I took two classes Thursday night – Beginner Level and All Levels.
So, class is about to begin, and I think to myself, “Hey Amanda, check it out – you’re in pretty good shape (Oh dat stamina).”
And theeen Ryan’s classes happened…
I’ll describe warm ups from both classes. The warm ups lasted about 10 minutes for each class.
Instead of jumping rope to warm up like we normally do in class, he has us do exercises for flexibility and strength.
We surround the side of the ring and set one foot up as we twist our hips back and forth again and again. This is to open up our hips for better kicks. Then we repeatedly jab our knees (right knee, left knee, right knee, left knee) at an angle over side (but don’t touch the ring).
We focus on power and speed in our punches. All lined up in rows, we start marching in place. We keep our stances and keep our hands up.
“Do it like I do…” he says, then punches the air really hard and fast as he yells
“ONE-TWO-THREE-FOUR-FIVE-SIX-SEVEN-EIGHT-NINE-TEN!!!”
Everyone giggles.
10 uppercuts
GO!
ONE-TWO-THREE-FOUR-FIVE-SIX-SEVEN-EIGHT-NINE-TEN!!!
March in place.
10 straight punches
GO!
ONE-TWO-THREE-FOUR-FIVE-SIX-SEVEN-EIGHT-NINE-TEN!!!
March in place.
We jog in a circle. After a bit he yells out “March” and so we march in place. After a few moments he shouts out a move…
“Twenty rear high kicks!” We listen and do.
“Jog! Pace yourself now. Don’t run too fast.” he says
“March! Twenty flying knees!” he says
Sometimes we do it in place, and sometimes we do it moving in the circle.
I think I failed at the launch-jump-then-kick times. I’m thinking I looked like…
You can tell he is the kind of instructor who cares and has a great sense of humor, yet is straight forward and will put you in your place (think drill sergeant). That’s my style.
Time for bouncing squats.
This seems to get the class right where it hurts. He does it with us for a little bit. People keep pausing or slowing down, you know, phoning it in…
“Ya’ll need to let it burn! It’s going to burn. Let it. Don’t slack!…”
He tells us “Warm up’s over. Get water and hurry on back.”
I’m dripping sweat and sucking air as I think to myself
Aaaaah… it burns. Wait, that was just the warm up??
My breath is returning to normal.
I’m feeling good.
Let’s do this!
Ryan shares that he has been working on footwork himself so he wants to help us learn some techniques; even if we don’t get it now, we’ll be familiar in the future.
At this moment, I’m recalling the few times Chris taught footwork in the classes I have taken so far.
Search your mind’s database… where did I file that shit? Meh, I’ll try my hardest.
He demonstrates a combo for us a few times, “Got it?” he asks everyone.
“Yep.” I nod, “Got it.”
I went ahead and tried it with my partner.
Alright, that felt wrong.
I request eagerly to my partner,” Let me try again.”
I mentally walk myself through the motions as I do them.
Go slow first. Jab, jab and step out to his right, rear kick his back leg, then plant that foot, follow with pivot and cross.
Ryan watches me and comes over by my side.
“More violent.” He advises.
“More violent” I repeat.
“Yeah” he says, “You’re like this” and shows me the combo softly and slowly.
“Do it more violently, like this”
He shows me the combo. He was sure of his motions. They were smooth, fast, and hard in delivery.
Why am I holding back?
More violent? That I can do. Let me try.
I try again, with more violence. He watches me, I look over and see him nodding.
Better at least, I think to myself.
We practiced a lot of kicks too. I love to kick.
I love to kick. So. Much.
Ryan taught me to take a subtle step before I kick to deliver more power, rather than standing in place before. Which has power still he said, just not as much power as when you take a step first.
One of my favorite parts of the night was learning and feeling the difference between Dutch kicks and Thai kicks.
I’ll try to remember this correctly…
With Dutch kicks, you don’t really turn your grounded foot as you do your kick. Your delivery is faster and you use less shin, but still go at a slight angle. Also your kicking leg is straighter. You get faster impact and back to your stance quicker than a Thai kick.
With Thai kicks, your grounded foot turns out at an angle as you pull your hip up and use your shin like a baseball bat. You don’t extent until you reach your target. It’s a powerful kick, but it takes longer to return to your stance in comparison to a Dutch kick.
So one partner held the bag while the other partner practiced Dutch style for thirty seconds and then Thai style for thirty seconds. We alternated between high kicks and low kicks for both styles. Partners took turns being the kicker or the holder.
At the end of the night, we practiced sparring and dodging with some space between partners.
This was totally new for me. I really liked it. I ducked when he swung his hook. I moved my upper body forward and to the opposing side when he threw his punches. I am not positive if my form was correct, but I’ll learn more in the future.
I mean, yeah, there were times I would have gotten knocked out in real life, but it’s all a part of the learning process.
Then class was over. We touch gloves while thanking one another.
A few of us were chatting afterwards, and my partner chuckles and goes “Amanda dodged punches better than me. Pretty soon she’ll be on that side of the room” pointing to where advanced classes are held.
That felt good.
My goal is to do at least 4 hours each week. Maybe 5 hours. I want to focus on what needs improvement, but at the same time appreciate how far I’ve come at any given point, ya know?
Some closing words from Spike…
See you later, space cowboy.
Girl Meets Muay Thai 