Category: Martial Arts

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.

Saturday Bo Staff, and Striking/JKD… Redondo Like a Helicopter, ABD/Atacking By Defense

2.5 hours of training Bo Staff, and Striking/JKD. Brace yourselves this ended up being long. =) Maybe grab a tea, or coffee, what ever libation you prefer, and hunker down for a read. I even drew pictures of where I was striking on a stick figure.

Today we worked on Bo Staff, and I was finally able to try out my new polypropylene bo. That sucker is heavy but great for an arm workout, and are almost indestructible.

This is the polypropylene staff that I have and use now as a training staff. Picture credit (Cold Steel)

You can get this staff at this website. https://www.coldsteel.com/training-staff.html I bought this with my own money. I was not paid to review this, and as far as I know they don’t know I am even talking about their products.

I also bought the Baliki Sticks for my Kali stick training. These are also made of the polypropylene. Again they are indestructible, and some what heavy, but great for training.

I mention indestructible because, my rattan sticks I had for one year, had started to shred and fall apart. The only thing that was keeping it together was the duct tape. So yeah having tools/weapons that will not get destroyed for a billion years is so awesome.

This is the Balicki Stick. Picture credit to Cold Steel.

Ok so again I am not being paid for this review. As far as I know they don’t even know who I am, except that I have thrown money their way for their products. So I paid for this with my own money and I am happy with them. They are very sturdy and they are heavy. You can buy them here. https://www.coldsteel.com/balicki-stick.html

Over all I love them. The only thing that is a little weird is they sell them in singles instead of in pairs. So if you do double stick in Kali/Escrima you will have to buy two like I did. They only alteration I did was add some bat tape to end of the stick, where I hold it. Because when I use them bare handed I find that the tape helps me hold onto the stick when my hand gets sweaty.

I have been using these for two weeks. They had been in my living room waiting for me to use them and stop being sick. =) I borrowed my husbands before and found I liked them so I ordered them.

My criteria for equipment, is:

  1. Good quality for the cost. I don’t mind paying more for something that will last.
  2. If functions as intended.
  3. It is not stupid expensive.
  4. Durability ( I don’t want to have to buy it over and over again just cause it breaks/wears out quickly)

Anyway enough gabbing about the equipment I use. If it is helpful to you, and you are looking for training equipment please take a look at these things. =)

Bo Staff Training – Redondo like a helicopter

Today was a fun clear beautiful day. It was not to hot, and we got to work outside with our Bo Staves. We worked on 4 drills that worked the figure 8 with a low strike and high strike at the end. Then we did a redondo that looks like a helicopter.

Training:

  1. Warm up using single stick, heaven figure 8 with low strike and high strike.
  2. Upward figure 8, with low back hand strike and high back hand strike.
  3. Downward figure 8, with low back hand strike and high back hand strike.
  4. Lop sided figure 8 with low back hand strike and high back hand strike.
  5. Redondo high, low, high, with a low back hand strike and high back hand strike.

I tried to scribble out what the figure 8 strikes looked like. Its okay to laugh at my drawings. I do.

In these two figures, you can see the upward figure 8 and the downward figure 8. Husband asked why they were smiling, I said cause they were happy to help me practice. Anyway, on the upward figure 8, you aiming for the knees or inner thighs. So you are targeting 12 strike point, and a 11 strike point in an upward swing. For the downward figure 8 you are targeting a 1 strike point, and a 2 strike point in an downward. See dummy below for strikes points.

In this last figure you see the lop sided figure 8. You are targeting the 1 strike point, and the 4 strike point. These figure 8 were fun, and hard at the same time. Hefting the staff and trying to follow through in the strike is hard, when it meets a resistance and wants to just bounce back.

This is the upward figure 8, with low back hand and high back hand
This is the lop sided figure 8, with low back hand and high back hand
Redondo high, low, high, with a low back hand and high back hand

This last video is the redondo/helicopter looking swing. Swing where we go around our head hit a high point/head, then hit a low point torso, then high again head area, then low back hand and high back hand.

That is what we did in Kali, and that was just Kali. Now to the Striking class.

Striking class – ABD – Attacking by Defense

So today we worked on how to defend and react to a Jab, Cross combination. We worked on JKD or Jeet Kun Do, the martial arts created by Bruce Lee. Kru Krysta said if you get into a fight or fight in the ring, that Jab, Cross combo is going to come up, so knowing how address it, parry, block, catch and return an attack is very important. She told us her instructor called it ABD – or Attacking By Defense.

For instance if a person throws a jab at you, you can catch the punch or you can destroy their jab/hand by directing it into your elbow.

We worked on how to address, respond, and return attack when you are fighting a person who knows how to box/punch. For instance when they throw a tight Cross.

Then we worked on how to address, respond, and return an attack when you are fighting a person who is a little less knowledgeable in boxing. When they end up doing a wide cross, think John Wayne type cross you can see coming from a mile away.

Striking/JKD training we worked on Jab, Cross Defense

  1. Feeder throws a Jab
  2. You parry
  3. Feeder throws a tight cross
  4. You lean back make your shoulder tight to your face for protection and then Nao Tek their inner thigh with your lead foot, then return an cross, hook, cross, Nao Tek.
  5. Alternately you could Inside Parry, with a punch to the face, or bare handed a eye gauge, then return cross, hook, cross, Nao Tek
  6. The other alternate reaction you could is split the jab, hit simultaneously, then return a hook, cross, Nao Tek
  1. Feeder throws a Jab
  2. You parry
  3. Feeder throws a wide cross
  4. You inside wedge/post on their shoulder, return a knee to quad, step in and you are in south paw stance. Finish with an upper cut, cross, hook, and cross.

Striking was fun today. We worked on JKD, instead of Muay Thai. However, it is good to cross train. Things that are done in JKD translate to Muay Thai and vice versa.

I am not certain how much help this is to any of you, however, having this written down helps me to remember what we did, and I have a reference for the future if when I am struggling, and or when I want to remember something.

As always thank you for reading. I hope you have a great day, and hope your weekend is fantastic.

Thursday Muay Thai and Kali…Hands to Knees, Left and Right Submissions

2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training. Today was another great day. We the more advanced students worked with the newer students today. This is good for us, because it makes us work on our form and slow it down. I had a little congestion today, but I had a fantastic nights sleep last night. I actually slept without interruption from this virus/infection a first in 3 weeks.

Muay Thai – Hands to Knees

Today we worked in hands to knees in our training. We were working on flow and transitioning in our strikes.

Workout:

  1. Warm up – Jump rope 3 minutes
  2. Warm up – Shadow box hands to knees. ( jab, cross, right knee number 1 or inward knee) (Jab, cross, hook, left knee number 1 or short range knee) 3 minutes.

    Partnered up with newer students
  3. worked on distance management with plus foot work, and then Jab, Cross, right knee number 1 or inward knee.
  4. Then we worked on Jab, Cross, right knee number 1 or inward knee, to clench and knees, or right round house kick.

I have mentioned this before. I really feel working with the newer students is not only beneficial to them, but it is highly beneficial to the more advanced students. First we are helping out new students get used to the moves and the flow. Second we are helping them learn how to hold pads for us. Pad holding in itself is a skill.

Pad Holding

If your partner is not a good pad holder, it is difficult to work the moves, also highly likely you will get an injury. If for instance they hold the pad very loosey goosey with no force/energy behind it, when your partner goes to hit the pad, they can blow out their elbows from hyper extension. If they move back from a knee or a teep you can pull a hamstring, or a groin area. If the pad holder is holding the pads to far from their body, they can get hit from the pads impact to their body. They can hurt their rotator cuff if they don’t hold the pads tight and return energy by moving their body into it. So pad holding itself is a skill, and helping your partner learn how to do it helps you and them. Another note, pads are not light… they tend to have some heft to them so your arms get a good workout there as well. But I digress and rambled on about pad holding.

Back to working with newer students. Because the newer student is not as versed in the striking techniques you have to naturally slow down and just work on your form. You take most of the power out of the strikes and just try to get it in there. One thing that is hard though is working on flow. Because the newer person does not know how to transition as quickly with the pads some times I find myself waiting to get the next strike in. However, other than that small technicality tonight was a great training night and we all got sweaty and exhausted.

Kali – Left and Right Submissions

We did the same thing we did on Tuesday. However, my partner and I worked on both left and right side more today. I am much faster on the right side than I am on the left side. However, I felt good that I was able to switch to each side without to much trouble.

You see cause in Kali, what you can do on your right side you can also do with your left side, or left hand. What this normally does to the brain is melt into a puddle till you figure it out. Forcing your body and mind to be ambidextrous is a test of wills, and a very tiring for the brain. However, today was great. I was able to switch back and forth…yay!

Kali workout/training

  1. Warm up – Strikes 1, 2, 3 (ABC or Abecedario) low back hand, then high back hand
  2. Srikes 1, 2, (equis) clockwise scoop opponents cross, hit head or ribs
  3. Strikes 1, 2, (equis) counter clockwise scoop opponents cross, submit opponent with Basset Dal or face plant
  4. Strikes 1, 2, 1, Kumbiata Switch, clockwise snake, to rolling pin (where you take the stick and roll it on opponents muscle to make them drop weapon)
  5. Strikes 1, 2, 2, Kumbiata Switch, to clockwise snake, to arm lever (revers) (this is where you, lever your stick into the pectoral muscle of your opponent, this causes pain and you can submit them to the floor.)

My body is tired and I need to go to bed and shower, but not in that order. I have an early morning tomorrow. Thank you for reading. I am constantly amazed that anyone reads my blog. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I am just training and trying to become better in my chosen arts.

Tuesday Muay Thai and Kali… Smother the Gun, Abecedario Snake, and Face Plant

Today was the first full day back to Muay Thai and Kali after my horrible cold virus, and ear infection. We went on Saturday, but it was not taught by our Kru. Today was a kick ass day, and it kicked my ass. It was fantastic. I was so worried I would loose everything I learned. I have to say though I did great and I have not lost everything.

Muay Thai – Smother the Gun

Today we worked on bleeding off the power from our opponents. What that meant was we slide in as they were kicking our leg and landing a cross on their chest or face. When you do this Kru Kristen called it Smother the Gun. It takes the force and power out of your opponents strike. So you can get in return the strike, strike again, and again, and get out of the pocket. She wanted us to work on bleeding off our opponents power, then returning a strike, and then do a defensive move to get out, and not get hit.

What this looked like was:

  1. Opponent kicks, I slide in bleed off power, returning at the same time a cross, from there you throw a hook while moving out then, throw your kick torso round house, or leg kick
  2. Opponent kicks, I slide in bleed off power, returning a cross, then we worked on returning a left leg kick, or left round house torso kick

As with any new strike, or combination, my brain and body try to reconcile what I want it to do. So I hesitate, or pause when practicing. My flow is off, but that is to be expected till I start to get used to this way of getting into the pocket.

After that Kru Kristen wanted us to work on asymmetrical sparring. What that meant is one person gets to only throw punches. The other person get to only throw kicks. This makes is easier to see the strike coming and know you just have to defend kicks, but harder in the sense that she is taking a tool away from you. So you have to think around distance management, you have to think about how to get in, maybe having to eat a few strikes just to get in.

Kali – Abecedario Snake, and Face Plant

Kru Krysta was nice enough to write what we were doing down. I got a picture of it and will translate.

  1. Warm up – Strikes 1, 2, 3 (ABC or Abecedario) low back hand, then high back hand
  2. Srikes 1, 2, (equis) clockwise scoop opponents cross, hit head or ribs
  3. Strikes 1, 2, (equis) counter clockwise scoop opponents cross, submit opponent with Basset Dal or face plant
  4. Strikes 1, 2, 1, Kumbiata Switch, clockwise snake, to rolling pin (where you take the stick and roll it on opponents muscle to make them drop weapon)
  5. Strikes 1, 2, 2, Kumbiata Switch, to clockwise snake, to arm lever (revers) (this is where you, lever your stick into the pectoral muscle of your opponent, this causes pain and you can submit them to the floor.)

I took some not great videos of me doing these Kali moves. However, they are here for me to remember the moves, and to look back on them and see my progress.

I hope if you are reading this that you are having a great day. Thank you for reading. I had this typed out and ready to publish however, for some reason I lost all my work. So this is the second time around and I need to sleep. Have a good rest of your day. I really enjoyed being back with friends and team mates. I am still a little congested but had a blast to day. Keep up the good work and keep striving to the be the best you you can be.

Saturday Bo Staff, and Striking… Getting back, High Box, Thai 4 count, and New Drill

2 hours of training today. Today was the first day back in 2 weeks for martial arts training. I am still coughing and have congestion in my nose. But I need to get back to it. I have been worried I have lost a lot of my skills while waiting. I know it is stupid to worry about that but I do worry.

Bo Staff – High Box

We started out with Bo staff training. Our usual instructors were not there today, so our friend and junior instructor J won that position by default. Kinda like in the military if your immediate commanders/superiors all die, the next in line gets put into the position of power. He did a fantastic job, and we just worked on the high box routine for staves, with mid-line grip. Our little group kinda stumbled across the flow that worked best for us. Having a mid-line grip meant we had to get offline, or move well to get away from the incoming strike.

Striking – 4 count, and New Drill

So Striking/ Muay Thai class was just going to be open mat. Where we could just work on our skills. This was due to our Kru’s not being in. One was sick and one was out of town. So our team mate A came up with things we could work on. She was awesome and had us working on Thai 4 counts, and a new drill.

Warm Up:

  1. We warmed up with jump rope
  2. We continued warm up with range management to round house kicks to torso

Thai 4 counts:

  1. right round house, hook, cross, left round house
  2. left round house, cross, hook, right round house
  3. right round house, hook, cross, right round house
  4. left round house, cross, hook, left round house

New Drill:

  1. rear round house kick
  2. rear knee
  3. rear round house kick
  4. hook
  5. cross
  6. left elbow
  7. right elbow
  8. hook
  9. cross
  10. left round house kick
  11. left knee
  12. left round house kick
  13. hook
  14. cross
  15. left elbow
  16. right elbow
  17. hook
  18. cross
  19. Lather Rinse and Repeat for 1.5 minutes then switch up and hold pads for your partner.

That new drill was awesome. I had a few breathing problems/coughing during the practice. I can’t wait till I can get rid of all of this congestion and it does not hold me back.

I also was so excited about getting back into training that I was forcing my strikes and kicks. My partner said that they know I know the strikes and kicks, I just need to relax. Because you see when you relax the strikes are harder. My body knows what to do. I am just so excited/nervous about being away for so long. I was in my own head, and I was forcing it.

When I force the strikes, I end up not having the proper flow and it makes my moves more choppy. I need to just relax and let it go. I need to get back into my grove. I need to get out of my head, and let my body do what it knows.

I am a little disappointed about my performance today. I am frustrated I have a cough still and congestion which is messing with my cardio. However, it is far better than it was even 4 days ago.

I am happy I got into the gym, and started training again. I was so happy to see my friends and team mates. I can’t wait to get back into the gym again.

Thanks for reading. I hope you are having a great weekend. If you are in the states, I hope you have a fantastic holiday weekend.

Tuesday Muay Thai and Kali…Boogie Out, Rubbing is to Racing as Bumping is to Boxing

2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training. It has been a busy day, but had a fantastic time at training. We worked on boxing and head movement in Muay Thai, and redondos again in Kali.

I had so many things pulling at me for my time. I had my usual teaching my kids, and regular household things (cleaning, feeding people). I also had to work on fondant flowers due for a cake I have to make later on this week. So super super busy today. I made these flowers for the cake all by hand.

Enough jabbering, here is what we did no class today.

Muay Thai – Boogie Out, Rubbing is to Racing as Bumping is to Boxing

In Muay Thai we were working on boxing again. Mainly Kru Kristen wanted us to work on our head movement. I can tell you mine is not great. If we can move our head and keep it moving, we can possibly avoid getting hit in the head. That is at least the theory.

We started with slips. We did a slip drill. Your partner throws a jab and you slip to the right, on the cross you slip to the left. We had to do 50 of them. Then we switched up and fed for our partners.

Then we did a bob and weave drill. We would start on one side and our partners would throw a cross and touch the opposite shoulder making sure we squat, turned correctly and then stood up, only to do it again by bobbing and weaving to the other side. We had to do 50 of those as well, then we switched up and we fed for our partners.

Next Kru Kristen taught us a really cool move called the Boogie Out. What it is, is after you have bobbed and weaved out of a hook that was thrown at you, you do a shuffle turn so that you can cut the corner, or get around your opponent. Because if you can get behind or to the side of your opponent, and all of their weapons are pointed away from you, that is great for you. Then you can hit them when they are not able to block, from behind or the side. I have taken video of me doing this below. What you will notice when I focus on a new skill I am working, my strikes often times suffer. In this video I see my strikes sucking. My hooks look like caca, and I am not bringing my hands back fast enough. However, I am getting that Boogie Out move. However, if I practice enough I think I will be able to include this in my repertoire.

  1. Jab, cross, body hook, head hook, cross, bob and weave, boogie out, then strike the head.

After that we worked on shoulder bump cut corner/step out to take the back of your opponent. Here Kru Krsiten said rubbing is to racing as bumping is to boxing. In boxing bumping your opponent as you step out/cut corner, is a way to off balance your opponent. You bump them not only once but then you do it again from behind. This gets your opponent off balance, messes up their stance, and then you can hit them from behind or the side. I filmed this as well. Kru Kristen says that this is great for a short fighter like me. I can cut out/step out and still stay in the pocket. However, all the while getting out of range and away from my opponents weapons. I can then hit them after stepping out and around.

  1. Jab, cross, upper cut, cross, bob and weave, shoulder check through, then shoulder check behind, and hit again.

After this we did survivor drills. This is where we get put up against the wall and we are not allowed to do anything but avoid getting punched with our head movements. We can block or catch hits with our gloves, but Kru Kristen just wanted us to avoid the hits. She had the other half of us punching our team mates, trying to hit them not hard but trying to think around their defenses.

Kali – Redondos

Today in Kali we worked on redondos again. Kru Krysta is a great teacher. It felt good, and I felt like I knew these moves pretty well. We worked on high redondo, low redondo, low back hand, high back hand. We also worked on the figure 8, with low back hand, high back hand. I filmed us doing this as well. My knees are hurting a bit today, probably because I did to much yesterday, then we did a lot of bob and weaves today. =) Generally they don’t hurt, but once in a while they will hurt. When that happens I just baby the hurt area, and then train around it.

After that we we did the Running Saint Rafael. I was able to do it no problem when I was the aggressor, however, when I was feeding, I would keep messing up the last heaven six. If you block with the wrong stick you will be out of alignment and have to quickly reset for the last heaven six.

Anyway thanks for reading. I hope you all have a great week. I must get to bed.

Thursday Muay Thai and Kali… Boxing/Feeding, Double Ordabis, Finding my niche?

2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training. In Muay Thai this month we are working on our boxing. In kali we were doing double stick , ordabis, and Saint Rafael.

Today was a mixed bag for me. I felt good boxing, and am working on my cross still. I got a compliment on my bob and weave. Conversely for Kali, I was frustrated… I kept making mistakes.

Muay Thai – Boxing/Feeding

In Muay Thai we are starting on focusing our boxing. We started with the Trigg 10.

Trigg 10: (this is a boxing drill that the feeder counts out the number and you execute the corresponding strike. Example: Feeder says 3 and you perform Jab Jab Jab.)

  1. Jab
  2. Jab Jab
  3. Jab Jab Jab
  4. Cross
  5. Cross Cross
  6. Cross Cross Cross
  7. Jab Cross
  8. Cross Jab
  9. Jab Jab Cross
  10. Cross Cross Jab

Now feeding is just as much a skill as knowing and executing the strikes. When you have a good feeder you look like a million bucks. They make you look good and can prevent injury. When a feeder is new and does not know how to provide the correct resistance with the pads you can hurt yourself. For instance when punching at a focus mitt. If the feeder does not respond with the correct force, you can hyper extend your elbow. I have had feeders that are new and go home with sore elbows. I have since learned that if a feeder is new and does not know how to feed. Even with coaching them on how, I will save myself and just not throw the punches in there with a lot of force. Better to work on form and not on speed and strength in those instances.

We worked on combination of throwing a double jab, responding to a strike with a backward u slip, then returning a cross, and then bobbing and weaving a cross. I got a good compliment on my bob and weave. Yay!

After that the more experienced students worked on a wall drill where we took turns punching at our fellow class mates while their back was to the wall and they had to move their heads to avoid the punches. Then we switched places. We had to move our heads and avoid the blows while our class mates punched at us. This is good for head movement and understanding how to avoid incoming strikes. This is all relatively light and we are not trying to take each others heads off with a punch.

Kali – Double Ordabis, Heaven Drill, and Saint Rafael

We worked on double stick today in Kali. There is a strike called the redondo. That is a strike that goes around the head. If it is a forehand strike then it is an Umbrella strike. If it is a back hand strike then it is a Ordabis.

Kali was a bit of a brain melt-er today. I have done these flow drills before, however, it was 4 or 5 months ago so I had to pull back in my memory banks and try to remember. However, towards the end I started to pick it up again. I took video of me doing the double ordabis with sticks pointed to heaven. Then the double ordabis flow drill with some standard strikes, and a heave 6 flow drill.

This was the Saint Rafael. I took video of it. I have not done this saint drill for months. I was pretty happy at how fast I picked it back up again. However, as you can see I am very rusty still.






Finding my niche?

So officially I have been studying and practicing Muay Thai and Kali for a year now. It seems that some people have their thing. That one thing that they are known for in the class to the team mates and to the instructors. One person say is fast, another is very agile, still the next has great kicks. I don’t feel I have a niche yet. It is kind of disappointing. I get compliments on my form, and on certain things. I have plenty to practice and fix. I have a long way to go before I am proficient in any one of these arts. However, I don’t have a niche yet. Nothing I stand out in.

I love kicks, I love teeps, I love take downs, and I love off balances. Kru Kristen says find something you love and work those all the time. I do and still have so far to go. I guess I am just feeling down about myself. I want to be good at something. Maybe one thing… right now I don’t feel like I have that niche. Will it come? Who knows? I will keep practicing and trying till I do get it, or find it.

That is all for tonight. I need to sleep. Have a good night. Thanks for reading.

Tuesday Muay Thai and Kali…Same side flow like water, Thai shirts, 7 count knife drill

2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training. Today was so much fun. I was excited to unveil the shirts I had made. Also thought today was going to be a test day. But alas it was not. Kru Kristen had to do some book keeping and see where everyone is first. And then we worked on espada y daga or sword and knife drills. Kru Krysta took over an taught both classes.

Muay Thai – Same side flow like water, Thai Shirts

So today was a great day for training. We worked on same side flow from, teeps, to kicks, to knees and back again. But all on the same side. So this make it difficult cause if your balance is not correct you will fall. You will not have power if you balance is off, and if you do not step out. If you do not teep your partner hard enough they may not step back far enough for you to get your kick in, so then you have to step off the line.

So I took video of me doing some of the drills. Meh…

  1. Lead round house kick to lead tee
  2. Rear round house kick to rear teep
  3. Lead round house kick, to lead shield of kick, to lead round house kick to lead teep.
  4. Rear round house kick, to rear shield of kick, to rear round house kick to rear teep.
  5. Lead round house kick, to rear teep, rear feint, to lead knee.

Ok let me pick this crap apart. For some reason today I was dropping my hands, all the time. That is going to get me punched in the face. I was a bit off balance today that is not great for teeps, or kicks. My shields of kicks were down right sad. I need to remember to keep my foot flexed tight to shield, but I kept failing at that. My timing was not great and I felt slow, sometimes waiting for a few seconds to long to move to the next move. The strikes should be smooth and flow like water. So many things wrong with my drilling today… my body was just not doing what I wanted it to today. I know what I need to do, but just not executing it today.

And don’t get me started on how I looked. A hot mess is what comes to mind. But I digress, I know focusing on that does not help me flow like water.


I made Thai shirts for my team. I made the design, and had them printed up. I was able to hand them out today. I was so excited to do this. But the back of my head that little mean part of my brain was saying what if they hate it, what if they don’t like it? Trying to make me doubt myself.

So I ignored that mean chatter, and took them in anyway. My team loved it. They thought it was so cool and thanked me for it. I was very happy to do it and relieved that it was received well. It was a surprise and they did not know it was coming.

It says:

Crew AmpliThai

Nak Muay (means Thai Fighter) 
Respect
Hard Work
Perseverance
Dedication

Then Kru Kristen’s quote:
“Less Talking, More Hitting”

I like the way the shirts came out. =)

Kali – 7 count Knife Drill, T drill, all with Espada y Daga

Today in Kali we worked on the 7 count knife and stick drill or espada y daga (sword and dagger). We worked on the T drill separately, then hubud drill, then the 7 count separately. Finally we worked on the T drill and 7 count together in one full flow drill.

I filmed the T and 7 count full flow drill. Here is the video in all its um… glory? Well its something.

It is 12 pm here, and I must go to bed. I have a 5 am wake up. Weeee! Thank you for reading, and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Saturday Bo Staff, Striking class…Thrust and Slash, Panantukan/Dirty Boxing

2.5 hours of Martial Arts training today. Have you ever had a morning that rolls around and don’t want to get up, but I can’t sleep any more? Yeah? Me too. Even so, today was a great day of training. I picked up some new drills without much trouble, some others were a bit of a pain in the butt.

Bo Staff – Thrust and Slash

Today’s drills included thrust and slash flow drills. The first drill I picked up with ease. However, the second one kept tripping me up. Something about it was just not clicking today with me.

I took video of me doing the drill but for some reason it is flipped on its side. However, here it is anyway. It was super windy out today as well so the wind is blowing through the microphone. It was a beautiful day though.

I attempted to mess with the video editor and was unable to flip this video over. I am sorry. One day I will figure it out. =)

Here is a video of my instructor for the day showing us the second drill.

As you see he is much more fluid in his motions than I am. I am still working on that. And as you can see I am not that fluid in my movements. I am trying to remember every step while getting my footing right.

Class was fun, and it was beautiful outside.

Striking Panantukan/Dirty Boxing

Today in Striking class we worked on Panantukan. Our instructor was nice enough to type up what we did in class, and post it for us so here it is.

Panantukan/Dirty Boxing


-3 counts on female triangle. (Jab, Cross, Hook, JC Uppercut, JC BodyHook, Overhand/Uppercut/Overhand) 
-3 Counts on focus mitts with a lead switch in between each combo. 
-BLITZ: CRISS-CROSS, HOOKS, UPPERCUTS, BODY HOOKS. – repeated as fast as possible. 
——————————————————————————————————————
-Split Entry counters the Jab into combinations Left and Right (Follow W/ Lead Knee) — 
1.CHC (cross,hook,cross)
2.CUC (cross,uppercut,cross)
3. CBHC(cross,body-hook,cross)
4.OUO (overhand, uppercut, overhand)
——————————————————————————————————————-
Cover Up to Elbow & Knee Series (Follow W/ L Elbow-R Elbow-Knee or R Elbow -L Elbow – Knee) Feeder feeds a left or right wide shot to the head.
1. L Cover
2. R Cover
BLITZ: L Elbow – R Elbow – R Knee, R Elbow – L Elbow – L Knee. (fast as you can)
——————————————————————————————————————-
Cover & Ride Series (Follow W/ CHC Knee or HCH Knee) Cover headshots, ride body shots (move with the punch on body shots)
1. L Cover 
2. R Cover
3. L Ride
4. R Ride
5. 2 to Head
6. 2 to Body
7. 3 to Head 
8. 3 to Body 
9. 3 Mixed Head/Body
BLITZ: CHC L Knee, HCH Right Knee.
——————————————————————————————————————-Cover & Hit Series 1 ( Counter the following & Finish W/ L Elbow-R Elbow-Knee OR R Elbow – L Elbow-Knee) Feeder feeds Jab then Wide Cross. Parry the Jab and Inside Stop the Wide Cross with your left arm (the John Wayne) while simultaneously throwing one of the following with your right hand. 
1. Vertical Punch 
2. Finger Jab
3. Claw (Ze Clouww)
4. Vertical Elbow

The dirty part comes with the grabbing of the hair to control the head. We just mimed this part, but in Panantukan, you are not looking to be nice. This is not a sport. This is an art to save yourself, your family and your fellow soldiers. So this particular style favors eye gouges, hair pulling, and eye raking.

Today was great. I got to learn some new things. I got to practice and have fun with my friends and team mates. I could not ask for anything more. Thank you for reading and have a great weekend. As always let me know if you have any questions.