45 minute workout. My usual workout schedule is, Mon/Wed/Fri Running and Weight lifting. Tues/Thurs/Saturday and sometimes Wed, Muay Thai, Kali Martial Arts training. Guess what I could not get to last week. Work and family and life just worked against me. I could not get my Friday and my Saturday training in. Friday I was inundated with my family stuff. Saturday I had to teach a scone baking class to a group of adults. And I let my husband convince me to not do anything on Sunday.
So I had a mini workout vacation. I had a whole host of feelings about this. I was upset for missing out on my workouts, I was disappointed in myself, and I missed it. Also I let myself be convinced not to do a make up workout on Sunday, so some part of me wanted a break. =)
But now it is a new week, and I am back at it. Today’s workout will be what I do on Mon/Wed/Fri. I focused on core and legs today, because we are starting a boxing focused month in Muay Thai.
Workout:
20 minute Steady state run. I got a 12 minute mile in there.
Weightlifting:
Pike crunches reps- 20, 20, 20
Bicycle crunches reps- 20, 20, 20
Bench Step up with high knee, each leg reps- 10 left, 10 right, 10 left, 10 right, 10 left, 10 right
Bulgarian split squats, each leg reps- 14 left, 14 right, 14 left, 14 right, 14 left, 14 right
Dumbell dead lifts 70 lbs reps – 10, 10, 10
That is all for me. I have to go get husband from the metro, get family fed and get to my second job. Thank you for reading.
Here are my final thoughts… Sometimes there is nothing you can do to squeeze a workout in. Sometimes there is just no time and that is ok. Sometimes your family needs you and that is ok. Sometimes you just don’t want to do it, and that is ok. Once you get your routine down, deviation is not a death sentence to your journey, it is part of life, and you just have to jump back on, and get the reps in.
One of my favorite things is coconut sticky rice. It is a wonderful dish most of the time a dessert from Thailand. However, today I wanted it for lunch.
I am an adult I can do what I want. Hussshhh! So dessert for lunch is what it was today.
I made this in a quicker easier way, not the traditional way it is made in Thailand, or at your local Thai restaurant. This is a quicker, more loose dish, much more like a rice pudding.
This recipe is gluten free, nut free (coconuts are not nuts, technically its a drupe, or stone fruit), and vegan.
This is my simplified quicker version of this dish. There is a more authentic way to make this but this took me 20 to 30 minutes including rice cooking time.
Coconut Sticky Rice with Mango, Kiwi, and Pineapple
yield: 1 serving
time: 20 -30 minutes including cooking time for rice
Ingredients
240 g or about 8 oz Cooked sticky rice
80 g or 1/3 cup coconut milk canned
16 g or 1 tbs of honey
1 whole or 171 g mango
1 whole or 66 g kiwi
117 g or 1 cup of pineapple
pinch of salt to taste
Desiccated coconut for garnish
Directions
Cook rice to instructions
Dice the mango, kiwi, and pineapple.
Mix the rice with coconut milk and honey. Add diced fruit on top, top with desiccated coconut.
Stats for the recipe as written:
Calories 644, Fat 18.4 g, Fiber 8.7 g, Carbs 117.5 g, Sodium 30.7 mg, Protein 8.7 g
For the shrimp its really simple. No I mean really simple and really good.
Cayenne Shrimp
Yeild: 1 serving
Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients
6 Shrimp with tail on
1 tsp olive oil or butter
Sprinkle cayenne (to taste)
Salt to taste
Green onion
Directions
Heat up the pan and add fat for
Cook shrimp about 3 minutes total, 1 minute on one side and flip.
Sprinkle with cayenne, and salt
Serve sprinkle on green onion.
Stats for the recipe
Calories 111, Fat 5.5 g, Fiber 0 g, Carbs 1 g, Sodium 535 mg, protein 13 g
That is all… I hope you get a chance to try it. Perhaps be a little crazy like me and have dessert for lunch. Or just have it for dessert. =) Thank you for reading and have a great day!
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.
2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training. Today was so much fun. I was excited to unveil the shirts I had made. Also thought today was going to be a test day. But alas it was not. Kru Kristen had to do some book keeping and see where everyone is first. And then we worked on espada y daga or sword and knife drills. Kru Krysta took over an taught both classes.
Muay Thai – Same side flow like water, Thai Shirts
So today was a great day for training. We worked on same side flow from, teeps, to kicks, to knees and back again. But all on the same side. So this make it difficult cause if your balance is not correct you will fall. You will not have power if you balance is off, and if you do not step out. If you do not teep your partner hard enough they may not step back far enough for you to get your kick in, so then you have to step off the line.
So I took video of me doing some of the drills. Meh…
Lead round house kick to lead tee
Rear round house kick to rear teep
Lead round house kick, to lead shield of kick, to lead round house kick to lead teep.
Rear round house kick, to rear shield of kick, to rear round house kick to rear teep.
Lead round house kick, to rear teep, rear feint, to lead knee.
Ok let me pick this crap apart. For some reason today I was dropping my hands, all the time. That is going to get me punched in the face. I was a bit off balance today that is not great for teeps, or kicks. My shields of kicks were down right sad. I need to remember to keep my foot flexed tight to shield, but I kept failing at that. My timing was not great and I felt slow, sometimes waiting for a few seconds to long to move to the next move. The strikes should be smooth and flow like water. So many things wrong with my drilling today… my body was just not doing what I wanted it to today. I know what I need to do, but just not executing it today.
And don’t get me started on how I looked. A hot mess is what comes to mind. But I digress, I know focusing on that does not help me flow like water.
I made Thai shirts for my team. I made the design, and had them printed up. I was able to hand them out today. I was so excited to do this. But the back of my head that little mean part of my brain was saying what if they hate it, what if they don’t like it? Trying to make me doubt myself.
So I ignored that mean chatter, and took them in anyway. My team loved it. They thought it was so cool and thanked me for it. I was very happy to do it and relieved that it was received well. It was a surprise and they did not know it was coming.
It says:
Crew AmpliThai
Nak Muay (means Thai Fighter) Respect Hard Work Perseverance Dedication
Then Kru Kristen’s quote: “Less Talking, More Hitting”
I like the way the shirts came out. =)
Kali – 7 count Knife Drill, T drill, all with Espada y Daga
Today in Kali we worked on the 7 count knife and stick drill or espada y daga (sword and dagger). We worked on the T drill separately, then hubud drill, then the 7 count separately. Finally we worked on the T drill and 7 count together in one full flow drill.
I filmed the T and 7 count full flow drill. Here is the video in all its um… glory? Well its something.
It is 12 pm here, and I must go to bed. I have a 5 am wake up. Weeee! Thank you for reading, and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.
I often meal prep just for our lunches. I make our breakfasts and Dinners a la minute. This is a fancy schmancy way of saying, prepared to order, or not made in advance. (Gotta use my fancy degree for something. =) ) I just meal prep our lunches. Lunches are the hardest meals to get in, and I will often just not eat if I am to busy. So here is a lunch I prepped for this week, for me and my husband.
This weeks lunch is gluten free, nut free, but has animal protein and dairy.
If you have never had spaghetti squash before you are in for a treat. The flesh is mild in flavor, but pulls apart in strings, much like spaghetti. I am guessing that is where the name comes from. (said tongue in cheek =) )
Everything in this recipe is roasted. Also people season your food! I get a lot of my friends saying oh I don’t like X, or I don’t like Y. Then I get a hold of them, cook for them, and their tune changes. Why you might ask?… 99% of the time people don’t know how to season their food, and don’t know how to prepare their food. Eat well, eat healthy, and make your pallet happy as well as your body.
Enough talking/writing on to the recipe.
Spaghetti Squash and Chicken Not Pasta (yeild – 6 portions, or 3 meals for two adults)
Ingredients:
10 lbs or two good sized Spaghetti Squash
3 large chicken breasts, cut in half width wise
1 jar of pasta sauce you like, or a can of tomato sauce works as well ( I used pre canned sauce to make my prep a little easier)
Parmesan shredded
3 large sweet potatoes pealed and cut in to coins for roasting
Olive oil for roasting
Salt and Pepper to taste
Seasoning you like for your chicken ( I used the Mrs. Dash original, salt free seasoning we have here in the states. I like salt free cause I can control the salt in my food better that way.)
Directions:
Pre heat oven to 425 degrees F, or 218.33 degrees C
Cut the squash in half, scoop out seeds, drizzle cut side with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper, and place them cut side down on a pan prepared with parchment paper. Be sure to oil the skin of the squash so it does not burn in the oven. No need to salt the skin of the squash.
Cut each breast in half, drizzle oil on breasts, add salt and pepper, sprinkle with other seasonings, and place in a oven proof pan.
Peel and cut sweet potatoes into coins, drizzle with oil, salt and pepper, and sprinkle with cinnamon.
Place each of these in the oven, and cook for 45 minutes to an hour.
For the chicken I cut one open to see if it is cooked. For the squash I poke it with a fork and see if it is soft and done cooking. For the sweet potatoes I poke with a fork and see if they are soft to the touch.
Portion out and save for the week days and enjoy.
Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great weekend. Let me know if you tried this and how you liked it.
2.5 hours of Martial Arts training today. Have you ever had a morning that rolls around and don’t want to get up, but I can’t sleep any more? Yeah? Me too. Even so, today was a great day of training. I picked up some new drills without much trouble, some others were a bit of a pain in the butt.
Bo Staff – Thrust and Slash
Today’s drills included thrust and slash flow drills. The first drill I picked up with ease. However, the second one kept tripping me up. Something about it was just not clicking today with me.
I took video of me doing the drill but for some reason it is flipped on its side. However, here it is anyway. It was super windy out today as well so the wind is blowing through the microphone. It was a beautiful day though.
I attempted to mess with the video editor and was unable to flip this video over. I am sorry. One day I will figure it out. =)
Here is a video of my instructor for the day showing us the second drill.
As you see he is much more fluid in his motions than I am. I am still working on that. And as you can see I am not that fluid in my movements. I am trying to remember every step while getting my footing right.
Class was fun, and it was beautiful outside.
Striking Panantukan/Dirty Boxing
Today in Striking class we worked on Panantukan. Our instructor was nice enough to type up what we did in class, and post it for us so here it is.
Panantukan/Dirty Boxing
-3 counts on female triangle. (Jab, Cross, Hook, JC Uppercut, JC BodyHook, Overhand/Uppercut/Overhand) -3 Counts on focus mitts with a lead switch in between each combo. -BLITZ: CRISS-CROSS, HOOKS, UPPERCUTS, BODY HOOKS. – repeated as fast as possible. —————————————————————————————————————— -Split Entry counters the Jab into combinations Left and Right (Follow W/ Lead Knee) — 1.CHC (cross,hook,cross) 2.CUC (cross,uppercut,cross) 3. CBHC(cross,body-hook,cross) 4.OUO (overhand, uppercut, overhand) ——————————————————————————————————————- Cover Up to Elbow & Knee Series (Follow W/ L Elbow-R Elbow-Knee or R Elbow -L Elbow – Knee) Feeder feeds a left or right wide shot to the head. 1. L Cover 2. R Cover BLITZ: L Elbow – R Elbow – R Knee, R Elbow – L Elbow – L Knee. (fast as you can) ——————————————————————————————————————- Cover & Ride Series (Follow W/ CHC Knee or HCH Knee) Cover headshots, ride body shots (move with the punch on body shots) 1. L Cover 2. R Cover 3. L Ride 4. R Ride 5. 2 to Head 6. 2 to Body 7. 3 to Head 8. 3 to Body 9. 3 Mixed Head/Body BLITZ: CHC L Knee, HCH Right Knee. ——————————————————————————————————————-Cover & Hit Series 1 ( Counter the following & Finish W/ L Elbow-R Elbow-Knee OR R Elbow – L Elbow-Knee) Feeder feeds Jab then Wide Cross. Parry the Jab and Inside Stop the Wide Cross with your left arm (the John Wayne) while simultaneously throwing one of the following with your right hand. 1. Vertical Punch 2. Finger Jab 3. Claw (Ze Clouww) 4. Vertical Elbow
The dirty part comes with the grabbing of the hair to control the head. We just mimed this part, but in Panantukan, you are not looking to be nice. This is not a sport. This is an art to save yourself, your family and your fellow soldiers. So this particular style favors eye gouges, hair pulling, and eye raking.
Today was great. I got to learn some new things. I got to practice and have fun with my friends and team mates. I could not ask for anything more. Thank you for reading and have a great weekend. As always let me know if you have any questions.
2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali. I woke up had a lot on my plate, went into work early to get a cake done that my boss needed me to do. Her boss asked for me personally to do the cake. =)
Everything on this cake is made by me, and is edible.
I don’t usually show my work here. But this is just an example of what I have/had to work on today.
I digress though… back to the martial arts. =)
Muay Thai – A Little Uncomfortable
There are days we cover so much, and then there are days were we need to just drill out what we have been working on. Lately we have been working on the T.B.A. (Thai Boxing Association) Thai 17 count. But today Kru Kristen broke down some of the combinations.
The first combo we worked on left knee, left kick, cross, hook, right kick. With this combo we were working on knee to left kick, we needed to load the kick and not just land heavy on the left foot. We needed to set it back almost parallel with our back foot so that we could take the quick step and land the kick. With this combo we were working on flow, and transition, trying to make them smooth, and in my case kicking harder.
The second combo we worked on is right knee, right kick, hook, cross, left kick. Again we were working on the knee to right kick, with a quick step to load and step out. Producing power, and a better striking kick when you do. Flow and transition are again things we needed to strive to attain.
Its important to learn new skills but it is also important to take apart the new skills, drills, moves, and work the parts through. I feel that doing this, gives me time to develop the skills I need so that next time we go through the entire Thai 17 count I will be just a tiny bit improved. Its all about them baby steps.
We worked on clench work after that. We worked with the less experienced students, and were helping them learn half clench, to off balances.
Kru Kristen said an interesting thing. Training is important, and taking people to a high fear level, like throwing them into sparring to soon, is a detriment. The high fear just hinders their learning, however, on the other hand letting them stay in this cushy close, comfortable area does them no good. You can have a great technician, that does not know how to practically use the skills they have. You have some one that is good at fighting but does not have the technical skills. Its taking a student out of their comfort zone, and making them a little uncomfortable is where the real learning comes from. So practicing the skill in a safe environment is important, but then letting the student play around with it is also important. I personally have noticed this is true. You can see how a skill can get used, then strung together with another move, and you can begin to see the openings. When I first started learning Muay Thai, and Kali, the instructors would talk about seeing openings in a persons attack. This was daunting for me then. How was I supposed to remember the attack or move and see an opening at the same time? I can tell you it gets better with experience. You will see the openings when you know what they look like, and you will see what they look like when you learn the moves and how to make your body do the strike.
Kali – Time to Play
In Kali we worked on playing with each other. Kru Kristen says that playful drills where we are able do some flow drills, while then being able to find an opening and using a previously learned move is the beginnings of sparring. Now I have been sparring for a while now, and she has mentioned this before. I agree with her. Being able to take the fear out of it, but making it it fun, and just a partner and yourself just trying to find an in/entry. Or you and a partner trying to find a way to alternate drills that you are doing forces your brain to look for those openings.
We worked on hubud drills again, body pummeling, wrist pummeling, and Thai Boxing pummeling. She encouraged us to talk while doing it. She did not want us to focus on our hands but what our partners energy was doing. Where were they moving their body to, and could you counter without looking directly at their hands.
So to bring the same theme into the Kali class, she wanted us to have time to play. Because if we can play and flow through the hubud, flow drills, then into the body grappling, and then out again into striking, you can see where you would have a opening. Again play is the precursor to sparring, and allows us to be in a safe environment but again, makes you slightly uncomfortable.
This has become a long blog, and if you read this far, wow and thank you. I need to wrap this up and head to bed.
2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali, practice. Today I was feeling much better energy wise. I was feeling some D.O.M.S from yesterdays workout in my triceps, but over all feeling great. Today was another one of those satisfying you know you worked hard workouts.
Muay Thai – Ring My Bell
Today we worked more on the T.B.A.’s Thai 17 count. I was able to go through all of it no problem. Woot! However, today it was over 84 degrees F or 29 degrees C for you across the pond. So hot when you are in a gym with 30 other adults and they don’t have the air conditioning on. The heat saps your energy, but you keep going cause you don’t want to quit. However, there were a few people who had to bow out for a few minutes due to heat, exhaustion or other problems. Not I though. I toughed it out and you can see how sweaty we all got just from my picture.
When I say Ring My Bell…No I did not mean this song:
What I mean is getting one’s bell rung inside the ring. That is what happened to me. During our sparring section of the class, I am working on being more aggressive, but in smart way that does not telegraph what I am doing. Notice the operative phrase “working on”. I am not there yet have a lot of practice sparring to do to get there. Getting ones bell rung in the ring is when a hard blow lands. Now for me everything got a little fuzzy. I had to stop for a second shake it off, and crack my neck right after. Kru Kristen was concerned for me and kept checking up on me. What happened was a hook landed on my cheek and part of my temple. Luckily we were just sparring so my opponent was not going as hard as he could have. But he did land a harder hit than he meant to. So that meant my head snapped around to the side, causing a few seconds of disorientation, and an internal monologue, “are we alright, all systems functioning, are we good to go?” This internal monologue happened within 30 seconds to a minute.
Is this the first time it has happened? Nope, I can count on my hand how many times it has happened. Maybe 3 times at most in my full year of training with Muay Thai.
Will it happen again? Is the Pope Catholic? Yes to both questions. I imagine it will happen again. This is a striking martial art and as such you will get hit. I cannot block every sing incoming strike. I would love to be that good, but no one really is. There are variations of that good, and I hope to learn enough to get better at blocking, but some hits will land no matter what you do.
Kali – Hubud
In Kali we worked on the hubud. This is the flow drill where we practice trapping and feeling the energy or flow of our partner. What we mean by energy is the feeling when a person is changing their stance, or when they lean in, or when the release pressure. We are using these drills to get the feel for when a person is changing something in their body stance, aggression, etc. When we learn what it feels like when a person say changes from defensive to aggressive moves, we can change out hand work, and trap their hands, or arms, or protect ourselves from the weapons that they are using.
Here is a video of people working on the Hubud. With the hubud, we meet the force of the attack, redirect, pak the arm, and trap the arm.
We also worked on, grappling flow drills.
1) Bicep control 2) Single arm clench 3) Wrist control
Kru Kristen says all martial arts have some sort of grappling and if we can learn how to grapple even just a little bit we will have more tools to deal with an opponent.
That is all for today. It is late and I must go to sleep. Have a great night all.
39 minute workout today is done. This will be the workout I will do for Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Today my brain was willing, wanting to get my routine workout in, but my body was feeling tired. You know that feeling when you are doing your workout and your muscles feel low in energy. For me I think it was just lack of sleep that is really messing with me. I ate fine today.
Workout: 39 minutes
15 minute steady state run. (Body/Muscles are tired, so did not want to over do it with a HIIT) (note: weights are for my information do the weights you can lift safely)
Thinks with Spinks 