Week 8/27 - 9/2

Mon. Called off the training. Rolled my ankle.

Tues. Biked 50 min, then strength training.

Wed. 4 bow sparring matches, 10 hands only 4 min. Matches. Finished with some conditioning drills.

Thurs. Ran 1 HR. 3 sets of pull - ups & one legged squats. Forms

Fri. Ran 1 HR.

Sat. Ran 95 min on purgatory creek trail in San Marcos with Bruce from New York. He was not used to the humidity. Bruce is a former division one track runner. He knows a lot about how to run short distances fast, but when he got out of the car with no water, I thought this could end bad. I shared my 22oz of water with him and he got through it. Running in Texas summer is like a totally different sport from just running.

Sun. Pool side

Not as much sparring as I would have liked. Maybe it's good to give my face a little rest from taking a beating 3 times a week. Having a ton of fun hitting the pads & pushing myself. It can actually be so peaceful in the middle of a sparring match. You can't think about anything else and have to be totally in the moment. Live to train - train to live.

week 8/20 - 8/26

Mon.  5 x 3 min. stick fighting. 10 x 4 min. hands only sparring.  finished with some strength & conditioning.

Tues.  Biked 50 min. with strength & conditioning after. 

Wed.  Ran 1hr on trails.  bow form, 8 x ??min. grappling matches. push-ups & abs.

Thurs.  Biked 50 min. with light strength training.

Fri.  strength & conditioning , Forms

Sat. Zip

Sun.  2hrs running on trails.  foot not ready for that kind of abuse yet. Live & learn.

Lost "burnt" Pines

boys will be boys, hitting each other with sticks never gets old

Hayden is moving to Ecuador

Somethings never change. Rick trying to punch Robert in the face.

ice, ice, ice, every day

Feeling the skills & strength are getting better each week.  I wish I could say the same about my foot.  It seems that it will start to feel better than get worse. I did start Airrosti treatment with Stephen Offenburger last weak.  We will see if they can work their healing powers on me. Whining is not helping the healing process. Hoping my foot will hold up for 7  more weeks of focused Martial arts training.  Last weekend Kim & I did a run at Lost Pines State Park.  They had a large fire last year that affected all but 95 acres of the 6000 acre park.  Strange & sad running in burnt out pine forest that I  really enjoy visiting. Texas is 99% privately owned, so it really stinks when our limited public lands our torched. I'm sure the forest in time will come back stronger than before.  I do miss having these towering pines to visit less than 2hrs from my door. 

Week 8/12 - 8/19

Mon. 4 stick sparring matches. 11 x 4 min hands only sparring matches. No break other than 30 sec. Between matches. Wore 4 oz. gloves thinking we would keep it light, I was wrong. Have not been hit that hard in a long time. Lots of blowing out blood that night. On the positive side I feel my sparring conditioning is good. Finished with some push- ups & abs.

Tues. Rode the bike for 50 min. Then did some strength training. At night worked forms & grappled 4 x 4 min light matches.

Wed. Ran 5m in the morning. First run in in almost 8 weeks. At night had a great session with Rick & Stats. 4 x 2min bow sparring, 4 x 2min knife sparring, 8 x 3min grappling matches. Finished with push-ups & abs. Had great night of training.

Thurs. Biked 40 min. Strength training after.

Fri. Ran 5m.

Sat. Strength & conditioning

Sun. Ran 5m with 3 sets of one legged squats & pull - ups.

started back running this week. Foot is still hurting, not any worse though. The sparring Monday was a good test of stamina & sharpness. Stamina felt good, need to work on the sharpness. A few good bumps & bruises this week. Martial arts is life changing, makes everything possible.

Great training

Sometimes you have a training session that totally changes your mood, even outlook. Tonight I was feeling a bit run down, not really looking forward to putting myself back in the meat grinder. Turns out it was just Rick & Stats, two longtime black belts. My foot & back were hurting at the start. My mood soon all changed after a few bow staff sparring rounds. Those guys are so much fun to train with. We all seemed to be really enjoying the moment. It was as challenging as it was rewarding, a perfect blend of struggle & joy. It reminds me of two really important points, 1: no matter how you feel a great work- out can change the way you feel mentally & physically; 2: I really feel that those who do not get the opportunity to experience martial arts training are missing out on so many life changing aspects. One night training with two great guys will have a far reaching positive impact on me for a long time. Martial arts is incredible.

Week 8/6 - 8/12

Mon. Partner punching drills, 7 x 4 min hands only with take down matches, 2 x 6 min grappling with strikes. Finished with some strength training. Great work-out.

Tues. a.m. biked 50 min. Finished with 3 sets of pull-ups & one legged squats.
p.m. Forms, knife sparring, 4 x 4min. Grappling.

Wed. 4 x stick fighting, 4 x standup - hands only, 4 x grappling with strikes. All for 4 minutes each with 30 sec. break in-between. Abs & push-ups after.

Thurs. a.m. 50 min. On bike, with strength training after.

Fri. Forms

Sat. Forms, Pad work with strengthening after.

Sun. Biked 50 min. With more boring strength training.

Felt great sparring mon. & wed. 9 weeks left of specific training. Even though the strength training is beyond mundane, it seems to be working. My old bench mark for pull-ups was 20. That was my must have, wake up any day & do number. Well I'm finally getting back to that. I have been sleeping in a boot for the past 3 weeks to help my foot heal. Funny how strapping your foot into a clunky plastic boot while you sleep is somehow supposed to help. That combined with icing, rolling my calves, stretching hips, hamstrings, rolling my foot & a lot of complaining seems to be working. I'm hoping to try some easy running next week. I'm defenitly feeling the wear from the increased training. Still feel really lucky to have such great people around me to train with & be inspired. Having a blast.

Train Hard - Eat Great

 This is what I ate last night. 5 different fresh veggies.  I'm very lucky my wife is an awesome cook.

Kim always keeps us stocked up. This will not last long.

To reach your full physical potential, I am firm believer that your diet is just as important as the work-outs.  I changed my diet 18 years ago when i first started training martial arts.  Over the years I have modified, updated, & experimented with different things.  Overall the basics have stayed the same.  The more raw & natural the foods you can eat the better. Staying away from sugar & animal fats as much as possible.  I believe the way we feel(physically) day in & day out is largely due to what we eat.  Eat great - feel great.

week 7/30 - 8/5

Mon. Grappling drills. 8 x 4min matches. Finished with push-ups & abs.

Tues. a.m. 50 min on the bike followed by strength training.
p.m. bow sparring.

Wed. pad work, then strength training.

(Focus Master Training system)

This is what I use for pad work.  It's the next best thing to having someone hold pads for you.  It was the first thing I installed in our house 7 years ago.

Thurs. Nada. unexpected family matters

Fri. Biked 50 min. forms, then push-ups &  abs.

Sat. Back on the bike for 50 min. with just 3 sets of pull-ups & one legged squats after. I'm really looking forward to running the trails again. Sitting on my bike starring at the ground is not the same.

Sun. Chilled at the pool with the family then went to a classic rock concert with a good friend. Fun day.

My foot seems to be improving each week.  I'm hoping to get some boxing in next week then add some kicks into sparring in a couple of weeks. Still have 10 good weeks of training left.  I can feel my strength coming back ever so slowly.