Judo, FMA, Systema, and a February Diet...

We had a great Judo class last night. Sensei Eric was not available, but a couple of great senseis from Kin Tora, Sensei Nick and Sensei Sal, came to train with us. We had a small group (there was a big BJJ seminar at the dojo this weekend that kept a lot of folks occupied), but just enough for the right amount of training partners. We practiced some variations on the basics (a different way to approach Ippon Seo-nagi), and a cool little trick called a "shoulder to shoulder" roll (not a full Judo roll/breakfall or a somersault,
but a neat way to twist out of a few attacks, and maybe even wind up with an arm-bar). We also went over the three basic yellow-belt chokes. I'm still having a lot of trouble remembering all of the Japanese names for all of these techniques!

Last Wednesday night, Datu Hartman gave a knife defense seminar from an Arnis/Kempo perspective-- some very simple but effective techniques. I definitely want to get more training in with him.

Today, Buffalo Systema put on a Body-Guarding/VIP Protection seminar. Very informative and challenging! Systema is a lot more about concepts than it is about specific techniques (although there are some techniques involved), and the concepts that we drilled today were both interesting and fun (and did I mention challenging?). I have even more respect for security professionals involved in personell protection (as opposed to "personal") than I did before. We drilled with single attackers and groups, with weapons and without; cool stuff. Kudos to Brian and Casey for putting-on a great seminar.

The big news? I'm very happy with the progress I've made so far physically, but with all of the martial arts training, all of the workouts, and all of the minor dietary tweaks I've made, I have hit a bit of a plateau. I've lost 30 lbs. (don't get me wrong, I'm still happy about it!), but I seem to be stymied there, and while I am building muscle (I know), it is difficult to keep "working my butt off," so to speak, and not see more gains reflected on the scale. I've even been fasting lunch for almost the whole month of January (our church usually tries to start the new year with some type of fast), but the pounds are not moving as quick as I'd like. The next 35 is proving to be a lot tougher than I thought it would be to take off. Enter my friend and co-worker Jaye. Another friend recommended that I go see him about something called The Carb-Night Solution. I have been looking (for a couple of years now, actually) at the Atkins Diet, Body-for-Life, and also the Virgin Diet, and the Carb-Night Solution seems to incorporate good elements from all three, without relying on "eating grass" (as I call those "vegetable shake" kind of diets). It is not something you do for a life-time; it is a way to burn fat-- not necessarily lose weight, but burn fat and replace it with muscle, and I am giving it a go starting in February (in a few days, actually). It will take (even more) work, but I have high hopes for this plan. I will report on my experiences here so that others can get a sense if Carb-Night might be right for them.

Until then...

White Belt Out