You’ll be bright

I watch my coach demonstrate the first combination of the night.

“Oooh-let-me-try-my-turn!”

That wasn’t even remotely… close… to what…

FAIL

It’s easy to watch that top notch Muay Thai practitioner execute that combination with such precision and accuracy, and be like damn, they make it look so easy when I make it look like

But remember dear, you are only seeing the front cover of the book. You haven’t read the ups and downs inside that book. The same ups and downs, you too, are writing now.

Get. Up.

Keep moving to meet yourself where you want to be. Imagine that self at the end of the path. Keep moving down that path. Keep going.

If you keep writing your story, one day someone will look upon the cover of your book with starry eyed hope.

And yes, you may say, Amaaannddaa my gym is closed. My partners and coach are no where in sight.

Yes, that reality stings, but as Sophie says to the fire demon Calcifer in Howl’s Moving Castle, “They say that the brightest spark burns best when circumstances are at their worst.”

So burn bright baby, burn bright.

I hope one day to establish a nonprofit  that connects teen girls to the power of martial arts in the hopes they gain a strong sense of confidence and self advocacy skills along the way.

I’ve been lingering in low self esteem off and on for the last few months, and recently a question has been echoing inside of me:

How are you to inspire confidence in young women if you are not a living breathing example of this?

With that being said, I have no choice but to rise to meet my best self at the end of the path.

 

 

What we do for fun

Half way through the rounds of sparring, Coach goes

“Listen for my cues…”

I’m over here like…

Middle of the round…

“Clinch!”

“Break throw!”

12 low!

Sparring ends

If there is one philosophical lesson I’ve learned from sparring so far, it’s that you are far tougher and braver than you may realize.

Sparring, it’s what I do for fun now. What we do for fun. Welcome to the club.

This ain’t kickboxing, honey; this is Muay Thai

She pulled me in for the clinch and started throwing knees; without thinking I said with a little shock in my voice, “WOAH clinching”

“This ain’t kickboxing, honey; this is Muay Thai” she replied jokingly (but also, seriously) as she broke the clinch by pushing my face away.

That was snippet of my first Friday advanced sparring class.

The freedom to throw knees readily and clinch in sparring was new to me.

Everyone is so skilled.

It’s inspiring.

I recently ranked up; meaning I am able to now spar with the best of ’em.

And you know what?

Until next time!

 

Giving it all you’ve got

Bearing our souls to the world. That’s what we do when we train; when we fight. The fact that we make the choice to do this on a regular basis despite the bullshit or pain we may be enduring in “real” life is an amazing thing. And honestly, it’s healing.

Some days you may feel so physically/mentally/emotionally exhausted from on-going personal battles, work, general lackluster for life, or whatever it may be. Still, you show up. You show up to improve yourself when yourself feels drained like a car running on no fluids.

You could justify laying on the couch and doing nothing. I mean, after all, you’ve had a looooong day.

But, the fact that despite it all, you show up, put in the work, channel that fire inside you, connect the pieces, make it flow, and give your all is incredible. 

Everyone develops their own unique style, has their own quirks, their own strengths and weaknesses; all which are exposed to the world. It’s intimate. We bear our souls. 

Speaking with our bodies. Both violent and beautiful. Poetry in motion.

[Deep thoughts over – insert segue here]

Rank test.

One week from today. 

My plan to prepare

1. Get to work early so I can leave work early so I can get to The Cellar early to train more
2. Do classes Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week.
3. Do drills on lunch break every day with Michael (his work is close to mine and he has pads–yay!)
4. Use study guide to practice before class with cellar buddies
5. Bag work focusing on specific goals

Specific goals

Shadow box in the morning before work

Check, block, parry faster 

Practice defense. Defense drills before or after class with someone

Keep mentality in check. No sulking or self-doubt allowed

Keep tools sharp 

Answer back

Be aware of my openings – work to keep them closed 

Be aware of their openings and exploit them

Distance. Jammed up after throwing kicks too often still

Footwork and cutting angles 

Technique with speed. Improve technique and speed during sparring

Attack and counter without hesitation. Don’t hold yourself back. Keep going

Tap into my creativity. My creative side is highly developed, but I feel I haven’t applied to Muay Thai; yet

Recognize patterns and read opponent. It’s natural for me to  read people and spot patterns pretty quickly/easily in daily life- now to apply this in sparring.

——————–

Coach Chris mentioned how sometimes we take a moment (without realizing) to recognize when an opponent lands something solid on us or vice versa and how we should avoid this at all costs because it makes us vulnerable and causes missed chances to counter. Try to resist the urge, even though inside you be like…

To everyone testing Saturday: let’s have some fun and kill it. 

All ’bout dat low kick

“You can throw some more mustard on it” my partner Sean says.

“Like, you want me to kick your leg harder?” I reply.

“Yeah, wanna toughen my leg up”

So I kicked harder, not my hardest, but much harder.

“Am I kicking too hard?”

“Nah that’s perfect”

“Only place I’ll be told ‘kick harder, yep that’s just right'”

In class we focused on both front leg and rear leg kicks with no shin guards. We went three for three focusing on form and aim. I’m working on throwing weight into my low kick and hitting the right spot. Mindfulness and repetition is the key.

All of us stood in a big circle around Coach Chris as he explained the importance of low leg kicks – there is a bundle of nerves on the upper/slightly outer thigh that if you continuously throw kicks at, that leg will shut down, leaving your opponent dragging big time.

On a water break I commented to Jess how low kick heavy this particular class, she commented with how low kicks are the “bread and butter” of MMA fighting. I’m a sucker for idioms, and that one made me smirk.

During my most recent class I partnered with a Huaxing. I’d been meaning to for awhile now, but just never had. I remember when she first came to the gym and just began learning Muay Thai. I encouraged her to practice before, in-between, and/or after class on the bags. And she did, all the time. Amazing. Now it’s been around 6 or so months since I met her and dang, is she looking sharp. That girl’s got grit. Her moves are clean with power.

It’s been months since I stepped into The Cellar. I have never received such warm greetings from so many people than at my gym. Endless gratitude for the amazing people and love that is The Cellar.

Rank Test

I did it….

I ranked up to orange.

Thank you to all my teammates and coaches for your guidance and encouragement. My heart is filled.

Next up, green. Gimme 3 months and I’ll be ready.

Lez-do-this

Rank test coming up…

The rank test is coming up in less than one week…

January 13th.

….Can I do this?

I can and I will.

How you ask?

Practice and pushing hard. Like anything in life.

In preparation for the rank test we’ve been doing a lot of same side combos.

For instance…

• jab [catch] + cross [catch]+ hook [block] + front leg kick to the body [block]
• jab [catch] + front elbow [catch/block] – using focus mitts
• hook [block] + cross [catch] + rear leg body kick [block]

So my goal is to take more videos so I can see what I need to improve on and what I’m getting better at.

So let’s start right now:

The punch + combo videos do not reflect my speed ability. I was aiming to become more aware of my form when throwing punches so I could retain and apply in action.

Need to improve

• Remembering combos 1-20 to the point of it being second nature
• Perfecting that hook. Keep it horizantal. Don’t wind up too much. Use my hips.
• Stringing together combos
• Fluidity
• Fully extending jab and cross
• Grounding and sitting lower in my stance when I make moves
• Returning to my stance immediately after firing shots
• Keep my non-working hand to my face (glued to it, like Nate Richardson told me in between classes one day)
• Blinding my opponent with my high guard
• Seriously, Amanda, bring your hands back to your face immediately. Who do you think you are?!
• Uppercuts. Like, badly

Improvements made since starting

• Getting power into my punches
• Using my hips for power
• Fluidity
• Form
• Pivoting
• That snap at the end of those kicks and punches
• My balance and flexibility

I am hoping to rank up to orange. I am currently at yellow. Green would be great…

white —> yellow —> orange —> green —> blue….

If I rank up to green, that would mean I could be in higher level striking and sparring.

If I that happened, I’d be all

Good luck to my all amazing teammates! You got this business!!

Lastly, I’d like to give a huge shoutout and thank you to Feedspot for ranking my blog as number 66 out of 75 on their list!

I deeply appreciate being noticed and recognized for doing something I love – writing about developing skills in Muay Thai with a focus on appreciating the beautiful art.

75 Muay Thai Blogs and websites for Muay Thai fighters and fans!

Click here to discover awesomeness

“CONGRATULATIONS to every blogger that has made this Top Muay Thai Blogs list! This is the most comprehensive list of best Muay Thai blogs on the internet and I’m honoured to have you as part of this! I personally give you a high-five and want to thank you for your contribution to this world.”

Until next time

Keep on keepin’ on =]

Fight night

Fight night is when we practice defense and countering.

I felt like this was my best fight night yet. I felt like my footwork and my fluidity was on point.

I felt like I just let it go – stopped over thinking it.

Coach Chris let me know that I need to work more body kicks into the mix. He said I was working a lot of low kicks consistently, which is great, but if I don’t  mix it up my opponent will see what’s coming. Gotta keep em guessing.

Nate is a legit fighter at our gym. He was watching the class from the sidelines and told me I need to work on keeping my hands glued to my face, and blinding my opponent with my hand when I throw my kicks instead out letting my arm swing off to my side.

And I need to sit lower in my kicks and crosses to get more power and to not get knocked over easily when someone comes a swingin’.

Revisiting Muay Thai in Japan

It’s been awhile. I missed this.