Tag: Training

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.

 

 

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.

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.

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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. 

Neosporin for the soul

You know that gentle soothing feeling you get from putting Neosporin on a cut?

Training in Muay Thai is like that; Neosporin for the wounds no one can see.

It works to soothe what feels like too much to take at times. Shakes you. Wakes you up.

Like when an ill seed has planted and taken root in your heart and is now turning into a gnarly twisted tree; every dedicated moment you create through bettering yourself through training, that sickness gets chopped down little by little.

Once you step onto the mat with hands wrapped, once you begin drilling back and forth with your partner, once you are listening and learning from your coach, and putting those puzzle pieces together, once you feel the love of that community surrounding you – you become filled with goodness and light.

For all of this, I am eternally grateful.

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’.

One small needed adjustment

So lately I’ve been wondering if I’ve been standing too high on the ball of my foot when I kick or knee. Then coach Ryan pointed it out during his class, that I don’t need to get up on my toes. Then coach Chris did the same thing with my front leg kicks last night.

Last I couldn’t get my front leg body kick right. I kept kicking with my foot or calf. After class was over I asked Chris, “Are we going to do more work with front kicks like how we did tonight?” He didn’t exactly answer but advised me to not get on my toes; that being too high can inhibit the ability to pivot in the way you need to get that shin across.

So there ya go: wondering confirmed. Time to get that pivot down so I can get that technique and power down.

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…