Tag: Knee

Tuesday Muay Thai and Kali…Same side flow like water, Thai shirts, 7 count knife drill

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, Kali Escrima, Martial Arts, Muay ThaiLeave a comment

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…

  1. Lead round house kick to lead tee
  2. Rear round house kick to rear teep
  3. Lead round house kick, to lead shield of kick, to lead round house kick to lead teep.
  4. Rear round house kick, to rear shield of kick, to rear round house kick to rear teep.
  5. 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.

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Thursday Muay Thai and Kali…A Little Uncomfortable, Time to Play

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, Kali Escrima, Martial Arts, Muay ThaiLeave a comment

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.

Saturday Krav, Bo Staff, and Muay Thai…Exhaustion, Full TBA 17 count, and Minnesota Shuffle.

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, Kali Escrima, Krav Maga, Martial Arts, Muay ThaiLeave a comment

3.5 hours of martial arts training. With D.O.M.S set in from my weight lifting workout yesterday. I woke up to my daughter asking about a math problem, and my legs screaming at me about my workout yesterday. We rolled out of bed and grabbed breakfast.

Krav

I started my training with Krav. We worked on striking, different striking patterns. Jab, cross, hook, uppercut. Jab, jab, cross, hook. Jab, cross, hook left side, hook right side. I even was able to show a lady in my class some the Thai parries to knee, elbow or clench entries. I also was able to show her the Thai scoop to knee, arm lock, and elbow or clench entries. That was fun and a great warm up.

Bo Staff – swinging from the hip

In bo staff class, we warmed up with a double hand swing of bo staff. We then worked on the 17 strikes to the body. I was able to help the new people with the 17 strikes. I was so surprised at how well I remembered the 17 count with the staff. You can see the strike positions on the paper doll I made bellow.

We then worked on upper strike, low strike, low strike, upper strike. We had some new people that came from another gym and we were able to work with them. They had not had a chance to train with bo staves and had a great time. We worked on controlling the center line again, and swinging from the hip.

Muay Thai – Exhaustion

We start Muay Thai, and at this point I have been training for 2 hours, and am going into my third hour. I am feeling the exhaustion set in. But I pull up my big girl pants and push on. Let me just say this was one of the most exhausting training sessions we had, but it was fantastic.

Kru Kristen wanted to work on and finish up the TBA (Thai Boxing Association) Thai 17 count.

Muay Thai 17 – this is the full 17

  1. Lead Teep
  2. Lead Torso Kick, for me Left Roundhouse Kick
  3. Cross
  4. Hook
  5. Upward Rear Knee, or Right Upward knee for me
  6. Lead Horizontal Elbow or Left Horizontal Elbow
  7. Downward Diagonal Rear Elbow or Right Downward Diagonal Elbow
  8. Parry Cross – (does not count as a step)
  9. Upward Rear Knee or Upward Right Knee for me
  10. Rear kick or Right Roundhouse Kick
  11. Hook
  12. Cross
  13. Lead torso kick, or Left round house kick for me
  14. Rear knee
  15. Rear torso kick, or right round house kick for me
  16. Hook
  17. Cross
  18. Clench, 6 skip knees, swing out/off balance partner, then double kick.

Oh my goodness, we worked on the 17 count for an hour with our partners. I am so tired at this point.

So to give you a little glimpse into how we train. Kru Kristen will show us the first 5 count of the Thai 17. We will practice it with our partners holding pads for a 3 minute round. After that round she will tell us to do 25 skip knees of one of the three kinds. Then we switch the pads and hold pads for our partners. Let them practice that same 5 count for 3 minute rounds. Then they have to do the skip knees. Kru Kristen will demonstrate the next set 5 or 6 steps/strikes of the Thai 17. We will then lather rinse and repeat, till we learn all of the 17 count.

The last round we did, she had us do the Minnesota Shuffle. What is the Minnesota Shuffle you ask? Well let me tell you. It is hell when you have been working so hard for hours ahead. I have a love hate relationship with it. It is fantastic for cardio, and training, but hurt so much when you are tired.

How do you do the Minnesota Shuffle you ask? You have to do “machine gun kicks” or rapid kicks. These kicks are not meant to be hard, but to be quick. Your feeder chooses a side and says 1, you do one kick. Then they say 2, and you do 2 kicks rapidly. Lather, rinse and repeat up to 5 kicks. Then you have to do 25 skip knees, and then wait for it… 1 to 5 kicks on the other side. I love, and I hate these. Today I was so happy to get through it not be supper gassed, but I was/am exhausted. That means my cardio is getting more awesome.

Then after that, she split us upper class men/higher armband students out and had us sparring. She said, “no one will be hitting hard now in sparring cause we are so tired.” She tired us out, and then threw us in to a ring and told us to spar. Which sounds bad, but I think the goal is to replicate the ring environment, when the adrenaline dumps, you revert back to your basic skills. Also, when you are that tired you are forced to focus on technique. There is certainly a method to her madness, and I love it.

I love leaving a class feeling this exhausted, because I worked so hard. I love the feeling of accomplishment when I push my body further. Even if I hate the recovery for the next few days. =) I know I am working to improve myself.

If you have read this far, wow. I have been really wordy, but had to get a lot of information in from my three and a half hours. Thank you for reading. I hope you have a great holiday weekend if you celebrate Easter/Passover, or just a great weekend in general.

Saturday Bo Staff, and Muay Thai…Swing from the hip, Speed vs Power

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, Food, Kali Escrima, Martial Arts, Muay ThaiLeave a comment

2.5 hours of Bo Staff Training and Muay Thai. I had a late night at work last night, so lets see if I can remember everything we did today. I made a diagram today! I write my blogs up after my training, sometimes right away and some times hours after. The time I write it up depends on what my schedule looks like. So inevitably I forget parts of training, but here is what I remember. The highlights if you will.

Bo Staff Class – Swing from the hip

(note: The numbering system for these strikes sometimes differ depending on your Goru. Each gym may follow a different Goru, but the targets are the same regardless of the numbers. )

For this class we worked on 17 count again. With staves we have to slide our hands along the staff when we change which side we are holding from. But we do not have to change all the time. Just when we are swinging from the hip. When we are striking with a 1 or 2 blow, we just keep our hands where we had them. When we work on 3 or 4 strike you have to slide your hand down the staff and use your hip and foot work to push through your opponent. So I have a lot to work on. I made a diagram of the 17 count strikes, because its helpful to me, and easier to explain with a picture I think.

We worked on controlling the center line with staves. Where we meet the force of a #6 thrusting strike, and move it off center line. Then follow the staff up with ours to complete thrusting strike ourselves, either to abdomen or face. Our instructor wanted us to work on controlling the center line because a person may swing wildly but if you can get in close and control the center line. It is hard to deflect. So learning how to deflect thrusting blows, and also how to give them is a huge tool in our tool box.

Muay Thai striking class – Speed vs Power

So lately I have been working on power in my kicks and knees. But there are different reasons to work on speed. We are told often that when we relax and let the kick happen instead of forcing it. We will kick far harder.

It is hard and counter intuitive to think this way. If you are asked to hit harder, or kick harder, you instinctively try to muscle your way through it. However, in Muay Thai that is just what you have to do. Kicking is not about muscling your way through its about doing the form as perfectly as you can, using physics and momentum with the torque of your full body to lay the kick in.

Today we worked on same side teeps, kicks, punch/elbows, to knees. If you have read some of my other blog posts. I mention the 4 counts. Where you go left to right. Left kick, cross, hook, right kick is just one example. Today we were teeping with right leg, to right kick, to right punch or elbow, to clenching up, then getting the knees in.

We also worked on knees to push the opponent away, to kicks, to punches.

Our object is to get speed and timing in. Less worry about the power, but get the feel and timing in.

It is my understanding and hope, that sometime in the future the speed and power will meet and I will have both. But for now I have to just work on both and hope to keep improving.

Food -choices/lifestyle

We went to late lunch, early dinner after, and I wanted to share something with you that I do often. I know a lot of my friends and family say they cannot eat out, or eat anything fun while dieting. I say dieting is not the way to go. Changing your lifestyle is the way to go. You can eat out if you choose healthy options. Making small good for your health decisions is easier than, saying, I can’t go out and enjoy food and company of friends and family. Soon you will resent your “diet” and may even fall off the wagon.

This picture is the food I ordered at The Cheesecake Factory. This is the dish I got.

CHICKEN LETTUCE WRAP TACOS

Butter Lettuce Leaves Filled with Grilled Chicken and your Choice of:

ASIAN
Carrots, Bean Sprouts, Cucumber, Cilantro and Rice Noodles with Spicy Cashew Sauce

450 calories, 140 fat cals, 15 g total fat, 4 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 80 mg cholesterol, 1040 mg sodium, 49 g fiber, 3 g total carbs, 32 g sugar,
29 g proteins

This was from the appetizer part of their Skinnylicous menu. This is huge for an appetizer, and perfect for a meal. Most of their regular menu items are 1500 to 2000 calories, and loads of fat and cholesterol. If you are in the U.S.A. just keep an eye out for healthy options, and you will be successful with your goals.

Well that is all, this blog post is long enough. Thank you for reading. Have a great rest of your day.

Tuesday Muay Thai and Kali… Old Slapping Habit, Hammer Lock to Basset Dal

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, Kali Escrima, Martial Arts, Muay Thai, FitnessLeave a comment

2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training. Have you ever noticed that when you focus so hard on fixing say a move you are doing, or an exercise you are doing, that you revert to old bad habits in other areas?

Muay Thai – Old Slapping Habit

I do… So lately I have been working on putting more power into my knees and kicks. Which means swinging my arm on same side as kick past my hip for more leverage, and trying to kick through my opponent. I was working on a knee entry to 4 count, putting power into kicks, as well as still working on distance management in our drill. Kru Kristen watched me drill it out. What was I doing? Well I am slapping the pads again, instead of doing my full extension punches, with power. I am basically pawing at the pads. That is what Kru Kristen said. What I was doing when I first started up till 3 or 4 months ago. I worked on getting my extension and power into my punches, and here I am making the same mistakes I made before. I was so annoyed at myself.

So of course I tried to work on my extensions and work on hitting the pads squarely. I worked on the power in my kicks and knees as well. Kru Kristen said, you love kicks but gotta remember form on your punches.

We worked on some pummeling where we used a knife hand into the bicep instead of putting our forearm into their neck for the transition to half and half plumb.

Kali – Hammer Lock to Basset Dal

In Kali… I had to shake off my annoyance at my old bad habit showing up again. We worked again on palm striking drills. Inside gunting, back hand gunting. This time we worked from a back hand gunting, to a stab in the bicep, pak sau (slap the hand on the bicep where you stabbed to control bicep and push arm into body), stab neck at the same time sapu luar (face opponent, and sweep leg from outside).

We then did a drill where we worked on gunting, pulling opponent off balance, stepping on their foot, and either putting the knife into the opponents knee, or putting the palm stick into the knee then pulling them over and off balance while standing on foot. For the drill we let go of foot so that we did not break our partners ankle.

After that we worked on two of my favorite moves put together. We scoop parry with a knife the jab, which cuts the opponents wrist. Then either mouse the cross while parrying, and checking the same jab hand with the blade of your forearm. Control the arm, force them to come forward by pulling them while attacking their face with the blade. Hammer Lock – you bend the opponents arm back around the blade so that their hand is behind their back. Controlling them this way, you perform the basset dal, step out to off balance, step your leg back to put all of their weight on the blade of their foot, and then hook your foot around that foot and push them over. The reason this is better if you can pull it off is that you have so much more control of the person when their arm is in a hammer lock. One wrong move on their part and they dislocate their own shoulder. So the opponent tends to be compliant. My two favorite moves, put together to make for a fun, dumping your partner drill! I had a blast doing this.

I have to work on focusing on my punches and making sure I get power into my kicks. I may have a private Muay Thai class tomorrow. I only say may, cause my instructor has been sick. We will see what happens.

If you got this far, you are amazing. Thanks for reading. I got smart and put links to my glossary in to the definitions I have for the words. Have a great night. I have a 5 am wake up.

Muay Thai and Kali…Timing and distance management are the real skills, Trig 10, Palm Stick

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, Kali Escrima, Martial Arts, Muay Thai, FitnessLeave a comment

2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training. Yesterday I worked on kicking through my opponent, and I was sore from that work out. But today after I practiced my Wai Krhu I loosened up.

Muay Thai – Timing and distance management are the real skills

Kru Kristen had us drilling more knee entries from catch jab and scoop of incoming cross. When you were able to push your training partner back we then worked into the Thai 4 counts. We also were working drills to feel when your opponent breaks the distance or enters your striking range with knees.

I find my knees are the worst skill in Muay Thai. I realized today that it was because when I had a herniated disk, they hurt so much to put knees in, that I have been babying my back since then. I was placing my knee but not pushing through. Kru Kristen told me again to give myself permission to hit and push through. So today I was working on pushing through my opponent to knee into and through them. Driving them back, so I could kick. I was putting the knees in and it was not hurting at all. This makes me so happy.

We also worked on full plumb to fence control of the opponents arm, and then to controlling the opponent with a choke or a putting the blade of your hand into the pocket of the arm and controlling your opponent by controlling their shoulder socket.

Toward the end, Kru Kristen wanted to emphasize that you may know the moves, but in a fight it is about knowing distance and timing management. If you cannot judge distance correctly then you will be hit, if you cannot get the timing down right, and avoid their hits you will get hit. In a fight you want to get hit less and hit more. Its the energy your opponent gives you, that you need to harness and return to them. If they commit to a shot then do a destruction, step off the line and return shots at them.

Kali/Silat – Panantukan Palm Stick and Trigg Ten

In Kali we worked on Silat again, Panantukan, and we practiced the Trigg Ten. Kru Kristen wanted us to do the Trigg Ten to focus on committing to the shots. Because with panantukan tonight we worked with palm stick. Where we could use the inside gunting and outside gunting to mouse the funny bone nerve cluster. This is were we find the entry for the gunting and use the palm stick, we can really hurt our opponent, or attacker.

A palm stick is any implement, usually a short stick, but can be a flash light, or a sharpie that you can use to do destructions (a destruction is a move where you damage the attackers hand with your elbow, knees, or a weapon in hopes to deter your attacker) on your opponent with.

Here are some examples of palm sticks:

So when your attacker throws a punch instead of parrying, or blocking you can hit your opponents hand with a palm stick, sharpie, flashlight, or the punyo/butt of a bladed weapon. Most people will stop trying to punch you if you hit them with this. Also it has a good chance of breaking their hand.

The Trigg Ten is a punching/boxing drill, I filmed me drilling below. Here are the punch combinations.

Trigg Ten:

  1. 1 jab
  2. 2 jabs
  3. 3 jabs
  4. 1 cross
  5. 2 crosses
  6. 3 crosses
  7. jab then cross
  8. cross then jab
  9. jab, jab then cross
  10. cross, cross, then jab

It is really late and I need to go to bed. I hope you all had a great day. Thank you for reading.

Tuesday Muay Thai and Kali…Distance Management, Flow, and Axe Kick Puta

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, Kali Escrima, Martial Arts, Muay Thai, FitnessLeave a comment

Today was a great day in class again. We did 2 hours of martial arts, Muay Thai and Kali/Silat. I had a great time working with my class mates. I came into the class very annoyed with how the children were acting and treating me today. (They are getting older and talking back, and I am the enemy today.) I know I am not special. Every parent deals with this at some time or another. I was really at my wits end, and while I am not feeling 100% about today. I only mention it to maybe help other parents know this is normal and for me, exercise is sometimes the ticket to re-centering myself. It really is cathartic to just hit and kick things, focus on my form, and trying to get better.

Muay Thai – Distance Management, and Flow

So today in Muay Thai we worked on distance management and flow. Really we strive to making our strikes flow from one to another. Not just staccato da…. da…. da… but flowing da da, da, or da,da,da. If you have played music you will know what I am talking about. However, in the real world, or even in a professional fight. Your opponent is not going to stand there and let you hit them. You have to hit them multiple times, and the theory is you will get one hit in. You may not get all hits in. You most likely will not get all hits in. They will block some of your hits if they are smart, but one or two will land and then you switch it up.

When we work on distance for instance, we work on entries from far away to up close or in the “box”. Meaning the opponents box around them, or personal space. For this drill we were working on starting in the box, or in elbowing range. The theory is that when you elbow some one, they will naturally move away from the damaging elbows, to now knee range, where you can knee them further away from you and then you can land a kick further damaging them.

As you can see… I have a lot to work on with my knees. I baby my back a little bit due to the previous injury, but every day it gets better. However, I need to eject more, and as you can see when I do eject the person more with my knee, I have to make up the distance. Which means I should do a hop kick or some other way to get in. I can see where I need to improve. This is the top reason I take these videos. They help me see where I am failing and what I should work on.

Kali/Silat – Puta Kapala with an Axe kick

Today in Silat, we worked on Puta Kapala from the grappling entry. Where we are “swimming” in each others arms, trying to get the the upper hand. Or in this instance the over hook. I get the over hook, lock out opponents elbow, step out, knee his head, then lift my inner leg up in an axe kick, then push him over and around with my leg.

Kru Kristen did a great job with class today, and I am so grateful for such talented instructors that take their job seriously.

I had a great time in class. I worked up a fantastic sweat. I got some great compliments about my elbow, to knee, to kick combinations. I take it as I am doing something right. Maybe not perfectly but I am doing it right or improving. Kru Kristen is not the kind to give hollow compliments. So she means it when she does.

Thank you all for reading my blog. I am always amazed that you are, and that there are so many of you from all over the world. I never thought I would have 52 people following me. Comment if you have any questions. Have a great day!