Tiger Challenge is Coming

So I mentioned in my last blog that I was planning to do something unique at the Tiger Challenge and after discussing with Sifu Rybak, I am going ahead with it. What I need to do now, is find a partner that would like to join me (has to be a black belt). I will be reaching out to team members to see who is interested and let them know what my plan is.

My foot/ankle is still a little stiff so it is hampering some things slightly but hopefully it will get better soon. As far as everything else is going, I am able to get through the broadsword completely now and am almost halfway through the butterfly swords. I do need to spend more time on them both but I hope to at least know the Butterfly sword completely by the end of June so I can start correcting things in it.

Update

Things have been going okay for the last bit. My ankle is getting better but it is not at 100% yet and there is still some stiffness in the top of my foot.

My work schedule is starting to take shape and I know I will be gone starting tomorrow for the weekend but I will be back on Monday. After that, I know I am gone May 30th for at least 2 weeks but likely longer and there is a good chance I will be gone before then. This means, I may miss out on the tiger challenge but I am hoping to be there for this.

If I am there for the Tiger Challenge, I am planning to do something unique in the team forms but will have to discuss and plan it out. Hopefully I can provide an update on this soon as I will need a partner.

On a side note, I was able to lead the Black Belt class on Tuesday and we worked on grappling. Specifically, the start of a sequence where I was able to cover proper body position and why we need these positions (what happens if we have poor position). It was great to do and it showed me how much there is to this aspect of my training and how much more I continue to learn as I do it.

Injury (Slight)

I have been home for almost a week now and was able to attend class on Monday and again last night. I fell a little behind as I stated in last weeks blog and that was due to many factors including an injury. I twisted my ankle slightly while I was away and it limited my ability to put some weight on it. It is on the mend now and so I am hopeful to be back to 100% soon so I can start to work on the things that have slipped.

Not much else to report except that I am hopefully around until the later part of May but there is a strong chance that I will miss the Tiger Challenge as I am schedule to leave around May 22nd. If I am not gone, I will be there though.

Update

It has been a long few days of work and travel so not much training has happened. The communities I am in are only accessible by ice road from 10:00pm to 10:00am and they are about an 8 or 9 hour drive. I have not been getting a lot of sleep between travel, working and then travelling again. I am hoping to be leaving tomorrow night as the road is closing on Thursday morning.

Here are my numbers to date

1) Pushups -9,100

2) Situps -9,100

3) 480 Sparring Rounds

4) 460 Kms

5) 290 AOKs

6) 9 Blogs

7) 85 Reps of Broadsword

8) 40 Reps of Broadsword

The sparring is taking a huge bump as it is a big part of my strength and conditioning training that I am doing. The form reps include partial reps as I did not know the whole forms at the beginning. I am now doing the full broadsword form but am still only part way through the Butterfly Swords.