Muay Tired Redux

Sadly, I haven't been to Muay Thai in a long while. It's not BJJ or wrestling, but it's something I wanted to do (much like joining the SCA back in the day). Carrie's working on weekends again, so the only day of the week I can go is on Monday. Class starts at 7:30, but child care ends at 8:00. There were a couple of times my wife encouraged me to go (God bless her), and then at other times she's been in bed and asleep by 8:00 (God bless her x2)! I know class is not something I can count on doing routinely, so I haven't been able to dredge up the energy for it. 

The bottom line is: what does my family get out of it?

Not much.

If there was more of a gain for Shane or Carrie I'd push harder to make time for it, but I can't really think of one. It's been 4 months since I went last, so i guess I technically quit a while ago. Coach is a neat guy and I wouldn't mind keeping in contact with him, though. We bumped into him, his wife, and his new daughter at church yesterday. 

If the gym adds more classes at times where child care is available, then this post may need to be redacted.

Muay Thai 9 and Patrick Rising

Two weeks ago, Patrick and I went to Muay Thai together. Coach Leo no longer coaches then.

Enter Coach Junior.

Coach Junior is the same guy I saw spar Coach Leo. He's only sixteen, but a total monster. I wouldn't be surprised to see him fighting in the UFC one day.

He's also a nice guy (it's funny how that happens).

This past Saturday, Shane and I were out hunting school buses. My boy was sick, so I was in total placate mode. I was also bored of the usual routine, so Shane and I went to our neighborhood's elementary school. Many drivers park their buses at local schools they live near by or are their last run for the day.

Shane and I were in the middle of 'oohing' and 'aahing' when Patrick texted, "Are you headed to class?"

On one hand, I was thrilled Patrick was awake and interested. On the other, I had a sick boy on my hands and no way to make it to class at a reasonable time.

I would have loved to have gone with my brother (and gotten our butts kicked together), but it was not to be. Patrick needs a few extra practices to catch up to me anyway! My brother said it was a particularly brutal practice at the end. Coach Junior had them doing push-ups in stages and one guy reached his limit and his arm's gave out. It probably would've been me if I'd been there!

I don't know when I'll get to go next. Something always comes up. For example, last Saturday Shane was sick, this past Monday Carrie was sick and went to bed early, and the Monday before that Coach had car trouble and had to cancel (plus, I think Carrie or Shane was sick to boot). One of my professional development classes for work is going to take place over several Mondays and rule out Muay Thai those days, too.

I'll get back out there one of these days.

Muay Thai 8 - Oof

I got to go to class today after all. Shane crawled on the couch next to Carrie and she handed over the pickle. It was the first time he got his mitts on it today, so he was stoked.

He probably never realized I was gone. It was that easy to slip out.

Class was another matter. I nearly hurled my cookies at the end. I had to crouch and work at slowing my pulse while Coach was giving the wrap-up talk. That's how you know I was honest on the drills.

Muay Thai Class 7 (if you want to call it that)

What did I get myself into?

The thought reverberated through my head.

"Mike, you want to spar?" coach asked.

I thought it was going to be an actual class today. Not a match.

"Sure."

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!"

Muay Thai Class 5

To my shock and amazement, Patrick not only showed up for class he showed up on time.

This is not something my side of the family (outside of Pop) is known for.

I was glad to see him, though. Sports are always more fun when you have family and friends around. Carrie and I cannot attend class together since one of us always has to watch Shane. Plus, I was happy to get Patrick out of his room and doing something physical and not electronic.

Patrick got to punch me in the face, so I think he enjoyed himself too!

Muay Tired

I've been a little frustrated/disappointed that I've only been to a handful of Muay Thai classes in the 2.5 months since I started. It seems like something always comes up. I was almost a total hypocrite Monday, because I was going to go but then I ate a big Chipotle burrito (and boy was it good!). I ended up digesting enough in time that I wouldn't hurl beans and rice working out, but Carrie felt sick and laid down for the night while I was giving Shane his bath.

Still, there is hope!  It sounds like Patrick is interested in classes. He and I may go on Saturday. Since Carrie and I can't go at the same time, having a family member start going could be great motivation to make sure one of us follows suit. I'd be okay with Carrie going in my stead. I just don't like starting something and then not continuing it.

Muay Thai class 3.5 and 4

I'm sore today.

With Carrie's health issues and life as I know it, my attendance to my Muay Thai class slipped.

For class 3.5, I went to the first half of a class one night to put in an appearance. I had to leave when things got underway, but I felt it was important to make the effort to show up. The gym child care only goes until 8 PM and class starts at 7:30 PM on Mondays. The lesson of the day looked like it was going to focus on advancing punches and the required footwork. I picked up a pointer or two, collected my son, and vamoosed.

Carrie's back to 80% now. Shane started to go down for his nap just before noon today.

The timing was perfect.

If I left as Shane went down, in theory he would sleep for almost the whole time I was gone. Carrie gave me a thumbs up and I went for it.

It did not take long for my trouble sensing instincts to tingle. When I arrived, there were only three other students. Two I recognized as advanced and the other had the biceps of a man who works out. Coach walked up to one of the advanced guys and said, "Got a cup? Mouthpiece? Good."

I wrapped up and joined the circle for stretches. We spent much longer than usual. My trouble senses were flashing "DANGER! DANGER!" Coaches don't spend extra time stretching, because they want to kill time. They do it because they have a surprise and they don't want injuries.

Coach's surprise?

It was a cardio day. A mother and daughter combo showed up for class just in time for the festivities.

We started with speed jump ropes. Five minutes. It doesn't sound like much, but if you're not used to it and you do it right you'll feel it. Next, we grabbed weights and had to shadow box holding them. This also doesn't sound like much, but if you do it with an honest amount of intensity you'll feel the effects of the exercise. Mitt work with partners followed. Punching is obviously tiring, but holding the mitts can drain you some too. Try holding your arms out in front of you for two minutes without dropping them when you've already been working them out some. If you're honest and do the work asked of you, you will feel it in your shoulders.

That was the warm-up. The best part of class came when the coach assigned station work. Each pair would rotate through three stations. Two were heavy bags and one was the coach geared up with pads. The goal was constant work. Coach had a timer set for two minutes. When the 30 second mark hit, a bell rang and it was barrage time. Constant 1s and 2s. No breaks allowed. Then, when the round ended, everyone was allowed a 30 second break....after push-ups. If you've never done an endurance sport, this may seem sadistic. The coach was asking for everyone to pour everything they had into a 30 second blitz with constant punching. Once you were out of breath and your arms were sore, you were offered a short break but only after you banged out some push-ups.

If there was only one round, this wouldn't be worth writing about. We did 12.

The toughest rounds of all were those with the coach. He worked you the whole round, made sure you did your push-ups the right way, and then stood you up to do it all over again.

The good news is, I learned a few new moves working with him! When I work with him, Coach likes to be unpredictable. There's some repetition, but he frequently changes things on the fly to see how I react. Today, he asked me to do a 'teep.' I had no idea what he was talking about.

The teep is push kick. You lift your front leg and thrust it straight out into your opponent's abdomen to push them back. The coach did a quick, light example and his toes stabbed straight into my gut. I moved back, winded. Then it was my turn. Coach had me do a lot of teeps to set up a leg kick or to maintain my 1 range.

Other than that, I learned how awkward I can be defending. The coach had me defend at one point. He came at me throwing slow punches and leg kicks. I was supposed to bat down the punches and check the kicks with my knee. I was only able to focus on the punches or the kicks at one time. I could not keep track of both. At one point, I automatically launched a low block (from Tae Kwan Do) at a kick. Coach grinned. "That would be bad! There's the old martial art instincts." The smiled dropped. "Don't do that." Blocking a kick with an arm leaves your face unguarded from a punch plus a good kick can break a forearm.

Class ended with a sparring match between the two advanced students. They were told to "go 20%" and not hurt each other, but you could tell it exhausted them. It was fun to watch and learn, though. I went home sore and happy. There's a nice shiner forming where my ankle meets my right foot, my shoulders are a little stiff, and I'd do it again. I feel like I've improved a fair amount in the handful of times I've been to class. The only way to keep getting better is to keep going and it's a lot more fun to get in shape while learning something than it is to just do basic exercises.

I need to keep working on the basics, but I look forward to when I can learn about clinching. I wonder how much my wrestling and jiu-jitsu background will help.

Muay Thai Three

Carrie and I switched at the last minute and I went to Muay Thai on Monday. We spent most of the class working on the basic stance, footwork, and an advancing 1-2.

The hardest part for me? Keeping my toes and knees pointed outward and not bending my knees too deeply.

It's one of those stupidly small things that makes a big difference.

In wrestling, the whole object way to stay low and spread your base for balance. You had to be ready to sprawl at a moment's notice if your opponent came in on you. In Muay Thai, the coach keeps yelling "Stand tall!" It's the opposite of what my muscles are trying to remember to do.

The knee being turned outwards is another oddity for me. The whole point is to be able to defend yourself from leg kicks. My foot keeps turning so that it's pointing forward. I feel like I'm devoting a large part of my conscious thought to keeping that foot and knee turned outward enough and my hips square that it's hard to complete the necessary 1-2 motions fluidly. It's something I'm going to have to drill on my own if I don't want to go back to square one in class each week. My body is ingrained with a different pattern and I need the Muay Thai pattern to make learning new moves easy and effective.

Shorter class = Shorter update.

Night for now!

Muay Thai -- The second class

Thanks to my sister volunteering to babysit, I was able to go to my second kickboxing class today. Around 11:30 AM Kathleen showed up with baby Cole, Jama, and Nana! This was going to be a team-effort babysitting.

One of Jama's first comments was "Mike, you didn't need to go to any trouble to pick up for your sister."

I didn't. That's what Jama was pointing out.

"Nope! She gets to see the house in it's natural state!" I said. We all had a laugh at that. You see, Shane loves to dump toys and books out whenever I put them up. He even gets a kick out of opening the bottom drawers of his dresser and pulling all the clothes out while I shovel the back in. It's something of a game for him. I try not to partake and pick up after he sleeps.

After the babysitting unit was settled, I grabbed Carrie's gloves and wraps and headed out. I was doubly excited for class, because I started the week thinking I couldn't go.

Turns out it was a private lesson.

Last week, there were 8 students. This week, I was it. I guess everyone else was out for the long weekend. If I hadn't shown up, I bet Coach would've been pissed he had an empty room! It turned out to be great for me.

Private lessons are expensive. I don't know what Muay Thai/MMA's going rates are, but in BJJ $50 bucks and hour was considered cheap for a purple belt years ago. I paid for a couple of lessons from a brown belt before a tournament for $70 or $80 back in the days of too much disposable income(I think).

Two hours of private Muay Thai instruction for just showing up and getting free childcare back at home: NICE!!

The day was filled with trying to learn fundamentals. All sports have a basic set of tasks that you need to do without thinking about them. Failure to do them automatically prevents you from learning more complex tasks and learning to do them wrongly leaves gaps in your skill set. In a large class, an instructor cannot watch the beginners exclusively, so they may find natural ways to compensate for harder tasks when attention is not on them. If not caught, this leads to bad habits that need to be unlearned at a later date.

Having two hours of Coach watching my every move has left me with a much better understanding of how different Muay Thai is from what I know. I learned a lot and learned that I still had way more to learn. At the least, I learned enough to make watching a UFC fight more interesting. I asked a lot of "Why?" questions, and Coach had all of the answers. I just hope that I can remember everything for next week!

We started off with stance do's, dont's, and whys (at least, we did after I got another hand wrapping lesson). From there, we transitioned into how to protect myself when throwing punches and drilled 1s, 2s, and 3s. The drills started with mitts and transitioned to bag work (which is new to me). After watching me drill on the bag, we'd move to the mirrors, Coach would have me watch myself and we'd transition back to mitts again. After doing arm work, I got a lesson in how to kick Muay Thai style and the drilling started over again.

We talked theory the whole time (which I love). I find the science of body mechanics and the small, seemingly insignificant details which make worlds of difference fascinating. Coach has been doing this for all but a couple years of his life, so he knows a lot. From his little quarter-speed demos I learned that this man could kill me. If I had a gun and the element of surprise the story might be different, but I'd never want to fight him fair. Normally, I feel very confident of my ability to defend myself, because of my grappling ability. Coach is shorter than me, but much broader and has thighs the size of my chest. Maybe some of his fights are online somewhere, so I can see him in action.

Things to practice during the week:

Everything!
Hand-wrapping - this is something I can do without actually working out.
Stance - Elbows down, chin down, shoulders rolled up and forward, hands up in the green to yellow zone making small inward circles, hips forward, feet slightly angled out, slight bend in the knees, and standing with my heels "a paper-width off the ground."
Punching - Always "look down the barrel." Keep the other hand up for protection. Use hips and feet and not so much the arm strength. Pop don't push the mitt.
Kicking - Swing like a baseball bat. No bend in the knee. Start with a small outward step. Keep the kicking leg's hand out for place and range-finding. Always follow through with kicks. I should do a full circle unless something stops me (aka the bag or my opponent). Coach also wanted me to work some on my off leg kicking because I had a harder time with balance on that leg (even though it was kicking with my right I once spun in a circle and slipped off my feet! ha! Everyone starts somewhere).

So yeah, I have a lot to think about and work on. I'll try to do some shadow boxing at some point. Video games are fun, but it's hard to match the thrill of a physical sport when you feel like you're making gains. I want to get better.

PS - What are the 1s, 2s and 3s? There are apparently 6 basic punches.
1 = Jab (forward hand - left for me since I'm a right hander)
2 = Thrust (back hand - "Power in the back!" as Coach said)
3 = Forward hand hook
4 = Back hand hook
5 = Forward hand uppercut
6 = Back hand uppercut

I'm right handed, so I'm supposed to stand left foot forward and right hand back. Coach said ambidexterity "is great" but start with the basics before getting funky (and I agree).

I'm a ways away from clinch work, but eventually elbows and knees get factored in and ranges will change. This art wasn't refined over hundreds of years with nothing to show for it.

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.