Tag: Clenchwork

Martial Arts and Training: Clench Work a.k.a Standing Grappling – its all in feeling your opponent

week of 6/21/2021

My primary martial art I practice is Muay Thai. A major component of Muay Thai is the clench work, or clenching. I have heard some people call it standing grappling.

I will say that is one area I am not great in. However, I feel like I have made huge strides for the better in this area.

I have scoliosis and clenching is hard on your neck shoulders and back. However, I have been working on strengthening my neck, shoulders, and back. Not only that I have been working on getting my footwork correct, and trying to execute the moves as intended. When you study Muay Thai, you will realize that this art form uses body mechanics in everything you do. I mention this because when you perform the movements correctly it can almost become effortless in some cases.

Now don’t get me wrong… there is a lot of effort in clech work. In some cases the tired I get from clech work is the kind that seeps into your bones and you feel like you could sleep for days. But when you execute an off balance just right, or you swim out of a clench and get the clench on some one else it can seem effortless.

Now what do I mean by clench work is feeling your opponent?

If you have done any grappling. You will note/remember/understand that most of the time you are protecting your head, and keeping it close to the body of your opponent. This happens in BJJ, this happens in Muay Thai. When you keep you head close to the body of your opponent in grappling you cannot see what they are doing.

You have to feel. You have to feel what your opponent is doing. You have to feel the moment they lift their leg, so you can off balance them. You have to feel for when they try to spin you off balance, so you can use their momentum against them.

Everything is by feel. The slightest movement and that can me you dump your opponent. Most of the time you cannot see where their head is, you know that it is at the top of their bodies, but you have to feel for it and push their heads away to get out of clench.

It is small nuances the we learn in the way the opponent cants their bodies as if they are trying to elbow you.

With clench work, we often off balance and throw our opponent. Which is to say we end up on the floor often… I was really happy that when we did, I remembered my little bit of BJJ and based. Denying my opponent the ability to roll me over and be in control. This too was done by feel, where he moved I moved so that he could not get an opening.

I really love the nuances of Muay Thai, it is also one of the reasons it is so frustrating at times. Just the small little things to clean up your form, to make it so that it seems/feels effortless. Watch great practitioners of Muay Thai and watch them closely, they look like it is not hard. It is but they have learned to work their bodies, and with their opponents bodies.

Every martial art I have had the pleasure of working and learning, Muay Thai, Kali, JKD, Weng Chun, and especially BJJ all have a component of feeling where your opponent is. You either go with their force or meet their force. You feel their movements often times before you see it. That is when you are supposed to respond. Of course easier said then done, it takes years of practice to notice small movements and then know what to do when you notice them.

Schedule: This week I was on target and got everything done. Yay! I stayed on schedule even if it was hard. Well mostly, I missed one day of Muay Thai training because of work.

  1. Monday 6/21/2021: Mile Run, and Weight Lifting 1 hour
  2. Tuesday 6/22/2021: Muay Thai Training 1 hour
  3. Wednesday 6/23/2021: scheduled rest day
  4. Thursday 6/24/2021: 1 hour of Weight Lifting, Muay Thai Training 1 hour
  5. Friday 6/25/2021 : scheduled rest day
  6. Saturday 6/26/2021: 2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training, Weight Lifting 1 hour
  7. Sunday 6/27/2021: Weight Lifting 1 hour

My Martial Art Focus:

clench with knee
  1. This week we focused:
    1. We worked gunting (scissor or destruction) of incoming attacks.
    1. We worked clenching, off balance, offence to entry into clench, and defence to entry into clench, defending against clench.
    1. In kali we worked on Espada y Daga, and footwork

Drills for this week:

Muay Thai Training:
1) jump rope
2) jab, cross, catch parry
3) jab, cross, inside gunting
4) jab, cross, back hand gunting

5) parry jab, cross, hook, return vertical gunting, the tie up, (I specifically worked the single wing, take down, abs knee to face)
6) fed for H

7) jab, cross, inside backhand, fence
8 ) held pads for H

9) jab, cross, hook, rear knee, step in and switch stance, cross, hook, cross, lead kick, step back into original stance.
10) held pads for H

11) jab, cross, hook, destroy face, reverse puta kapala
12) same as above

off balancing your partner


Areas I need to work on:

  • I need to work on my break falls, namely my side break falls
    • Tighten up my footwork with clenching.
  • Problems/solutions:
    • Practice break falls on the bed at home, or on the matts at the gym
    • more practice with clench
    • makes sure I have better head control of my opponent

Training focus: Weight Lifting and Running

  1. This week is week 2 of an 8 week program. 4 day split, 2 upper body, 2 lower body.

Weight Lifting: back and bicep focus

1) 3 minutes of fast feet
2) dumbell inclined chest press – reps – 10, 10, 10, 10, 10
3) dumbell chest flys – reps – 10, 10, 10, 10
4) diamond push ups – reps – 10, 10, 10, 10
5) cable/resistance bands tricep extensions -reps- 12, 12, 12
6) barbell overhead shoulder press -reps – 10, 10, 8, 8
7) leaning one arm dumbell lateral raises – reps – 10, 10, 10, 10

Nutrition:

  1. I was able to get closer to my carb and fats goals but was complete trash on my protein goals. I did not meet those by half. Ok gonna need to focus on protein this coming week.
  2. Have I mentioned I am a carbasaur. Love carbs… not so much love for the meat.
Day 1Day 2Day 3Day 4Day 5Day 6Day 7AverageGoalDifference
76136791289710810410419086
142156220176135260217186.571429160-26.57142857
47774692811068976.857142967-9.857142857
          
129518611610204416572426208518542003149
06/21/2021- 06/27/2021

Anyway that is the training post for this last week. I stuck to my schedule except when work got in the way on Sunday. But I got all of my weight lifting days in. I am feeling it today.

What martial art do you practice? Did you notice in your martial art that feeling your opponents movements are as important or more so when you are grappling, or in contact bodily with them?

Thank you for reading. If you want to talk to me please feel free to comment. Like this post if you liked it, and please subscribe if you want to see more of my adventures. My day to day stuff is on instagram @sharpcupcake.

As always, Don’t Photo Edit, Just Go Get It!

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.

https://youtu.be/X8DBNL9S7gU
https://youtu.be/gt7a-O50its

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.

Saturday Bo Staff and Striking… 17 count Bo Drills, Knees take the piss out of you

Grinning like fool. So tired its hard to get a selfie. LOL

2.5 hours of martial arts training. Today we worked on 17 count bo staff drills and knees. I woke up with really bad neck and shoulder pain. My scoliosis was acting up again, and I must have slept wrong. So I woke up in incredible pain. I showered, and had my husband put Namnam Thai Oil on my shoulders.

17 count Bo Drills

Today we worked on the 17 count Kali/Escrima drills using the bo staff. We worked using the staff holding it in the middle. Think like Little John in the Robin Hood movies.

(note: Keep in mind different schools/Guros have different numbering systems. We use the Guro Dan Inosanto system.)

17 Count – done with sword/stick/knife/and now bo staff

(note: this is my descriptions of the moves)

  1. Downward diagonal from the right side
  2. Downward diagonal from the left side
  3. Swing from right side of hip
  4. Swing from left side of hip
  5. Inward stab to torso
  6. Back hand stab to face/chest from left side
  7. Thrust to stab face/chest right side
  8. Head shot from left hand angle
  9. Upward strike to knee from right side
  10. Upward strike to knee from left side
  11. Downward strike to knee from right side
  12. Downward strike to knee from left side
  13. Side step/zone to the right with a horizontal shot to head from the right
  14. Side step/zone back to left while striking a horizontal shot to the head from left
  15. Over head straight downward shot to the head. Think Kendo or caveman style club to head.
  16. Step forward with right leg, and strike head again, this time a small swing, almost like a sideways redondo
  17. Striking hit to jam knife, stick, staff up in the jaw of an opponent, as you turn the body. Body is giving torque and power for shot.

With staff we worked on distance management as well. Because we only want to hit towards the ends of the staff when holding it in long style. We only moved in when committing to shots. So much fun to work staves and see the similarities and differences between, daga/knife, sword/stick, and the staff.

Striking – Knees take the piss out of you

Today in striking we worked on several things, however, it was the clenching and knees that were great and the worst.

We worked on a stopping teep/foot jab, right kick, to cross (this is weird cause it is same side), hook, to right kick again. This teep is different because we were not trying to push our opponent away, like we normally do. We just needed to stop their momentum, so we could hit them.

We also worked on the hop kicks to the rest of the 4 counts. I really, really need to work on my hop kicks. I am not so great at them. If you can imagine a drunk gazelle trying to hop or maybe a albatross trying to do a hop kick. You might be picturing me.

Then we worked on clenching. Pushing our opponent while keeping our hips in, and keeping our weight on them. This was hard on my neck but I kept at it. We worked on putting our knees in, knee number 1’s and the knee number 2’s. Knee number 1, is both feet on the ground and you knee in to your opponents quads or torso. Knee number 2, is you have one foot on the ground while your other foot goes out behind you. You open up your hips and then you knee the person in the quads or the torso.

This is especially hard when you are trying to hold on to your opponent. Frame on their shoulders, hang off of them while keeping your hips correct, and then putting the knees in. When they lean into you, you then spin them and get a knee in.

We then worked on pummeling just so we could work on getting the upper hand and keeping our framework. Can I tell you we all were huffing and puffing and dying of exhaustion.

The knees take the piss out of you. I was so exhausted by the end of the class at 2 pm, that I wanted to just pass out and sleep on the mat at the same time as I wanted food. But I don’t think at that point I could have put the food in my mouth. I would have had to have some one feed me I was so tired.

So what do you do? I just sat there… well lets be honest laid there, rested, and let my body cool down. Got dressed one piece of clothing at a time slowly and hauled my butt and my equipment to the car.

We went to get lunch and run errands. We got a screw in a tire, and had to wait at the dealer. Tire wont be in till Monday or Tuesday, but we have a loaner car, so all is well. I am exhausted and I hope to sleep well.

Have a good night, and as always thanks for reading. If you have questions or want to say something, drop a line. Also I started a glossary of terms on a separate page if you are interested.