Tag: Muay Thai

Martial Arts 08/12/2019: Muay Thai is an in the pocket fight style, knees, Bo Staff

6 hours of training in 4 days – This week has been a bit different. My baby girl had an adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy surgery. So this has as you can imagine changed our schedule, and it has disrupted our training a tiny bit. She is doing well so far. It is painful but she is doing ok.

Tuesday 8/13/2019 1 hour of Muay Thai training.

This month we are working on knees in Muay Thai. Today we worked on entries with knees and following it up with elbows and off balances to kicks.

Let me start with I am exhausted, because I did not sleep. My daughter was up and down all night and so was I. I love being a mother, but it is hard some days with the lack of sleep.

So while we were training. I was pulling at my reserves… to get through. I toughed the training out, but I sure felt it.

Here are the combos we did:

Jump rope warm up

Shadowbox warm up

Pad work:

  1. Jab
  2. Cross
  3. Tie up/full plumb
  4. lead knee/left knee (orthodox fighter)
  5. rear elbow/right elbow
  6. square up duck stance
  7. spin off
  8. right round house kick
  9. Burn out 25 skip knee #1
  1. Jab
  2. Cross
  3. Tie up/full plumb
  4. rear knee/right knee (orthodox fighter)
  5. lead elbow/left elbow (orthodox fighter)
  6. square up duck stance
  7. spin off
  8. right or left round house kick
  9. Burn out 25 skip knee #2

Clench work:

  1. Partner throws a right kick
  2. you shield kick with left leg, and step into right knee partner
  3. Tie up and then run 10 knees
  4. Spin off partner
  5. Jumping Jacks burn out
  1. Partner throws a right kick
  2. you step back to avoid kick
  3. you left knee partner
  4. Tie up and run 10 knees
  5. Spin off partner
  6. Jumping jacks burn out

We then did 30 sit ups, and 10 x X Planks each side.

8/15/2019 1 hour Thursday Muay Thai Trianing – Thai Boxing is an inside the pocket fight.

Today was fantastic. We took baby girl with us to the gym… so we only stayed for the Thai boxing training we went home during Kali. It felt good today to train. My back has been giving a hard time lately… but I have been stretching and doing what I need to do. Today it felt good to train.

Warm up:

3 minute round of: walking teeps, alternating feet, you teep and put your foot down. Keeping your balance, and throwing your hand out for long guard.

45 seconds of rapid teeps burn out

Training: (Tony wanted us to focus on these skills and get them down.)

  1. 3 minute round of straight rear kicks working on pivot but not stepping out.
  2. 10 x machine gun kicks burn out
  1. 3 minute round of straight lead leg kicks working on switch kick and pivot not a cut step kick.
  2. 10 x machine gun kicks burn out
  1. 3 minute round of, high cover of an incoming lead hook, you post at the same time, then lead switch kick
  2. 20 x machine gun kicks burn out
  1. 3 minute round of, Thai long hook. This is a wide long hook, that is meant to get in behind a persons pillar block.
  2. 45 seconds of double Thai long hooks burn out
  1. 3 minute round of
    1) lead kick, Thai long hook, rear kick, lead knee and push off, lead double kick, high cover and post an incoming hook, to a teep
  2. 20 x machine gun lead kick burn out
  1. 4 x rounds of partner back machine gun kicks. Where you hold the bag for your partner and they will machine gun kick for 30 seconds. Taking turns each time, for 4 rounds each. 2 on each side.
  2. Jump rope for 4 x 1 minute rounds
  3. 50 push ups

Tony’s training is so different from Kru Kristen’s and Khun Kru Krysta’s classes. I value all of my trainers. I love seeing the different takes on these skills, and it helps me learn this art that a love.

8/16/2019 1.5 hours Friday Muay Thai Training – Stance is so important, most people don’t focus on the importance of stance

I have mentioned Tony has his own style of Thai Boxing. If you did not know, Thai boxing is passed down through family. So if you go to one Thai gym in Thailand they will have their own style, where another gym will be different. That is what they have passed down through generations, and if you end up training there, you end up being like family. You end up learning from their traditions, and it is reflected in the Wai Kru.

I mention this because Tony’s style is what his dad taught him. When he teaches us, he is taking time out of his schedule to pass his art down. I feel so honored to have been able to learn from him, and continue to learn from him.

Training: Kicks and Elbows

Warm up:

  1. 3 x 3 minute rounds of warm up shadowboxing knees, to fist
  2. 1 minute high knees after each round

Training:

  1. 2 back to back x 3 minute rounds of 5 machine gun kicks groupings, on left and right side
  2. 20 push ups in between
  1. 2 x 3 minute rounds of rear horizontal elbow #1, to rear knee
  2. 20 push ups after each round, and then switch pads to hold for your partner
  1. 2 x 3 minute rounds of rear horizontal elbow #1, to lead horizontal elbow #2, to lead knee
  2. 20 push ups after each round, and then switch pads to hold for your partner
  1. We broke off, and did 4 rounds of just playing tag. This is where we kicked with shin guards on. This was conditioning to make us used to getting hit.
  2. We added catching the kick passing it and kicking leg
  3. We added catching kick and dumping person by stepping in and hooking opponents other foot.
  4. Then we played around light sparring
  1. Partner bag kicks x 3 rounds, Where your partner throws a kick, you throw a kick at the same area on the back and you both machine gun them, and don’t kick each other. =) This focuses on form, speed, and timing.
  2. Then we did sit ups in between

This was a fantastic class and I loved it.

8/17/2019 2.5 hours Saturday Bo staff Saint Rafael, and Striking.

Today is the end of the week workout wise for me. I am tired from yesterdays workout with Tony. My body is just tired. I am looking forward to having tomorrow off of workouts.

However, I have had a great day. We started with Bo Staff class. In class today instead of using double stick to so practice the Saint Rafael drill, we did it with staves. This poses a bit of a problem. Because the staff is a fixed stick and not two separate sticks you have to move your body in a different way to be able to complete the strikes. So while this is a drill we have done before many times. I bent my brain and made me think in a different way when the fulcrum of my stick is just center mass.

Like in any martial art, knowing your center, and the leverage you have and need to pull off a move is important. For staves I am more cognizant of the swings, range, and hand placement, because the single long stick limits mobility. As you can see in the video both my partner and I are still figuring out where and how to position the staff to get the strikes in.

https://youtu.be/Dfcgdv15ODU

Striking class

In striking class we worked on hooks, and body hooks. I got the chance to work with a brand new woman. She had never done Muay Thai before, and you could see she was nervous. I loved working with her. I saw the same fear and excitement that I had when I started. I really hope she comes back.

I love working with new students, it takes a lot of patience, but is so rewarding when they have a good time. Because they don’t know the move the drills, and then they don’t know how to feed pads, it takes a bit longer and we go a great deal slower. Due to that, today was not physically draining for me. =)

Training:

  1. Feeder feeds a right hook to your head
  2. You high cover
  3. You return a cross
  4. You return a hook
  5. Jumping jacks burn out
  1. Feeder feeds a right hook to your head
  2. You high cover
  3. You return a hook
  4. You return a cross
  5. Jumping jacks burn out
  1. Feeder feeds a right body hook
  2. You cover with elbow and sideways crunch
  3. You return an rear/right upper cut
  4. You return hook
  5. You return a cross
  6. Jumping jacks burn out
  1. Feeder feeds a left body hook
  2. You cover with elbow and sideways crunch
  3. You return a lead/left upper cut
  4. You return a cross
  5. Jumping jacks burn out

After these drills we worked on drill sparring. Where we just practice the drills we worked on. Taking the power out of the sparring, but trying to land a hit. This allows us to work on timing and target acquisition, and allows your partner to work on blocking, parrying and returning strikes.

This has been an awesome week for training. Even though my baby girl had surgery and is still feeling under the weather… she is healing and I was able to get my training in.

This post consists of a week worth of martial arts training. I needed to cut back on the posts due to lack of time to get it done. Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading, and keep working to be the best you that you can be.

Saturday Bo Staff, Striking, and Jiu Jitsu…4 hours of training, Change in format for posting

4 hours of Training today. Yesterday I had the honor of being able to train in Bo staff class, in striking, and in a seminar for woman’s defense.

Bo Staff

We worked on the High Box with staves. We also changed the #1 strike to the #7 piercing strike.

High Box:

  1. opponent feeds you a #15
  2. you roof block
  3. you return a #1 strike or #7 piercing strike
  4. opponent inside deflects
  5. opponent returns #4
  6. you drop stick defend
  7. you return a #3
  8. opponent turn the tip down, drop tip, or low wing?
  9. opponent returns a #2
  10. you roof shield
  11. then you feed the #15 and the whole flow drill starts again

Bo staff was fun today. I enjoyed scrambling my brain to get it around the new strike.

Striking Class:

We worked on combos with counter attacks. We worked our teeps, and knees.

We emphasized evading a kick or a upper cut. Then added 4 counts return attacks.

Woman’s Self Defense:

I had the opportunity to go to a woman’s self defense class. This is my first official Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class. I have been a little worried about taking BJJ because I have scoliosis and don’t want to have my back wrenched. However, I believe it is good to up my game to grappling, and ground level. Kru Kristen was teaching this class, and she always says.

“100% of fights start standing, 90% end up on the ground.”

Kru Kristen

We learned how to break fall, how to get back up quickly and safely. We learned how to stop an assailant in open guard, how to keep them away. We learned how to deal with an assailant when they are in mount. We learned how to knee shield from guard, and shrimp away, then kick their head to get away. We learned how to deal with someone trying to pick us up in bear hug, and how to knee bar them.

The main focus was teaching us how to get away from the situation. Kru Kristen also reiterated you want to be all the way in or all the way out. Always try to get away from the assailant. But if you have to deal with them, get in and don’t let them hit you. Stop them from hitting you until you can get out.

This was a fun class and we were able to work on dealing with a choke as well.

Changing the format for posting:

So I have been thinking. I am now doing 5 days of martial arts. More importantly 5 days of Muay Thai. That coupled with my weight lifting workouts, means that weekly I would have been doing 6 posts a week. That is a lot, and its a lot of content to keep up on. Also it seems like a lot to bombard you all with. So I am going to be changing my posting status.

I used to post every time I went to train, so that I could keep track of what I was learning and how I was feeling/getting it. This is also so I could look back and see my progress in the future. I did this as well to catalog what I was doing, so I could go back and drill the same drills. This is a lot of posting, a lot of content, and it is hard for me to keep up with.

So I am going to try to do 1 martial arts post a week. This will be notes I took about each training session. I will break it out by day, and I will still have the drills/training we did every day represented in one post. Any videos I take for that will be in that post as well. This means there will be a weight lifting post, a martial arts post, and a food post when I have one to upload. That is 3 instead of 6 to 7 a week. I am going to shoot to have that weeks martial arts posted on Saturday after my training sessions that day.

Anyway thank you for reading. Keep working to be the best you that you can be. My respect to you and your family.

Muay Thai… First Friday Night Class

1.5 hours of Muay Thai training. With our instructor Tony. He learned Muay Thai from his father, who learned it from his father, for generations back. Tony is first generation Thai. He is awesome! For reference I am second generation Japanese.

His workout is no joke. He had us doing warm ups with agility ladder drills to improve/quicken our foot work. Followed by 5 kicks. Then more ladder drills followed by 10 kicks.

He had us working on Jab and Cross. However, he wanted us to stay put this time. We often work on footwork, and movement. Movement where we have to cut the corner, get out of the pocket, fade back, or disengage. He wanted us to stay put in the pocket because in traditional Thai Boxing you stay in the pocket. He had us doing that for both the jab and cross, the switch kick, and the knee. Tony is a very traditional Thai practitioner. Because his family is very much more traditional.

Every time I get a chance to work with him. I learn new things. He pushes us, and helps us learn new technique. When we are done, we feel it in our everywhere.

Enough gabbing here is what we did:

  1. Agility ladder drill
  2. 5 rapid kicks left
  3. Agility ladder drill
  4. 5 rapid kicks right
  5. Agility ladder drill
  6. 5 rapid kicks left
  7. Agility Ladder drill
  8. 5 rapid kicks right
  1. Agility ladder drill
  2. 10 rapid kicks left
  3. Agility ladder drill
  4. 10 rapid kicks right
  5. Agility ladder drill
  6. 10 rapid kicks left then right across the mat
  7. Agility ladder drill
  8. 10 rapid kicks left then right across the mat
  1. Feeder feeds any jab or cross, or jab cross, cross jab combo x 2 – 3 minute rounds
  2. Burn out 30 seconds jab cross flurry
  1. Feeder feeds choice of cross, to lead switch kick x 2 – 3 minute rounds
  2. Burn out 30 seconds double kick lead leg
  1. Feeder feeds upward knee using the switch motion to keep yourself in the pocket. x 2 – 3 minute rounds
  2. Burn out 30 seconds double kick lead leg
  1. Partner kicks on the bag for 30 seconds – (This is where you and your partner are on opposite sides of the bag. They kick once you follow immediately with a kick. Lather rinse repeat)
  2. 30 seconds rest
  3. Partner kicks on the bag for 30 seconds (switch places so if you were doing right kicks you are now doing left kicks)
  4. 30 seconds rest
  1. 30 seconds knee #2 (try to get 50 knees in 30 seconds)
  2. 30 seconds rest
  3. 30 seconds knee #2 (try to get 50 knees in 30 seconds)
  4. 30 seconds rest
  5. 30 seconds knee #2 (try to get 50 knees in 30 seconds)
  6. 30 seconds rest
  7. 30 seconds knee #2 (try to get 50 knees in 30 seconds)
  8. 30 seconds rest

Switch kicks– are kicks where instead of cut stepping you are changing stance in place, staying in the pocket, and whipping your leg up into the torso quickly.

So Tony’s style is different from my Kru I train with 4 days a week. Different than Ajarn Chai’s style, and that is good. Ajarn Chai reminds us all the time that each gym is different, each family has their own way of doing things. I find value in learning from many different instructors. There is always something you can learn and make better. Also you might find a way to do something that works better for you.

I am now dead tired. This is my 4th day doing Muay Thai this week. I have one more tomorrow, before I get a rest.

I hope you enjoyed reading. Thanks for reading, and keep working to be the best you that you can be. My respects to you all.

Muay Thai Camp day 2… Slow is smooth, smooth is fast

  • Rag Tag Band of Fighters
  • Ajarn Greg Nelson demo
  • Ajarn Chai, Ajarn Trigg, Ajarn Greg Nelson

Day 2 is here, and day 1 is over. I wake up slightly sore from day one, and ready and raring to go. Now the fear of the unknown is over. Its the fear of not being able to complete the whole camp. Failing to finish. Day one was slow compared to day two, three and four.

I was warned by several people who have experienced Thai camp that day 2 was the worst day. In my experience day 2 was very hard. My body was just tired. It wanted me to sit down and relax with a glass of unsweetened iced tea in the shade of a tree with a good book. But that is not what I did for day two.


Training Day 2: (notes: curtesy Khun Kru Krysta, and Kru Caro)

~7 am :

We start shadow boxing, then Ajarn Greg Nelson leads everyone in stretching.

We then do 1.5 mile run. Even though I had that really bad charley horse due to desalination, and my calf was really sore. I decided to do the 1.5 mile run anyway. My calf felt like it had a small muscle tear or really bad D.O.M.S. set in.

We get back and Ajarn Chai starts us off with the combos that we will be working on for the day. We start with a combo and work on the variations each day. This day he wanted us to focus on addressing the incoming strikes and entering with knees. As always he wanted us to think about counter attacks.

Combos for today:

  1. Lean to avoid head kick, step back with back leg lean back with shoulders straight, right hand covering right hand side of face with glove.
  2. Left hand down by hips
  3. body cross
  4. overhand left
  5. right knee
  6. right kick
  7. teep
  1. Opponent grabs your neck and shoulders with one hand and knees you
  2. You defend knee by stepping and turning to spike knee with elbow
  3. You return an uppercut
  4. You return an elbow 4 and
  5. Then you plumb up, in full clench with duck feet
  1. Opponent throws a kick
  2. You shield kick and teep
  3. Opponent they punch
  4. You parry cover
  5. You knee
  6. You throw and elbow 8
  1. Opponent throws a left body kick
  2. You lateral back away from kick so that they miss
  3. You return an overhand
  4. You return 3 elbow
  5. You return number 4
  6. You clench
  1. (speed is the focus)
  2. You catch incoming jab
  3. Return jab
  4. Return Cross
  5. Return Jab
  1. (Speed is the focus)
  2. You block the cross,
  3. You return a cross
  4. You return a jab
  5. You return a cross

~ 9 am

Same as day one we broke for breakfast and a rest.

Today I was focused on getting enough energy into me and making sure I had the minerals and salts I needed to get me through the day.

My focus was so much more on packing in the nutrients and water to keep my body moving. It was a change in my view of the food.

~11:30 pm

We all came back. We stretched and shadowboxed. Ajarn Chai then had us working with each other in partner drills. He really wanted us to get the combos down.

We did one lap of 5 stations, each station being 4 rounds, then 30 second burn out for knees, and 30 seconds rest before lunch. However, the focus again was slow it down, learn the technique first.

“Slow is smooth, smooth is fast“

Quote everyone, I have heard it from so many people

Learn the technique, and the speed will follow. I have heard this so many times as well. So I tried to take this to heart.

~ 2:30 pm

We break for lunch. Again the emphasis is on eating resting and getting ready for the circuits we will have to do. we ended eating and going back to the house. I took advantage of our return. My feet hurt, and we were in an air conditioned house.

The food was fantastic at camp. My thanks go to the kitchen staff again, and especially Ajarn Chia’s sister for cooking for the lot of us. I decided to put my feet up and take a nap. Boy did I need it, and boy did I miss it the next few days.

  • nap time!

~4 pm

We return. We all get ready, stretch, reapply sun block, and then shadowbox.

Then begin the circuits again… whew this was rough. It was two laps of 5 stations. We had, bag work station, shadowboxing station, flow/timing station, Thai pad station, and clenching station.

I put my head down, and just focused on getting to the next station. Doing the best I could while I was about ready to drop to focus on form. That is hard when your body just does not want to move any more

After those circuits of the stations. We lined up, and were spread out on a hill facing down hill. This is where we were supposed to do 100 x 8 count body builders, all in sets of 10. This killed me. I was unable to keep my balance facing down hill and so I opted to do squats instead of hurting myself and my back. Ajarn Chai always says if you cannot do something just listen to your body. He is very kind. I was a little bummed that I did not finish those, but here is hoping next year I will. On the flat ground I got 40 in the day before.

Day 2 was amazing an I was so happy I completed it. I did not know if I would be able to. But when we were done, I felt such a feeling of accomplishment. Going from trepidation, and excitement on the plane, to excitement and annoyance from my calf the previous day, to this day. I made it I did it. I did not have to quit, and I stuck it out.

I had upped my intensity while drilling, but its not the intensity of the rounds, is the sheer amount of them that is most difficult. Ajarn Chai, wants strength, flow, timing, focus, and form, but don’t kill yourself going so hard that these things suffer. No matter how hard or slowly you take the rounds the amount you do, and how long the day is will sap your muscles. We ended up completing 60 rounds on Day 2. *boggles the mind* That in itself is amazing.

Thanks for reading Day 2 of the 4 day Thai camp write up I am doing. I have two more to unpack and will get to them as I can. I hope you liked it, and if you have questions let me know. My respect to you and your family.

shadowboxing

Thursday Muay Thai and Kali…Clench Sparring, In a knife fight you drip or you gush

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:

  1. 100 knees on the bag
  2. 30 sit ups
  3. 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:

  1. a c clamp on the wrist
  2. figure 4 arm control where you cut their throat with their own blade
  3. control of opponents arm and sheath the blade into opponents on leg, or arm pit
  4. 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.

Wed Muay Thai…intensity and focus, seeing some progress in physique

1 hour of Muay Thai training today. It was short and sweet. It was full of intensity and focus. I really enjoyed having a shorter workout. I have grown accustom the longer 2, 3 and 5 hour training days.

The gym I go to OSMA (One Spirit Martial Arts) Just added two more Muay Thai classes and I could not be happier about it. I rearranged my work schedule so that I could attend them. Does that make me weird? Maybe obsessed? I like to think it just makes me dedicated, and working to hone my skills.

For this class we started with some band work to keep our feet in line with our hips, and contralateral movement.

Contralateral movement = means moving opposite sides of the body. So moving right arm up and left leg up. Then moving left arm up and right leg up at the same time.

Not only is it great for your muscles but great for your neo cortex. Your brain, works harder when you force it to move opposite sides of your body and opposite limbs at the same time. Its like teaching your brain to pat your head and rub your tummy.

Needless to say we did those contralateral movements with these:

  1. Bear crawls across the mat
  2. Bear crawls backward
  3. Bear crawls sideways

We then worked on knees. Shadowboxing long leaning knees to 4 count.

For the drills we did a parry the jab or cross, with a post to the shoulder and knee entry. Then we followed with a 4 count.

For instance:

  1. Feeder feeds a Jab
  2. You parry Jab
  3. Check the shoulder with your left hand
  4. You return Left knee
  5. You return a cross
  6. You return a hook
  7. You return a kick feeders choice, left or right round house

We finished with:

  1. 100 knees on the bag
  2. 50 knees across the floor shadowboxing
  3. 30 sit ups
  4. 50 Russian Twists with or without the medicine ball
  5. Then stretching

This was a fantastic class. Thanks to Kru Kristen. I am so happy to have been able to take it.

Also was feeling ok about the body today. It feels like and looks like I have made some progress. Mostly just toning, but maybe just maybe I am starting to change again.

  • 3/1/2018
  • 8/7/2019
  • 3/1/2018
  • 8/7/2019

Anyway enough of my prattle. Have a great night. Thank you for reading. Keep working to be the best you can be. My respect to you and yours.

Tuesday Muay Thai and Kali… Trigg Combo, Asymmetrical Sparring

2.5 hours of training. I warmed up by hitting the Thai pads for 30 minutes before class. Muay Thai and Kali were fun classes tonight. Thank you Khun Kru Krysta for the great classes.

Muay Thai – Trigg Combo

When we were at Thai camp we got to work with the one the only Ajarn Leonard Trigg. The guy responsible for our Trigg 10 drill. We love him and his drills. He worked with us at Thai camp and he gave us this combo to work on. I had the pleasure of working with my instructor for this combo and when we did I had so much fun. It was hard, but it was great. I asked that we do this combo in class.

So what did we get to do today in Muay Thai? Yup you guessed it. That very same Trigg Combo. I don’t know if it has a name, but suffice to say, Ajarn Trigg is well known for his amazing boxing skills.

The combo is this:

  1. feeder feeds a jab
  2. you swipe right
  3. you return a R shovel hook
  4. you return an R overhand
  5. you return an L hook
  6. you return an R cross

This combo is great. Ajarn Trigg emphasized that he wanted us to work on flow and timing. The goal is for every one hit the opponent tries to make you return 4 shots. There pop, your pop, pop, pop, pop in rapid succession.

I worked with one of my favorite partners, my husband. I got a great workout, and he know just how much to push me, and tries to keep me honest about keeping my hands up. I find sometimes when I work with people that are newer that my class is not as physically demanding cause we are going slower, and we are getting in less reps. So sometimes it is nice to work with some one I know that can hold pads well, and I can go at a faster pace with. I get more rounds in and I can work on my speed, timing, and form at the same time.

Some more combos we worked on today:

  1. Opponent throws Right head kick
  2. You lean back by – taking a step back, cover face on right hand side, left arm goes down to side of body and you shoulders are level.
  3. You throw a right cross
  4. You throw a left body hook
  5. You throw a right roundhouse
  1. Opponent throws inside leg kick
  2. You step back to avoid the kick
  3. You throw a left roundhouse
  4. You throw a cross
  5. You throw a hook
  6. You throw a right roundhouse

Kali – Asymmetrical Sparring

In Kali we worked on disarms again, and mostly entering on the inside deflect. However, we also worked on a weave. We did some puno disarms and the inside deflect snake and vine disarms again.

Weave Leg Take down:

  1. Inside deflect
  2. control opponents right hand with our left hand
  3. return a #4 rib shot
  4. Step on opponents foot
  5. weave our stick between legs
  6. pull opponents hand and push opponent over with our stick

I got a video of me doing this.

Then we got to do asymmetrical sparring. In this version of it, we had one person with boxing gloves on, and one person with a boxing glove and a soft stick. We would attack each other. The goal of the one with just boxing gloves was to crash in and disarm the other. The goal of the one with the stick was to just keep the opponent with just boxing gloves away and don’t get disarmed and or punched.

Asymmetrical sparring is fun, and I have enjoyed it every time. It makes you have to think about how to get in, when you don’t have all your tools available to you.

Thanks for reading. I hope you had a fantastic day. Keep working to be the best you that you can be. Respect to you.

Lobster Guacamole

For those of you who are here for the recipes this is for you. =) It has a story that goes with it as well so bare with me.

This is Lobster Guacamole, and if you have been reading my blog you know I am heavily into martial arts. I do Muay Thai, and Kali mainly, but also work in JKC (Jeet Kun Do), Silat, and Krav. Well when we do JKD we learn new terms for the passing and trapping skills. One of those phrases is Lop Sau Gwa Choi.

My instructor said gua choi sounds like guacamole, and I said lop sau sounds like lobster. So we have a joke now about lobster guacamole. When we are working on lop sau gwa choi. We say lobster guacamole.

We celebrated her birthday yesterday and I made lobster guacamole for her. She really liked it and it made her laugh. That was all I wanted for her.

Anyway enough of the preamble… here is the recipe:

Lobster Guacamole

Ingredients:

  1. 2 avocados
  2. 1 lime juiced
  3. 1/2 small diced red onion
  4. 1 tsp of granulated garlic
  5. Salt to taste
  6. 1 x 1.33lb live lobster – (using pre cooked or frozen lobster is an option as well)
  7. 1 jalapeno diced + a few slices ( seeded to be milder, or leave seeds in for more heat)

Directions:

  1. Humainly kill the lobster. Either place in freezer to make it go dormant and kill the brain, or place while lobster in boiling water.
  2. I tend to do the freezer method. It puts them in a dormant state and they fall asleep.
  3. Twist off the tail, twist off big claws and put entire lobster in boiling water. Boil lobster 7 minutes for first lb, and 3 minutes per additional lbs.
  4. When done shock in ice water, or cold water, to stop cooking.
  5. Remove lobster meat from tail, claws, and legs.
  6. cut up all produce and put in bowl
  7. squeeze lime onto produce
  8. Smash all ingredients together to make guacamole.
  9. Dice up lobster meat and mix in all but a tablespoon of the meat into the guacamole.
  10. Garnish with a twist of lime, extra lobster meat and extra jalapeno.

There you have it… its delicious. It is actually relativity healthy. Serve with chips or crackers or just put on rice cakes.

1/2 cup of guacamole is about 150 calories.

Thank you for reading. I hope you are having a great day. Keep being the best you that you can be. I hope you can try this recipe, and much respect to you and your family. Let me know what you think.

Lop Sau Gwa Choi – lobster guacamole

Saturday Bo Staff and Sriking…High Box with Staff makes my brain feel stupid, My flow has improved

2.5 hours of training today. We worked on bo staff, and striking (JKD). Today was the first day after Muay Thai camp where my body felt like normal. Even felt good. I went hard, and got a good workout with my husband and partner feeding me.

We started out with staff class. We had some visitors down from Maryland, and it was cool to have new people in the class. They have come down once before and wanted to train with us again.

Staff Training:

We started off with abecedario with staff. Which while a fundamental move with sticks changing staves makes the movement slightly different.

Abecedario = High forehand, low back hand, high back hand

Then we worked on abecedario with redondo. A redondo is a circular forehand strike from around your head. Not to be confused with an ordabise which is a circular back hand around your head.

Redondo with Abecedario = Circular forehand strike high, circular for hand strike low, circular forehand strike high, low back hand strike, high back hand strike.

In preparation for the high box, we did a roof to shield drill that required the feeder to feed a #15 strike that you roof, then a #15 strike to a shield.

And finally for staff training we did high box with staves. Now this for some reason was more difficult for my brain parts. I can do a high box with sticks, with swords, with espada y daga (sword and knife), but with staff you have to hold with both hands and your body movement is different. Which makes for the perfect storm for Kali brain issues. Which hand.

Staff High Box – #15 strike from opponent, you roof block, opponent returns a #1 strike, you inside deflect and return a #2 strike. The opponent shields the #2, and then you start the circuit over by feeding a #15 to your opponent.

We started to work on middle box/standard but we ran out of time.

I love Kali and the staff class. I love how it stretches my brain muscles and makes me think. Now my brain is dead.

This video is of us working on the Redondo with Abecedario.

https://youtu.be/hG6mjg-tKm4

Striking (JKD):

We worked on combos. This is were I was able to work on flow, timing, and speed. My partner told me he could see a difference between when I left for Muay Thai camp, and now. He said I flow better, my speed, form and focus are much better. I could not ask for more from Thai camp. I wanted to learn all I could, and to increase my skill set. It seems I have. Yay!

Khun Kru Krysta broke the training down to two sets of combos. First where the feeder feeds, a jab and a right straight cross/cross. The second where the feeder feeds a jab, and a wide cross. For the wide cross think John Wayne punch. Or old western bar fight punch.

First combo –

  1. Feeder feeds Jab
  2. You catch
  3. Feeder feeds straight cross
  4. You parry while doing a simultaneous left kick to inside of leg
  5. You return a cross
  6. You return an upper cut
  7. You return a cross
  8. You return Left torso kick/round house

Second combo –

  1. Feeder feeds Jab
  2. You catch
  3. Feeder feeds straight cross
  4. You split the cross, slide in with a cross to the body
  5. You follow with a hook
  6. You return a cross
  7. Right kick/round house

Third combo-

  1. Feeder feeds Jab
  2. You catch Jab
  3. Feeder feeds a wide cross
  4. You shoulder/bicep stop the cross
  5. You return a cross
  6. You return a hook
  7. You return a cross
  8. You return a right torso kick/round house

Fourth combo-

  1. Feeder feeds Jab
  2. You catch Jab
  3. Feeder feeds a wide cross
  4. You bob and weave
  5. You return a body cross
  6. You return a hook
  7. You return a cross
  8. You return right long leaning knee
  9. You return right torso kick/round house

These were great combos. I loved feeling like I was back into my groove. I liked feeling like I had more confidence, and I love just working on my technique, flow, timing, and target acquisition.

This video is of us working on the third combo, or the stop the shoulder or bicep combo.

https://youtu.be/RNMHz-_Dxrc

I hope you are all having a great weekend. I certainly am. Thanks for reading, let me know if you have any questions. Keeping working to be the best you that you can be. Much respect to you all.

Thursday Muay Thai and Kali…5 days and my hip flexors are sore, Disarms

2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali. This blog entry is going to be short and sweet. I am tired, and need to get to bed. Its been 5 days and my hip flexors are still sore. I thought I was weird and that my body was just being a pain in my tushy… But apparently it is normal. This happens when you work out for almost a week straight every day for almost 8 hours a day. I know each persons body is different, but I should not get down on myself and my body for doing what it needs to do to repair.

Muay Thai

We worked on the same things in Muay Thai that we did last Tuesday. Distance management and entries, from knees and kicks. To getting out of the pocket, evasions and guarding/shielding kicks.

Kali – Disarms

In Kali we worked on the same things we did on Tuesday as well.

Snakes, and Vines, and disarms. It is good to keep in mind that disarms are a sometimes happen thing, they don’t often happen and according to some world class martial art practitioner like Guru Dan Inosanto they tend to happen by accident.

So relying on a disarm you hope to achieve is selling yourself short. Learn lots of tools, work with the ones that fit your style, that you like, and use those. I think that if you try to learn them all you will find what works best for you. When you do and you use them, you will become a much better martial artist.

Today I took a video of some of the snakes and vines we were doing. you will see the equal sign, the plus sign, snake with wing, and snake with knife hand. What you will also see is my foot work today is for trash. For some reason I just did no keep my footwork up. So that means executing the moves and getting off the line is much more difficult. Anyway, it is below if you wanna see.

https://youtu.be/NhMJxwBdg2s

Like I said this one is short, and I did not have the time or energy to go into great detail.

Have a great day! Thanks for reading, and keep being the best you can be. Remember the two most important things in Muay Thai is respect and discipline. Respect to you all.