Category: Kali Escrima

Saturday Bo Staff, Striking, and Jiu Jitsu…4 hours of training, Change in format for posting

4 hours of Training today. Yesterday I had the honor of being able to train in Bo staff class, in striking, and in a seminar for woman’s defense.

Bo Staff

We worked on the High Box with staves. We also changed the #1 strike to the #7 piercing strike.

High Box:

  1. opponent feeds you a #15
  2. you roof block
  3. you return a #1 strike or #7 piercing strike
  4. opponent inside deflects
  5. opponent returns #4
  6. you drop stick defend
  7. you return a #3
  8. opponent turn the tip down, drop tip, or low wing?
  9. opponent returns a #2
  10. you roof shield
  11. then you feed the #15 and the whole flow drill starts again

Bo staff was fun today. I enjoyed scrambling my brain to get it around the new strike.

Striking Class:

We worked on combos with counter attacks. We worked our teeps, and knees.

We emphasized evading a kick or a upper cut. Then added 4 counts return attacks.

Woman’s Self Defense:

I had the opportunity to go to a woman’s self defense class. This is my first official Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class. I have been a little worried about taking BJJ because I have scoliosis and don’t want to have my back wrenched. However, I believe it is good to up my game to grappling, and ground level. Kru Kristen was teaching this class, and she always says.

“100% of fights start standing, 90% end up on the ground.”

Kru Kristen

We learned how to break fall, how to get back up quickly and safely. We learned how to stop an assailant in open guard, how to keep them away. We learned how to deal with an assailant when they are in mount. We learned how to knee shield from guard, and shrimp away, then kick their head to get away. We learned how to deal with someone trying to pick us up in bear hug, and how to knee bar them.

The main focus was teaching us how to get away from the situation. Kru Kristen also reiterated you want to be all the way in or all the way out. Always try to get away from the assailant. But if you have to deal with them, get in and don’t let them hit you. Stop them from hitting you until you can get out.

This was a fun class and we were able to work on dealing with a choke as well.

Changing the format for posting:

So I have been thinking. I am now doing 5 days of martial arts. More importantly 5 days of Muay Thai. That coupled with my weight lifting workouts, means that weekly I would have been doing 6 posts a week. That is a lot, and its a lot of content to keep up on. Also it seems like a lot to bombard you all with. So I am going to be changing my posting status.

I used to post every time I went to train, so that I could keep track of what I was learning and how I was feeling/getting it. This is also so I could look back and see my progress in the future. I did this as well to catalog what I was doing, so I could go back and drill the same drills. This is a lot of posting, a lot of content, and it is hard for me to keep up with.

So I am going to try to do 1 martial arts post a week. This will be notes I took about each training session. I will break it out by day, and I will still have the drills/training we did every day represented in one post. Any videos I take for that will be in that post as well. This means there will be a weight lifting post, a martial arts post, and a food post when I have one to upload. That is 3 instead of 6 to 7 a week. I am going to shoot to have that weeks martial arts posted on Saturday after my training sessions that day.

Anyway thank you for reading. Keep working to be the best you that you can be. My respect to you and your family.

Thursday Muay Thai and Kali…Clench Sparring, In a knife fight you drip or you gush

2 hours of training today. Gonna make this short and sweet. Today I have been up since 4:30 am. I did not sleep well, and had to work two of my jobs today.

Muay Thai

We worked on entries with knees again. This time we used a scoop of the jab or cross and returning an knee. This gets you in to return your 4 count strikes.

I got to work with one of our fighters that actually goes and fights in sanctioned fights. He is really awesome and helped me work the drills. He is tall and I surprised him that I can kick as high as his torso. We discussed the fact that these entries are only for when a person is committed to the punches. If they are just throwing noise then you can’t scoop the jab or cross and get in there. I am having a hard time in sparring knowing when they are committed. I have been assured by him and Kru Kristen that, that is just time and practice. You have to know/feel when they break the imaginary barrier to bring the distance in and hit you.

After that, the more senior of the students broke out and practiced clench sparring. That is a tiring set of 6 rounds. However, it is a lot of fun. I feel like my clench sparring game/abilities/skills have gone up since I was at Thai camp. We did a lot of it, and I got to work with a lot of people. I was able to get my timing right and get my opponents in class off balance.

To finish we did:

  1. 100 knees on the bag
  2. 30 sit ups
  3. and x planks

Kali

We worked on knifes. Gunting or scissors move where you cut and pass the opponents arm when they attack you with #1 through #5 attacks.

We worked on disarms with:

  1. a c clamp on the wrist
  2. figure 4 arm control where you cut their throat with their own blade
  3. control of opponents arm and sheath the blade into opponents on leg, or arm pit
  4. three direction peel the blade away from opponents hand

We then got to spar with knives. We all wore mouth guards, eye protection, and gloves. One person had a knife, the other had just their hands. We tried to disarm the person with the blade and not get cut. The person with the blade was trying to cut but not get disarmed. This is another fun asymmetrical sparring practice.

We say in Kali/Silat/JKD in a knife fight you either drip or gush. You don’t want to be the one that gushes. What this means is going into a knife fight knowing you will be cut, but not knowing just how bad. Is more realistic. Knives cut fast and deep, and you will most likely get cut in a knife fight. If you get out of it with a few small cuts, and you did not die, you won!

That is all for today. Thank you for reading, I hope you have a fantastic day. My respect to you and your family.

Tuesday Muay Thai and Kali… Trigg Combo, Asymmetrical Sparring

2.5 hours of training. I warmed up by hitting the Thai pads for 30 minutes before class. Muay Thai and Kali were fun classes tonight. Thank you Khun Kru Krysta for the great classes.

Muay Thai – Trigg Combo

When we were at Thai camp we got to work with the one the only Ajarn Leonard Trigg. The guy responsible for our Trigg 10 drill. We love him and his drills. He worked with us at Thai camp and he gave us this combo to work on. I had the pleasure of working with my instructor for this combo and when we did I had so much fun. It was hard, but it was great. I asked that we do this combo in class.

So what did we get to do today in Muay Thai? Yup you guessed it. That very same Trigg Combo. I don’t know if it has a name, but suffice to say, Ajarn Trigg is well known for his amazing boxing skills.

The combo is this:

  1. feeder feeds a jab
  2. you swipe right
  3. you return a R shovel hook
  4. you return an R overhand
  5. you return an L hook
  6. you return an R cross

This combo is great. Ajarn Trigg emphasized that he wanted us to work on flow and timing. The goal is for every one hit the opponent tries to make you return 4 shots. There pop, your pop, pop, pop, pop in rapid succession.

I worked with one of my favorite partners, my husband. I got a great workout, and he know just how much to push me, and tries to keep me honest about keeping my hands up. I find sometimes when I work with people that are newer that my class is not as physically demanding cause we are going slower, and we are getting in less reps. So sometimes it is nice to work with some one I know that can hold pads well, and I can go at a faster pace with. I get more rounds in and I can work on my speed, timing, and form at the same time.

Some more combos we worked on today:

  1. Opponent throws Right head kick
  2. You lean back by – taking a step back, cover face on right hand side, left arm goes down to side of body and you shoulders are level.
  3. You throw a right cross
  4. You throw a left body hook
  5. You throw a right roundhouse
  1. Opponent throws inside leg kick
  2. You step back to avoid the kick
  3. You throw a left roundhouse
  4. You throw a cross
  5. You throw a hook
  6. You throw a right roundhouse

Kali – Asymmetrical Sparring

In Kali we worked on disarms again, and mostly entering on the inside deflect. However, we also worked on a weave. We did some puno disarms and the inside deflect snake and vine disarms again.

Weave Leg Take down:

  1. Inside deflect
  2. control opponents right hand with our left hand
  3. return a #4 rib shot
  4. Step on opponents foot
  5. weave our stick between legs
  6. pull opponents hand and push opponent over with our stick

I got a video of me doing this.

Then we got to do asymmetrical sparring. In this version of it, we had one person with boxing gloves on, and one person with a boxing glove and a soft stick. We would attack each other. The goal of the one with just boxing gloves was to crash in and disarm the other. The goal of the one with the stick was to just keep the opponent with just boxing gloves away and don’t get disarmed and or punched.

Asymmetrical sparring is fun, and I have enjoyed it every time. It makes you have to think about how to get in, when you don’t have all your tools available to you.

Thanks for reading. I hope you had a fantastic day. Keep working to be the best you that you can be. Respect to you.

Saturday Bo Staff and Sriking…High Box with Staff makes my brain feel stupid, My flow has improved

2.5 hours of training today. We worked on bo staff, and striking (JKD). Today was the first day after Muay Thai camp where my body felt like normal. Even felt good. I went hard, and got a good workout with my husband and partner feeding me.

We started out with staff class. We had some visitors down from Maryland, and it was cool to have new people in the class. They have come down once before and wanted to train with us again.

Staff Training:

We started off with abecedario with staff. Which while a fundamental move with sticks changing staves makes the movement slightly different.

Abecedario = High forehand, low back hand, high back hand

Then we worked on abecedario with redondo. A redondo is a circular forehand strike from around your head. Not to be confused with an ordabise which is a circular back hand around your head.

Redondo with Abecedario = Circular forehand strike high, circular for hand strike low, circular forehand strike high, low back hand strike, high back hand strike.

In preparation for the high box, we did a roof to shield drill that required the feeder to feed a #15 strike that you roof, then a #15 strike to a shield.

And finally for staff training we did high box with staves. Now this for some reason was more difficult for my brain parts. I can do a high box with sticks, with swords, with espada y daga (sword and knife), but with staff you have to hold with both hands and your body movement is different. Which makes for the perfect storm for Kali brain issues. Which hand.

Staff High Box – #15 strike from opponent, you roof block, opponent returns a #1 strike, you inside deflect and return a #2 strike. The opponent shields the #2, and then you start the circuit over by feeding a #15 to your opponent.

We started to work on middle box/standard but we ran out of time.

I love Kali and the staff class. I love how it stretches my brain muscles and makes me think. Now my brain is dead.

This video is of us working on the Redondo with Abecedario.

Striking (JKD):

We worked on combos. This is were I was able to work on flow, timing, and speed. My partner told me he could see a difference between when I left for Muay Thai camp, and now. He said I flow better, my speed, form and focus are much better. I could not ask for more from Thai camp. I wanted to learn all I could, and to increase my skill set. It seems I have. Yay!

Khun Kru Krysta broke the training down to two sets of combos. First where the feeder feeds, a jab and a right straight cross/cross. The second where the feeder feeds a jab, and a wide cross. For the wide cross think John Wayne punch. Or old western bar fight punch.

First combo –

  1. Feeder feeds Jab
  2. You catch
  3. Feeder feeds straight cross
  4. You parry while doing a simultaneous left kick to inside of leg
  5. You return a cross
  6. You return an upper cut
  7. You return a cross
  8. You return Left torso kick/round house

Second combo –

  1. Feeder feeds Jab
  2. You catch
  3. Feeder feeds straight cross
  4. You split the cross, slide in with a cross to the body
  5. You follow with a hook
  6. You return a cross
  7. Right kick/round house

Third combo-

  1. Feeder feeds Jab
  2. You catch Jab
  3. Feeder feeds a wide cross
  4. You shoulder/bicep stop the cross
  5. You return a cross
  6. You return a hook
  7. You return a cross
  8. You return a right torso kick/round house

Fourth combo-

  1. Feeder feeds Jab
  2. You catch Jab
  3. Feeder feeds a wide cross
  4. You bob and weave
  5. You return a body cross
  6. You return a hook
  7. You return a cross
  8. You return right long leaning knee
  9. You return right torso kick/round house

These were great combos. I loved feeling like I was back into my groove. I liked feeling like I had more confidence, and I love just working on my technique, flow, timing, and target acquisition.

This video is of us working on the third combo, or the stop the shoulder or bicep combo.

I hope you are all having a great weekend. I certainly am. Thanks for reading, let me know if you have any questions. Keeping working to be the best you that you can be. Much respect to you all.

Thursday Muay Thai and Kali…5 days and my hip flexors are sore, Disarms

2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali. This blog entry is going to be short and sweet. I am tired, and need to get to bed. Its been 5 days and my hip flexors are still sore. I thought I was weird and that my body was just being a pain in my tushy… But apparently it is normal. This happens when you work out for almost a week straight every day for almost 8 hours a day. I know each persons body is different, but I should not get down on myself and my body for doing what it needs to do to repair.

Muay Thai

We worked on the same things in Muay Thai that we did last Tuesday. Distance management and entries, from knees and kicks. To getting out of the pocket, evasions and guarding/shielding kicks.

Kali – Disarms

In Kali we worked on the same things we did on Tuesday as well.

Snakes, and Vines, and disarms. It is good to keep in mind that disarms are a sometimes happen thing, they don’t often happen and according to some world class martial art practitioner like Guru Dan Inosanto they tend to happen by accident.

So relying on a disarm you hope to achieve is selling yourself short. Learn lots of tools, work with the ones that fit your style, that you like, and use those. I think that if you try to learn them all you will find what works best for you. When you do and you use them, you will become a much better martial artist.

Today I took a video of some of the snakes and vines we were doing. you will see the equal sign, the plus sign, snake with wing, and snake with knife hand. What you will also see is my foot work today is for trash. For some reason I just did no keep my footwork up. So that means executing the moves and getting off the line is much more difficult. Anyway, it is below if you wanna see.

Like I said this one is short, and I did not have the time or energy to go into great detail.

Have a great day! Thanks for reading, and keep being the best you can be. Remember the two most important things in Muay Thai is respect and discipline. Respect to you all.



Tuesday Muay Thai and Kali…Ordered to take it easy, Combos from Thai Camp

2 hours of training. I still feel it from Thai Camp. I got in on a red eye at 7 am yesterday and had to work last night. While I had a nap yesterday after I got home, I had a nap today. I am still tired. But doing well. So today is our regular training day.

It was really nice to get back on the mats. I had so many people welcome me back and ask about Thai camp. They also congratulated me on completing it and making it. It was really nice to be back in my home. The area I am comfortable in.

So today Khun Kru Krysta told me, “to take it easy, and that is an order.” Kru Kristen was surprised I was in for training today. =)

So I guess other people might not have been in. I can say my muscles are still tired, and my hip flexors are sore still. But I did it.

Enough gabbing, here is what we did.

Muay Thai Combos from Thai Camp

  1. 1 round of jump rope
  2. Feeder Jabs, and then right kicks
  3. You side step, or move leg out of the way
  4. You teep
  5. Feeder feeds a right kick then a cross
  6. You parry the cross, with left hand
  7. You cover with right hand, grab back of neck and then knee feeder
  8. Feeder right kick
  9. You Shield kick
  10. Feeder feeds a lead hand upper cut
  11. You lean step back and lean back with left arm down to the side, and right hand covering right hand side of face.
  12. Right knee, to right Kick

Kali

In Kali we worked on a entry with jabs creating noise or distraction. The finished with an Cross, hook, cross.

We worked on: Disarms both Snake and Vine

Vine disarms – are weapon assisted disarms, in this instance with a stick

Snake disarms – are disarms without a weapon

  1. Plus leaver disarm with the stick, using an indide deflect
  2. Off of an equis feed, or strike #1 and strike #2
  3. Inside deflect, and control opponents arm
  4. Strike a #4 or back hand shot to opponents ribs
  5. Slide controlling hand to end of opponents stick
  6. Strike hand of opponent holding stick
  7. Making a plus sign with sticks use your stick to leaver opponents stick out of opponents hand
  8. Equal leaver disarm with the stick, using an inside deflect
  9. Off of an equis feed or strike #1, strike #2, strike #1
  10. Outside deflect, and control opponents arm
  11. Slide your stick along their stick and under opponents wrist making an equal sign
  12. Turn over your hand, and slide your other hand along stick to their hand to grab and wrench out of their grip
  13. Inside Snake disarm
  14. Off of a Strike #1 inside deflect
  15. Snake arm down and around counter clockwise
  16. Look at palm of your hand and turn your whole torso around to pull stick out of their grip in your arm
  17. Outside Snake disarm
  18. Off a Strike #2 outside deflect
  19. Snake arm down and around clockwise
  20. Either wing it out of their grip, or blade hand and squat to take stick from opponent.

Below is a paper doll I made for the 17 count. So the numbers I am referring to above are here below.

Then we worked on Kali sparring with a soft stick, and boxing gloves. One person had gloves and one had a soft stick. We had to work on our distance management, getting in for the boxing and keeping the other person at bay for the soft stick.

Today was a really fun day. I did not push it to hard. I had a good time. I got to see my fellow classmates and Martial Arts family again. As always I try to put up terms when I remember them, into the glossary (What does that even mean?) if you are interested. I use it to remember terms myself. It is a living document, and will keep being added to. If you practice Kali/Escrima/Silat/JKD or Muay Thai and I made a mistake let me know of course. I will fix it.

Thank you for reading, and if you have questions let me know. Keep working to be the best you that you can be.

Thai Camp… This was the best and one of the hardest things I have ever done.

Oh man where do I start? 4 days, 10 hour days of training Muay Thai. Working with the best of the best in Martial Arts. I am going to have to break these posts into digestible chunks. I just got home off my flight and am starting to decompress. I got home, showered, started a load of laundry, and took a 2 hour nap.

We did 250 rounds the entire weekend. That is not including instruction and practice. Rounds being 3 minutes with 30 second burn outs. We worked in 5 different stations. Each of the 5 stations we did 4 rounds per station, and many many laps around each station. (note: some of the rounds were 2 minutes, but you get the picture.)

The camp was all outside, in nature, no air conditioning and no gym mats. We worked on uneven ground, with pot holes, grass, gravel, dust, and dirt. We were all sweating up a storm, and we were all working our rear ends off.

This camp was put on by the WBTA (World Thai Boxing Association). It was started by the living legends themselves, Arjarn Chai (Surachai Sirisute) and Guru Dan Inosanto themselves.

It is a camp for instructors and some select students by invitation only. We go to hone our Muay Thai skills and bring them to the next level.

I was asked to come just a month before camp and had less than 4 weeks to condition up. I was honored and amazed to be asked. I was scared I would not be ready, and that I would not make it all the way through camp. I have been told there are people that did not make it and people that leave after the second day.

I knew I was going to learn so much, and that I was going to be pushed to my limits. I was going to be asked to perform like a top notch athlete or like a Thai Fighter. What I did not account for was the community, the family, the love and support that everyone gave, and shared. I now have an extended family of support and love. People that I can ask questions of and know they will help me on this journey. They will help me cultivate my skills for Muay Thai.

I cannot thank Ajarn Chai, and Guru Dan Inosanto enough for taking the first steps to bring Muay Thai and Kali to the United States. For their continuing dedication to spreading and teaching future generations about Muay Thai and Kali. For creating such a wonderful family such as the WTBA and for being so gracious to us all. I cannot thank all the Ajarns and all the instructors enough.

I have a lot of decompressing to do and a lot of notes to go through. But I will post more about my adventure, my learning, and my love for Muay Thai. I will write about all my experience at Thai Camp. Also The food is/was fantastic.

I was invited back again next year, and I can’t wait. But I need to rest now. =)

Thank you for reading, keep your hands up to protect your face, and keep being the best you that you can be. Respect to you all.

Conditioning Day 17… 16 rounds, Savage Vag, get in and get out

  • so sweaty… but I did good
  • this is my actual leg, no models were abused in the taking of this picture

4 hours of conditioning training. I did not run today. It was 96 degrees Fahrenheit or 35.56 degrees Celsius outside I was not going to run in that. It would have just sapped my energy and I would have not gotten the training rounds in that I wanted to. I don’t like running and that would have been miserable. I run as a cardio component to my workouts, but not for funsies. I tell people I am a water mammal. I used to be a competitive swimmer, and would only run for cross training.

Muay Thai camp is just around the corner. I leave on Tuesday, and it is 4 x 10 hour days of training with the best. I hope I can keep up. =) I hope my form is not crap, I know it breaks down the more tired I get. So I just have to work on making it awesome. Kru Krysta has said my knees are so much better in just a few weeks.

Per Kru Krysta I am taking tomorrow off, hitting it hard on Saturday, and then taking Sunday, and Monday off. Tuesday I will be flying.

Monday I have an appointment with my Chiropractor. One last adjustment before I go put my body through hell. I am both excited and have trepidation.

Mostly I just want to honor my instructors and make them proud. I also want to learn everything. I want to improve on my technique and I want to experience this.

Anyway enough babbling here was what I did:

  1. 1 x 3 minute round of jump rope warm up ( I did not count this in on my rounds)
  2. 1 x 3 minute round of shadow boxing ( I did not count this in on my rounds)

16 rounds of hell/heck/poopy, I am fine no really I am.

  1. 1 x 3 minute round of mixed kicking. Kicks for speed, and kicks for power. My partner and pad holder would call out 1 kick, that was for power, then he would call out 3 kicks left side, and I had to do those for speed. Taking the power out but putting speed and flow into it.
  2. 30 second rest
  3. 1 x 3 minute round of mixed kicking. Kicks for speed, and kicks for power.
  4. 30 second rest
  5. 1 x 3 minute round of mixed kicking. Kicks for speed, and kicks for power.
  6. 30 second rest
  7. 1 x 3 minute round of mixed kicking. Kicks for speed, and kicks for power.
  8. 30 second rest (Note: at this point I am gassed, that is a lot of kicks)
  1. 1 x 3 minute round of mixed kicking (speed and power), and spearing knees or knees to push back
  2. 30 seconds rest
  3. 1 x 3 minute round of mixed kicking (speed and power), and spearing knees or knees to push back
  4. 30 seconds rest
  5. 1 x 3 minute round of mixed kicking (speed and power), and spearing knees or knees to push back
  6. 30 seconds rest
  7. 1 x 3 minute round of mixed kicking (speed and power), and spearing knees or knees to push back
  8. 30 seconds rest (this is the point where you want to die, or be ded, but no sitting or laying down, must just walk it off.)
  1. 1 x 3 minute round of kicking (speed and power), Knees (spearing, push back), and tie ups with #2 knees
  2. 30 seconds rest
  3. 1 x 3 minute round of kicking (speed and power), Knees (spearing, push back), and tie ups with #2 knees
  4. 30 seconds rest
  5. 1 x 3 minute round of kicking (speed and power), Knees (spearing, push back), and tie ups with #2 knees
  6. 30 seconds rest
  7. 1 x 3 minute round of kicking (speed and power), Knees (spearing, push back), and tie ups with #2 knees
  8. 30 seconds rest (dead, just dead, but keep trying)
  1. 1 x 3 minute round of punching and elbows,( jab, cross, elbow), (jab, cross, body shot) indicated by if the focus mitt was in the air, or if he patted the belly pad.
  2. 30 second rest
  3. 1 x 3 minute round of punching and elbows,( jab, cross, elbow), (jab, cross, body shot) indicated by if the focus mitt was in the air, or if he patted the belly pad.
  4. 30 second rest
  5. 1 x 3 minute round on the heavy bag, 30 second burn out of knees and two kicks.
  6. 15 second rest
  7. 1 x 3 minute round on the heavy bag, 30 second burn out of knees and two kicks.
  8. 15 second rest (fin… for now… I stopped there, cause I had class in 20 minutes)

Thai Class – Get in and get out

Thai class we worked on more clenching, defending an elbow attack with a pillar block, then returning a punch combo, like jab to hook, or cross, jab. The deciding factor is where the elbow is coming from, and what opening you have.

Then the upper ranking armband students were split off and we did clench sparring. Whew boy, I was tired. But I got some good pointers on how to deal with taller people. And at 5 foot nothing everyone is taller than I am.

Also Kru Kristen mentioned again, our motto, get in and get out, or often said you go all the way in or all the way out. If you are being aggressive say, then you may want to go all the way in. If you are defending or don’t want to get hit, you are all the way out. Don’t hang around in the middle and get hit.

Kali we worked on espada y daga, and gunting:

In Kali Kru Krysta shows us double stick, espada y daga, and just single knife. Gunting drill 1 – 5. I love kali, but at this point my brain is saying nope, you need to feed me and we need to sleep. So my partner and I just went slowly and worked the drills.

We also did 1 – 12 strikes. With the 1 – 5 gunting response added into it. So for instance your partner swings a one, you defend it, then you gunting, and finish with the 1 – 5 for every strike. This is just to get us to think along the lines of, lets just not get hit, and lets return shots.

Savage Vag

I have bought all of my Grrrl clothing I have. I am not sponsored in any way, but I love the company. For girls from strong girls, to lift us all up sot that we can all be stronger. So I saw these leggings and I loved them. They say Savage with the word VAG in bright red letters. They crack me up. They are great quality, and support this great woman run company.

The quality is great. They pass the squat test. The compression is spot on. They have awesome patterns, and I just love them. Oh also they fit a thicc booty like mine.

This is the website, and if you use this link you get 20% off your first order. I get credit for your first purchase. I have not had anyone buy anything yet, but one day I hope some one will, and that money will go right back into Grrrl and I will get new tights. That is how much I love them. I have bought 5 of their tights to date.

https://www.grrrl.com/ref/652/?campaign=Thinks.Spinks

Ok that is all for me. At the risk of sounding like a commercial I just like to let you all know when there is a great product.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have had a great day. Keep being awesome and working to be the best you that you can be.

Conditioning Day 15…4 hours, Espada Y Daga, and hitting a wall

4 hours of training today on day 15. I am exhausted. I hit a wall. Not a plateau, nor do I feel like I hit an over training hurdle. I just hit a wall like Wile E Coyote hits the ground after falling off the cliff. Like a Mac Truck hit me. I know that for your body to adapt you must hit these walls/hurdles and keep going, so that is what I did. I got in 20 rounds of training.

Yup that is what it felt like. But I had to keep pushing through.

I started out with a 1 mile run. It was not great timing wise. It was a 13.33 minute mile… it was also 93 degrees out.

I cam back in and did kicking rounds.

  1. Power kicking rounds. 1 to two kicks per side for the entirety of the round.
  2. Speed kicking rounds. Power is taken out, and technique is focused on. Pyramid kicks from 1 kick, 2 kicks, 3 kicks, 4 kicks, 5 kicks, 6 kicks, 5 kicks, 4 kicks, 3 kicks, 2 kicks, 1 kick. All in succession.
  3. Speed and Power kicking rounds mixed together.

I did 4 bag rounds of 3 minutes each with a 30 second burn out.

I also working on rounds of boxing. Jab, Cross, Upper cut, Upper cut, body hook, body hook.

Muay Thai Class

Then we had Thai class. We warmed up with jump rope, then we did clench work to warm up.

Kru Kristen had us then work on punches transitioning to elbows, to knees. I got to work with Kru Krysta so we could both work on our conditioning for Thai Camp. As we are both going. Yay!

Each round ended with an elbow flurry blitz.

Kali – Espada y Daga

Then came Kali class, the 4th hour. My brain had stopped braining. My body was just tired, but I kept working at the drills. We worked on Gunting (scissor) five count. With double stick, Espada y Daga, and with single knife. We worked on pass, cut and disarm.

I know this is not super detailed but I am exhausted, need to shower and get to bed. I hope you all have a great day/night when ever you get to read this. Keep being awesome and working to be the best you can be.

Conditioning Day 1…Opportunity of a Lifetime

2.5 hours of Conditioning, Muay Thai Training, and Kali. We are going to be changing the format of my workouts for the next 20 days.

I have been given an opportunity of a lifetime. If you have been reading I have had the awesome chance to go to a 2 day Muay Thai seminar with the father of Muay Thai in America. He brought it over in 1968. Ajarn Chai was the man that has allowed me to find and fall in love with this martial art.

Well at this seminar I was personally asked if I was going to attend the Muay Thai Camp set up and run by the WTBA (World Thai Boxing Association). The thing to remember about this is that this camp is meant for instructors. You have to be invited to the camp, and as a student you have to be advanced to be invited, and you have to be invited by an instructor and or Ajarn Chai himself. I was invited and we have moved mine and my families schedule around for me to be able to go to this event.

I have purchased my plane tickets and my entrance fee for the camp. They will be providing food for us. Kru Krysta maybe testing this camp so I get the honor to see her test for it her next level.

What this means is I have to start conditioning training. Muay Thai camp is not some leisurely camp where we get massages and sip champagne. They expect us to work and work hard.

It is my understanding that the days will go something like this:

  1. Wake up and run 2 miles
  2. Train Muay Thai
  3. Eat breakfast, break
  4. Run 1 mile
  5. Train Muay Thai
  6. Eat lunch, break
  7. Train Muay Thai
  8. Eat Dinner
  9. Sleep

So I must now condition. We leave July 23, 2019. I have about 20 days to get my conditioning up. I have some concern I won’t be ready, but I am going. If I have to struggle my way through I will.

So my training schedule is changing. Instead of running and then weight lifting on Monday, Wed, and Fri. Muay Thai training on Tues, Wed, Thurs, Sat. I will be doing the following:

  1. Running Monday and Friday 3 miles
  2. Running 2 miles, Training Muay Thai, and Kali Tues, Thurs, and Sat.
  3. Running 2 miles, Training conditioning rounds Wed, Sat
  4. Rest day on Sunday

We will see if I need to shove in a rest day on Mon too. But for now that is the schedule. Anyone else scared that I won’t be ready? I am. But I have decided I will do what I can on such short notice and then just go and get the most out of this opportunity.

I saw some pictures from the seminar, and I just don’t under… my brain keeps saying, “look at you. What do these crazy people see. Don’t they see what I see. Basically a joke. Some one who does not belong.”

I am going to try to ignore those doubts and worries. This part of my journey is the bad part or the upside down part. The self doubt and worry are the bad parts. I am going to do what all well adjusted adults do and ignore it. =) I am going to let my brain say/think those things, then ignore it, and keep training. That is all I can do.

Enough of my thoughts out on paper, lets get to the training that happened today.

My Training:

1.5 mile run in 20 minutes.

1 hour of Muay Thai training. We worked on clenches. We worked with the less advanced students, and helped them work on some simple clenchs and ways to get out of the clench. Like the collapse of their elbow into their chest, and face push to get out of their full plumb.

The advanced students went off then and sparred with J. To get his training in before his upcoming fight. I was told that my round in the ring, was much better than any others I have had. I was more relaxed. I got a chance to use my footwork to cut the corner and get on J’s left side and land a kick. I landed many kicks, and punches. I felt great during the sparring, and compared to the 12 minutes of clench sparring we did, 3 minutes seemed like nothing now. I was tired a little but I did not feel dead.

My scale of what my body can and cannot do has been moved much further along the number line. Instead of 3 minutes feeling like I am going to die. I have felt what it feels like when I am about to lose the lunch I just ate.

Kali

In Kali we worked on Kawain, Ki Lap, Full T, and Half T. We had a number of new students and a special seminar from Dan Inosanto himself coming to this area. I need to sleep so I am going to leave it there.

So I am going to write about every day that I conditioning training up till Thai Camp. Then I will of course write about that. That is 4 days of savage and grueling Thai training.

I hope you are all having a great day. Tomorrow I am shooting for 2 miles. Stay safe, and be the best you, that you can be.