2 hours of training today. Gonna make this short and sweet. Today I have been up since 4:30 am. I did not sleep well, and had to work two of my jobs today.
Muay Thai
We worked on entries with knees again. This time we used a scoop of the jab or cross and returning an knee. This gets you in to return your 4 count strikes.
I got to work with one of our fighters that actually goes and fights in sanctioned fights. He is really awesome and helped me work the drills. He is tall and I surprised him that I can kick as high as his torso. We discussed the fact that these entries are only for when a person is committed to the punches. If they are just throwing noise then you can’t scoop the jab or cross and get in there. I am having a hard time in sparring knowing when they are committed. I have been assured by him and Kru Kristen that, that is just time and practice. You have to know/feel when they break the imaginary barrier to bring the distance in and hit you.
After that, the more senior of the students broke out and practiced clench sparring. That is a tiring set of 6 rounds. However, it is a lot of fun. I feel like my clench sparring game/abilities/skills have gone up since I was at Thai camp. We did a lot of it, and I got to work with a lot of people. I was able to get my timing right and get my opponents in class off balance.
To finish we did:
100 knees on the bag
30 sit ups
and x planks
Kali
We worked on knifes. Gunting or scissors move where you cut and pass the opponents arm when they attack you with #1 through #5 attacks.
We worked on disarms with:
a c clamp on the wrist
figure 4 arm control where you cut their throat with their own blade
control of opponents arm and sheath the blade into opponents on leg, or arm pit
three direction peel the blade away from opponents hand
We then got to spar with knives. We all wore mouth guards, eye protection, and gloves. One person had a knife, the other had just their hands. We tried to disarm the person with the blade and not get cut. The person with the blade was trying to cut but not get disarmed. This is another fun asymmetrical sparring practice.
We say in Kali/Silat/JKD in a knife fight you either drip or gush. You don’t want to be the one that gushes. What this means is going into a knife fight knowing you will be cut, but not knowing just how bad. Is more realistic. Knives cut fast and deep, and you will most likely get cut in a knife fight. If you get out of it with a few small cuts, and you did not die, you won!
That is all for today. Thank you for reading, I hope you have a fantastic day. My respect to you and your family.
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 hour Conditioning training today. There was a BJJ seminar in our gym today so all of the classes were canceled, and we decided to do our training out in the park. It was a beautiful day. Sunny, breezy and not terribly hot. We stayed in the shade of a big tree. The kiddos got to play in a play ground right next to us. There was a graduation party going on next to us as well. The people setting up wound up watching us. I guess it is not normal to see people drilling boxing, elbows, and knees at the park.
H had me working on 4 minute rounds. No burn outs today, just constant work. We worked on my boxing stance, since I tend to square up when I shift weight on my cross and jab.
We worked on my slip, knees and elbows. We also worked on knees to elbows, punches to elbows, punches to knees.
He can tell the difference in my downward diagonal elbow now that I have been to a Arjan Chai seminar. It is more powerful, and I throw it much better. He has started using that technique as well.
I worked up a sweat, we got about 20 x 4 minute rounds in. It was a great Saturday workout, and a great conditioning day 12 workout. I have 10 days left to train up for camp.
I recorded some video of two of the drills we did.
Here is the Cross, Jab, Slip, Jab, Cross, Slip drill we did.
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.
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.
3.5 hours of Krav Maga, Bo Staff, and Muay Thai Striking class. I am bushed. It is a lovely day outside, a great day for training, and I learned a lot. I can’t ask for much more on a training day.
Krav Maga – Single Wing Choke
I am going to call this a single wing choke. We did many things in Krav, but the new thing, the thing I have never done before and so I focused most of my thought processes to it was what I call the Single Wing Choke. It is probably not called that. But it reminds me of the Muay Thai Single Wing Clench.
We worked on slipping jabs and crosses, and returning a strike. This is normal stuff we work on in Muay Thai.
We worked on this choke that is supposed to cut off oxygen, and blood, to make the assailant pass out. I mention this, because there are choke holds that are meant to cause pain and submission, instead of making the assailant black out. This choke however, is meant to make them black out, or stop fighting.
In Krav we are told you do a move till they stop. Or they stop moving. Let me make this clear that this is for protection in the wide world, and not while working with you partner. If you keep knocking/passing them out, they won’t want to work with you.
So we do this very carefully, and and let the partner know that we are going to tighten now.
We started off in a standing position. Where we split the jab if you are an orthodox fighter. Then we simultaneously returned a strike to throat or face. Then you transition to clenching up on them like a single wing clench in Thai. Push your head up against their shoulder, and pull your elbows to the chest, inflating your chest to cut off oxygen and blood. Your partner will tap when you complete this properly and they feel the pain.
We then transitioned to the floor. Where we started out in cross body position that is done in BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) . This is the fist time I have done BJJ. I try to be really careful with my back, and worry that BJJ will tweak my back. Anyway I digress. We start of with cross body, push up their elbow, put pressure on it with our head and neck leaning into the arm, then we snake our arm around their heads, get a cable lock, move our bodies over theirs, and then pull in our elbows, and expand our chests. We do this till our partner taps.
This was great fun, and I am always surprised how little pressure it takes to cut off oxygen and blood to their heads, if you do the move just right. Kru Kristen, says, “BJJ, they say getting a big result with little effort, is better than getting a little result with big effort.”
Our teacher Lee, is a great teacher and I am happy I made it to Krav today.
Bo Staff – 1 for 1
Today in Bo Staff class, we worked on the 17 strikes as a warm up.
Then we worked on the drill, High, Low, Low, High.
Then for the rest of the class we worked on 1 for 1 drilling. This is the precursor to sparring with a staff. Where you throw any strike, and your partner counters, then they throw a strike and you counter. It makes you think about counter moves, getting off the line, and your next strike. This helps in pattern and flow. I took a video of us doing just that. We make mistakes, and sometimes get hit in the hands, but that is what gloves are for. Protection.
Muay Thai/Striking – Difference between Technique and Tactics
Today in striking we were working on more of the same drills we have been working. This is good cause I needed to get more work in on stepping off the line, getting my strikes in and then getting out of the pocket.
1st round 1) Left leg kick, right cross, left hook/shovel hook/upper cut, right round house 2) Right leg kick, left hook/shovel hook/upper cut, cross, left round house kick 3) Left leg kick, right cross, left hook/shovel hook/upper cut, left round house kick 4) Right leg kick, left hook/shovel hook/upper cut, cross, left round house kick
2nd round 1) Catch jab, return right leg kick, hook/upper cut/shovel hook, cross, left kick or right kick
3rd round 1) Catch jab, avoid cross, return left inner leg kick, cross, hook/upper cut/shovel hook, left or right kick
I worked on my catch of Jab, to hop left and right leg kick. However, what I have been doing when I do that, is squaring up, or placing my right foot down next to the left foot. What that does is make it difficult to almost impossible to do the rest of the Thai 4 count when I am not in the proper stance. So I need to work on laying in the right leg kick, then quickly bringing the leg back to my stance.
This is going to be my bread and butter as a short fighter. I did get a compliment on my cross. I have been working on that, and it looks like it might actually be getting better.
However, I got dinged on dropping my hands. I tend to drop my hands when I am about to throw a kick. This is according to Kru Kristen a common thing that people do, but we need to focus on keeping them up all the time.
She also reiterated that when we are tired like I was, that is the best time to work on your skills. Technique falls to your base skills when you are tired. So focusing and forcing yourself to remember to keep your hands up will develop the mental connection.
She talked about how technique and tactics are different. She can teach tactics all day, but if you don’t have the right technique, tactics won’t do anything for you. We so often work on technique while drilling, however, we have been working on tactics when we talk about how we enter in on a punch, or kick, and return strikes. Tactics makes us use the technique we learn and apply it, allowing us to return strikes, and get out of the box.
I love learning about this striking martial art. I feel so lucky to be able to learn and study under Kru Kristen. I don’t absorb everything every class (there really is so much information thrown at you), but I try so hard to learn at least one new thing, or just try to work on one skill each class. She mentioned that her teacher said you cannot instruct someone, you can only show them. It takes them figuring out what works for them, and their bodies for it to stick and for them to learn.
Thanks for reading. I waxed a little poetic today, but I truly believe everything I have said and love what I am doing. I am exhausted now, and am going to try to put food in my body. Have a great day.
2.5 hours of training Bo Staff, and Striking/JKD. Brace yourselves this ended up being long. =) Maybe grab a tea, or coffee, what ever libation you prefer, and hunker down for a read. I even drew pictures of where I was striking on a stick figure.
Today we worked on Bo Staff, and I was finally able to try out my new polypropylene bo. That sucker is heavy but great for an arm workout, and are almost indestructible.
This is the polypropylene staff that I have and use now as a training staff. Picture credit (Cold Steel)
You can get this staff at this website. https://www.coldsteel.com/training-staff.html I bought this with my own money. I was not paid to review this, and as far as I know they don’t know I am even talking about their products.
I also bought the Baliki Sticks for my Kali stick training. These are also made of the polypropylene. Again they are indestructible, and some what heavy, but great for training.
I mention indestructible because, my rattan sticks I had for one year, had started to shred and fall apart. The only thing that was keeping it together was the duct tape. So yeah having tools/weapons that will not get destroyed for a billion years is so awesome.
This is the Balicki Stick. Picture credit to Cold Steel.
Ok so again I am not being paid for this review. As far as I know they don’t even know who I am, except that I have thrown money their way for their products. So I paid for this with my own money and I am happy with them. They are very sturdy and they are heavy. You can buy them here. https://www.coldsteel.com/balicki-stick.html
Over all I love them. The only thing that is a little weird is they sell them in singles instead of in pairs. So if you do double stick in Kali/Escrima you will have to buy two like I did. They only alteration I did was add some bat tape to end of the stick, where I hold it. Because when I use them bare handed I find that the tape helps me hold onto the stick when my hand gets sweaty.
I have been using these for two weeks. They had been in my living room waiting for me to use them and stop being sick. =) I borrowed my husbands before and found I liked them so I ordered them.
My criteria for equipment, is:
Good quality for the cost. I don’t mind paying more for something that will last.
If functions as intended.
It is not stupid expensive.
Durability ( I don’t want to have to buy it over and over again just cause it breaks/wears out quickly)
Anyway enough gabbing about the equipment I use. If it is helpful to you, and you are looking for training equipment please take a look at these things. =)
Bo Staff Training – Redondo like a helicopter
Today was a fun clear beautiful day. It was not to hot, and we got to work outside with our Bo Staves. We worked on 4 drills that worked the figure 8 with a low strike and high strike at the end. Then we did a redondo that looks like a helicopter.
Training:
Warm up using single stick, heaven figure 8 with low strike and high strike.
Upward figure 8, with low back hand strike and high back hand strike.
Downward figure 8, with low back hand strike and high back hand strike.
Lop sided figure 8 with low back hand strike and high back hand strike.
Redondo high, low, high, with a low back hand strike and high back hand strike.
I tried to scribble out what the figure 8 strikes looked like. Its okay to laugh at my drawings. I do.
In these two figures, you can see the upward figure 8 and the downward figure 8. Husband asked why they were smiling, I said cause they were happy to help me practice. Anyway, on the upward figure 8, you aiming for the knees or inner thighs. So you are targeting 12 strike point, and a 11 strike point in an upward swing. For the downward figure 8 you are targeting a 1 strike point, and a 2 strike point in an downward. See dummy below for strikes points.
In this last figure you see the lop sided figure 8. You are targeting the 1 strike point, and the 4 strike point. These figure 8 were fun, and hard at the same time. Hefting the staff and trying to follow through in the strike is hard, when it meets a resistance and wants to just bounce back.
Redondo high, low, high, with a low back hand and high back hand
This last video is the redondo/helicopter looking swing. Swing where we go around our head hit a high point/head, then hit a low point torso, then high again head area, then low back hand and high back hand.
That is what we did in Kali, and that was just Kali. Now to the Striking class.
Striking class – ABD – Attacking by Defense
So today we worked on how to defend and react to a Jab, Cross combination. We worked on JKD or Jeet Kun Do, the martial arts created by Bruce Lee. Kru Krysta said if you get into a fight or fight in the ring, that Jab, Cross combo is going to come up, so knowing how address it, parry, block, catch and return an attack is very important. She told us her instructor called it ABD – or Attacking By Defense.
For instance if a person throws a jab at you, you can catch the punch or you can destroy their jab/hand by directing it into your elbow.
We worked on how to address, respond, and return attack when you are fighting a person who knows how to box/punch. For instance when they throw a tight Cross.
Then we worked on how to address, respond, and return an attack when you are fighting a person who is a little less knowledgeable in boxing. When they end up doing a wide cross, think John Wayne type cross you can see coming from a mile away.
Striking/JKD training we worked on Jab, Cross Defense
Feeder throws a Jab
You parry
Feeder throws a tight cross
You lean back make your shoulder tight to your face for protection and then Nao Tek their inner thigh with your lead foot, then return an cross, hook, cross, Nao Tek.
Alternately you could Inside Parry, with a punch to the face, or bare handed a eye gauge, then return cross, hook, cross, Nao Tek
The other alternate reaction you could is split the jab, hit simultaneously, then return a hook, cross, Nao Tek
Feeder throws a Jab
You parry
Feeder throws a wide cross
You inside wedge/post on their shoulder, return a knee to quad, step in and you are in south paw stance. Finish with an upper cut, cross, hook, and cross.
Striking was fun today. We worked on JKD, instead of Muay Thai. However, it is good to cross train. Things that are done in JKD translate to Muay Thai and vice versa.
I am not certain how much help this is to any of you, however, having this written down helps me to remember what we did, and I have a reference for the future if when I am struggling, and or when I want to remember something.
As always thank you for reading. I hope you have a great day, and hope your weekend is fantastic.
2 hours of training today. Today was the first day back in 2 weeks for martial arts training. I am still coughing and have congestion in my nose. But I need to get back to it. I have been worried I have lost a lot of my skills while waiting. I know it is stupid to worry about that but I do worry.
Bo Staff – High Box
We started out with Bo staff training. Our usual instructors were not there today, so our friend and junior instructor J won that position by default. Kinda like in the military if your immediate commanders/superiors all die, the next in line gets put into the position of power. He did a fantastic job, and we just worked on the high box routine for staves, with mid-line grip. Our little group kinda stumbled across the flow that worked best for us. Having a mid-line grip meant we had to get offline, or move well to get away from the incoming strike.
Striking – 4 count, and New Drill
So Striking/ Muay Thai class was just going to be open mat. Where we could just work on our skills. This was due to our Kru’s not being in. One was sick and one was out of town. So our team mate A came up with things we could work on. She was awesome and had us working on Thai 4 counts, and a new drill.
Warm Up:
We warmed up with jump rope
We continued warm up with range management to round house kicks to torso
Thai 4 counts:
right round house, hook, cross, left round house
left round house, cross, hook, right round house
right round house, hook, cross, right round house
left round house, cross, hook, left round house
New Drill:
rear round house kick
rear knee
rear round house kick
hook
cross
left elbow
right elbow
hook
cross
left round house kick
left knee
left round house kick
hook
cross
left elbow
right elbow
hook
cross
Lather Rinse and Repeat for 1.5 minutes then switch up and hold pads for your partner.
That new drill was awesome. I had a few breathing problems/coughing during the practice. I can’t wait till I can get rid of all of this congestion and it does not hold me back.
I also was so excited about getting back into training that I was forcing my strikes and kicks. My partner said that they know I know the strikes and kicks, I just need to relax. Because you see when you relax the strikes are harder. My body knows what to do. I am just so excited/nervous about being away for so long. I was in my own head, and I was forcing it.
When I force the strikes, I end up not having the proper flow and it makes my moves more choppy. I need to just relax and let it go. I need to get back into my grove. I need to get out of my head, and let my body do what it knows.
I am a little disappointed about my performance today. I am frustrated I have a cough still and congestion which is messing with my cardio. However, it is far better than it was even 4 days ago.
I am happy I got into the gym, and started training again. I was so happy to see my friends and team mates. I can’t wait to get back into the gym again.
Thanks for reading. I hope you are having a great weekend. If you are in the states, I hope you have a fantastic holiday weekend.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Thinks with Spinks 