Brrrrr....

Tá an geimhreadh anseo! This blog hates the cold. It can be a real challenge to motivate yourself on a morning where the weather greets you with zero degree temperatures. The cold can be stingingly uncomfortable and of course it's fierce hard to get the blood flowing, and the joints remain stiff.

I missed the Sunday session gone, a lack of sleep that night got the better of me. I pushed myself to the gym this morning and gave myself a good punishment. Benching to failure and squatting like wise. I'm suffering now. Squats are a killer. My legs are like jelly, but it's a good feeling, at least you know you worked hard.

Tonight's class was good, I enjoy the Monday class. We have a good mixture of beginners on Monday and we train hard.

I really enjoy when a beginner comes along and takes to Taekwon-Do like a duck to water. Every now and again this happens and I get excited. This beginner is at the right age, 14 years old, already has a good base in gymnastics and understands body mechanics, this kid will go far once the mind is in the right place. I'm positive about it anyway. Feicfimid!

We're nearly into wind down mode now for the December holidays. A nice paganistic time of year. I enjoy the break, but the commercialism of the whole thing is quite pathetic. I would say Bah humbug, but I saw 'A Christmas Carol' - 3D the other night and it scared the pants off me! If you haven't seen it - see it! Tá sé ar fheabhas, it's excellent.

I'll be working out my training schedule over the xmas, the hardest thing will be keeping the chocolate intake down to a minimum!

This blog reckons it's time for a change. I've been toying with the idea of re branding the club and renaming it. It has been on my mind for the best past of six or more months now. I'm happy with the name Pilsung, however it doesn't resonate with the masses. The whole idea of a name is that it is automatically recognised, and recognised with success. Pilsung isn't even English, and worse again not even Irish!

This blog also needs to make more use of the interweb. I've been exploring these twitter and facebook phenomena, I hate facebook, but the king of the south east Daragh Bolton says it's great for promoting the club, I'll see. Twitter is interesting, not sure why people want to tell the world what they're doing every minute of the day, no one is that interesting! However twitter seems a good way of supplying club breaking news or updates. The jury is out though.

One thing is for sure, there will be a new name for our clubs, and it will be coming shortly. I've run a little competition for the kids in Cabra, if someone can guess the name I'm thinking, they'll win a new dobok for themselves. There a two hints on our website - http://www.pilsung-itf.com/

There is one winner who got her answer in sharpish, I thought no one would get it, but there you go!

Training is going well, my abs are sore still from a session two days ago. It was a real burner! We're trying to get a power rack for the club, hope to have that sorted soon. That will mean the 6am starts will be more productive, the club is closer to me than the gym. I've put it out there if anyone wants to train with me in the morning starting at 6.30am they're more than welcome to join me, I'll warn you now.. it's easier said than done!

Training tomorrow as well, not sure if there'll be many there. Marto isn't going and there are plenty who have a cold, it's going around, so far so good for this blog anyway.

So the new name for the club will be announced soon enough, it will coincide with a new look website. Like any change of name, it'll take time to get used to it, or will it? Time will tell.

You are what you eat

Or so they say. I've always wondered though exactly what that meant. It doesn't make sense really. If it did, I would be an apple right now. Clearly I'm not.

That slogan would be better understood if it was - 'if you want to be a top class athlete, if you want to be fit, healthy and happy - eat well'

That makes more sense.

This blogger has been called a food Nazi in the past. I can be fierce strict when it comes to my food. I fell into ill health a number of years back. I was about 23 and inflicted an inflamed gall bladder on myself while on holidays. I could barely walk. I was over 17 stone in weight. I had stopped training for a year or two to concentrate on other projects and jobs.

I visited the hospital while away, and there the Colombian doctor who tended to me read me the riot act after he took a blood test. Here I was 23 years of age, meant to be in my prime, a fat waste of space, sick on holiday. Things were going to change and change they did.

I got back training in Taekwon-Do, the rest is history as they say.

There is no need to be over weight these days, although it easy to be. A lot of the food we eat these days is processed, meaning it has been tampered with by man, and once man has touched it, it is rendered useless. Processed food is bad.

Keeping it natural is the way to go. You cannot beat natural foods, straight off the tree or straight out of the ground.

Here is my typical food intake for an average day, beginning with breakfast;

• Raw oats with blackberries, raspberries, blackcurrants and banana - (rice milk, I don't drink milk)
  
• 30g of milled flax seed, goji berries, sunflower seed and hemp seed


• 30g of protein isolate


• Supplement g Vit C, 4g of garlic, potent multi mineral and vitamin tablets

Meals during the day;

• With me throughout the day is a box of raw vegetables, tenderstem brocolli, a whole pepper, olives, cherry tomatoes, peas, carrots and sweet corn.


• 100g of tofu


• A whole mango


• an Apple, a banana and a kiwi


• A yogurt


• 2 litres of water

I would graze on these throughout the day until the evening when I would have;

• Scrambled or boiled eggs, with some olives
  
• Cottage cheese with a yogurt

I don't eat meat anymore. I don't believe we were designed to eat meat originally. In fact scientific evidence states we were herbivores, but we adapted as we evolved, hence our different blood types. Type A were grazers off the land, type O were meat eaters.

I do eat fish though, I'm a big fan of raw fish, sushi style!

My weakness is chocolate. Although I limit my intake (sometimes) I do try have a small bit everyday. I'm worth it :D

I don't eat bread, biscuits, crisps, fizzy drinks of any kind or any processed meats.

There is no better way to go about your day knowing that what you're eating is keeping your body in prime condition. With that diet you won't even catch a cold!

The rule is simple. Eat naturally. Avoid as much stuff as possible that has been processed by humans. Give it a month and you'll see a huge difference in your hair, skin, eyes and energy levels.

For more information you should read a book called 'Optimum Nutrition' by Patrick Holford

Pic- My breakfast bowl and my food for the day =)

Integrity

This blog is tired this morning. I had every intention of an early night last night after training, but the soccer match in France dictated a different departure time for me. Never the less, the six o'clock start wasn't missed and the wet and windy trip to the gym was tackled with gusto. I've been concentrating on some core work for the past week. This morning after the warm up, I worked a wee bit on the arms then concentrated on core exercises. Those swiss balls are fantastico. I'll feel it in the morning no doubt.

I was asked about my diet the other day and what I eat throughout the day, maybe my next installment I will detail that. But for now, this blogger wants to mention something else.

Any student of ITF Taekwon-Do will of course have some understanding of the tenets. Five important concepts that we are 'supposed' to use in our every day lives.

Courtesy

Integrity

Perseverance

Self Control


Indomitable Spirit

When you're a coach, you get many questions from the juniors asking for examples of each so they can have a better understanding of what are, for an 8 year old, complex words indeed.

Well for all you youngsters who may browse this blog and read this bloggers ramblings from time to time, I came across an ideal example of someone who has no integrity.



This is Thierry Henry of France, handling the ball deliberately, creating an unfair goal for his team.
Cheating.
Cheaters have no integrity.

Thanks Henry for providing that classic example for those youngsters out there. You've taken the 'VaVa Voom' out of your character.

HIIT or miss

No, it's spelt right. HIIT, high intensity interval training.

We got into anaerobic thresholds last night in the class. Boy was it tough, 8 rounds of 30 second explosive works with a 90 second break in between. I padded for the lads, Alvy, Fiachra, Adam, Shokri and Neidín, I threw in a little bit of adrenal stress drills, it keeps them under pressure and pushes them way outside their comfort zones, both mentally and physically. Poor Fiachra reproduced his dinner, in the shower! He's a Cork man so we'll let him away with it!There will be plenty more visits to the club from the HIIT bogey man in time to come.

Anaerobic exercising is an interesting topic. I had one of the lads come into class last week and tell me his teacher said Taekwon-Do wasn't an anaerobic sport. Apparently his teacher said an anaerobic sport has got to do with holding your breath. That sounds like a lot of fun, I must say.

Me thinks this teacher is confusing the actual term anaerobic with anaerobic exercise. The word anaerobic literally means without air. There are various forms of anaerobic materials and substances on this earth, that do actually function without the aid of oxygen, some bacteria for an example, and a special underwater adhesive, apparently.

When we talk about anaerobic exercise however we are talking about anaerobic work, involving maximum effort, the body is working so hard that the demands for oxygen and fuel exceed the rate of supply and the muscles have to rely on the stored reserves of fuel. The muscles, being starved of oxygen, take the body into a state known as oxygen debt.

The body's stored fuel soon runs out and activity ceases - painfully. This point is often measured as the lactic threshold or anaerobic threshold or onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA). Activity will not be resumed until the lactic acid is removed and the oxygen debt repaid. Fortunately, the body can resume limited activity after even only a small proportion of the oxygen debt has been repaid. Since lactic acid is produced, the correct term for this pathway is lactic anaerobic energy pathway.

The alactic anaerobic pathway is the one in which the body is working anaerobically but without the production of lactic acid. This pathway can exist only so long as the fuel actually stored in the muscle lasts, approximately 4 seconds at maximum effort.

Anaerobic endurance can be sub-divided as follows:
Short anaerobic - less than 25 seconds (mainly alactic)
Medium anaerobic - 25 seconds to 60 seconds (mainly lactic)
Long anaerobic - 60 seconds to 120 seconds (lactic +aerobic)
Anaerobic endurance can be developed by using repetition methods of relatively high intensity work with limited recovery.

Types of anaerobic exercises include interval sprints, plyometric drills, high intensity pad work, stair sprints and Olympic lifting. Types of anaerobic sports would include both WTF and ITF sport Taekwon-Do, sprinting, speed skating, Rugby, sprint cycling and other such high intensity low time span sports.

So, I suppose after 20 years of Taekwon-Do, having a secondary school teacher tell me and scientific research that we're wrong is a bit like me telling that teacher that the capital city of Argentina is Peru.

It is, isn't it?

Setting the standard.

Standard in ITF Taekwon-Do is everything, to me anyway, and I'm sure to many other TKDists out there in the real world.

Standard was something that I got a good old gander at, at the weekend. We went to the IUTF International Irish championships. The tournament is very good every year, this year the standard of Taekwon-Do competitor at it was the highest I've seen in a long time in Ireland.

The tournment itself was huge, winning at this tournament doesn't come easy. My guys did exceptionally well, most medalling. They all did us proud as usual.

Winning a TKD bout is tough, winning it with style and with that unique ITF agility and speed is even tougher. For me it is such a pleasure to watch stylish Taekwon-Do competitors, well trained, fast as hell and as tactical as they come.

Marauding and swinging your arms everywhere as if punching, isn't nice to look at and undermines our sports credibility on the world stage. Bombing and charging around the ring belongs in the WWE.

With that my hat goes well and truly off to the Dutch team the Croats and the Italians that were present at the championships. These guys and girls were hot stuff. Inspiring.

With that, I found myself asking. What makes these guys tick? What gives them the edge? What is their mindset towards training?

Mindset, this is the key. I remember Tomaz Barada telling us that his juniors train with him 12 times a week... twelve times!

Mindset, mindset, mindset... I want to know how these people think!

We struggle in Ireland to produce such quality in most major sports. I blame the government, their lack of interest in amateur sports in this country is despicable. I also blame the USA, their imposing cultural imperialism through brain washing TV has produced a generation of Zoe 101ers, Christina Aguellera (whatever you call her) and Britney Spears wannabes, I also blame the makers of Xbox and bebo. Gulags for the lot of them.

The Soviets got many things wrong, but if they got anything right it was their approach to sports, they cultivated athletes from a young age, they had sports schools and provided financial assistance to all state run sports academies.

Ah maybe i'm being bitter, but the attitude to amateur sports here in Ireland, excluding the GAA of course, is below par.

I want to know what is the missing link? What makes the Dutch so good? What makes the Italians so stylish? What makes the Polish world champions time and time again. What made Paul Germaine so good? What made Tomaz Barada the best ever?

We've a long way to go, but I'm confident, our guys can win and win in style, but they need to have that mindset to be the best, when you wake up in the morning you are numero uno, when you go to bed you are numero uno. Unless you create that mindset for yourself, skill and tactics go out the window.

One of the answers is experience of course. The more you compete the more confident you become, and Ireland does have exceptional Taekwon-Do competitors.

Anyway enough rambling, I'm inspired again and I like people who inspire me, they are few and far between. So again, to all you top class stylish Taekwon-Do and kickboxing people out there..I bow down. Keep up the good work, I may need inspiring again at some point... soon!

Pic - Silvia Farigu of Italy. One of the best in the world.

Nobody comes close.

It's as simple as that. Nobody comes close. Of all the people I've trained with over the years, Tomaz Barada has been the best of them.

Not only has this man won everything there is to win on the ITF Taekwon-Do circuit, he was also untouchable on the WAKO kickboxing circuit. He has a pro kickboxing record of 84 wins - 0 losses. He retired undefeated.

I had the opportunity of visiting his trophy gallery in Slovenia in 2008. A splendid sight indeed. You could have mistaken it for a trophy store.

The word retired however is probably a misnomer. When you retire, you normally pack things up and go off to have yourself a nice life, fishing, gardening etc. Not Barada, while he has retired from competing, he is still very much at the heart of the ITF competition circuit and the WAKO kickboxing also. He teaches everyday, he trains everyday, he has several world champions training under him, and no doubt several more to come.

All of that, and he's the most approachable, down to earth kind of guy you could ever meet. Every time I've trained with him he has something new to offer. A new skill, a new drill, a new conditioning exercise, always something new. As a coach myself, learning new skills and passing them on is the key to future success.

The sessions themselves were intense. After the Saturday sessions I thought I would never make it through the Sunday, but I did. Even some of the younger ones weren't able for it, this mindset wasn't for packing it in.

I was happy enough with the fitness levels, although the left leg was a bit stiff. That hall we have is an ice box. It doesn't help at all. You could hang sides of bacon in it and they'd be fine there for months. I'll have to do something about it, I can't train in the freezing cold. Fair enough you warm up, but my left hip flexor only needs 30 seconds to cool down and then it's a nightmare to get going again!

Tomaz is back in January, he's doing a session for Ian Kingston in Cork. We'll be travelling down for that. Then the Slovenia trip in May. I'm looking forward to that already.

Aspirations and apparitions

It was the right time of the year for the folk of Knock to be searching the skies for something spooky. Apparently a message was given, and we all wait with baited breath for that message to be revealed, maybe it'll be the results of my grading, who knows?

I wish I had an apparition. I could do with the help. Are my chambers correct? Is there enough power being generated? Is it turn left, or right in Choi Yong? God knows.

Your man says I shouldn't mock the almighty. This blogger is a realist.

Realism. The Sunday sessions continue, they don't get any more real than this. Lung stunningly tough. Plenty of pad work today, and plenty of sparring, plenty of detail and plenty of sweat.

God it was tough... here's your man again.

I'm still shooting too much off the back leg. That's the consequence of tiredness. Marto reckons I'm moving better now than I ever have. Marto knows technique, if he says that, God knows I'm happy.

News in the ITF is that the North Koreans are talking to Master Trans group about unification. It wasn't long ago they were at logger heads in the courts over who owns the office. I used to have a real interest with what the groups did at that level. Used to. It's really all about men in suits, status, power blocs and above all airgead.

Freud was right.

Tomaz Barada will be in Dublin next week. I'm looking forward to that. The most accomplished of them all, and not an air or a grace about him. I hope to be fit enough, I reckon I'll be alright, once the mind set is right.

As for my four followers, I will make an appearance sometime around 3pm tomorrow.

Jesus, even Brian of Nazareth had more than four followers!

oops here's your man again.. leg it.