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 Thaiand 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.
lead #1/horizontal elbow, rear #3/downward diagonal elbow, rear #7/inside out elbow
Lead #1/horizontal elbow, rear #2/upward diagonal elbow, rear #7/inside out elbow
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 Thaiand Kali
Thai Elbows, clenches and knees oh my!
We worked on elbows to clench, and knee transitions today.
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
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 Thaiand Kali
Today Tony kicked my booty. But that was a great thing. I want to get stronger and stronger.
Jumping Rope for 3 minutes
conditioning: 3 x 3 minutes of foot shuffle, and hopping hurdles
mountain climber with a punch on bag and skip knee number 2 x 1 minute 3 minutes alternating between
lead teep, shuffle into lead body hook, rear upper cut, lead head hook, immediately double kick wi
thout taking a step.
rear torso kick, to rear hop double kick
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.
So I debated long and hard about posting this. But I told myself I would be honest and show all the progress I made. Even though when I look at the pictures all I see are the negatives.
When I see the pictures I see that areas are thicker. I am not as far along as I would like to be.
What the rational side of me is saying there are internal changes:
1) I have increased my training since the beginning of the year.
2) My stamina has increased and my strength has increased
3) My form has improved in my martial arts
4) It looks like I have more muscle mass in my legs, more definition.
5) My abs are stronger, and I can do more sit ups than before, so I have muscle under all that ick.
6) I noticed the other days, when working out, sprawls and getting explosive exercises, that require jumping up, plyometrics are much better than before.
But here are progress pictures… as good or as bad as they are. I put them here to have a record of it.
So changing up the workout my coach gave me. I added two things, and took out one thing.
It is one of those days I know I need to get cardio in, but I also know my body does not want to. So I just did a mile run so I could get warmed up and get some cardio in.
Workout: Perform each set with only 30 seconds rest between sets, then 1 minute rest between each different exercise.
1 mile run
40 lat pull downs. ( 50 lbs for me)
Bench press with as heavy as you can go for 8 to 9 reps, x 5 sets (85 lbs for me)
Back squats with as heavy as you can go for 8 to 9 reps, x 5 sets ( 135 lbs for me)
Kettlebell swings 40 reps ( 25 lbs for me)
I really feel doing something is better than doing nothing at all.
So if you can get out there and get a workout in, do it, next time try to do more reps or go heavier.
Yup back in the saddle again. We had a holiday here. It is called Thanksgiving over here in the U.S. of A.
What this meant is decreased classes due to gym being closed, and trainers wanting to spend time with family. Sheesh… *I am kidding, I kid*.
Also my daughter brought home some lovely germs. We all seemed to have caught during the holiday week a small version of the flu.
So due to all of that above, I attended a total of 1 count it one day of martial arts training this last week. I did do a weight lifting workout on Sunday, but its not the same.
Well we are back after the holiday shenanigans and starting a new week of martial arts training. To be perfectly honest, I really needed the break. Not only did I feel like death for a few days, due to the cold/flu. My body needed a break.
Tuesday 12/03/2019 – 2 hours… Muay Thaiand Kali
Tony kicked our butts again today. He had us doing 5 minutes of ladder drills, and 5 minutes of jumping rope. Then 3 minutes of shadow boxing jab and cross.
Today we worked on jab, foot movement, and keeping our hands up for blocking,
We worked on jab, cross, again focusing on extension and foot movement.
Then we worked on a lead side teep to, lead kick, followed by rear kick.
It was a great day of class. I also got to help two new people in class. I hope they come back.
Kali- Lock Flow Drill 1-12
Ok so I have been taking Kali for 2 years. I have known about this drill for just about that long. It has taken me all this time for it to finally sink in. I understand the drill. I know it is not how you were disarm, and or use all of this in a fight, however, I understand the drill.
When I first started out, trying to remember all 12 moves was daunting. I could only get 1 or 2 down. Over the years it seems to have been building up. I got it today. I got it and I remember all 12. Now do I do it perfectly. NOPE! But can I repeat the drill at home… YESSSS! I am so excited. When I finally realize I can do something, I have been working on. It seems to sneak up on me. I don’t go into class going… yup been here done that… I know it. No I go into class, and when we start moving, and drilling I seem to understand the flow.
Here is a video of me doing just that. I start and stop, and I chopped up this video so that you did not have to see such a repetitive process.
I got a really nice compliment from my teacher today. He said my control was great. I was controlling the assailants knife, and his actions and using his force/momentum to turn it back around onto him.
Today was a great day. I was able to get a run in, I did the weight lifting workout that my trainer sent me and that I did before on Sunday.
BJJ: I got a chance to go to my BJJ class. That is the class that suffers the most to my time crunch, and juggling our life. But today was great we worked on:
Taking the back
What to do if you lose control or your choke, you move to mount
Choking/choke hold from the back, under hooks, and seat belt grip
Arm bar from behind
Taking the back, control with choke, flipping opponent, and forcing their face into the mat/ground, while choking them.
It was a lot of fun. But so hard to do well. BJJ is an art that takes time and patience to do.
Muay Thai:
Today was great… I got to do a bunch of cool things. One of which was the alligator crawls. Whew that was a whole body burner. I am going to do more of those.
This is what an alligator crawl is:
Tony my trainer had us doing:
we did a full body conditioning warm up
jab, cross, leg kicks
jab, cross, body hook, face hook, leg kick, face hook, cross
shield kick then kick round house
shield kick then double round house
we worked on hooks on the bag
we worked on lead shield then double lead kick, then rear kick
Then we did abs
I made a video of me doing some of the bag work.
Tuesday 12/05/2019 – 1 hours… Muay Thai
Today was a great day in Muay Thai training. I learned and grew some.
It started out frustrating so I took a negative and made it a positive.
I really dislike when some of the new guys, I say guys cause I have never run into a girl doing this. I am sure it can happen but from my experience it’s young new guys. They have something to prove. So they hit way to hard in drills, and sometimes don’t take feedback/pointers from me. This one did not know how to hold Thai pads to boot. I was frustrated and annoyed. But I took a second to steel myself and turned it around, I got to know him a bit and tried to make it a teaching platform. I kept reminding him on how to hold the pads and let him know if he did not hold well he could get hurt and I could get hurt. He says he is having a good time and likes Muay Thai class.
It will take a while for him to get our gyms culture. He has been with us for a few months already. He says he came from a Krav back round.
I am going to continue to try to come at working with this individual this way. Here’s hoping he gets it.
Friday 12/06/2019 – 1 hour… Muay Thai
We did conditioning training again today. We worked the ladder, and hurdles. Tony my trainer wants us to focus on fast feet. I know I need to work on my footwork and getting it faster. The faster my footwork the faster I will get in and out of the pocket. The faster I will be able to dodge incoming strikes. Etc.
It was super fun. I had a great time, and I am pooped.
This week was a great week of training, and I am so glad to be back after a holiday break. I do really miss training when I don’t get a chance to do it. Or when I am restricted from doing it cause work gets in the way.
I got 7 hours in, and other extra curricular training. =)
Have a great night. Thank you for reading, and let me know if you have any questions.
I am half Japanese and I tend to have cravings that sometimes are hard to fulfill. Sometimes it is just a lot of extra work to form them into balls. So I just made it into a bowl.
I would normally add seaweed to it, but I ran out. I know… I know… I am going to loose my Asian card cause I don’t have seaweed in my house.
So when I don’t have time between my job, and dealing with my kids, and the rest of the household chores I just made it in to a bowl.
In Japan there is a thing that is famous around the world. Used for lunch boxes all over the country. I remember getting them in my lunch box and I would get so excited. Onigiri! Onigiri is what we call rice balls. There are many kinds of onigiri with many kinds of fillings. I love many of these flavors/combos, Umeboshi (pickled plumb, a favorite of mine), Tuna Mayo, kombu (simmered seaweed), shrimp, just to name a few. Another one of my favorite is spicy salmon mayo or Shake Mayo (pronounced sha kay mah yo).
Today I made a spicy salmon mayo onigiri bowl.
I really recommend you try it if you can. Luckily it is super easy. I added other fresh veggies to it cause I wanted some more veggies.
Spicy Salmon Mayo Onigiri Bowl
Ingredients:
1 cup of cooked rice
1/2 cup shredded raw carrots
1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms raw
1 green onion sliced raw
2 radishes sliced raw
2.5 oz of salmon in a pouch/can
1 tbs of mayo
Sriracha to taste
salt and pepper to taste
seaweed (optional but so tasty)
Directions:
Cook rice to direction on package
Mix together salmon, mayo, sriracha, salt and pepper.
Add salmon mixture to rice, add veggies to rice, and enjoy.
(alternate toppings to add, seaweed, sesame seeds, umeboshi)
This is not my image. It is just the product I use.
Stats for the lunch: Calories 401, Fat 12.9 g, Fiber 3.4 g, Carbs 51.5 g, Sodium 536.3 mg, Protein 17.9 g
The salmon mixture is what you may find in a spicy salmon mayo onigiri. I just put it on the outside, because I don’t have time to mold the rice into balls. But you know what it tastes phenomenal and looks beautiful to boot. Is it in the cute shape of a rice ball with seaweed? Nope but it is just as good.
Its also healthy, full of fresh veggies, low in fat, full of protein, and oh so tasty.
Like I said I would have added seaweed, but I did not have any.
I love this kind of lunch. I thought you all might. So I thought I would share it with you. I hope you get a chance to try this. Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading this.
Today I did a weight lifting workout that my trainer for Muay Thai gave me and my team mates.
I was very taxing and he said it was going to make me sore for a few days and laughed. I accepted the challenge and did it. I also filmed it so that I could keep record of my progress.
Using weights that make it hard for you to complete 8 to 9 reps. You want to do 40 reps total for each weight.
Weight Lifting Workout: 60 second rest between each different exercise
Barbell back squats 8 to 9 reps for a total of 40, 30 seconds rest between each 8 to 9
Barbell bench press 8 to 9 reps for a total of 40, 30 seconds rest between.
Barbell row 8 to 9 reps for a total of 40, 30 second rest between
Kettle Bell swing 8 to 9 reps for a total of 40, 30 second rest between
It was hard to get a picture of me today, I felt like I looked terrible in all of them.
If I can work on my fitness, any of you can do it too. I am not the normal fitness model. I am as far from it as one could get. I just try to do my best. That is why if I can do it I truly believe you all can do it too.
Keep working on make yourself the best you that you can be. Thanks for reading, and I hope you all have a great day.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! If you are from the U.S. or live in the U.S. there is a small holiday called Thanksgiving. (pssstt… its not small, its a huge food and family holiday for us) Where we use it as an excuse to get together with family and friends and give thanks for what we have. We cook gigantic birds called turkeys, and share food. It stems from, we are told as young Americans, the first meal shared by the colonists and the Native Americans who were here before them.
These things are good to keep in mind for any holiday, anywhere.
Just so you know this is an opinion piece. I have read so many differing opinions. TLDR -If you don’t have time to read the whys… here is the gist of my post. Do what is good for you. But there are some pros and cons for different approaches depending on where you are in your journey.
Part of me wants to just say, have fun eat what you want in the holidays. Time with your family is not infinite live it up. But that is not necessarily the case.
What everyone should do no matter where they are on their fitness journey:
Keep working out…Even if you are traveling and away from home. Find ways to get your workout in. Make it an adventure. If you love running, take your running shoes and some gym clothes with you and run around where ever you land. Its a great way to learn about the place you have to spend your holiday.
Learn simple exercises that you can do without a lot of equipment. Stick to things like squats, sit ups, planks, lunges, jumping jacks, push ups, bear crawling, etc.
Write these down on a piece of paper and pack that with you so that you have something you can look at and perform in a hotel room, or even your sister in laws brother house that you have to be at for the family gathering.
Make a holiday game plan, and stick to it. Or lets be honest stick to it as best you can. If you had one extra piece of chocolate don’t let it derail your entire holiday game plan.
Check out the local gym if you need weights. They sometimes have day pass you can purchase, and some gyms will let you try out the gym for free if you ask. You can also purchase month to month memberships at gyms.
Keep drinking your water
Buy your own snacks, and monitor your snacking
If you are new to this journey:
If you are new to the fitness journey then I would say being strict about your routine, and food intake is super important. You are still learning how your body works, and reacts to exercise and food. It takes about 21 days to form a habit, and if you are in the middle of that 21 days, or just a few months into your journey, now is a critical time to stick to the plan.
Stick to your routine as close as possible. If you cannot do your workout, make sure to stick working out at the same time of day, and same days.
Keep counting your Macros. If you are counting your macros and calories, keep doing so. Think ahead of time, and figure out what amount of Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and green beans you can have.
Keep making good decisions and aiming to add new habits that are conducive to you fitness goals. Remember this is a journey not a race.
Avoid that extra cookie, or that piece of pie, choose fruit or naturally sweet items instead.
Avoid sweetened drinks (there are a lot of hidden calories in those, like juice, and eggnog)
Avoid alcohol if you can
Avoid sauces (there are a lot of hidden calories)
Choose lean cuts of meat
Chose veggies that are not covered in sauce
Chose to snack on raw veggies instead of the pretzels, chips or other appetizers.
Don’t let other people make you feel bad, don’t let your family make you feel bad for your decisions. You are doing this for you, not for them. You are trying to make yourself better.
Plan to get back to your normal schedule when you get back home, or after the holidays. Stick to your plan.
If you are established in your fitness routine:
If you are seasoned and established in your fitness routine I feel you know your body better. You know how it responds to exercise, and you know it responds to different kinds of food. You have been counting calories/macros for a while. You have been practicing intermittent fasting for a while. You know what you have been doing. You have your routine.
First of all taking a few days of will not set you back. You know how to get back to it and you will. You don’t have to be as strict. You know what you have done, and how to do it.
Keep in mind what your body needs to function. You understand portion control. You know what your plate looks like.
Keep up your workout. However, it does not hurt to change it up. As a matter of fact it is good for you and your body. Your body gets used to a type of physical exertion so the holidays are a good way to change it up for a short time to get out of the rut.
Look up cool need things to do in the area you are going to be at. If going to an area that has snow. Take the time to go skiing, snow shoeing, hiking, and sledding. If you are going some where there is sand and water, swim, run on the sand, wake board, and try surfing.
Don’t let one meal or one mistake derail your entire holiday.
Get back on track after the holiday. You have to make sure you get back to it. Most likely if you are like me. You will feel like something is missing because you it is such a part of your life. You will want to get back to it as soon as possible.
The holidays are a tricky course to run. Spend time with your family. Enjoy the company. Enjoy the food sensibly. You can over indulge and that might set you back, but if you keep nutrition and exercise in mind you should be alright. Do what is right for you, and don’t let anyone guilt you into eating or doing anything you don’t want to do. Remember you are working to make yourself better. Keep working to make the best you that you can be. You do you… everyone else will see your dedication and hard work.
Thank you for reading. Please feel free to 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.
KB swings x 30 for 3 reps
KB Goblet squats x 20 for 3 reps
KB Halos x 10 for 3 reps
KB Bulgarian Split Squat x 10 for 3 reps
KB single leg Romanian dead lift x 10 for 3 reps
Sit up and press x 30 for 3 reps
KB bent over rows x 10/15 for 3 reps
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.
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.
2 x 3 minute knees 188, 221
Plank for 30 seconds between each round
2 x 3 minute jump rope
Squat and hold for 30 seconds between each round
2 x 3 minute rounds of 10 kicks on each side continuously
Jumping Jacks between each round 30 seconds
2 x 3 minute rounds of Knees
2 x 3 minute rounds of 4 knees then 4 kicks
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.
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
Star burpees
pushup and arm raises
rotating squats
lunge back and kick
single leg hip raises
squat on ball of feet
star push ups
sit up grab knees
Ali – foot shuffle
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!
crunches
flutter kicks
crunches
single leg pike
horizontal sissor kick
single leg pike
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
100 kettle bell swings
100 push ups
50 mountain climbers
100 rear lunges
body weight squats
50 clean and press kettle bell
Burpees – 20 seconds as many as you can. 10 seconds rest, 8 sets of 20 seconds.
Agility/Fast feet
Agility ladder x 5 rounds, at end of ladder either kick, knee, or kick and knee as instructor decided.
run around the gym then back to the agility ladder
CoreStations
Ball pike
stir the pot
medicine ball sit up and press up
Russian twists
ab roll wheel
stir the pot
bosu ball plank kicks
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.
What a quote to start the week on. “Don’t focus on kicking hard, you will just waste your energy.” Tony… This is such a Muay Thai mentality. In Muay Thai you are told that power comes later. It comes when you are throwing your strikes correctly. It comes when you are moving correctly. It especially comes when you are tired. Why does this happen? Its because your body is tired, so when you throw your kicks for instance, you will throw it in such a way that you don’t have the power to put it in hard. Hrm… Here let me see if I can explain it better.
What does not focusing on kicking hard do? Why does this matter? This seems so counter intuitive. I want to kick hard, shouldn’t I just kick hard? The reason is, this form of martial art is all about the mechanics of the body and how it moves. Instead of just using the strength in your muscles you use physics, and body mechanics. Anyone can put power in to a kick by trying to kick hard with your quads, glutes, and hamstrings. But how much harder can you kick when you use your leg like a bat on the end of a chain? You whip the leg with your torso like you would whip a flail with your arm. This lets not only the momentum that you can create with your muscles, but the huge amounts of force created since a small acceleration that happens at the center helps create a large velocity at the end of your leg.
The more tired you get, the harder you kick. Why? Because you are not forcing the kick. Your body is moving like you taught it, and your leg is going along for the ride.
Tuesday 10/29/2019 – 2 hours… Muay Thai, and Kali
There are some days after class that I sit here in front of the computer and have a hard time of thinking of much to say. Most of the time it is cause I am so exhausted I just don’t have the faculties to put to words what I am feeling. Sometimes I am so tired, I just don’t have much to say other than I just want to shower, and sleep. Tonight is the latter kind of night. So here is an overview of what we did.
In Muay Thai we were working on isolating jabs and kicks. We worked on traveling, distance management, and Thank you Tony for a great class.
In Kali we worked on panastas (cut and cover), funnel tapping and sticky hands, and Paula soot. Then we did a circle drill. It is hard to fend off a gang of five people. Thank you Paul for a great class!
Well I have been trying to listen to my body. I have been fighting congestion a small cold that my husband brought home so I stayed home last night and rested. Today I went in and only did Muay Thai for training. Returning home early so I can rest.
2 years ago I would never have thought to go and train, or work out at the gym on Halloween. I am so happy I did. I love Muay Thai. I love the people. I love my Thai family. I am so happy I went.
My husband and I went int costume and Khun Kru Krysta went in costume as well. I trained the entire time in costume and it was awesome. I should wear wings when training all the time. =)
Here are some pictures I was able to get. I was a Muay Thaicorn!
Enough of that frivolity. =) On to the training. Today we worked on the Inosanto 18 count.
Khun Kru Krysta broke it down into three digestible parts. Where we worked them working on our form.
Striking drill part 1
burn out, lead knee, lead kick done all the way down the mat and back as fast as you can.
Drill part 2
Burn out, rear knee, rear kick done all the way down the mat and back again as fast as you can.
Drill part 3
Burn out, jab, cross, lead elbow, rear elbow done all the way down to the end of the mat and back as fast as you can.
Put part 1, part 2, and part 3 together and do the whole 18 count.
I don’t have permission to publish the entire 18 count here. I would never want to disrespect my teachers and the great Innosanto, whom I have had the pleasure to meet. So until I do. I will only mention part of one of the drills we did.
There was a small part where it seems my Khun Kru was watching and she said I had perfect form. She mentioned that it was really just great, and that it was not because of the wings. I was over the moon about it. The part I am talking about is a cross, a rear elbow, a knee, and a kick.
You know what was even better. I took the compliment as it was intended. I did not second guess her, or doubt my abilities. Yay… that is progress for me.
I had a great time today. I am glad we went home after though. I needed to just rest.
Friday 11/1/2019 – 1 hour… Muay Thai – Everyone starts out with the same tools
Today we worked on something called Hanuman climbing up the temple a.k.a. flying knees. We also worked on hop double kicks.
I have some… a form of a mental block. I often think I can’t jump or do some of these more acrobatic moves. I am working on it. I see it and think wow how in the heckity heck am I going to do that. Mental blocks are the worst some times. However, I still keep trying. Today was a day filled with those things that my brain says ohh heck no we are not able to do that. So it is a great learning time for me. Pushing me beyond what I think my limits are.
Tony mentioned that all people start with the same tools. What he meant by this is that, everyone has a teep, is taught kicks, knees, elbows, and punches. But not everyone processes it the same way. They may morph it to what works for them. The basic is still there, but they may get to it in a different way. He does not want me to get down on myself about not being able to do a move just yet. He says, “you will get there.”
Training:
Warm up
Skip knees on bag 30 seconds as fast as you can
Jab, cross on bag 30 seconds as fast as you can
Skip knees on bag 30 seconds as fast as you can
Jab, cross on bag 30 seconds as fast as you can
Skip knees on bag 30 seconds as fast as you can
Jab, cross on bag 30 seconds as fast as you can
Skip knees on bag 30 seconds as fast as you can
Jab, cross on bag 30 seconds as fast as you can
Jump rope for what felt like 10 minutes but was probably more like 5 minutes.
Rear knee, to lead teep, to walking lead knee
10 kicks right side burn out
Parry the cross, to jumping knee
10 kicks left side burn out
Lead teep, to rear flying knee (Hanuman climbing the temple), to hop double kick
10 kicks left side, 10 kicks right side.
sparring
In training when he demonstrated the hop kick he said something that just clicked for me. Now this is not the first time we have been taught the hop kick, however, this is the first time that a light bulb went off and I understood the mechanics of it. He mention that at the beginning of the hop kick, to just pull the leg up like you are shielding, then put it down, and do the kicks. This may seem silly, like well of course… but for some reason my brain and my body did not understand each other. Today when he explained it like that, it felt like a puzzle piece just slipping into place.
At the end of the class not only was I doing the hop kicks, but I was also doing the Hanuman climbing the temple. I was doing it! Yay!
In sparring I had one of my class mates compliment me on my kicks. I am placing them well, and I am actually getting them in. We talked afterward and he mentioned that he did not know if I was just more relaxed in sparring or what but it was showing.
So yay today was a good day. I seem to have something to say today. One more day of training tomorrow and then I get a much needed. break.
Saturday 11/2/2019 – 2.5 hours… Muay Thai, Kali, and Silat -Asymmetrical Sparring, and Lead With the Heel
Woot today was a great day to train. H and I started on working the flying knees I am trying to get down. So we did that, and moved on to parry the cross to a jumping knee. We did this so I could get the leaping, pushing, movement down. Similar to the flying knee. The pictures above are of that training. I wanted to take pictures to see if my feet were leaving the ground and how far.
We worked on Kali, and Silat the rest of the time. Its getting cold upper 30 F, or lower 40 F. So we worked on Kali inside instead of staff class.
Kali –
Today we in Kali we work an asymmetrical heaven and full box with sword and shield. That was awesome. The main thing we had to work on was figuring out how to hold the shield to keep from getting hit. You might think ah whats the difference. However, there is a big difference in the way you angle your shield so that you can stop the incoming blow.
Today that is what we were working on and puzzling out.
Here is a video of us puzzling it out. We are not good at it yet, but we will keep working on it. It was fun trying to puzzle out the correct angles so that we don’t get hurt or hit.
Silat – Lead with your heels
We focused on the Puta Kepala, Biset Dolem, Sieko Kinjet (elbow compress), and then we learned a new very vicious or brutal way to end a fight. Put your heel on their chin, and walk through to break their arm.
Puta Kepala – you are redirecting your opponents head, you are facing them and using their moment put them on the ground.
Biset Dolem – you are facing away from your opponent, you control the body of your opponent taking moving their balance, weight and structure out from under them to put them on the ground.
Sieko Kinjet (elbow compress) – you are facing away from your opponent, and connecting hip to hip, you off balance them, and drive/compress your elbow in to their hip. This pushes them down onto the ground.
Once they are on the ground there are many things you can do to a person. You can knee on belly and arm bar them, or knee on belly and punch them. You can knee on belly and then drop knees into belly or face. When you drop the knee on belly, we started calling it knee on soul. You can return their knife to them or in them if they are attacking you with a knife. But the last one most vicious move we did was a… walk through to break the arm. You have their attacking hand or hand with weapon, you stomp their chin with your heel, keeping their shoulder up, then you hook your rear foot on their arm and walk through. This is not a compliance this is a break. This is a person is attacking you, and does not stop, you successfully got them on the ground and you still fear for your life, so you break their arm in hopes that they will stop trying to stab you. Here is a picture of me learning to do this in a very slow careful way.
It was a great day of training. I learned a lot. I worked on things I know. I was able to puzzle out things. Some days it is great to do that. Some days it is great to just move through the motions/strikes you know, and change it up. See how it feels to do it a different way.
Thank you for reading my blog. I am so amazed that you all read it. I started this blog to catalog my thoughts, and things I learned. This is a place I can look back and see how far I have come. I can see how much I have to work on still. I hope you all have a great weekend, and had a great week. I know I did. My respects to you and your family.
Thinks with Spinks 