Geezer's Long March Toward the Elite Sneaking Up On the Finish Line

[Mark E. Hurling]

Thanks Bill. She's been hacking her lungs up all week and is too sick to lift just now.

Weight 249.5

5 minutes warmup on the bike. Good to be back and now doing a 5-3-1 routine to recover.

Dips: 3 sets of 8 with bodyweight. The first set was creaky and hard but I got better as I went. No shoulder complaints either which flared up last time.

Deadlifts: 255 for 5, 295 for 3, 335 for 1. I'm not knocking out more reps for the first cycle of this.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 248

Well I screwed that up good and proper. That deadlift yesterday should have been for sets of 5. Oh well, a good break-in back to reality.

I had to drag myself out of bed and get my butt to jujitsu this morning arguing with myself all 47 miles to the dojo in the San Fernando Valley. Long-ass way to drive to get beat up but the quality of instruction on Saturdays is especially worth the effort.

The new dojo had a couple of guys I hadn't seen in 3 years or so a green belt and and a 2nd degree black belt. Good guys too. I worked with the returned green belt which thank God was not the OCD 1st degree green belt.

We did an interesting variation of of a standard block and takedown counter that starts with the attacker throwing a right roundhouse and the defender doing a left outblock that scoops over and directs the strike down and across their body. The defender's right hand offsets the attacker's head and normally these two moves take spin them on their axis and flatten them. But in this variation, at that point the defender steps back with the right foot and pivots while maintaining the head misalignment and changing hands and pulling the attacker's head backward. As I learned at age 18 in judo 101 in PE, where the head goes, the body follows. The body also hits the ground hard too, with a cricked or broken neck if you try muscling out some resistance.

There was a defense against a front choke where the defender launches a right vertical fist to the sternum or solar plexus of the attacker with an impact accelerating strike to the defender's side that puts at least another 10% to the kinetic energy of the strike. Then the fist drops and impacts the defender's own right quad in another accelerating move that leaves the arm moving up and across in a windmill motion that strips the hands off the neck. The attacker is already moving backward from the vertical fist or doubled over, and the windmill completes the counter. At least until hand making the windmill descends in a hammer fist to break the nose.

Resting up now for a special seminar tomorrow with O-Sensei Brosius.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 247

5 minutes warm up on the bike. Sets of 3 this week.

Standing Overhead Press: 115, 135, 155

Pull Ups: 3 sets of 3 with bodyweight.

Squats: 215, 255, 275. My lower back was feeling dodgy this morning and I can see that doing both heavy squats and deadlifts in the same week may leave my lower back a little overwhelmed recovery-wise. So I only felt like it could take one rep in this an it may not have been to depth. I didn't want to take the chance of boogering my back for the seminar later today. So time for some revisions I think.

So I came home and showered to get going for the Brosius seminar. This was well worth a little caution and fatigue because his approach is different in several ways to Master Bellman's. O-Sensei Brosius always asks what we'd like to know. One of the other people attending who knows about my work on women's self defense book started by asking about seated groping and grabbing attacks. Nice to unintentionally have programmed someone else to ask my questions for me.

So from a seated position the attacker grabs the defender's wrists. The defender draws up one hand and uses it to feed the attacker's wrist to the other hand. From there the defender grips that hand inverted and turns it so the attacker's pinkie is facing the ceiling. From there a little stretch and downward torque on the wrist and the attacker just wants to face plant to get away from the hurt. In a theater or bar this would be a forehead intercepting the next row of seatbacks or table. Or the heavy oak molding on the bar itself. That'd leave a mark.

An arm around the neck to pull her in was dealt with by sending the near arm's hand (depending on which side the attack come from) up to the philtrum under the nose and pressing upward and backward. This hurts so much all you want to do is shove your neck up and back and let go to get away. Trying to hang on is the last thing on your mind.

His approach to a grope of the buttocks is very simple and straightforward. The defender steps back diagonally and drives the same side arm or elbow back along with a hip turn. Then step to the opposite side and away. I like this better than what I came up for my book with because it takes far less skill to execute and is a more appropriate response to a low intensity attack. Maybe not as satisfying for the woman being groped with the wrist flex I wrote about, but it's about what can work for everyone. Not stroking my ego. Thank you O-Sensei.

I asked about a one handed throat grab as preparatory for a sucker punch with the other hand. The attacker typically grabs with their left hand to strike with their right hand. The defender simply drives their right hand across to the wrist of the gripping hand at a 45 degree angle and it pops right off. It doesn't even have to done hard. The 45 degree angle counter to a 90 degree linear attack defeats it every time.

He then got into a defense for quick jabs. He recommended a circular hand over hand paddling move while stepping forward. You just want to step back from it and it's nearly impossible to get a strike through the hands.

We worked on how apply a fast and effective rear naked choke so it was harder to stop or counter. Too often we get caught in bring the arm around in a wide loop that if the defender is alert, they'll pick up and get an arm up to stop it. He said to snake the hand and arm over right next to the neck with the opposite hand already up to cap the back or top of the head to bring on the lights-out effect faster. This is more important than is obvious because I've been stopping such careless approaches by green belts and upper ranks for a few years now just by bring my arm up and usually spinning into the attack and bringing my other arm up and around into a really nasty shoulder and upper arm lock.

He showed us a very slick way to spin someone facing you around with a minimum of effort. The left hand comes up to the other guy's shoulder and pulls as the right hand drives in low in a palm heel strike to the joint where the leg attaches to the pelvis. The strike doesn't even have to be a hard one and the leg buckles and the hips are driven backward on one side, which makes the pull and turn easier. They end up with their back to you and nothing good will develop for them after that.

We did a number of other things but Brosius' approach doesn't talk a lot about principles, mostly what a particular technique does or works. He is big on misdirection with one hand while readying the other one for the real strike. Same with focusing the attention on the hands and then launching a low kick or sweep. This approach has worked well for me in the dojo and during for-real fights as a cop. Especially the low foot attacks. Never see them coming.

He is also not big on strikes with the fist unless it's a hammer fist. Delivering a back fist causes you to have to draw it cross your center line. All the other guy has to do is move and use one or both hands to control that elbow and the whole arm is stuck. A strong step to close will pin it right against the torso. Not good.

One of his prime directives is a hands up, palms out stance. It appears innocuous and non-offensive but in fact the hands are ideally positioned to either block, counter or strike.

A great session all around.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 245

5 minutes warmup on the bike. Sets of 3 week

Bench Press: 190, 220, 245.

Barbell Row: 175, 200, 225.

Claw Grip: 215 for 2 sets of 5.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 244.5

I was too drug out from a combine of work stuff (again) and having to have worked late to get to jujitsu last night. BUT! It the more than doubling of task load imposed on me last year got reduced yesterday afternoon by transitioning my physical security duties to (heh) three other people. This is a huge millstone of stress off my neck and I hope now to get re-charged properly for all other things physical like lifting and beating people over the head with finesse. I even got some photos from Master Bellman and the clinic last weekend. I wonder who that geezer in the black gi is. Man do I feel some relief. My job is not physically demanding in the sense of tote that barge and lift that bale but the time, creativity, and urgency surrounding things can be daunting. I include these work related comments as another ball in the juggling act of life, work, exercise, rest, and recovery to keep in the air.

Sooo I did a GXP today and going to try to get adjusted later if I can get an appointment.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 244

5 minutes warmup on the bike.

Dips: 3 sets of 8, bodyweight, +5 lbs., 7.5 lbs.

Power Snatch: 3 sets of 3 with 105. The second set was pretty loosey and goosey for reps 1 and 2.

My right medial delt was not happy nor was my lower back. Even after a trip to Dr. Laura of the magic hands yesterday. But I managed.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 243.5

Jujitsu today with a lot of interesting and different things going on. We lead off with an old standby that Jigoro Kano called Osoto Gari. Except as a counter to a roundhouse punch after an outblock. We then moved to a variant counter from the same attack called Ouchi Gari with a low sweep at the calf/shin level rather than the way judo teaches it. Funny, because it was one of the adaptations of judo I learned to make as a young cop to avoid getting my own ass kicked.

Then we worked on a bar arm takedown from a right straight punch. The defender steps left and deflects down and circular across the attacker's body line with the right hand in a palm up sweep from left to right. The right arm then returns up and across the upper sternum or neck palm down as the hips rotate back counter clockwise. Pretty much what football calls a clothesline because it takes the head back over the heels. If that doesn't do the job the left hand comes around to deliver a palm heel strike to the attacker's lower right side back just above the pelvis. Down like a stack of blocks.

We also worked a straight punch counter with the same kind of block as above transitioning to a wrist grip with the right hand and a neck or shoulder grip with the left hand pulling back. At the same time the defender's right hand takes the attacker's right hand out of it's linear configuration and back and downward in a circular counter. This levers the whole spine into misalignment and the stack of blocks we call the human body collapses again in an ungraceful heap.

Professor Helms, high ranking in our own art and even higher in Okinawa te had us working striking drills at the end. He had another black belt hold up focus pads and had us use an open handed "slap" strike. After a few smacks he stopped me and told me loosen up my shoulders. He said like him, I had worshiped the Iron Gods too much and needed to overcome that devotion. Lots of laughs from all including me. I love this guy. He's a retired LAPD Lt. (SIS) who has had to take some really bad people out permanently during his 30+ year career. He's about a year older than me and roughly the same size right down to the graying cop mustache. However he is a real bad ass but a great guy. He demonstrated the strike on my left shoulder and the shock wave traveled past my sternum to my right shoulder. Then he said that retaliation would be considered elder abuse. Until I reminded him I was over 60 and almost the same age he was. More laughs. Great day.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Weight: 243.5

5 minutes warm up on the bike. (5-3-1 Week)

Dips: Sets of 8, bodyweight +10 lbs., +12 lbs., +15 lbs. But wait you may say, didn't you just do these? Yes, I did and I think now I have finally spread out the lifts and assistance exercises correctly.

Deadlifts: 5-265, 3-300, 1-335.

[bob g]

Weight: 243.5
...
Professor Helms, high ranking in our own art and even higher in Okinawa te had us working striking drills at the end. He had another black belt hold up focus pads and had us use an open handed "slap" strike. After a few smacks he stopped me and told me loosen up my shoulders. He said like him, I had worshiped the Iron Gods too much and needed to overcome that devotion. Lots of laughs from all including me. I love this guy. He's a retired LAPD Lt. (SIS) who has had to take some really bad people out permanently during his 30+ year career. He's about a year older than me and roughly the same size right down to the graying cop mustache. However he is a real bad ass but a great guy. He demonstrated the strike on my left shoulder and the shock wave traveled past my sternum to my right shoulder. Then he said that retaliation would be considered elder abuse. Until I reminded him I was over 60 and almost the same age he was. More laughs. Great day.

It is so impressive to experience a master doing a difficult thing an with economy of movement and preparation. I don't know the martial arts game but you describe a man of great skill and humor. So cool.

[Mark E. Hurling]

John's approach is different than Master Bellman's. He has absorbed a lot of the complex movement patterns of mushin ryu and even commented yesterday it took him some years to get them figured out. But like many people who started in karate, he tends to very straightforward linear movements and strikes. They work just fine too. My first art was an Okinawan style called shorei goju. Very similar unsurprisingly to what he does. Between those predispositions and the big throw movements of judo from my college years, the "small technique" and subtlety of mushin took some getting used to. tertius has commented about a Chinese MA he studied under and his use of the term anatomical physics. Master Bellman uses the same term. So although nowhere near as skilled or experienced as Professor Helms, I understand where his economy of motion comes from even if I can't demonstrate it to within a galaxy of his ability.