4 hours of training today on day 15. I am exhausted. I hit a wall. Not a plateau, nor do I feel like I hit an over training hurdle. I just hit a wall like Wile E Coyote hits the ground after falling off the cliff. Like a Mac Truck hit me. I know that for your body to adapt you must hit these walls/hurdles and keep going, so that is what I did. I got in 20 rounds of training.
Yup that is what it felt like. But I had to keep pushing through.
I started out with a 1 mile run. It was not great timing wise. It was a 13.33 minute mile… it was also 93 degrees out.
I cam back in and did kicking rounds.
Power kicking rounds. 1 to two kicks per side for the entirety of the round.
Speed kicking rounds. Power is taken out, and technique is focused on. Pyramid kicks from 1 kick, 2 kicks, 3 kicks, 4 kicks, 5 kicks, 6 kicks, 5 kicks, 4 kicks, 3 kicks, 2 kicks, 1 kick. All in succession.
Speed and Power kicking rounds mixed together.
I did 4 bag rounds of 3 minutes each with a 30 second burn out.
I also working on rounds of boxing. Jab, Cross, Upper cut, Upper cut, body hook, body hook.
Muay Thai Class
Then we had Thai class. We warmed up with jump rope, then we did clench work to warm up.
Kru Kristen had us then work on punches transitioning to elbows, to knees. I got to work with Kru Krysta so we could both work on our conditioning for Thai Camp. As we are both going. Yay!
Each round ended with an elbow flurry blitz.
Kali – Espada y Daga
Then came Kali class, the 4th hour. My brain had stopped braining. My body was just tired, but I kept working at the drills. We worked on Gunting (scissor) five count. With double stick, Espada y Daga, and with single knife. We worked on pass, cut and disarm.
I know this is not super detailed but I am exhausted, need to shower and get to bed. I hope you all have a great day/night when ever you get to read this. Keep being awesome and working to be the best you can be.
2.5 hours of Conditioning, Muay Thai Training, and Kali. We are going to be changing the format of my workouts for the next 20 days.
I have been given an opportunity of a lifetime. If you have been reading I have had the awesome chance to go to a 2 day Muay Thai seminar with the father of Muay Thai in America. He brought it over in 1968. Ajarn Chai was the man that has allowed me to find and fall in love with this martial art.
Well at this seminar I was personally asked if I was going to attend the Muay Thai Camp set up and run by the WTBA (World Thai Boxing Association). The thing to remember about this is that this camp is meant for instructors. You have to be invited to the camp, and as a student you have to be advanced to be invited, and you have to be invited by an instructor and or Ajarn Chai himself. I was invited and we have moved mine and my families schedule around for me to be able to go to this event.
I have purchased my plane tickets and my entrance fee for the camp. They will be providing food for us. Kru Krysta maybe testing this camp so I get the honor to see her test for it her next level.
What this means is I have to start conditioning training. Muay Thai camp is not some leisurely camp where we get massages and sip champagne. They expect us to work and work hard.
It is my understanding that the days will go something like this:
Wake up and run 2 miles
Train Muay Thai
Eat breakfast, break
Run 1 mile
Train Muay Thai
Eat lunch, break
Train Muay Thai
Eat Dinner
Sleep
So I must now condition. We leave July 23, 2019. I have about 20 days to get my conditioning up. I have some concern I won’t be ready, but I am going. If I have to struggle my way through I will.
So my training schedule is changing. Instead of running and then weight lifting on Monday, Wed, and Fri. Muay Thai training on Tues, Wed, Thurs, Sat. I will be doing the following:
Running Monday and Friday 3 miles
Running 2 miles, Training Muay Thai, and Kali Tues, Thurs, and Sat.
Running 2 miles, Training conditioning rounds Wed, Sat
Rest day on Sunday
We will see if I need to shove in a rest day on Mon too. But for now that is the schedule. Anyone else scared that I won’t be ready? I am. But I have decided I will do what I can on such short notice and then just go and get the most out of this opportunity.
I saw some pictures from the seminar, and I just don’t under… my brain keeps saying, “look at you. What do these crazy people see. Don’t they see what I see. Basically a joke. Some one who does not belong.”
I am going to try to ignore those doubts and worries. This part of my journey is the bad part or the upside down part. The self doubt and worry are the bad parts. I am going to do what all well adjusted adults do and ignore it. =) I am going to let my brain say/think those things, then ignore it, and keep training. That is all I can do.
Enough of my thoughts out on paper, lets get to the training that happened today.
My Training:
1.5 mile run in 20 minutes.
1 hour of Muay Thai training. We worked on clenches. We worked with the less advanced students, and helped them work on some simple clenchs and ways to get out of the clench. Like the collapse of their elbow into their chest, and face push to get out of their full plumb.
The advanced students went off then and sparred with J. To get his training in before his upcoming fight. I was told that my round in the ring, was much better than any others I have had. I was more relaxed. I got a chance to use my footwork to cut the corner and get on J’s left side and land a kick. I landed many kicks, and punches. I felt great during the sparring, and compared to the 12 minutes of clench sparring we did, 3 minutes seemed like nothing now. I was tired a little but I did not feel dead.
My scale of what my body can and cannot do has been moved much further along the number line. Instead of 3 minutes feeling like I am going to die. I have felt what it feels like when I am about to lose the lunch I just ate.
Kali
In Kali we worked on Kawain, Ki Lap, Full T, and Half T. We had a number of new students and a special seminar from Dan Inosanto himself coming to this area. I need to sleep so I am going to leave it there.
So I am going to write about every day that I conditioning training up till Thai Camp. Then I will of course write about that. That is 4 days of savage and grueling Thai training.
I hope you are all having a great day. Tomorrow I am shooting for 2 miles. Stay safe, and be the best you, that you can be.
2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training. I am pooped. It was a great set of classes. We worked on Clenches, Dumps, and Clench Sparring in Muay Thai. In Kali we worked on the running Saints. I recorded us doing the three that we were taught. Kru Krysta informed me that some of these Kali Saints are passed from teacher to student/teacher. It is proper etiquette to get permission first before revealing all the secrets. I want to respect my teachers and their teachers and keep their confidentiality until they give me the ok. I can video myself working on the saints but don’t want to give the names and exact combos.
Alright on with the training.
Muay Thai – Clench Sparring
We worked on clenching and dumps. Kru Kristen was talking about the clench in Muay Thai, and this is a major piece of the Muay Thai fighting style. This is a major difference between KB (kick boxing) and Muay Thai. The art of the 8 limbs requires you to use all of your limbs, and the knees and elbows part of the the limbs. So Clenching up is a great way to deliver those devastating knees to some ones ribs, mid section, and or quads. When we clench up we have the opportunity to off balance our opponent, then dump them on the ground, giving us points. Or we have the option of off balancing our opponent and then delivering knees to their body. This gives us point as well in the ring.
However it is not just about the clenching, and dumping and knees. You can muscle your way through it but you are going to wear yourself out not your opponent. The finesse comes when you learn/feel the opportunity. For instance when your opponent shifts their weight and goes to knee you, and you in that instance jerk their elbow down to make them base and take a step. You interrupt that knee that was coming for you and now you have a person that just had to base, and you can dump them on their rear ends.
Kru Kristen says, you cannot see it to learn it. You have to feel it. You have to feel the shift, to get the dump in. I learned also that if you bump your opponents hip out, and the push back into you, that is your opportunity to step your leg in and off balance them. Getting a knee in, or just putting them on the floor. I really have to practice this more so I can get a better feel for how to do it. I am able to do it, sometimes I feel like I try to force it. When I do the moves right it feels effortless. Like a lot of things in Martial Arts. If you truly do the move right, it works with your body, using physics and gravity to move maybe immobile object.
Needless to say. It was fun. I got a chance to work with everyone. For some of my team mates, it is effortless, they can do it with no problems. For me I still have to work on it. I can feel when I do the move right. So that is a good starting point. I need to make it feel like that every time.
Kali – Running Saints
As I mentioned above Kru Krysta is kind enough to write everything down for me. However, there are some things that are passed down from Guru to Student who will be a Guru. But I can record, and talk about pieces of the Running Saints we did.
So first of all, I am better at attacking. I seem to get the drills down fine when I am on the attack. However, when I am defending, that is when I mess up. I wonder what that says about me. =)
But all the smaller drills we were working on in double stick, like abecedario, umbrella heaven, cobb cobb, and more are in these Running Saints. As I was taught, in the Philippians they are a very Catholic oriented country because they were occupied by the Spanish, and they named these drills Running Saints, because they are meant for the attacker to run down your opponent. You are meant to cover distance and keep attacking.
For me as long as I keep attacking I am all good. If I have to defend myself… well there is my weakness. But it is something for me to work on. Perhaps it is the running/walking backwards as I try to meet the sticks coming at my head, and have them set up on the correct side so that I can keep the drill going.
Try patting your head while rubbing your tummy clockwise… You got that? Now try doing it backward. Pat your had and rub your tummy counter clockwise… Not as easy to switch right? Now try to do that was you defend yourself from an incoming attack. That is Kali… at least that is how Kali is for me. I love it. If you are interested, there is a Ted Talk about Cognitive Kali.
Take a look at this Ted Talk if you have the time:
As you have found out if you have been reading my blog. Kali is not for the unthinking person. It helps to be a perspicacious person, and if you are not, it certainly will try to make you one. Ohh I got to use the word perspicacious… my AP English teacher would have been so proud.
In the following video, you will see one of the Running Saints, and me celebrating a little when I get the Saint somewhat down.
Anyway thanks for reading. I hope you are all having a great week so far. Please comment if you have an questions. Keep being the awesome you are, and always try to be the best you, that you can be.
2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali Training. Today was a fun fun day. Killed my brain in Kali and we got to work on 15 count and sparring in Thai. It was challenging and fun. Not every day is like that, but when it is fun it is fantastic.
I am also excited to almost bursting. I am going to get to go to a special training seminar with Arjan Chai this weekend. Two days 8 hours a day of basically a Thai camp. But I digress. On to the actual training today.
Muay Thai – Thai 15 count, Sparring
In Muay Thai today we worked on 4 counts with elbows and knees. This training teaches us distance management. Because our furthest attack will be our kicks. Then we have punching range, which is mid range. Lastly we have close range attacks with all elbows. Then we can use the knee to eject our opponent and then get ourselves back into kicking range.
This is exactly what the Thai 15 count drill does as well. As you will see in the video below, we have to address the incoming strikes to our head, slide in return elbows, knee them and create distance, then kick them. The whole drill is a study in distance management.
Kru Krysta started us off with some 4 count Thai drills after which we have to do the 5-10-5 for an active rest. What is that you ask. Well its a training mechanism to wear us out, and have us practice our kicks and clenches/knees.
5-10-5:
5 rapid/ballistic right kicks, Clench up then do 10 #2 knees, 5 rapid/ballistic left kicks
This wear you out. I love them and can’t wait to do more.
The Thai 15 count is as follows:
Parry the cross
High cover the hook
Left #1 elbow/horizontal elbow
Right #3 downward diagonal elbow
Right long leaning knee
Left kick
Right cross, then Left hook
Right knee
Right kick
Teep when a cross is thrown at you
Bob the second cross thrown at you
Throw Hook
Throw Cross
Right kick
Sparring:
After the Thai 15 count, she had the orange arm bands/ more advanced students split off and go spar J. He is prepping for a fight and he needs practice. So I got to spar again today. I got some good kicks in, but he is a foot taller than me, so I have a hard time getting. I spoke with Kru Krysta afterward on how to get in, and I have to really get off the line. Or just take a hit to cover the distance. Because he can keep me at distance with his kicks and punches. He has a longer reach.
I am no longer afraid of sparring… I noticed this today. When we first started it was daunting and I was afraid. Of getting hit, of making a mistake, of just looking stupid. I am sure I still look stupid. But now I am more focused on trying to work on the things we have been taught using them in a practical way. When you get into the ring, or you start sparring, its really hard to remember everything you were taught. This is one of the reasons they drill it into us. Because, as Kru Kristen says, you don’t rise to the occasion when the adrenaline hits. You worst habit you will fall back on. Like if you drop your hands when you kick. (I will give you one guess on who does that. If you guessed me… Yup! I am working on it.) But if you do that you will do that when you are scared, or have an adrenaline dump. So when we are exhausted that is when we need to focus on our form and doing the drills right. So hopefully we rep in the good habits and forget the bad.
Kali – Brain Bending 4 to 5 to 6 to 8 to 7 count Kali drills
In Kali I worked with a student that has only been to 4 classes. He is a nice guy and really was starting to get some of the drills. However, it is amazing to work with people who are… less skilled. That sounds weird to say and to even type out. However, I have been doing Kali for 1.5 years, and while that is not a long time it is longer than 4 days. So what I found amazing was I could see in him what I felt and did when I first started. Getting my sticks tangled, getting confused, being surprised that you had both a left and right side that we do the drills on. (note: this is like asking some one to learn to use chop sticks with the right hand, then as they are just getting it saying, ok lets use the left hand right now. ) Yes Kali is like that. It forces you to use both sides of your brain, and bends that brain of yours.
Slowing down the drills is harder than it looks. To teach a person, you have to slow down the drills and when you do the rhythm changes or at least slows. Throw in foot work, and then just when you are getting that particular drill, Kru Krysta will throw in a few more strikes. I realized I know a little more than I thought I did. Cause I was able to help another person work on their form. =)
We worked on the following drills. (I have written them down as I remember them. If I am wrong let me know. =) I will fix them.)
Heaven 6:
starts in a chambered position
Forehand strike to head
Backhand strike to same side of the head
Backhand strike to other side of head
ends in chambered position
Umbrella 6: Striking 3 times on one side of the head, and 3 times on the other side of the head.
Starts in chambered position
Forehand strike to head
Backhand strike to same side of head, while you are swinging that forehand strike you just did around your head
Forehand strike to same side of head
chamber sticks
Lather rinse and repeat the above
Umbrella 8: Striking 4 times on one side of head, and 4 times on the other side of head.
Starts in chambered position
Forehand strike to head
Backhand strike to same side of head, while you are swinging that forehand strike you just did around your head
Forehand strike to same side of head out of the redondo
Redondo the backhand you struck with and hit back hand
Witik forehand
Backhand
To redondo around head and hit with forehand again.
And if you are good enough you can keep going around and around and around
She had us doing the Heaven 6 to Standard 6 to Earth 6. Then she had us doing the Umbrella 6 to Umbrella 8 to Umbrella 7.
Umbrella 7:
Starts in chambered position
Forehand strike to head
Backhand strike to same side of head, while you are swinging that forehand strike you just did around your head
Forehand strike to same side of head out of the redondo
Redondo the backhand you struck with and hit back hand
Witik forehand
Backhand to one side of head
Backhand to other side of head
Below in the following video I am doing the Umbrella 8, and the Umbrella 7 counts respectively.
I am exhausted, my brain is not braining any more. I am going to start typing gibberish if I keep going so I am going to end it here. I had a great time. I am excited about the upcoming training. I am also nervous about it.
I hope you liked the blog, thank you for reading, and if you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them. Keep being your awesome self, and keep trying to make the best you that you can be.
2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training. Not every day can be the best day. I know this. It still sucks when I have a day when I feel like I am doing less. I have my bruises and lumps. I have been working hard, I have been putting in my time, and I need to just keep doing it. I know this.
I would love to be all sunshine and daisies all the time. But I think that would be misrepresentation of my training and my journey. So I write about when I am not have such a great day in training. Be it from outside influences like a flood in the house, or internal conflict, or just training itself.
Muay Thai – Elbows and Knees the difference between Kick Boxing and Muay Thai
Today we worked on Thai 4 counts again. The staples of Muay Thai, the art of 8 limbs. We placed the kick on the leg of the, and continue with the punches to the kick. However, Kru Kristen wanted us to focus on the entry. Using the 4 count to get you to a knee. Enter on the knee and clench. From there you can off balance your opponent, then knee them more, or kick them in the face. Kru Kristen says, “when you ask Thai fighters, what they are afraid of, they don’t say kicks or punches. They say knees or elbows. Those are the most devastating and will end a fight. The difference between Kick Boxing and Muay Thai is the elbows and knees. So we are practicing the entry into them.
Furthest away = kicks and teeps
Mid range = punches, hooks, jabs, crosses
close range = knees
closest range = elbows
Being able to flow between all the ranges is ideal, and will allow you to get in and get out hopefully with less lumps then you gave your opponent.
Training:
right leg kick, hook, cross, left torso kick
pyramid kicks
left leg kick, cross, hook, right torso kick
pyramid kicks
right leg kick, hook, cross, knee to full plumb clench, knee them, off balance them and then dump your opponent.
Jumping jacks
left leg kick, hook, cross, knee to full plumb clench, knee them, off balance them and dump your opponent.
Jumping jacks
Clench in half clench, pull opponent onto you to break their base, then off balance them
I love Muay Thai, it is a huge part of my life. I think about it all the time. I love the philosophy. I love the discipline. I love the dedication it takes to learn it. I rearrange my life around it so I can train as much as I do. So when I have a day that feels like I am just all over the place and not doing great. It gets me down. I wanna keep doing well. I wanna keep excelling. I know this is not how this works. Some days you just need to put the hours in and the training in.
Kali – Brain Melting Again
We worked on the 6 count family again. We did the same drills as Tuesday. However, for some reason I was messing up the individual drills. Today every 5 cycles of the same drill and I would mess up.
Kru Krysta said its because I am not retracting as much as I should be. For some reason Tuesday I was doing it just fine. But today not so much.
Then when we did the full 5 drills in one drill, I got it just fine. The brain is a funny thing. I know what to do, but when I think about it to much I fumble. I get flustered and then mess it up.
Kru mixed it up again, and instead of doing all 5, 6 count family, we would do just three of each 6 count drill. Talk melting the brain. That was amazing and hard all at the same time.
So yeah today was not the best training day in the respect of me feeling like I am accomplishing anything. But again I know I just need to put the time in. So I did. I feel good for getting the exercise in. I was dripping in sweat and got to work with some new people in class.
Thank you for reading. Please let me know if you have any questions. I hope you have a great day. Keep being awesome, and keep trying to be the best you, that you can be.
Bruise blooming on foot because I was not kicking right.
2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training. I have mentioned it before. I have days where one of my Martial Arts is not clicking. Its frustrating and I don’t really like it. I don’t know why I have days like this. I assume that I am not the only one. But that is only an assumption. Maybe its because of this huge catering job that I am doing this week. Maybe its just the stars are not aligned. Who knows. But today in Muay Thai I was a clumsy monkey.
Muay Thai – Staple of Muay Thai, Clumsy Monkey
We did a review of the things we were doing last week. We were working on a staple of Muay Thai the 4 counts. You may think. Wow they work on the same things a lot. And yeah… you would be right. We do. This is one of the staples of Muay Thai. This is a combination that we drill over and over again. As you can see I am off balance a little. I am clumsy today. I am annoyed at myself and I want to do better.
Some times the only thing you can do is go in and put the time in. Even if you feel you are doing poorly like me in class today. You can see the bruise on my foot from kicking the pads wrong. Muay Thai a lot of times is self correcting. When you kick or hit something wrong you will hurt yourself or your training partner. When you kick the pads wrong, and hit mostly with the top of your foot you will bruise the crap out of it. This is just the bruise right away… We will see what it looks like tomorrow.
Training:
First 3 minute round, we worked on Thai 4 counts
Pyramid kicks
Second 3 minute round, receiving and dealing with a jab or cross and returning a 4 count
Pyramid kicks
Third 3 minute round, blocking or shielding an incoming kick and returning a Thai 4 count
Pyramid Kicks
3 x 3 minute rounds of sparring.
Kru Kristen said I was doing well… but I have tells, and I kept getting kicked and punched. I know its part of the process but. Man it sucks when you suck, and it sucks when you know you suck and are having a bad time. Anyway here is a video of me doing dealing with the jab and cross. You can see me being a little off balance. Meh… but tomorrow is another day.
Kali – 5 drills in one big drill
Kali went a little better for me. I was exhausted after Muay Thai so that did not help. However, I did not seem to have to much of a hard time dealing with the drills.
Training:
We started with the Heaven 6, then Standard 6, then we did the Earth 6
We worked on cob cob
Umbrella came next
Winshield Wiper followed
Ordibis followed winshield
Then then… Kru Krysta wanted to put it all together.
This drill below is all in the video below.
COB COB
Umbrella
Heaven
Winshield Wiper
Ordibis
Yes all those drills were done all at once. This was interesting cause we were able to do it. But we kinda had to feel our way around it. Feel the rhythm and feel the flow. Below is a picture of what we did and the footwork. I am tired and don’t have time or energy to make a foot work graphic today.
This is a video of us practicing this very drill, the 5 drills together melting my brain, and also making new pathways in my brain. Hopefully in the future I will be able to pull on this knowledge, and make it flow better.
Thank you for reading. I must away to bed. I have another day of cooking all day for 200 people, serving, and teaching. I hope you have a wonderful day/evening/morning where you are. Keep being awesome and keep striving to be the best you, that you can be.
2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training. Sometimes you gotta know when to throw in the towel. Wednesday night was one hell of a ride. We were awaken to the shrill sounds of our fire alarm. Why you ask? It was not because of a fire, thank you God. However, it was because of a flood. Yup a flood. The pipe behind our toilet broke and was fountain-ing water all over our third floor. We live in a 3 story town home and we had a water fall that was going all the way down to the garage. I went to bed at around 11 pm Wednesday night and we were awaken about 11:30 pm. So it must have burst right as I was nodding off.
Did you know that fire alarms go off when it is super humid or water passes through them? Nope, neither did we, however, we know now that they go off. I am glad they did, or we would have had even more damage to deal with. We had maintenance come in, fix the toilet, and put fans under the carpet last night. They did not leave till 3:30 am Thursday morning.
Needless to say I was in a mood today/Thursday, just kind of agitated… annoyed… tired… and fed up. I went to my training, and I had a great time. My mood improved and I learned some new things. I will detail them below.
However, we got home and found that in the kids closet there was carpet that had gotten soaked. So I just got done cleaning out their closet. And let me tell you, they are little pack rats. Saved some things I did not even realize. Like little info card from their toys, marker caps, paper clips and many other things. This post was supposed to be posted yesterday, but will not be finished, and will have to wait till Friday! I have to know when enough is enough and just get to sleep. Throw in the towel as it were. We have gone through every towel in our house, and I have washed them all now.
Anyway enough with the winging (as my friends from across the pond say). On to our training…
Muay Thai – Put the fear of God in them
I started off feeling crappy and agitated today. I was hoping that Muay Thai and Kali would help that, and it did. Working with my friends and team mates to better our skills, got my head out of my immediate issues, and had me focusing on the now. Making my body move the way it knows how to. Focusing on the minute changes to make my strikes better was a great way to redirect my thinking.
Thursday we worked on entries on blocking/receiving a left kick, to the Thai 4 count. Tuesday it was the opposite, where we were entering in on blocking/receiving a right kick, to Thai 4 count.
Kru Kristen complimented me on my kicks. She said, “I am kicking harder and my form is good.” I just need to kick through the person. Transfer my power.
We need to work on intent. This is a martial arts that is 1000 years old. It is not meant to be nice. You need to kick with intent. Like when you kick the person you put the fear of God into them. It hurts so bad that they think twice about coming back at you. This is what I need to work on. As girls we are told not to hit, not to be physical so breaking that training is hard. But I have been kicking hard and getting my licks in. With padding and if you do it right. You can kick hard and not hurt your partner. This is what I am working on.
Kali – Hour Glass, Kali 10 count
We worked on some drills to help our foot work. Because you can’t always tell from my videos but we are supposed to be moving our feet to a certain pattern, or in a certain way as to keep from getting our knees hit, or to keep our tools (see hands and weapons in front of us and pointed toward opponent). Hour glass movement melted my brain a little. Not because it was hard to move my feet in that way, but because it was hard to move my feet in that way, and keep my hands going. Keep doing the Kali stick drills.
I made a diagram of our foot movement below:
I have mentioned before Kali will melt your brain. But it is a good thing. It is making your brain work and create new pathways, because it asks you to do multiple things at once.
Think rubbing your tummy and patting your head. It is often times hard to do for most people, but if you practice it is easier. Then if the instructors asked you to rub your tummy and pat your head with the opposite hands would it be more difficult? For me I am a right handed person and asking me to do things with my left hand is hard, its gotten better since starting Kali, but man does it mess with your brain.
This is much the same thing. I have to make moving/movement of my feet a muscle memory so I am not trying to focus on moving it while trying to focus on moving my stick, and not beaning myself in the head. =) Its a struggle. You will leave Kali some days feeling like you just did a mental equivalent of a marathon. Just because you are trying to control, the feet, the stick, and avoid hitting yourself or your partner in a way as to be injurious.
A Kali 10 count. One of many. We learned a new to me Kali 10 count. Apparently this is one of many. However, it was fun and I had a blast doing it. We only practiced on the right hand side so I did not feel like my brain was tied in knots. I am happy that I picked it up so fast. But if you break it down it is just a series of the same kind of moves I have been taught before.
Kali 10 count 1: For area to strike see doll below
High fore hand hit – strike area 13
Low back hand hit – strike area 10
High back hand hit – strike area 14
Low fore hand hit – strike area 9
High equise – strikes 1 and 2
Low equise – strikes 12, and 11
Scoop the Punyo coming to your face
Below is a video of use working on it. Toward the end of the video we got faster, and I feel like I have a good grasp on the drill. =)
Thanks for reading. Its a day late, but I needed the sleep. I currently have a a person working on our carpet right now. We found out we need to have a new ceiling put in, and we have the appointment for that to happen. I hope you all have a good day, and a great weekend. Keep striving to be the best you that you can be.
2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training. I am bushed. Also D.O.M.s set in from yesterdays workout. So when we warmed up for Muay Thai with jumping rope, 25 push ups, jumping rope and 25 squats I was feeling it. Today was a good day, we worked on shielding a kick to a 4 count, and we learned a new Kali move called Kawian.
Muay Thai – Shield in Kick
So some things that have been said and taught recently that sometimes I forget to put in my blog posts. Why you ask? Because when I am tired after a 2 hour training session I forget things. So before I forget.
Muay Thai, or more importantly is parent Muay Boran (a.k.a. ancient boxing) is over 1000 years old. This ancient art has so much to learn from and I am so happy to have a chance to learn.
When you are kicking with Muay Thai, it may sound good, but may not be great. You don’t have to have a fantastic sounding kick for it to be a good kick. You are supposed to be kicking through your opponent. The kick you should feel in your bones when you are feeding pads, and the kicker should be trying to kick through the person to the next person behind them.
You always want to enter on pain. When you land a solid kick, and startle your opponent. Then enter in, complete a Thai 4 count, keep attacking till they stop. If you don’t land the kick, or the blow that startles or shocks your opponent, get out of the pocket and wait till you do.
Most people will not expect you to shield a kick, then return a kick with same side you shielded. This is why we practiced it. You can see the drill on bullet number 3 below.
Anyway enough talking… here is what we were working on.
Shield right incoming kick with rear leg, then return a Thai 4 count right to left.
Thai 4 count right to left – right kick, hook, cross, left kick
Pyramid kicks 1 to 5 then back down again to 1 right side
Shield right incoming kick with front leg, then return a Thai 4 count with left to right.
Thai 4 count left to right – left kick, cross, hook, right kick
Pyramid kicks 1 to 5 then back down again to 1 left side
Catch kick, bleed off power, control opponents shoulder, either dump them or switch arms to deliver a spinning back elbow.
I made a video of me practicing the left shield, to left stutter step or a real short range hop kick. I am also practicing bleeding off the torso kick, and then executing the spinning back elbow.
Kali – Kiwian and Stick as Stick, vs Stick as Sword
Kali was cool and interesting. We learned a new move, and we discussed using a stick as a stick or blunt instrument, or using a stick as a sword or a sharp instrument. When using a stick as a blunt instrument you are trying to bash things, as opposed to trying to cut and cut major arteries.
So today we focused on blunt instruments. Wanting to use the stick to bash your opponent. There is a difference in intent, and how the stick is used.
Kru Kristen says, we need to know how to move and avoid getting hit by, slide stepping out, not just off the line, but back away from opponent, and then slide stepping in to return attack. This was a main theme for today and our training.
Training:
High figure 8, low back hand, high back hand
Low figure 8, low back hand, high backhand
Advanced student drills: (we were to switch from all of these drills seamlessly)
Equise, low back hand high back hand
High Figure 8, low back hand, high back hand
Low figure 8, low back hand, high back hand
Kiwian – is a drill where you do a vertical redondo, to downward diagonal backhand, to upward diagonal back hand, to redondo again. This move was meant to smash the head and keep doing damage
Drills to push away/slide step away from incoming strike, and slide step in to return strikes.
I made a video below of me working on the Kiwian drill. I can never seem to make
I got this new rash guard, and I love it. I love octopodes and this was a must have. Its so pretty. I bought it with my own money, the company is called Break Point. I just wore it this once and the quality on it is great. I have gotten compliments so far, and I like it. https://www.breakpointfc.com/ I am not affiliated with them, they don’t even know me or that I am talking about them.
These arts are not with out their peril. I caught a stick to the face tonight. It was my own stick, which makes one feel like… well stupid, however, it was a rebound from a strike, my wrist was not tight enough and it rebounded right into my face. I have a small lump under my eyebrow. I may or may not bruise. It is sore to the touch, but over all seems ok. We shall see. I will keep an eye on it. =)
Well thanks for reading. Let me know if you have questions or comments. What do you like to read about? I know some of you are here for the recipes. I do have one coming. Keep being awesome and be the best you you can be.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
Jab
Jab Jab
Jab Jab Jab
Cross
Cross Cross
Cross Cross Cross
Jab Cross
Cross Jab
Jab Jab Cross
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.
