This Week's Training

Monday, I did total of 90 reps of Clean&Press per side using 16kg,20kg,24kg,32kg.
Addition of 20kg was a plus.
Tuesday, I did total of 90 reps of Double Front Squat using 16kgX2,20kgX2,24kgX2,32kgX2

Wednesday, I brought my 40kg outside and did some works on snatch and swing. Exhaustion from past couple days made my snatches a bit erratic and unstable.

I was thinking about making a kettlebell instructional video clip but turns out I'm not much of an actor after all. Anyway:

As of January 17(Sun), I will have Philip Davis RKC of USAF running workshop in Tokyo.

His thoughts on military fitness will be revealed.

According to Franz Snideman RKC Team Leader (a very friendly likable person in this community) does say a few things about Philip. Very likable, friendly and extremely strong.

Had to invite him before his tour to Iraq upcoming February.

Dragon Door Kettlebells in Japan

Numbers are limited, but did import and am selling Dragon Door kettlebells to open public.
http://shop.kettlebell.jp/

Durable surface and well designed handle and sphere. Many people purchase other brands and end up substituting with better ones. Nothing replaces Dragon Door kettlebells.

I can't get to sleep

Late 2005, this very spot is place I started training for RKC
Tsujido, Kanagawa, Japan revisited November 10, 2009

"I can't get to sleep, I think of the implications, of diving in too deep, possibly the complications, especially at night, I worry over situations, I know it will be alright, perhaps it's just imagination"


"Overkill" sung by Men at Work

I started selling Dragon Door kettlebells, kettlebell.jp kettlebells, and GYMBOSS interval timer.
http://shop.kettlebell.jp

I revisited Kanagawa prefecture (south of Tokyo) where I lived from 1998-2005. I had a glance at my old apartment and felt like seeing a bad dream of some kind. Turned out I was only hungry at that moment after hiking mountains for 3 miles without a meal since.
I had my favorite Ramen at a place I kept going for 5 years just about every week. Haven't had that since 2005, tasted exactly the same with absolute satisfaction.

It is interesting to see the local business in this area has changed drastically especially small stores and restaurants. I just wondered where they are floundering at this moment, hoping they are in some kind of success else where. Roughly 70% of stores and businesses are replaced by something else. A large Panasonic plant near by my old apartment is flat out gone.
Rents for offices and stores are cheaper than ever.

The former chairman of the company who I used to work for (he was ranked second richest man in nation in year 2001 when he died) said of few things (and back then my salary was way below average standard).

1. I'm hiring and paying you because you can't run your own business. Accept this privilage.
2. Software is intangible, value dissapears in an instant.

Latter saying is about the nature of business. An industrial plant when it runs out of business, requires lots of process to dissolve.
A software company can dissapear in an instant. Move out desk, chair, cabinet, coffee machine. Keep the computers, return the rented printer, terminate the real estate contract. Pretty much it. Business can appear and fade away fairly easily.

"Ghosts appear and fade away"
"Overkill" sung by Men at Work

Snatches

32kg Snatches in a fairly slow pace added up to 152 reps for both sides.
Hands gave up than strength. My 32kg Dragon Door kettlebell is one of the old ones manufactured years ago and has rough edges and surface as well. My hand gets pinched in the process.

Supposely relaxing Sunday but attending level 5 class of Krav Maga is no vacation.
Getting hit to a non protective facial area is one thing, but being kicked to lumber spine got me frustrating. Not of lack of defense, but acting as an assailant and I was on purpose dropped down, gave the partner to counter attack. His knee struck my spine.

I had minimum lower back injury but this is frustrating for me.

Lunatic Fringe

Training method, Lunatic Fringe is used or originated by Arnold (not from "Different Strokes").
He and his training partner drove up to a forrest with barbells, done squats for number of times til they felt real pump.

I did something similar at a night time park with 2/3 moon shining.
32kg snatch for sets which totaled 334 reps for both sides. Roughly sets of 5, 10 and 1 set of 12.
Total of 24 reps for both sides were done with 40kg.

Basically three types of snatches in course of this training.

1. Going for number of reps, eliminate as much shock absorbtion to body as possible
2. Going hard style
3. Going super hard style that you end up absorbing every single shock to the body - low reps

Pavel said in his Russian Kettlebell Challenge DVD to go no more than 45 minutes of training. Trainers and professionals must go more to explore possibilities.

Stay Hungry

Not fulfilling my stomach as before and keeping myself adequately hungry has done me good.
Only if I have some way to recover faster. I was dead tired yesterday as I was driving and got into the wrong side of the lane. Meaning I turned right and saw few cars coming against me. Japan is same as Great Britain. Never in my life had this happened since I got driver's license in summer of 1985, Houston TX.

Day was concluded as I was assaulted while entering a Krav Maga (Israeli Self Defense) facility from behind. I knew it was in no way a threat. The assailant was my female Krav Maga colleague and kettlebell student. This funny assault took all the tension away from me and realized I haven't had a relaxed state of mind for quite some time. Really appreciated this.

Krav Maga Sunday

Of all the Krav Maga students in Japan, I'm the longest surviving student. I was there from day one but not an instructor. Currently at Level 5 class, blue belt. I have good and professional relationship with every instructors and staffs. They've been vital to me for past 7 years.

I had fun at level 5 class this Sunday. I got to partner up with one of the instructors (oddly enough, I haven't partnered with him for 2 years). His kick was too fast in which sixth sense had to be in tact, decision making done in 0.01 seconds. One of roundhouse kick hit my forehead. I didn't know how to react so I fell to the ground, not a natural reaction. I was only stunned with a bump on the right eye brow.
All instructors concluded as "Glad it was you, if it was someone else, we'd call the ambulance" and we laughed. What kind of a world am I in????

These kind of things have been going on since about October 1983. My first or second football practice in high school, I was thrown into a linebacker practice. 200lbs guy carrying a ball smashed into me. Nothing much has changed.


Bump in my forehead isn't that bad. My kettlebell student, Joy did agree that I have a slightly tilted eye brow on my right side.

Training People, Training Myself

I've been keeping myself busy training people and training myself.


Lifestyle and mindset have evolved in past few months. Recent updates:

1. Long cycle clean & jerk in Hard Style (absorbing with knees when racking from top) is a way to go if you are a striking martial artist. I do sense the movements of all LCCJ Hard Style resembles the punching movement. One trick is when you punch the kettlebell off from your rack to re-clean it, this looks exactly like the initial stage of punch.


2. Turkish Get Up, lots of them has transformed my body recently. However the fighting motor skills seemed to have reset as well. I need to reboot.


3. I personally am not good at doing splits like Pavel and Jon Engum. One of my client said doing a split is his life long dream. "It may not be that difficult" I taught him a few from Relax into Stretch. One of my student at class who's a Russian asked me about splits as well yesterday.


4. I am selling Gymboss interval timer. Nothing similar like this in Japan and it is 1,750 yen per unit. Only other interval timer which I am aware of in this country, is made by Seiko but has lots of other functions and costs roughly 7,000 yen. These days I use Gymboss over Seiko stop watch/interval timer. http://shop.kettlebell.jp/shopdetail/002001000001/price/


5. I contacted USAF Technical Sergeant Philip Davis to run a workshop in January before his tour else where. Likely this will happen in Tokyo. How about learning what it is about in United States military fitness training? http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/496/


6. Lots of kettlebells have reached Tokyo port.


7. CK-FMS certificate arrived after nearly couple months after being certified.

Life's filled with boredom if you seek no progress. Having a training habit guides me to progress and improve every day. There are occasions that I feel like a better person than few months ago. Something's working.

Sunday is basically boring and eats me alive these days. I need to be doing something.