Back on line.

We had a great days training today. A small group of us braved a chilly Sunday morning and headed down to the dojang. We initially had patterns in mind, but that expanded to sparring towards the end and a good bit of fitness work, all in all it was nearly three hours training, very enjoyable I must say.

We started off with Chon Ji and then isolated a number of fundamental movements from each patterns as we progressed up the ladder. Dara is getting really good, I'm impressed with her progress, she'll make a classy black belt if she keeps up the good work.

We worked as far as Po-Eun for the first degrees. We broke down the 1st degree patterns bit by bit and worked on several movements from each. I felt quite good throughout even though I despise the cold, I think I was reincarnated to the wrong country.

The sparring was enjoyable, we really worked hard and pushed ourselves to the limit. Alvy's a good lad to spar, he's not one of those young lads that feel they have to impose their strength on you, most end up getting hurt when they do that, then you feel guilty. With Alvy you can keep moving and jazzing, there's no ego there. He's getting very fast. I saw some snaps of him sparring Leon Brydon from the IUTF and he looked very comfortable, scoring some lovely shots.

This photo, which is courtesy of Robert O'Shea, a pro photographer that the IUTF hire at their tournaments shows Alvy landing a nicely placed back kick on Leon at the Munster championships.

Neidin was sparring well also, she can do some damage with her hands, she's very strong and very quick. As a coach I have to comes to terms with students who came to me as kids and who are now fit and strong young adults who are landing some hard shots on me and in some cases really hurting! That is a sense of achievement for me or is it that I'm getting old? Dara reckons it is, but she's mean ;)

On the diet front, I am still at 89kg's and happy. I've discovered a really remarkable food. Wheat grass. Do some research on that stuff, it is super food and all you need is a small shot of it twice a day. It gives you a real kick when you get it into you.

I'm enjoying life as a vegetarian albeit not a strict one, I still eat fish, I'd be mad not to.

In the ITF world the president of one the International groups, GM Tran Trieu Quan was in Haiti when that horrific earthquake struck. He hasn't been seen or heard from since. One can only imagine the worst but they're still finding survivors over there right up to the other day. I'm sure all TKD students around the world are hoping for his safety. Fingers crossed.

The ITF world championship trials take place next Sunday, we'll see how we get on at that. I have three people in mind for Korea, maybe four depending. We'll see.

I haven't been able to update you as much this week because my laptop decided it would roll over and die. It's in the process of being resurrected, I hope.

We took a trip to Athlone last week to participate in a squad session being conducted by Master Don Dalton. The session was very enjoyable. The squads have changed some what from the last time I did one. There was plenty of pad work and foot work, all the new stuff introduced by Master Maidana over the last few years.

The session was physically tough and my girlie feet (I'm too used to training on mats!) soon gave out and I was left with two very ripe and very raw wounds on my left and right feet. I managed to spar away, but those blighters put a stop to me moving well. Alvydas hadn't a problem with his feet, he says he's tougher than I am.. he's probably right!

At the end of the session we worked through a number of patterns up as far as Juche or Kodang as it is called now. I didn't pull off a nice pattern at all as I was wincing with the pain of my feet. They're still sore today but healing well!

Weight wise I'm sinking below 89kg's, it's all heading in the right direction.

Go away.

The title is aimed at the snow, I saw this white bear rambling around Bannow Road yesterday, a sign of the times!

It's near impossible to get anything done these days, let alone training. We did manage only two sessions during the week though, myself and Denny that is. The hall was it's usual cold self but a good cardio warm up set us up for a good session for shoulder and arm workouts. Plenty of military pressing, hand stand presses and other such compound treats for the deltoid region of the body. Following on from the presses we did a good hour of cardio.

I'm starting to feel the benefit of the cardio now. We trained last night at Taekwon-Do and I felt good, the legs were moving well, even though it was sub zero degrees. I've also really tightened up on the diet, there are minimal refined carbs getting past my lips at the moment, apart from the odd one or two so I've dropped down to 89kg's - that's a good sign.

I'm in love with soya at the moment, soya beans, soya milk and tofu are all regular features on my plate as well as the usual raw veg. It's absolute devine stuff altogether, if you haven't tried soya, try it!

Well back to the weather, the sooner the better the white stuff clears off and let's us get back to normal. The response from the city council has been disgraceful. No grit, no sand on the paths and the estates are around Cabra (where people actually live) are lethal. Not that the council cares, sure the good old minister responsible is away on a beach somewhere, the life.

There's more snow on the way apparently, in fact it's coming down right now as I look out the window. Training tomorrow looks in doubt so.

My Brrrrr is slowly being replaced by Grrrrr!

Athbhlian faoi mhaise daoibh

As it says, happy new year gach duine. 2009 is now well and truly behind us and as we enter the very early stages of 2010 we can be glad that the days are starting to stay with us that little bit longer. It won't be long before the spring is here and there's a bit of colour put back into the landscape.

2009 was a good year. There were plenty of surprises and plenty of expected catastrophes. One surprise for us all was the voting in of an African-American to the office the president of the US. He promised change and told the world that America could change, yes we can and all that, is feidir linn? Well time will tell, so far not much has happened internationally, but he is up against an inherantly corrupt politcal system.
The expected catastrophes? The December budget underlined this government as an ally of the super rich and an enemy of the working people of Ireland. Who's responsible for that lot anyway?

In Taekwon-Do terms, 2009 was great. This blog has new years resolutions, I've resolved not to have any, I'm still working on 2009. I'll get there in the end.

Master Choi Jung Hwa once spoke about new year resolutions. He said in all his wisdom that new year resolutions only serve to remind us that we are not perfect. He also said that it is a pity that we only promise to improve ourselves once every year. Everyday one should resolve to improve themselves, not every year. If you haven't trained with Master Choi Jung Hwa, you're missing out. I hope his 2010 will be as successful as his 2009 when he brought Taekwon-Do back to Korea after years of exile. A nice achievement for General Choi's son.

Our performance at the ITF European championships cemented our competitors as a formidable force and proved 2008 wasn't just one of them things. We can compete along side the very best, without doubt.
2009 saw some new arrivals to our club, all good people and capable Taekwon-Doists. 2010 will be good for them. Unfortunately, every year we lose good students for various reasons, it's always sad to hear that a student has decided to pack it in. The door is always a jar, feel free to rejoin us at any time, at your own pace.
2010 will be good for all of us together.

Most of our top competitors are sitting their leaving certs this year, it's typical. The world championships fall this year, and in South Korea at that. The belly of the beast. I'm not putting anyone under pressure to attend these, not on junior or leaving cert year, priorities are priorities.
As for top competitors, I've a feeling this year will be the year that some other younger students will make their mark on the tournament scene. Their time is fast approaching, their effort will pay off, trust me!

2010 will also be a year where we see a whole gansy load of students testing for 1st degree. I think we have seven, maybe eight. The future of Red Star Taekwon-Do is in safe hands that's for sure, and when this blog is old and gathering dust these guys will be alive and kicking.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have become an important part of my life for being the people they are, the kids and parents who grace our dojang every week, it brightens up my day, even if sometimes it doesn't seem that way! I would also like to suggest we all pay some thought to the man who created Taekwon-Do, General Choi Hong Hi. He died in 2002. Make it your business this year to learn a little about the man he was - http://www.comdo.com/founder.html
If we continue to strive in our training, if we continue to stop and think about the people around us, if we continue to stand up for what is right well then 2010 can only be one thing.

2010 will be good.

I've a pain in my back side. There are two reasons for that, one being leg and squat day on Friday (yesterday) the other being people taking liberties.

However this is my training blog, so I'll report on my leg and squat training. We decided, myself and Denny, to do a light weight, high rep workout on the legs on Friday gone. So after a twenty minute leg warm up, off we set with deep ATG squats, only with an Olympic bar across the shoulders, three sets of ten in between each set were three sets of ten Hindu squats. Done with speed and full range of motion.

After that we did lateral leg swing and holds, this exercise is specific to Taekwon-Do kicking, so Denny was a bit out of his depth, but he managed well. From there we did farmers walks. Deep lunging walks with the Olympic bars, five lengths of the training hall.

The quads were well and truly wobbly at this stage and we were only starting! We worked then on some hamstring curling with resistance bands, again high reps, three sets of 50 working the last one until burn out.

Back to the Olympic bars for bunny hops until failure and straight into burpee jumps, at this point standing was out of the question, so it was up on all fours and then lateral knee rises for one minute each leg, a favourite I picked up from IUTF squad sessions!
For pig iron, and just because we had some air left in us, we finished off with some weighted decline sit ups and then a good amount of stretching just to ease the DOMS (Delayed onset muscle soreness - the pain the day after!)

I wasn't expecting to be as achy as I am today, I did a bit of sparring with the lads this morning and was moving quite well, considering! Right now though, my glutes are yelling at me, the cheek!

I'll do a bit on patterns tomorrow, if my legs are fresh enough I'll do Choi Yong and post it up for critique, I'll see how it goes. Back to crossfit on Monday, I can't wait :-/