Snow

My Krav gym made a pretty sweet video demonstrating the entire curriculum so that you can see how the techniques can be used. (I'm the biker chick in the black jacket.) Krav level 2 tests are no joke... I just leveled up on Saturday. It took every ounce of will power not to give up, but was totally worth it. :-) @kathrynl, how'd your test go?

Hey Turbo! It went really well! My test was this past Saturday and despite the heat (85 degrees F) and my partner (he had to drop due to heatstroke), I passed. Officially level 3! :-)

There is no shame it asking your partner to back down if they are getting too intense, but mention specifically what it is that is bothering you. For example, is she hitting the pad too hard? Is her aim really bad and so she's catching you in the face/abdomen/shoulder/etc.? It will be much easier for her to adjust if she knows specifically how she is being a bad partner. Hope that helps! Personally, I get to class early (even though I'm a level 3 in Krav) to pick out a partner ahead of time. There are some people that I try to avoid training with because they lack necessary control. Especially as you move to the higher levels in your training, having a good partner who knows what they're doing becomes key.

Challenge summary: I passed the test! I'm officially a level 3 in Krav Maga! :-D It sucked. 4 hours of hell outside, in the middle of the day (which was about 85 degrees here). I had to carry my partner to the testing site which about killed me (he was a 6'3'' guy who weighed at least 40lbs more than me). But I DID IT! I PASSED! Challenge complete. :-)

I'm really sorry to hear about your shoulder! I hope it can be fixed with PT!!!! With your current injuries, are you able to run/jog or swim? There are a fair number of swimming drills that just use legs (especially for breaststroke) or perhaps you could use a kickboard?

Monday The insanity begins... 3.5 hours of krav! Private level 2 (1.5 hours) lesson using mitt-work to focus on level 2 strikes (hooks and uppercuts) and level 2 defenses (hook defenses, uppercut defenses, rising and round kick defenses, bob-and-weave, and 360-defense-simultaneous-combatives). We did 2 2-minute rounds (15 sec break in between rounds) and then my training partner and I switched (so previous puncher was now holding focus mitts). We went back and forth like this for the whole 90 minutes. Level 1 class (1 hour) drilling the basics. Warm-up was running, pushups, combative situps, and sally-ups for 20 minutes. Then endurance straight punch drills, rising front kicks, and choke from behind with a push. Level 2 class (1 hour) focusing on level 2 kicks (defensive front kick, side kicks, and back kick). The warm-up for this really sucked... your partner had to do a 90-degree wall sit and hold it while you put your legs on their knees and did 15 pushups. Then, again using their knees as a platform, you had to do 15 dips. Then you switched for a total of 3 sets per person. Unfortunately, my partner had at least 50 pounds on me, so that was a lot of weight on my knees. Also 100 situps and 100 pushups.

Week 3 Update! Goal #1: Technique, Attend Krav classes 3x a week 2/3 -- Shoulder finally felt up for krav, so I eased back into it this week with a level 2 and a mixed level class. Being back at the gym was amazing and I was able to reconnect with some old friends who are also trying to come back for the belt test on the 30th. Goal #2: Strength, 100 pushups, situps, or burpees every day 5/7-- Still working on making this part of my routine, especially as I add in more Krav (who wants to do 100 pushups after an hour of Krav Maga?). Total so far: 700 pushups, 600 situps, and 100 burpees (thank you sidequest ;-)) Goal #3: Endurance, Run 4 miles a week 5.3/4-- knocked this one out of the park. Slowly but surely catching up as my shoulder heals (I'm letting it set the pace). By the numbers, at week 3 I'm 35% finished with my goals (should be 50%). I'm hoping to be able to get through 7 hours of Krav this week to catch up.

Awesome job!!!

100 finished! (the last 25 sucked soo hard...)

Thanks Kishi!

Friday Finally getting into the swing of things! Krav tonight was a blast; we worked on redirecting kicks while compromised (i.e. what do to if you've taken a hard kick or have an injury). We then combined a few drills for an epic finale drill: escape from a choke with eyes closed, fend off a second attacker, then block a kick coming from a third attacker. Felt like a complete bad-ass. Also, 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and 100 burpees. Burpee side-quest annihilated. :-)

Congrats on the new job!!! I hope things turn out well with wifeDee too! I totally understand what you mean about good things feeling weird (in my case, I'm left waiting for it to somehow turn out to be a fluke or to go horribly wrong). However, I've found that taking a deep breath, stepping outside myself, and questioning those negative thoughts can help. You deserve all the good things coming your way. :-)

(A little late to your thread, but just caught up.) Good luck tomorrow!!! Excited to hear how it goes!

Challenge accepted!