Tonight's 2 classes were really intense. I sweat buckets through both. I love it and hate it how the sweat pours down my face and stings my eyes. It's a very physical reminder that the work that I do in the dojo is special, as it takes great commitment, dedication and perseverance to train that hard every time I step onto the mat.
Every now and then I get really pissed off about having Polycystic Kidney Disease. I feel pain from this disease EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE. I am aware of my kidney pain 100% of the time. I don't talk about this or bring this up to anyone, because who wants to be around someone complaining all of the time? I just choose to concentrate on the positive and living in the moment.
Tonight I just really struggled mentally with an immense anger that sometimes fills me when I think about the details of the inevitable for me. My future holds certainty that my kidneys will continue to worsen - regardless of what I do to take excellent care of myself. It's so frustrating! My future holds possibilities of dialysis, transplant, complications from PKD (like on New Year's Day this year when I was in the E.R.),and continued pain.
There are certainly those that criticize my decision for choosing a full contact sport, like Tae Kwon Do. I can understand. One hard kick to one of my kidneys would be a very scary thing for me. We don't wear back pads, so when sparring, this is a real possibility. It's a risk I'm willing to take. The daily benefits that I receive from my martial arts training and lifestyle far outweigh the risks for me.
When I am in my garage or in the dojo and punching/kicking those targets and bags, I visualize the letters PKD and unleash the fury. It's the mental thing that I do to kick PKD ass on a weekly basis. It's the mental struggle, because I refuse to let PKD defeat me, although at times I feel like it's killing me!
Dedie
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Songahm 3 - New Skills!
I had a great first week as an Orange Belt. It felt empowering to put on my new belt each time I prepared for going to the dojo. I did 5 classes this week. I was also just getting over being really sick, so it was a difficult week pacing myself and getting my strength back. When I went all out, my body pushed back making everything tough and truly a challenge.
I love my new poomse - Songahm 3! It's got great blocks and new kicks incorporated. I really enjoy doing my forms each day. The work and detail that I put in shows through in the dojo. For my next belt test I am only supposed to learn the first 12 or so movements; however, my goal is to perfect all 28 movements.
As far as sparring combinations goes, it feels good to move on to some new combos that incorporate new kicks and punches. This week I discovered that I'm naturally good at crescent and jump front kicks. I attribute this to years (and I mean YEARS) of aerobics, gymnastics, dance & choreographing stuff with my sister.
Speaking of my sister - I brought Mandi to a special Mother's Day cardio kickboxing class on Thursday. It turned out to be more like a high energy/cardio women's self defense class and it was so much fun! My instructor paired us up, and I tried my best to remain serious as we trained. It very difficult, though, because Mandi is so funny! She's very much like Chrissy from "Three's Company"! When we would pair up for kicking and puching drills, she would hold the targets and make all of these really funny faces. She was terrified that I was going to kick, punch or elbow her instead of the target. We would start laughing and have to stifle that when Mr. F came around. Mandi did awesome (as I knew she would) and it was really special for me to share my love of TKD with her.
May 22nd, Sr. Master Von Schmelling, the former world TKD champion and founder of Victory Martial Arts, is coming to San Antonio! He is coming to Victory schools in San Antonio to conduct training and I'll be there, for sure.
Happy Mother's Day today to all of the moms and grandmas out there! Today I am going to pamper my precious, sweet mom. She is the most amazing woman that I know and I look just like her!!! I want to be just like her - she's also one tough mama! :-)
Kihap!
Dedie!
I love my new poomse - Songahm 3! It's got great blocks and new kicks incorporated. I really enjoy doing my forms each day. The work and detail that I put in shows through in the dojo. For my next belt test I am only supposed to learn the first 12 or so movements; however, my goal is to perfect all 28 movements.
As far as sparring combinations goes, it feels good to move on to some new combos that incorporate new kicks and punches. This week I discovered that I'm naturally good at crescent and jump front kicks. I attribute this to years (and I mean YEARS) of aerobics, gymnastics, dance & choreographing stuff with my sister.
Speaking of my sister - I brought Mandi to a special Mother's Day cardio kickboxing class on Thursday. It turned out to be more like a high energy/cardio women's self defense class and it was so much fun! My instructor paired us up, and I tried my best to remain serious as we trained. It very difficult, though, because Mandi is so funny! She's very much like Chrissy from "Three's Company"! When we would pair up for kicking and puching drills, she would hold the targets and make all of these really funny faces. She was terrified that I was going to kick, punch or elbow her instead of the target. We would start laughing and have to stifle that when Mr. F came around. Mandi did awesome (as I knew she would) and it was really special for me to share my love of TKD with her.
May 22nd, Sr. Master Von Schmelling, the former world TKD champion and founder of Victory Martial Arts, is coming to San Antonio! He is coming to Victory schools in San Antonio to conduct training and I'll be there, for sure.
Happy Mother's Day today to all of the moms and grandmas out there! Today I am going to pamper my precious, sweet mom. She is the most amazing woman that I know and I look just like her!!! I want to be just like her - she's also one tough mama! :-)
Kihap!
Dedie!
Sunday, May 4, 2008
The Perfect Push Up!
Tonight I had planned on blogging about the purpose behind the forms (poomse) that those in ATA Tae Kwon Do work so diligently to perfect. However, I was so inspired by another blogger's post that I ran across, that I have decided to publish her blog post here in it's entirety. Mandi, of everyone that reads my blog, I know that you'll not only benefit the most, but will also have the most interest in reading about and executing the Perfect Push Up! I do a gazillion push ups every week to further my fitness program as it's the one exercise that hits my entire upper body and core. Finding an article written by a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, as well as a 4th degree Black Belt in ATA TKD, is certainly exciting for me. Here's my challenge to each one who reads this post - Try at least 1 perfect pushup!
Kihap!
Dedie
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Search of the “perfect” push-up
By Dianne Bailey, CSCS
In light of the recent Fitness Test instituted by the ATA, you may be asking, “What is the perfect push-up?” Well, you might immediately think of the recently created product called just that. The “Perfect Push-up” was created by Navy SEAL, Alden Mills, to help facilitate the body’s natural movement during the world’s oldest bodyweight exercise, the push-up. Reviews of this product have been favorable, but you don’t need to spend the $40 for these nifty handles to get your body into the right position for a great workout!
While there are many variations of the humble push-up, let’s look at the basic form to make sure you are getting the most out of this exercise.
Incorrect: elbows out, hands by head. Potential injury to shoulders. (Oct., 2007, Vol 29, Number 5, Strength and Conditioning Journal)
Correct: elbows back, hands at shoulder/nipple line. Engaging pecs instead of shoulders as major movers.
We all know that there are many differences between women and men. After all, Venus and Mars are not the same planet! This follows through into the correct form for push-ups. Most women have difficulty identifying with their pectoralis major, or chest muscle. It is, however, the original “chest protector.” Look at some of the UFC fighters and notice how developed their chest muscles are . . . good protection for their heart from the intense punches they receive! Women, however, do not naturally have the muscle mass in the chest that a man has and therefore have difficulty connecting with the major mover in the push-up. They attempt to complete the push-up with their arms. Yes, the arms and shoulders are definitely working . . . but you must use your pectorals to really get at the heart of the push-up. Proper form is critical for this to happen.
That’s not to say that the chest is the only muscle group being activated during the push-up. In a recent NY Times article discussing push-ups, Tara Parker-Pope writes, “The push-up is the ultimate barometer of fitness. It tests the whole body, engaging muscle groups in the arms, chest, abdomen, hips and legs. It requires the body to be taut like a plank with toes and palms on the floor. The act of lifting and lowering one’s entire weight is taxing even for the very fit.” The traditional push-up is performed as a long lever, total body workout with the contact points at the toes and the hands. One can modify this position and therefore make it easier by shortening the lever and performing the push-up with the contact point at the knees instead of the toes. This dramatically reduces the core activation in this exercise, however. A better way to “shorten the lever”, but still maintain core activation is by raising the level of the hands, i.e. performing a push-up with your hands on a bench.
The versatility of the push-up is amazing! Consider the number of variations that can be created with this one exercise:
Feet elevated on step
Feet elevated on stability ball
Hands on stability ball
One-arm push-ups
One-leg push-ups
Plyometric with claps
One hand on medicine ball
Transfer medicine ball
Depth drop and return to two steps
T-stab (push-up then rotate to T position)
The “perfect push-up” doesn’t have to be a product that you buy from Amazon.com. It can and should be a major part of your fitness arsenal for your ATA life and beyond.
For all pictures, click on this link: http://kicks4all.blogspot.com/2008_04_01_archive.html
Dianne Bailey is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with the National Strength and Conditioning Association. She is also a 4th Degree Black Belt with the ATA with 14 years experience in the martial arts. She owns Martial Arts Conditioning,LLC which runs The Conditioning Classroom, a personal training studio in Denver, CO. www.maconditioning.com
Kihap!
Dedie
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Search of the “perfect” push-up
By Dianne Bailey, CSCS
In light of the recent Fitness Test instituted by the ATA, you may be asking, “What is the perfect push-up?” Well, you might immediately think of the recently created product called just that. The “Perfect Push-up” was created by Navy SEAL, Alden Mills, to help facilitate the body’s natural movement during the world’s oldest bodyweight exercise, the push-up. Reviews of this product have been favorable, but you don’t need to spend the $40 for these nifty handles to get your body into the right position for a great workout!
While there are many variations of the humble push-up, let’s look at the basic form to make sure you are getting the most out of this exercise.
Incorrect: elbows out, hands by head. Potential injury to shoulders. (Oct., 2007, Vol 29, Number 5, Strength and Conditioning Journal)
Correct: elbows back, hands at shoulder/nipple line. Engaging pecs instead of shoulders as major movers.
We all know that there are many differences between women and men. After all, Venus and Mars are not the same planet! This follows through into the correct form for push-ups. Most women have difficulty identifying with their pectoralis major, or chest muscle. It is, however, the original “chest protector.” Look at some of the UFC fighters and notice how developed their chest muscles are . . . good protection for their heart from the intense punches they receive! Women, however, do not naturally have the muscle mass in the chest that a man has and therefore have difficulty connecting with the major mover in the push-up. They attempt to complete the push-up with their arms. Yes, the arms and shoulders are definitely working . . . but you must use your pectorals to really get at the heart of the push-up. Proper form is critical for this to happen.
That’s not to say that the chest is the only muscle group being activated during the push-up. In a recent NY Times article discussing push-ups, Tara Parker-Pope writes, “The push-up is the ultimate barometer of fitness. It tests the whole body, engaging muscle groups in the arms, chest, abdomen, hips and legs. It requires the body to be taut like a plank with toes and palms on the floor. The act of lifting and lowering one’s entire weight is taxing even for the very fit.” The traditional push-up is performed as a long lever, total body workout with the contact points at the toes and the hands. One can modify this position and therefore make it easier by shortening the lever and performing the push-up with the contact point at the knees instead of the toes. This dramatically reduces the core activation in this exercise, however. A better way to “shorten the lever”, but still maintain core activation is by raising the level of the hands, i.e. performing a push-up with your hands on a bench.
The versatility of the push-up is amazing! Consider the number of variations that can be created with this one exercise:
Feet elevated on step
Feet elevated on stability ball
Hands on stability ball
One-arm push-ups
One-leg push-ups
Plyometric with claps
One hand on medicine ball
Transfer medicine ball
Depth drop and return to two steps
T-stab (push-up then rotate to T position)
The “perfect push-up” doesn’t have to be a product that you buy from Amazon.com. It can and should be a major part of your fitness arsenal for your ATA life and beyond.
For all pictures, click on this link: http://kicks4all.blogspot.com/2008_04_01_archive.html
Dianne Bailey is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with the National Strength and Conditioning Association. She is also a 4th Degree Black Belt with the ATA with 14 years experience in the martial arts. She owns Martial Arts Conditioning,LLC which runs The Conditioning Classroom, a personal training studio in Denver, CO. www.maconditioning.com
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Orange!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow! Much has happened since my last post. Almost don't know where to begin. I haven't blogged in a few weeks from being super busy, and then super sick. I'm on the rebound, though, and getting ready to do a kickass workout.
I am no longer a White Belt! I've graduated to Orange Belt and my first testing experience was very powerful. I didn't know what to expect and was very nervous. I practiced and practiced to get my form - Songahm 2 - to perfection. I also attended every class I could fit in my schedule to perfect my weapon (9 strike ), my board breaks (I'm really good at these) and my self defense. At the testing, out of many students, there were only 3 of us that had perfected all 23 moves of the Songahm 2 form, the other students only learned 12 moves. It felt good to set myself apart from the group. I was also the only girl to do a break with the brown board. I broke the board on the first attempt and there were men that took several tries on the brown board! Lastly, the instructor complimented me in front of the group that he had invited me to participate in the Leadership Instructor training program called CIT. The night before, the owner of the schools had invited me to attend a special workout. I'll write more on that later. It was a great experience, overall. During the workout, my instructor asked the family members to belt us with our new color belts. My husband was every excited to step onto the mat to put my new Orange Belt on! After testing, we went out to dinner and had a nice little date. His support of my martial arts is incredible and I coudn't be as successful without his support, for sure. My husband is such an inspiring man and awesome in the martial arts himself! He is a Black Belt of Tae Kwon Do and of Kuk Sool Won. He's a little rusty, but has started training again. Having a family foundation of fitness and discipline through martial arts is really powerful and something that Isabella, my 3 year old, will grow into. To learn about the different belt colors in Tae Kwon Do and their meanings, click here:
http://www.ataonline.com/taekwondo/belts/index.asp
Now onto the other exciting element of my training - Leadership. I am truly honored and thrilled that my instructor has selected me to participate in the Leadership program at our dojo. I take every class so seriously and relentlessly give my personal best. I take 2-3 classes every Monday and Wednesday and attend Thursdays and Saturdays whenever possible. I guess my instructor has noticed my commitment and dedication. I am thinking about this additional commitment and will let him know. I really want to take my martial arts training and commitment to my school to the next level, however, I can't let martial arts conflict with work or being there for my 3 year old. I'm so driven in what I want to accomplish, but I can't lose focus of what's REALLY important in my life and that's maxing out my time with Isabella. In just a few short years, she'll be off and running doing her own and I'll never get these years back. On the other hand, training in Tae Kwon Do can be a family experience and Isabella will be in classes in just a few months. I also can be a role model for her. We'll see.
I have lost 15 pounds and gone down almost 2 dress sizes in the last 8 weeks since starting Tae Kwon Do!!! My confidence level is off of the charts. I am forever grateful to my instructor, Mr. F, and will always be insanely loyal to him. He is so amazing and supportive of me. I'm also making great friends in my dojo and am starting to feel like I am family there. I have just started to chip away at the fitness goals that I want to accomplish. I will continue to lose weight and increase muscle mass to decrease my body fat. In addition, I'm incorporating plyometrics to work on my jumping kicks, agility and speed. This will all pay off when sparring.
I just started to learn my new form - Songahm 3. I'm going to post again tomorrow to explain Songahm Tae Kwon Do. It's fascinating - at least to me!!!
I have much to be excited about, so today I'm signing off with the biggest KIHAP ever!!!
KIHAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dedie
I am no longer a White Belt! I've graduated to Orange Belt and my first testing experience was very powerful. I didn't know what to expect and was very nervous. I practiced and practiced to get my form - Songahm 2 - to perfection. I also attended every class I could fit in my schedule to perfect my weapon (9 strike ), my board breaks (I'm really good at these) and my self defense. At the testing, out of many students, there were only 3 of us that had perfected all 23 moves of the Songahm 2 form, the other students only learned 12 moves. It felt good to set myself apart from the group. I was also the only girl to do a break with the brown board. I broke the board on the first attempt and there were men that took several tries on the brown board! Lastly, the instructor complimented me in front of the group that he had invited me to participate in the Leadership Instructor training program called CIT. The night before, the owner of the schools had invited me to attend a special workout. I'll write more on that later. It was a great experience, overall. During the workout, my instructor asked the family members to belt us with our new color belts. My husband was every excited to step onto the mat to put my new Orange Belt on! After testing, we went out to dinner and had a nice little date. His support of my martial arts is incredible and I coudn't be as successful without his support, for sure. My husband is such an inspiring man and awesome in the martial arts himself! He is a Black Belt of Tae Kwon Do and of Kuk Sool Won. He's a little rusty, but has started training again. Having a family foundation of fitness and discipline through martial arts is really powerful and something that Isabella, my 3 year old, will grow into. To learn about the different belt colors in Tae Kwon Do and their meanings, click here:
http://www.ataonline.com/taekwondo/belts/index.asp
Now onto the other exciting element of my training - Leadership. I am truly honored and thrilled that my instructor has selected me to participate in the Leadership program at our dojo. I take every class so seriously and relentlessly give my personal best. I take 2-3 classes every Monday and Wednesday and attend Thursdays and Saturdays whenever possible. I guess my instructor has noticed my commitment and dedication. I am thinking about this additional commitment and will let him know. I really want to take my martial arts training and commitment to my school to the next level, however, I can't let martial arts conflict with work or being there for my 3 year old. I'm so driven in what I want to accomplish, but I can't lose focus of what's REALLY important in my life and that's maxing out my time with Isabella. In just a few short years, she'll be off and running doing her own and I'll never get these years back. On the other hand, training in Tae Kwon Do can be a family experience and Isabella will be in classes in just a few months. I also can be a role model for her. We'll see.
I have lost 15 pounds and gone down almost 2 dress sizes in the last 8 weeks since starting Tae Kwon Do!!! My confidence level is off of the charts. I am forever grateful to my instructor, Mr. F, and will always be insanely loyal to him. He is so amazing and supportive of me. I'm also making great friends in my dojo and am starting to feel like I am family there. I have just started to chip away at the fitness goals that I want to accomplish. I will continue to lose weight and increase muscle mass to decrease my body fat. In addition, I'm incorporating plyometrics to work on my jumping kicks, agility and speed. This will all pay off when sparring.
I just started to learn my new form - Songahm 3. I'm going to post again tomorrow to explain Songahm Tae Kwon Do. It's fascinating - at least to me!!!
I have much to be excited about, so today I'm signing off with the biggest KIHAP ever!!!
KIHAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dedie
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