Muay Thai Class

My new church has Muay Thai classes.

Let that sink in a bit....deeper....deeper...

The motto of my new church seems to be all about getting people active and interacting with each other especially through sports. It's a pretty novel way to build small groups. To accomplish this the church is actually a sports complex. Sunday worship is free, but the complex is open to anybody for a very small fee. It's their way of outreach and forging connections within their congregation. The have drop-in classes for lots of sports, too. Even Muay Thai (wasn't that what I was originally writing about?).

Back to Muay Thai.

Carrie wanted to try it. She's tired of me having an unfair advantage and wants to know how to beat me up. She even told the coach. He laughed. I laughed too when she came back from her first night of class and laid down on the floor unable to move. Some smart ass in class said "We don't do enough cardio!" Coach, being a coach, made sure the smart ass did not go home unsatisfied and the rest of the class got dragged down with him.

Carrie was hooked. Mainly, she's done non-cardio, super-technical sports. Riding and the ROTC marksmen squad come to mind. A combat martial art and wrestling are very different animals. My wife had never seen an hour workout like that before and was thrilled she survived it.

Today, it was my turn.

Carrie's gone to class twice and already ordered her gear online. Throughout, she has been encouraging me to try the class. I resisted, because I didn't think it would be feasible with our family schedule for me to attend. My wife was relentless and insisted "We'll make it work!" Any married man knows what that means.

At high noon, I found myself in some old gym shorts, a t-shirt, and my old rash-guard in a Muay Thai class. I've missed these kind of workouts.

The class was two hours long and it was no where near as cardio intensive as wrestling or BJJ. That doesn't mean it was easy, but it's the nature of the beast. The advantage of a non-striking martial art is you can spar more or less full speed. Muay Thai is the definition of a striking martial art. Sparring at full speed equals injuries. One of the coach's mantras was "Relax!" He said it prevented injuries like tendinitis from holding mitts and because it allows you to strike faster (and therefore harder). Of course, he'd also be yelling and encouraging you to "Be intense!," "let's see some aggression!." and "MOVE!" Don't let the word "Relax" lull you into thinking this wasn't a workout. I get the feeling that the coach was also going easier on the class due to the average skill level. I'm sure he could turn things up multiple notches if he desired (and would if he saw my intro to this paragraph. Keep in mind I'm only making comparisons from one class, so I have much to learn).

There were many elements that were similar to all workouts. We warmed up. We drilled. The coach gave a lesson. We drilled in a cardio-intensive manner. Instead of sparring, the coach set up a little competition with the kicking bags. The losers got to assume plank position while he gave them a rousing speech. Thankfully, I was on the winning team (this time).

There was a ton for me to learn. I know some of the theory and ideas behind Muay Thai, but the details came fast and furious. I had to learn the "Thai March." My wrestling stance is the opposite of a kickboxing stance. My hands were supposed to be further out and make small inward circles rhythmically with my march. Hips squared. Shoulders were to be rolled forward. Chin tucked. Stand taller. The list goes on, and I'm only referring to how I should be standing. Later, I had to be drilled on how to wrap my hands properly.

Going from wrestling to BJJ was a transition, but a lot of the skill set was partially transferable. Striking is going to be a different ballgame. I enjoyed myself and plan to go again. I learned a lot even if part of it was learning I knew even less than I thought I did. I'm old enough to realize the dream of walking into a place and 'being a complete natural' is pretty much bullshit. There's always a ton to learn and the little fundamentals are rarely natural and have to be trained. If you're a 'natural' you'll spend less time acquiring the desired skills, but you'll spend your time at the bottom just like everybody else.

I don't know how often I'm going to get to go. Carrie is out of town next Saturday for another wedding and I have a class for work I'm going to another Saturday in September. This is something I'd like to continue with and hopefully get in better shape in the process.