Tag: Conditioning

The Hardest Muay Thai Test I Have Ever Attempted

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, Martial Arts, Muay Thai, workoutLeave a comment
It kinda gives it away, but… squee so if post is to long, I passed!

So this weeks post is a little different. I normally post a Martial Arts Week post. However, this week ended in a culmination of a test. The hardest Muay Thai test I have ever attempted in my journey. I have been prepping for it about 4 to 5 months.

We have been doing extra pad rounds. We have been working on our technique, and our cardio. We have been doing test rounds to get used to the test, and upcoming pad rounds.

We have been talked to, discussed strategy, tried to recreate the test as best we can. But ohh boy that adrenaline drop, you cannot recreate that. Not exactly as it is this first time.

I have been nervous about this test. I have been working on making my everything better. The nervous anticipation has been ramping up, and this last week has been super hard. Its great that I have been busy.

However, beginning of this week… my nerves shot through the roof. The night before all I could tell myself was what I told myself before a big test in school.

“I know what I know, there is no way to cram more in.”
“Khun Kru would not let me test if I was not ready.”
” It is what it is, I can only do my best to pass and see what happens.”

That was all I could tell myself, but that did not stop the creeping doubt. It just staved it off Wednesday night. No training, just working at work.

Day of test: Thursday 02/27/2020

I go to work at 4:30 am. I have to get my orders done and then get home. Being busy helps to keep the mind off of the looming test.

But once I got home. I had to make sure I had all the equipment I needed. The hour before the test, I felt a little nauseous. All I could think was. I don’t want to fail the technique demo, the boxing 20, Thai 15, and I don’t want to fail the test rounds.

At the Gym:

Everyone was encouraging. Everyone was telling us we had this. I was happy, and appreciative of the positive

Testing:

I see that Shane is going to be feeding my first round. That is when the fear set in. This dude is called action hero for a reason. His physique is amazing. he is built and hard to move. Full of muscles and I have trained with him before. Checking kicks from with Thai pads on left me with bruises on my shins for weeks. I love the man but he is terrifying.

I sat at the corner, and my coach Tony told me to sit back/lean back and relax. I sat back but relaxing was not easy to do. He told me to keep my feet on the floor and, “have you ever been sky diving?”

Me: “nope”

Coach Tony, “well when you jump out of the plane you can’t get back into it. You will keep going. You have to do this now.”

Me: I just nod.

The music/drums are going, the bell rings, and the adrenaline drops. My vision narrows. I don’t hear and see anyone else. Just Shane who is feeding me. I start kicking and getting knees in. He is teeping me. I know he is. I feel the impact but not the pain. I feel the torso kicks but not the pain. I know they are landing, but my adrenaline is pumping so hard, I don’t feel a thing.

I get through the round to my surprise. I did not realize how much the adrenaline drop takes out of your energy reserves. I felt like it was a 30% drop in my reserves, and my cardio preparedness.

When the round stopped, my corner team guided me back to the corner, and it was good thing they did. I don’t know that I would have gotten there myself. I half heard what Tony and Jorge were saying. They asked me if I needed anything. I could not even tell if I did. Tony was massaging my legs and calves. There was a haze. I could not see anything else but what was in front of me.

The bell goes off again, and I am off. The second round felt like I was drowning. I used to be a competitive swimmer. I have done many races, competed in hundreds of meets. Never felt like this. I had to keep going. I could barely hear the people yelling. All I could see and hear was Khun Kru Krysta in front of me. All I knew was I had to keep going, no matter how many times I was hit. I could not even get a shield in. I just had to keep going.

The ending bell goes off and I am done. I finished. I did my best. She gave me a hug, and they led me back to the chair, and my corner. I just wanted to get my gloves off. But my training paid off. I was gassed but recovered after about 30 seconds. Yay for training. I did not know how my numbers were at the time. I was just happy to be done.

I was shocked to hear my numbers. It was surreal to be done.

This test consists of:

  1. Technique demo ( kicks, elbows, knees, teeps)
  2. Boxing 20 drill
  3. Thai 15 count drill
  4. The the pad rounds. 2 x 3 minute round with 1 minute rest between.
    • you must get 60 kicks and 40 knees per round to pass

My rounds numbers:

First round 70 kicks 45 knees

Second round 82 kicks 47 knees

82 kicks on the second round! That is nuts.

We were congratulated by everyone. There was a lot of clapping and cheering. It was amazing. We all three of us who were training passed the test. Woot!!!

Khun Kru Krysta said when awarding our red pra jiad, “Sometimes our tests are to see what you know, this test is for US to show you what you know.”

That will be something that something that stays with me for the rest of my life. I was honored to receive my red student level 2 pra jiad/armband after the test. (note: you can see the progression chart below)

This is a milestone, because at this point my instructors/gym said we are able to with the proper training now, to go into the ring and fight if we want to. That our coaches and trainers will corner us if we so choose to go down that path.

The next day: Friday 02/28/2020

I was sore, in a way that I have been working out and my body is tired. I was just tired. I wanted to rest. We took it as a rest day. My trainers and coaches said to rest. We did not have to be told twice.

I wanted to rest for several reasons.

  1. Physical: My body was tired, it was telling me to rest and recuperate. I was sore and tired.
  2. Mental: We had been training for months for this test. I just wanted a break. We no longer had this test looming over us. I did not have to think about what it meant, what I had to do, and how I would have to perform to pass. It was a huge weight off my shoulders.
  3. Reward: For hard work we passed, and we were able to just rest.

I thought hrm… I am not to bad off. My ankle was a little pissed at me but other than sore, tired, and muscle aches I was ok.

We did absolutely nothing, and it was wonderful. We went out for Pho for lunch and the broth and veggies were absolutely wonderful.

Training day: Saturday 02/29/2020

We were back at it. This time just for an hour. I was still tired and slightly sore but over all doing well.

Boy did I learn something. I was slightly sore, I just wanted to be lazy. That was my bodies way of telling me hey, we still need to rest. We start doing pad rounds and every hit to my torso was painful. Not in a way that I am dying. But in a way that yeah I was teeped there a lot, I had two people kicking me in the torso there. So every knee, teep, or kick I could feel it. I could feel parts of my abductors that were damaged not horribly but would make themselves known when they were met with impact.

Its funny laying on the couch or in the bed or even sitting, did not reveal these little fun pains.

Don’t get me wrong I could handle it, I was just amazed. I thought I had gotten out of the test pretty unscathed.

Oh and my ankle feels a little jammed or annoyed. Not certain, but does not feel terribly off. Just need to let it rest and stop irritating it.

I learned something knew about the test. The required kicks and knees are part of it, but each test is individualized to a certain extent. When we were training, we were told to keep our numbers close to the 60 kicks and 40 knees, because it showed that we were doing well at managing our time and pace. So when I got 10 and 20 more than I needed for the test part of me worried that I did it wrong.

My trainer wanted to test me on my resolve, and my ability to avoid over thinking things. Because you see, I get into my own head. I mess something up and it had in the past derailed me. If I get hit I think, “wow I should have shielded that, I messed up.” Or I think, “wow I failed to get the flow right on that technique.” Damn It! I get down on myself and tell myself I could do better but then it makes me stop. I know I need to fix this and just keep going.

So she wanted me to keep going, when I was completely gassed, and almost unable to keep going, she wanted to see what I would do. Would I get into my head. Would I put my hands down and just stop? I did not and I kept going. I told myself the day of and right before the test rounds. “Do not think. Just do. Do what you trained for. Just do it.” I did not want to over think thinks.

She told me as well, that she knew I could take a beating and keep going. It was the test of how much in my head would I be, and could I keep from over thinking things.

This was an amazing test, and I feel like I have passed a hurdle, and as silly as it sounds, I feel like I can progress even more now. I have come to a check point and I am now at a different level. It all might be psychosomatic and just something in my head. But I will take it.

I am going to take this momentum and keep going. I am going to keep running, keep training, keep learning and most of all keep learning to avoid getting into my own head, and getting down on myself.

I recorded each of our test pad rounds. There were three of us testing for our red pra jiad this test. Here they are if you are interested.

JD’s Test

H’s Test

My Test

Thank you for reading. I hope you success in all the of you endeavors, and tests in the future.

Up for me next: more training, more conditioning and getting ready for the Thai Camp this summer.

Feel free to like, comment and if you want to see/hear more subscribe.

Martial Arts 01/07/2020: Sandal Rubs the Forehead, Tang Kao, and Siep Kao

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, JKD, Martial Arts, Muay Thai, Muay Thai, Fitness, Weight Lifting, workoutLeave a comment

I really love Muay Thai. I love learning the rich tapestry of history that is behind this art. I love learning about Thailand, the people, and why this art came about. I feel a sense of accomplishment when I practice. I feel like I am making my body and mind stronger. I feel like I am learning an art and that I can eventually pass it down myself. This week I learned many new terms, words that are the names for some of the strikes we do, and they mean. Like Tang Kao, and Siep Kao, names for some of the knees. I learned names of some of the teeps. Like Sandal Rubbing the Forehead. I love how descriptive the name is in Thai.

Also as a person who has learned multiple languages in my life, Thai is one of the hardest I have ever tried to learn and pronounce. English, Japanese, Spanish, and some German, are the languages I have learned. In various levels of fluency. English and Spanish being the ones I am most fluent in. Japanese I learned from my grandma and mother when I lived and visited Japan. Finally German when I have time to study, so I have a basic kindergarten level knowledge. =) I digress though. Thai is so nuanced and the letter y seems to have a sound like ny. I could be wrong on this, but that is my understanding. I may want to pick up a class on Thai and pronunciation.

Tuesday 01/07/2020 – 3 hours… Muay Thai and JKD

3 hours of Muay Thai and JKD training tonight.

I love it when my instructors say that they can see that changes, the progress in my training.

This time last year I was feeling like I was in a rut. I felt like I had hit a plateau. However this year, I am feeling like I am making progress on the training side of things. My cardio is head and shoulders above that of last year, my endurance is improving even more, my technique is improving to the point my speed. Yessss!

Conditioning warm up:

  1. 4 count rear to lead on bag, then sprawl
  2. bob and weave drill down under a rope hanging across the mat
  3. ladder where we switched our lead foot in and out of the ladder

Training:

  1. Check the kick lead leg, return kick lead leg, teep lead leg
  2. Check the kick rear leg, return kick rear leg, teep rear leg
  3. lead knee (siep kao, pushing knee), to lead kick
  4. rear knee (siep kao, pushing knee), to rear kick

JKD:

  1. sitting hubud (sitting removes the ability to move around with your feet. You have to feel the partners movements and focus on working the technique.)
  2. sitting 1 to 1 flow drill
  3. sitting 5 to 5 flow drill
  4. sitting 2 to 2 flow drill
  5. Then we flowed between them
  6. Then we worked on standing up while doing one of these drills and sitting back down, without stopping the drill.

We were drilling without shin guards. We were going light but still shin bone on shin bone will cause bone bruises. This is normal. You have to push out the fluid in the bruise. I treated it with Thai Oil, and rolling it out with the tiger tail. It hurt, but cumulatively it will start to hurt less the more it happens. So this is toughening up your bone and shins.

I only document this and show it to show what really happens in this martial art. These kinds of bruises happen, you need to know how to treat them. I am going to put a hot compress on it as well as roll it out again.

Wednesday 01/08/2020 – 2 hours… Muay Thai

2 hours of training Kettle Bell and Muay Thai. I let my baby girl take pictures and that is what I got. However, I am a little shook. Is this what I look like? It’s blurry but heck.

4 rounds of:

  1. KB swings 10
  2. 1 arm KB swings 20
  3. Side to side KB swings 10

Anyway I digress… today was Kettle Bells, then all knees all the time. My coach Tony who is Thai and is teaching me all the Thai words for the move we are doing. Siep Kao, yat (pronounced yhut), thee (pronounced tee) and Tang Kao We learned different kinds of tees today.

  1. 5 minute round of doing Siep Kao knees on the bag
  2. 5 minute round of doing Tang Kao knees on the bag
  3. 5 minute round of Siep Kao with partners
  4. 5 minute round of Tang Kao with partners
  5. 5 minute round of Swimming/clench work while getting knees in

Then we finished with core workout! Woot!

Terms for knees in Thai:

Siep Kao (pronounced see ep cow) – is pushing knee, where you knee the person with upper shin bone/knee

Tang Kao – is the spearing knee, where you knee the person with the top of you knee.

Yat (yhut) (pronounced nyet or yhut) – when you push with the knee

Thee (pronounced tdee, you will hear Americans say Dye) – word said when you knee a person

45 seconds each exercise, with 15 rest, 4 rounds

  1. dead bugs
  2. crunches
  3. leg raises
  4. bicycle
  5. mountain climbers
  6. clenching core with feet off ground and hands on head
  7. pike ups

Friday 01/10/2020 – 2 hours… Muay Thai and JKD

2 hours of Muay Thai practice. My coach Tony kicked our butts again. We learned the names for three different teeps. I thought I took a pic. You the kind of thought you took pic, remembering you put camera up and clicked, but for some reason it is not in your pics. I will get the terms tomorrow at training. But it was the rear teep, a rear hop teep, and lead head teep (that is called Sandal rubbing the forehead) will get terms in Thai tomorrow. Thank you so much for the awesome class. 🙏

Something I was thinking about. When I learn a term like ( Sandal rubbing the forehead) it’s easier to remember for me and I get to learn and extrapolate the culture from it.

Warm up:

  1. jump rope till all students got there

2 rounds of:

  1. bent over KB row
  2. push ups, inside and outside
  3. mountain climbers
  4. bicycles
  5. leg lift
  6. alternating lunge jumps
  7. sit sweeps
  8. plank ups
  9. prison squats

Training:

  1. 2 rounds of pad rounds – feeder kicks and you hold for immediate response
  2. Rear leg teep
  3. rear leg hop teep
  4. lead leg head teep
  5. Tiger walk or begging of Wai Kru in Muay Baron style ( meaning 50/50 stance, fist over fist movements, goal is to make it pretty, and to work on balance)
  6. Abbs – 50 crunches, and Tony hit bellies of trainees with pad 10 times in a row.

Terms for teeps in Thai:

Mon Yun Luk (pronounced mon {like Monday}, nyun, lock) – rear leg teep

Ka Don Teep (pronounced ka {like caw caw}, don {like Donatello}, teep) – jump teep, or feign leg shield teep

Bata Loop Pak (pronounced bata {like baton}, loop {like lopping}, pak (like pac in Tu Pac) – means sandal rubs the forehead, or head teep, executed where you blade the body to your opponent and using lead leg teep the head.

Saturday 01/11/2020 – 3 hours… Muay Thai and JKD

3 hours of Muay Thai and JKD training. I did less conditioning and more pad holding which is a skill in itself.

JKD we worked on bridging the gap, feigning, nao tek kicks, ping choi, pak sau, and punches.

Thank you Khun Kru Krysta for great training and a fantastic class.

Saturday was a busy day after training, so I am posting this today. I did less conditioning yesterday, but I did a lot of pad holding. I feel soreness in my ribs today. My hamstrings are tired from the training this week. I clocked 10 hours of training total this week.

Thank you for reading. Please let me know what you think. If I got the terms incorrect, let me know and I will fix them. I am still learning. As always keep working to be the best you that you can be.

Martial Arts 12/26/2019: “What is the point of kicking twice if you have to kick twice?” Khun Kru Krysta

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, Kali Escrima, Martial Arts, Muay Thai, Muay Thai, FitnessLeave a comment

Hello and today marks the first day of training for me after the holiday Christmas for us. This week the gym was closed some of the days understandably and so my training week is shortened. However, I find I am enjoying having some time off to let my body recuperate.

Normally my schedule is 5 days a week of martial arts training, and 3 days a week of weight lifting. So its good to rest.

I titled this week with the quote from my instructor Khun Kru Krysta. “What is the point of kicking twice if you have to kick twice?” If you don’t kick hard the first time and have to kick the second time, then you have wasted your first kick. Or if you are going to kick twice make them both hard.

Thursday 12/26/2019 – 2 hours… Muay Thai and Kali

Boxing day today. When usually means you go through all your old things and find goods and food you can give away to help others.

Today in Muay Thai we focused on boxing. Moving in and moving out, being light on our feet, and striking then returning our hands to our face.

We also had the opportunity to donate to the gym some of our old used equipment so that the brand new students have something to use till they can get their own.

H and I were able to donate two sets of boxing gloves, shin guards, and an old MMA glove set, that was to big for me. This I believe was organized by Khun Kru Krysta and we were happy to be able to help.

Muay Thai:

  1. Jab, catch, jab, opponent throws a jab and you catch it and you jab back and they catch it, then they throw a jab and you catch it.
  2. Jab, parry, jab, opponent throws a jab, you parry jab, and you jab then opponent parry’s jab, then they throw jab and you parry jab.
  3. They jab, then you parry, and throw leg kick
  4. Boxing twenty – jab, cross, hook, cross, bob and weave cross, hook, bob and weave, hook, cross, cover rear body shot, return upper cut, cross, cover front body shot, return uppercut, cross, hook, duck/or dive a big overhand and then body shot to get out, hook, cross

Apparently my boxing is tight and “crispy”. My partner for the night said that it was crispy. I am old enough to have two kids that are 11 and 10 so I am old. =) I think that means it is good and he was surprised about my speed and strikes. Ability to hit my targets keep my shots in the box in front of my body and the power in them. So I will take it.

Kali –

We worked on asymmetrical sparring, knife against stick, or stick against bare hands.

Friday 12/27/2019 – 1 hour… Muay Thai

Tony my coach kicked my booty again. This was conditioning training.

He started us out with kettle bell swings, and burpees. Then we did pad work, clench, and then we finished with core training. 136 swings and 136 burpees total.

Ladder, and Reverse ladder

  1. 1 KB swing (25 lbs for me) and 16 Burpees
  2. 2 KB swings and 15 Burpees
  3. 3 KB swings and 14 Burpees
  4. 4 KB swings and 13 Burpees
  5. 5 KB swings and 12 Burpees
  6. 6 KB swings and 11 Burpees
  7. 7 KB swings and 10 Burpees
  8. 8 KB swings and 9 Burpees
  9. 9 KB swings and 8 Burpees
  10. 10 KB swings and 7 Burpees
  11. 11 KB swings and 6 Burpees
  12. 12 KB swings and 5 Burpees
  13. 13 KB Swings and 4 Burpees
  14. 14 KB Swings and 3 Burpees
  15. 15 KB Swings and 2 Burpees
  16. 16 KB Swings and 1 Burpees
  17. 5 minute round of hitting the bag.
  1. three rounds of pad holding for partner
  2. three rounds of hitting pads, (jab, cross, lead kick, horizontal rear elbow, double lead kick, side in drop elbow
  3. 2 rounds of clench sparring

Finishing exercises – 45 seconds each exercise

  1. side to side kicks, or scissor kicks
  2. crunches
  3. mountain climbers
  4. oblique crunches
  5. bicycles

I got a compliment on my kettle bell swings. Also one of my old coaches said you can do heavier weight Tanya, here swing this. It was 33 lbs or 15 kilos. That is far more than I normally do. I did not think I could do that but she had faith in me. So I guess I need to go buy another kettle bell that is heavier than 25 lbs.

Saturday 12/28/2019 – 3 hours… Muay Thai

Yup just about three hours. We did conditioning rounds, pad rounds and on the bag rounds. I got a total of 35 x 3 minute rounds in. I also got a round in where I got my numbers of kicks and knees in for the Thai test coming up.

Some days you just have to put the mat time in. It is not glamorous, and sometimes grinding out the training can be annoying and boring. I however, have fantastic partners in training. I have an awesome set of coaches/trainers/Kru that help me out.

So while I am exhausted, gonna take a nap here in a bit. I got a great workout in, and I got to do it with people I love.

In class we worked on boxing. I got lots of work in, and had a blast doing it.

I made a video of me working on the bag.

I finished the week off with a bang. I did a total of 6 hours of training in 3 days. Six hours is not bad for a shortened week of training. Give everything you have, pick yourself up when you fall, and keep trying. If I can do it I believe you can do it too. Kick hard both times, and don’t sacrifice power for speed. Keep working to be the best you that you can be.

Martial Arts 12/17/2019: A Horizontal Elbow is Just a Shortened Hook

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, Martial Arts, Muay Thai, Muay Thai, Fitness, workoutLeave a comment

The holiday season is upon us. The hustle and bustle is pressing, and work is still going on. But the one thing that helps me focus is my martial arts training. I am tired, because, there is so much to do. It was so nice turn everything else off and just focus on my training.

If you throw a hook, and shorten it, it is an elbow. At least the #1 horizontal elbow is a shortened hook. This little tidbit last year really helped me realize how to do the mid range hooks.

Tuesday 12/17/2019 – 2 hours… Muay Thai and Kali/Silat

Today in Muay Thai, we continued our month of elbows to clenches. I can feel my elbow strikes getting much better in execution. I am executing them well because I am stepping in, I am using my body, and I am throwing them with good form. Yay progress…!

  1. lead elbow #2 upward diagonal elbow, rear elbow #6 side in elbow, lead elbow #9 spinning backward elbow, and lead elbow #1 horizontal elbow when opponent advances.
  2. lead elbow #1 horizontal elbow, rear #8 lady putting flower behind her ear elbow, clench, 3 skip knees #2, off balance spin out, and kick
  3. Clench to 3 skip knee #2, off balance, to spin out, to double rear kick.
  4. We then got a chance to do the man in the middle drill. It was so much fun. This is a clench drill with three people. One man in the middle has to switch up between the other two to clench and get knees in. The third person has to have a hand on middle persons back.

Kali/Silat

We worked on disarms, asymmetrical sparring, blocking, passing, cutting stabbing and C cuts.

Wednesday 12/18/2019 – 1.5 hours… Muay Thai

If you have been practicing martial arts for a while I am sure you have experienced this phenomenon. If you have not, look out for it. It is absolutely amazing. This phenomenon I am talking about is the, your trainer asks you to do one thing just slightly different and it completely throws you off.

We are often taught about advancing when fighting. Today we were doing advancing drills for jab, jab, cross. However, Tony had us doing it were we had to attack while backing up. Let me say that again. Attack while backing up. Now you might think yeah… nah that is easy. But then your brain will mess you up.

So what I had to do was work on the footwork first and then work on adding the punch in. Focus a pendulum step back while throwing a jab. This felt so counter intuitive. However, by the time we finished I was able to get some what comfortable with it. This is a drill I will have to practice on my own. But it is great for when some one is advancing and you need to pop some in punches in there and then return a harder one.

Warm UP:

  1. 3 minute jump rope
  2. 1 minute burpees
  3. 3 minute jump rope

Training:

  1. Jab, jab, cross, advancing x 2 rounds
  2. Jab, jab, cross, while backing up x 2 rounds (focus on pendulum feet)
  3. Jab, jab, rear kick x 2 rounds
  4. Drill 1: x 2 rounds
    1. 1 – Jab, rear kick, lead hook, rear cross, lead hook
    2. 2 – Jab, cross, lead kick, rear cross, lead hook, rear cross
    3. 30 seconds of kicking after every round
  5. Drill 2: x 2 rounds
    1. 1 with elbow – Jab, rear knee, lead elbow
    2. 2 with elbow – Jab, cross, lead knee, rear elbow
    3. 2 with hands – Jab, rear knee, lead hook, rear cross, lead hook
    4. 2 with hands – Jab, cross, lead knee, rear cross, lead hook, rear cross
    5. 30 seconds of knees after every round

Cool Down:

  1. 30 seconds of flutter kicks
  2. 30 seconds of side scissor kicks
  3. 30 seconds of sit ups
  4. 30 seconds of planks

Thursday 12/19/2019 – 3 hours… Muay Thai and Kali

Whew I am exhausted today. My husband asked me if I wanted to practice/pad rounds, the hour before class we were going to be at the gym. My answer was no. I don’t want to, because I have been up since 4:30 am

Conditioning rounds with Tony

Muay Thai:

  1. Jump rope for 3 minutes
  2. Jab, clench, three knees, push out, teep
  3. Jab, cross, three knees, push out, teep
  4. Jab, lead hook, lead elbow, knees, push off, teep
  5. Clench, to step in off balance, to curved knees
  6. Clench sparring

Kali:

Again working on disarms, asymmetrical sparring, knife and stick.

  1. Disarm an assailant with a stick with bear hands on a #2 strike, or on the outside.
  2. Disarm an assailant with a stick with a knife in hand, on a #2 strike, or on the outside.
  3. C cut
  4. Asymmetrical sparring, one person has a stick and one has a knife.

Friday 12/20/2019 – 1 hour 20 minutes… Muay Thai and Kali

My trainer kicked my booty today. I mean it was one of the hardest workouts I have done in a long time. We had to do a ladder of exercises and run around the gym. I was gassed afterward.

I did the maths, and if I am correct, I think we did 210 burpees, 210 push ups, and 210 mountain climbers, with 20 laps of the gym.

Then he had us doing pad work. It was so hard to keep going after that ladder. But I kept working the pads. Tony brought the 110% out of me today. I loved it and I hated it. It was a fantastic workout.

  1. 20 of each burpees, push ups, mountain climbers, run around the gym onces
  2. 19 of each burpees, push ups, mountain climbers, run around the gym once
  3. 18 of each
  4. 17 of each
  5. 16 of each
  6. 15 of each
  7. 14 of each
  8. 13 of each
  9. 12 of each
  10. 11 of each
  11. 10 of each
  12. 9 of each
  13. 8 of each
  14. 7 of each
  15. 6 of each
  16. 5 of each
  17. 4 of each
  18. 3 of each
  19. 2 of each
  20. 1 of each

Then pad work:

  1. lead kick, rear cross, lead body hook, rear elbow, rear knee, lead leg kick
  2. lead double leg kick, rear cross, lead body hook, rear elbow, 2 x lead leg kick
  3. Clenching flow drilling

I am absolutely pooped. When we went to the gym today, I really did not want to do the workout. I did it cause I feel like those days when I really don’t want to go, I should go. I may not necessarily learn more, but I will push through and I will teach my body to do so. I am so happy that I stuck it out and came to class. I had my booty kicked but it was so worth it. I feel accomplished.

Thank you for reading. I learned a lot of things like attacking while backing up. I learned that asymmetric sparring with one double handed sword against 2 sticks is hard. Both those things melted my brain. I am I did it. I am happy I learned it. I have to work on those things for sure, but I learned it. I hope you have a great weekend and Happy Holiday season and a Very Merry Christmas if you celebrate it. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Martial Arts 12/10/2019: If you want to hit the face hit the belly!

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, Kali Escrima, Martial Arts, Muay Thai, Muay Thai, Fitness, Weight Lifting, workoutLeave a comment

I am so lucky to have such great teachers/trainers. They often talk about counter attacks, movement, and also how best to get your strikes in. One of the things we hear often and it is very true. If you want to hit the face hit the belly, and vice versa. Changing levels allows you to control the fight. Often times when you hit low people will instinctively cover that area, then the face is open. If you hit the face or even go for the face they will keep their hands up and leave their torso open.

Tuesday 12/10/2019 – 2 hours… Muay Thai and Kali

Today begins my martial arts training for the week. It was a great day of class.

Lots of elbows in class, and conditioning training for Muay Thai.

  1. lead #1/horizontal elbow, rear #3/downward diagonal elbow, rear #7/inside out elbow
  2. Lead #1/horizontal elbow, rear #2/upward diagonal elbow, rear #7/inside out elbow
  3. Lead #1/horizontal elbow, rear #2/upward diagonal elbow, to lead #9/spinning back elbow

In Kali we worked on several different combos. They were all flowing very well, then of course changing just one thing made my brain melt again like Kali does. We did all 48 combos, and then asymmetrically trained with one person doing two sticks, and one drilling partner doing dos manos hold (two hand hold like a Japanese sword).

I felt so tethered keeping both hands on the blade. It feels like I don’t have as much reach, and you have to move your body in a completely different way to meet your partners blows, and avoid getting hit. You have to execute a lot of abaniko moves when holding a sword to keep from getting hit.

Abaniko – means fan

It was a fun class, but it really did melt my brain. Just when I think I am getting everything. I am learning the moves and flowing well. We change one thing, and my brain melts. That is one of the things I love about Kali.

Thursday 12/12/2019 – 2 hours… Muay Thai and Kali

Thai
Elbows, clenches and knees oh my!

We worked on elbows to clench, and knee transitions today.

  1. Lead #1/horizontal elbow, rear #6/side in elbow, rear #7/side out elbow, rear roll to clench, full plumb, and run 3 knees, spin out opponent, and kick
  2. Lead #1/horizontal elbow, lead #7/side out elbow, rear #8/tach malak or lady putting flower in her hair elbow, clench to full plumb, spin out opponent, and double kick

Kali
48 strike drill
Dos Manos Brain melting asymmetrical sparring.

Friday 12/13/2019 – 1 hours… Muay Thai and Kali

Today Tony kicked my booty. But that was a great thing. I want to get stronger and stronger.

  1. Jumping Rope for 3 minutes
  2. conditioning: 3 x 3 minutes of foot shuffle, and hopping hurdles
  3. mountain climber with a punch on bag and skip knee number 2 x 1 minute 3 minutes alternating between
  4. lead teep, shuffle into lead body hook, rear upper cut, lead head hook, immediately double kick wi
  5. thout taking a step.
  6. rear torso kick, to rear hop double kick
  7. Then I did 200 kicks to the bag, and 200 teeps to the bag.

I am exhausted. But the good kind of exhausted… you know? I am about to go pass out in my bed. I hope you have a great weekend. Thanks for reading.

Kettle Bell Workout #2 11/20/2019

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Martial Arts, Weight Lifting, workout1 Comment

My friend and husband wanted to do a workout again before our Muay Thai class. This kettle bell workout took about 45 minutes to complete. We did it in a superset format. Doing a super set is great for your body and muscles. Supersets increases the intensity and overloads your muscle so that makes it work harder. Supersets have been found to give you better results for muscle growth because it helps you get into hypertrophy.

Hypertrophy: Is an increase in muscle mass and volume. You reach hypertrophy when you damage your muscles mechanically and get your muscles to metabolic fatigue.

Kettle Bell workout
( Superset each set of exercises done back to back, no rest till both exercises are done. We rested 30 seconds between on set of exercises. Then repeat exercise set 3 times.)

Note: use weights that work for you. I did all of these with 25 and 20 lbs. But use the weights that you can safely wield.

  1. KB swings x 30 for 3 reps
  2. KB Goblet squats x 20 for 3 reps

  3. KB Halos x 10 for 3 reps
  4. KB Bulgarian Split Squat x 10 for 3 reps

  5. KB single leg Romanian dead lift  x 10 for 3 reps
  6. Sit up and press x 30 for 3 reps

  7. KB bent over rows x 10/15 for 3 reps
  8. Leg raise circles x 10 rotating left, 10 rotating right for 3 reps

I had shown my KB workout to my trainer, Tony. He said oohh good that will be a good warm up to my workout. Then he procceded to kick our butts. But that will be put in my later weekly blog about my martial arts training.

I hope you get a chance to try this out. Let me know what you think. Let me know if you get to try it out. Have a great night. Thank you for reading.

Martial Arts 11/12/2019: Strong Arms gives Strong Clench, Strong Claves Helps You Move More

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Martial Arts, Muay Thai, Muay Thai, Fitness, vacation, Weight Lifting, workoutLeave a comment

When your friends ask you to put together a workout. That is what you do.

Since we are training conditioning to get ready for our level 1 test. I was asked to help make some weight lifting classes we could do this week I did a kettle bell session.

At the same time one of my trainers has upped our conditioning. At one point in the week I… lets say it hurt to do my daily activities. I hope to get stronger, get toned, lose more weight, and just get better over all in my martial arts.

I have the discipline to get into the gym and work myself up to 100%, however, I noticed I need the coaches to push me up and over my 100%. To get me to get past my top level to 110%. To pull one more set out, one more rep out. It is great to know your limitations and what you need to success.

Tuesday 11/12/2019 – 1.5 hours… Muay Thai

Guess who has two thumbs and 2 months about to get ready for her next test. Yep that is me.

Tony said, “strong arms gives strong clench, strong claves helps you move more.” What he means is this conditioning we do when we make our muscles stronger we can hold on better, and the better we work our calf muscles the better we will be at being light on our feet. Being light on our feet is necessary to be able to move around and get out and away from a strike.

Below is the training we did today.

  1. 2 x 3 minute knees 188, 221
  2. Plank for 30 seconds between each round
  3. 2 x 3 minute jump rope
  4. Squat and hold for 30 seconds between each round
  5. 2 x 3  minute rounds of 10 kicks on each side continuously
  6. Jumping Jacks between each round 30 seconds
  7. 2 x 3 minute rounds of Knees
  8. 2 x 3 minute rounds of 4 knees then 4 kicks
  9. Stretching.

Wednesday 11/13/2019 – 1.5 hours… Muay Thai, and Kettlebells

Whew what a workout today. I am going to be feeling it tomorrow. I put up the kettlebell workout I had myself and the guys do today before class.

Kettlebell Workout

My friend, husband, and I want to get more weight lifting in, and I am the one they turned to. So I made the above workout for us. Then Tony my instructor kicked out butts with this conditioning workout below. I am a dead girl as I type this. Here is hoping my recovery drink will help me shake off most of the D.O.M.S. tomorrow.

10 exercies for 45 seconds with 10 seconds rest between them

  1. Star burpees
  2. pushup and arm raises
  3. rotating squats
  4. lunge back and kick
  5. single leg hip raises
  6. squat on ball of feet
  7. star push ups
  8. sit up grab knees
  9. Ali – foot shuffle
  10. Bear crawls

Pushing knees across the mat 4 minutes

3 minute kick bag 5 times, switch with partner, then kick other leg 5 times and switch with partner.

Then he had us do abductors/core workout: Whew!

  1. crunches
  2. flutter kicks
  3. crunches
  4. single leg pike
  5. horizontal sissor kick
  6. single leg pike
  7. flutter kicks

Thursday 11/14/2019 – 2 hours… Muay Thai

Today was one of those days where I am exhausted. I am hurting because of delayed onset muscle soreness, and I am just done with the day. We did technique training today

In Muay Thai we worked on elbows, entries to elbows, countering elbows and combos with elbows.

We worked on a kick called the bicycle kick. It was very Capoeira-esc. I kicked the pad two times, but all the other times I looked silly.

Kali –

In Kali we worked on sword and shield. It was cool cause we got to do the shield and responses. This is different than the high box, and full box we have been doing. We did that as well, but it was nice to do a shield a hit and respond.

I am exhausted, I am kinda cranky, and my muscles hurt. Today was a great active rest day for me. I was running out of juice quickly toward the end of Kali, and just did not want to be there any more. But I made it in, and I put the mat time in.

When I am having this kind of day I know it is normal to have once in a while. I just don’t like it. Its important to just rep the skills out even if you are not having the best time.

Friday 11/15/2019 – 1+? hours… Muay Thai

Today was a better day. I thought about not going cause I was hurting a great deal from D.O.M.S. But I kicked my own butt in gear and went in.

1 hour or more of workout! It may be more cause our trainer Tony kicked our buts again. He kicked our butts so hard that we lost rack of time. It was a fantastic class. I went in hurting you know the good kind. Like it hurts to sneeze, it hurts to walk up your three story town home stairs, and it hurts to lower your butt to the toilet cause your muscles are dead. I don’t hurt now cause I stretched and my body is warm but it will hurt tomorrow.

Thank you so much Tony that was awesome class of conditioning, fast feet and core workout!

Conditioning

  1. 100 kettle bell swings
  2. 100 push ups
  3. 50 mountain climbers
  4. 100 rear lunges
  5. body weight squats
  6. 50 clean and press kettle bell
  7. Burpees – 20 seconds as many as you can. 10 seconds rest, 8 sets of 20 seconds.

    Agility/Fast feet
  8. Agility ladder x 5 rounds, at end of ladder either kick, knee, or kick and knee as instructor decided.
  9. run around the gym then back to the agility ladder

    Core Stations
  10. Ball pike
  11. stir the pot
  12. medicine ball sit up and press up
  13. Russian twists
  14. ab roll wheel
  15. stir the pot
  16. bosu ball plank kicks
  17. ball pike

Even though I was tired and my muscles hurt. I am glad I went in. I worked hard and over came my pain for now. Now I am exhausted and need sleep.

Saturday 11/16/2019 – 2 hours… Muay Thai

2 hours of training. Kali and Muay Thai training was awesome. Thank you Khun Kru Krysta it was awesome.

We worked on the running Saints, Saint Chameel and the Saint Villabrille in Kali. Then we worked on countering the jabs in and controlling the opponents arm/body in Muay Thai.

It was a great day. I got to work with my team mates and friends. I got to work on my skill, and technique.

Our training has just metamorphosed this way, or maybe it is a product of our increased level and training needs (getting ready for our level 1 test). However, our Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday classes tend to be technique and our Wednesday, Friday classes are our conditioning days. It is probably both.

My husband and I were talking about how our classes, just our technique classes would kick our butts. However, it is not the case any more. We have to do conditioning-centric classes to get our conditioning in.

It has been a great week of training. I may not have wanted to go every day, but I went in and got my training time in. I was insanely sore after Wednesday, then kept going. Training conditioning on Friday seemed to help with the soreness. I am sore now, tight and just need to rest.

Thanks for reading. I hope you are having a great weekend. Feel free to ask questions.

Kettlebell Workout 11/13/2019

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, workout1 Comment

We are working on conditioning getting ready for a level 1 test at my gym. My husband and friend wanted to get more strength training in and asked me to come up with something we could do at the gym. They have kettlebells and very few weights. So I put together something that we could do there with little problem.

I personally love kettlebells for several reasons:

  1. It helps you work multiple muscles at one time saving you time. This makes your workout time shorter by half or more. When you work multiple muscles at once you don’t have to do as many isolation moves which takes a long time.
  2. Swinging the kettlebell requires strength and power to generate force. You also have to focus on your dexterity to keep from dropping or throwing the kettlebell away from you.
  3. It is a full body workout. You use your legs, hips, back, and arms to control, throw and keep from dropping that kettle bell.
  4. Easy to learn and execute if you just focus on form.

These two have never done a kettle bell workout before. So I wanted to make it easy. =)

The thing they hated the most was the bulgarian split squats the most. Then our awesome teacher Tony for Muay Thai killed us in conditioning. It was a good killing. It was hard, and I needed him to push me past my own original workout, cause I was done. So Yay!

Kettle bell workout:
Use the kettle bell weight you can swing around and control but still taxes your muscles.
This is a Super Set no rest between two exercises, one set is two exercises, repeat for three sets, 30 second rest between each set

Bulgarian Split squats 10 reps
Lunge and curl 10 to 12 reps

Bent over row 10 reps each arm
Squat and press 10 reps each arm

Around the World 1 minute 30 seconds one way 30 seconds the other way
Figure 8s 1 minute 30 seconds one way 30 seconds the other way

Kettle bell swings as many as you can do for 1 minute

I thought you guys would want to see it. So here it is. Let me know what you think. I hope you get a chance to try it.

Thanks for reading. Have a great night.

Conditioning Days 20, 21…Rest, Refueling, and Chiropractor Visit

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, Martial Arts, Muay Thai, Muay Thai, Fitness, workoutLeave a comment
This is the Tens Unit that my doctor uses. It makes me tingly.

Today and Yesterday were rest days. Boy did I need it. I took a 2 hour nap yesterday, and could have kept sleeping. Today I took a 45 minute nap. Only because I had been waken up with a phone call. I have been eating/fueling my body, and it seems after doing so it just wants to crash and sleep. So I am listening when I can.

I have been making sure to drink enough water. Get protein, carbs, fat and fiber into my food.

I also went to my Chiropractor today. He adjusted my back, my hips, and my neck. My hips tend to get jammed on one side and cause lower back pain. He then electrocutes my back, using a tens unit.

“A transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) unit is a battery-operated device that some people use to treat pain.

TENS units work by delivering small electrical impulses through electrodes that have adhesive pads to attach them to a person’s skin.

These electrical impulses flood the nervous system, reducing its ability to transmit pain signals to the spinal cord and brain.

The same electrical impulses also stimulate the body to produce natural pain relievers called endorphins.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323632.php

In my doctors case it is not battery powered, it is plugged into the wall.

I am packed and ready to go. I am excited, and will keep a journal about my adventures in Muay Thai Camp. I don’t know how much I will be able to upload, but if I can’t upload any I will add the posts when I get back.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day.

Conditioning Day 19…Last Hard Push, 4 Hours

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, Martial Arts, Muay Thai, workoutLeave a comment

4 hours of conditioning training. This was my last push before I head to Muay Thai camp. I am taking Sunday and Monday off to replenish my glycogens. Per my trainers I need to let my body rest.

Today it is 100 degrees F out. Hotter than hells porch so no run for me. But that was just as well, because I can feel my bodies exhausted.

I did 15 rounds of pad work. I did 8 rounds straight of mixed kicking (both fast flow and strength). Between each of this rounds I had a 45 second rest. Then after 8 rounds I took a round off. Then I did 4 more rounds of kicks to knees. Then three rounds of kicks to knees to elbows. After that was Striking class where we did boxing practice.

I can definitely feel my muscles are exhausted. It’s a feeling of some soreness but more of I stretch and I just feel I can’t pull that muscle far enough to get it truest stretched out. It’s not lack of motion or flexibility but more it’s just tired. My motion and flexibility is exactly the same and or better so I think it’s just exhaustion.

I have conflicting feelings about rest. On one hand I feel I need it. The logical science understanding part of my brain knows this. The Martial Artist I. Me wants to keep going to keep improving. So I am listening to those much smarter than I. I am resting for the next few days.

So that was my last hard push. I hope I am physically ready for Thai Camp. 4 x 10 hour days.

Thanks for reading and keep being the best you that you can be.