Hello, My Name Is

Confession time. I'm really bad with names. For some reason, it seems that I never listen to people when they first introduce themselves. Then somewhere in the middle of our conversation, when we've sort of built a little relationship, my brain kicks in and asks, "who the hell are you talking to?" At this point, I usually promise myself that I'll be more attentive next time.

Unlike forgetting the names of people you meet at a party, it pays to remember the names of people you'll be seeing on a regular basis. I think it's particularly important to establish a good rapport with people who may be slamming you into the mat, or rolling all over you. I don't want to be the guy who says, "High five, Dude, awesome ippon seionage!" Not that I'd ever say, "High five, Carlton, awesome ippon seionage," if there were a Carlton. Also, I want them to know my name so that they don't think of me as "The new douche who tries too hard." Hello, my name is Meguro.

New people I've met at Judo class:

Joe-a yellow belt
Eli-Green belt
Helen-a yellow belt
Usam-brown belt
Anthony-brown belt
Mike:-black belt

You Look Maavelous

After just two days, my double weave Fuji judo gi arrived from Judogis.com. Russ, the proprietor, helped me make the selection. I'm 5'9" and 160, the dogi is a Fuji size 4. I threw the jacket in the washing machine with hot water and then into the drier. The fit is just about right. One hot wash and this dogi looks maavelous.

A double weave judo gi is not an article of clothing. It's an engineered piece of training equipment. All the seams are heavily reinforced. Stress points have a second layer of fabric. Grabbing the lapel feels like filling your hand with a steam-ship's bow-line. It wears like a suit of armor. A heavy weight karate dogi is as delicate as a dress shirt in comparison.

3-21-11
-db snatches (65 lbs, 40,8'57)
-weighted chin-ups (70 lbs, 6x5)

3-22-11
-100 burpees and 50 pull-ups (9'16"44)

3-23-11
-db c & push press (65 lbs, 3x6, 12'47)

So I'm working with a heavier db (65 lbs). Snatching is much easier than cleaning and push pressing this weight at the moment. Looks like 65 will be the default number for a while. The 100 burpee time with pull-ups improved markedly. I wasn't expecting that.

6,205/[238]

after the fall

So it's a few days after Judo class and I notice some soreness in my neck, right at the base near my clavicle. The back is a little tight, and I've got a fist size bruise on my chest. All considered, not too bad.

3-19-11
-20 neutral grip chin-ups
-db squat cleans (2x60lbs)
-ab-roll-outs
-fat grip db shrugs

The meat of this work-out is the db squat cleans. It doesn't look like much, but I found it challenging to complete in under 5 minutes. It felt very much like a Tabata protocol routine.

a week in review

3-14-11
-50 burpees, 25 pull-ups (4'52)

I was feeling a little burnt out, so no 100 burpees today.

3-15-11
-weighted chin-ups (70 lbs, 5x5)
-TGU's (Bulgarian bag, 5 min)

This was a Judo themed workout. Naturally, weighted chin-ups are going to figure in the plan. Next, I rested my 40 lbs Bulgarian bag on my chest and performed Turkish Get-Ups. I alternated sides by pressing and transferring the weight from my left to the right. Unlike TGU's with kb's or db's where the weight is pressed, the weight remained resting on my chest and shoulder area to simulate the weight (albeit very light) of my opponent.

3-16-11
-db snatches (60 lbs, 50, 10 mins?)

I accidently turned off my stop watch at 2'38. Doh! Anyway, I finished 40 reps faster and easier than before, so I went for 50 reps.

3-17-11
-20 pull-ups
-Judo class

So I signed up for Judo at the Y and took my first class in more than 30 years. For some reason the instructor did not show. Lucky for me a green belt and yellow belt did not get the memo that class had been cancelled for St. Patrick's Day. I practiced some basic technique and then randori (sparring). The timed db workouts are perfect for this type of sparring. The matches were two minutes a piece, and I had plenty of speed and energy to go the distance with my partners.

Note: Judo has changed since I was a kid. Every time I threw the yellow belt, he complained that I was not doing Judo. When I slammed him into the mat with a kouchi/ouchi gari combination, he was very displeased. As a kid, we would often do this combo as a sacrifice throw, that is go down with the opponent, and then into mat work. They don't do Judo this way. The club is very casual and that is probably best for now.

6,105/[238]

3-10-11
-20 chin-ups
-60 lbs. db snatch (40, 10'57)
-weighted bent arm hang (70 lbs, 4x=1 min)

3-12-11
-db squat cleans (4x6, 2x60 lbs)
-single arm db C&P ( 3x6, 60 lbs)

The other night I checked out a Judo class at the Y. The last time I did Judo, Nixon was in the White House. Yow! The Judo community is quite small where I live. Everyone knows everyone. The instructor at the Y knew my former instructor. He had some nice things to say about sensei and mentioned that our dojo (Judo Kai) patch was now a collector's item. Kewl.

Single-arm db clean and press

Let's be clear, what I'm talking about is a single-arm, db clean and push-press. Why the clarification? Because such specificity is so unwieldy. The P in C&P, for me is always a push press. I'm more interested in explosive movement than brute strength. In my mind, it's about efficiency, like adding a turbocharger to your car's engine instead of more cubic inches to the cylinders. As it translates to the fight game, it reinforces the coordination required to throw powerful strikes.

3-6-11
-single-arm db clean and press (5x5, 60 lbs)

Is it necessary to mention that single arm exercises are repeated so that both sides perform the same amount of work?

I think 60 lbs. is the limit I can safely work with. Frankly, stabilizing 2, 60's overhead worries me. A barbell is a different story. Anyway, I'll be parking it here for a while as I build strength and confidence. This workout took more than the usual 10 minutes.

3-7-11
-100 burpees+50 pull-ups (9'42)

My split was a little slower than before (4'38 vs 4'10), but my time for the hundred improved by 16 seconds. I think I can shave a couple more seconds more by not stumbling around after each set of pull-ups, in other words more efficient transitions.
6,055/[238]

better than nothing

The plan, yesterday, was to do 100 burpees and 50 pull-ups. I don't know if I was incubating a bug or if my pacing was off and I started too fast but I stopped half way.

3-3-11
-50 burpees and 25 pull-ups (4'10)
-weighted bent-arm hangs (70 lbs, 3x20 secs)

Maybe it's a bug. I could barely get out of bed this morning.

3-4-11
-db snatch (60,lbs, 40 reps, 11'38)

Still feeling run down, but since I was up. . .

5,955/[238]

back is back

I thought I'd peek under the bandages, so to speak, to see if my back had recovered. I grabbed two 55 lbs. db's and got crazy.

3-2-11
-db squat cleans (3x10, 2x55lbs db's)
-kneeling to standing ab-roll-outs (2x10)
-20 neutral grip pull-ups

For the first set, I thought I'd try to do a 10 minute set, pausing for three breaths between each rep. At the 5 rep mark, I knew my plan was bat-shit crazy. I made it to 10 reps in 2'53 and decided 3x10's would be better, as long as I kept the three breaths between reps. The second set had me taking three quick breaths-it was agony trying to prolong the second set. I finished it in 1'33. For the last set, I dumped the three breaths per and just knocked out 10 reps as fast as I could.

It appears that my back is back, at least when it comes to bearing weight at the shoulders. The next test is pressing two db's overhead. For now, enjoy