Work outs 2012

These are the stuff I get down and dirty when I am at my morning trainings: (Evenings' to be updated soon)

Mandatory:
40mins + slow jog/run (depends on my mood *grin)
Distance = (anywhere from 4.8km - 6.5km)
2 x 100 abdominal crunches
2 x 50 side abdominal crunches
2 x 50 russian rowboats
2 x 50 pelvic thrusts (oh yeah, these are added into my routine for vanity sake. They help shape my buttocks)
5 x 20 sec front planks
3 x 20 sec side planks x both sides
3 x 20 bicep dips
If A: 3 x 100 sec shikodachi, 3 x 100 mae-geri, 3 x 100 soto-geri (L&R)
If B: 5 x 100 zuki (Chudan, Jodan)
If C: 5 x 100 blocks (All 5 basics of defence)

Alternate A:
5 x rounds of circuit training
- speed bag + pushups
- rowboat situps + back arches
- side hurdles + skipping rope
- shadow boxing drills

Alternate B:
3 x 2:30 bag work - 1:30 rest intervals
500 rope skips
Sprint drills
Leg swings (kungfu style)

Alternate C:
Flexibility stretches
Dropfall drills
Handstands

Gym routine: (1:15 rests in-between reps, 3:00 rests in-between sets)

Mandatory:
120 x leg raises
3 x 10 bicep curls to exhaustion
50+ abdominal stop crunch to exhaustion

Alternate day 1:
Jevarok's Complex
Reverse back curls
Atlas lifts
Lat pulls (Front/Back)
Forearm press downs
Reverse Forearm pull downs

Alternate day 2:
Bench presses
Dumbell curls
Arnold's press
Pectoral fly
Plate press
Plate rotations

Alternate day 3:
Leg press
Reverse leg curls
10kg plate inclined situps
Deadlift


It might sound like a lot.. but it takes only about 3 hours to complete the entire routine.  Its worth it! :)

CJ

New Year...New Post

Today will be the 4th day of the Chinese Lunar New Year and the first post after about 3 months...

A lot is happening this year in terms of karate training for me. First of all, the hobby class for the combat karate in RTC will be commencing soon! Wow! I am really excited about that because it is something which will see me passing on my knowledge of karate and sharing knowledge with enthuiasts on my own for the first time! Then in a few months.. April to be exact will be SKA's effort at organising the international tournament headed by Mr Wong.  Boy! I bet that will be a busy period of me. And of course there will be the 13th (unlucky maybe?) APSKF Championship at the end of this year!  Oh that will be when I will be taking my 4th Dan grading, if there is a grading to be held.

Being 40 don't seem to be affecting me much although I like to play out the fact I am an old man..  but something about my steps seem lighter...  maybe its the fact that a new year beckons and there is still so much to do.. to plan..  there is really no time to think about being old, wakakaka...

Just the other day I was commenting to Pam that I was still aiming to outdo, outlast and outfight my student who are in their 20s...  lol..  then I paused to think...  has it been almost 24 years already since I started my path of training karate? May 3 1988 was the day I started.  Then I remembered..  no.

Cary Chan was an old schoolmate of mine who reminded me that while we were still in school.. I would draw a circle of chalk in the middle of the school courtyard and ask all my NPCC squadmates to come at me with sticks, chairs, and everything they can think of and attack me in the circle.  I would just stand there and fend them off all at once.  LOL.  Back then, 1984-1987.. I was quite poor then, I often would have little money for extras..  so I offered anyone who wanted to take a shot at hitting my stomach for free drinks, hee.. there were always takers and I got a lot of free drink mind you!

Anyway, I guess you can say I began my martial arts training even earlier then SKA. I remembered when I was in primary school, I was often bullied by kids much bigger sized than me. I was really round back then. By round I meant fat..but never jolly because of the constant taunting and jeering from people around me... even teachers.  They were horrible back then.  Even the nicest teachers were capable of moments of cruelty towards kids... and most of us would not say a single word to our parents for fear of getting double punishment. I know what my father would have said..  must be you right? Otherwise why would you be punished? Blaaaa Blaa..

There was this show back when I was in primary 5... some show about Judo. It created quite a following for Judo then and alot of my friends would be challenging each other to throw each other on their backs. I was of course on the wrong end of the challenges, often having people picking on me to practise.  Heh heh heh, I was stubborn as hell, I simply refuse to fall.. because I don't like to lose, I don't want to lose.  But.. eventually, I will always be the one to fall because they are simply BIG kids!  There was once, during recess I vividly remember, this boy called Lyndon Chow. He challenged me to a judo match in the music room one day when the teacher was late to class, and of course gamely I took him on. And gamely I was knocked to the ground but this time, he had other things on his mind...  he wanted me to say uncle. (Saying uncle is like crawling between someone's legs..like a dog. LIKE A DOG?! NEVER) And so I refused and was continually pinned to the ground. I tell you..  I can still remember the sounds of the cheering class..  his weight on my body as I struggled to get to my feet..  I was struggling for what seem like an eternity on the floor.. wriggling painfully against the mosiac tiled flooring of the music room.  Of course eventually the teacher came in and order was restored... but not before I was sitting quietly at the back of the class, hot and flustered with my uniform all torn and blacken.

Guess my training goes back much further than I cared to remember :)  So Lyndon Chow, where are you now? Care for a rematch? :)

The determined one

I miss you my friend

I stumbled across this youtube video today.

順子-星星(I'm not a star)


For a short while I sat there in the approaching evening light caught in a seemingly endless loop of memories of me and my friend Alan.

He was a firecracker of a friend if I ever knew one. He was a hokkien foul language spewing skinny tattooed gangster with a taste for fast cars and quick women. He is absolutely the last person in the world I would ever associate myself with as a good friend. I find in him everything I am not and everything I do not wish to be.

However, I spent almost 8 years of my life including him in almost every aspect of my life. My wedding, the birth of my daughters, setting up a company together, he was there helping out at my grandparent's funerals, (LOL) he advised me when I was buying all my cars (much to Pam's displeasure).

Pam didn't like him very much, well, I don't blame her for that.. nor those around me who questions my wisdom is associating myself with a person "like" Alan.  He wasn't exactly a "nice" guy.

But he was a friend. Most importantly, he was my friend. Ever since I was young, I am not exactly sociable in the friendship department. So I only have a limited number of friends I can call close friends.. people whom willingly associate themselves with me despite my quirks.. I think I can limit those numbers with my fingers and toes combined.

Unfortunately over the years, some went our separate ways, some passed away... some disappeared.  As I listen to these songs, I want to remember my friend Alan the way we used to... laughed and grumbled and aspired.

Whereever you are now my friend... don't drive too fast.


順子- 寫一首歌




CJ

Modern Warfare and an open mind

Karate has outlived it's usefulness as a form of modern self-defense. Don't mind me saying that. I love my karate. I will never give it up. I am passionate and obsessed with it until the day I die!

But I say this even as I prepare to celebrate my 23.5 years of karate training. I used to think being a pure stylist but incorporating the gist and best of other arts into my karate, I can somehow work miracles and transform this karate system into something which works for me. Maybe it might, I am not sure.. but one thing I am sure of is that once I opened my mind to the possibilities of training in other forms of martial arts WITHOUT PREJUDICE, I find that I am able to incorporate the best techniques, what works for me, arming myself with weapons of choice for combat.. then using it when opportunities presents themselves.  Once the main stay of traditional self-defense syllabus, I find practical combat techniques in other styles of martial arts.

As an education, I believe every person serious in learning martial arts should take up a form of orthodorx style. Sorry by this I mean karate, tae kwon do, judo, silat, muay thai, etc etc. As long as the martial art style has a structured syllabus of training and progression, I believe any dilligent student will get a grounding in basic style of combat arts in due time.

I reckon learning martial arts akin to formal education. Kindergarten, primary school, secondary, tertiary, university and Phd.  I suppose you can say these are similar to our belt system.. similar but not restricted to one style of combat arts.

MMA or mixed martial arts, Krav Maga, Systema, etc will be around the level of tertiary or university, you simply need to have a base in some form of martial arts to be able to utilise the techniques which are taught in those sessions. Strikes such as kicks and punches, grappling to submission. If we have not learnt how to strike properly or conditioned or bodies to receive them, or not learnt to breakfall, break grips, grapple, or even get into the half guard position when you are being pinned..  how are you going to be an efficient mma fighter?

Hence my view that a person moving on to mma, krav maga, systema, or any of the practical combat system out there, ought to have enough mastery over his base art that will serve as a fundamental platform where he can analyse and digest his training.

I have no problem where someone picks up muay thai and bjj during his training sessions of mma, but I think the class will be a confusing, boring and indeed a dangerous one for these kind of practioners. It is dangerous for their partners as well. Imagine someone like that doing an armbar on you.. yicks.

My irritation pet peeves for martial arts are pretty numerous.. I enjoy having discussions with people regarding martial arts.. but I simply don't enjoy having arguments with people with obviously less training and even less understanding of certain techniques but they insist that they are executing it in the right situation and right time..  oh well.  For times like these..I simply nod my head, smile and walk away..  nothing lost in not continuing that conversation, nothing to be gained either.  Humility is simply lost on them.

So anyways, given anytime and place, anyone trying a sports kumite move would probably be on the wrong end of a take down from me. Its not the art.. its the person. My 2 cents.

~CJ~

MOTIVATION

FOR MY ART...
FOR MY STUDENTS...
FOR MY FAMILY...

...FOR ME...

My Inspiration

I AM AH BUI!!! AND I WILL DESTROY YOU!!! ANY TAKERS? :P

BUTTERBEAN

Breakthrough!!!!

Day 61

Yes!! Finally, after yo-yoing around 112kg and 114 kg.. finally the scales show me 110kg today!! YESH!

So I finally get to incorporate skipping and sprinting into my exercise regime without the fear of damaging my knees.. well if I over do it.. I will still damage it. But it was my target to hit 110kg and below before incorporating these exercises into my regime.

I am currently nursing a sore left shoulder, right calf muscle stress and left back hip pain. I also think I picked up a sore left wrist from Judo sparring on Sunday.. grrr...  but at least as a white belt I got throw a brown belt.. and during ground sparring, I managed to reverse pin 2 black belts wakakaka.., well maybe they were just being nice to me.. but still.. not bad for a white belt eh?

Once I break 100kg, I will be resuming full karate training. Once that happens, there will be no turning back, I will NEVER..

NEVER..

see 100kg again...

NEVER..

EVER..

I don't think I can don this fight back to fitness from flab again..  this time it was from 136kg some more..  buay tahan..  feel like an eternity and my joints, muscles and cardio system feel like it is going to break down anytime like that..  kena sai..  pui..

ok lar.. I am on cloud nine now.. going to take a hot shower and wash off today's workout before deciding with Pam how to celebrate... hee..

CJ