Fight Video - 8th Annual US Kyokushin Karate Open

Patty Pittman vs Amy Kaufman

There are things in this life you just don't want to do, but you have to. I had to watch my fights from May. I had to edit and upload the video from the 8th Annual United States Kyokushin Open, the first 'full contact' fight I had ever done, it was also the second fight I had ever been to.


The reason for the quotes around the full contact, is that we weren't supposed to wear pads. There was a woman who came down to fight semi-contact, but there wasn't anyone to fight her. The powers that be, decided they would lump all us women together. So as we lined up for the march out to the mats, the woman looked at the rest of us and bowed out of fighting. It didn't matter if we fought with those thin hand pads and shin guards, it was fighting 'full contact' fighters that had her worried. They did find her a fight, but it was left on our ticket that we were "semi contact'. Let me tell you, pads or no pads, it was full contact.

The Top 10 Fitness and Health Trends of 2010

Who doesn't love a trend? When it comes to fitness and health, I love to be the first of my friends to try something new. Being a child of the 80's, I wore leg-warmers over my acid-wash jean while getting frustrated with my Rubik cube in between turns on my Atari.  I remember gyms filled with beautiful people wearing full make-up, spandex, leotards, and sweatbands. My mom did chronic cardio in the form of aerobics with Richard Simmons and Jane Fonda. She ate lots of grapefruit, sometimes only cabbage soup, and dealt out ultra low fat Deal-A-Meal cards.

Anatomy of a Black Belt Test

I am still a long way from my black belt.I would be six months closer, but I have been skipping belt tests. I have a lot of anxiety about the black belt test. It is a big deal. So I thought if I watched the test, it would help me be not so nervous about it.

Sparring, It was a "Hit Patty Hard Party"

Is it strange the my worst injuries come from the dojo and not at a fight? Last night was no exception. We had sabaki class. Shihan had us doing 10, 1-minute rounds. The way the class got lined up, I wound up fighting the same people twice. They were the toughest people too.

Jared is our white belt and he wants to be tough so bad. I fought him twice. He comes to every full contact class and trains hard. The problem with fighting him and any white belt is that they are unpredictable. You never know what they are going to do. He is also too hard on me most times.

Sportsmanship or the Lack of

I used to watch football alot. Every Sunday you would find me peeled to the TV witha remote in my hand, switching between games. The rest of the week, ESPN was background noise. After a while I started to lose my interest in the game and moved on to other pursuits.

Today I log on to Yahoo and the front page story is about the Jets coach tripping a player. I could hardly believe it. A grown man, whose team is down by only 4 points, sticks out his knee for a dirty play.

Domawashi Kaiten Geri - Wheel Kick - Observastions

This month in class we are gearing up for a belt test, which is to happen on the 18th. It is going to be a huge test. There are three men going for their black belt and one man going for his second stripe on his black belt (nidan). The first three men are going to have to have a 10 man fight and the soon to be nidan, will have to fight 20.


Wednesday is our only full contact training of the week right now. I really need full contact training. That is where I burn the most calories. Get the cardio up. This week an old buddy came back to the dojo too. Nate has been away working hard and now he is home for a while. Nate and I started around the same time and we both fought for the first time together last year in Connecticut.

Power Circuit Workout ~ Glutes Shoulders Core ~ Jackie Warner

Today I really didn't feel like working out. I am beat. Last night was kickboxing and Sensei Kris taught it. It was a rough workout, but more on that later.

After sitting around trying to find excuses to skip working out, I finally got off my butt and did it. As always, I am glad I did it. After the elliptical interval workout Jackie prescribed on Monday, I got to the power.

Power Circuit Workout ~ Back, Hamstring, Biceps, Core ~ Jackie Warner

Today's workout was another good workout. I can really feel it in a good way. Tomorrow might not be so good, but it is the kind of pain I like. Pain that I earned.

Did the elliptical Intervals that I did the other day. I am really not minding doing the same thing for the third day in a row for cardio. I have been making it a game. Trying to go just a bit 'further' than I did yesterday. I think I will start writing it down so I can see my progress. Also mixing up the past paced tunes helps too. Today I listened to pop. Eminem, pink, pussy cat dolls, all kinds of pop that will probably melt my brain, but it kept me moving. I just think to myself that I can do anything for just 20 minutes.