Tag: workout

Martial Arts 01/07/2020: Sandal Rubs the Forehead, Tang Kao, and Siep Kao

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, JKD, Martial Arts, Muay Thai, Muay Thai, Fitness, Weight Lifting, workoutLeave a comment

I really love Muay Thai. I love learning the rich tapestry of history that is behind this art. I love learning about Thailand, the people, and why this art came about. I feel a sense of accomplishment when I practice. I feel like I am making my body and mind stronger. I feel like I am learning an art and that I can eventually pass it down myself. This week I learned many new terms, words that are the names for some of the strikes we do, and they mean. Like Tang Kao, and Siep Kao, names for some of the knees. I learned names of some of the teeps. Like Sandal Rubbing the Forehead. I love how descriptive the name is in Thai.

Also as a person who has learned multiple languages in my life, Thai is one of the hardest I have ever tried to learn and pronounce. English, Japanese, Spanish, and some German, are the languages I have learned. In various levels of fluency. English and Spanish being the ones I am most fluent in. Japanese I learned from my grandma and mother when I lived and visited Japan. Finally German when I have time to study, so I have a basic kindergarten level knowledge. =) I digress though. Thai is so nuanced and the letter y seems to have a sound like ny. I could be wrong on this, but that is my understanding. I may want to pick up a class on Thai and pronunciation.

Tuesday 01/07/2020 – 3 hours… Muay Thai and JKD

3 hours of Muay Thai and JKD training tonight.

I love it when my instructors say that they can see that changes, the progress in my training.

This time last year I was feeling like I was in a rut. I felt like I had hit a plateau. However this year, I am feeling like I am making progress on the training side of things. My cardio is head and shoulders above that of last year, my endurance is improving even more, my technique is improving to the point my speed. Yessss!

Conditioning warm up:

  1. 4 count rear to lead on bag, then sprawl
  2. bob and weave drill down under a rope hanging across the mat
  3. ladder where we switched our lead foot in and out of the ladder

Training:

  1. Check the kick lead leg, return kick lead leg, teep lead leg
  2. Check the kick rear leg, return kick rear leg, teep rear leg
  3. lead knee (siep kao, pushing knee), to lead kick
  4. rear knee (siep kao, pushing knee), to rear kick

JKD:

  1. sitting hubud (sitting removes the ability to move around with your feet. You have to feel the partners movements and focus on working the technique.)
  2. sitting 1 to 1 flow drill
  3. sitting 5 to 5 flow drill
  4. sitting 2 to 2 flow drill
  5. Then we flowed between them
  6. Then we worked on standing up while doing one of these drills and sitting back down, without stopping the drill.

We were drilling without shin guards. We were going light but still shin bone on shin bone will cause bone bruises. This is normal. You have to push out the fluid in the bruise. I treated it with Thai Oil, and rolling it out with the tiger tail. It hurt, but cumulatively it will start to hurt less the more it happens. So this is toughening up your bone and shins.

I only document this and show it to show what really happens in this martial art. These kinds of bruises happen, you need to know how to treat them. I am going to put a hot compress on it as well as roll it out again.

Wednesday 01/08/2020 – 2 hours… Muay Thai

2 hours of training Kettle Bell and Muay Thai. I let my baby girl take pictures and that is what I got. However, I am a little shook. Is this what I look like? It’s blurry but heck.

4 rounds of:

  1. KB swings 10
  2. 1 arm KB swings 20
  3. Side to side KB swings 10

Anyway I digress… today was Kettle Bells, then all knees all the time. My coach Tony who is Thai and is teaching me all the Thai words for the move we are doing. Siep Kao, yat (pronounced yhut), thee (pronounced tee) and Tang Kao We learned different kinds of tees today.

  1. 5 minute round of doing Siep Kao knees on the bag
  2. 5 minute round of doing Tang Kao knees on the bag
  3. 5 minute round of Siep Kao with partners
  4. 5 minute round of Tang Kao with partners
  5. 5 minute round of Swimming/clench work while getting knees in

Then we finished with core workout! Woot!

Terms for knees in Thai:

Siep Kao (pronounced see ep cow) – is pushing knee, where you knee the person with upper shin bone/knee

Tang Kao – is the spearing knee, where you knee the person with the top of you knee.

Yat (yhut) (pronounced nyet or yhut) – when you push with the knee

Thee (pronounced tdee, you will hear Americans say Dye) – word said when you knee a person

45 seconds each exercise, with 15 rest, 4 rounds

  1. dead bugs
  2. crunches
  3. leg raises
  4. bicycle
  5. mountain climbers
  6. clenching core with feet off ground and hands on head
  7. pike ups

Friday 01/10/2020 – 2 hours… Muay Thai and JKD

2 hours of Muay Thai practice. My coach Tony kicked our butts again. We learned the names for three different teeps. I thought I took a pic. You the kind of thought you took pic, remembering you put camera up and clicked, but for some reason it is not in your pics. I will get the terms tomorrow at training. But it was the rear teep, a rear hop teep, and lead head teep (that is called Sandal rubbing the forehead) will get terms in Thai tomorrow. Thank you so much for the awesome class. 🙏

Something I was thinking about. When I learn a term like ( Sandal rubbing the forehead) it’s easier to remember for me and I get to learn and extrapolate the culture from it.

Warm up:

  1. jump rope till all students got there

2 rounds of:

  1. bent over KB row
  2. push ups, inside and outside
  3. mountain climbers
  4. bicycles
  5. leg lift
  6. alternating lunge jumps
  7. sit sweeps
  8. plank ups
  9. prison squats

Training:

  1. 2 rounds of pad rounds – feeder kicks and you hold for immediate response
  2. Rear leg teep
  3. rear leg hop teep
  4. lead leg head teep
  5. Tiger walk or begging of Wai Kru in Muay Baron style ( meaning 50/50 stance, fist over fist movements, goal is to make it pretty, and to work on balance)
  6. Abbs – 50 crunches, and Tony hit bellies of trainees with pad 10 times in a row.

Terms for teeps in Thai:

Mon Yun Luk (pronounced mon {like Monday}, nyun, lock) – rear leg teep

Ka Don Teep (pronounced ka {like caw caw}, don {like Donatello}, teep) – jump teep, or feign leg shield teep

Bata Loop Pak (pronounced bata {like baton}, loop {like lopping}, pak (like pac in Tu Pac) – means sandal rubs the forehead, or head teep, executed where you blade the body to your opponent and using lead leg teep the head.

Saturday 01/11/2020 – 3 hours… Muay Thai and JKD

3 hours of Muay Thai and JKD training. I did less conditioning and more pad holding which is a skill in itself.

JKD we worked on bridging the gap, feigning, nao tek kicks, ping choi, pak sau, and punches.

Thank you Khun Kru Krysta for great training and a fantastic class.

Saturday was a busy day after training, so I am posting this today. I did less conditioning yesterday, but I did a lot of pad holding. I feel soreness in my ribs today. My hamstrings are tired from the training this week. I clocked 10 hours of training total this week.

Thank you for reading. Please let me know what you think. If I got the terms incorrect, let me know and I will fix them. I am still learning. As always keep working to be the best you that you can be.

Martial Arts 01/02/2020: "Deal with your self" Tony, "My safe word is a teep!" Krysta

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, JKD, Martial Arts, Muay Thai, Muay Thai, Fitness, workoutLeave a comment

Today starts a new week of training. When we have several days off, sometimes it feels like I may have lost my conditioning. I know it is a silly worry. But it did crop up today, I was working and had to do some heavy lifting (literally 30 and 50 lb buckets of product). Well I was tired and thought oh crap am I going to make it through my classes tonight?

Thursday 01/02/2020 – 3 hours… Muay Thai and JKD

Muay Thai and JKD- Little less than three hours of training tonight.

I did 4 rounds before class with my coach Tony thank you Sir.
We did 3 x 4 minute rounds and 1 x 3 min round.

Then Muay Thai and JKD with my coach Khun Kru Krysta. Thank you for the great classes. We did boxing in Thai, and trapping in JKD!

Muay Thai:

We worked on the boxing 20. Focusing on the cover of your organs.

JKD:

We worked on Jeet Kune Do (JKD) today. I am going to digress here and talk about what JKD means “The way of the Intercepting Fist”. It was developed by Bruce Lee and was personal to him. There has in his own lifetime been a lot of controversy over the art he developed. Wing Chun was his basis for the martial art, and what he started with first. He added to it with the best of Taekwondo, Boxing, Fencing , and Wrestling. He had many people in his time that were upset that he was melding and mixing martial arts the way he was. They wanted their art to stay pure. However, I really like the way he always wanted to learn from everything and use the best.

“Research your own experience. Absorb what is useful. Reject what is useless. Add what is essentially your own. “

-Bruce Lee

My instructors, Ajarn Chai, and Dan Innosanto worked with him while he was alive. I have the honor to learn from them, and from my other instructors who have subsequently learned from the legends above.

We worked on the following today:

  1. Ping Choy, Gua Choy, Lop Sau, Gua Choy, Pak Sau Da, Loy Pak Sau

Ping Choy = low strike block or horizontal fist

Guay Choy = back fist

Lop Sau = grabbing/pulling hand

Pak Sau Da = slapping/grabbing hand

Loy Pak Sau = inside (of the arm) slapping hand

So with those definitions, this is the trapping drill we did is as follows:

  1. horizontal fist, back fist, grabbing/pulling hand, back fist, slapping/grabbing hand, inside slapping hand

I also learned the hand positions names:

Biu gee = Shooting fingers, or finger jab, usually to eye or neck

Tan sao = palm up block

Jong sao = Palm inward block, or sideways hand, (between biu and tan sao)

I made some graphics for those who are visual learners below:

Friday 01/03/2020 – 1.5 hours… Muay Thai Conditioning

1.5 hours of Muay Thai conditioning and practice. My coach Tony kicked my butt again. It was amazing. I like when he pushes me! I want to push through. He was working with me. When we had a break Tony asked me if I was feeling heavy and tired, and I said yes. He said, “good, you are pushing through the barrier. I can tell you are working past it.” He meant the tired, the pain and the haze you get when you are pushing hard.

He had us doing one for one drill, kicking on pads right after a conditioning warm up. And then the more one for one hit response rounds. I am getting better about being hit, tougher. Then we did asymmetrical response
rounds. Finally he had us doing core. I am exhausted but a good exhausted.

One of the most awesome things was I got to train with my first instructors side by side. Thanks you Khun Kru Krysta and Kru Kristen for working with me! It’s amazing to work with them and train with them as well. Different than just being taught by them.

After Thai training snack was yogurt, fruit, and almonds. Nom nom nom

Favorite quote of the night, “Deal with yourself”, Tony. This was in reference to how he was taught Muay Thai. Sometimes you just kinda have to suck it up. Its going to hurt, change is hard. When your molding your body to your art, it gets hard. However, you persevere.

Saturday 01/04/2020 – 3 hours… Muay Thai Conditioning, and JKD

Whew! The last training day of this week. We did 3 hours. 2 hours of it were conditioning training.

We did between 12 to 15 rounds, either holding or working the pads. I got my numbers in for my upcoming testing. I was tired from Friday, but it was a good tired. I got a chance to work through it and it was not so bad.

For class this day we worked on JKD (Jeet Kune Do) again. This time adding the Nao Tek or pendulum kick to the routine. We worked on feigning and getting out of the pocket using the nao tek. I really enjoy JKD. I like learning the trapping and response moves. It transitions so nicely into Muay Thai and I learn better how to redirect blows with JKD.

Best quote of the day, “my safe word is a teep”, Khun Kru Krysta. This was absolutely hilarious and I loved it. I wanted to write it down so I would remember forever.

There were two great quotes this week from my coaches/trainers. “Deal with yourself,” Tony. “my safe word is a teep,” Khun Kru Krysta. This was a fantastic week of training. We did 7.5 hours of training this week. Even though it was shortened due to the holidays it was a fantastic start of the new year. I got to work on JKD trapping which I love. I got to work with and alongside two of my coaches/trainers with us all being students. It was a wonderful experience.

Finally as if the week could not get any better. I had the honor of being asked to help demonstrate Muay Boran from my coach Tony. From what I understand we are going to demonstrate this art at the Royal Thai embassy. For this I will be learning Muay Boran. Muay Boran is predecessor to current modern Muay Thai.

What I have learned so far is that this style and art was used by the slaves to get out of slavery, to fight off the Burmese, and was used as the Thai soldiers martial art style. As modern day Muay Thai moved to more of a martial sport in the ring, they had to take some of the Muay Boran out. It changed partially because it was a style used to kill, and not used for scoring points originally. It also changed partially because it was easier to award points to the person who hit more often then the person who was able to deflect and control the fight. This made it more accessible to everyone in watching the fights. (I am still learning, and if I made a mistake let me know I am happy to change it. Everything I wrote is from what I have read, and been told/taught by my instructor Tony.)

Thank you for reading. I hope you all had a fantastic new year, and I hope the rest of the year is amazing for you all as well. Keep working to be the best you, that you can be.

Muay Thai Camp Saturday, 7/27/2019 Day 4… End of year, and pants dropping oh my.

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Martial Arts, Muay Thai, Muay Thai, Fitness, workoutLeave a comment
A picture of the whole group. Credit: Elise

Saturday, 7/27/2019 Day 4

Stats:

Steps – 31,935
Calories – 5,337
Active minutes – 394

I finally made it to day 4. I was only able to due this with friends and family supporting me. Every night after a day at camp. We would shower, talk, and I would pass out. Then get up and do it again. I was worried I would not make it this far. I was told there were some people who could not do 4 days. This was an amazing adventure, and I am so much the better for it.

This day my body was tired but kinda resigned to the process. It seemed my body just said ahh well I guess we are doing this again.

Looking back on this day, it was amazing. I got to work some of the most inspiring people in the martial arts.

And while I am finishing this post 5 months later. I wanted to finish this post before the new year. Man did I cut that close.

Total for this whole 4 day period of time we did: 250 rounds, 7500 knees

That is mind boggling. 250 rounds, and 7500 knees!

Having a post take this long is good on some level. I can focus on the highlights of the last day, of the entire camp itself. I don’t have this swirling whirlwind of emotions, thoughts, ideas, and everything just trying to shoulder each other out of the way to get down on the page. I have a bit of clarity. =)

High Lights:

  1. I got to work with masters of the martial art I love Muay Thai. Who are also masters of other martial arts as well.
    • Ajarn Chai ( Surachai Sirisute )
    • Ajarn Parker
    • Ajarn Greg Nelson
    • Trigg
    • Kru Aron (Juice)
    • Khun Kru Carro
    • Khun Kru Elise
    • Khun Kru Krysta (my trainer/coach)
    • Nichole G.
    • Kru John H.
    • Khun Kru Sonya Y.
    • Raja
    • Many more I cannot remember, and all part of my tribe now, my extended family. If I did not get an Title (Ajarn, Kru, Khun Kru) correct please let me know I will make the change.
  2. 1 week of Muay Thai training. It is amazing what you learn just dedicating your time all of your time to one thing. Normally we split it between our obligations, our jobs, our bills, and add training in too. You soak up the training like a sponge.
  3. This kind of good stress, good challenge, good push beyond your abilities, will show you what you are made of. It sounds cliche but it really will. It will ask you to go further than you have before, and you will decide in that instance to give up or continue. To pull from reserves of power, and will that you never though you would before.
  4. You get to see so many people who have the same love you do for the art. You get energized by their love, you get to make connections, and friends with people who dedicate themselves to what they love. That alone is in infectious.
  5. For me it was ground breaking. I got to see masters in their art. I got to get past a plateau I felt I was on. I pushed forward. I have made leaps and bounds in my art.
  6. Last but not least a dropping trousers story of my first Muay Thai camp. One of my now friends, a beautiful lady I met at the camp, whom I love and she is so supportive. Was asked to come up and test for her Khun Kru test, this is the test to go from Kru, to Khun Kru. In it you have to do the Wai Kru. You also have to have Thai shorts on. She did not, and she ran over and asked me to use my shorts. I was wearing workout tights under them. Without hesitation I dropped my shorts and handed them to her. She thanked me up and down. She was so grateful that I was able to help her in the last minute. I would do it again and again. I have grown to love this community, and this is what this community does for each other. We will help out when and where we can. We will do what we can for each other.

Training:

  1. Kick shield – knee – lean to avoid uppercut – knee – teep OR elbow 8 – 6
  2. Kick shield – knee – elbow 4
  3. Trigg 10
  4. If they go to your left, punch straight left
  5. If they go to your right, punch straight right
  6. If they cut in, left hook
  7. Dip and wipe
  8. Shovel hook cross hook (jab)
  9. Shovel hook hook cross

“In a stressful situation, you don’t rise to the highest level of your training, you fall to the lowest level of your mastery.”

John Holt

So yeah… This is 5 months later. I had such an amazing adventure. This is the end of the year, and I look back on this amazing adventure. That I was asked to go to this camp is an amazing honor. I was able to attend Thai Camp in Oregon. This opportunity to learn from some of the best instructors/trainers/coaches ever.

I took time away from my family. I took time for myself. I learned so much about my art, I learned even more about myself.

I plan on going again this next year. I need to learn as much as I can, and I look forward to seeing friends, and team mates again.

Thank you for reading. I am sorry it took so long to get done. I have just had a lot of life happen between then and now like we all do. I did want to get it done before the new year. So yay I did it! Just one day away. I hope you all have a had a fantastic year. I hope the new year is what you all are looking forward to. Keep working hard, keep trying to be the best you can be. As always please feel free to ask questions.

Martial Arts 12/26/2019: "What is the point of kicking twice if you have to kick twice?" Khun Kru Krysta

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

Hello and today marks the first day of training for me after the holiday Christmas for us. This week the gym was closed some of the days understandably and so my training week is shortened. However, I find I am enjoying having some time off to let my body recuperate.

Normally my schedule is 5 days a week of martial arts training, and 3 days a week of weight lifting. So its good to rest.

I titled this week with the quote from my instructor Khun Kru Krysta. “What is the point of kicking twice if you have to kick twice?” If you don’t kick hard the first time and have to kick the second time, then you have wasted your first kick. Or if you are going to kick twice make them both hard.

Thursday 12/26/2019 – 2 hours… Muay Thai and Kali

Boxing day today. When usually means you go through all your old things and find goods and food you can give away to help others.

Today in Muay Thai we focused on boxing. Moving in and moving out, being light on our feet, and striking then returning our hands to our face.

We also had the opportunity to donate to the gym some of our old used equipment so that the brand new students have something to use till they can get their own.

H and I were able to donate two sets of boxing gloves, shin guards, and an old MMA glove set, that was to big for me. This I believe was organized by Khun Kru Krysta and we were happy to be able to help.

Muay Thai:

  1. Jab, catch, jab, opponent throws a jab and you catch it and you jab back and they catch it, then they throw a jab and you catch it.
  2. Jab, parry, jab, opponent throws a jab, you parry jab, and you jab then opponent parry’s jab, then they throw jab and you parry jab.
  3. They jab, then you parry, and throw leg kick
  4. Boxing twenty – jab, cross, hook, cross, bob and weave cross, hook, bob and weave, hook, cross, cover rear body shot, return upper cut, cross, cover front body shot, return uppercut, cross, hook, duck/or dive a big overhand and then body shot to get out, hook, cross

Apparently my boxing is tight and “crispy”. My partner for the night said that it was crispy. I am old enough to have two kids that are 11 and 10 so I am old. =) I think that means it is good and he was surprised about my speed and strikes. Ability to hit my targets keep my shots in the box in front of my body and the power in them. So I will take it.

Kali –

We worked on asymmetrical sparring, knife against stick, or stick against bare hands.

Friday 12/27/2019 – 1 hour… Muay Thai

Tony my coach kicked my booty again. This was conditioning training.

He started us out with kettle bell swings, and burpees. Then we did pad work, clench, and then we finished with core training. 136 swings and 136 burpees total.

Ladder, and Reverse ladder

  1. 1 KB swing (25 lbs for me) and 16 Burpees
  2. 2 KB swings and 15 Burpees
  3. 3 KB swings and 14 Burpees
  4. 4 KB swings and 13 Burpees
  5. 5 KB swings and 12 Burpees
  6. 6 KB swings and 11 Burpees
  7. 7 KB swings and 10 Burpees
  8. 8 KB swings and 9 Burpees
  9. 9 KB swings and 8 Burpees
  10. 10 KB swings and 7 Burpees
  11. 11 KB swings and 6 Burpees
  12. 12 KB swings and 5 Burpees
  13. 13 KB Swings and 4 Burpees
  14. 14 KB Swings and 3 Burpees
  15. 15 KB Swings and 2 Burpees
  16. 16 KB Swings and 1 Burpees
  17. 5 minute round of hitting the bag.
  1. three rounds of pad holding for partner
  2. three rounds of hitting pads, (jab, cross, lead kick, horizontal rear elbow, double lead kick, side in drop elbow
  3. 2 rounds of clench sparring

Finishing exercises – 45 seconds each exercise

  1. side to side kicks, or scissor kicks
  2. crunches
  3. mountain climbers
  4. oblique crunches
  5. bicycles

I got a compliment on my kettle bell swings. Also one of my old coaches said you can do heavier weight Tanya, here swing this. It was 33 lbs or 15 kilos. That is far more than I normally do. I did not think I could do that but she had faith in me. So I guess I need to go buy another kettle bell that is heavier than 25 lbs.

Saturday 12/28/2019 – 3 hours… Muay Thai

Yup just about three hours. We did conditioning rounds, pad rounds and on the bag rounds. I got a total of 35 x 3 minute rounds in. I also got a round in where I got my numbers of kicks and knees in for the Thai test coming up.

Some days you just have to put the mat time in. It is not glamorous, and sometimes grinding out the training can be annoying and boring. I however, have fantastic partners in training. I have an awesome set of coaches/trainers/Kru that help me out.

So while I am exhausted, gonna take a nap here in a bit. I got a great workout in, and I got to do it with people I love.

In class we worked on boxing. I got lots of work in, and had a blast doing it.

I made a video of me working on the bag.

I finished the week off with a bang. I did a total of 6 hours of training in 3 days. Six hours is not bad for a shortened week of training. Give everything you have, pick yourself up when you fall, and keep trying. If I can do it I believe you can do it too. Kick hard both times, and don’t sacrifice power for speed. Keep working to be the best you that you can be.

Martial Arts 12/17/2019: A Horizontal Elbow is Just a Shortened Hook

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, Martial Arts, Muay Thai, Muay Thai, Fitness, workoutLeave a comment

The holiday season is upon us. The hustle and bustle is pressing, and work is still going on. But the one thing that helps me focus is my martial arts training. I am tired, because, there is so much to do. It was so nice turn everything else off and just focus on my training.

If you throw a hook, and shorten it, it is an elbow. At least the #1 horizontal elbow is a shortened hook. This little tidbit last year really helped me realize how to do the mid range hooks.

Tuesday 12/17/2019 – 2 hours… Muay Thai and Kali/Silat

Today in Muay Thai, we continued our month of elbows to clenches. I can feel my elbow strikes getting much better in execution. I am executing them well because I am stepping in, I am using my body, and I am throwing them with good form. Yay progress…!

  1. lead elbow #2 upward diagonal elbow, rear elbow #6 side in elbow, lead elbow #9 spinning backward elbow, and lead elbow #1 horizontal elbow when opponent advances.
  2. lead elbow #1 horizontal elbow, rear #8 lady putting flower behind her ear elbow, clench, 3 skip knees #2, off balance spin out, and kick
  3. Clench to 3 skip knee #2, off balance, to spin out, to double rear kick.
  4. We then got a chance to do the man in the middle drill. It was so much fun. This is a clench drill with three people. One man in the middle has to switch up between the other two to clench and get knees in. The third person has to have a hand on middle persons back.

Kali/Silat

We worked on disarms, asymmetrical sparring, blocking, passing, cutting stabbing and C cuts.

Wednesday 12/18/2019 – 1.5 hours… Muay Thai

If you have been practicing martial arts for a while I am sure you have experienced this phenomenon. If you have not, look out for it. It is absolutely amazing. This phenomenon I am talking about is the, your trainer asks you to do one thing just slightly different and it completely throws you off.

We are often taught about advancing when fighting. Today we were doing advancing drills for jab, jab, cross. However, Tony had us doing it were we had to attack while backing up. Let me say that again. Attack while backing up. Now you might think yeah… nah that is easy. But then your brain will mess you up.

So what I had to do was work on the footwork first and then work on adding the punch in. Focus a pendulum step back while throwing a jab. This felt so counter intuitive. However, by the time we finished I was able to get some what comfortable with it. This is a drill I will have to practice on my own. But it is great for when some one is advancing and you need to pop some in punches in there and then return a harder one.

Warm UP:

  1. 3 minute jump rope
  2. 1 minute burpees
  3. 3 minute jump rope

Training:

  1. Jab, jab, cross, advancing x 2 rounds
  2. Jab, jab, cross, while backing up x 2 rounds (focus on pendulum feet)
  3. Jab, jab, rear kick x 2 rounds
  4. Drill 1: x 2 rounds
    1. 1 – Jab, rear kick, lead hook, rear cross, lead hook
    2. 2 – Jab, cross, lead kick, rear cross, lead hook, rear cross
    3. 30 seconds of kicking after every round
  5. Drill 2: x 2 rounds
    1. 1 with elbow – Jab, rear knee, lead elbow
    2. 2 with elbow – Jab, cross, lead knee, rear elbow
    3. 2 with hands – Jab, rear knee, lead hook, rear cross, lead hook
    4. 2 with hands – Jab, cross, lead knee, rear cross, lead hook, rear cross
    5. 30 seconds of knees after every round

Cool Down:

  1. 30 seconds of flutter kicks
  2. 30 seconds of side scissor kicks
  3. 30 seconds of sit ups
  4. 30 seconds of planks

Thursday 12/19/2019 – 3 hours… Muay Thai and Kali

Whew I am exhausted today. My husband asked me if I wanted to practice/pad rounds, the hour before class we were going to be at the gym. My answer was no. I don’t want to, because I have been up since 4:30 am

Conditioning rounds with Tony

Muay Thai:

  1. Jump rope for 3 minutes
  2. Jab, clench, three knees, push out, teep
  3. Jab, cross, three knees, push out, teep
  4. Jab, lead hook, lead elbow, knees, push off, teep
  5. Clench, to step in off balance, to curved knees
  6. Clench sparring

Kali:

Again working on disarms, asymmetrical sparring, knife and stick.

  1. Disarm an assailant with a stick with bear hands on a #2 strike, or on the outside.
  2. Disarm an assailant with a stick with a knife in hand, on a #2 strike, or on the outside.
  3. C cut
  4. Asymmetrical sparring, one person has a stick and one has a knife.

Friday 12/20/2019 – 1 hour 20 minutes… Muay Thai and Kali

My trainer kicked my booty today. I mean it was one of the hardest workouts I have done in a long time. We had to do a ladder of exercises and run around the gym. I was gassed afterward.

I did the maths, and if I am correct, I think we did 210 burpees, 210 push ups, and 210 mountain climbers, with 20 laps of the gym.

Then he had us doing pad work. It was so hard to keep going after that ladder. But I kept working the pads. Tony brought the 110% out of me today. I loved it and I hated it. It was a fantastic workout.

  1. 20 of each burpees, push ups, mountain climbers, run around the gym onces
  2. 19 of each burpees, push ups, mountain climbers, run around the gym once
  3. 18 of each
  4. 17 of each
  5. 16 of each
  6. 15 of each
  7. 14 of each
  8. 13 of each
  9. 12 of each
  10. 11 of each
  11. 10 of each
  12. 9 of each
  13. 8 of each
  14. 7 of each
  15. 6 of each
  16. 5 of each
  17. 4 of each
  18. 3 of each
  19. 2 of each
  20. 1 of each

Then pad work:

  1. lead kick, rear cross, lead body hook, rear elbow, rear knee, lead leg kick
  2. lead double leg kick, rear cross, lead body hook, rear elbow, 2 x lead leg kick
  3. Clenching flow drilling

I am absolutely pooped. When we went to the gym today, I really did not want to do the workout. I did it cause I feel like those days when I really don’t want to go, I should go. I may not necessarily learn more, but I will push through and I will teach my body to do so. I am so happy that I stuck it out and came to class. I had my booty kicked but it was so worth it. I feel accomplished.

Thank you for reading. I learned a lot of things like attacking while backing up. I learned that asymmetric sparring with one double handed sword against 2 sticks is hard. Both those things melted my brain. I am I did it. I am happy I learned it. I have to work on those things for sure, but I learned it. I hope you have a great weekend and Happy Holiday season and a Very Merry Christmas if you celebrate it. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Martial Arts 12/10/2019: If you want to hit the face hit the belly!

On By Thinks with SpinksIn Fitness, Kali Escrima, Martial Arts, Muay Thai, Muay Thai, Fitness, Weight Lifting, workoutLeave a comment

I am so lucky to have such great teachers/trainers. They often talk about counter attacks, movement, and also how best to get your strikes in. One of the things we hear often and it is very true. If you want to hit the face hit the belly, and vice versa. Changing levels allows you to control the fight. Often times when you hit low people will instinctively cover that area, then the face is open. If you hit the face or even go for the face they will keep their hands up and leave their torso open.

Tuesday 12/10/2019 – 2 hours… Muay Thai and Kali

Today begins my martial arts training for the week. It was a great day of class.

Lots of elbows in class, and conditioning training for Muay Thai.

  1. lead #1/horizontal elbow, rear #3/downward diagonal elbow, rear #7/inside out elbow
  2. Lead #1/horizontal elbow, rear #2/upward diagonal elbow, rear #7/inside out elbow
  3. Lead #1/horizontal elbow, rear #2/upward diagonal elbow, to lead #9/spinning back elbow

In Kali we worked on several different combos. They were all flowing very well, then of course changing just one thing made my brain melt again like Kali does. We did all 48 combos, and then asymmetrically trained with one person doing two sticks, and one drilling partner doing dos manos hold (two hand hold like a Japanese sword).

I felt so tethered keeping both hands on the blade. It feels like I don’t have as much reach, and you have to move your body in a completely different way to meet your partners blows, and avoid getting hit. You have to execute a lot of abaniko moves when holding a sword to keep from getting hit.

Abaniko – means fan

It was a fun class, but it really did melt my brain. Just when I think I am getting everything. I am learning the moves and flowing well. We change one thing, and my brain melts. That is one of the things I love about Kali.

Thursday 12/12/2019 – 2 hours… Muay Thai and Kali

Thai
Elbows, clenches and knees oh my!

We worked on elbows to clench, and knee transitions today.

  1. Lead #1/horizontal elbow, rear #6/side in elbow, rear #7/side out elbow, rear roll to clench, full plumb, and run 3 knees, spin out opponent, and kick
  2. Lead #1/horizontal elbow, lead #7/side out elbow, rear #8/tach malak or lady putting flower in her hair elbow, clench to full plumb, spin out opponent, and double kick

Kali
48 strike drill
Dos Manos Brain melting asymmetrical sparring.

Friday 12/13/2019 – 1 hours… Muay Thai and Kali

Today Tony kicked my booty. But that was a great thing. I want to get stronger and stronger.

  1. Jumping Rope for 3 minutes
  2. conditioning: 3 x 3 minutes of foot shuffle, and hopping hurdles
  3. mountain climber with a punch on bag and skip knee number 2 x 1 minute 3 minutes alternating between
  4. lead teep, shuffle into lead body hook, rear upper cut, lead head hook, immediately double kick wi
  5. thout taking a step.
  6. rear torso kick, to rear hop double kick
  7. Then I did 200 kicks to the bag, and 200 teeps to the bag.

I am exhausted. But the good kind of exhausted… you know? I am about to go pass out in my bed. I hope you have a great weekend. Thanks for reading.

Progress Pictures Jan 21/2019 – Dec 11/2019

On By Thinks with SpinksIn body image, Fitness, workoutLeave a comment

So I debated long and hard about posting this. But I told myself I would be honest and show all the progress I made. Even though when I look at the pictures all I see are the negatives.


When I see the pictures I see that areas are thicker. I am not as far along as I would like to be.


What the rational side of me is saying there are internal changes:

1) I have increased my training since the beginning of the year.

2) My stamina has increased and my strength has increased

3) My form has improved in my martial arts

4) It looks like I have more muscle mass in my legs, more definition.

5) My abs are stronger, and I can do more sit ups than before, so I have muscle under all that ick.

6) I noticed the other days, when working out, sprawls and getting explosive exercises, that require jumping up, plyometrics are much better than before.

But here are progress pictures… as good or as bad as they are. I put them here to have a record of it.