Karate Training for Adults with Careers

It is a Tuesday night and I'm a week and two days in to my new job at an IT startup which includes at 3-4 hour daily commute.  I learned in my first week that the commute can be as bad as 6 hours on a bad day. 

I'm still recovering from a broken ring finger and right big toe, both from sparring.  The finger is only 4 week old while toe was broken back in November.  I've been so busy with work that I've not even had time to review or post the video from the match where I broke my finger.

Sadly between broken digits and toes on top of then new job and time on the road, I've not been in the Dojo but once in the last month or so. 

I'm not giving up and am happy to have a Master who is dedicated to his students who still encourages me to train when I can helping me focus on the training that will help me eventually help me get my next black belt.

Even if I'm not in the Dojo, I'm still training at night and weekends and staying as physically fit lifting weights.  The commute is hard on a body.

Here is to staying in the fight, no matter what.

-Rick

Life Comes at You Fast, Martial Arts Training Prepares You for Life in the Fast Lane

Life comes at you fast. So do opponents in the ring.

What do you do when life comes at you fast?  Do you run or do you counter attack?

Martial Arts trains your brain to be able to react to fear and getting control of that fear. If you can master your emotions in the ring, you are more likely to be able to do it in every aspect of your life.

Life has been coming at me really fast lately. The answer is to not slow down or you'll miss life and miss opportunities that come your way. Be physically and mentally ready for whatever comes your way, in the ring and out.

I was playing catch up on my video editing last night. Here are my last two fights with my sparring partner, Jason.

I had to replace the sound track with Royalty free music on the 1/30 video because we had music running in the background.

Video 1/30/2017 (First fight as Yellow Belt)

Video 1/23/2017 (Last fight as White Belt)

Video 1/23/2017 All Fighters

Monday Night Fights - Sparring Training 12/12/2016

I took my almost healed broken toe and my camera gear down to the Dojo for our Monday Night Fight (Sparring Practice).

I will be coming back to post an update on where all the best action is in case you want to fast-forward to all the exciting stuff.  Personally I think it is all exciting.

Video

Less than 7 Degrees of Separation between Me and Bruce Lee

So I've got the day off and I'm sitting in my home office, broken toe elevated, watching old interviews with Martial Arts greats from my past.

I love to think of my connection to martial arts in these terms.  There are only 1-2 degrees of separation between me and Bruce Lee in my training.

I have two connections to Bruce Lee:

1. My Arnis Master was Grand Master Norlito Soriano Sr. who came to the U.S. in the 60's with Dan Inosanto. Dan is the only Jeet Kune Do instructor certified by Bruce Lee himself.  Of course they were close friends.

2. Ed Parker (Kenpo) - I trained under Bill Miller who was a direct deciple of Ed Parker. I had the opportunity to meet Ed Parker a couple of time and attend Kenpo clinics with them. Ed Parker was good friends and room mates with Bruce Lee back in the 60's in SoCal when Bruce first came to the US.

Here are two good interview with Dan Inosanto about Bruce Lee

Keep Your Eye on Your Opponent at All Times, Sometimes You're the Spectator and that Sucks!

It sucks when you're out with an injury.  I can still lift weights, punch and stretch but I just can't kick or walk very well.

So it was Monday night sparring night and I went to the Dojo because it is not always about you. My training partners still need help in the Dojo.  You always need that critical eyes sitting outside the ring to fine tune your technique or break bad habits.

I think my favorite piece of advice of the night was for beginner who was flinching when a strike was incoming.

Here is my advice to him:

When you take your eyes off your opponent, you are sabotaging your chance to survive the attack and ruin any chance of a successful counter strike.

Why?

Because the majority of our training is hand-eye or foot-eye coordination and muscle memory.

Your eyes are at least 50% of this equation so when you look away from your opponent for any reason you loose your ability to block and counter strike effectively.

He applied this in the next match and it was a huge difference immediately. This is not something I see often in advanced fighters but it is something to get rid of immediately when you see it.

With Broken Toe, I Have Time to Go Through Game Film from 11-7-2016

So here I am on Saturday night going through and editing game film for the other students at my Dojo.

I'm just 5 days out from breaking my right big toe in a couple or places and I'm pretty sure I've damaged the ligaments in there pretty good too.  Can't move it yet.

Fellow "Engineer Nerds" at work have named me "Tae Kwon Toe".  So I've got that going for me now. LOL

While I'm out with the broken toe, I'll still blog and get video for others in my Dojo.

Here is some game film from 11-7-2016 of various matches.  Enjoy!

Merafuentes Korean Karate Sparring Sessions 11-14-2016

I'm on day number two of "Broken Toe" time off from the ring [Frowny Face].

So now I have time to slow down and get caught up on video editing.

Here are some video from some of my classmates and training partners from our Monday night sparring sessions on 11-14-2016 before I broke my darn toe.

Sparring Session 1: The ladies are kicking butt!

Sparring Session 2: Dave vs Mr. Kumar