Category: Kali Escrima

Muay Thai and Kali training…Clench Sparring, Running Saints

2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training. I am pooped. It was a great set of classes. We worked on Clenches, Dumps, and Clench Sparring in Muay Thai. In Kali we worked on the running Saints. I recorded us doing the three that we were taught. Kru Krysta informed me that some of these Kali Saints are passed from teacher to student/teacher. It is proper etiquette to get permission first before revealing all the secrets. I want to respect my teachers and their teachers and keep their confidentiality until they give me the ok. I can video myself working on the saints but don’t want to give the names and exact combos.

Alright on with the training.

Muay Thai – Clench Sparring

We worked on clenching and dumps. Kru Kristen was talking about the clench in Muay Thai, and this is a major piece of the Muay Thai fighting style. This is a major difference between KB (kick boxing) and Muay Thai. The art of the 8 limbs requires you to use all of your limbs, and the knees and elbows part of the the limbs. So Clenching up is a great way to deliver those devastating knees to some ones ribs, mid section, and or quads. When we clench up we have the opportunity to off balance our opponent, then dump them on the ground, giving us points. Or we have the option of off balancing our opponent and then delivering knees to their body. This gives us point as well in the ring.

However it is not just about the clenching, and dumping and knees. You can muscle your way through it but you are going to wear yourself out not your opponent. The finesse comes when you learn/feel the opportunity. For instance when your opponent shifts their weight and goes to knee you, and you in that instance jerk their elbow down to make them base and take a step. You interrupt that knee that was coming for you and now you have a person that just had to base, and you can dump them on their rear ends.

Kru Kristen says, you cannot see it to learn it. You have to feel it. You have to feel the shift, to get the dump in. I learned also that if you bump your opponents hip out, and the push back into you, that is your opportunity to step your leg in and off balance them. Getting a knee in, or just putting them on the floor. I really have to practice this more so I can get a better feel for how to do it. I am able to do it, sometimes I feel like I try to force it. When I do the moves right it feels effortless. Like a lot of things in Martial Arts. If you truly do the move right, it works with your body, using physics and gravity to move maybe immobile object.

Needless to say. It was fun. I got a chance to work with everyone. For some of my team mates, it is effortless, they can do it with no problems. For me I still have to work on it. I can feel when I do the move right. So that is a good starting point. I need to make it feel like that every time.

Kali – Running Saints

As I mentioned above Kru Krysta is kind enough to write everything down for me. However, there are some things that are passed down from Guru to Student who will be a Guru. But I can record, and talk about pieces of the Running Saints we did.

So first of all, I am better at attacking. I seem to get the drills down fine when I am on the attack. However, when I am defending, that is when I mess up. I wonder what that says about me. =)

But all the smaller drills we were working on in double stick, like abecedario, umbrella heaven, cobb cobb, and more are in these Running Saints. As I was taught, in the Philippians they are a very Catholic oriented country because they were occupied by the Spanish, and they named these drills Running Saints, because they are meant for the attacker to run down your opponent. You are meant to cover distance and keep attacking.

For me as long as I keep attacking I am all good. If I have to defend myself… well there is my weakness. But it is something for me to work on. Perhaps it is the running/walking backwards as I try to meet the sticks coming at my head, and have them set up on the correct side so that I can keep the drill going.

Try patting your head while rubbing your tummy clockwise… You got that? Now try doing it backward. Pat your had and rub your tummy counter clockwise… Not as easy to switch right? Now try to do that was you defend yourself from an incoming attack. That is Kali… at least that is how Kali is for me. I love it. If you are interested, there is a Ted Talk about Cognitive Kali.

Take a look at this Ted Talk if you have the time:

As you have found out if you have been reading my blog. Kali is not for the unthinking person. It helps to be a perspicacious person, and if you are not, it certainly will try to make you one. Ohh I got to use the word perspicacious… my AP English teacher would have been so proud.

In the following video, you will see one of the Running Saints, and me celebrating a little when I get the Saint somewhat down.

Anyway thanks for reading. I hope you are all having a great week so far. Please comment if you have an questions. Keep being the awesome you are, and always try to be the best you, that you can be.

Tuesday Muay Thai and Kali…Thai 15 Count, Sparring, Brain Bending 4 to 5 to 6 to 8 to 7 count Kali drills

2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali Training. Today was a fun fun day. Killed my brain in Kali and we got to work on 15 count and sparring in Thai. It was challenging and fun. Not every day is like that, but when it is fun it is fantastic.

I am also excited to almost bursting. I am going to get to go to a special training seminar with Arjan Chai this weekend. Two days 8 hours a day of basically a Thai camp. But I digress. On to the actual training today.

Muay Thai – Thai 15 count, Sparring

In Muay Thai today we worked on 4 counts with elbows and knees. This training teaches us distance management. Because our furthest attack will be our kicks. Then we have punching range, which is mid range. Lastly we have close range attacks with all elbows. Then we can use the knee to eject our opponent and then get ourselves back into kicking range.

This is exactly what the Thai 15 count drill does as well. As you will see in the video below, we have to address the incoming strikes to our head, slide in return elbows, knee them and create distance, then kick them. The whole drill is a study in distance management.

Kru Krysta started us off with some 4 count Thai drills after which we have to do the 5-10-5 for an active rest. What is that you ask. Well its a training mechanism to wear us out, and have us practice our kicks and clenches/knees.

5-10-5:

5 rapid/ballistic right kicks, Clench up then do 10 #2 knees, 5 rapid/ballistic left kicks

This wear you out. I love them and can’t wait to do more.

The Thai 15 count is as follows:

  1. Parry the cross
  2. High cover the hook
  3. Left #1 elbow/horizontal elbow
  4. Right #3 downward diagonal elbow
  5. Right long leaning knee
  6. Left kick
  7. Right cross, then Left hook
  8. Right knee
  9. Right kick
  10. Teep when a cross is thrown at you
  11. Bob the second cross thrown at you
  12. Throw Hook
  13. Throw Cross
  14. Right kick

Sparring:

After the Thai 15 count, she had the orange arm bands/ more advanced students split off and go spar J. He is prepping for a fight and he needs practice. So I got to spar again today. I got some good kicks in, but he is a foot taller than me, so I have a hard time getting. I spoke with Kru Krysta afterward on how to get in, and I have to really get off the line. Or just take a hit to cover the distance. Because he can keep me at distance with his kicks and punches. He has a longer reach.

I am no longer afraid of sparring… I noticed this today. When we first started it was daunting and I was afraid. Of getting hit, of making a mistake, of just looking stupid. I am sure I still look stupid. But now I am more focused on trying to work on the things we have been taught using them in a practical way. When you get into the ring, or you start sparring, its really hard to remember everything you were taught. This is one of the reasons they drill it into us. Because, as Kru Kristen says, you don’t rise to the occasion when the adrenaline hits. You worst habit you will fall back on. Like if you drop your hands when you kick. (I will give you one guess on who does that. If you guessed me… Yup! I am working on it.) But if you do that you will do that when you are scared, or have an adrenaline dump. So when we are exhausted that is when we need to focus on our form and doing the drills right. So hopefully we rep in the good habits and forget the bad.

Kali – Brain Bending 4 to 5 to 6 to 8 to 7 count Kali drills

In Kali I worked with a student that has only been to 4 classes. He is a nice guy and really was starting to get some of the drills. However, it is amazing to work with people who are… less skilled. That sounds weird to say and to even type out. However, I have been doing Kali for 1.5 years, and while that is not a long time it is longer than 4 days. So what I found amazing was I could see in him what I felt and did when I first started. Getting my sticks tangled, getting confused, being surprised that you had both a left and right side that we do the drills on. (note: this is like asking some one to learn to use chop sticks with the right hand, then as they are just getting it saying, ok lets use the left hand right now. ) Yes Kali is like that. It forces you to use both sides of your brain, and bends that brain of yours.

Slowing down the drills is harder than it looks. To teach a person, you have to slow down the drills and when you do the rhythm changes or at least slows. Throw in foot work, and then just when you are getting that particular drill, Kru Krysta will throw in a few more strikes. I realized I know a little more than I thought I did. Cause I was able to help another person work on their form. =)

We worked on the following drills. (I have written them down as I remember them. If I am wrong let me know. =) I will fix them.)

Heaven 6:

  • starts in a chambered position
  • Forehand strike to head
  • Backhand strike to same side of the head
  • Backhand strike to other side of head
  • ends in chambered position

Umbrella 6: Striking 3 times on one side of the head, and 3 times on the other side of the head.

  • Starts in chambered position
  • Forehand strike to head
  • Backhand strike to same side of head, while you are swinging that forehand strike you just did around your head
  • Forehand strike to same side of head
  • chamber sticks

Lather rinse and repeat the above

Umbrella 8: Striking 4 times on one side of head, and 4 times on the other side of head.

  • Starts in chambered position
  • Forehand strike to head
  • Backhand strike to same side of head, while you are swinging that forehand strike you just did around your head
  • Forehand strike to same side of head out of the redondo
  • Redondo the backhand you struck with and hit back hand
  • Witik forehand
  • Backhand
  • To redondo around head and hit with forehand again.

And if you are good enough you can keep going around and around and around

She had us doing the Heaven 6 to Standard 6 to Earth 6. Then she had us doing the Umbrella 6 to Umbrella 8 to Umbrella 7.

Umbrella 7:

  • Starts in chambered position
  • Forehand strike to head
  • Backhand strike to same side of head, while you are swinging that forehand strike you just did around your head
  • Forehand strike to same side of head out of the redondo
  • Redondo the backhand you struck with and hit back hand
  • Witik forehand
  • Backhand to one side of head
  • Backhand to other side of head

Below in the following video I am doing the Umbrella 8, and the Umbrella 7 counts respectively.

I am exhausted, my brain is not braining any more. I am going to start typing gibberish if I keep going so I am going to end it here. I had a great time. I am excited about the upcoming training. I am also nervous about it.

I hope you liked the blog, thank you for reading, and if you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them. Keep being your awesome self, and keep trying to make the best you that you can be.

Weight Lifting Workout for the Week of 06/24/2019

Got my workout in today. I was able to get 45 minutes squeezed in between getting my husband at the metro, feeding the family and now going to work. I got a 13 minute mile in. Yay! I say get a workout in where ever and when ever you can.

Anyway enough talking lets get to the workout.

45 Minute workout:

  1. 20 minute steady state run.
  2. Reverse lunge with bicep curls 10 lbs each hand reps – 10, 10, 10
  3. Bulgarian Split Squats reps – 15, 15, 15
  4. Reverse pike crunches reps – 20, 18, 16
  5. Bicycle crunches reps – 20, 20, 20
  6. Planks 1 minute x3 reps
  7. Olympic Barbell Dead lifts 115 lbs – 10, 9, 9

Anyway I hope you all are having a great week! Thank you for reading. Keep being awesome and keep working to be the best you, that you can be.

Even though its not the best time of the month for me, I am feeling pretty good. =)

Thursday Muay Thai and Kali…Elbows and Knees the difference between KB and Muay Thai, Brain Melt again

2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training. Not every day can be the best day. I know this. It still sucks when I have a day when I feel like I am doing less. I have my bruises and lumps. I have been working hard, I have been putting in my time, and I need to just keep doing it. I know this.

I would love to be all sunshine and daisies all the time. But I think that would be misrepresentation of my training and my journey. So I write about when I am not have such a great day in training. Be it from outside influences like a flood in the house, or internal conflict, or just training itself.

Muay Thai – Elbows and Knees the difference between Kick Boxing and Muay Thai

Today we worked on Thai 4 counts again. The staples of Muay Thai, the art of 8 limbs. We placed the kick on the leg of the, and continue with the punches to the kick. However, Kru Kristen wanted us to focus on the entry. Using the 4 count to get you to a knee. Enter on the knee and clench. From there you can off balance your opponent, then knee them more, or kick them in the face. Kru Kristen says, “when you ask Thai fighters, what they are afraid of, they don’t say kicks or punches. They say knees or elbows. Those are the most devastating and will end a fight. The difference between Kick Boxing and Muay Thai is the elbows and knees. So we are practicing the entry into them.

  1. Furthest away = kicks and teeps
  2. Mid range = punches, hooks, jabs, crosses
  3. close range = knees
  4. closest range = elbows

Being able to flow between all the ranges is ideal, and will allow you to get in and get out hopefully with less lumps then you gave your opponent.

Training:

  1. right leg kick, hook, cross, left torso kick
  2. pyramid kicks
  3. left leg kick, cross, hook, right torso kick
  4. pyramid kicks
  5. right leg kick, hook, cross, knee to full plumb clench, knee them, off balance them and then dump your opponent.
  6. Jumping jacks
  7. left leg kick, hook, cross, knee to full plumb clench, knee them, off balance them and dump your opponent.
  8. Jumping jacks
  9. Clench in half clench, pull opponent onto you to break their base, then off balance them

I love Muay Thai, it is a huge part of my life. I think about it all the time. I love the philosophy. I love the discipline. I love the dedication it takes to learn it. I rearrange my life around it so I can train as much as I do. So when I have a day that feels like I am just all over the place and not doing great. It gets me down. I wanna keep doing well. I wanna keep excelling. I know this is not how this works. Some days you just need to put the hours in and the training in.

Kali – Brain Melting Again

We worked on the 6 count family again. We did the same drills as Tuesday. However, for some reason I was messing up the individual drills. Today every 5 cycles of the same drill and I would mess up.

Kru Krysta said its because I am not retracting as much as I should be. For some reason Tuesday I was doing it just fine. But today not so much.

Then when we did the full 5 drills in one drill, I got it just fine. The brain is a funny thing. I know what to do, but when I think about it to much I fumble. I get flustered and then mess it up.

Kru mixed it up again, and instead of doing all 5, 6 count family, we would do just three of each 6 count drill. Talk melting the brain. That was amazing and hard all at the same time.

So yeah today was not the best training day in the respect of me feeling like I am accomplishing anything. But again I know I just need to put the time in. So I did. I feel good for getting the exercise in. I was dripping in sweat and got to work with some new people in class.

Thank you for reading. Please let me know if you have any questions. I hope you have a great day. Keep being awesome, and keep trying to be the best you, that you can be.

Tuesday Muay Thai and Kali… Staple of Muay Thai, Clumsy Monkey, 5 Drills in One Brain Melting

  • We are goofballs after class.
  • Bruise blooming on foot because I was not kicking right.

2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training. I have mentioned it before. I have days where one of my Martial Arts is not clicking. Its frustrating and I don’t really like it. I don’t know why I have days like this. I assume that I am not the only one. But that is only an assumption. Maybe its because of this huge catering job that I am doing this week. Maybe its just the stars are not aligned. Who knows. But today in Muay Thai I was a clumsy monkey.

Muay Thai – Staple of Muay Thai, Clumsy Monkey

We did a review of the things we were doing last week. We were working on a staple of Muay Thai the 4 counts. You may think. Wow they work on the same things a lot. And yeah… you would be right. We do. This is one of the staples of Muay Thai. This is a combination that we drill over and over again. As you can see I am off balance a little. I am clumsy today. I am annoyed at myself and I want to do better.

Some times the only thing you can do is go in and put the time in. Even if you feel you are doing poorly like me in class today. You can see the bruise on my foot from kicking the pads wrong. Muay Thai a lot of times is self correcting. When you kick or hit something wrong you will hurt yourself or your training partner. When you kick the pads wrong, and hit mostly with the top of your foot you will bruise the crap out of it. This is just the bruise right away… We will see what it looks like tomorrow.

Training:

  1. First 3 minute round, we worked on Thai 4 counts
  2. Pyramid kicks
  3. Second 3 minute round, receiving and dealing with a jab or cross and returning a 4 count
  4. Pyramid kicks
  5. Third 3 minute round, blocking or shielding an incoming kick and returning a Thai 4 count
  6. Pyramid Kicks
  7. 3 x 3 minute rounds of sparring.

Kru Kristen said I was doing well… but I have tells, and I kept getting kicked and punched. I know its part of the process but. Man it sucks when you suck, and it sucks when you know you suck and are having a bad time. Anyway here is a video of me doing dealing with the jab and cross. You can see me being a little off balance. Meh… but tomorrow is another day.

Kali – 5 drills in one big drill

Kali went a little better for me. I was exhausted after Muay Thai so that did not help. However, I did not seem to have to much of a hard time dealing with the drills.

Training:

  1. We started with the Heaven 6, then Standard 6, then we did the Earth 6
  2. We worked on cob cob
  3. Umbrella came next
  4. Winshield Wiper followed
  5. Ordibis followed winshield

Then then… Kru Krysta wanted to put it all together.

This drill below is all in the video below.

  1. COB COB
  2. Umbrella
  3. Heaven
  4. Winshield Wiper
  5. Ordibis

Yes all those drills were done all at once. This was interesting cause we were able to do it. But we kinda had to feel our way around it. Feel the rhythm and feel the flow. Below is a picture of what we did and the footwork. I am tired and don’t have time or energy to make a foot work graphic today.

This is a video of us practicing this very drill, the 5 drills together melting my brain, and also making new pathways in my brain. Hopefully in the future I will be able to pull on this knowledge, and make it flow better.

Thank you for reading. I must away to bed. I have another day of cooking all day for 200 people, serving, and teaching. I hope you have a wonderful day/evening/morning where you are. Keep being awesome and keep striving to be the best you, that you can be.

Thursday Muay Thai and Kali… Put the fear of God, hour glass, and a Kali 10 count

2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training. Sometimes you gotta know when to throw in the towel. Wednesday night was one hell of a ride. We were awaken to the shrill sounds of our fire alarm. Why you ask? It was not because of a fire, thank you God. However, it was because of a flood. Yup a flood. The pipe behind our toilet broke and was fountain-ing water all over our third floor. We live in a 3 story town home and we had a water fall that was going all the way down to the garage. I went to bed at around 11 pm Wednesday night and we were awaken about 11:30 pm. So it must have burst right as I was nodding off.

Did you know that fire alarms go off when it is super humid or water passes through them? Nope, neither did we, however, we know now that they go off. I am glad they did, or we would have had even more damage to deal with. We had maintenance come in, fix the toilet, and put fans under the carpet last night. They did not leave till 3:30 am Thursday morning.

Needless to say I was in a mood today/Thursday, just kind of agitated… annoyed… tired… and fed up. I went to my training, and I had a great time. My mood improved and I learned some new things. I will detail them below.

However, we got home and found that in the kids closet there was carpet that had gotten soaked. So I just got done cleaning out their closet. And let me tell you, they are little pack rats. Saved some things I did not even realize. Like little info card from their toys, marker caps, paper clips and many other things. This post was supposed to be posted yesterday, but will not be finished, and will have to wait till Friday! I have to know when enough is enough and just get to sleep. Throw in the towel as it were. We have gone through every towel in our house, and I have washed them all now.

Anyway enough with the winging (as my friends from across the pond say). On to our training…

Muay Thai – Put the fear of God in them

I started off feeling crappy and agitated today. I was hoping that Muay Thai and Kali would help that, and it did. Working with my friends and team mates to better our skills, got my head out of my immediate issues, and had me focusing on the now. Making my body move the way it knows how to. Focusing on the minute changes to make my strikes better was a great way to redirect my thinking.

Thursday we worked on entries on blocking/receiving a left kick, to the Thai 4 count. Tuesday it was the opposite, where we were entering in on blocking/receiving a right kick, to Thai 4 count.

Kru Kristen complimented me on my kicks. She said, “I am kicking harder and my form is good.” I just need to kick through the person. Transfer my power.

We need to work on intent. This is a martial arts that is 1000 years old. It is not meant to be nice. You need to kick with intent. Like when you kick the person you put the fear of God into them. It hurts so bad that they think twice about coming back at you. This is what I need to work on. As girls we are told not to hit, not to be physical so breaking that training is hard. But I have been kicking hard and getting my licks in. With padding and if you do it right. You can kick hard and not hurt your partner. This is what I am working on.

Kali – Hour Glass, Kali 10 count

We worked on some drills to help our foot work. Because you can’t always tell from my videos but we are supposed to be moving our feet to a certain pattern, or in a certain way as to keep from getting our knees hit, or to keep our tools (see hands and weapons in front of us and pointed toward opponent). Hour glass movement melted my brain a little. Not because it was hard to move my feet in that way, but because it was hard to move my feet in that way, and keep my hands going. Keep doing the Kali stick drills.

I made a diagram of our foot movement below:

I have mentioned before Kali will melt your brain. But it is a good thing. It is making your brain work and create new pathways, because it asks you to do multiple things at once.

Think rubbing your tummy and patting your head. It is often times hard to do for most people, but if you practice it is easier. Then if the instructors asked you to rub your tummy and pat your head with the opposite hands would it be more difficult? For me I am a right handed person and asking me to do things with my left hand is hard, its gotten better since starting Kali, but man does it mess with your brain.

This is much the same thing. I have to make moving/movement of my feet a muscle memory so I am not trying to focus on moving it while trying to focus on moving my stick, and not beaning myself in the head. =) Its a struggle. You will leave Kali some days feeling like you just did a mental equivalent of a marathon. Just because you are trying to control, the feet, the stick, and avoid hitting yourself or your partner in a way as to be injurious.

A Kali 10 count. One of many. We learned a new to me Kali 10 count. Apparently this is one of many. However, it was fun and I had a blast doing it. We only practiced on the right hand side so I did not feel like my brain was tied in knots. I am happy that I picked it up so fast. But if you break it down it is just a series of the same kind of moves I have been taught before.

Kali 10 count 1: For area to strike see doll below

  1. High fore hand hit – strike area 13
  2. Low back hand hit – strike area 10
  3. High back hand hit – strike area 14
  4. Low fore hand hit – strike area 9
  5. High equise – strikes 1 and 2
  6. Low equise – strikes 12, and 11
  7. Scoop the Punyo coming to your face

Below is a video of use working on it. Toward the end of the video we got faster, and I feel like I have a good grasp on the drill. =)

Thanks for reading. Its a day late, but I needed the sleep. I currently have a a person working on our carpet right now. We found out we need to have a new ceiling put in, and we have the appointment for that to happen. I hope you all have a good day, and a great weekend. Keep striving to be the best you that you can be.

Tuesday Muay Thai and Kali…Shield and Kick, Kiwian, Stick as Stick vs Stick as Sword

2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training. I am bushed. Also D.O.M.s set in from yesterdays workout. So when we warmed up for Muay Thai with jumping rope, 25 push ups, jumping rope and 25 squats I was feeling it. Today was a good day, we worked on shielding a kick to a 4 count, and we learned a new Kali move called Kawian.

Muay Thai – Shield in Kick

So some things that have been said and taught recently that sometimes I forget to put in my blog posts. Why you ask? Because when I am tired after a 2 hour training session I forget things. So before I forget.

Muay Thai, or more importantly is parent Muay Boran (a.k.a. ancient boxing) is over 1000 years old. This ancient art has so much to learn from and I am so happy to have a chance to learn.

When you are kicking with Muay Thai, it may sound good, but may not be great. You don’t have to have a fantastic sounding kick for it to be a good kick. You are supposed to be kicking through your opponent. The kick you should feel in your bones when you are feeding pads, and the kicker should be trying to kick through the person to the next person behind them.

You always want to enter on pain. When you land a solid kick, and startle your opponent. Then enter in, complete a Thai 4 count, keep attacking till they stop. If you don’t land the kick, or the blow that startles or shocks your opponent, get out of the pocket and wait till you do.

Most people will not expect you to shield a kick, then return a kick with same side you shielded. This is why we practiced it. You can see the drill on bullet number 3 below.

Anyway enough talking… here is what we were working on.

Training:

  1. Warm up, Jump rope, 25 push ups, Jump rope, 25 air squats.
  2. Shield right incoming kick with rear leg, then return a Thai 4 count right to left.
    • Thai 4 count right to left – right kick, hook, cross, left kick
  3. Pyramid kicks 1 to 5 then back down again to 1 right side
  4. Shield right incoming kick with front leg, then return a Thai 4 count with left to right.
    • Thai 4 count left to right – left kick, cross, hook, right kick
  5. Pyramid kicks 1 to 5 then back down again to 1 left side
  6. Catch kick, bleed off power, control opponents shoulder, either dump them or switch arms to deliver a spinning back elbow.

I made a video of me practicing the left shield, to left stutter step or a real short range hop kick. I am also practicing bleeding off the torso kick, and then executing the spinning back elbow.

Kali – Kiwian and Stick as Stick, vs Stick as Sword

Kali was cool and interesting. We learned a new move, and we discussed using a stick as a stick or blunt instrument, or using a stick as a sword or a sharp instrument. When using a stick as a blunt instrument you are trying to bash things, as opposed to trying to cut and cut major arteries.

So today we focused on blunt instruments. Wanting to use the stick to bash your opponent. There is a difference in intent, and how the stick is used.

Kru Kristen says, we need to know how to move and avoid getting hit by, slide stepping out, not just off the line, but back away from opponent, and then slide stepping in to return attack. This was a main theme for today and our training.

Training:

  1. High figure 8, low back hand, high back hand
  2. Low figure 8, low back hand, high backhand
  3. Advanced student drills: (we were to switch from all of these drills seamlessly)
    • Equise, low back hand high back hand
    • High Figure 8, low back hand, high back hand
    • Low figure 8, low back hand, high back hand
  4. Kiwian – is a drill where you do a vertical redondo, to downward diagonal backhand, to upward diagonal back hand, to redondo again. This move was meant to smash the head and keep doing damage
  5. Drills to push away/slide step away from incoming strike, and slide step in to return strikes.

I made a video below of me working on the Kiwian drill. I can never seem to make

I got this new rash guard, and I love it. I love octopodes and this was a must have. Its so pretty. I bought it with my own money, the company is called Break Point. I just wore it this once and the quality on it is great. I have gotten compliments so far, and I like it. https://www.breakpointfc.com/ I am not affiliated with them, they don’t even know me or that I am talking about them.

These arts are not with out their peril. I caught a stick to the face tonight. It was my own stick, which makes one feel like… well stupid, however, it was a rebound from a strike, my wrist was not tight enough and it rebounded right into my face. I have a small lump under my eyebrow. I may or may not bruise. It is sore to the touch, but over all seems ok. We shall see. I will keep an eye on it. =)

Well thanks for reading. Let me know if you have questions or comments. What do you like to read about? I know some of you are here for the recipes. I do have one coming. Keep being awesome and be the best you you can be.

Saturday Krav Maga, Bo Staff, and Muay Thai…Single Wing Choke, 1 for 1, Difference between Technique and Tactics

3.5 hours of Krav Maga, Bo Staff, and Muay Thai Striking class. I am bushed. It is a lovely day outside, a great day for training, and I learned a lot. I can’t ask for much more on a training day.

Krav Maga – Single Wing Choke

I am going to call this a single wing choke. We did many things in Krav, but the new thing, the thing I have never done before and so I focused most of my thought processes to it was what I call the Single Wing Choke. It is probably not called that. But it reminds me of the Muay Thai Single Wing Clench.

We worked on slipping jabs and crosses, and returning a strike. This is normal stuff we work on in Muay Thai.

We worked on this choke that is supposed to cut off oxygen, and blood, to make the assailant pass out. I mention this, because there are choke holds that are meant to cause pain and submission, instead of making the assailant black out. This choke however, is meant to make them black out, or stop fighting.

In Krav we are told you do a move till they stop. Or they stop moving. Let me make this clear that this is for protection in the wide world, and not while working with you partner. If you keep knocking/passing them out, they won’t want to work with you.

So we do this very carefully, and and let the partner know that we are going to tighten now.

We started off in a standing position. Where we split the jab if you are an orthodox fighter. Then we simultaneously returned a strike to throat or face. Then you transition to clenching up on them like a single wing clench in Thai. Push your head up against their shoulder, and pull your elbows to the chest, inflating your chest to cut off oxygen and blood. Your partner will tap when you complete this properly and they feel the pain.

We then transitioned to the floor. Where we started out in cross body position that is done in BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) . This is the fist time I have done BJJ. I try to be really careful with my back, and worry that BJJ will tweak my back. Anyway I digress. We start of with cross body, push up their elbow, put pressure on it with our head and neck leaning into the arm, then we snake our arm around their heads, get a cable lock, move our bodies over theirs, and then pull in our elbows, and expand our chests. We do this till our partner taps.

This was great fun, and I am always surprised how little pressure it takes to cut off oxygen and blood to their heads, if you do the move just right. Kru Kristen, says, “BJJ, they say getting a big result with little effort, is better than getting a little result with big effort.”

Our teacher Lee, is a great teacher and I am happy I made it to Krav today.

Bo Staff – 1 for 1

Today in Bo Staff class, we worked on the 17 strikes as a warm up.

Then we worked on the drill, High, Low, Low, High.

Then for the rest of the class we worked on 1 for 1 drilling. This is the precursor to sparring with a staff. Where you throw any strike, and your partner counters, then they throw a strike and you counter. It makes you think about counter moves, getting off the line, and your next strike. This helps in pattern and flow. I took a video of us doing just that. We make mistakes, and sometimes get hit in the hands, but that is what gloves are for. Protection.

Muay Thai/Striking – Difference between Technique and Tactics

Today in striking we were working on more of the same drills we have been working. This is good cause I needed to get more work in on stepping off the line, getting my strikes in and then getting out of the pocket.

  1. 1st round
    1) Left leg kick, right cross, left hook/shovel hook/upper cut, right round house
    2) Right leg kick, left hook/shovel hook/upper cut, cross, left round house kick
    3) Left leg kick, right cross, left hook/shovel hook/upper cut, left round house kick
    4) Right leg kick, left hook/shovel hook/upper cut, cross, left round house kick
  2. 2nd round
    1) Catch jab, return right leg kick, hook/upper cut/shovel hook, cross, left kick or right kick
  3. 3rd round
    1) Catch jab, avoid cross, return left inner leg kick, cross, hook/upper cut/shovel hook, left or right kick

I worked on my catch of Jab, to hop left and right leg kick. However, what I have been doing when I do that, is squaring up, or placing my right foot down next to the left foot. What that does is make it difficult to almost impossible to do the rest of the Thai 4 count when I am not in the proper stance. So I need to work on laying in the right leg kick, then quickly bringing the leg back to my stance.

This is going to be my bread and butter as a short fighter. I did get a compliment on my cross. I have been working on that, and it looks like it might actually be getting better.

However, I got dinged on dropping my hands. I tend to drop my hands when I am about to throw a kick. This is according to Kru Kristen a common thing that people do, but we need to focus on keeping them up all the time.

She also reiterated that when we are tired like I was, that is the best time to work on your skills. Technique falls to your base skills when you are tired. So focusing and forcing yourself to remember to keep your hands up will develop the mental connection.

She talked about how technique and tactics are different. She can teach tactics all day, but if you don’t have the right technique, tactics won’t do anything for you. We so often work on technique while drilling, however, we have been working on tactics when we talk about how we enter in on a punch, or kick, and return strikes. Tactics makes us use the technique we learn and apply it, allowing us to return strikes, and get out of the box.

I love learning about this striking martial art. I feel so lucky to be able to learn and study under Kru Kristen. I don’t absorb everything every class (there really is so much information thrown at you), but I try so hard to learn at least one new thing, or just try to work on one skill each class. She mentioned that her teacher said you cannot instruct someone, you can only show them. It takes them figuring out what works for them, and their bodies for it to stick and for them to learn.

Thanks for reading. I waxed a little poetic today, but I truly believe everything I have said and love what I am doing. I am exhausted now, and am going to try to put food in my body. Have a great day.

Thursday Muay Thai and Kali… Minnesota Shuffle and Die, Inside Deflect Snake to Pool Cue, 7 count Espada y Daga

2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali. Muay Thai kicked my butt in a good way. The kind that leaves you sucking air on the mat in a puddle of sweat. In Kali we learned some really cool weave moves, with a snake an pool cue move.

Muay Thai – Minnesota Shuffle and Die

In Muay Thai today we are all helping our team mate train for a upcoming fight. So that means fight conditioning training for all of us. I love it. This is the stuff that pushes you hard, has you gasping for air with a stitch in your side. During the training it sucks, but after, when you are cooling off you feel so accomplished. Or at the very least I do! What did we do. Well the general warm up. Jump rope, and shadow boxing, but that is normal and some what boring. Its great training, don’t get me wrong. But it is not super taxing.

Now after that we held pads for our partners for 3 full rounds, and after each round had our partners do a Minnesota Shuffle. We switched pads, and then had to do the same thing. Let me tell you. Going three rounds no rest except that 1 minute after the Minnesota Shuffle is rough. Your body is tired, it is telling… not screaming for you to stop and rest but you push through. When you hit the end of round 3 and you complete the last of the Minnesota Shuffles, you or at least I laid on the ground and died. That 1 minute rest is barely enough for you to start getting your heart rate down.

Kru Kristen and Kru Krysta are amazing teachers and they started writing these things down for all of us, but Kru Kristen said to me, “see I am writing it down for you Tanya.” Because they know I write it down in my blog and I try to remember what we did for class. Often times after I have gotten home and am exhausted not only from the day but from the wringer that they put us through. I love our instructors, and could not have asked for better.

Anyway enough gabbing here is what we did.

Warm up:

Jump rope, and shadow boxing

3 rounds straight through with only 1 minute rest

  1. 1st round
    1) Left leg kick, right cross, left hook/shovel hook/upper cut, right round house
    2) Right leg kick, left hook/shovel hook/upper cut, cross, left round house kick
    3) Left leg kick, right cross, left hook/shovel hook/upper cut, left round house kick
    4) Right leg kick, left hook/shovel hook/upper cut, cross, left round house kick
    5) Minnesota Shuffle – ladder left round house kick (1 kick, then two kicks, then three, till 5), clench to 10 knees, ladder right round house kick
  2. 2nd round
    1) Catch jab, return right leg kick, hook/upper cut/shovel hook, cross, left kick or right kick
    2) Minnesota Shuffle
  3. 3rd round
    1) Catch jab, avoid cross, return left inner leg kick, cross, hook/upper cut/shovel hook, left or right kick

After you held for your partner for three rounds, you had to do it yourself. This is a grueling workout, and it was awesome. I felt like I pushed through. Even though I did not have an epiphany today, or make a break through in a skill I have been working on. I hit this workout hard and made it through. Some days it is good just to survive.

Below is a video of me doing the two last drills in round 2 and 3. Keep in mind I am bushed now. I have been working 2 hours on MA training, and just wanted to record this so could see myself perform and look for errors. Ohh boy… lots to work on. When you are tired you should concentrate on your form more. This is the time when it is being ingrained in to your brains.

Kali – Inside Deflect Snake to Pool Cue, 7 count Espada y Daga

In Kali we got to work on some new and cool drills, moves? I sometimes call them moves and drills. Maybe the word exercises is more correct. Well what ever. I will say drills for now. However, I digress.

We focused on inside deflect, and then ways to counter a strike. From the Gurus we have learned from, each of them says Kali as a Martial Art is so vast, and changing. You could study it for 50 years and still learn more. The style and art form differs from village to village, from environment (sandy, jungle, grassy, rocky) to environment, and from Teacher/Guru to Guru. Each has their own way of doing some things, but there are some constants in Kali that don’t change either. Like the X or equis. An x is an x but what you do with the x or how you enter into your opponents area is where things can change.

Training:

  1. X pattern with inside deflect, counter clockwise snake, to disarm
  2. X pattern with inside deflect, counter clockwise snake, to bridge, then you bait your opponent to punch, open scoop the punch they throw, and weave trap both their arms. This leaves your arm free to punch them, or you can kick them in the knees.
  3. 7 count espada y daga, a.k.a. stick and dagger.
    1) backhand # 2 strike, to knife strike to well of neck, back hand to #2 again, block high, block low, block high knife strike, #1 finishing strike (where you hit with intent).
  4. X pattern with inside deflect, counter clockwise snake, to bridge, then stick your knife into quadrant 3, grab your stick lock their hands, and spear/pool cue their necks.

I have two Kali videos from tonight below. One is the number 2 drill. The other is the 7 count espada y daga drill.

The 7 count Espada y Daga drill video is almost completely uncut. I did this to show you all how we puzzle through a new drill. Normally I cut the video down so that you don’t have to see all the struggling and mess ups we happen to have, when working out what our bodies and minds are trying to do. If you want to see it more fluid, skip toward the end of video marker 4:40 and you will see the drill.

Kali melted my brain a little bit. I was tired after Muay Thai, and then they asked my brain to function and think and learn new tricks. However, I had a blast in class today. I feel like we learned some new things, and I am over the moon about that conditioning in Muay Thai.

I hope you liked my rambling thoughts. Thank you for reading. I must get to sleep. Keep working on being the best you, that you can be.

Tuesday Muay Thai and Kali…Always Enter On Pain, If You Look at the Stick You Get Hit By The Stick, The Fang

This is me putting the Fang choke on my partner, also known as Churing the Butter.

2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali. Whew it is always great when you have a breakthrough in your martial arts training. On average, every day is repetition and drilling. The goal is to try to keep doing drills to better your skills and flow. So I don’t always feel like I am making great strides. The point is to keep going and keep training.

Muay Thai – Always Enter on Pain

Today was the day though. I made a breakthrough in Muay Thai. We were working on Thai 4 counts today, and response to punches with kicks. I am a short person, and being so I have to figure out ways to close the distance. Especially with taller people. So today we were catching the jab and returning a leg kick getting off the line so we did not get hit in the face/head. Because you see you want to avoid getting hit. You want to avoid it, but when you are learning it is inevitable. You always want to enter on the pain you have given to your opponent. For instance they go to jab at you, you catch the jab, kick them in the leg, then complete the Thai 4 count.

So the flow and sound should be dat dat, one catch one kick right after another. I was working with a girl that is a little taller than I am but so much more skilled than I am. I was getting the flow down great. As I was she mentioned she hops to one side and gets off the line to land the kick while the punch is coming in. I start to mimic her to the best of my abilities. Guess what I did it. I was able to hop to the side, get off the line, catch the jab, and land the leg kick. All with the same flow dat dat beat. I did it. I figured it out. I have seen her do it before, she has mentioned it before. But something in my brain clicked and allowed my brain and body to work together to do what I wanted. Woot Woot!

Thai 4 counts: for Orthodox stance

  1. Left leg kick, cross, hook/uppercut, right leg kick
  2. Left leg kick, cross, hook/uppercut, left leg kick
  3. Right leg kick, hook/upper cut, cross, left leg kick
  4. Right leg kick, hook/upper cut, cross, right leg kick

I got a compliment form Kru Kristen. She said I was moving great, and getting off the line. I was so proud. Its these times when things clicks that make all those other hours of repetition and drilling worth it. I wish they were more prevalent.

Kali – Always Enter On Pain, If You Look at the Stick You Get Hit By The Stick, The Fang

Today in Kali, we had a guest instructor named Guru Mark Cukro. This is one of Kru Krysta’s mentors, and he was visiting. He came in and graced us with his time and teaching. You could tell how much this man has learned and the speed and grace with which he moved. We learned some new witik drills, and drills to keep your arm framed with your body and meeting force with force when a stick is coming at you.

From there we learned how to enter, say from a Kumbiata Switch, push down on the shoulder and get the Fang choke in. This choke/submission is also called Churning the Butter. =) Because once you have the stick along the carotid and you are tightening the choke with your arm and the stick you can churn the stick and cause more pain.

The carotid artery is the a major artery in the neck and cutting off circulation is not only painful, but can make a person pass out. My picture above is me working on this very choke.

I got this picture from this wiki page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/External_carotid_artery

Getting to learn from these Gurus, leaves you with some great gems. One for tonight was this quote. “If you look at the stick you will get hit with a stick.” What is meant by that is you should be looking at the movement of the body. In Muay Thai you don’t look at the punch coming at you. You look at the persons chest. This is cause you are supposed to be watching their body movements, not what their hands are doing.

We also worked on getting the Puta Kapala in, from the clench. This was fun, because we learned how to control the persons spine from the base of their head. I love the Puta Kapala.

This was a fantastic class. I had a blast, and it was great learning from a teacher that my teacher/instructor loves and respects. He was a fantastic teacher and so open to questions.

Thank you for reading. I have some new followers, so welcome, and please let me know if you have any questions. I have a glossary page that has definitions for terms. ah Have a great day/night/week, get out there, do what you love, and love each other.

P.S. If you are curious about where I train. It is the Pedro Sauer academy One Spirit Martial Arts. http://virginiabjj.com/ I love the feel and spirit of this gym.