL- EC wk 7
12x1
65%rm1
315
1min ri

Good morning
2x15
225
90s ri

Lunge
3x6
95
1min ri
Time to switch split squats for lunges

A1
Side bends
3x6
106
A2
TKE
3x20

Friend in town crashing for a few days, may get some poon sao in later tonight. . .

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Still with a lingering cold, sore throat, occasional nausea, took it easy

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min, no intervals
Heavy bag 10 rounds, kicks, hands, sticks

Workout #2).
Private lesson w/ sifu 1hr
7th section mixed
Played through 7 using variants, single arm stuff (not paired), running through other sections and melding 7 in (3rd entry transitioning to tie from gum, using tan more like 7 is obnoxious- must work that).

Workout #3).
DE upper
Push press wk2, 75%rm1
8x3
155
45s ri

A1
Floor press
5x5
175
A2
Bent over row
5x5
175
90 s between exercise pairs

5x6 next time. . .

Bradford press
3x6
95

Spent the evening relaxing w/ friend, discussing some Shuia jiao stuff he's been doing- cool to compare with greco- the leg picking skills may be something I have to add to my arsenal as a way to avoid deep level changes- nice series, too.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min
heavy bag 10 rounds

Workout #2).
Guest 1 hr
Applications 5th section chi sao, reps.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Saturday,

St. Patrick's day aftermath- massive flakeout. Hangovers claim many. Friends dropped by after the mariachi band finished covering 'Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash' at 1am, so the drinking began in earnest after midnight. . .

Workout- 1hr
Poon sao w/ house guest
Dummy work
Biu Tze- few times through

Sunday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min
Heavy bag 10 rounds
doing 10 b w squats or lunge variants between rounds for some mobility work

Workout #2).
Training partners by- 2+hrs
Displacement drill
Pulling attack from distance
Cutting punch (application- from distance)
EBMAS lat sao very technical
-programs 1-4, cumulative
-Intro to EBMAS 5th stuff- elbow defenses
-European 5th program- basic lan pak, my favorite version, discussed variants

Decent work.

Haven't been getting my GPP/recovery in lately, need to work to do that.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Monday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min
Heavy bag 10 rounds- 20 k bell swings w/ 36 between rounds

Workout #2).
Training partner by- 2 hrs
Poon sao
Applications - 7th section
Kicking apps
Jut apps for him working on pre-emptive timing and shocking
Prehab/rehab- his knee is tweaky- medial meniscus probably.

Tues,
Training partner by 1 hr
Free chi sao
Poon sao

Lazy- had just escaped the dentist. Houseguest in from Seattle distracting me from training- cool, but off schedule. ..

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min
Heavy bag 10 rounds, mobility stuff between rounds

Workout #2).
Sparring 1hr
Boxing- working looping hook off jab. Getting footwork to keep pressure on and staying tight
Standup from takedown w/ hits (light)
-get elbow back
-lan across hips works almost as well as underhook for old school variant
-double unders from side control- shuck the far arm up w/ underhook to allow myself to post back with elbow and stand
- reflexively attacking w/ knees on standing- good habit
- finally got an outside trip series semi-working

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Thursday,

Elliptical-25 min

Today,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min
Heavy bag 10 rounds, mobility stuff in between

Workout #2).
ME
low bar wide stance box squats, 17" box
4x2
345
4min ri
Felt easy. Lost the groove on a couple, but powered them up. Form came together on last 2 sets. Feels *way* better than last time on this box.

Rack pulls- 4.5" platform
4x5
403
3.5 min ri
Used straps. Could probably handle more weight, but didn't want to push it.
Training partner showed so I skipped my last 2 assist exercises.

Workout #3).
Training partner by -1 1/2 hrs
Tan from distance, 2 timings, from EBMAS lat sao, from chi sao. Working hip linkage w/ tan.
Partner's forearms shredded so has to rearrange training a bit-
Application of 7th section
-tok dar, retreating, and cutting line
Old EWTO 5th program
-lan/pak
-into low shots (2,4)
-head and arm wrapup takedown
-old piercing arms progression through lifting punch and lan counters
-some BT CS overlap stuff

Good to get back on lifting track.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Saturday,

Seminar- Mr. Latosa- 4+ hrs
Working on jamming shots, counterhitting off covering hand
-knife stuff- keep body and arm connected, don't just go w/ arm w/ knife 'cos it cuts- full body power lets you spiral/crash through defensive actions
-explore all options
-Tweak on powering shots- fire rear hip w/ weight drop- may put me up on front toes, serious power jack
-3 jabs- speed, drop it over the top for power, vertical fist (structural crash)- drill vs. pads alternating jab types
-fire going forward, off to eachh side, going back w/ each (skills to develop)
-switch between double and single hand grips on double handed weapons to mess w/ people
-double push/strike when in tight to make room- makes people uncomfortable due to m multiple forces
-free flow hit for hit, all strikes legal, telegraph a bit to feed each other

Bad sunburn from working out on beach on overcast day. Useless for rest of day.

Sunday-
Workout #1).
ME upper
Front press
95x5
110x3
125x2
145x1
160x1
170x1PR
175x1PR
180x X
180x X

12lb PR, not bad, still weak as a kitten w/ pressing

Floor presses in rack (partials)
3x3
205
90 sri

DB press on swiss ball (swore I wouldn't do these until I got a new swiss ball, oh well)
3x8
66lb
1min ri

Workout #2).
GPP

Block #1-15 min
Figure 8 walks 30sR, 30s L w/72lb kbell- 6 rounds
2 k-bell C&J w/ 53lb kbells, as many reps as possible while Hope did 30 double hand swings w/ 36lb kbell
11, 8, 8, 9, 8, 8

Very, very dumb workout to do 1hr after max pressing. Very dumb.

Block #2- 15min
sled-drag +89lb 6 rounds
sledge 90s, 5 rounds

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min

Workout #2).
Training partner 45 min
Pressure release drills
leg to leg
EBMAS lat sao- heavy pressure, positional

Workout #3).
DE
low bar wide stance 15" box + chains wk #1).
10x2
225
45 s ri

low back still beat up from Friday, skipped GMs

Lunges
5x8
95
1 min ri
Felt great- doing these light as hip rehab, am really looking forward to doing heavier single leg work. . .

Side bends
2x15
106
90s ri

TKE
3x20

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Tues,

Workout #1).
Training partner 1 hr
Alternating rounds
Focus mitts
Application
Catch and release from poon sao
lat sao w/ pressure
Now that he's getting some basic body use in, I'm figuring out how to bring some serious spring and forward iout of him- very cool.

Workout #2).
DE upper
Push press wk3
8x3
80%rm1
160
45 s ri

Bradford press
5x6
95
1min ri

DB rows
5x3
106
1min ri

IT band F/E
3x8
1min ri

Workout #3).
Out to si-sok's for class 1hr 45 min
7th section, poon sao and apps
Kao action- elbow down to draw in , then drilling elbow action

Today,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min

Workout #2).
30 min- 2min rounds
sled dragging +89lbs, 8 rounds
Sledgehammer 7 rounds

Workout #3).
Sparring 1hr
Boxing- working pressure, need to double up on shots more. Worked on drawing counter and going lateral. Cutting off ring well.
Kickboxing- legs running nicely. Low kick series playing well.

Timing feels smoother overall, was shelling and playing some good defense then attacking as soon as I felt a break in the pressure, staying on people.

Taking leg kicks when you have DOMS from squatting s*cks.

9 days left as single man. . .

Andrew

[rubthebuddha]

get in as many workouts as you can in the next week days, because you'll run out of time on those last few days. where you goin on the honeymoon?

[AndrewS]

Thurs-

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min
Heavy bag 10 rounds

Workout 2).
Friend by-45 min
worked some of my 7, showed him apps for 5th section, traded some hooks from side control

Today,

Workout- training partner by- 1 hr 45min
Focus mitts 45 min
Chi sao- release drills, various timings, obstructions
alternating w/
Hitting pads working elbow hip coordination (same as in chi sao)

RTB-
I'll take that advice. The honeymoon is a trip through Europe- Florence, Venice, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Istanbul. Should be fun.

Andrew

[rubthebuddha]

sweet plans man. my honeymoon advice? eat. lots. the whole time. that'll give you more reason to hit the weights hard when you return, and you won't feel remiss about missing a chance to experience authentic (insert yummy food here).

[AndrewS]

Saturday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min

Workout #2).
Partner by- brought new fish- 2 1/2 hrs- he did some WC for 5-6 years, appearantly was an instructor. Good physical base from boxing from when he was a kid, hs wrestler, plus yoga. Very enthusiastic, we'll see if he lasts- 5 people in 48 hrs have separately told me they 'want to be my student'- f*ckin' funny- spring is here. If half them make one session, and one hangs, I'll be shocked.

Stance
-static
-moving
-leg to leg
-with kicks
-no hands takedown defense
-pad work
-MB passes using stance to throw ball. into pad work- stance as way of evolving power.

Sunday,
ME
DL
133x5
223x5
263x5
313x3
368x2
413x1
467x1
503x X
503x X
403x1
Had friend by coaching me on form. Dunno if was helpful or not- he had me pushing my shins into the bar-different setup than normal for me. Some good points made, but not pulling quite in the style I've practiced. Very ****ed to miss 500. Will try later this week.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Mon-
Workout
Elliptical 20min
Heavy bag 10 rounds
5 front squats w/ 2 36lb k-bells between each round for hip pop- exercise Russian gave the guy coaching me on my deadlift yesterday (similar build and sticking point)

Tues
Workout #1).
Heavy bag 10 rounds, 5 front squats w/ 2 36lb bells between rounds

Workout #2).
Training partner by 1hr
Lat sao- heavy pressure, very technical
pad work
lat sao w/ changes- heavy pressure

So busy. Garage rained out. So busy. Freakin' rain driving me crazy.

RTB-
I'm right on top of that 'eating' project with my co-conspirator. We have lists of restaurants in Florence, Venice, Prague, and Vienna, and are working on the intel for Budapest and Istanbul (less interested in Athens, frankly). As Hungary is the home of goose foie gras (and I'm Hungarian on my dad's side), there has been much anticipation of the damage to be done in Budapest. Dobos torte. Chestnut puree. Duck. Roast suckling pig. Goose. Goose *cracklings*. And I plan to bring back at least 5 pounds of pistachio brittle from the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul. . .

Mmmmmm.

Thoughts of the honeymoon are all that's keeping me sane right now.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Back in Thursday night.

Friday- Elliptical 30 min.
Couldn't find the time or energy to do more- jetlag is murder.

I think I gained at least 10lbs on the trip and did d*mn near nothing the whole time. I think I'll be subbing in some extra MxS stuff for a few weeks instead of max effort work.

Appearantly the guys have been working with Reza while I've been gone and he's supposed to be a beast- I may catch him on Wensday.

I need to write up my notes on dining in various cities, post to chowhound and link to them for anyone who's interested.

Back in the game.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Saturday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min
Heavy bag 10 rounds- took it pretty easy, just getting used to impact again

Workout #2).
Saturday session- 1 partner by, 3hrs
Escrima- 1hr 15 min
Counter vs. free attacks 4x2min
Some coaching in there on being more pre-emptive, options on handling attacks- box, pass, jam, counter, largo. Partner hadn't really learned passing yet.
Passing drills from point
-vs. #1, #2- decided to do these breaking pattern and timing to liven up the drill- worked pretty nicely. Next time out will also restrict hand use (only L or R for a round). Looking for counters off the pass
-feeder inserting straight shots (light to the head, push to the body- boxing glove next time) w/ #1. #2
Counter vs. free attacks- single stick vs 4 1/2ft heavy rattan 4x2 min
Passing drills vs #3 and #4, as above
Counter vs. free attacks, not breaking to reset and forcing range and timing changes to bring out need for new tool
4x2 min

Need to get helmets, gloves, pad up some sticks.

WT- 1 1/2 hrs
Partner had done a private lesson w/ sifu on 7sg stuff (counters vs. inpak) while I was gone. We reviewed what he had covered and I broke it down and tweaked him around a bit- looks like sifu has a different take on that stuff than a few years back (or maybe I've learned a bit)- hit a bunch of reps- on each, broke into dan chi to tweak some specifics.

Workout #3).
DL-conventional from floor, 90s ri
223x5
318x4
403x1
423x3
403x3
423x1
403x3
423x1

Was going to try to do a 10x3 with 423 w/ 90s ri- body started laughing at me. Maybe 403 next week, have lost considerable strength. Still, some nice work, felt good to move some weight.

Front press 90s ri
45x5
95x5
125x5
125x5
125x5
125x3
125x3
Couldn't make 5 reps on the last 2 sets- weak as h*ll. Late workout and relatively high training volume for day probably didn't help, but at least I got a start on moving again.

Andrew

[stricker]

hey andrew good to see you back man hope you & hope had an awesome time!

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min

Workout #2).
Walking lunges w/ 36lb k-bell pressed overhead, 25 m (switch after each trip)
Uppercut cleans w/ 36lb kb, 15r15l
Hot potato w/ 36 lb kb 20
6 rounds in 20 min
Had to take 2 min rest after the 4th round, a minute + after the 5th to be able to keep going. Lung buster. Lunges with a weight pressed overhead on one side are brutal. Had to ice my biceps afterwards from the combination of the stabilization from the press followed by uppercuts, brutal.

Workout #3).
Sled dragging +89lbs
12 rounds in 20 min
Worked on oblique activation on waist drags natural gait and shuffling, did neck both ways, and arms overhead forward and back- nice shoulder work.

Can feel how much my work capacity has fallen.

Jon,

the trip was awesome- I had an absolute blast. Looks like you're doing nicely trying to train through your injury. You may not want to be shy about pressing and pulling with your good arm and developing imbalances; there's good evidence that unilateral work will have crossover training effects on the unused side, hence some coaches will have an athlete work the uninjured limb fairly rigorously in order to maintain strength in the injured limb during recovery. Consider doing some grip work while your upper body work is limited, too, maybe you can walk out of this able to bend a nail or two.

Later,

Andrew

P.S. I'll try to get those discs you left in my car sent off to you this week, sorry I haven't gotten to that yet.

[stricker]

andrew,

good to hear you had a good time, i bet the restaurants and markets are still recovering :p. hmmm im doing so so trying to train... im a bit directionless things keep messing me about, normally im forced into a routine by mma training. anyway ive been pressing the kb again ive missed that. the shoulders got way better, still cant jab, but some slow weight work is ok. OH pressing works ok, frontal or rowing doesnt, and it cant take the pressure to get doing bw pull ups yet. oh yeah and jeeezus christ knows how i ended up with a torn labrum. i see the surgeon on friday...

cheers for the cds id forgotten, again no problem dude i know you were super busy. youve just reminded me of something...

cheers, jon.

[sihing]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20 min

Workout #2).
Walking lunges w/ 36lb k-bell pressed overhead, 25 m (switch after each trip)
Uppercut cleans w/ 36lb kb, 15r15l
Hot potato w/ 36 lb kb 20
6 rounds in 20 min
Had to take 2 min rest after the 4th round, a minute + after the 5th to be able to keep going. Lung buster. Lunges with a weight pressed overhead on one side are brutal. Had to ice my biceps afterwards from the combination of the stabilization from the press followed by uppercuts, brutal.

Workout #3).
Sled dragging +89lbs
12 rounds in 20 min
Worked on oblique activation on waist drags natural gait and shuffling, did neck both ways, and arms overhead forward and back- nice shoulder work.

Can feel how much my work capacity has fallen.


Interesting how the best things for us are always hard to achieve concerning effort, and the easiest to lose when we have to take a break. Nature's/God's way of the survival of the fittest.

James

[Kevin Bell]

Yo Andrew,

You apply westside priciples to your Wing Chun as well?

Congrats on getting married as well didnt get chance to email you back hectic couple of weeks

[AndrewS]

5/15

Workout #1).
Elliptical 25 min
Heavy bag 10 rounds

Workout #2).
Partner by 1 1/2 hrs
Focus mitts 5x2min each, 1min rest between rounds
Thinking about conditioning after talking about one of Robert's sessions w/ Ernie- it would be nice to stretch the round length out and add some low rep explosive stuff into the rounds or the rest intervals (turning the rounds into active recovery)

Stick defense empty hand vs. 4 1/2 ft 2" rattan, playing range and messing around, overhead and lateral

Chi sao- 2nd section- emphasize change in motion

Free chi sao

5/16

Workout #1).
Elliptical 25 min
K-bell swings w/ 53 15r/15l
7 rounds in 10min

Workout #2).
Farmer's walks w/ 2 53lb k-bells, 50m
7 rounds in 10 min- grip fried

Climbed out of shower and L upper arm had significant edema, approx 1/2" larger than R, strength and ROM preserved, but pain on straightening after prolonged flexion. ACE wrapped- suspect partial biceps muscle or proximal tendon tear. No 'popeye sign', but edema very worrisome. Motherf*cker. I did *not* want an injury right now.

James,

True to an extent, though work capacity isn't the hardest thing for me to get. While rates of decay of strength and speed have been quantified, my sense is that the longer you have had a an attribute (strength, speed, endurance, flexibility, etc.) the easier it is to regain it after a layoff.

Kev,

Westside and Wing Chun? Not really. I've messed around with a speed day and a strength day when teaching to some extent, but not extensively, due to the schedules of the folks I have to work with- I need 2 days a week consistantly and certain core skills to be in place before I can even do 'strength' work with someone (heavy pressure chi sao), likewise speed stuff. I suppose what I do is more like complex training once I have someone developed a bit- warmup w/ review, new material, then cycles of explosive, pressure, and technical stuff. The things I try to stress more are technical development of mechanics used at 'real' time, with some randomness thrown in to create unstable conditions and teach awareness, timing, and adaption. What are you playing with?

BTW- Congratulations, I heard things went well.

Andrew

[Kevin Bell]

it was more skill work. planning personalised training for students at their current level, with main skill work assistant skill work and so on.. so could be CK, then practice first section a few times, then moving on to pivoting and punching pads then integrating the concepts in Chi Sau etc.

Yeah cheers mate things went well, 37 seconds, not quite as easy as last time but sucessful none the less.

Any new S&C literature your reading?

Check out Martin Rooney's stuff if you get a chance

[stricker]

yup the rooney dvd has stuff like rounds on thai pads in between sets of oly lifts.

[AndrewS]

Wens-
Elliptical 30min

Thurs-
off

Fri-
Workout #1).
Elliptical 20min

Workout #2).
Training partner by 1 1/2 hrs
Lat sao working on high/low pressure, how openings in one are capitalized on w/ the other
Leg to leg
Leg work from section 5 to bring out some leg to leg stuff

Workout #3).
Sled-dragging+89, 50m
10 rounds in 10 min

Arm a little tweaky after the last two workouts but *way* better. Will baby it for a couple of weeks while sliding back into conditioning to avoid further injury. No grappling for at least 6 weeks, think I found a nice place to do some thai boxing nearby.

Kev,

you have a first section? Or is a fragment of someone describing one of my practices floating into your post somehow.

Jon,

I'll check out the Martin Rooney thing- I've heard much good about it. BTW- many thanks for the gift, I'll watch it over the weekend.

Andrew

[Kevin Bell]

Yep the form, at least the way "we" view it, can be looked at as having three sections. My thought behind the question was that if westside means and methods can produce results in terms of S&C could the same logic be applied to fighting skill training? Thought you may have experimented with the idea.

BTW you checked out the "prowler" on elite yet?

[AndrewS]

Sat,

WT- 45 min
Alternating rounds of ATG long pole thrusts, dummy work, BT. Opening up hips.

Sun,
Partner by 1 1/2 hr escrima
Alternated rounds of cob cob double stick work w/ double stick roof attack and outside defense into disarms

Goofing off while my arm gets some rehab time. I think holding the KB overhead using the biceps as a stabilizer, fatiguing them, followed by the throwdowns w/ the uppercuts (decelerating the bell in the extended position is what messed me up)- no grappling free for at least 6 wks, and I'm going to go easy on pulling for 2-4wks.

Weird few days- saw Lawrence Fishburne at dinner Thursday, caught opening night of See No Evil w/ friend who directed it, wound up out drinking w/ another buddy last night watching him Iron Chef as sous chef to Ludovic Lefevre. LA is doing some sort of strange display.

Kev,

Got it- first section CK, not first section chi sao (which, incidentally is CK stuff).

I've toyed with the idea of speed and power days, but for my own training I don't have anyone to give me 'max' effort as a partner drill consistantly, and the guys I'm coaching aren't quite efficient enough to get the work in. I'm starting to get to the point where they know the basic drills and have the fundamentals down enough to do a speed day and a strength day for at least one of them, and I think there could be some benefit there. Westside works for developing several qualities at once- there are limits to this, though, I think. Strength-endurance and VO2 max don't figure into the westside template quite as well, and when you add significant volumes of sparring and partner work, 4x wk lifting may be too much to recover from, especially with extra workouts on top. I'm trying to figure out what to do next, training-wise and the tier system is appealing, as it's essentially complex-conjugate work.

Andrew

[Neo]

Hi Andrew, been looking around for what you mentioned - would you be looking at Joe Kenn's work? Picked up some stuff recently on program design and SAID by JC Santana and Rhadi Ferguson as I'm working on training on judo grading competitions at mo, seems pretty good stuff. Linear periodisation I guess but seems to have worked well for me. Have you seen much coverage of their stuff in the US? Started doing a Westside program but found I was getting knackered with all the other sessions, and fitting in endurance, particularly after a hard judo session.

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 30 min

Workout #2).
Partner by- WT 1 1/2 hrs
Focus mitts, 5x2 min rounds, 10 MB passes during RI, 12lb for me, 6 for him. Going to gradually convert this part of the workout to more severe conditioning.

Kicking
-yup and counter
-bong and counter
-counter off initial kick to counter kick
Messing with motion- will start to pull this into free leg work as partner's knee permits.

Poon sao
technical 4x2 min
Free chi sao to cool off.

Alasdair,

yup, it's Kenn's stuff I'm eyeing now. I can see the rationale for his program design, now I need to print it out and take pen and paper and see if I can put something together.

I'm going to take a second look at Defranco's stuff as it's designed for people playing a sport, instead of the 'pure' 4 day westside model.

I know who Rhadi Ferguson is, but I haven't looked at his programs- everything works for a while done properly.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Elliptical 20min
Heavy bag 10 rounds

Arm feeling ok, a little tweaky on hooks, lifting punches.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Wens-
Elliptical 30 min
Heavy bag 10 rounds, mobility between rounds

Thurs-
Training with some of the new TG crop in the park 1 1/2hr
Ran through BT a few times, bunch of free chi sao w/ some kicking, tried to stay out of clinch work to spare my arm, did some coaching on tying feet and hands together.

Feeling like a slug.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Friday-
Workout #1).
Training partner by 1hr
Double punch portion of 4th section, dan chi from this on balance beam
Alternating rounds-
Lat sao w/ heavy pressure, focusing on pressure at legs and arms both, using one to make openings in other
leg work from section 5

Workout #2).
Training partner by- 1 1/2 hr
leg to leg
heavy pressure lat sao, 5(?) rounds, fairly rough, trying to bring out aggression and pressure
Poon sao
lop dar/tan dar from 4th section, working on bringing out aggressive 'tan'

Felt pretty good, got some nice work in.

Saturday-
Partners by- 3 hrs
Escrima 1 1/2 hr
Double sticks
-vs. #1
-vs. #2, plus check smash to recenter
-vs. #3, above, feeder drops back on the check, messing with direction to force following
Free attacks, 2min rounds, one man defends, other two alternate, used single stick, double stick, staff so we all rotated through using each weapon in each role

WT
Poon sao (man out doing CKx2, once without arms)-basic attacks
pummelling- using low bong to shuck over pummel for underhook, going for punch from low bong or fak to neck control to open for followup shots, broke out belly pad for a few rounds, went with some light strikes to head from both sides to keep awake. Did 6+ 2min rounds, followed with dan chi- low bong/punch/fak/tan/shan (the technical abstraction of the application)- this is the way to teach this dan chi and idea- got *much* nicer body mechanics out of my partner all through and some real intent w/ his dan chi. Excellent.

Today's lifting- 13lb rib roast for the grill tommorrow.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Sunday,

Elliptical, 25min
Heavy bag 10 rounds, bw squats or lunges during RI

Mon,

Training partner by- 1hr
Heavy pressure lat sao 10x2 min rounds
Leg to leg focusing on 'sitting' to get knee pressure.
Starting to make some breakthroughs on his stance, feel like I'm hooked up a bit better, too.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Tues,
Workout #1).
Heavy bag 8 rounds, 20 MB passes/slams between rounds
Partner by 1hr
Lat sao- heavy pressure, 8 rounds
Working on legs for 5th, got into 5th entry a bit, found a piece to work on.

Workout #2).
Partner by, 1 1/2hr
Focus mitts- 5 rounds, MB passes between rounds. Kept mouthpiece in.
Reps- pak dar, various footwork, vs. stiff guard, created necessity for 4th section entry, showed mechanics of 4th section entry.

Wens-
Did a friend a favor and played a bodyguard in her movie.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Thurs,

Workout#1)
Elliptical 25 min

Workout #2).
Training partner by 1hr
Heavy pressure lat sao- 10 rounds
Kicking from 5th section

Fri,
Elliptical-25min
Training partner by-1hr
Heavy pressure lat sao 6 rounds
Free motion drills- stalking/closing 4 rounds
Heavy pressure chi sao 4 rounds

Gotta get my lift back on.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Saturday-
Elliptical 20min
Sick. Still doing poorly from Wens. Barely made it through a light 20 min.

Sun-
Workout #1).
Elliptical
25min
Heavy bag 10 rounds

Workout #2).
Training partner by- 2hr
Poon sao- position/pressure, 20 min
Low fook to dissolve palm, overextend heavy pressure tan
High fook to solve attacking tan
Basic attacks on the wall, heavy- 4x2min
Pad work- combis from old self-defense stuff

Mon-

Workout#1).
Elliptical 25min
Heavy bag 10 rounds, all kicking
During rest intervals, 5 rounds 10 bw squat variations focus on mobility, then OH squats with bar, sets of 5. Could feel my L arm being a little off after these.

Workout #2).
Partner by 2hr
Thai pads 5x2min
MB passes, 5r5l during RI
4th entry focusing on body position-no grabbing- getting rear hip in
Live rounds 6x2min
Using 4th entry mechanics vs. jab
Boxed a couple of light rounds to tie together at end.

Decent work.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Workout#1).
Elliptical-30min. Did some intervals yesterday, so took it easy today
heavy bag-10x2min rounds, 1min ri
Full contact twists+25lb plate, 10 reps (alternating), going down to kneeling position, during rest intervals- these are basically a twisting lunge+ push press. More glut and less waist than standing variant- very cool- keeper exercise

Workout #2).
Sled-drag+89lbs, 50m x10 rounds
alternating with OH squats- worked up to 95x5. Hips feel nice and open on bottom, knee doing ok.

Taking it easy and concentrating on ROM and staying healthy, not piling on weight an picking up another injury.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Wens-
Workout #1).
Eliptical 25min (intervals)

Workout #2).
Rodney King Seminar- 2hrs

Thurs-
Workout #1).
Elliptical 20min

Workout #2).
Rodney King 2hrs


Seminar notes-
Focus on basic drivers- defense (CM), tight economical structure, balance. This is CM1. When in trouble in ring, refocus on basics- holes in basics create opportunities for you to get hurt. Keep tight and stay focused, looking for opportunities, avoiding mistakes.

Bad footwork/balance habits can create wild punching and arm position- unrecognized mistakes in one place can be the source of other problems.

Shadowbox with your eyes closed to cultivate awareness of balance and flow.

Thumbs on your head when you have boxing gloves on (palms for MMA gloves).

CM2- Drive with the ****hest foot when stepping, don't reach with the closest. Circle when someone comes in. When circling to the power side, go lateral and *backward* to set up a cross angle- just circling brings you into power hand.
-don't stand up when you punch ('defend the ninjas'- stay tight, like in corridor)
-fire from motion, move after you fire
-always fire a long shot after a short one or after a series of short shots (when space breaks)
-return to the head after going to the body
-shovel hook tight (from a setup) off hand on head, firing shoulder on chin

CM3-When the bind occurs, how to break it (pure Latosa) and break balance- keep hand on head, turn, fire other hand, or drop and drive, fire

Break balance on an 'X' related to plane of structural integrety

CM4- Push/punch on X to set up for followup- essentially the man/lan attacks I've been doing including my 5th section apps since I've started playing around with folks using CM. Funny.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Elliptical-25min- did some intervals (1min hard 1min rest) in the middle
heavy bag 10x2min- kicking
Lunge variant FCT+25lbsx10 during ri
kb-36lb- swings, alternating 20x5

Think I've figured out my lifting plan for the next few months- a tweaked version of WSSB.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Workout #1).
Escrima 2hrs
Power hitting and figure 8 mechanics
Roof attack and above
Using more body (strapped partner's arm to his body so he had to use just body)
Same in straight punches
Shoulder check during zoned forehand shots to bring out weight drop
Forward check from CM
Forward check from CM into straight shots
Same mechanics - figure 8 drills double stick, focus mitts, staff, from point footwork, on point, big and small.

Think it sunk in.

Workout #2).
RE upper body
Bench
DB floor press
Chinups
Curls

Pathetic. But at least it's a start.

Andrew

[stricker]

SB???? :D:D:D:D you gonna be favouring more skills/general conditioning over weights? or is it just easing back into the weights after time off/injury?

[AndrewS]

Sun-
Elliptical 30min

Mon -
Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min + intervals
Heavy bag -10 rounds, 2min, 1min ri
Did sets of 5 overhead squats between rounds, 45-65lbs, very light, just working mobility, only adding weight when pops and crackles stop

Workout #2).
Partner by 1 1/2hr
Focus mitts 5x2min, 1min ri, MB passes during ri
2nd section, reps
Free attacks from poon sao, minimal resistance, max speed
Above, counter during attacks to make attacker flow off counter (or get popped)
4th entry

Workout #3).
20min
K-bell swings (alt) 36lbs, 30 reps- 8 rounds
Sled drag+70lbs, 9 rounds

Feeling pretty good.

Jon,

There are several things going on with this- I'm starting fellowship, so a 3 day a wk lifting schedule + extra workouts is a good thing for me to have going; I am trying to ease back into things after a layoff and injury, figuring that I don't want to go nuts and pickup *another* injury; I could use some upper body mass/strength as I'm *way* behind there, and this should be a quick way to bring that up. Additionally this lets me dodge ballistic pulling and deceleration for a while, letting me baby my bicep.

Andrew

[Kevin Bell]

Andrew.

Did i see the word "Bench" in there?

[AndrewS]

Hey Kev,

yeah, I just bought a bench (and cleaned and reorganized the garage gym). A buddy of mine is doing a bench/DL contest in November and I'm thinking of joining him if I can at least hit bodyweight by then. I'm trying to learn a proper PL style bench in hopes of beating up my shoulders less in the process.

Andrew

[Kevin Bell]

Cool mate, is your boy going equipped or raw?

I'm sure you'll hit bodyweight sometime soon, so i've heard some of the elitefts and the westside dvd's are pretty concise on bench mechanics, havent got them myself but KevM could give you a pretty good review. Funny you going bench, curiosity is finally getting the better of me and i'm looking at putting overhead KB stuff into my wsfsb template. Seeing Jon talking with such enthusiasm about you're exercises kinda fired me up and i've decided after sitting on the fence, whilst all the debate of the pro's and con's of overhead lifting, to give it a go. Gonna have a read through some of my Pavel stuff for a start point

[stricker]

andrew,

does the fellowship mean more humane hours or less??

kev,

the steve cotter dvds 1&2 go into some of the benefits of OH stuff really well but andrews the man for the push press\jerk punch connection. i'll email you later tonight as i now have access to a special kind of dvd drive ;)

[AndrewS]

Tues-
Workout#1),
Training partner 1 1/2 hr
Stalking drills, into crashing from stalking
Kicking from stalking- playing around with kicking mechanics
Lat sao- heavy pressure + pushes
Gotta start showing 2nd program as just responses to pushes- much easier to get results

Workout #2).
ME upper
Bench to 5rm
DB bench (did these unilaterally)
Bent over BB row
Bent over DB flies
SWBC w/ some weight

Wens- Rest

Kev-
My friend is using a deadlift suit, no bench shirt. I've got the EFS bench index, which breaks things down pretty well, but I need to find a place with some monsters lifting who can help me, as there's no substitute for some coaching.

I love overhead work- I'd recommend doing some figure 8 walks to start along with some windmills and bent-presses to build shoulder girdle stability, flexibility, and muscular endurance before going too nuts on trying to press mad weight. Also, I think there's wisdom in trying to keep working on pressing at the same time as push-pressing or jerking, figuring that if you're moving much more weight around explosively than you can handle otherwise, you may be more likely to buy yourself an injury.

Jon,

Different, depending on the month. On the whole more humane.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Workout #1).
Si-sok's 'technician class' 1 1/2 hrs
Going through sections.
Lop/fak to pak fak, defense from 3rd section
Had me show people apps for jut dar from 4th section

Workout #2).
ME lower
Lunges- worked up to 3RM (3l,3r), did a back off set.
Front squats- went light, hips felt great
Good mornings
Squat walkout- 15 seconds, 405lbs
Grip- holds w/ RTDL handle
TKEs for prehab

Hips felt awesome.

Andrew

[Kevin Bell]

I love overhead work- I'd recommend doing some figure 8 walks to start along with some windmills and bent-presses to build shoulder girdle stability, flexibility, and muscular endurance before going too nuts on trying to press mad weight. Also, I think there's wisdom in trying to keep working on pressing at the same time as push-pressing or jerking, figuring that if you're moving much more weight around explosively than you can handle otherwise, you may be more likely to buy yourself an injury.


A kind hearted person is sending me some Steve Cotter DVD KB stuff so that should be a good starting point and thanks for the advice.

What do you mean find some monsters to work with? You are a frickin monster.

[AndrewS]

Friday,
Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min+ intervals

Workout #2).
Tattoo- 2 1/2 hrs + 1 1/2 hrs for my wife to get hers. We now have the outlines for tribal dragons done by this very nice guy <zulutattoo.com>, who may be up for learning some WT.

Sat,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20min
Heavy bag 10x2min, 1min rest, all stick work, w/ level changes and head motion
During ri- sets of 6 OH squats, bar->65lbs for last 3 sets. Hips opening.

Workout #2).
Training partner by -2hrs
WT 1 1/2 hrs
Poon sao- technical, 4x2.5min rounds, working on tan immediately attacking as chan, high fook/punch as defense
Chi sao- free- banging a little 4x 3min
Pummelling- spent the next 1/2 hr on this, working low bong to defend pummel for underhook to either low hit or fak/off balance
Dan chi of above
Focus mitts 3x2min each

Escrima 1/2 hr
Figure 8 body mechanics for hitting, getting the arm out.

Workout #3).
Friend dropped by and we spent the next 3hrs hanging out and sharing stuff.
He showed me some basic club-bell stuff for shoulder mobility and upper back strength, side snatches (snatch out to lateral lunge), 2-kbell shoulder girdle stretch- bells overhead, let them move back a bit, hold for 3-5 count for stretch/strengthening, as well as some medieval weapons work mechanics, and playing w/ his CoC #, while I broke out the RTDL handle for timed holds, and spent rather a while tweaking the punching mechanics he's learning with some Southern Praying Mantis which were frustrating him horribly.

Meant to do RE Upper today, but looks like that's off until tommorrow.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Friday,
Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min+ intervals

Workout #2).
Tattoo- 2 1/2 hrs + 1 1/2 hrs for my wife to get hers. We now have the outlines for tribal dragons done by this very nice guy <zulutattoo.com>, who may be up for learning some WT.

Sat,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20min
Heavy bag 10x2min, 1min rest, all stick work, w/ level changes and head motion
During ri- sets of 6 OH squats, bar->65lbs for last 3 sets. Hips opening.

Workout #2).
Training partner by -2hrs
WT 1 1/2 hrs
Poon sao- technical, 4x2.5min rounds, working on tan immediately attacking as chan, high fook/punch as defense
Chi sao- free- banging a little 4x 3min
Pummelling- spent the next 1/2 hr on this, working low bong to defend pummel for underhook to either low hit or fak/off balance
Dan chi of above
Focus mitts 3x2min each

Escrima 1/2 hr
Figure 8 body mechanics for hitting, getting the arm out.

Workout #3).
Friend dropped by and we spent the next 3hrs hanging out and sharing stuff.
He showed me some basic club-bell stuff for shoulder mobility and upper back strength, side snatches (snatch out to lateral lunge), 2-kbell shoulder girdle stretch- bells overhead, let them move back a bit, hold for 3-5 count for stretch/strengthening, as well as some medieval weapons work mechanics, and playing w/ his CoC #, while I broke out the RTDL handle for timed holds, and spent rather a while tweaking the punching mechanics he's learning with some Southern Praying Mantis which were frustrating him horribly.

Meant to do RE Upper today, but looks like that's off until tommorrow.

Kev,

Eh, I'm small, weak, and poorly conditioned, with lousy relative strength. If, by the time I'm 40, I walk around at 250 w/ a 500lb squat, 600lb dead, 350lb bench, 300lb front press, 250lb OH squat, 300lb power clean, can do 100 k-bell snatches w/ a 53, then we start to talk monster. Until then, I'm just a guy trying to get a little better.

Andrew

[Kevin Bell]

Kev,

Eh, I'm small, weak, and poorly conditioned, with lousy relative strength. If, by the time I'm 40, I walk around at 250 w/ a 500lb squat, 600lb dead, 350lb bench, 300lb front press, 250lb OH squat, 300lb power clean, can do 100 k-bell snatches w/ a 53, then we start to talk monster. Until then, I'm just a guy trying to get a little better.

Andrew

Small, weak and poorly conditioned?? Mate my bench is 264 pounds, my deadlift is 418 pounds and my squat is 330 pounds now that is bodering on the ridiculously pathetic so dont feel to bad :)

[Mr Punch]

Bordering maybe...

This IS ridiculously pathetic! (http://martial.best.vwh.net/forum/showthread.php?p=684299#post684299) ;)

[AndrewS]

Today,

RE Upper
Bench- 3sets to failure, 60 s ri
DB floor press 4x10
Chins- did a bunch of singles and doubles- the extra 10lbs is killing me
Bradford press- 2x12, 1x5
BB curls 3x8

Summer cold kicking in hard during workout- did worse than last week. When time comes, I'm gonna add some db flies to presses in for an assist exercise on ME day- they look fun.

Kev, Mat

Point taken. I just know how much room I've got to grow and am hoping to tap some local resources to help push me a bit at some point.

Andrew

[dainos]

Small, weak and poorly conditioned?? Mate my bench is 264 pounds, my deadlift is 418 pounds and my squat is 330 pounds now that is bodering on the ridiculously pathetic so dont feel to bad :)
:confused: whats wrong with you guys? are you power lifters or something?
kevin is already stronger then i want to ever be. im sticking to my routine

[Kevin Bell]

Dainos,

Not a powerlifter per se, more a follower of eastern bloc methods of concurrent/complex periodisation.

I've got a feeling if i really wanted to up my figures i'd stop my conditioning training days. Short of taking pharmaceutical enhancements, which is a road i've forsaken due to the health implications associated with anabolic/androgenics, i'm happy bumbling along getting better at my own pace. Cant speak for Andrew but the day i discovered the WSB method was somewhat of an epiphany and whilst others waste their time on "non functional resistance training machines" with the belief that aesthetics equal perfomance i'm just happy knowing i'm training correctly :)

[AndrewS]

Mon-Wens- Brutal summer cold. Spent the whole time on the couch

Thurs-
ME-lower
Lunges -worked up to a 3rm, then did a backoff set to keep the volume up
Front squats- 4x10, 90 s ri, hips felt good, form felt decent
Good mornings 3x6, 90 s ri
RTDL timed holds w/ 89 lbs- improved overall
TKE 3x20
MB roll for IT band.

Felt decent.

Dainos,

no, (and I will speak for Kev here) we're people who consider themselves athletes, and as such compare ourselves and set our goals based on our knowledge of other athletes and training. I'm not looking for numbers that would raise eyebrows attached to anyone in my weightclass playing collegiate level American football, wrestling, or throwing.

Andrew

[Kevin Bell]

Nicely put Andrew, didnt want you to think i was cutting in on you're show. Get well soon mate

[dainos]

you do your thing and have fun while your doing it. but theres no way im doing it.
laters:D

[AndrewS]

Friday-

Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min
Heavy bag 10x2min rounds, 1min rest
OH squats each ri, 6 reps, worked up to a mighty 75lbs from the bar- only adding weight when a set felt near-perfect.

Workout #2).
72lb kb- 20 double hand swings
53lb kb- 20 alternating swings
36lb kb- 10r 10l swings
sled-drag +114lbs, 50m

4 rounds in 14min.

Sat-
In ACLS all day. Gotta get certified to teach this so I don't get stuck in these freakin' classes.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Sun-
RE Upper
BB bench- 3 sets max reps
DB floor press
Chins- hit some singles- maybe should do a workout of eccentrics
Bradford press
bb curls
Ab circut- dead bug, leg lower, wheel, mb slam- 3x through

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Mon-
Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min
Dummy 10x2min
Shoulder mobility during ri

Workout #2).
Training partner-3hrs
Takedowns from over/under
Recognizing/reversing takedown- getting a hook in on the way down
Some light free grappling
Poon sao- projection drill
project +change
3rd entry

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Tues-
Elliptical-25min

Weds-
Workout #1)
AM mobility/bw work- 10min

Workout #2).
Training partner by- 1 1/2 hr
Poon sao- working on cleaning basic rolling/ making tan aggressive, first suppressing w/ low fook then covering attack w/ high fook
Pulling attack
3rd entry- mechanics
Fook/gum/fak interaction
kao/fak defense
Interspersed rounds of free chi sao w/ above, focusing on reminding partner of new tools just worked on (isolate than intergrate)

Workout #3).
ME-upper
Worked up to 3rm bp (same wt as 1rm last week), backed off to 5rm
db bench- 4x10
bent over bb row 4x10
rear delt fly- 2x15
swiss ball crunch + db 4x10

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

OH squat 45-85lbsx6 reps, set every 2minx 10, sledge work during rest

Sled-drag+114x50m
Figure 8 walk +53lb kb, 30s LR
5 rounds

Today,
Workout #1).
Partner by- 1hr 15min
Poon sao- position by position, 4x4min, focus on pressure, tan attack, fook control options
Mixed rounds of free chi sao, feeding skills worked on to partner, keeping him working where he could be aggressive and ride the edge of coming apart without spending too much time over it, while I worked getting crisper and running the table, with showing the two intro attacks from 3rd section, and rounds of reps of them.

Workout #2).
ME lower
Lunge- 3rm, unable to break last wks 3rm, time to change exercises
Front squat 3x8, up in wt
GM 3x8
RTDL holds- worse than last wk.

Think the prior day's OH squats and sledge work fatigued me, along with the WT right before lifting. I'll try to do that stuff as recovery after ME-lowe in the future.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Training partner by- 2hrs
Poon sao-position by position
Free chi sao-interspersed rounds, going pretty aggressive
Catch and release
Lat sao- 5th program- intro to elbow defenses
4th program- vs. hooks and uppercuts
All free, cumulative

Today,
RE upper
BB bench 3xmax reps
db floor press 4x8
chins- did 4 sec eccentrics
bradford press 3x12
bb curl 3x8

Not much work done this weekend- impromptu party Friday night killed momentum.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Mon-
Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min

Workout #2).
Training partner by 1 1/2 hr
Closing drills w/ focus mitts, working on adjusting to moving target on the close
Projection drill from closing w/ angle change on close
3rd entry
Bong sao development drill (spring action)
Free chi sao rounds

Tues-
Elliptical -25min
Social obligations killed rest of day

Weds-
off

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20min- did some 1min intervals in the middle 10min
kb swings-36lb 15r15l
kb split jerks 36lb 10r 10l
3 rounds


Workout #2).
ME Lower
Bulgarian squat- 3rm
Front squat 4x8
RDL 3x10
Timed grip work
MB rolls

Workout #3)
Dummy -3min
Lunge FCT+35lbs 16 (altRL)
5 rounds

Interesting work with the dummy- feeling how to time and connect motion on low bong ->man, kwan-> tan + low palm (line up and time striking force to get tan angles, feel, upper back connection), messed with biu jut a bit.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical-20min
kb-53lbs- swings 30(alternating RL)
kb-36lbs Swings (15R15L)
3 rounds w/ some TKEs

Workout #2).
Training partner by 1hr 15min
Crashing, pulling attack from various leads (no C2 beginning)
Mixed
- focus mitt work on moving back on an angle w/ freeing hand/jut punch
-defense to 4th entry- freeing hand jut
-footwork as plyo - punch on the way back, double punches bouncing in- same foot work as moving back on angle w/ rear leg then firing a rear shot- floor is hot

Party today. . .

Andrew

[Mr Punch]

-footwork as plyo - punch on the way back, double punches bouncing in- same foot work as moving back on angle w/ rear leg then firing a rear shot
Glad to see others do this kind of work. I'm always using this kind of thing on the bag, shadow boxing and with partners.

You're LT lineage aren't you? Isn't stepping back sacriligious?! ;) And do you follow the no-hip-turn line of thinking? If so, how do you get power into your back-stepping punches?

Not taking the p!ss, genuinely wondering, always interested in how others practice.

Edit: you have a lot of parties mate, what are you, a stripper?! :D

[AndrewS]

Saturday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min

Workout #2).
RE Upper
DB bench 3sets
skull crushers 4x8
Eccentric chins 4x3
bb curl 3x10

Sun,

Training partners by- 2hrs
Stalking drill
- maintain range
- feeder gives attack, crash and displace
-feeder gives attack, counters

Crashing drill- both come in, one cuts the angle mid-motion and displaces
-from front stance
-from C2
Focus on not falling out w/ back leg

Pulling attack from poon sao vs. person coming in (presssure response)- focus on *not* moving back foot, cut angle and fire
Man out working same on dummy

Decent day's work.

Matt,

Stepping back isn't sacriligious in LT line; it's simply something most people don't understand or practice. I've been shown 7 star foot work (knife footwork) by LT in '97 at the first US fighter camp to go back and bounce in to dissolve and return force, and angling footwork going back by Kernspect in 2000, derived from the dummy. Add to this many examples and ideas from sifu Emin, Mr. Latosa, and my experience, and I can say I don't find backwards footwork lacking. If I go forward but compromise myself by collapsing or overextending, have I really gone forwards? If I go back and find an open angle while eating space and maintaining my optimum body use, have I really gone back?

The no-hip turn thing- I'm a little fuzzy on what you mean here. Are you asking if I use the circle parallel to ground (stance turning component) to twist and evolve power, as opposed to the sagital plane circle (forward walking), or coronal pane (more complicated), if so, then yes as I can, according to what I'm given, along with several other power sources.

Basically, what I try to train to evolve power when I go back is to go back on an angle to the place where when I plant I can put force on someone with my whole body, dropping my weight, connecting up my body aggressively, and bring my hip in to square up- so I'm in a left lead and go back, I could angle to my right as I went back, going slightly less far back than the other person came in, planting and twisting my right hip in as I angle back to try to power a shot (and jut/kao/jum) which loads me to drive in with my next hit. Does that make sense/jibe with what you're doing?

As to the parties- the vision of me as a stripper is making most of the folks who've met me claw their eyeballs out right now. LA is a fun town to live in, and I know a bunch of good people who like to have a good time - with 'good time' ranging from people who like to put on full armor and grapple with knives, to folks playing out in bands , to folks who like to use a bullwhip to knock the 18 gauge needles off of someone's back, hang from hooks, cook using liquid nitrogen, hold a 'Barbarian Thanksgiving' [no utensils, no words greater than one syllable, and be prepared to for the food fight], drink ****tails with nude models scattered around the room and invite local artists over to do works based on the models during the party. Given the amount of fun available in LA, I'm basically a model of domesticity. ;-)



Andrew

[Mr Punch]

Matt,

Stepping back isn't sacriligious in LT line; it's simply something most people don't understand or practice. I was being facetious, and it's nice to hear about your experiences. Of course my facetiousness is based on my experiences and I think you know from PMs most of the LT guys I've practised with... and they've mostly been useless going back, and have always looked shocked when I even mentioned drills involving a backwards direction!

I wonder what your 7 star footwork is... I've never done knife but I've been shown bits and bobs of the footwork... the 'go back and bounce in to dissolve and return force' sounds very much like something we practice.

Your comment on loss of basic body mechanics when advancing for the sake of it are very close to my heart and style!

Ditto the turning the hip. Yes I was meaning the circle parallel to the ground, the horizontal plane. Again, most of the LTers I've come across have sworn by the sagittal plane punching which I've usually found to be weak on its own after the first step/punch, or if there is not synchronization between the step and the punch - even more so than any other punch.

Coronal plane? Is this the diagonal? That's the basis of a lot of my backward-forward bounce-stepping moves. You let the force push all back into your heel and use it to anchor the return along the same line - more like a spiral, or a curve from the heel (or ball of the foot) up and out to the hand. Think that's the same as what you're saying, right?

As for the parties- you've no idea how glad I am to be way off the mark ion that one! :D Never really fancied that LA-style party-scene much, but the training sounds good... I'll have to make it out there one day!

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Elliptical-25min, did 6 1min on/1min off intervals in there.
kb cleans, 36lb, 15r15
kb swings 36lbs, 20r20l
kb swings, 2 handed, 72lbs, 20
3x through

1st time doing cleans since bicep injury- felt good. Will do these for a week or two before adding in snatches.

Started a 2wk <20g/day carbohydrate induction. Adding in Alpha Male and BCAAs.

Mat,

A lot of WT people seem not to understand moving back (or footwork at all)- which is quite odd as the whole point of the teaching approach (sections) is to teach adaptive footwork combined with body use. Emin is probably the best role model and instructor for getting this across, yet people seem to miss it so often.

7 star footwork- 60/40, exchanging legs, leg may or may not come up by the other leg as it moves. Nothing fancy- I'm sure there's some more specifics there- I got a rough snapshot, not detail.

'Bouncing force'- kinda reminds me of pao chuan or the thai shuffle switch to throw a lead round kick (switch legs fast to take the lead back, make it the rear, then fire).

The sagital thing- yeah, the arm punching chain punch is hard to get power out of, even still, it's very doable. The problem is that people chase form and don't look for force. Personally, I don't get into the chain punching thing as much, focusing on nice singles and triples trying to get body into all of them, rather than back local power with body.

Coronal plane- like a halo- perpendicular to sagital and transverse- the shoulder strike from 4th section, battle punches and thrusts from long pole.

Drop me a line when you make it through LA, it's always good to share and train together.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Workout #1).
Kb clean, 36lbs, 15r15l
lunge variants, 20 reps
7 rounds

Workout #2).
ME Upper
Illegal wide grip bench, 5RM
Nailed this easily - 5lbs over my last 5RM w/ narrower grip. Finding my groove.
DB bench 4x8
DB row 4x12
DB fly 3x15
Swiss ball crunch, weighted 3x12

Workout #3).
Ran out to si-sok's class in Santa Monica- 1 1/2hrs
WT-new TG from Germany joined, worked with him a bit, showed a 12SG some of 3rd section, free lat sao w/ 12SG, banged on him some. he tends to get excitable and speed up to his detriment.
Escrima- box drill, box drill into largo- can feel the rust all over my escrima

Decent day's work,

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Elliptical-20min
kb windmills5r5l
kb mp 5r5l
between the leg passes-20
3x through

Social obligations killed evening workout.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Thurs-off

Today,

Workout #1).
Elliptical- 25min, 8 1min on, 1 min off intervals

Workout #2).
ME Lower
Bulgarian squat- 3rm, 10lbs on last week
Low bar 14.5" box squats. 3x10
RDL 4x6
Walkouts w/ 10% more than squat RM1, 3x15 sec

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20min
Circut-20min
Sled drag +134lbs, 50m- 5 rounds
double hand kb swings +72, 20-5rounds
single arm kb swings +53. 10l0r-5rounds
single arm kb swings, +36, 15l15r- 4 rounds

Workout #2).
Partner by-2hrs
Projection drills from distance
-3rd entry
-counter to 3rd entry
-pulling attack from lead
Kicking
-counter w/ bong gherk and kicxk
-counter w/ yup and kick
-counter to counter w/ kao gherk
Chi sao
-3rd entry
-defense to 3rd entry

Ridiculously hot today, worked more technically.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Sun-
Training partner by- 2hrs
Stalking
-keep the range
-feeder gives hand attacks, counter
-feeder gives leg attacks
-mixed
Did some iterations of what to do with caught kicks, and handling low kicks by withdrawing the leg then crashing with punches
Lat sao- free- several rounds
Iterations on knees

Mon-
Workout #1).
RE Upper
DB bench, 3 sets max reps
DB MP, 2x10, 1x6
BB curls 3x8

Workout #2).
2 handed kb swings w/ 72lb kb- 25
Sled drags +70lbs, 50m
8 rounds

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Tues,

Workout #1).
Elliptical trainer 25min

Workout #2).
Father in law by, trying to get in shape, so Hope and I out together a program for him and showed him a bunch of exercises.
Did 5x20 BW box squats w/ 5x20 double hand kb swings w/ the 53 in there, plus went over all the exercises w/ him.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20min, 4min Tabata intervals

Workout #2).
ME upper
illegal wide bench 5rm- added 10lbs from last wk.
DB bench 4x6
db row 4x12
seated db power cleans 3x15- these are great- surprisingly difficult and hitting posterior delt and upper back in ways I hadn't encountered before
db swiss ball crunch

Workout #3).
Training partner by- 1hr or so
Stance drills
-static checks
-constant pressure
-constant pressure, mechanic for 3rd entry
3rd entry-reps
Rounds of free chi sao in between
Mellow workout, just recovery from lifting, doing some technical work, spent a bunch of time on different forms of body and stance use, going through some conceptual stuff.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min

Workout #2).
Dummy- 10x2min rounds
OH squats 10x6 between rounds, only adding weight when groove perfect, worked up to a mighty 2x6 @ 85lbs- hips feel great.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Elliptical 20min, 8 tabata intervals in there

Kb jerk +53 5l5r
sledge tricks
5 rounds

Today,
Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min

Workout #2).
Training partner by 2 1/2 hr
Box drill
box into v-hitting
zoned hit into box
box into break out and counter
box into break out and counter, feeder attacks during counter, resume box
passing 1&2
passing 3&4
passing- free
lock and block, free

Lat sao
5th program-EWTO
5th program EBMAS- free
Elbows from pummeling for plum

Wanted to lift, but it seems I have a mild case of heatstroke- must have been 95+ in the garage with the fan going, lightheaded and queasy for the last few hours. ugh.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Workout #1).

Heavy bag
bulgarian squat, bw, 10r10l
kb clean +36. 10l10r
kb swings- double hand +72, 15
5 rounds


Workout #2).
RE upper
DB press 3 sets, max reps
skull crushers 4x8
eccentric chins 3x4
db mp 3x10
bb curls 3x10
band traction, upper

Decent day's work.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min

Workout #2).
Monday night practice- old face showed up to start training again, nice to have him back. I'm gonna have to be careful to make sure the other guys get enough focus on their material, as I've tended to shift back to basics and work on bringing new people up to speed in the past, losing a little focus on projects in progress.
2+hrs

Escrima-
Power hitting- basics
Box drill- off hand, lead hand, double stick
Zoning hits/zoned power
Roof attack vs. #1
Hitting drills walking, singles and doubles

WT
Stance
-static
-continuous motion- feeder in the middle connecting up through back- kinda cool
-free, in motion

Will shift order next practice for WT emphasis- closing drills, legs, lat sao. Need to go through basics of power hitting for WT joint by joint down to up as escrima up to down.

Diet's been clean lately, doing well with fasted AM exercise, scale not moving much, but it looks like I have an extra 1/4"+ on my arms and 3/4" on my chest, 1/2" on legs, waist is down about 1/2", too. Hmm.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20min, 8 tabata intervals

Workout #2).
ME Upper
Illegal wide bench- 5rm- 10lbs on last week, probably could have gotten more
Decline db bench press 4x8
DB rows 4x10
Seated DB PC 2x12
Side bends 3x10

Workout #3).
Out to si-sok's class in SM, 1hr 45min. Old friend in town for catch seminar this weekend, working on his 2nd Tg stuff. Main training partner out this evening, too.
Went through pulling attack w/ junior, cleaned him up a bit
Biu Tze- several times through, helping friend who's learning it
Free chi sao- main training partner and I went pretty hard. Heat and fatigue caught up early. Extra weight slowing me down, and the upper body max 2hrs before probably didn't help. Softened way out at the end- playing with some mechanics I've been experimenting with lately. Kicks are getting semi-slick.
Repp'ed 5th section a bit
Boxing drills to finish-

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

kb snatches+36, 5l5r
bw bulgarian squats 10r10l
figure 8 walks +53, 30s lr
3 rounds
1st time on snatches since injury- cautiously adding ballistic pulling back.

Today,

ME lower
Bulgarian squats-3rm, 3rd week, PR
box squats 15" box, 3x10
RDL 3x6

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min

kb jerks +72, 3l3r
russian twist lunges +35, 16alt
kb swings +53, 10l10r
5 rounds

Workout #2).
Training partner by- returnee starting up, new to escrima- 1 1/2 hrs
WT
Punching mechanics joint by joint
Rounds of punches on pad w/ explanation, did some k-bell work (swings and jerks) to bring out hip and shoulder mechanics
lat sao prog 1
Escrima
roof attack
-from point
- offlining
-w/ counters
-roof vs. #1, continuous

Saw that look of 'hooked' after that last drill. D*mn, I love turning people on to escrima.

Andrew

[Mr Punch]

Hi Andrew, what's your 'box drill'? Sorry if you've already said.

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

sled-drag +89, 50m, old angles
long pole thrusts 6r6l
sledge tricks 1min
dummy 2.5 min
double hand kb swings, 72lb kb, 25
10 rounds- took a good 2hrs, taking it easy. Left knee is messed up and right hip is hurting after doing my second set of squats close stance on Thursday. Carioca style sled dragging w/ L leg as base, R leg going behind stressing L knee as L VMO doesn't stabilize while R glut medius, IT band restrict R hip adduction. Worked through this more at night playing around.

Today,

Workout #1).
RE upper
DB bench, 3 sets max reps
skull crushers 4x8
eccentric chins 4x4
db mp 3x10
alternating db curls 3x8

Workout #2).
Training partner by- 1hr
Partner's shoulder messed up, think it's the AC joint- went through his lifting regimen- will need to change it after it cools down.
Box drill- few rounds
read and strike from distance (reaction drill)
Roof attack vs. #1, feeder moves, strike immediately (outgrowth of reaction drill).

Ran through CK, then his shoulder precluded anything else.


Mat,

Box drill- the basic defensive idea first taught in Latosa escrima is a 'box' pattern of interrupted strikes as defenses. Anything from above on your far side (non-weapon) you make a backhand attack which follows a path of travel which takes it just to the top level of your head, parallel to ground (roof attack), from the same side as your weapon you hit a forehand, path of travel perpendicular to ground, opposite side of your weapon not from above, hit a backhand path of travel perpendicular to ground, from below, a down and forward backhand parallel to ground- this forms a 'box'- the base of a pyramid aimed at the other person, where you attack up their line of attack, intersecting it and stopping it if you're slow, or hitting first while keeping yourself safe if your timing and/or footwork are better.

'Box drill' is a base drill off which many other skills can be trained- usually it's done with one person taking two sticks and continuosuly hitting at non-preset angles and timings while the other person defends using the box (and later attacks, attack preemptively then defends, breaks out of defending to attack, switches to largo, etc.).

This 'box' system of defense is a tool developed early in Latosa escrima to give beginners some confidence in their defense and to allow them to deal with heavy attacks early while maintaining an offensive mindset, before introducing passing, jamming, changing the range and taking a new line (largo mano), and other ideas on handling things.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Workout #1).
Elliptical- 25min

Workout #2).
Training partner by- new addition- 1 1/2hrs
Escrima
Roof attack w/ counters
-point
-lateral, both directions
-backwards, angling, both directions
-free
Roof vs. #1, continuous
Power hitting, heavy rattan
-multiple rounds, both leads, forehand, then forehand and backhand, no walking
#1 walking w/ regular stick
WT
Lat sao
-intro to leg drills, several rounds
-1st program w/ punches, changes, legs integrated.

Good day's work. Nice to be going through this material with someone who appreciates it, and always a joy to make another escrima convert.

Andrew

[Mr Punch]

Thanks for the explanation Andrew. I think I&ve seen what you're describing.

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20min, 8 tabata intervals

Workout #2).
ME Upper
Close grip bench 5rm
decline db bench (unilateral) 3x7
May need to start doing these as a bilateral exercise on declines, nearly got pulled off the bench by the dumbell
Db rows 4x10- same wt, cut my ri down to a minute from 1.5min
Side bends 4x10
Did some dead bugs, leg lowering, and reverse crunches- showing my father-in-law an ab circut.

Mat,
where have you seen box drill stuff before- something from Latosa or another FMA line? I haven't encountered this approach elsewhere in FMA, but my knowlege of other FMA lines is limited.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Weds- rest

Thurs-

Kb jerks +72lbs 5l5r
walking lunges- 20
3 rounds

Dead tired- working long hours and fatigue is accumulating. Missed ME lower yesterday- just fried.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Fri,

Training partner by- 1hr
Newly restarted partner by
Basic EBMAS dan chi sao from lop position, same side, cross arm, switches, attacks at three levels
Lat sao prog 1, w/ some legs, integrated the dan chi
Roughed in a couple of basic double grab responses (someone tries to tie up your hands while punching) from 1st program

Not much time for anything else, out to SGV for Sichuan food- waterboiled fish, chinese bacon and green garlic. chicken and chiles- fantastic.

Sat,

Workout #1).
Primary training partner by- 1 1/2hrs
FINALLY!!! We're trying to get back in a rhythm working on our material. Reviewed some of the weird double punch changes from 4th section- making more sense now- spent quite a while on these, then worked 5th section with and without legs, went over each of our most recent teaching strategies/discoveries.

Workout #2).
ME lower
Rack pulls- bar on approx 7" boxes, so just below knee (a little above my sticking point).
Worked up to a 5rm- around the wt. I started my injury on, felt good, I was a little worried about having that much in my hands, but it seems to have been ok.
Step-up lunges- saw these on 'Exercises You Haven't Tried' @ t-mag, and fell for them.
4x10
Felt great, will push these for a month or so.
Sled pull throughs
4x10
Went pretty heavy, but may need more weight, dunno how effective these were
Timed holds- sandbag filled w/ some kettlebells
Soft tissue work on medicine ball for IT band and gluts.

Andrew

[Kevin Bell]

Step-up lunges- saw these on 'Exercises You Haven't Tried' @ t-mag, and fell for them.
4x10
Felt great, will push these for a month or so.
Andrew

Yep saw them too :)

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min
Hip's been hurting, worse since Saturday- either the stepups or the rack pulls tweaked it.

Workout #2).
RE Upper
DB bench- 3 sets max reps
skull crushers 4x10
Eccentric chins 3x5
DB MP, 3x10
Alt db curls 3x8

Everyone's been sick, injured, or busy lately. No martial work over weekend- annoying.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20min, 8 rounds tabata intervals

2 handed kb swings +72, 25
Figure 8 walks +53, 30s LR
3 rounds

Workout #2).
Senior's class in SM- 1 1/2 hrs
1st hr- reps on 'classic' attacks- IRAS, Man/Wu vs. IRAS Man/Wu. Got moving a bit, worked on closing speed, breaking people's cover apart after the entry
Last 1/2 hr- Gun defense- some interesting stuff fed by some interactions with a very good KM guy, still I *hate* doing gun and knife defenses. I just never much cared for this sort of work.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Dummy- 2min
OH squats, light 6 reps
7 rounds

Today,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min

Workout #2).
ME upper
Close grip bench 5rm
Db bench (unilateral) on swiss ball, 4x8
Db row 4x12
Seated DB power cleans 3x12
Side bends 3x10

Andrew

[Mr Punch]

Mat,
where have you seen box drill stuff before- something from Latosa or another FMA line? I haven't encountered this approach elsewhere in FMA, but my knowlege of other FMA lines is limited.

AndrewLooked for the link where where I thought I'd seen it but couldn't find it... will try again.

There's also something similar seeming in action (not a drill) on one of the Dog Brothers vids... dunno what kind of kali/escrima that Dog does.

EDIT: On the dogbros site, Dogzilla's First Day vid, what the guy against him is using seems similar to what you were describing: coming round in a tight figure-eight and back to a ready position. And the sinawali pattern in the Kali Tudo vid... something like those?

[AndrewS]

Friday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min

Workout #2).
Partner by- 1hr
Alternated chi gherk drills and rolling; focusing on being very soft and changable, then one person very soft while the other comes in with heavy structure. Did some free chi sao messing with bouncing between two modes, using one to set up the other- gotta focus on this more.

Sat,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20min, 8 tabata intervals

Workout #2).
Training partners by- 2 1/2 hrs
Basic rolling, positions for time
2nd section, reps. Working on standing armbar with one guy- need to spend some time on this with him- he doesn't have much of a chin na background.
Bong and counter from chi sao- focusing on single beat counter. Man out on the dummy.
One person still nursing a bad shoulder, bong causing troubles, shifted to tan work.
Tan
-man out on dummy- low bong to tan/palm
-from poon sao- tan counter vs. heavy attack, focus on balance/stance, getting balance from counterstrike
-from EBMAS lat sao, various contacts (random)
-from traditional lat sao, in the motion
Chum Kiu- worked on CK with them
SNT

Decent practice to get them moving again after a little layoff. Bummed about the no escrima, but good to focus in on one core app.

Too busy getting talk ready to lift today.

Matt,

I'll check the site when I'm at work- my home machine isn't playing the link.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Sun- busy w/ preparing lecture, no time to train.

Mon-

Training partners by- 2hrs
New guy started up tonight, good to get some more folks by. He has some prior experience from Leung Sheung line, so he's got a nice foundation to build on.
Did some lat sao and 3rd section before he showed.
Leg to leg rounds
-sweeps and step on foot
- add pressure and go behind, leg split
-add low kicks

Punch on punch lat sao
-from IRAS, cross arm
-'check' underneath
-with switches

Did some free chi sao in there too.

Andrew

Finished combining hands and legs w/ new guy.

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical -30min

Workout #2).
ME upper
Close grip bench, 5rm (PR), did a backoff set 'cos the weight felt light.
DB bench on swiss ball 3x8 (weight up)
Fatman chins, feet on bench, 4x10
Seated DB PC, 2x115
Side bends 3x12

Matt,

looked at the DB site. One the kali tudo vid, where he aggresively strikes the stick and moves through- box attack/defenses are doing that, vs. an incoming strike, aiming your strike at the other person going up the same line as the incoming strike, then hitting the incoming strike if you can't hit the person. I looked for video online to no avail.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical- 15min, 8 tabata intervals

Workout #2).
k-bell 10cleans, 5 presses, LR, 53lb kb
double hand swings, 72lb kb, 15
dummy- 3min
5 rounds
X-band walks
MB rolls for gluts, IT band

Felt good.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday.

Workout #1).
Elliptical-30min

Workout #2).
ME Lower
Rack pulls from 7.5" platforms-5rm, 15lbs more than last week. Came up easy, higher position helping me figure out how to wedge myself between the ground and the bar. Good to have some real weight in my hands, bicep feels ok.
Step up lunges 3x15 rl. Kept weight the same as last week and focused on opening up my hip.
Sled pullthroughs-4x8
Sled drags- 7x50m, had a bunch of weight on the sled for the pullthroughs and some energy to spare, so I did a bunch of dragging around the waist, forward and back.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Today,

Workout #1).
Elliptical- 15min. 8 tabata intervals

Workout #2).
Training partner by- 1 1/2hrs
Poon sao- positions
Free chi sao
2nd section chicken wing and counter- reps- shoulder loosener
2nd section armbar and counter, spent about 1/2 hr on this, showing leverages, feel, body use.

Need to get back to application and pad work, but this is useful for passing on some finer points that need emphasis.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Flakeout by all juniors. Impressive.

RE upper
BB bench - 3 sets max reps, 1min ri
Skull crushers 3x8
Eccentric chins +10lbs, 3x3
DB MP, 3x12
Alt db curls 3x10

Today,

Workout #1).
Main training partner 1 1/2 hrs
Reviewed 6th section, + kicks
Played with double punches from 4th section
Went mellow, he was feeling kinda sick

Workout #2).
Training partner- 1hr
Free chi sao
Focused on flowing, showing him not to hold onto force, changing and finding the open line against someone coming in heavy with good structure. Did some pressure work to clean up his ground connection and body use.

Workout #3).
OH squat- light weights 9x6
Sandbag clean and carry 20m, x10- arm started to bug me after a while, so I backed off
Dummy- 5 rounds
Heavy bag- 2rounds
Sled dragging 2 rounds

Cut it short 'cos I was worried about my bicep. Liking the sandbag.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout-
Training partners by- two new guys started up- one made it by for his second time, the other his first, plus another partner. It seems its the season for new trainees. 2 1/2 hrs
Escrima
- showed basic power hitting, zoned strikes
-got some roof and outside defenses in during this, plus some box drill
-roof attack w/ counters
Hitting rounds
-up and back driveway w/ #1, both sides
- two handed weapon, in place
2 rounds, got people sweating

WT
Basic stance and step
Step w/ wedge vs. punch
Step and project vs. someone stepping in
Punching on pads- gonna hafta work hip mechanics a bit
1st section SNT w/ some mechanics and brief discussion of apps.

Good workout, hope these guys stick around, they both have a work ethic and a good attitude.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 15min, 8 tabata intervals

kb snatches+36, 10lr
kb cleans +53, 10lr
2handed kb swings +72, 20
2x through

Workout #2).
ME Upper
BB bench, middle finger on rings, 5rm
DB bench on swiss ball, 4x6
fatman pullups, feet on bench 4x10
seated db pc 2x12
side bends, 3x8

Workout #3).
Out to Santa Monica to visit sisok's class- 1 1/2 hrs
'Warmed up' with chi sao, which rapidly became some pretty intense medium contact sparring. Shan sao off shucking a neck tie/pulling hand getting pretty nice. Leg control feeling good. Elbow position fried, ate some body shots- partly a technical problem, probably worsened by the max lift an hour before.
Showed a beginner some 1st program stuff, did some escrima- roof attack into counters, with motion, wrenching disarm (technical point- don't just hit a forehand shot on this, throw a heavy overhand to the face, then cut it down to a forehand while holding the stick), vine disarm, 2 hands on the stick counters w/ checks, counter to specific targets.

Long day.

Andrew

[Mr Punch]

Matt,

looked at the DB site. One the kali tudo vid, where he aggresively strikes the stick and moves through- box attack/defenses are doing that, vs. an incoming strike, aiming your strike at the other person going up the same line as the incoming strike, then hitting the incoming strike if you can't hit the person. I looked for video online to no avail.

AndrewOK, I gotcha.

Still can't find the vid I saw before that I thought was similar: can't even remember whether it was youtube or google, but it did have weird tags on it.

[AndrewS]

Weds-
Elliptical 25min

Thurs-
Rest. Way down on sleep, averaging <6hrs/night.

Fri-
Workout #1).
Elliptical 30min

Workout #2).
ME lower
Rack pull, +7.5"- 5rm, worked up to 443 for 5 reps- had more in the tank
Lunge stepups 3x8
Sled pullthroughs - 4x10

Workout #3).
Training partners all flaked. Good friend who trains w/ the russian and does WMA/SCA stuff dropped by. He's started on some SPM and taiji, and is trying to bring those mechanics into his weapons work. We traded some lifts and mobility drills, I worked with him on his SPM mechanics, kicked some escrima ideas some way, and he went through some nice glaive techniques and principles

-always express force against the direction of the other person's thumb,
- smash the weapon to shock the hand before coming in from another angle- no handhunting in SCA
- lever close to your hand on the last 2" of the other person's weapon, maximizing the length of the lever you have on them, minimizing the length of the lever they have on you
-hook with the elbow
-sticking drill - weapon to weapon, pressure and crash to as soon as you have an open line
-he perceives balance and lever points visually- 'sees' them during sticking- interesting as I basically just feel and kinda put myself inside the other person
-he's been playing with reading/projecting intent- cool- I'll have to show him some of Mr. Latosa's take on this

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Sat-
Workout #1).
Elliptical15min, 8 tabata intervals

Workout #2).
Training partner by- 3hrs
Escrima
-roof, inside, outside def., both sides, single stick vs. 2 handed weapon
-some staff stuff
-box drill
-snatch disarm
-snatch disarm from box drill
WT
free chi sao
dan chi- cleaning up kao sao
4th entry- worked kao component

Sun
- more work on my leg, looks like 4 more hours to get done

Mon
Training partners by- 2hrs
Escrima
-roof attack w/ counters
-w/ balance check to body
-w/ balance check to stick in both hands
-pressure drills each lead and switching
-outside defense
-continuous roof vs. #1, root, outside vs. #1, #2
Hitting drills up and back driveway
WT
Dan chi for 1SG
Same arm and cross, from lop, high and middle punches to each side
Form- sections 1 and 2
Application of kwan sao from section 1- escaping a tight overhook

Tues-
ME upper
BB bench 5rm- 10lbs over last wk
DB bench on swiss ball, 4x8
Fatman pullups, feet on bench, 4x10
Seated db pc, 3x12
side bends 3x8

Busy as h*ll; first month on inpatient service. Have been in at 630 the last 2 mornings. This is putting a cramp in my training regimen.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Weds,

Elliptical 15min, 10 tabata intervals

OH squats 10x6, keeping these light, up to 85lbs
Dummy 8 rounds
BTx2

Thurs
'ME Lower'
Wide stance low bar squat to parallel box (17")
4x5 w/ 70%rm1
Using a 4wk run of EC's revised 5x5 template here, instead of a 5rm
BB stepup lunges 4x8
Sled pullthroughs 4x8

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20min
Managed to do something before 630 in the morning. A major accomplishment.

Workout 2).
Partners by- 1hr 45min
Escrima
-pressure drill
-pressure drill, holding pressure with chest
-pressure drill, stalking, no contact
-pressure drill, stalking, no contact, guy being fed makes constant hits
Roof attack vs. #1 w/ counters, feeder crashes in or moves out- move off his motion, same pressure at a distance if he moves away
WT
From wrist grab
-kwan to tan dar with outfalling and circle footwork
-kwan to tan-pak dar w/ outfalling and circle footwork
-gum
-inside huen
-freeing hands from on top and underneath
-kick
Random
Used this to work 1st two sets 1st form, footwork, mechanics
Concepts
-use hips
-fix a point
-if you can't move the other person, move yourself

Back to the beginning, but this seems useful for them and gives me a chance to clean up some of their details.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Sat-

Training partners by- 2 1/2hrs
One person brought his ring timer, so we worked off that for the first 45min or so.
2min rounds, live, 50-60%, one guy getting cooked by the two others

Close on straight punches, straight punch combis (doubling up on jab, faking, overhands, straight right)
Close on hooks, lifting punches, backfists. Didn't know Kev had done some CLF back in the day. That was fun to mess with.
Close on mixed combis- basically short boxing intervals
9 rounds total

Dropped the intensity a bit
Continuous punching, opening, pressure vs. man covering
-as above, man covering throws any hit or combi during other persons hits

Lat sao
- one side steps in w/ heavy pressure, the other finds the pulling attack to cut the line
-above, w/ neckpulling hand + elbow/hook/lifting punch or palm to takedown

Sun
RE upper
DB bench- opened out my RI to 90 seconds, hit 30, 15, 10 reps, from 28, 14, 8 last time. No major change in drop-off, will stick to 60s ri from here on
Skull crushers 4x8, 1min
Eccentric chins +10lbs, 3x3
DB MP 3x12, L side had to pushpress last 4 reps on last set.
Setted the above 2 together. May need to lengthen out the ri to 90s from 60
Alt db curls 3x8

Mon-
rest

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Tues-
Workout #1).
ME upper
BB bench comp grip, wk 3.- went 5lbs over my last 5rm, managed 2reps, dropped to 5lbs under, got three. Failing about 3" off my chest.
DB bench 4x8
Fatman pullups 4x10
Seated db pc 3x12
side bends 4x8

Workout #2).
Elliptical- 15min, 10rounds tabata intervals
Sandbag clean/shoulder+ 25m carry- 10 reps

Weds-
Elliptical 25min

Thurs-
Passed out

Fatigue accumulating. Inpatient service is getting busy.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Fri- didn't make it out of the hospital 'til 8, friends leaving town, foiled again

Sat-
Elliptical 15min, 10 tabata intervals

RE upper
bb bench 1min ri, 32, 14, 8 reps- so I got 4-5 more reps off 30s more rest. Don't know if that's worth it.
Skull crushers 4x6
pullups- 5x2
bradford press 3x10
alt db curls 3x10

Sun-
Partner by- 2 1/2 hrs
Lives drills 50-70%, w/ headgear, boxing gloves - 11x2min rounds
closing- straight shots, angles, any combi
chasing/pressing, one guy throwing shots from cover
free, any hands

figure 8
-cop cop
-high low
-cop cop w/ punyo strikes
- empty hand w/ down strikes
-empty hand w/ forward strikes

chi sao-
light pressure working on position/structure/sticking 30min

Mon-
Training partner by- 2hrs
roof attack, both sides
outside defense, both sides
hitting- heavy sticks, forehand, backhand, both leads

shin to shin 6x1min rounds
headlock defense- static
headlock defense- from lat sao
shucking a neck tie w/ beginning 3rd set
Form, sections 1,2, start of 3

Friend w/ much WMA experience now doing some SPM returned my weights from time at Burning Man. Traded some weapons ideas.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Tues,

ME upper
Went to Home Depot and got some cut 2x6s so today is . . .
2 board press- 5rm- 25lbs over my 5rm for competition bench, and had another 10lbs, easy, maybe more. Will go back to competition grip after 2 more weeks of this and see where I am.
DB bench, palm in- 4x8
Fatman chins 4x10
Seated db pc 2x15
side bends 3x8

Weds,

Elliptical 15min, 10 tabata intervals
10x6 overhead squats, light, working on form and ROM
10 rounds on dummy

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Friday,

Training partner by, 1hr 45min
Closing- done as tabata intervals, 8 rounds
Closing w/ focus mitts, working change on the close 3x1min rounds
Lat sao
Last 3rd 1st section from lat sao
-change to jut dar from outside contact + inside pressure
-open with gwat dar w/ inside contact
-crash to open w/ outside contact + outside pressure
- low attack or tok dar from cross arm (outside contact and pressure)
Free and cumulative

Sat,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 30min


Workout #2).
Training partner by- 1hr
Free chi sao, working changing off stiff attacks and counters
4th section free integrated
2nd section as shoulder strike, hip mobility exercise, plyo

Workout #3).
RE upper
DB bench palms in, 3 sets max reps, 1min ri
Rolling db triceps extension 3x6 1min ri
These *rock*. Nice range of motion, hit some cool stabilizers with the tri work
Pullups 6x2, 2min rest (scattered through workout between sets).
Bradford press 3x15 1min ri
Painful.
BB curls 3x8, 1min ri

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Training partners by- 2 1/2 hrs
Poon sao- structure, position for each position, couple of rounds free- 15min
Reviewed 8th program lat sao stuff
30min or so

Pulling attack from lat sao, man out doing related work on dummy
Pulling attack
- regular
- to outside change and dropping body shot
- from double change to other side- rising shot or dropping shot
- to head and arm w/ takedown
- defend the head and arm

The above took about 2hrs. Got a chance to really tune up lat sao and pulling attack variants. They will get good at this.

Haven't been getting as much training in as I'd like, busy month being on inpatient. Think I'm growing faster with the decreased volume, though.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Monday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 30min

Workout #2).
Box squat to 17" box, 4x5 w/ 70% rm1
bulgarian squats w/ 2 kbells- 3x8
Snatch pulls from blocks 5x6

Workout #3).
Training partner by 1hr 45min
Chi sao-free, with kicks, with counters to kicks, with counters to counters to kicks
4th section double punches, reps
2nd section- reps- shoulder strike, spin
Lat sao- 8th program review

Tues,

ME upper
2 board press 5rm
DB bench 3x10
Fatboy pullups 4x10
Seated db pc 3x15
Side bends 3x10

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Fri,

Training partner by, 1 hr 45min
Padwork- pierce to lan, emphasis on using chest w/ hips
-punch to lan w/ above
Double punches on pads
Double punches as cs from 4th section, into switch variants
Review last 3rd 1st section
Review lat sao for 8 sg

Sat,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 30min, tabata intervalsx10

Workout #2).
RE upper
DB bench max reps x3
Rolling DB triceps extension 4x6
Pullups 9x2
Bradford press 3x10
BB curls 3x8

Sun,

Training partner by, 2 1/2 hrs
Figure 8 w/ double sticks
-on point
-moving, both leads
-high low and cob cob
Figure 8 w/ staff
Figure empty hand on focus mitts
-dropping shots
-forward on point
-forward moving
Jab- 3 flavors, moving
Jab sparring 3 rounds
Poon sao
Pulling attack from poon sao
Dan chi for pulling attack

Finally off acute, no more being woken up at 3AM by idiot interns.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Mon,

Workout #1).
Elliptical, 25min

Workout #2).
Burned out, wanted to do ME lower but, just fried. Warmed up with a bunch of BW bulgarian squats, x-band walks, and rolling on the MB.
17" box, high bar close stance squats w/ 65%rm1, using belt
10x2 1min ri
Worked on form and evening out my hips which have been really tweaky lately.
Called it a night after the squats and spent an hour helping friends move.

Tues,
Elliptical 15min, 10 tabata intervals

Made it home from work at 7, passed out, didn't get up 'til morning.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Weds-
Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min

Workout #2).
ME Upper
2 board press, tried for 5lbs over my last 5rm, only managed 3, did a backoff set of 5 with 10lbs under
DB bench 4x8
Fatman pullups, feet on bench, 4x10
Seated db pc 2x12

Thurs-
rest

Fri-
Workout #1).
Elliptical 30min

Workout #2).
'ME' Lower
Low bar wide stance squat to 17" box
5x5 w/ 80% rm1
Bulgarian squats w/ 2 kb (36lbs) 3x8
Snatch grip pulls from blocks
5x6

Workout #3).
Training partner by 1 1/2 hrs
Pad work
-double fook to double lan to punches
-double fook to turning punch, multiple sets
-constant punches, man holding pad pressures in, double lan to make space, kwan, punches
-double punches
Kwan vs. double punch as stance drill from 4th entry
4th entry vs. double punch cycle
Double punch cycles and changes
Reviewed double punch options

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Sat,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 30min

Workout #2).
Wooden dummy
sled drags+90lbs
Did a few quick rounds- lost count, hadda run.

Sun,

Training partner by, 2 1/2 hrs
Rounds- 2min
Leg to leg x3
Leg to leg +knees +clinch x3
Lat sao 1 -1
Lat sao 2-1
lat sao 3-1
lat sao 4-4
lat sao 5- 3
All cumululative, free, easy to the head, medium to the body
Poon sao
React and close from sharp forces in poon sao
CK

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Monday,

ME Upper
BB bench, regular grip
Worked up to a 4rm, 5lbs over last 3rm, did a backoff set of 5 with old 5rm
DB bench 1x6, 3x4 same weight as last week- backoff set seems to have fried me
Fatman pullups 4x10
Seated DB PC 2x15
FCT 3x12 -these were work, using a weight that used to be trivial. Interesting. TIme to get religion about these again.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Tues,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min

Workout #2).
Training partner by, 1hr 15min

Passing, stick vs. stick, on point, rounds
#1, #2
#3, #4, insert the rear hand when feeding
Mixed

Jab sparring rounds
R vs. R
L vs L
L vs. R
R vs. L

Stick vs. stick from motion, free, one feeds

4th section entry- found the mechanics for the lan/gum transition- interesting, hadn't noticed this was about wrapping someone's balance up in a small package before. Cool.
Kwan defense vs. double punches on 4th entry- stance developer.

Weds,
Elliptical, 15min, 10 tabata intervals
Got home from work late, passed out, will need to squeeze lifting in today.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Thurs,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 30min

Workout #2).
ME lower
Low bar wide stance squat to 17" box
3x3 w/ 65% rm1
Bulgarian squats w/ 2 36lb kb
3x10
Snatch grip pulls from blocks
5x6

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Fri-
elliptical 30min

Sat-
All day affair-
Dropped by my friends SPM class in SM- checked their thing out for a bit. Will head back to train with the teacher a bit and compare notes.

Arrived early to escrima seminar with Mr. Latosa, did 1/2 hr private lesson with him and my training partner on staff usage.

Seminar - 4hrs

Afterwards
-about 1hr private lesson on staff use.

Notes:
Sink to control the weapon
Hold the weapon with a narrow grip close to one end, feel how to control it in a disadvantageous position
Cut a small circle back to yourself to increase shock when working a beat
Load up staff shots by punching (just like you learn to fire empty hand shots by treating them as if you have a staff).
Punch the single stick hit out- aim with everything for the head
Feel the control of the stick
Don't control the weapon- control the weapon and your body together- treat as one
Hands out further from body
Sink into forefoot on right (power bleed in right lead empty hand).
Control the center in staff fighting and you win the game

Sun,
rest

Mon,
ME upper
BB bench 4rm (5lbs up on last week), did a backoff triple with 10lbs under this
DB bp 4x6 (same weight that got me last week)
BB row 4x10
Seated db pc 3x12
FCT 4x12

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Tues,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min

Workout #2).
Dummy 6 rounds
Lead punches on bag, working on mechanics of R hip 3 rounds
Staff strikes- 20r20l x5 rounds- figured out WC pole stuff from what Mr. Latosa showed me. Things coming together now. Will work these to death the next few months.
OH squats 9x6, worked up to a mighty 75lbs, just working on flexibility.
BT

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min

Workout #2).
ME lower
Low bar wide stance box squat to 17" box
3x5 w/ 85% rm1
Will do backoff week and retest RM1
bulgarian squats w/ 2 36lb kb
3x12, 1min ri
brutal, near puking on last set
Snatch grip pulls from blocks
5x6, 90s ri

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min

Workout #2).
Training partner by- 2hrs
Had someone drop in, showed him some body use stuff

Stick sparring
-hunt the hand 2 rounds
-any target 2 rounds
-insert the back hand, 2 rounds

Chi sao -free, 5 rounds
Staff strikes 20r20l 5 rounds

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Friday,

Elliptical 30min

Saturday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 30min

Workout #2).
Down to training partner's joint to work with him and another partner before his class started

Rounds
Clinch to takedowns- light
Boxing rounds- one man on defense, other fires attacks, defender tries to nail attacker on end of series
Same- kickboxing
Clinch with strikes to takedowns, focus on timing takedown off hits

Traded some exercises

Sections 5 & 6, reps

Worked 5th prog lat sao w/ partner's students

Took Sunday off

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Mon,

ME upper,
BB bench + chains- about 40lbs chain weaight
worked up to a heavy double, heavy single, double, single, then triple with the double weight
DB bench
2x8
2x4
Bent over BB row
3x15
1x12

Felt weak last night. The absence of RE work is telling, I think. Additionally, I expected to move a lot more with the chains. I rigged them so they were just touching the ground at lockout, so there wasn't so much deloading. I may try a different setup sometime. I was stalling about 5-6" off my chest. Maybe time for some 3 boards next.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Tues,

Training partner by- 2hrs
Pad work
-punches
-punch to elbow (chest mechanic)
-punch to cover and elbow vs. hook
-low kicks vs. moving target to interrupt step

4th section
-entry through punches
-kwan vs. entry
-kwan counter for stance vs. double punch
-double punch direct from kwan to counter double punches, changing line and cutting angle (time split)
Turning hits for sets of twenty on pads between sets

Weds-
Rug dealers followed us back from Istanbul- weird.

Today,

Workout #1).
Private lesson w/ sifu 1hr
Free chi sao- medium. Just trying to find a groove and get an edge back on. Balance and legs were out of whack. Tried to focus on feel, elbows, not getting jammed up and pressing against force- balance got better when I stopped falling for bait by pressing into his force
Reps light and easy- countering counter kicks with huen gherk and bong gherk. Much easier from a teep than heel kick- I think the range and tightening down from the ankle extension makes this feel more natural. Will have to play with this.
Speed- countering sifu at max speed from cold. Managed to get my eyes right and something started to click on feel, too- reacting earlier off smaller cues was key (not really much more successful, but felt like the right track).

Workout #2).
Partner by- 2hrs
Rounds
Box drill, RL
Passing, RL
Largo, RL (reps)
Staff hits in air 20R20L, 5 rounds between above

Lat sao- free, focusing on application of 1st section in lat sao
Poon sao- double tan to open for double attack, double tok to counter, jut or tie to counter tok, as possible

Alternated the above for 1/2 hr

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Fri,

RE Upper
BB bench, moved to 165 from 135- thought 185 would be too much of a jump
max reps, 3 sets (20,8,6)
Rolling db triceps extension 4x8
Bradford press 3x10
BB curl 3x12

Sat,

Down to partner's joint- 1hr
Rounds
Boxing
Kickboxing

Moving nicely, kicking is working- managed to use teep to bong gherk counter to crushing counter with bong gherk to set up hands.
Range is working nicely
Spent the day in left lead- a little hinky at first, but started to come together, especially throwing and walking through with the rear to go into a right lead while cutting off space- definitely useful, especially as I feel very comfortable in a right lead. Chopping in from on top working. Overextending a little on the hammerhand when someone slips to the outside, need to get my body better into position, even so shutting down the slip

Sun,

Partners by, 2 1/2 hrs
Rounds
Cover and head motion vs. straight shots
Head motion vs. straight shots (no cover)
Cover and head motion with counters against straight shots
Throwing jab to setup hook off jab or rear hand
Free

Pad work
-lead shots
-lead shots coming off a step to re-inforce drop and drive
-lead shots (tie mechanic back in)
-elbow down lead
-elbow down lead into elbow (CK mechanic)
-elbow down lead into elbow w/ cover vs. hook

Lat sao
-elbow and cover vs. hook, into jut to knees
-counter elbow and cover vs. hook into 5th program
- EWTO 5th program
Compare and contrast old EWTO 5th program with push-hands
Chen peng/ji and lu/ji drills

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Mon,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 30min

Workout #2). Private lesson w/ sifu 1hr
New stuff for lower SGs as drills
Close and crash various guards, sometimes provide heavy resistance, w/ pak dar, explode from crash
Counter entry- focus on one tech, 3-4 options to cover counter, from man or wu depending
6th section- 6th entry changed- biu/fak w/ shift and enter
Elbow not too up or down (cover hook line)
6th section- kick response to entry- train w/ double kick to front and rear legs to teach range/targetting
Counters to kicks- crush and hook

Tues,

Workout #1).
ME upper
BB bench + chains- 5rm
db bench 3x8
bb row 3x12

Workout #2).
Private lesson w/ sifu 1hr
Free
7th section
Stick and squeeze to make tok happen
Using tok vs. underhook attempt
cycle
jum vs. double pierce direct to punches
jut-punch-kao-palm- make shorter; feel other person's force, use kao against force of tan. Aggressive wrist hook
Dai bong- very forward, strong angle to counter low palms from kao
vs. tok- kao, aggressive hooking, high gan=shan, use shan for balance, don't lean
Free- very light. Freaky.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Weds,

Elliptical 30 min

Thurs,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 35min
Heavybag/dummy 10x2min rounds
Kb swings 10r10l w/ 36lb kb during ri

Workout #2).
Training partner by 1 1/2 hrs
Reviewed stuff from our respective private lessons w/ sifu.
Went through SG rxn drills w/ him
Worked my new entry for 6th section, added some more BT niceness to it.
7th section stuff- working through
Leg counters vs. leg checks and counter kicks, light, live
Boxing- free, integrating pak once you've timed a jab
-working on timing the jab for the pak- head motion and CM to handle straight shots, break out with a pak when you find the timing

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Fri,

off

Sat.

Workout #1).
Elliptical 35min
heavy bag 10x2min rounds, 1min ri
Lots of kicking basics, short to long hook, long to short hook, kick to counter w/ straight punch or lifting punch

Workout #2).
Low bar wide stance squat, 17" box, belt only
Rm1 test
Ran the EC 5x5 cycle off a projected RM1 of 350 (previous pr 365 at 17"), did a rest week, used Jim Wendler's rm1 progression planning to work up to 370. 370 went up easy.

Figured I'd go for broke.

400.

x 1

Easy.

17" box is just about parallel for me, maybe a little high, but creditable. Spent about a second on the box.

Drove my upper back into the bar. The weight flew up- maybe a second and a half for the lift. Practically a speed lift.

Finally. 400 has fallen.

Now for a 500lb deadlift.

Andrew

[stricker]

Finally. 400 has fallen.

Now for a 500lb deadlift.

Andrewnice one andrew! 4/5ths the way to monster numbers :D

[AndrewS]

Sun,

Training partner by 2 1/2 hrs
Rounds
-cover and head motion
-counter off cover and head motion
-free
-leg to leg
-hands and legs free
-isolation- counter low kicks, move in with punches off low kick counter
-stick- hunt the hand
-stick- hand and head
-stick- free- hands, legs, stick

About 16 rounds total, good work, esp. for his first time stick sparring.

Chi sao- free

Review lat sao programs

Mon,

Workout #1).
KB swings +72, 20, 4 sets
+53, 20, 3 sets
+36, 20, sets
MB slams x10, 9 sets


Workout #2).
ME upper
BB bench + chains
Worked up to a 4rm, backed off did a triple with 20lbs less
DB bench
2x8
1x6
1x4
BB row
4x10
Pair- 5 rounds
FCTx12
Sled+ 115, 50m

Jon,

I'm on my way. I'm just happy to see 400lbs fall in the squat. That had been a barrier for me for a while, and I'm way glad to get through it. I should be able to hit a 500lb DL this year, I'll see where I am with the bench by then.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 30min

Workout #2).
1hr 15min

Heavy bag/dummy 4 rounds
Sled-dragging+90, 50m, carioca style, 4 rounds
OH squat 10x4, up to 85lbs, just working flexibility and opening up hips
BT 3x
Staff hits, 20r20l 3x

Killer core workout- staff making more sense to me.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 30min
heavy bag/dummy 5 rounds
figure 8 waiter's walk w/ 53lb kb, 30s LR, 5 rounds

Workout #2).

'ME' Lower
Deadlift- EC '5x5' template week 1
70% rm1 (used 28lbs under last rm1 for calc)
3x5
Bulgarian squats + 2 53 lb kb
4x6, 1min
Snatch grip high pulls from blocks
5x6

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Fri,

Elliptical 30min

Sat,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 30min

OH squats 9x4 (last 3 w/ 95)
staff hits 20r20l x5
sled drag +134, 50m x5

Workout #2).
Down to training partner's class, 2 1/2 hrs
1 1/2hrs- working staff stuff
Poon sao
Reaction drills closing, one man w/ boxing gloves

Sun,

Training partner by- 2hrs
Box drill
Box drill- break out and counter
Low defense to attack 5x20 each- done as plyo
Continuous - roof vs. #1
inside vs. #3
Disarms out of above
Hits w/ double sticks

Closing on attacks
Closing man/wu to man wu
Tan counters off in and out pak

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Mon,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 30min

Kb swings
72lbs 10r10l
53lbs 15r15l
36lbs 20r20l
4, 3,3 rounds in 15min


Workout #2).
ME upper
BB bench
4rm- 5lbs over my last 4rm. Missed 5th rep about 5-6" off chest. Bar speed felt great after the cycle with chains. Maybe some 3-boards?

DB bench
3x8, 1x4, same wt. as last week.

BB bent over row
4x12

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Back from Charlottesville and family stuff. No training while there, besides a couple of hours comparing notes with an old karate training partner who's been doing Xing Yi for the last decade. Always fun to share with him; we need to get together with some pads and mess about on power generation stuff. He's done some spear and big knife, but his understanding of its role/use seemed incomplete.

Been on the new Hot Rox formula for the last several days- didn't get more than 7hrs sleep in 3 days- very speedy. New version clearly does *something* we'll see if it helps with some fat loss.

Yesterday,

ME upper
BB bench 5rm- managed 5 reps with last week's 4rm. Little shaky on the lockout on the last rep- stabilizers on the left more than triceps seem to be limiting me. I think I'll add some heavy lockouts into my program.
DB bench
3x8, 1x6- slowly upping the volume at this weight.
BB bent over row
4x10

Circuit
Waiter's walk figure 8 w/ 72lb kb, 30sLR
FCTx12 w/ 89lbs
Sled drag+90lbs x50m

5rounds

Felt like I was armored after that last circuit. Pretty amazing oblique demand.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min

Workout #2).
OH squats 9x4, last 2 sets at 105
BTx3
Dummy/bag between others sets

Workout #3).
Dropped by senior's class in SM 1hr 15min
Some 7th section
Showed students some 8SG stuff. Pointing out a hole in jut/kuen cycle to one guy, it seems I'm just a big powerful guy, no hole there, no, no. *sigh*
Worked some largo stuff

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Friday,

KB circut- some bulgarian squats, windmills, snatch, clean and jerk

Sun,

Workout #1).
Training partner 1hr
Balance beam, closing exercises for stance
Free chi sao

Workout #2).
Training partner 2+ hrs
CK
SNT
Pad work 8 rounds, focusing on mechanics, scattered between other drills
Stealing force on close- using stance
tan, bong, jum, free
Poon sao
Huen changes (3)
Tan vs. punch
Jum vs. palm
All mixed

Reviewing stuff for him to do his 5 and 6SG.

Feeling much better; stopped the Hot Rocks- resting heart rate was up to 110+, and skyrocketting with exercise- felt too sick to train while I was on the stuff, ready to vomit after a few minutes moving.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Bad patch for training between being back on inpatient service and the holidays

Last week
Mon
ME bench
3 board press to 5rm, 5lbs over last 5rm w/ 2 board, easy, felt like I had another 5-10 in me
Db bench 4x8
BB row
4x12

Figure 8 waiter's walk w/ 72 lb kb
FCT+99, x12
Sled drag+90
3 rounds

Mid-week
Elliptical, intervals, kb work

Sat,
Deadlift
70% rm1 (used 460)
3x5
bulgarian squats w/ 2 53lb kb
3x8
Snatch grip high pulls off blocks
+155
5x6
Sled-drag +185x 50m x5

Sun,
Partner by, 2hrs
Focus mitts 4 rounds each
CKx3
SNT
BT
Dan chi- stuff for 4 and 5 SG
Poon sao

Training has been bad lately, I'm busy and everyone is busy for the holidays- out of town, family in town, new baby, stressed and taking time off. F*ck. Annoying. Was going to do my 2nd TG next week, but just don't feel sharp. Another time.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Mon,

Workout #1).
ME upper
3 board press
5rm- finally moving some weight- 10lbs on last week
DB bench
4x8
BB row
4x10

Workout #2).
1 1/2 hr
Mobility work, mb rolling
7th section on dummy
staff strikes on bag
BT

Tues,

30min
7th section on dummy
Staff
BT

Starting to understand staff a little- returning to the beginning, as it were.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Friday,

ME lower
Deadlift
4x5 w/ 80% rm1
4min ri no belt

Bulgarian squats
3x8 w/ 2 53lb kb
90s ri
Brutal- higher reps for these are lung busters

Good Mornings
3x10
90s ri
Kept these light, will go up next week, and change the bulgarians to high step ups so my assist work during the rest of my DL cycle is squat based (good mornings and step ups during DL cycle, probably RDLs and bulgarians during squat cycle)

Saturday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min

Workout #2).
1 1/2 hrs
Dummy - working double tok and kicks
BT 5x through
Staff hits and shadowboxing
Mobility work and it band stuff- some bodyflow stuff

Sunday,

Workout 1 1/2hrs
BT 5x through- seems to be the magic number for loosening up enough to get the interesting mechanics
Mobility and it band drills
Dummy
Heavy bag
All of the above while doing overhead squats- did 8x4, last two sets with 125. Knee was a little tweaky but figured out how to set my abs against my lower back properly, which did wonders for my hips- I think I gave my hip flexors some more room to move by losing my excessive lordotic curve with this trick. Figure I'll max on overheads for ME lower during my backoff week before going for my rm1 on the deadlift in a few weeks.

Training partners are returning to availability, too, happily. Two are just back from a week in Canada at a training thing, one's parents have left town from their visit, another is feeling less stressed and is ready to end his break, a buddy wants to start training with me, and one of my bros is sending one of his students to LA to train, and I'll be putting him up for a while- looks like I'll have a live in student for a bit.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Hadda go back into the hospital last night. Idiot nurse didn't bother to call for 2hrs for hemo when an elective showed up on the floor at 5.

ME upper
3 board press, week 3
5rm- 10lbs on last week, finally moving some respectable weight

DB bench
3x5
90s ri

BB bench
4x12
90s ri

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Tues,

Workout #1).
BTx5
Dummy/bag 4 rounds
OH squats 7x5 up to 105lbs
Windmills 3x5 w/ 53, 2x2 w/ 72

Workout #2).
FNG by, 2hrs

Closing step
Stance check
Walking

Rounds
Leg to leg
-following
-pressure, shin lock, go behind, leg split
-sweeps
-groin kicks and step on foot
-defend takedowns without hands

Punching- basic mechanics on pad using stance
Lan hit with step
Sled work
Some shoulder stuff

Excellent start. Good friend, wrestled varisity in hs a decade ago, boxed a little, around 6' and 230 or so. We both had a blast, and things made sense for him fast and easy.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Thurs,

ME lower
deadlift
2x3
65%rm1- deload week

BB stepups to 19" box
4x10

Good mornings
3x8

Fri,

Hope came home and found one of the cats not moving its front paw. Got home late from hospital, spent the night dealing with the vet, still don't know what's going on. So sad watching him try to move around.

Sat,

Workout #1).
Training partner by- 1hr
Thai pummel+knees+ sweeps+lowkicks
-tan
-tan/shan
-fook
-neck pulling hand
-3rd entry
-mixed in and out with chi sao

Workout #2).
Sparring- getting rolling again.

Boxing and kickboxing rounds

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Sunday,

Mixed workout- 1 1/2hrs

Mobility- work 3 rounds
BT 5x

DE work
decided to try something different
Bulgarian squats
10x2 w/ 85lbs,
my 3rm on this lift is 160. Felt good. I think I'll try to do some unilateral DE work every week or two, using bulgarians as my primary lift.

Dummy/bag 3rounds- low kicks very crispy now- figured out how to optimize mechanics, was moving way faster sparring with these on Saturday, too.

Staff work- 5x15r15l

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Mon,

Partner by- 1hr 15min
chi sao from plum
thai pummel as chi sao
Added 5th section entry with chi gherk as shuckover/kup jarn to switch kick vs. single neck tie- feels valid, will have to bounce off T and Pere this weekend

Tues,
ME upper
BB bench
3 reps with last sessions 4rm. Backed off 10lbs and did a 5 rep set for some more volume

DB bench
2x5
2x3
Way harder this week- full bench vs. 3 board takes a lot more out of me- doing that last 5 rep backoff set was pretty brutal too.

Bent over BB row
2x15
2x12

Circut
Figure 8 waiters walk 30s on each side, 72lb kb
FCT+89x12
Sled drag +135 x50m
3 rounds

Looks like I have another student, a bro of mine who I brought up when he came out to train shipped one of his guys out here, and he'll be crashing with me until he finds a place.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Weds,

Workout- went through the basics w/ my guest, 3hrs

Step with punch on pad
Closing steps
Stance check
-from front step
-from turn
Stance drills
-continuous pressure walking
-continuous pressure closing steps
Explanation of 1st form, 'little idea', body use from head to foot

Leg to leg (rounds, free)
-following
-shin lock, go behind, leg split
- add sweeps
-add front kick
-add step on foot+ knee- counter
Did overhead squats during rest periods above, 8x5, last three sets w/ 105- light for ROM
Thai pummel, breakdown of chi sao cross over
No hands takedown defense
Hits on pad, using body stuff covered above

Good start, this guy's got a nice base and picks up quickly

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

2 1/2 hrs- getting new kid started
Stance checks
-from closing
-from turn
-continuous pressure from closing
Projection drill
Same mechanic closing on straight punches, free- got hinky for him
-backed off to projection from preset punch and hand setup
Lat sao- punch vs. punch
-cross
-double inside
-double outside
-free with legs
Pummelling
Defend punches from one man with underhook, both with boxing gloves on free hand
Dan chi for 1 SG (same as underhook drill)
Escaping a tight overhook (kwan, 1st set)
SNT, 1st two sets, based on above

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Training partner by- 1+hr
Closing drills w/ leg/body pressure (no hands)
-leg to leg, 2 steps to recover and break the other guy
-1 step to recover
-CK back step started getting useful when he'd drive my lead leg across my body past the range of motionm of my hip (weight shift forward and back step- felt a nice knockdwon there).

Workout #2).
ME lower
DL
85% rm1
2x5
BB Step ups to 19" box
3x15, 90s ri
Felt great, finding a groove with these
Good mornings
3x6, 90s ri

Workout #3).
New kid, 2hrs
Step with punch
Crab step
Shoulder strike on pad
Step with punch using mechanics of shoulder strike
Arm drag isolation
Arm drag from pummelling
Shoulder strike/check vs. arm drag (worst counter)
Biu crossface counter vs. arm drag
Huen bo turn
Shin to shin, go behind with huen bo turn
Huen bo step
Huen bo step as recovery from go behind
CK step
Changing angles off of closing steps
Above vs. partner moving mid step


Andrew

[AndrewS]

Sunday,

Workout #1).

Mobility -5 rounds
Sled drag +90, 100m, 5 rounds
Windmills 3x5 w/ 53, 2x2 w/ 72

Workout #2).
Guys by 2 1/2 hrs
Projection from closing
Stalking
Projection from stalking
Projection from stalking +/- neck pull
Focus mitts 3x2min rounds
Leg to leg
Ran through the 6th entry w/ chi gherk and 3rd entry vs. neck tie
Some basic 2nd program vs. shoot- knee acting up so I changed the shoot to a low shoulder strike.

Mon- rest

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

PM workout- 1 1/2hrs
Single punches w/ step on pad x2 rounds
Single stepping elbows on pad x2 rounds (close chest w/ hip closing for power)
Triple up on punches, pad holder comes in, shock back with elbows x2 rounds
Rounds
-double neck tie (plum)- man in plum tries to stay up, disrupt other person's stance with basic body actions
-counter push back in double neck tie w/ chest close arm cover (jut) and crossface (biu)
More punches to finish

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
ME upper
BB bench
85%rm1 (calc off present 4rm)
10x3
90s ri
Felt like getting some extra reps in and working technique.

Pair
BB bent over row
4x8
DB pullover
4x8

1st time doing pullovers- felt good. These seem like they hit some useful stabilizers that I've been neglecting.

Workout #2).
Guest, 1 1/2 hrs
Cross arm punching from C2
Increase pressure
From above
- turning punch to cause tan dar
- mix with turning punch low to cause gan dar
-pull and punch- step to counter
-mix pull and punch with gan, tan, either can act, free
Had him go to counter my high kicks and counter underneath, so I could work counter to counter
Did some coaching on cleaning up his power- he was landing heel first on his punch, losing some lead leg posterior chain stuff.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Guys by- 2 1/2hrs

Projection drill off close, using other person's elbows and locked in structure as handle rather than body (dai tok from 7th set)

Some coaching on punching/closing- working the back leg. Neither of them keep their legs connected so they get wide when they step in, and force stalls as they try to hook back up.

Figured out I'd been putting force on too long, straining too much to get hang time. Started to just connect and bring my *ss in, and got a nice short power pop out of it, no feeling of doing any work.

Leg to leg rounds
-basic
-kicks added

Worked the back step weight switch from chum kiu vs. outside leg split- very nice piece of recovery when you're no longer able to recircle, cut to the inside, or switch and change the line for a return split. Had them do some reps on this

Lat sao 1st program w/ leg pressure
-punch to punch, use pressure up top to break leg pressure, allow leg to find a way in, close and project, or use pressure low to open up top.
-cross arm position, punch changes to tan (pressing w/ tan to spread) change in elbow focus/intent to open other person and allow tan dar (essentially the tan dar from dummy)

Switch with knock back jum on focus mitt

Good nights work.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Fri,

KB swings
15l15r w/ 53x 3
15l15 w/ 72 x2

Figure 8 waiter's walks w/ 53
30sl30sr x5

Sat,

Partner by- 1hr 30min
rounds
Leg to leg
leg to leg, lead leg low kicking as sweep to set up combis up top (off of man/jab entry)
Isolated some recovery stuff
leg to leg w/ neck tie
leg to leg w/ neck tie + knees/kicks
pummeling
pummelling w/ leg to leg
pummelling w/ leg to leg +kicks/knees
poon sao
poon sao+ neck tie + pummelling

Sun,

Workout #1).
Partner by-
1hr
Rounds
leg to leg
-discussion of kicking, powering kicks
-breaking down low kick as inside and outside 'sweep' (sitting down to power), timing
-above with counters
-above, 1 man continuously throws combis, other acts as dummy up top, tries to play leg to leg game with all options

Workout#2).
Bulgarian squats- DE Wk2
8x2 w/ 90lbs, 1min ri
OH squats
Worked up to a 1rm

And for Christmas I get . . .

193lbs, PR

30lbs on last 1rm 1 1/2 yrs ago.

Sweet!

Andrew

[phoenixrising]

Andrew,

I know where you can buy grassfed beef cheap in LA- ground for 3$/lb., cuts/steaks for 5$/lb, and also raw organic grassfed dairy. If you're still looking, shoot me an email at purplechi(nospamplease)@earthlink.net

gary

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

KB swings 10l10r- 15min
36- 6 sets
53-3 sets
72- 4 sets

Houseguests in town o/n.

Gary,

hell yeah! I'll shoot you an e-mail in the next day or two.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Partner by 1+hr
Leg to leg
-reviewing inside and outside kick/sweeps
-one person making continuous attacks up top (live dummy kinda)
Lat sao- 1st program- cleaning
Pad work in between rounds, elbows and straight punches

Workout #2).
ME upper
BB bench
Worked up to a 1rm- 265, not bad considering I started benching in June, did a double at 245 afterwards. Felt like I had another 5-10lbs in me, and my form tightened up on my lifts at 250 and 265- some setup advice a buddy gave me paid off (push myself down from my thumb grip pullup on the bar)
DB bench
3x5
BB bent over row
4x8
DB pullover
4x8

Got a head strap and a burst-proof swiss ball for Christmas. Ironmind and EFS- my wife soooo rocks. Gotta try to get some quality time in with those soon.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Fri-

Elliptical 20min

Sat,

Workout #1).
Partner by 1 1/2 hrs
projection drill
Leg to leg work
Leg to leg w/ hand combis
lat sao


Workout #2).
Recovery workout
BTx3
Mobility drills x3

Bag work-10x2min rounds, bw bulgarian squats 5r5l in between

Windmills
+53 4x5
+72 2x2
Sled-drag, 90lbs, 50m, 15 rounds used the headstrap for 8

Staff hits- 3 rounds
Dummy 3 rounds

Hip started acting up on Sunday, cold kicked in on New Year's Day. Will go for RM1 on DL soon, when feeling a bit more healthy.

Andrew

[phoenixrising]

Andrew,

Didn't hear from you so I'll post the info here in case you're still interested. Go to www.organicpastures.com and click the link for the new L.A. hub store

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 20min

Workout #2).
ME lower
Deadlift
Rm1
Used Wendler's rm1 template
248x5
298x3
348x2
403x1
453x1
473x1
503x1 PR - belt, chalk, hook grip

Now officially part of the 1/4 ton club. Took a long time to break 500- probably would have hit it earlier, but I lost 2 months to the wedding and honeymoon, then came back and managed a partial biceps tear.

Weight broke off the floor easy- I was pulling fast until a couple of inches above the knee, then had to grind it up the rest of the way- gluts need work. I think all the bulgarians helped me with the initial phazes of the lift, and the upper back strength from my bench was a big help. The only thing that felt like it would prevent me from pulling another 30+lbs was glut activation/strength. Back and hammies felt sweet.

Some training thoughts for the next six months-

Plan to keep using the modified 5x5 template for squat and deadlift as long as I can milk it for gains. I may take the box height down on my squat some this next cycle.

ME lower
Modified 5x5
4wk cycle
1 wk deload (rm3 test on bulgarian squat or rm1 on OH)
1wk rm1 test on squat or DL
Assist work-6 week cycle, start on week 3 of modified 5x5
-high step ups and good mornings, week 3 of DL through wk 2 of SQ
-bulgarians (or some lunge variant), snatch grip high pulls from blocks or RDLs, week 3 of SQ through wk 2 of DL

DE lower every 1-2 weeks as time permits
Bulgarian squats, 6-10x2, 2 3 week waves, 2nd with chains
DL- will pull some singles to keep form- starting with the head down then pulling it up as part of the pull has been serving me well

ME upper
bench- con't w/ 5rm and some 10x3 until weights go up, alternating close grip, 2-board, press with chains

Recovery workouts
Con't hybrid MA/lifting recovery work
Windmills and/or fig 8 walks after bench day
OH squats after ME lower day, and whenever

Martial-
con't present class schedule. Once things settle in, will start of do more regular conditioning stuff with the guys
Sparring with Pere and Dhira on Sat
Ramp up escrima
Won't be able to make it out to start something new until the summer, will revaluate schedule then

Phoenixrising,

thanks for the link, my home machine has been down so I've been out of the loop lately. I'll check the hub store when I get a chance.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Friday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min

Workout #2).
BTx3
Dummy 3-4rounds
OH squats- triples, worked up to 3x3 w/ 105- very light just for flexibility/technique

Sat,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min

Workout #2).
Training partner by, 1 1/2 hrs
Pad work- tuning up punch
Leg to leg
leg work for dan chi for 5sg
fak dan chi for 5sg
Lat sao
-tan to open and project
poon sao into thai clinch

Sun,

Workout #1).
Training partner by, 1hr
Pad work, interspersed between rounds, tuning up hits
leg to leg
lat sao
leg to leg w/ thai clinch
poon sao into thai clinch

Workout #2).
Remanent of Santa Monica class made it over 2 1/2 hrs
Hits on pad between rounds, tuning up power
Structure
-static
-moving
Leg to leg
-pressure/split
-sweep
-step on foot +knee
-all low actions
Lat sao + above
thai clinch basics
3rd section out of thai clinch
SNT

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Mon,

Elliptical 20min


Tues,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 15min- 8 tabata intervals

Workout #2).
Practice- 2 1/2 hrs
Escrima
-intro to power hitting and power in escrima
-roof attack vs. #1
-other response options (1vs 1, passing, jamming, wrong side, largo)
WT
-turning punch
cleaned up power for turning punch
-hook

Work running late, no time to lift the past two days. Very annoying.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Weds,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min

Workout #2).
ME lower
low bar box squats to 15" box
70% rm1 (used 365 for this calc)
4x5, 3.5min ri
Step ups to high box (19")
3x6 @135- too much weight, did 3x15 w/95 last time out, thought I could get away with this, form decayed- 3-4x6-8 @115 next time
High bar good mornings
3x8 @205 going light and deep, should shift to low bar and push the weights to hit my gluts more- this style seems to get my low back.

Workout #3).
Houseguest- 45min
Lat sao
2nd program
-'free'
-isolated gan from static- reps
-isolated gan from punch-reps
-'free'
-isolated hip use to free for gan against tok through shoulder
-'free'
Handling someone who holds while you hit (i.e. grab escapes for fighting)
-switch to inside control and jut/lop
-freeing hands
-kwan to jut/lop
-fold and drop elbow
All from pressure not pulling back.

Andrew

Random note- had some spare buttermilk from buttermilk brined porkchops the other night, did a 4hr brine on a 3/5lb chicken, dried it, stuffed it w/ 1/2 an onion, covered it with salt and pepper and blasted it in a 450 oven, breast up for 20, flipped for 15, breast up for 12. Worked out *beautifully* for a quick dinner, modifying the Zuni cafe and Bouchon approach. I've been more into slow roasting lately, but this was about perfect. The skin wasn't as crisp as I would have liked- next-time I'll try to remember to slash the bottom of the thighs to let some juice out before the final turn, and dry the bird longer or scare up a hair drier.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Yesterday,

Workout #1).
Elliptical 15min, tabata intervals x8

Workout #2).
Sled-dragging +90lbs x50m- 12, did some with head harness
KB swings +72, 10l10r 7 rounds
KB swings +53, 10l10r 6 rounds

Workout #3).
Practice, + senior partner by, 3hrs

Escrima
Roof vs. #1
-on point
-forward
-offline forward
-lateral
-backwards
-mixed

Intro to boxing defense
-CM vs. straight shots
-CM vs. hooks
-CM vs. mixed

1st workout of the year w/ my main training partner
Hits on pad, stepping and turning
BT Chi sao
1st section
-entry- old and new style- prefer the old
-counter- much more fluid when using the kinda ragdoll mindset I've seen Jannis and Ayhan apply
-counter into cycle

1st time really into this- very cool. Need to break down footwork in detail, I see some interesting possibilities here.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

1-12
Workout #1).
Elliptical 15min, tabata intervals x8

Workout #2).
One arm one leg (cross) oh presses w/ kb
7x5 w/36
5x3 w/ 53
Bunch of mobility work

Lit my upper back up like a christmas tree- this one's a keeper

1-13
Workout #1).
Down to partner's place
Sparring 45min
boxing
kickboxing
low resistance takedowns, hit the floor, man being taken down tries to stand quick

Partner's class- 1 1/2 hrs
Escrima
Roof and counters
1-5 continuous w/ box counters
Reaction drills at a distance

WT
Power hitting
-coaching folks on impact

Sun,
Guys by 3hrs
Projection drills
-linear
-both angles off straight step-mixed these with straight shots on focus mitts
Leg to leg
-fak dan chi footwork leg to leg
-free
Free chi sao and fak dan chi

Mon,
Workout #1).
Elliptical 25min

Tues,
Workout #1).
Elliptical 20min

Weds,
ME upper
Hit a couple of triples on the bench then threw in the towel- totally crispy

Thurs,
off

Fri,
Workout with houseguest 2 1/2 hrs
Escrima
Roof and counters
Double handed weapon hits
Strikes 1-5
-static
-moving
Empty hand hitting on focus mitts
-down (figure eight)
-straight (figure eight)
-3 jabs
Jab sparring 4x2min, each lead combo
Short hits with the staff
WT
Fak hits
Pummelling
Bong/Fak control vs. underhook attempt
-counters from Bong/Fak
-some nice takedowns off this- knockdown if you switch the feet with head control (not high percentage on a decent wrestler with good head position) and an outside trip which seems much higher percentage.

Andrew

[phoenixrising]

Hey Andrew,

I'm looking for some additional training /instructor recommendations in West LA- could you pm or email me?

I also know a source for fresh offal (adrenals, liver, testes....) from grassfed bison and raw goatmilk in Venice you might be interested in.