Tag: Muay Thai

Conditioning day 3…1 mile run and 16 rounds Muay Thai

2 hours and 45 minutes conditioning training for Muay Thai camp. Whew I had the honor to work with Kru Krysta at an empty gym today. 4th of July they have no classes so we had the gym to ourselves. Thank you One Spirit Martial Arts for letting us train.

We started out with a 1 mile run. I ran it in 12 minutes 35 seconds. I feel slow with my run. But hoping to get it at or under 12 minutes. This is a warm up.

Then we worked on 16 x 3 minute rounds.

  1. We started with working the bag 4 rounds of 3 minutes. Choosing a 4 count and just working solidly through 3 minutes. 30 seconds of burn out makatune, #6 elbow, skip knees, and double kick at the end.
  2. Then I held 2 x 3 minute rounds for Kru Krysta, Makatune, Cross, Right knee, right kick, teep. 30 seconds of burn out makatune, #6 elbow, skip knees, and double kick at the end.
  3. Then she held pads/fed pads, 2 x 3 minute rounds, Makatune, Cross, Right knee, right kick, teep. 30 seconds of burn out makatune, #6 elbow, skip knees, and double kick at the end.
  4. We started with working the bag 4 rounds of 3 minutes. Choosing a 4 count and just working solidly through 3 minutes. 30 seconds of burn out makatune, #6 elbow, skip knees, and double kick at the end.
  5. Then H held 2 x 3 minute rounds for Kru Krysta, Makatune, Cross, Right knee, right kick, teep. 30 seconds of burn out makatune, #6 elbow, skip knees, and double kick at the end.
  6. Then H held pads/fed pads for me, 2 x 3 minute rounds, Makatune, Cross, Right knee, right kick, teep. 30 seconds of burn out makatune, #6 elbow, skip knees, and double kick at the end.
  7. Stretch

I did it, I made it through. I am tired and my muscles have given everything they could, however, I made it through. I worked on my form toward the end as my muscles were screaming. So I slowed down and made sure to try to make my form correct. The last round of pad work/conditioning, I fisnished strong. As Kru Krysta says, “last round, best round.”

After training, I drank my recovery drink, and we went to have lunch at Mezeh. So tasty. Look at that rainbow of food. I often eat in a more vegetarian vein, as my body responds better to that food. I have been burning about 3600 calories each day. Woot!

Yay so it was a great training day. I need to shower, and possibly soak in the tub.

Thank you for reading. 19 days left for conditioning and training before camp. Keep being the best you that you can be, and keep striving to be better.

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.

Muay Thai Seminar with Ajarn Surachai “Chai” Sirisute Day 2

Photo credit to MD Thai Boxing who took the group photo and said we could have it. This is the Day 2 of the seminar group photo.

5 hours of Muay Thai training. This was Day 2, and the final day. I cannot put into words, in a way that would do justice to how the seminar with with Ajarn Surachai “Chai” Sirisute was.

I am sore everywhere. I worked so hard and we drilled so hard, that I damn near vomited. It was fantastic. It was the hardest I have worked since I had that herniated disk in my back that was pressing on my sciatica nerve. I have been holding back just that last 10%…just cause I was/am scared of hurting myself again. However, it felt good to get in there and do it.

I am so proud of myself and my fellow student. I got a compliment from Kru Karo. I heard it by way of my Kru Krysta, that Kru Karo said, “she has great form.” Kru Krysta told me about it at lunch today. Then Kru Jason said I executed a set of knees and a drill fantastically.

As always I will try to put down what I remember, but I am pretty tired and wrecked right now. However, wrecked in a good way. =)

Kick Stance and Footwork

We started off with kick stance and of course footwork today. Because in Thai Boxing or Muay Thai, the footwork and kick stance are everything. If you are not in the right stance, it makes everything you do be it striking, or countering, or shielding that much harder.

Drill with elbow and knee

  1. Left hand reaches
  2. Right hand pushes opponents arm at elbow away from you
  3. Left hand Tachmalach #8 elbow
  4. Left hand head control
  5. Right hand bicep control
  6. Right curved knee

Clench Work

We worked on entries and how to get into a full plumb clench and how to remove a person when they have a full plumb clench on you.

Clench Counters and Entries

This is a drill we did today.

  1. Your opponent reaches out and tries to grab you in a clench with their left arm
  2. You pinch their arm with your shoulder and head
  3. Slap their arm down and out of the way
  4. You grab their neck in full clench
  5. Duck Stance
  6. Stand Tall
  7. Bracing your elbows on their collar bones

Counters:

#1 Cross Face

  1. If you arms are outside their clench
  2. Push their face away with palm of your hand
  3. Swim in your arms to clench
  4. Duck stance

#2 Wedge Over and Under Prayer Hands

  1. Opponent has full plumb on you
  2. Control elbow on one side
  3. Opposite elbow you wedge over arm you don’t control, and under the arm you do control
  4. Make prayer hands under your opponents arm
  5. Drop your elbow to your hip
  6. This will get them to release their hand

#3 Spike Elbow to the Bicep

  1. Opponent has full plumb on you
  2. Control elbow on one side
  3. Opposite elbow you bring your arm over, and grab elbow you control
  4. Drop your weight and elbow to your hip
  5. This will cause the opponents arm to release from your neck
  6. Elbow your opponent and swim in for full plumb
  7. Duck Stance

#4 Pull down and Push Up

  1. Opponent has full plumb on you
  2. Control their elbows
  3. Hip in
  4. Pull down on one elbow while pushing up on the other elbow
  5. knee the thigh
  6. curve knee to body
  7. Swim in and get plumb
  8. Duck stance

I know there were two more but I can’t remember them right now.

Skip Knee #2

We worked on these and I got complimented on my form and flexibility. I am a short person and I can knee another person as high as my shoulders. It is tiring but I can do it. I have some things to work on because I am far from perfect.

To practice getting over shin blocks Ajarn Chai recommends that we curve them over a chair. This will help with our form and make us stronger.

For a burn out after drills he had us doing the following:

  1. Clench
  2. #6 elbow
  3. Off balance opponent
  4. 6 rapid skip knee #2
  5. Spin opponent out
  6. Double Kick
  7. Teep

Third Man Out

We did a really cool drill called Third Man Out. This was a 4 minute round. Where we are clenching with our partner and we have a third person with their glove on the man in the middles shoulder. We then clench and try to get the upper hand. Whistle blows and the one holding onto the back of the other takes their place, and clench spars with the third person. One person is clenching and sparing for 4 minutes total, while your opponent changes.

This may not be a great description but its the best I can do. My body is tired and ready to sleep. =)

Thai Boxing Association 4 count Left Kick to Right

We worked on a 4 count L to R. Where you either cut step to left kick, then over hand punch, body shot hook, and then right kick.

The other version was doing the same but instead of cut stepping, you take a step forward with the right leg. This is done to close the distance.

Lean Back to Avoid High Kick

We worked on a lean where if you see a head kick coming you step back with your back foot, and lean back dropping your opposite hand. The key was to make your shoulder level with the other. If you leave it out you can have your shoulder dislocated.

Drill with Lean Back

  1. Opponent throws high kick
  2. you lean back avoid kick
  3. come back with a over hand jab (like you have a jug of water and you turn your hand to empty it out)
  4. upper cut
  5. Left kick

Bleed Power off Rear kick to Your left with Counters

One of the last things we did was a drill where you bleed off the power of an incoming kick. Instead of catching it though you step off the line, then hit them with an overhand jab, and follow it with more strikes. Here is the drill.

Drill with Bleed Power of Rear Kick to Your left

  1. Opponents round house kick is coming to your left hand side
  2. You step out 45 degrees with your right foot this bleeds off the power
  3. As you step off at 45 degrees you throw an over hand jab that comes down on their face from top
  4. Upper cut
  5. Double rapid torso kick
  6. Teep opponent away

We did this drill for 3 minutes to get the technique down. Each partner got a chance to work on this drill once. Then the next one, we were supposed to go as hard as we could for 3 minutes. Put the power into it. After that was a 30 second burn out drill with mackatune, Skip knees #2 for duration of time, and then double kicks right at the end.

This dam near killed me. It was great and so very hard. I did not stop I did not take a breather. I did keep going. Even though I was going a little slower than I started. We did this after nearly 5 hours of training. My muscles were screaming at me, and I was hitting a wall where I did not think I could physically pull more out of them. But I did and I did it.

I know this post was more of a list, but at this point that is all I have the juice for.

I got the best compliment from the man, the legend himself. Ajarn Surachai “Chai” Sirisute himself. He said, “You have great discipline!” Our school, really emphasizes the respect and honor you have to have for the art and the people. So we always wai when we should. He really wants to make sure that we keep the honor and the discipline in our martial arts. Throughout his seminar, he would stop other people who did not salute/bow/wai to their opponent. Ask them who their teachers were, and they and their teachers have to do 100 push ups. Because he said, “its your teachers fault to.” You wai ( means to salute, bow, with hands clasped together) before every drill with your partners, and you wai to your instructors. This shows your respect for your partner, your respect for the art of Muay Thai, and for your Kru and Ajarn (teachers, instructors).

The other honor he gave me, was he personally invited me and my fellow teammate to the Muay Thai Camp that is put on by the TBA (Thai Boxing Association). This is a 4 day camp. Where you live, think, and breath Mauy Thai. If I did this I would have to start training hard to get the endurance up. This is such an honor, because, this is normally only for instructors and students are allowed only if the instructor okay’s it and recommends it. I am not an instructor nor nowhere near one.

I have to think about this. I really want to, but I have to think about logistics and economics of it. I will have to make my decision soon, as it is in July.

Kru Krysta, one of my instructors really wants me to go too. So I have that vote already. =)

What this seminar did for me, was it made me realize how much I have learned, and do honestly know. Hearing other Kru from other schools say I have great form and execute the move properly was amazing. Such a huge boost for my feelings about adequacy in my martial arts. I let myself work at 100% which I have been afraid to do. Having Ajarn Chai compliment my work the first day and then invite us to camp was amazing.

This seminar was amazing and I really believe a pivotal point in my training so far. That is all my brain can dump out right now. I met some amazing people and I hope to see them again.

Thank you for reading. I see I have a new reader that is following this blog so welcome to you. I am still amazed that you all are reading it. Keep being awesome, and keep working on being the best you that you can be.

Muay Thai Seminar with Ajarn Chai Day 1

Beginnings

Day 1 of the Muay Thai Seminar by the legend Ajarn Chai. He is the head of the Thai Boxing Association, U.S.A. He brought Muay Thai to the U.S.A. in 1968. He is the father of Muay Thai in the America. I feel like there was so much information taught to us that I will never remember it all so I wanna get it written down before I forget.

Let me gush a little more, I got to meet him in person, I got to shake his hand, and he even said, “yes, good,” to when he came around to watch me practice the drills and moves. Apparently compliments are rare… he was going around correcting other people on kick stance, their body movement, and execution of the moves/drills.

I make it to Laurel, MD and grab my gear, head into the gym and set my gear down, and down my pre-workout. The gym starts filling up and we are all prepping for the seminar to start. There is a palpable excitement in the room. Its 95 degrees F/ 35 degrees C. The gym itself is a balmy 90 degrees. Then Ajarn Chai enters. We all look over, and my team and I immediately wai. We make our way over to Ajarn Chai and are introduced by Kru Krysta one of my Thai instructors.

Kru Krysta says, “hello Ajarn Chai, these are my students, T, J, J.”

We wai and bow deep and he shakes each of our hands. I fan girl a little and all I can get out are the words, “hello, Arjan Chai, so honored.” I stumble over those words. I am sure I sounded like an idiot. However, we all get about 3 minutes to stretch, and then the seminar/training begins.

Shadow Boxing

We start with shadow boxing. I am trying to remember all the things the Kru have been teaching us. How to visualize your opponent, how to follow through with kicks, and most importantly how to vocalize. I am yelling sok for elbows, tang for knees, and hwaye for kicks.

Kick Stance

Ajarn Chai then has us all line up. Counting off 1 to 4, he asked each person with number one to stand on a line, all people with the number 2 stand on a line. Lather rinse and repeat up till 4. There was a good 30 of us and we all lined up in staggering lines. He started with our stance, and moved on to making sure we all stayed in motion on the balls of our feet. I made small changes to my motion per his instructions to everyone and feel so much more at ease with the stance and more constantly on the balls of my feet. He had us moving forward and backward keeping our stance and keeping the bouncing motion. He had us moving in south paw stance, and in orthodox stance. Your kick stance is everything in Thai and it is where you will execute your moves from.

Hand placement for protection during kick stance and movement

We worked on our hand placement. We were constantly moving our hands but keeping them right under eye level. Again I made small changes to the way I kept my hands and it is a big improvement. If you are an orthodox fighter you put your right hand on your face and the left hand just slightly out and away from your face. Constantly moving them in a pulling toward your face motion circular motion. This gives you best visibility and best protection at the same time.

Rear Leg Kick to Rear Teep

The next thing we worked on was rear leg kick to rear teep. Did I mention because this day we are working in gymnasium we had to wear our running/workout shoes? So we had to do our kicks in shoes. This was interesting and some what hard. But what it did do was make us work on the balls of our feet a lot more. This is great, cause it helps for the turn over of our kicks. So we worked on rear kicks to rear teeps. This is hard to do in slow motion because we were not using pads, we had to gently lay our kicks in, and we had to figure out our distance/range management.

The major thing Ajarn Chai wanted us to add/fix/start doing was to execute a diagonal cover of our face with our rear arm, and front arm touching the elbow, as we ax down to add leverage to our kicks.

Front Leg Shield to Front Leg Teep

Ajarn Chai had us shielding with our front leg. We shielded the way our Kru teach us, with our foot flexed and not pointed. He demonstrated that if you point your foot, or if you let it be lax/lazy your shield will not shield anything. Shielding with front leg and then teeping with same leg is hard to do. If you are even a little off balance, you will fall or have to take a step back. We practiced so much I could feel the difference between when I had control and was executing it correctly and when I was off balance.

Break for lunch

We broke for an hour lunch and I had the pleasure of being able to eat with Ajarn Chai. He is a humble gracious man, and truly just amazing. If it sounds like I am just blowing him up because I am star struck. I assure you I am not. If you can ever meet the man. He is sweet and so kind. Willing to answer anyone’s questions, and gives each of his students the utmost respect.

During the seminar he talked bout respect, and how the martial arts world is growing. We are gaining so many more practitioners, but we are moving away from the respect, honor, humility, and humble beginnings we started with. He wants us all to bring that back. Respect your students, respect your masters, respect the art, and give the respect you want to receive.

Thai Lean to Teep

When we returned to the gym. I remarked that it smelled like hard work in there. We had all been sweating so much that the gymnasium had a damp, “hard work” smell to it.

We started working on an old school technique. I am not certain if it is just not used any more, or if it just fell out of favor because other things/moves give you more points in the ring. But we worked on the Thai lean to teep. It involves you holding your hands out, one arm is bent one arm is straight out. You are doing this against your partner. Your partner is doing the same thing. What this did was allow me to feel when my partner was going to move, I could then scoop his arm and elbow him, or scoop his arm and knee him, or just teep him.

Thai elbows 1-9

Ajarn Chai separated out the instructors and had them at the 4 corners of the gym. He had each set of instructors take a group of students about 8 students per group, and teach them one or two of the 9 Muay Thai elbows. He then would go around and ask each group to show him the elbows they were taught. I learned some small tweaks to make each of my elbows a little better. For instance I learned, with the tachmalach (spelling?) also know as putting the flower behind the ear. I need to lift my arm higher to get the spearing elbow to hit its target. Each of the 9 elbows I learned a little tweak to help me execute them better, faster, and with more precision.

Elbows:

  1. Horizontal elbow
  2. Upward Diagonal elbow
  3. Downward Diagonal elbow
  4. Upward elbow
  5. Downward Vertical
  6. Side In elbow
  7. Side Out elbow
  8. Tachmalach / putting the flower behind the ear
  9. Spinning Backward elbow

Crows Think 4 Steps Ahead

One of the side conversations he had with us was that crows think 4 steps ahead. Ajarn Chai has worked with/trained the Dallas Cowboys before. He related a story about when he was talking with the coach. The coach asked him how many steps ahead do you think. Ajarn Chai said 1 steps ahead. The coach told him as a coach he has to think 3 steps ahead to coach his team. He related that crows, those little black birds think 4 steps ahead of us. He said Martial Arts is the same way. When you are in a fight you must think ahead, if your opponent throws this, you can do this, this or this. If you opponent throws that you can do this, this, or this.

Skip Knee #2

Repping out skip knee #2 on the wall is hard. We were working on opening the hips and kneeing in, and or doing a side knee. Opening the hip when you are tired is damn near impossible. But I kept on keeping on. Putting your leg out behind you straight, opening the hip, and leaning in the knee either straight or side knee is what we worked on.

Matkatune drill

Last but not least we did some pad work. I learned a completely new to me strike called the Matkatune. This is a jab strike that you lean back/cock with your shoulder, and step forward putting the force of your shoulder into it.

Matkatune drill:

  1. Matakune
  2. Elbow #6 or Side In
  3. Rear Knee
  4. Rear Kick
  5. Left Teep

It felt so good to kick the pads. We were placing kicks and working with partners trying not to hurt them. But with pads we were able to just lay the kicks in there.

After 3 minutes of doing that drill, we had to do 30 seconds of burn out drill.

Burn out:

  1. Left #6 elbow
  2. Right #6 elbow
  3. Skip knee #2 till time ran out
  4. Then double right kick

End of Day 1

We finished out the last of our drills. All of us were dripping, and just soaked with our efforts. We all worked hard and I think learned a great deal. Ajarn Chai assembled us on the line again. He spoke to us about what we learned. He spoke about practicing what we learned.

Ajarn Chai called out at a student and asked, “Do you know what it says on your shorts?”

We are all dying laughing.

The student looked startled and worried said, “no sir, I don’t, I got them from Muay Thai Factory Sir.”

Ajarn Chai laughed and says, “I can’t say what it says on your shorts.”

The student looked worried, and we are all laughing at this students predicament.

Ajarn Chai is laughing a lot now and says, “they say #1 fighter.” (I am not certain what he said, cause his accent got thicker and he was laughing, but that was the gist)

Ajarn Chai goes on to say, “be careful where and what Thai shorts you get, cause there are some with bad words on them.”

I made it home. I got the kids dinner and I sat and ate myself. I then I just sat there, regaling my adventures to my husband. I ended up taking a bath with a bath bomb and some epsom salts. This was a first time for both of those things.

I also did the math and I drank over 5 liters of water today. I had to use the restroom very little if at all today, so it seems my body just used it, and expelled it.

Thanks for reading, I hope your weekend is going great. Keep being awesome, and keep working to be the best you can be. I have another day of this seminar and I am so excited. I am a little sore, but am going to be hurting tomorrow I can tell.

Muay Thai Seminar… I get to go Saturday and Sunday, and I am so excited.

I am breaking up my regularly scheduled training, for some extra training. I get to meet the legend Ajarn Chai. The man who brought Muay Thai to the U.S.A. in 1968.

I am attending a 2 day Muay Thai seminar. 5 hours a day I get to train with Ajarn Chai himself. I am both excited and worried I will not be good enough.

I know that novices are invited and encouraged to come. But it is a daunting thing to go do. Not to mention with a person who is the reason why I get to train in the martial art I love. The person who is the reason I have the honor to train in Muay Thai.

I will of course be blogging about my experience. So tomorrow begins a new experience. I hope to learn a lot, and bring it back to my team mates. I hope I can soak it all up. I will try to write it all down.

That is all for today. I wanted to tell you how excited and scared I am. I can’t wait and need to go pack my bag.

Muay Thai and Kali training…Clench Sparring, Running Saints

2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training. I am pooped. It was a great set of classes. We worked on Clenches, Dumps, and Clench Sparring in Muay Thai. In Kali we worked on the running Saints. I recorded us doing the three that we were taught. Kru Krysta informed me that some of these Kali Saints are passed from teacher to student/teacher. It is proper etiquette to get permission first before revealing all the secrets. I want to respect my teachers and their teachers and keep their confidentiality until they give me the ok. I can video myself working on the saints but don’t want to give the names and exact combos.

Alright on with the training.

Muay Thai – Clench Sparring

We worked on clenching and dumps. Kru Kristen was talking about the clench in Muay Thai, and this is a major piece of the Muay Thai fighting style. This is a major difference between KB (kick boxing) and Muay Thai. The art of the 8 limbs requires you to use all of your limbs, and the knees and elbows part of the the limbs. So Clenching up is a great way to deliver those devastating knees to some ones ribs, mid section, and or quads. When we clench up we have the opportunity to off balance our opponent, then dump them on the ground, giving us points. Or we have the option of off balancing our opponent and then delivering knees to their body. This gives us point as well in the ring.

However it is not just about the clenching, and dumping and knees. You can muscle your way through it but you are going to wear yourself out not your opponent. The finesse comes when you learn/feel the opportunity. For instance when your opponent shifts their weight and goes to knee you, and you in that instance jerk their elbow down to make them base and take a step. You interrupt that knee that was coming for you and now you have a person that just had to base, and you can dump them on their rear ends.

Kru Kristen says, you cannot see it to learn it. You have to feel it. You have to feel the shift, to get the dump in. I learned also that if you bump your opponents hip out, and the push back into you, that is your opportunity to step your leg in and off balance them. Getting a knee in, or just putting them on the floor. I really have to practice this more so I can get a better feel for how to do it. I am able to do it, sometimes I feel like I try to force it. When I do the moves right it feels effortless. Like a lot of things in Martial Arts. If you truly do the move right, it works with your body, using physics and gravity to move maybe immobile object.

Needless to say. It was fun. I got a chance to work with everyone. For some of my team mates, it is effortless, they can do it with no problems. For me I still have to work on it. I can feel when I do the move right. So that is a good starting point. I need to make it feel like that every time.

Kali – Running Saints

As I mentioned above Kru Krysta is kind enough to write everything down for me. However, there are some things that are passed down from Guru to Student who will be a Guru. But I can record, and talk about pieces of the Running Saints we did.

So first of all, I am better at attacking. I seem to get the drills down fine when I am on the attack. However, when I am defending, that is when I mess up. I wonder what that says about me. =)

But all the smaller drills we were working on in double stick, like abecedario, umbrella heaven, cobb cobb, and more are in these Running Saints. As I was taught, in the Philippians they are a very Catholic oriented country because they were occupied by the Spanish, and they named these drills Running Saints, because they are meant for the attacker to run down your opponent. You are meant to cover distance and keep attacking.

For me as long as I keep attacking I am all good. If I have to defend myself… well there is my weakness. But it is something for me to work on. Perhaps it is the running/walking backwards as I try to meet the sticks coming at my head, and have them set up on the correct side so that I can keep the drill going.

Try patting your head while rubbing your tummy clockwise… You got that? Now try doing it backward. Pat your had and rub your tummy counter clockwise… Not as easy to switch right? Now try to do that was you defend yourself from an incoming attack. That is Kali… at least that is how Kali is for me. I love it. If you are interested, there is a Ted Talk about Cognitive Kali.

Take a look at this Ted Talk if you have the time:

As you have found out if you have been reading my blog. Kali is not for the unthinking person. It helps to be a perspicacious person, and if you are not, it certainly will try to make you one. Ohh I got to use the word perspicacious… my AP English teacher would have been so proud.

In the following video, you will see one of the Running Saints, and me celebrating a little when I get the Saint somewhat down.

https://youtu.be/X8DBNL9S7gU
https://youtu.be/gt7a-O50its

Anyway thanks for reading. I hope you are all having a great week so far. Please comment if you have an questions. Keep being the awesome you are, and always try to be the best you, that you can be.

Tuesday Muay Thai and Kali…Thai 15 Count, Sparring, Brain Bending 4 to 5 to 6 to 8 to 7 count Kali drills

2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali Training. Today was a fun fun day. Killed my brain in Kali and we got to work on 15 count and sparring in Thai. It was challenging and fun. Not every day is like that, but when it is fun it is fantastic.

I am also excited to almost bursting. I am going to get to go to a special training seminar with Arjan Chai this weekend. Two days 8 hours a day of basically a Thai camp. But I digress. On to the actual training today.

Muay Thai – Thai 15 count, Sparring

In Muay Thai today we worked on 4 counts with elbows and knees. This training teaches us distance management. Because our furthest attack will be our kicks. Then we have punching range, which is mid range. Lastly we have close range attacks with all elbows. Then we can use the knee to eject our opponent and then get ourselves back into kicking range.

This is exactly what the Thai 15 count drill does as well. As you will see in the video below, we have to address the incoming strikes to our head, slide in return elbows, knee them and create distance, then kick them. The whole drill is a study in distance management.

Kru Krysta started us off with some 4 count Thai drills after which we have to do the 5-10-5 for an active rest. What is that you ask. Well its a training mechanism to wear us out, and have us practice our kicks and clenches/knees.

5-10-5:

5 rapid/ballistic right kicks, Clench up then do 10 #2 knees, 5 rapid/ballistic left kicks

This wear you out. I love them and can’t wait to do more.

The Thai 15 count is as follows:

  1. Parry the cross
  2. High cover the hook
  3. Left #1 elbow/horizontal elbow
  4. Right #3 downward diagonal elbow
  5. Right long leaning knee
  6. Left kick
  7. Right cross, then Left hook
  8. Right knee
  9. Right kick
  10. Teep when a cross is thrown at you
  11. Bob the second cross thrown at you
  12. Throw Hook
  13. Throw Cross
  14. Right kick
https://youtu.be/SQfaM9tQXBM

Sparring:

After the Thai 15 count, she had the orange arm bands/ more advanced students split off and go spar J. He is prepping for a fight and he needs practice. So I got to spar again today. I got some good kicks in, but he is a foot taller than me, so I have a hard time getting. I spoke with Kru Krysta afterward on how to get in, and I have to really get off the line. Or just take a hit to cover the distance. Because he can keep me at distance with his kicks and punches. He has a longer reach.

I am no longer afraid of sparring… I noticed this today. When we first started it was daunting and I was afraid. Of getting hit, of making a mistake, of just looking stupid. I am sure I still look stupid. But now I am more focused on trying to work on the things we have been taught using them in a practical way. When you get into the ring, or you start sparring, its really hard to remember everything you were taught. This is one of the reasons they drill it into us. Because, as Kru Kristen says, you don’t rise to the occasion when the adrenaline hits. You worst habit you will fall back on. Like if you drop your hands when you kick. (I will give you one guess on who does that. If you guessed me… Yup! I am working on it.) But if you do that you will do that when you are scared, or have an adrenaline dump. So when we are exhausted that is when we need to focus on our form and doing the drills right. So hopefully we rep in the good habits and forget the bad.

Kali – Brain Bending 4 to 5 to 6 to 8 to 7 count Kali drills

In Kali I worked with a student that has only been to 4 classes. He is a nice guy and really was starting to get some of the drills. However, it is amazing to work with people who are… less skilled. That sounds weird to say and to even type out. However, I have been doing Kali for 1.5 years, and while that is not a long time it is longer than 4 days. So what I found amazing was I could see in him what I felt and did when I first started. Getting my sticks tangled, getting confused, being surprised that you had both a left and right side that we do the drills on. (note: this is like asking some one to learn to use chop sticks with the right hand, then as they are just getting it saying, ok lets use the left hand right now. ) Yes Kali is like that. It forces you to use both sides of your brain, and bends that brain of yours.

Slowing down the drills is harder than it looks. To teach a person, you have to slow down the drills and when you do the rhythm changes or at least slows. Throw in foot work, and then just when you are getting that particular drill, Kru Krysta will throw in a few more strikes. I realized I know a little more than I thought I did. Cause I was able to help another person work on their form. =)

We worked on the following drills. (I have written them down as I remember them. If I am wrong let me know. =) I will fix them.)

Heaven 6:

  • starts in a chambered position
  • Forehand strike to head
  • Backhand strike to same side of the head
  • Backhand strike to other side of head
  • ends in chambered position

Umbrella 6: Striking 3 times on one side of the head, and 3 times on the other side of the head.

  • Starts in chambered position
  • Forehand strike to head
  • Backhand strike to same side of head, while you are swinging that forehand strike you just did around your head
  • Forehand strike to same side of head
  • chamber sticks

Lather rinse and repeat the above

Umbrella 8: Striking 4 times on one side of head, and 4 times on the other side of head.

  • Starts in chambered position
  • Forehand strike to head
  • Backhand strike to same side of head, while you are swinging that forehand strike you just did around your head
  • Forehand strike to same side of head out of the redondo
  • Redondo the backhand you struck with and hit back hand
  • Witik forehand
  • Backhand
  • To redondo around head and hit with forehand again.

And if you are good enough you can keep going around and around and around

She had us doing the Heaven 6 to Standard 6 to Earth 6. Then she had us doing the Umbrella 6 to Umbrella 8 to Umbrella 7.

Umbrella 7:

  • Starts in chambered position
  • Forehand strike to head
  • Backhand strike to same side of head, while you are swinging that forehand strike you just did around your head
  • Forehand strike to same side of head out of the redondo
  • Redondo the backhand you struck with and hit back hand
  • Witik forehand
  • Backhand to one side of head
  • Backhand to other side of head

Below in the following video I am doing the Umbrella 8, and the Umbrella 7 counts respectively.

https://youtu.be/QvljCf_z3vE

I am exhausted, my brain is not braining any more. I am going to start typing gibberish if I keep going so I am going to end it here. I had a great time. I am excited about the upcoming training. I am also nervous about it.

I hope you liked the blog, thank you for reading, and if you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them. Keep being your awesome self, and keep trying to make the best you that you can be.

Thursday Muay Thai and Kali…Elbows and Knees the difference between KB and Muay Thai, Brain Melt again

2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training. Not every day can be the best day. I know this. It still sucks when I have a day when I feel like I am doing less. I have my bruises and lumps. I have been working hard, I have been putting in my time, and I need to just keep doing it. I know this.

I would love to be all sunshine and daisies all the time. But I think that would be misrepresentation of my training and my journey. So I write about when I am not have such a great day in training. Be it from outside influences like a flood in the house, or internal conflict, or just training itself.

Muay Thai – Elbows and Knees the difference between Kick Boxing and Muay Thai

Today we worked on Thai 4 counts again. The staples of Muay Thai, the art of 8 limbs. We placed the kick on the leg of the, and continue with the punches to the kick. However, Kru Kristen wanted us to focus on the entry. Using the 4 count to get you to a knee. Enter on the knee and clench. From there you can off balance your opponent, then knee them more, or kick them in the face. Kru Kristen says, “when you ask Thai fighters, what they are afraid of, they don’t say kicks or punches. They say knees or elbows. Those are the most devastating and will end a fight. The difference between Kick Boxing and Muay Thai is the elbows and knees. So we are practicing the entry into them.

  1. Furthest away = kicks and teeps
  2. Mid range = punches, hooks, jabs, crosses
  3. close range = knees
  4. closest range = elbows

Being able to flow between all the ranges is ideal, and will allow you to get in and get out hopefully with less lumps then you gave your opponent.

Training:

  1. right leg kick, hook, cross, left torso kick
  2. pyramid kicks
  3. left leg kick, cross, hook, right torso kick
  4. pyramid kicks
  5. right leg kick, hook, cross, knee to full plumb clench, knee them, off balance them and then dump your opponent.
  6. Jumping jacks
  7. left leg kick, hook, cross, knee to full plumb clench, knee them, off balance them and dump your opponent.
  8. Jumping jacks
  9. Clench in half clench, pull opponent onto you to break their base, then off balance them

I love Muay Thai, it is a huge part of my life. I think about it all the time. I love the philosophy. I love the discipline. I love the dedication it takes to learn it. I rearrange my life around it so I can train as much as I do. So when I have a day that feels like I am just all over the place and not doing great. It gets me down. I wanna keep doing well. I wanna keep excelling. I know this is not how this works. Some days you just need to put the hours in and the training in.

Kali – Brain Melting Again

We worked on the 6 count family again. We did the same drills as Tuesday. However, for some reason I was messing up the individual drills. Today every 5 cycles of the same drill and I would mess up.

Kru Krysta said its because I am not retracting as much as I should be. For some reason Tuesday I was doing it just fine. But today not so much.

Then when we did the full 5 drills in one drill, I got it just fine. The brain is a funny thing. I know what to do, but when I think about it to much I fumble. I get flustered and then mess it up.

Kru mixed it up again, and instead of doing all 5, 6 count family, we would do just three of each 6 count drill. Talk melting the brain. That was amazing and hard all at the same time.

So yeah today was not the best training day in the respect of me feeling like I am accomplishing anything. But again I know I just need to put the time in. So I did. I feel good for getting the exercise in. I was dripping in sweat and got to work with some new people in class.

Thank you for reading. Please let me know if you have any questions. I hope you have a great day. Keep being awesome, and keep trying to be the best you, that you can be.

Tuesday Muay Thai and Kali… Staple of Muay Thai, Clumsy Monkey, 5 Drills in One Brain Melting

  • We are goofballs after class.
  • Bruise blooming on foot because I was not kicking right.

2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training. I have mentioned it before. I have days where one of my Martial Arts is not clicking. Its frustrating and I don’t really like it. I don’t know why I have days like this. I assume that I am not the only one. But that is only an assumption. Maybe its because of this huge catering job that I am doing this week. Maybe its just the stars are not aligned. Who knows. But today in Muay Thai I was a clumsy monkey.

Muay Thai – Staple of Muay Thai, Clumsy Monkey

We did a review of the things we were doing last week. We were working on a staple of Muay Thai the 4 counts. You may think. Wow they work on the same things a lot. And yeah… you would be right. We do. This is one of the staples of Muay Thai. This is a combination that we drill over and over again. As you can see I am off balance a little. I am clumsy today. I am annoyed at myself and I want to do better.

Some times the only thing you can do is go in and put the time in. Even if you feel you are doing poorly like me in class today. You can see the bruise on my foot from kicking the pads wrong. Muay Thai a lot of times is self correcting. When you kick or hit something wrong you will hurt yourself or your training partner. When you kick the pads wrong, and hit mostly with the top of your foot you will bruise the crap out of it. This is just the bruise right away… We will see what it looks like tomorrow.

Training:

  1. First 3 minute round, we worked on Thai 4 counts
  2. Pyramid kicks
  3. Second 3 minute round, receiving and dealing with a jab or cross and returning a 4 count
  4. Pyramid kicks
  5. Third 3 minute round, blocking or shielding an incoming kick and returning a Thai 4 count
  6. Pyramid Kicks
  7. 3 x 3 minute rounds of sparring.

Kru Kristen said I was doing well… but I have tells, and I kept getting kicked and punched. I know its part of the process but. Man it sucks when you suck, and it sucks when you know you suck and are having a bad time. Anyway here is a video of me doing dealing with the jab and cross. You can see me being a little off balance. Meh… but tomorrow is another day.

https://youtu.be/7hyZMwpDIXw

Kali – 5 drills in one big drill

Kali went a little better for me. I was exhausted after Muay Thai so that did not help. However, I did not seem to have to much of a hard time dealing with the drills.

Training:

  1. We started with the Heaven 6, then Standard 6, then we did the Earth 6
  2. We worked on cob cob
  3. Umbrella came next
  4. Winshield Wiper followed
  5. Ordibis followed winshield

Then then… Kru Krysta wanted to put it all together.

This drill below is all in the video below.

  1. COB COB
  2. Umbrella
  3. Heaven
  4. Winshield Wiper
  5. Ordibis

Yes all those drills were done all at once. This was interesting cause we were able to do it. But we kinda had to feel our way around it. Feel the rhythm and feel the flow. Below is a picture of what we did and the footwork. I am tired and don’t have time or energy to make a foot work graphic today.

This is a video of us practicing this very drill, the 5 drills together melting my brain, and also making new pathways in my brain. Hopefully in the future I will be able to pull on this knowledge, and make it flow better.

https://youtu.be/7PSJfxo-pN4

Thank you for reading. I must away to bed. I have another day of cooking all day for 200 people, serving, and teaching. I hope you have a wonderful day/evening/morning where you are. Keep being awesome and keep striving to be the best you, that you can be.