Old Blog

8-11-09

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:37:00 -0400

8-11-09

Today was a bit of a mixed day for me. Jennifer went to the West Branch with me which was wonderful, I honestly can not recall the last time she joined me at the West Branch for class. When we arrived I headed to the gym to help out with the beginner class, but before I walked in I noticed that they only had 2 students so I ended up not helping out. When there is a big class, of mixed levels I will step in and help out when needed, but on days like today I would really not be that useful.

About 20 minutes before the advanced class I went to the program studio and dust mopped in then spent some time just relaxing and even a few moments in meditation like I used to do before class. I walked into the studio aka the dojans about 5 minutes before class and realized that Jr. Master Peshca would not be in class tonight which meant that class would either start 15 minutes late or on time if I started leading stretching and basic kicks. Normally when this happens I am given some notice to start things out but since I missed class on Thursday I was not given a heads up. I weighted the options and took the imitative and started class. Mrs. Mundt looked happy that I did so and when she hit the dojans told me to continue so she could prepare for class. Our class times are in different locations and they overlap which is the issue on this type of day. Normally as soon as she enters the dojans I pass class over to her, so it was nice to have her watch me for about 10 minutes and to watch my “potential” teaching style. I am at least a year away until I am at the lowest level for a teaching position but with the number of people who want to teach trust me I am very low on the list! It is nice to step up and take the lead when I can though and this does give me little pieces of experience only the way.

Well in any event we had a great basics class. Our pretest day is Thursday so this was our last class before the pretest so Mrs. Mundt spent some time working on common things brought up on tests and “perfecting” techniques that will most likely be called. The class was not as cardio as normal but honestly the class before the pretest is normally a bit more mild. A mild class is always a welcomed change from time to time at the West Branch.

8-11-09

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:37:00 -0400

8-11-09

About 20 minutes before the advanced class I went to the program studio and dust mopped in then spent some time just relaxing and even a few moments in meditation like I used to do before class. I walked into the studio aka the dojans about 5 minutes before class and realized that Jr. Master Peshca would not be in class tonight which meant that class would either start 15 minutes late or on time if I started leading stretching and basic kicks. Normally when this happens I am given some notice to start things out but since I missed class on Thursday I was not given a heads up. I weighted the options and took the imitative and started class. Mrs. Mundt looked happy that I did so and when she hit the dojans told me to continue so she could prepare for class. Our class times are in different locations and they overlap which is the issue on this type of day. Normally as soon as she enters the dojans I pass class over to her, so it was nice to have her watch me for about 10 minutes and to watch my ?potential? teaching style. I am at least a year away until I am at the lowest level for a teaching position but with the number of people who want to teach trust me I am very low on the list! It is nice to step up and take the lead when I can though and this does give me little pieces of experience only the way.

Well in any event we had a great basics class. Our pretest day is Thursday so this was our last class before the pretest so Mrs. Mundt spent some time working on common things brought up on tests and ?perfecting? techniques that will most likely be called. The class was not as cardio as normal but honestly the class before the pretest is normally a bit more mild. A mild class is always a welcomed change from time to time at the West Branch.

8-11-09

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:37:00 -0400

8-11-09

About 20 minutes before the advanced class I went to the program studio and dust mopped in then spent some time just relaxing and even a few moments in meditation like I used to do before class. I walked into the studio aka the dojans about 5 minutes before class and realized that Jr. Master Peshca would not be in class tonight which meant that class would either start 15 minutes late or on time if I started leading stretching and basic kicks. Normally when this happens I am given some notice to start things out but since I missed class on Thursday I was not given a heads up. I weighted the options and took the imitative and started class. Mrs. Mundt looked happy that I did so and when she hit the dojans told me to continue so she could prepare for class. Our class times are in different locations and they overlap which is the issue on this type of day. Normally as soon as she enters the dojans I pass class over to her, so it was nice to have her watch me for about 10 minutes and to watch my ?potential? teaching style. I am at least a year away until I am at the lowest level for a teaching position but with the number of people who want to teach trust me I am very low on the list! It is nice to step up and take the lead when I can though and this does give me little pieces of experience only the way.

Well in any event we had a great basics class. Our pretest day is Thursday so this was our last class before the pretest so Mrs. Mundt spent some time working on common things brought up on tests and ?perfecting? techniques that will most likely be called. The class was not as cardio as normal but honestly the class before the pretest is normally a bit more mild. A mild class is always a welcomed change from time to time at the West Branch.

8-10-09

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:37:00 -0400

8-10-09

Training today was a bit give and take. Jennifer and I did some extra things at work on Sunday Night/Monday Morning and we simple were not up to practice in the morning. Another factor was that we ended up working out late Sunday night and it honestly 2 practice sessions in 10 hours felt a bit like overkill.

I did a Reiki Attunement this afternoon to strengthen myself because honestly the past few weeks have been so intense that I felt completely ran down, and I have been feeling sick almost every day this past week. I would love to say that it is just pressure for the promotional testing this weekend but honestly the pressure of the test has not hit me, but stress from outside drama has been a nightmare these past few weeks. One of my wife’s former friends has been busy calling a number of our friends, family and even business accounts making up the saddest stories since he started abusing medication and tried stealing some of my pain killers and anti depressants a few weeks back. I am thankful that I caught him, however I he did get away with a number of each and I think he took them all at once and this detox and withdraw is hurting him pretty bad. He was going to a methadone clinic to clean himself up, however it appears that he was not ready to stop using drugs and steal meds from us must have seemed like his best choice. We heard through a former roommate of his that the individual made a scene at the clinic a few weeks back and can no longer be seen there, but we thought it was just nonsense fighting, I guess we were wrong. Thankfully after the first call went through we called those who needed to be called and I spoke with my schools Grand Master to let him know what was going on and we were able to brace them for what could be said and what actually happened. The people who did catch phone calls also documented the calls and one of our friends was able to use his work contacts to trace the phone calls.

Well enough of that bad business. Black Belt/Grey Belt class tonight rocked we had a total of 20 people in class which was a 2009 record for attendance. The Monday night class taught by Master Weaver is a forms focused class and it is not as “formal” as other classes, Master Weaver will also say himself that he is perhaps the most unorthodox instructor at Kim’s Academy, and well I would have to agree. Master Weaver is as I believe the 3rd highest rank individual at Kim’s Academy so that allows him the right to be that way. In truth Master Weaver is a wonderful instructor and I love the style that he uses. He is very easy going and loves to make class fun for everyone as well as a complete learning experience. It is tempted sometimes to set up a hidden recorder just to catch all the things that he says because his wisdom is as deep as his sense of humor.

Class today was a bit different. We worked on couple of forms as a group, and then lower ranks were dismissed to work within smaller groups on their own. I was the only Danbo in class today so when I was dismissed I was told to go through Koryo 10 times while he was working with the rest of the black belts on the higher rank forms. Honestly the timing was perfect because one I got done with my assignment I went out for water and when I got back we were lined up kicking shields with a focus on back kick and jumping back kicks. Odds are for our pretest a 360 back kick or jumping back kick will be one of the required board breaking kicks. After we did that worked on some 2 on one sparring so those testing could have a bit of practice in that area and we finished class with one step’s that again would most likely appear on the black belt testing. It was a great class and I am not sure if it was the energy from the storm, my reiki attunement, the energy of the class or perhaps of all of them but class went even faster then normal.

Grey Belt class is actually only a 45 minute scheduled class however it has been known to go on for an hour and a bit longer a few times. Today felt like 15 minutes but I think it was actually about an hour long. After class was over Jennifer and I presented our papers to Master Weaver for his endorsement and I felt bad that my written paper was 6 pages long but Master Weaver did not seem to mind. If you can not tell by my blogs I do ramble a bit more then I should and considering that the paper was 10 pages long before I edited it I guess leaving it at 6 page was not too bad. I also presented Master Weaver with some items I am working on for my website, actually it was a version of the history of Taekwondo and he seemed semi impressed. He gave me a wonderful assignment to read more about the Kwans and honestly it works well because that was a project I was planning on starting this week. He asked me a couple of questions to test my basic knowledge of the Kwans and seemed impressed that I actually knew the answers. As it pertains to Taekwondo history or the history of Kim’s Academy I view Master Weaver as a creditable source, because he has been involved in Taekwondo for over 33ish years and as I said before he may be easy going, but he is knows a lot about Taekwondo history and so forth as well as a great deal on a number of other topics. Honestly as he is the 3rd or 4th highest rank individual at Kim’s Academy that is certainly a great reason to show him a great deal of respect but another thing about him that I raised the level of respect that my wife and I give him is because one day we were at the book store and one moment there was no one behind us and the next moment Master Weaver was there initiating conversation. By tradition it is the lower ranks responsibility to initiate conversation to show respect and for him to see us, walk over to us and start the conversation by extending his hand out first that really did mean a lot, and when that happened I think we only had a handful of classes with us at best and he already knew our names and some basics about us.

Well tomorrow is another day. I am looking forward to hitting class at the West Branch and I am hopeful that my wife is able to take class with me. She has not attended class at the West Branch for a while now and I think the cardio class of Jr. Master Peshca will be a good thing for her this close to the test. Odds are that Jr. Master Smith will be calling on of our pretest and Jr. Master Peshca will call the other if tradition holds and both of them run hard classes and their tests are shorter versions of their classes. I am hoping that she enjoys the class and starts attending classes there more often. The two of us float from branches and train under several instructors; however we both need to start thinking about which branch we are going to call our home branch soon.

Possible Practice Sessions

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:37:00 -0400

Practice Sessions for the Week

Basic Kicking

Front Kicks 25 times each leg

Round House Kicks 25 times each let

Spinning Back Kicks 50 times each leg

Side Kick 25 times per leg

Hook Kick 25 times per leg

Spinning Hook Kick 25 times per leg

Creasent Kick(inside/outside) 25 times per leg

Kicking Combinations

1. Front leg front kick, rear leg round house

2. Rear leg side kick, step behind hook kick

3. Round house, spinning hook kick

4. Rear leg creasent kick, spinning creasent kick

5. Front kick, round house, spinning back kick

6. Front Jumping front, round house, skipping round house, rear leg side, step behind side, back kick, jumping back kick

7. Spinning hook, spinning heel, spinning creasent kick

Blocks

Inside/Outside

Upper/Lower

Double Knives up/Double Knives down

Stances

Front Stance

Back Stance

Fighting Stance

Stances/Blocking/Punching

1.Inside/outside block, while stepping back, step forward double punch

2. Front stance using Single blocks followed by reverse punching (moving forward and back wards)

3. Back Stance double knives up/Double knives down, moving forward and backwards.

Mixed combinations

1. Round House kick, double knives up/down double punch

2. Front leg front kick, rear leg round house, double knives, double punch

3. Round house, spinning hook kick, face backwards, double knives up, round house kick double punch

Cross Training

Cardio

Stationary Bike 30 minutes per day as a warm up to workouts/practice sessions

ARC trainer 20-30 minutes per day (Cardio mechine at health clubs)

Yoga

Monday/Wednesday at West YMCA and perhaps Yoga at North West YMCA on Friday if we get out of work soon enough.

Strength Training

I set up a solid routine last week and I plan on doing the same routine with the same weights to make sure that this will be a good program for my next training cycle. Some of the Weights did feel a bit light, but I do not want to adjust weights this week and risk injury if I can avoid it.

This is a basic outline for the things I am planning to work on in my private practice sessions. I am sure that things will change and I will do some other combinations as the mood hits but this would give a basic overview of what I am going for.

Training for the Week

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:37:00 -0400

This week is going to be a intense week for me. The week of a promotional pretest is usually great personal training times but odd class times. I can honestly say that I have done all the I could do, and I am proud of where I am at the moment. I had a few issues the last couple of weeks of this cycle but any martial artist can tell you that such things happen which is why good planning is important and doing what you can do when those issues come up is also important. `

Issues I faced

A couple of dentist appoints that lead to light practice and no classes, but honestly this was not as bad as it could have been. I love going to Taekwondo classes but if I had a choice of missing class or missing practice I actually would go with missing class. In class the instructor needs to keep things focused so all individuals get something out of the class, this means that yes everyone does get something that they need from class but not everything. Practice time is important because it gives the individual the time they need to work on their strengths and weaknesses. It also means that if the individual is excelling in one area they can work on other areas they are not so good in.

Hyper extending my elbow was a injury I was stressed about. This lead to me missing 3 days of classes and practice sessions. I was a bit stressed about missing those days but I came back strong the next week and things were fine. I am thankful that I am a Reiki Master and that my skills in the healing arts have been pretty good thus far if not I am confident that I would have missed more classes and practice sessions then I would care to think of.

I did miss one class by choice but honestly I do keep track of my attendance and missing a couple classes a year is actually healthy for the individual. If you average 6-10 classes a week and you choice to take a day off to hang out with friends and family then well that is not a bad thing and honestly we need to remember that our friends and family support us in our training and taking a day off every now and again to be with those intervals is not bad.

Where I am now

I have no delusions of thinking I will do perfect on my 1st dan pretest, anyone foolish enough to think this walking in is a bit over confident and as soon as they come across a combination that gives them issues they will fall apart on the test. I do believe I have a good grasp on the techniques, 1 steps and poomse they can call out on the test. I also believe that my endorance is strong so if a cardio instructor calls the test I think I will be prepared, especially since my primary instructor is a cardio focused instructor I think this does give me help in that area. On the Danbo test Master Holding called out the test and he ran us hard and fast but thankfully my cardio did not show issues until the last 2 minutes of the test and he is known for being one of the toughest instructors within Kim?s Academy. I am a bit nervous about my breaking techniques but I believe I will be fine by the time the test comes up. The only think I will need to remember is that with my eyes the distances are not what they appear and if I need to do a back kick I need to break with my left leg because my right eye throughs things off to the left and breaking is difficult when I am doing jumping spinning breaking with that leg. This is because of my eyes not because of poor technique and I am getting better at judging that issue then I used to be now that I know that is the issue.

Training Smart

Cramming may have worked well in high school, however in the dojan things are not that simple. Martial arts is not like high school biology where you learn a couple of chapters then you start something completely different so if you did not do well in chapters 1 -3 by the time you get to chapter 4 you get a clean start. In Taekwondo and just about every other styles what you learn at white belt level is as important if not more then what you learn at black belt level. You practice old techniques because advanced techniques are normally nothing more then taking basics and adding a few steps. Advanced kicking combinations are nothing more then basic kicks put together in odd order so you need to make sure you are working on your basics or your advanced combinations will look like trash.

Classes and Practice Sessions

I am only going to hit 5 solid classes this week and perhaps one class at the south branch when they work on breaking. I will hit both black belt classes, both classes at my branch on Tuesdays, and the beginner class on Thursday. We will have our color belt pretest that Thursday and I am fairly confident that I will be allowed to call out most of the pretests. Depending on timing they may have a black belt pretest on Thursday but this does not normally happen since I was already giving my paper work and so forth. Now my instructor could always take my paper work and set it on fire but I can not think of anything that I have done that would require him to do that. I am thankful that I have a great instructor who knows that when I miss classes there is a good reason for missing them and even when I miss classes because of other none injury/doctor/denstist related issues there is a reason for that to. I think part of that is because he knows that I attend the black belt classes regularly enough that if I miss one the schools Grand Master will ask why I was not there and if I missed classes for a few weeks straight I think they may send out a search party for my body. I also hit other branches for more training and to help improve my weaknesses.

Practice this week will be fairly calm. Actually I wrote out a simple training plan for my practice sessions and I think it would be easier to post that then try to explain it. For the most part however I plan on working my basics and combinations that are certainly going to show up on my test as well as all my poomse 10 times each. The only thing I am not going to be working on is my own self defense practices or competitive practice sessions. Yes sparring will be part of the test but it will be controlled sparring and knocking out or injuring sparring partners due to excessive force may get a few of the Masters to jump the table and teach a lesson in humility in the middle of the best test. I may arrange a light sparring practice with my wife and a couple classmates to work on some 2 on 1 practice that could be part of the test but again this would be extremely controlled. The people I have in mind are all testing for different black belt levels and this could be part of the test so a light practice session on it would be a good thing. I am not sure if one steps will be on the 1st dan test but I am going to make sure I work on them just incase. The only issue I have with them is different instructors call them by different numbers so this may be a bit tricky. The last thing I am gong to focus on for the week is hitting the books and making sure I remember which element is with which form and how many steps each form has, I should also review the history of Taekwondo and work on answers for questions about the tenets of Taekwondo and how I apply them to my life.

In any event I feel good where i am right now and as long as I do not do anything foolish or recless to get myself injured I am certain that this will be a good week for me.

8-8-09

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:37:00 -0400

Week Ending 8-8-09

I am a week from the black belt pretest and I feel pretty good with here I am right now. I have been working hard on a possible test combinations and tirelessly on all poomse from Kibon 1 to Koryo. I have also been working on holding my stances and even managed to knock out some breaking practice. At this point I can say I have done all I could think of to prepare for the test and if I succeed or if I fail I know that I have given all I have to give and that is all that I can ask of myself.

This weeks goals

I am not planning to take it easy this week, but I am not going to push myself to the risk of injury either. This is actually a time when a number of people get hurt because they feel they need to train harder to be prepared, and honestly this is a week for training smarter not going all out. I am going to spent this week working my basics, perfecting stances and making sure my forms are as clean as possible. I am also going to make sure that I spend time working on my cardio and if all goes to plan hitting 2-3 yoga classes. Yoga classes are great for flexibility as we all know but they are also good for building strength and some of the yoga positions are similar to TKD stances and this helps with holding stances for extended time. My strength and cardio training has been good lately but I am in the process of changing up my routine so I will need to make sure that I do not over do it this week. I am going to play my cardio training a bit safe this week and make sure I stick to the ARC trainers. The treadmill and track are fun but I do not want to risk tripping and falling and harming myself. The ARC trainers in my opinion work you harder then both but they are also a bit safer so this is a win/win situation.

I am also going to work on making sure I do daily reiki treatments as well as sending energy to Saturday to help during my test. I know this Saturday will be a very difficult day for me because I will be testing for the right to be a full black belt for not only Kim’s Academy, but also for the Kukkiwan. I am sure the Masters are going to call out all imperfections and for lack of a better term this test will be very trying on all aspects of my triquatra. I believe my skills are up to par and if I can handle the shark attack at basic combat training then this Saturday should not be so bad.

2 Month possible Goal Setting

I am working with the assumption that I will be preparing for the October pretest. I am not doing this because I think I am perfect or assuming something I have not right to think, instead I am using the power of positive thinking.

The next two months will be a bit different for me. I am going to work with the feedback I gain from The Masters, My primary instructors, as well as my secondary instructors and upper ranks that I train with. It is also time for me to start preparing for competitive practice again. I do not plan on attending sparring classes every Sunday, however I am going to take advantage of the books I picked up and start working on drills to help me prepare for sparring class starting in November. This means a great deal of dojan time working on techniques as well as a increase in cardio training. I will hit the sparring days at the west branch but I am not planning on hitting sparring class at the main academy yet. I feel bad because I do want to hit classes with Master Louis at the Main Academy but between work hours and now black belt testing it has not worked out very often. Our work may be getting lighter starting in November but I am not 100% sure yet.

I will take the next two months to make sure I am prepared for the Oct. black belt test as well as getting physically and mentally prepared for sparring classes at the main academy. This does not seem extremely concrete, however I am sure after next Saturday I will have more information to go with.

8-5-09

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:37:00 -0400

8-5-09

Not much to say for the morning practice. I simple went through my forms a couple of times and called it a day. For some reason I managed to convince myself that today was Thursday this morning and that I had a dentist appointment at 3pm so I should go home and get to bed so I can get some sleep before the appointment. When I woke up I realized my mistake and it was too late to do anything about it. Tomorrow I do have the appointment so I may not go to the gym at all; depending on what time we get out of work. If we get in early and get done by 6 then I will hit a light strength training session but we will see what happens.

Black Belt class was a bit complex tonight. By this point most of the people testing for different black belts have their paper work and are collecting signatures from the Masters as testing endorsements. Thankfully of the 6 Masters in attendance tonight I have seen many of them in black belt class and they know my wife and I if not by name then at least by face. I do not like asking Masters that I have not seen much in class because it feels like I am putting them in a bad spot; I know this is not the case and I am weird but that is just how I feel. Honestly when not if I make it to that level I am not sure how I personally would feel if a person I do not see often would ask for my endorsement.

I also found a way for Mrs. Munt to sign off on my test form. She is the assistant instructor at the west branch and there is actually not a place for her to sign but I made on. She has been a huge part of my training and honestly I end up in 4 classes a week with her and I believe she deserves to be recognized as one of my primary instructors. I am sure Jr. Master Peshca will understand my position on this issue. The only signature I did not get tonight was my schools Grand Master. Normally he takes the forms after he signs them and there are a couple other Masters I want to talk to before I get my papers taken away. If all goes well I will have them sign off next week, if they are not there then I will just turn in the paper as is.

Class itself was great. We worked very hard on basics and Grand Master Kim worked us hard in individual rank practice. When my group was excused I ended up holding a kicking shield and let most of the class beat up on me for a while. Honestly we have some talented martial artist at Kim’s Academy and a few of them pack more power in their kicks then I have seen even in kickboxing. It hurt but well it was worth it.

8-4-09

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 05:17:00 -0400

8-4-09

This mornings training felt great. I went through a basic strength training routine with light cardio to start working on the much needed changes I need to do with the next moon cycle. I have gotten a bit stale lately and honestly if I do not make the changes soon then I will start progressing backwards. The changes I made all felt great and when I woke up I really felt my workout. The funny thing when I left the gym I did not “feel” the workout but when I woke up it was certainly a different story. The cardio routine was certainly nothing special, but the time on the bike gave me time to catch up on some reading that I feel behind on.

Taekwondo class at the west branch was great tonight. I did not make it in time for catch the beginner class, but I did make it to the advanced class. Jr. Master Peshca worked us extremely hard but thankfully my cardio kept up just fine. There were a couple of combinations called out that I could not do at feel speed do to my knee and back issues but thankfully my instructor can tell when individuals work hard and can tell when things are a bit out of range for us. The one technique I could not do, that was perhaps my own fault. I can not do a flying side kick at this time. I do not know why I just do not understand the proper technique of the flying side kick. I am extremely happy that I am not part of the ITF because the flying side kick is part of one of their forms.

Final Notes

Between injury and dental work this moon cycle has not gone to plan, but I do feel comfortable with were I am as compared to the 1st dan pretest. I have another appointment to get my teeth fixed on Thursday but I do plan on attending class if things get done quickly enough. The appointment is at 3pm and I think it would be better for me to head straight home from work that day and either workout after class or workout during that time if mediction to numb my mouth makes me sick. I can handle a workout or light practice that day but sparring may not be my best idea.

I am going to spend some time working with my old training journals and some other books I have to start working on a new program for next month. If all goes well starting next Monday I will be able to give the new routine a couple of good practice sessions before the next cycle starts.

Just Something I am working on for the next moon cycle

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:24:00 -0400

Training for next moon cycle

Goals

1. Prepare for promotional testing in Oct*

2. Gain 3lbs

3. Start Training for April Kim’s Academy Invitational*

Monday

Yoga West YMCA

TKD Competitive Practice

Poomse 2 times all poomse

Black Belt Class

Tuesday

30minutes on Bikes

Strength Training

15 minute ARC trainers

Poomse 2 times cool down

Beginner Class West Branch

Advanced Class West Branch

Wednesday

Yoga West YMCA

TKD Competitive Practice

Poomse 2 times each

Black Belt Class

Thursday

30 minutes on Bikes

Strength Training

15 Minute ARC trainers

Poomse 2 times cool down

Friday

Yoga Strength Program

Saturday

Family Class

Sunday

2nd/ 4th Sparring Class

1st/3rd off

* Preparing for Oct. promotional test is the plan at that point assuming I do well enough on black belt pretest. If I do not do well enough then I will take necessary feed back and start preparing for Feb Pretest.

* At this point I am planning on planning on being apart of the Kim’s Academy Invitational competition. My status however is TBD. Determining factors are if I am a 1st dan by the test, as well as my fighting weight. The 18 -32 men’s division is the most physical and my current weight is much to light for the age range. I am planning to be 160lbs at least for the competition. If I am not at least 160-165lbs then will try to take part in the competition by being a stand in match for someone or take part in running a ring such as time keeping, judge, or so forth. If I am unsuccessful on the upcoming pretest and/or Oct test and do not pass first dan testing the timing of the competiton compared to the April promotional will again be a factor. I am assuming that the test will go well which leaves the biggest factor as my weight class. I am extremely light for my age bracket and if I compete at my present weight odds are I will be outmatched by no less then 30-40lbs. At the friendship competition in Feb I got bitted against a individual who certainly outranked and out weight me by a great deal and even with his control I still ended up with 5 cracked ribs an I would rather not have to endure that day again. True Reiki was certainly useful but that first day it happened was not pleasant and I do not want to spent needless time in the ER check the damage or taking pain killers for the first 24-36 hours.