Muay Thai Class 6

It only took a couple of weeks, but I made it to class again.

The bad news is, I'm at the point where my reactions are the wrong ones.

Every sport has a distinct set of reactions they want to teach you. In wrestling, the first thing the coaches teach you is to "belly down!" In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the first lesson is "on your back! NO! DON'T LAY ON YOUR STOMACH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Then for Muay Thai, it's "What are you laying around for? Stand up!"



Seriously, I always find it amazing how fine-tuned each sport is. A twist of a wrist, a few degrees of difference can be all the marks a successful move from an epic failure.

Saturday's class was all about slipping a punch. In layman's terms, it means you barely duck under a punch. Your opponent needs to miss by a fraction. Coach said it's acceptable, even desirable, for your opponents hand to glance the top of your head. If they're tricked into thinking they landed a punch from the slight impact they may launch an ill-timed combination or wonder how you ate their punch without any ill effects.

When your opponent moves to throw a 3 or 4 (left or right hook) you know they're aiming for your chin. To slip the punch, you cave your lower back and use a slight bend in your knee to drop the crown of your head under the blow. If your balance and timing is good, you can work the move into a counter-punch. Depending on which arm the punch came from, you pivot, and push off with your corresponding foot. Your shoulders turn as you come up and you're cocked and ready with the opposite hand your opponent attacked with. To counter a three you slip, pivot right and as you push off with your left foot you launch a right handed punch.

Timing is everything. The move is very controlled, very concise.

It's hard as hell for me to do.

My wrestling instincts make me overreact. Years of sprawling and and coaches yelling "Get low! Bend your knees!" have trained me into great wrestling habits, but poor Muay Thai ones.

For starters, a wrestling stance involves lowering the wrestler's center of gravity. Weight may be shifted more onto the lead leg. For the slip and counter to be effective, my weight has to be 50/50.

Secondly, the only contact with an opponent during the move should be when my punch lands. In grappling, there has to be contact. Compared to Muay Thai, many moves are exaggerated as you have to deal with your opposition's resistance.

Compact, controlled, yet somehow explosive and fluid. It feels awkward and almost scripted to me.

It is worlds different than what I'm used to. If I want to improve, I will have to work on drilling out some of my old, trained reactions and replace them with ones that feel alien to me.

It won't be this weekend, though. It's Shane's birthday and class was cancelled for a seminar/clinic. I'm not at the point where paying for a seminar is useful. I'm still learning the basics and trying to get Patrick and Carrie to go again! This time, it's Shane's birthday and I don't want to pay. I enjoy the challenge of learning something new and the workout. If I keep up practicing, I'll be at that point one day.

A part of me wants to grapple again, but that is not in the cards. The Muay Thai class is at the perfect location, for the perfect price, and there isn't a contract to bind me into an agreement I may not be able to keep.

Anyway, class was about a small move that has a big effect. The end of class had coach do a quick session with each student where he'd throw combo and provide targets. Our job was to defend and take whatever opportunities provided themselves. His jabs kept throwing me off. Apparently, you're supposed to "be the bigger man" and bat those suckers down.

There's nothing like learning under fire.