Tag: Kicking

Training Martial Arts 5/17/2021: Fixing the Minor Things Will Fix Overall performance

What am I working on right now? What am I tweaking to be just that much better at Muay Thai?

I have gotten used to the boxing gloves, and the Thai pads. Both of which are large, bulky, and fluffy. You may be thinking what boxing gloves are large? Well yes they are, we use 12 oz to 16 oz boxing gloves to train with. If you have ever had boxing gloves on you will know that they look like balloons on your hands. When you put on a pair of MMA gloves, whoo boy your hands profile gets a lot smaller.

What happens when your hands profile gets a lot smaller?

Your guard area is smaller, the bulky gloves protect a lot of your face. Not so with MMA gloves. You have to remember to move, parry, catch, slip, and bob and weave. Boxing gloves you can pillar up and it will save help you out.

Your elbows can flare out with boxing gloves leaving a channel up your body for a great upper cut from your opponent. So when our hands profile gets smaller you elbows can come down and you have a tighter profile.

Your hands are less protected so you can’t be lazy about your hooks. When you get lazy with less protection, you can break your hands, or your wrists and that is no fun.

Your hands are smaller, so they can split the gloves, or your opponents guard much easier.

The major minor fixes that I am working on lately are:

  1. Using smaller gloves, to work making my guard tighter
  2. Using smaller gloves reminds me of my real area/distance for attack and defend
  3. Using smaller gloves, to work on me turning my hand raising my elbow so I hit the hook correctly.
    • when you use MMA gloves you feel it, and you know if you hit right
  4. Punching from guard at my face, instead of dropping my hand, and cocking back to punch.
    • when I drop my hand even a little bit and cock back,
      • I am giving a tell to my opponent I am about to hit – they will then hit me
      • I am losing seconds to hit.
      • I am losing the surprise
  5. Remembering to bring my hand back to my face instead of back to chest level.
    • when I bring it back to chest level I am
      • losing time (seconds really but it maters)
      • I am leaving my guard open till I get my hand back to my face

Those are the minor things I have been working on fixing. What did I work on before. My foot work, or getting off the line. Will I have to tweak those again? Yeah I am sure I will. This art takes a lifetime of learning, I will always have something else I can make better. But right now this is what I am doing, time in training, and drilling will make me better.

At this point in my training, the drills are not new, the moves are things I have done a thousand thousand times.

I am making those minor tweaks. Just like in swimming, to take off seconds in timing. Those tiny tells/things that give away my intentions to strike.

Just like training for nationals in swim team, shaving off seconds in my 500 freestyle time took months of work. Months of tweaking:

  1. when I breath
  2. just how I turned
  3. my jump start
  4. how much water I pulled
  5. breath management

Muay Thai is no different in that regard. Fixing minor things, helped with my overall performance. Well there is one thing that is greatly you get punched and kicked a lot more in Muay Thai then at swim team. lol

Cutting Macros for the Week

Lets see… I did get closer to my protein levels on average. I have made sure to get my protein shakes in, and protein bars when I could not eat lunch at work right away. I can cut carbs and fat, ay

Went over on my carbs and my fats a little this week. But over all felt good. My training was good, and I am getting closer to being on point with my protein intake.

MACRO AVERAGES
 Day 1Day 2Day 3Day 4Day 5Day 6Day 7AverageGoalDifference
Protein1231209115489145108118.57142917354.42857143
Carbs290165193276180203257223.428571201-22.42857143
Fat95839212571117174108.14285790-18.14285714
           
Calories25071887196428451715244530262341.285712306-35.28571429

Training Monday 5/17/2021: 45 minute run and weight lifting leg day

Today started out with a walk with my partner.

Then I went for a mile run after digesting breakfast.

Then it was on to first day of this weeks weight lifting workout. Which happens to be leg day again. Weee!

We can do anything we put our minds to. Anyone telling us we can’t are just showing us their limitations not yours!

Leg day with an emphasis on Quads and Glutes:
1) dumbbell squat – reps – 20, 20, 20, 20
2) standing leg extensions- reps – 12, 12, 12

Superset: do all exercises once through before rest
1) barbell hip thrust -reps – 12, 12, 12, 12
2) body weight floor glute bridges -reps – 12, 12, 12, 12

Superset: do all exercises once through before rest
1) resistance band abductor -reps- 15, 15, 15
2) dumbbell sumo squats -reps- 15, 15, 15

Training Tuesday 5/18/2021: 1 hour of Muay Thai

Some days you eat the kick to the ribs because you missed the subtle change in you opponents movement and then since they were nice enough to put their leg up there on your ribs you catch it to off balance them. Making lemonade out of lemons is helpful in my training.

Look I am not… I am still learning and have a lot to learn. But I have been noticing subtle changes in how I perceive my opponent.

I frankly see more now. Reaction time I am working on. 😂 lol

Muay Thai:
1) jump rope warm up
2) jab, catch, jab drill
3) cross, parry, cross drill
4) hook, high elbow cover, hook drill

5) respond to the jab cross hook, return a hook, cross, lead kick
6) fed pads for H

7) respond to jab cross hook, high elbow cover and return a jab/strike, cross, hook, rear kick
8 ) fed pads for H

9) respond to jab cross hook, you bob and weave on the hook, return a hook to torso, cross, lead knee
10) fed pads for H

11) pop the leather where we responded to the jab cross hook
12) same as previous round

Training Thursday 5/20/2021: 1 hour of Muay Thai

Who has two thumbs and had a long day at work? Yup that’s me. But I powered through my training. I did for a little bit contemplate just resting today, but I threw on my Beast Mode shirt and trained.

It was a balmy 97 degrees F in my gym today. Whew! When you are tired the heat can suck more energy out of you.

I am glad I went in. I am glad I trained.

Thank you Khun Kru Krysta for a great class again!

What did I focus on while I was so tired? Keeping my hands up, bringing them back to my face, getting out of the pocket after I completed the drill! Yay!

Training Saturday 5/22/2021:1 hour- 1 mile run, and weightlifting upper body

We took the morning and spent it with the kiddos. They needed time with mom and dad. Ordered breakfast out, and had a family picnic.

But I still had to get my run and weightlifting in. I have a schedule to keep. I waited till the kids had to do their daily chores to get away. So a little later in the day than I like to but it’s done woot!

1 mile run, with new better run time in steady state run. Woot!

Weightlifting: upper body – chest, back, biceps

Superset: do all exercises once through no rest till all are done in one set.
1) push ups- reps- 10, 10, 10
2) dumbbell chest fly – reps- 10, 10, 10

1) standing barbell row – reps- 10, 10, 10, 10

2) lay pull down wide grip- reps- used resistance bands- 15, 15, 15, 15

Superset: do all exercises once through no rest till all are done in one set.
1) resistance band chest flys – reps- 15, 15, 15, 15
2) dumbbell standing double arm bicep curls -reps- 12, 12, 12, 12

1) preachers dumbbell bicep curls – reps each side- 10, 10, 10

Training Sunday 5/23/2021: 2.5 hours- 1.5 hours of Muay Thai, and 1 hour of upper body weight lifting back, shoulders and abs

Today was a great day of training. I got to work with my training pod. We worked on pads and sparring.

I focused on keeping my tools in the box, keeping my arms, elbows, and punches tight.

I worked on making sure I don’t drop my hands from my face/guard then punching. When I do that it takes longer for my punches to come, and I send a huge signal that I am punching. A tell. When I say longer I mean a few seconds but those few seconds allows some one else to get a punch in when my guard is down. Really it’s a game of milliseconds and millimeters. You give one you get punched.

Thank you Khun Kru Krysta, Amanda Benson Early, and H for helping me tighten my game.

Then after lunch was eaten it was on to my weightlifting.

Weightlifting: back shoulders and abs day

1)inclined bench double-arm dumbbell rows – reps – 12, 12, 12, 12

2) seated wide grip cable rows (resistance band) – reps – 10, 10, 10, 10

3) bent over barbell high row- reps- 12, 12, 12, 12

4) Superset: do all exercises one after another in a set before rest
1) barbell front raise -reps – 12, 12, 12, 12
2) barbell upright row -reps – 12, 12, 12, 12

5) leaning one armed dumbbell lateral raises- reps each side- 12, 12, 12,

6) Superset: do all exercises one after another in a set before rest
1) laying leg raises – reps – 20
2) crunch to side tap -reps – 20
3) standing crunches – reps – 20

7) Superset: do all exercises one after another in a set before rest
1) laying leg raises – reps – 20
2) crunch to side tap -reps – 20
3) standing crunches – reps – 20
4) laying leg raises – reps – 20
5) crunch to side tap -reps – 20
6) standing crunches – reps – 20

What small things are you trying to tweak in your training?

I hope you are all happy and healthy. Thank you for reading my blog/s. If you liked this one, please hit the like button. If you want to follow my adventures feel free to subscribe. As always if you have a comment please feel free to chat. For day to day stuff you can find me @sharpcupcake on instagram.

As always, Don’t Photo Edit, Just Go Get It!

Martial Arts 09/03/2019: Muay Thai – Balance is king, Boxing, (High, Mid, and Low line)

Woo this month in Muay Thai we are focusing on boxing. For the more advanced students Kry Kristen is focusing on the more technical side of boxing. She mentioned when she started Muay Thai she would throw noise punches out there that did not do anything just to get to kicks, however, when she figured out how to pivot and move her feet properly to get power into her punch it changed her game entirely. Anyway this week I completed 6.75 hours of training.

Tuesday 9/03/2019 – 2 hours of training Muay Thai and Kali

Muay Thai – Boxing, Technical training, (High, Mid, and Low Line)

So I know people learn in one of 4 ways. When I was a child they tested me and found I learn all 4 ways equally. This is… wait, I just read an article stating that the learning styles are not exactly accurate… however, when I was a little girl… Hrm… that makes me sound really old. But non the less… when I was little, they tested me and I learned all 4 ways equally. What are the 4 ways you ask? (Memorization, Visual, Auditory, and Doing/manual manipulation) Apparently your preferred method of learning changes based on what you are doing. You don’t learn math just verbally, and you can’t learn language very well just by seeing pictures. So what I was going to say goes out the window.

However, that all being said, and my verbose description aside, for me and martial arts visual seeing it done, verbal, and writing it down is really helping me. So I am going to make another chart for boxing ranges and High/Mid/Low lines shots. Here is the chart below.

For today’s class, Kru Kristen was explaining the different areas for strikes in boxing. How if your opponent goes for the high line, you drop your level and hit say a hook to mid section of your opponent and get the mid line etc. If the go low, you guy high, or mid line. She did not want to be to esoteric but thinking of the opponents body in terms of shapes and areas in those shapes to strike are helpful she said. For me this description is very helpful. I love the thought of this. I am an artist and I think and see shapes all the time. I see the way things are made up, so thinking of my opponent in shapes and how they are made up, to see where to hit in response to something just made a light go on. (see doll above, for shapes and strike areas)

Training:

  1. 1 x 3 minute round jump rope warm up
  2. 1 x 3 minute round plus sign range management drill
  3. 1 x 3 minute round plus sign range management drill with 1/4 turns
  4. The goal of this drill is to focus on pivot, and foot placement on the punches, the head movement and the deep step, then the shoulder check to close range. You are going to be in the inner mid line with the hook before you bob and shoulder check.
  5. Jab
  6. Cross
  7. Hook
  8. Cross
  9. Bob
  10. Deep step in to right side of opponent and shoulder check
  11. Either get out, or continue to press the strikes
  12. Cross to Hook burn out drill
  13. The goal of this drill is the same, pivot, foot placement, and range management, also adding change in level of strikes.
  14. Jab
  15. Cross
  16. Hook to body
  17. Hook to head
  18. Bob
  19. Deep step in to the right side, and shoulder check
  20. Either get out, or continue to press the strikes
  21. Body hook, Head Hook, Cross burn out drill

    Windshield wiper shoulder bump drill
  22. Windshield wiper = Lead hand covers belly, rear hand covers side of face usually on lead side face. Reverse when bobbing other side, rear hand covers belly, lead hand covers face.
  23. Foot work, is female triangle, or rear step out to side of opponent.
  24. Bob with lead shoulder toward opponent doing windshield wiper
  25. Bump shoulders
  26. Bring feet back together, and hands up covering face
  27. Step with lead foot to lead foot to side of opponent
  28. Bob with rear shoulder toward opponent doing windshield wiper
  29. Bump shoulders

    Windshield wiper shoulder bump drill with hook, or uppercut
  30. Foot work, is female triangle, or rear step out to side of opponent.
  31. Bob with lead shoulder toward opponent doing windshield wiper
  32. Bump shoulders Bring, throw a hook/upper cut to opponents head (for drill shoulder so you don’t hurt your opponent)
  33. Step with lead foot to lead foot to side of opponent
  34. Bob with rear shoulder toward opponent doing windshield wiper
  35. Bump shoulders throw a hook/upper cut to opponents head (for drill shoulder so you don’t hurt your opponent)

Kali – 6 count drills

In Kali today we covered the basic 6 count drills. It was nice to work on something we have done before and we have the muscle memory for it already. Some days its nice not having to tax you brain. Muay Thai did that for us today already, so tonight was nice. I turned off my brain and just went through the movement. I tried to make my movements more smooth. Tried being the operative word there.

Wednesday 9/04/2019 – 1 hours of training Muay Thai

We worked on the same things we did yesterday, however, today we added one more drill. Also I worked with a girl who is brand new and because of that I went slower, tried to help teach her how to hold pads, and just made sure she was comfortable. While I go slower, I work on my form. Today I worked on my pivot and the escapes.

Escapes we worked on:

  1. Lateral step in and bump with shoulder to mid section, then bump with other shoulder to create space.
  2. Boogie out ( a way to get out of the corner, or cut a corner)
  3. Quarter turned out and side shuffle out

Warm Up:

  1. Monster walks with resistance band forward and backward across the mat
  2. Side lounges across the mat with resistance band down and back across the mat
  3. Contra Lateral Movement, bear crawls, side ways across the mat and forward and backward across the mat
  4. Agility Ladder drill – Ali Shuffle x 3 minute round

Found the Agility Ladder drill on youtube so you can see it:

New combo we worked on today:

  1. Jab
  2. Cross
  3. Lead upper cut
  4. Cross
  5. Quarter turn and side shuffle out

Today was a good day. Kru Kristen complimented me on my form and movement. She said the more I get into boxing stance. The more I move properly. I am using my body for my strikes and moving my head. That is great news, because when I spar I tend to feel very stationary. I need to learn to move and keep my movement dynamic.

Thursday 9/05/2019 – Took today off, scoliosis was hurting me and causing headaches all day.

Friday 9/06/2019 – 1.75 hours of training Muay Thai – Balance is king, and making your Thai pretty

I love working with Tony, he has a different perspective and he has points of view I had not thought of. When you train with a instructor in Muay Thai, and you go out there in the world, you are representing your trainer/instructor. Muay Thai practitioners really believe, that you represent all of your instructors. (I to believe this, and try to show respect in all things, and only do what would make my instructors proud.) I have mentioned it before, but when you learn from a instructor, when they take you under their wing and decide to teach you, they are taking you into their family. They are taking you into their lineage.

I am lucky and honored to have Tony, Kru Kristen, and Khun Kru Krysta instructing me.

Today while we were training he talked with us about making our Thai pretty. We are representing him out there in the world and he loves it when people recognize his families art as pretty. He emphasized taking the power out of the kicks and the knees. He wants us to put them out there, make them pretty, work on our balance and then the power comes later. He really likes us to feel our bodies and how they work. You can see this in the warm ups we do. I really love the differences between my instructors. I get the best of so many worlds.

I started my workout 30 minutes before class started.

Training:

  1. 5 minutes of stretching
  2. 5 minutes walking knees across the mat
  3. 10 minutes bag work for, working on kicks, teeps to kicks, and closing the distance for knees
  4. 10 minutes of windshield wiper bump drill first on bag, then with partner

Training in class:

  1. 10 minutes of jumping rope
  2. 1 round of easy walking kicks to shields, using both orthodox and south paw stance.
    1. (He wanted us to losen up our hips, get our body moving, and feel how our hips move. Because all to often we are tight we are holding our hands up to cover our faces which is good, but then we tighten everything else.)
  3. 1 round of rear driving knees
  4. 20 push ups
  5. 1 round of pad holding for your partners rear driving knees.
    1. (Tony emphasized that the pad holders responsibility is to hold well for your partner. If they are shorter you should lower your stance and hold it lower for them. His contention is that yes a shorter person can kick higher, but that is a different motion and different kick, than say a torso kick at the shorter person level.)
  6. 20 push ups
  7. 1 round of lead teep, to switch step to lead knee.
    1. (The key here is balance. You want to be able to teep a person to stop them from coming forward, but not eject them. You then want to have your shield up for the second before you switch step into a driving knee.)
  8. 20 push ups
  9. 1 round of holding pads for your partner
    1. (The key here is that he wants the pad holder to not move back on the teep, and to get enough resistance and push back that the knee-er knee is pushed back down and then can get back into stance again. We need to be good pad holders so that our partner can work the drill correctly too. )
  10. 20 push ups
  11. 2 rounds of sets of 50 machine gun kicks.
    1. ( We worked both sides. after about the 200th kick I was gassing. He wanted the power taken out of it and for us to feel the movement and get the speed in. We ended up doing about 250 kicks per round)

Today was a great day of class. I loved it. I am glad I took the day yesterday. I could have pushed through but the way I was feeling was not conducive to a great training day. Some days I just have to take it off. I am slowly coming to grips with that.

Also today I was working on putting more weight on my back leg, and less on my front leg. I have a habit of leaning forward in my stance and that is not good. I makes me slower and less able to react quickly and reduces my power. Tony wants us to feel our bodies and how they move. I noticed my driving knees were so much more powerful when I just leaned back more on my rear leg. This was a light bulb moment for me. We are told to do just that lean back more, but it is hard to feel/see what they are talking about till you drill it out and figure it out on your own body.

Saturday 9/07/2019 – 2 hours of training Muay Thai and Staff – waking up on the wrong side of the bed

Today was one of those days where when you wake up and all the little things that irritate you or upset you through the day add up, you wish you just had not gotten out of bed. Yeah… today was that day. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed as I heard my elders say when I was a wee little girl.

I won’t list all the things that made it bad, or annoying, or sad, just that it was, and so it colored my day. It also made me doubt myself and have to cut out of staff class just to go check that I had unplugged a waffle iron. I wanted to make sure I did not burn the house down. So I missed a good half of staff class.

I had the pleasure of working with my trainer/instructor Khun Kru Krysta and I got to see all of my Thai family and my Kali family. That was nice. I shown up, and I tried to put the work in. As my friend said to me today, “even if you only put in 25% while you are here, you are here and you tried. You did not give up when you had a bad day!” So yeah I did that.

Training today was all things we have done and have been studying. This is good. This is great, because I did not have to over think what I was doing. I could just let for the most part muscle memory take over. Even though I felt like the kicks I was putting in were terrible. I was putting them in, and correcting as I was going.

Staff – We worked on various redondos and backhands.

Striking/Muay Thai Class – we worked on catch, parry, and returning 4 counts to opponent, teeping them and then getting out.

This is a video of me working on some of the drills we did in class. As you can see I am working on my technique. I am just not 100% today.

https://youtu.be/SBByaAwJ3g4

Well I hate ending on a down note. Wait a second it is not a down note. I went to class I worked things out. I did not let the little things stop me. I might have had a moment here and there that got me down, but I worked through it.

Thank you all for reading. If you have any questions feel free to ask. My respect to you and I hope you follow your dreams to become the best you that you can be.

Conditioning Day 14…Two Sessions 18 rounds, Day 14 of 22

2.5 hours of training today across two sessions. I was only able to get 1 hour in at around 6:30 am this morning. I forgot my headphones and had to go home to get them.

I ended up doing my mile run, then 6 rounds on the heavy bag, with 30 second burn out knees and two kicks.

The second session I went in at around 12:30 pm and got another 12 rounds in.

Day 14 of 22, means I have 8 more days to get ready! *Boggle* I hope I will be ready. =) Both Kru Kristen, and Kru Krysta say I will be ready, just take it easy the first day and don’t burn out the first day.

Here is more detailed information of my training:

  1. 1 mile run
  2. 1 x 3 minute round on the heavy bag, elbows to knees, punches to knees, to kicks
  3. 1 x 30 second burn out of knees and two kicks
  4. 1 x 3 minute round on the heavy bag, elbows to knees, punches to knees, to kicks
  5. 1 x 30 second burn out of knees and two kicks
  6. 1 x 3 minute round on the heavy bag, elbows to knees, punches to knees, to kicks
  7. 1 x 30 second burn out of knees and two kicks
  8. 1 x 3 minute round on the heavy bag, elbows to knees, punches to knees, to kicks
  9. 1 x 30 second burn out of knees and two kicks
  10. 1 x 3 minute round on the heavy bag, elbows to knees, punches to knees, to kicks
  11. 1 x 30 second burn out of knees and two kicks
  12. 1 x 3 minute round on the heavy bag, elbows to knees, punches to knees, to kicks
  13. 1 x 30 second burn out of knees and two kicks

Breakfast, and then I was called into work for a few hours. One of my coworkers was sick.

Lunch

  1. 1 x 3 minutes of Jumping rope ( note did not count this as a round its a warm up)
  1. 1 x 3 minute round on the heavy bag, elbows to knees, punches to knees, to kicks
  2. 1 x 30 second burn out of knees and two kicks
  3. 1 x 3 minute round on the heavy bag, elbows to knees, punches to knees, to kicks
  4. 1 x 30 second burn out of knees and two kicks
  5. 1 x 3 minute round on the heavy bag, elbows to knees, punches to knees, to kicks
  6. 1 x 30 second burn out of knees and two kicks
  1. 1 x 3 minute round on the shadowboxing
  2. 1 x 30 second burn out of knees and two kicks
  3. 1 x 3 minute round shadowboxing shields, and doing balance exercises across the pads
  4. 1 x 30 second burn out of knees and two kicks
  5. 1 x 3 minute round on the heavy bag, elbows to knees, punches to knees, to kicks
  6. 1 x 30 second burn out of knees and two kicks
  7. 1 x 3 minute round on the heavy bag, elbows to knees, punches to knees, to kicks
  8. 1 x 30 second burn out of knees and two kicks
  9. 1 x 3 minute round on the heavy bag, elbows to knees, punches to knees, to kicks
  10. 1 x 30 second burn out of knees and two kicks
  11. 1 x 3 minute round on the heavy bag, elbows to knees, punches to knees, to kicks
  12. 1 x 30 second burn out of knees and two kicks
  13. 1 x 3 minute round on the heavy bag, elbows to knees, punches to knees, to kicks
  14. 1 x 30 second burn out of knees and two kicks
  15. 1 x 3 minute round on the heavy bag, elbows to knees, punches to knees, to kicks
  16. 1 x 30 second burn out of knees and two kicks
  17. 1 x 3 minute round on the heavy bag, elbows to knees, punches to knees, to kicks
  18. 1 x 30 second burn out of knees and two kicks

Have a fantastic day, and keep working to be the best you can be. I have to go get husband from the metro, feed family, and go to work for my night shift.

Conditioning Day 2…Muay Thai hold 2, kick 2

1 hour and 30 minutes of conditioning training. I started with a 2 mile run. Then we worked the pads, in 3 minute rounds. I have to say conditioning after a 2 mile run is hard right now. I am hoping here in three weeks it is easier.

Each day I am going to try to make my run faster and longer. I am going to try to get rounds in on the pad or on the bag.

I rand 2 miles in 25 minutes. That makes them 12.5 minute miles. I hate running. Running is a means to an end, and it is to get my cardio up and great for running away from predators. *grins* Serpentine, serpentine!

Then we worked the pads for 1 hour and 35 minutes.

We did:

  1. 10 minute stretch
  2. 4 x 3 minute rounds of kicks to knees, not super hard warm up the joints =) (1 minute rest between each)
  3. 1 x 3 minute round hold 2, kick 2 (1 minute rest)
  4. 2 x 3 minute rounds standard conditioning rounds. 3 kicks right, 3 kicks left, 4 knees (1 minute rest between each round)
  5. 2 minute rest to talk about the clenching
  6. 3 x 3 rounds off balancing
  7. 2 minute rest
  8. 10 minute stretch

Kicking after having run 2 miles is so very hard. My legs did not want to cooperate. You will also notice I drop my hands the more tired I get. I was also “cheer leading” with my hands and some of my kicks. Lets see what else I did wrong. I was tired, my knees were crap, and I forgot to point toes, my off balances were less technique and more force. Dropping my guard was the biggest problem, but oh man is there a lot of crap to work on.

https://youtu.be/76YXTLdceWU

Anyhow I had a great day of training, even if my form went to crap as I got more and more tired. My partner H was making sure to call me out on my dropped guard. He was gently punching for my head every time he saw my guard drop. This is a good reminder to keep guard up and not get hit in the face.

I am exhausted, and am going to bed. We shall see if I can actually get my conditioning up, before Thai Camp. I am going regardless. I just hope not to die so fast there. So I am training.

I hope you all have a fantastic day. Thanks for reading, and keep working on being the best you that you can be.

Conditioning Day 1…Opportunity of a Lifetime

2.5 hours of Conditioning, Muay Thai Training, and Kali. We are going to be changing the format of my workouts for the next 20 days.

I have been given an opportunity of a lifetime. If you have been reading I have had the awesome chance to go to a 2 day Muay Thai seminar with the father of Muay Thai in America. He brought it over in 1968. Ajarn Chai was the man that has allowed me to find and fall in love with this martial art.

Well at this seminar I was personally asked if I was going to attend the Muay Thai Camp set up and run by the WTBA (World Thai Boxing Association). The thing to remember about this is that this camp is meant for instructors. You have to be invited to the camp, and as a student you have to be advanced to be invited, and you have to be invited by an instructor and or Ajarn Chai himself. I was invited and we have moved mine and my families schedule around for me to be able to go to this event.

I have purchased my plane tickets and my entrance fee for the camp. They will be providing food for us. Kru Krysta maybe testing this camp so I get the honor to see her test for it her next level.

What this means is I have to start conditioning training. Muay Thai camp is not some leisurely camp where we get massages and sip champagne. They expect us to work and work hard.

It is my understanding that the days will go something like this:

  1. Wake up and run 2 miles
  2. Train Muay Thai
  3. Eat breakfast, break
  4. Run 1 mile
  5. Train Muay Thai
  6. Eat lunch, break
  7. Train Muay Thai
  8. Eat Dinner
  9. Sleep

So I must now condition. We leave July 23, 2019. I have about 20 days to get my conditioning up. I have some concern I won’t be ready, but I am going. If I have to struggle my way through I will.

So my training schedule is changing. Instead of running and then weight lifting on Monday, Wed, and Fri. Muay Thai training on Tues, Wed, Thurs, Sat. I will be doing the following:

  1. Running Monday and Friday 3 miles
  2. Running 2 miles, Training Muay Thai, and Kali Tues, Thurs, and Sat.
  3. Running 2 miles, Training conditioning rounds Wed, Sat
  4. Rest day on Sunday

We will see if I need to shove in a rest day on Mon too. But for now that is the schedule. Anyone else scared that I won’t be ready? I am. But I have decided I will do what I can on such short notice and then just go and get the most out of this opportunity.

I saw some pictures from the seminar, and I just don’t under… my brain keeps saying, “look at you. What do these crazy people see. Don’t they see what I see. Basically a joke. Some one who does not belong.”

I am going to try to ignore those doubts and worries. This part of my journey is the bad part or the upside down part. The self doubt and worry are the bad parts. I am going to do what all well adjusted adults do and ignore it. =) I am going to let my brain say/think those things, then ignore it, and keep training. That is all I can do.

Enough of my thoughts out on paper, lets get to the training that happened today.

My Training:

1.5 mile run in 20 minutes.

1 hour of Muay Thai training. We worked on clenches. We worked with the less advanced students, and helped them work on some simple clenchs and ways to get out of the clench. Like the collapse of their elbow into their chest, and face push to get out of their full plumb.

The advanced students went off then and sparred with J. To get his training in before his upcoming fight. I was told that my round in the ring, was much better than any others I have had. I was more relaxed. I got a chance to use my footwork to cut the corner and get on J’s left side and land a kick. I landed many kicks, and punches. I felt great during the sparring, and compared to the 12 minutes of clench sparring we did, 3 minutes seemed like nothing now. I was tired a little but I did not feel dead.

My scale of what my body can and cannot do has been moved much further along the number line. Instead of 3 minutes feeling like I am going to die. I have felt what it feels like when I am about to lose the lunch I just ate.

Kali

In Kali we worked on Kawain, Ki Lap, Full T, and Half T. We had a number of new students and a special seminar from Dan Inosanto himself coming to this area. I need to sleep so I am going to leave it there.

So I am going to write about every day that I conditioning training up till Thai Camp. Then I will of course write about that. That is 4 days of savage and grueling Thai training.

I hope you are all having a great day. Tomorrow I am shooting for 2 miles. Stay safe, and be the best you, that you can be.

Tuesday Muay Thai and Kali… Smother the Gun, Abecedario Snake, and Face Plant

Today was the first full day back to Muay Thai and Kali after my horrible cold virus, and ear infection. We went on Saturday, but it was not taught by our Kru. Today was a kick ass day, and it kicked my ass. It was fantastic. I was so worried I would loose everything I learned. I have to say though I did great and I have not lost everything.

Muay Thai – Smother the Gun

Today we worked on bleeding off the power from our opponents. What that meant was we slide in as they were kicking our leg and landing a cross on their chest or face. When you do this Kru Kristen called it Smother the Gun. It takes the force and power out of your opponents strike. So you can get in return the strike, strike again, and again, and get out of the pocket. She wanted us to work on bleeding off our opponents power, then returning a strike, and then do a defensive move to get out, and not get hit.

What this looked like was:

  1. Opponent kicks, I slide in bleed off power, returning at the same time a cross, from there you throw a hook while moving out then, throw your kick torso round house, or leg kick
  2. Opponent kicks, I slide in bleed off power, returning a cross, then we worked on returning a left leg kick, or left round house torso kick

As with any new strike, or combination, my brain and body try to reconcile what I want it to do. So I hesitate, or pause when practicing. My flow is off, but that is to be expected till I start to get used to this way of getting into the pocket.

After that Kru Kristen wanted us to work on asymmetrical sparring. What that meant is one person gets to only throw punches. The other person get to only throw kicks. This makes is easier to see the strike coming and know you just have to defend kicks, but harder in the sense that she is taking a tool away from you. So you have to think around distance management, you have to think about how to get in, maybe having to eat a few strikes just to get in.

Kali – Abecedario Snake, and Face Plant

Kru Krysta was nice enough to write what we were doing down. I got a picture of it and will translate.

  1. Warm up – Strikes 1, 2, 3 (ABC or Abecedario) low back hand, then high back hand
  2. Srikes 1, 2, (equis) clockwise scoop opponents cross, hit head or ribs
  3. Strikes 1, 2, (equis) counter clockwise scoop opponents cross, submit opponent with Basset Dal or face plant
  4. Strikes 1, 2, 1, Kumbiata Switch, clockwise snake, to rolling pin (where you take the stick and roll it on opponents muscle to make them drop weapon)
  5. Strikes 1, 2, 2, Kumbiata Switch, to clockwise snake, to arm lever (revers) (this is where you, lever your stick into the pectoral muscle of your opponent, this causes pain and you can submit them to the floor.)

I took some not great videos of me doing these Kali moves. However, they are here for me to remember the moves, and to look back on them and see my progress.

https://youtu.be/xL78kJeuJbw
https://youtu.be/da3MivPzxGw

I hope if you are reading this that you are having a great day. Thank you for reading. I had this typed out and ready to publish however, for some reason I lost all my work. So this is the second time around and I need to sleep. Have a good rest of your day. I really enjoyed being back with friends and team mates. I am still a little congested but had a blast to day. Keep up the good work and keep striving to the be the best you you can be.

Saturday Bo Staff, Striking class…Thrust and Slash, Panantukan/Dirty Boxing

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.

https://youtu.be/_K8J6zoVpTk

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.

https://youtu.be/uvO3KfnzI9c

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.

https://youtu.be/bQqrZxfrvBY

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.

Saturday Muay Thai and Striking… entry, rhythm, and JKD (Jeet Kune Do)

I sit here writing this after a 2.5 hour training session, we also just refueled with some delicious Thai food. Because it is H’s birthday and we are celebrating. In most Asian families, long noodles are the thing to eat to ensure a long life. =)

I trained Muay Thai for one hour before our striking class. We worked on entries to get in and land our punches. We were working our range management. I am very short, 5 foot nothing, and my range is very short. In a fight I am going to get up close and personal. Where a taller 6 foot person is going to be hit me from further away. I have to get in close. There are advantages for the taller person. They can kick and hit from further out, and I have to eat a hit or kick to get into their pocket. However, the advantages for a shorter fighter are to my knowledge I have a shorter range, which is good cause I can then switch up what I am doing faster than they can. I can change my range with moving a little bit. I can cover up my actions by putting interference in their faces and then kick them without them seeing my legs move if I am executing the move correctly.

In Striking class we worked on JKD (Jeet Kune Do). ” Jeet Kune Do, “The way of the intercepting fist” in Cantonese, abbreviated JKD, is a hybrid philosophy of martial arts heavily influenced by the personal philosophy and experiences of martial artist Bruce Lee.” Wikipedia

We worked on both orthodox fighting and south paw fighting. What this means is we had to change our stances. We had to change our lead leg. Orthodox fighters have left leg forward, and south paw fighters have right leg forward. We had to faint, high, and low jabs, then work on entries into and range management to get the crosses, hooks, upper cuts, and then lead pendulum kicks a.k.a. Nao Tek.

From a technique point of view, this is hard to switch up. When I an orthodox fighter has to switch up to south paw, or right lead leg. It takes all your mental acuity to just make sure your throwing a hook with the right hand and not a cross like you would with orthodox stance. We then worked on a pop the leather practice where we try to use the tools we learned in JKD to asymmetrically spar our opponent. It was a fantastic training session, and I had a great time.

I have rambled on enough. I hope you have had a great day. Talk to me if you have questions or thoughts.

Here is a video of me doing some training on the bag. I was working on some left and right kicks. As you can see I am a orthodox fighter and I have left lead leg.

https://youtu.be/cVVcN8lvy3Y
Working on Muay Thai Kicks