Coming back

I’ve been away from training. A lot of my time, besides work, was spent at the gym.

Not away totally – just have been having some long standing health issues checked out and treated for.

And that is why the last 3 months I have not been sparring nor doing fight drills. Only pads.

Learning Muay Thai is like learning a language. There is a process of acquisition.

Pads class is like flipping through your grammar & vocab flashcards, practicing reading/writing, doing scripted role-play with partners, etc.

Sparring and fight drills are like –

Okay, I’ve been studying flashcards and I’ve been playing with different scenarios, got some grammar down, got some vocab down. Now let’s make use of it in conversation. 

I haven’t been able to practice conversation the last 3 months.

You study a language, usually, to become fluent.

You only gain fluency in a language by speaking and conversing while also fumbling through your speech…making mistakes and learning from those mistakes; by putting yourself out there again and again each time you fail.

Now that some light has been shed on those health issues, things are looking brighter- I can start doing drills and sparring again soon.

With all that being said, it’s time to start talking again, baby.

Time to start jabbering; time to grow from my mistakes.

Time to move forward.

A little rough

For as long as I can remember, my mom has told me I’m rough on things. As in physically rough. Instead of gently shutting doors, cupboards, drawers or whatever, I’d always do it with too much force or too fast. Now that I have a means to express my roughness, maybe I’ll be nicer to kitchen drawers.

When you have to do something like 20 kicks in a row each side, then 20 skipping knees, then 20 kicks again, so on so forth, you get tired. Don’t quit. Keep pushing forward. Keep your hands up and keep your mind strong. Push yourself. Don’t quit.

Let me recap what’s happened between Monday, March 27th and Monday, April 3rd.

Before class began I saw Gao doing bag work so I decided to join her. I showed her what Matt showed to help warm up legs for kicks, which is working your way up the bag then back down: low kick, middle kick, high kick, high kick, middle kick low kick…

We also talked about stretching before and after (for sure after) to avoid injuries and soreness, as well as to increase flexibility.

Ryan taught the beginner level class again. Helped us become aware of our tells with punches and helped us refine the basics. With the tells, he said to imagine a shark with laser eyes pointing directly at the target. Point A to point B. No point in between.

My partner Mahesh held the thai pads as I repeatedly threw my rear kick. I just couldn’t get it right. I couldn’t get that shin where it needed to go…

He told me with stern care, “Nope. Not good enough – not loud enough. I can’t hear it. I want to hear that kick.” I truly appreciate that type of  encouragement, but God damn it, get this right Amanda. Alas, patience is a great virtue (another thing my mom would say often).

For all levels class, Ben taught, and it was one of my favorite classes so far. Lots of back and forth between partners with kicks, checks, and punches.

I had a tall partner. A real tall partner.

For one part of a combo, one partner would check the other’s kick, slightly turned to the side while using their arms and gloves to protect their side and face. Since you are slightly turned you then use that to create momentum to drive an uppercut to your partner abdomen.

I got to do a lot of high kicks, which I greatly enjoyed. Not so sure my partner enjoyed it as much. He asked me to kick lighter… I didn’t realize I was kicking too hard!

As I was doing my high kicks, Ben complimented me, “Excellent kicks!” He said as he walked past us.

I think my energy was a bit intense that night… I feel I came off as respectfully demanding, and somewhat relentless. Think my partner was like…

I had been struggling with my hook. I didn’t fully understand the form. Thankfully, Ben showed me.

Ben explained, “Make a a fist like you’re holding a cup.” So I did.

“Now hook your arm with mine.” And I went, huh? So he grabbed my arm and hooked it with his so it looked like a link in a chain sort of. I went, oooohhhhh I get it now. So now I am working on consistently keeping that form when I do my hooks. Notice a key theme? Consistency.

After class was over, Christian commented to my partner, “Did she get some good head kicks on you??”

My partner expressed that he has been in a rut and feels like he’s plateauing. I could feel his disappointment. I’m not sure if my encouragement helped much. Next time I see him I want to suggest something more concrete, like hey, you could take some private lessons to get you outta that rut and moving forward…

John and Christian taught me combos 5-10 that evening. They also helped me work on my hook, and Christian held the focus mitts and guided me while I did my thing. He has this calm, empowering aura about him that I appreciate.

I am so grateful for the gym and everyone there. That night was immensely helpful, and I am immensely grateful.

Overall, I learned a ton…

Friday evening, John and I trained in the ring using pads and practiced a smorgesbord of techniques. Every time I train with someone, I think I refine my skills little by little.

Monday was the last class I had before leaving on my trip. It was bittersweet. I was happy to go on an adventure, but stopping my training (be it temporarily) felt like saying goodbye to an old friend.

More to come…