All my old aches and pains are coming back to me. Particularly in my joints. Still better than sitting around like a fat ass though.
Tonight we worked on kicks and countering kicks. Felt pretty good on them, corrected a problem I was having with my footwork on switch kicks. I need to get a new and smaller mouth guard as the one I have is causing me to hold my breath which was killing me tonight.
I can't rave enough about Bangkok Kickboxing. The drills we're doing are focused and applied to our light sparring so I can actually feel how it's supposed to feel in real time against an opponent instead of a punching back or pads. I feel like I'm really learning more than what I did at Unit 2 where sparring sessions tended to break down into slugfests. I'm sure I'll have a hard sparring session soon, but even when I watched the advanced guys go at it, it was hard but still focused on technique instead of just trying to beat the crap out of the other guy. Don't get me wrong, there is a time and place for hard sparring sessions where you're simulating a real match and I'll need those down the road. But it doesn't need to be everday or even every other day.
I don't need to smash myself in the face with a hammer to know how to take a punch or a kick. What I need to know is how to move around and or through my opponents punches and kicks so I can hit him as well.
"War isn't about dying for your country. It's about making the other sonovabitch die for his!" ~Patton
Monday, February 28, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Double Down
Doubled up a cardio kickboxing session with Muay Thai today. I think I was spot on yesterday about controling myself better and keeping a consistant effort. Instead of go hard - stop, go hard - stop like I used to do now I got at a pace and push it harder when I can. Or maybe my cardio is just better than I think...either way I think I did pretty well.
Muay Thai was all about knees and counter knees. Which was good as my left arm was hurting like hell going into the session.
Muay Thai was all about knees and counter knees. Which was good as my left arm was hurting like hell going into the session.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Got some work to do...
Another Muay Thai session tonight. We mostly worked on left hooks and movement. I stayed back and watched the 7:30 class which I think is the team practice. These guys went solid sparring for over an hour with little rest inbetween. Chike was constantly moving around coaching and motivating the guys to work. At one point I think one of the guys went off and puked for a minute before returning to work. Chike kept them moving the whole time. While I know I've got some work to do before I'm at their level, I also feel that I'm not as far off as I once might've thought. I feel I've got the ability to hang with them, it's just developing the skill and the endurance to stay competative.
Tonight was my first training session under Chike, hopefully I'm showing him something to make him want to put me on the fighting team. I'm a ways off from that point, but I think if I show him that I take it seriously and that I'm coachable then he'll work with me more. I'm going to keep showing up and pushing myself one way or another.
The biggest thing I've noticed between now and when I used to train Muay Thai is that I'm in better control of myself. I'm not gassing myself out in 30 seconds and completely dropping my from like I used to. I'm maintaining a more consistant pace throughout and I'm recognizing when I need to push harder and when I need to back-off and focus on technique. Unlike before when I was just throw as hard as possible only to double over trying to catch my breath. Then again I've only been doing a single one hour session. Tommorrow I'm going to double up and do a cardio kickboxing session along with my Muay Thai session. We'll see how I do then!
Tonight was my first training session under Chike, hopefully I'm showing him something to make him want to put me on the fighting team. I'm a ways off from that point, but I think if I show him that I take it seriously and that I'm coachable then he'll work with me more. I'm going to keep showing up and pushing myself one way or another.
The biggest thing I've noticed between now and when I used to train Muay Thai is that I'm in better control of myself. I'm not gassing myself out in 30 seconds and completely dropping my from like I used to. I'm maintaining a more consistant pace throughout and I'm recognizing when I need to push harder and when I need to back-off and focus on technique. Unlike before when I was just throw as hard as possible only to double over trying to catch my breath. Then again I've only been doing a single one hour session. Tommorrow I'm going to double up and do a cardio kickboxing session along with my Muay Thai session. We'll see how I do then!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Proving Ground
Did my first double today with Scott and Muay Thai. I did my lifting at 3:30 and the Muay Thai at 6:30 which gave me plenty of time to recover so I wasn't hurting during my Muay Thai training.
Today was upper body and I did my usual Bench press with the band and floor press with chains superset with pull-ups. I'm already starting to feel more explosive and powerful. Today's circut was 30 sec on/off of Med ball to sprawl, Rope drills, Sledgehammer swings, Tire jump and Band sprints followed up by the 3 x 3 min rounds of KB cleans, C+J and back to cleans. I'm especially digging this at the end as I feel its teaching me to pace myself and keep a constant effort throughout the entire round instead going hard for 30 sec to a minute and gassing out. I noticed that when I hit the third around I was able to pick up my pace and push harder towards the end. I see it more as mental conditioning than physical. Which is fine, I need plenty of that as well.
Had my second session of Muay Thai and got to train under Khunpon who was very attentive. I had talked to Chike this morning about wanting to compete in fighting and it seems like he let Khunpon know, I felt like he was watching me a lot. We did light sparring today, focusing more on technique and rhythm than beating the crap out of each other. Even though we were going light I had one training partner tell me that he could tell I had good power in my hands, which is a nice boost to my confidence. Overall I felt my hands and my movement were good but my knees and kicks need more work although my theep felt good. I talked to Chike a bit more about fighting and he told me that he wanted to watch me over the next week or two to see how my technique holds up. I told them flat out that if they feel I'm not or won't be ready to compete in April then I absolutely wouldn't. The way I see it, they're the experts and if they tell me that I need more work, than I need more work. As much as I want to compete, I'm not going in there to be someone's punching bag.
I won't lie, the thought of all of this makes me nervous. Especially the fighting part. I got popped a couple of times tonight and it didn't feel great. Part of me wonders if I'm biting off more than I can chew. This isn't crossfit or some 5k. This is fighting, this is for real. Even at an amateur level I can still get hurt. It's a scarey thing to be willing to intentionally walk into a fight. But, I think part of that fear is excitement. It's something I've never done before. And its knowing that I could get hurt that keeps me focused. It keeps me wanting to get better and better to get sharper. You can't slack off when someone is coming to punch and kick you. Even during the light sparring today I felt it.
It's just like last month where I almost got kicked out of the military because of my PT test and I felt that fear the week before the PT test. The tests I took before that day I was too relaxed and overconfident. A little bit of fear is a good thing for me. It motivates me and keeps me from slacking. When I was doing crossfit, I never really felt fear and that's why I kinda fell off of it like I did. Even now during my personal training sessions, I'm thinking about fighting and that keeps me going. I do my best when I'm not totally comfortable. Too much comfort is a bad thing for me.
No matter what, I'm still taking all of this one day at a time.
Today was upper body and I did my usual Bench press with the band and floor press with chains superset with pull-ups. I'm already starting to feel more explosive and powerful. Today's circut was 30 sec on/off of Med ball to sprawl, Rope drills, Sledgehammer swings, Tire jump and Band sprints followed up by the 3 x 3 min rounds of KB cleans, C+J and back to cleans. I'm especially digging this at the end as I feel its teaching me to pace myself and keep a constant effort throughout the entire round instead going hard for 30 sec to a minute and gassing out. I noticed that when I hit the third around I was able to pick up my pace and push harder towards the end. I see it more as mental conditioning than physical. Which is fine, I need plenty of that as well.
Had my second session of Muay Thai and got to train under Khunpon who was very attentive. I had talked to Chike this morning about wanting to compete in fighting and it seems like he let Khunpon know, I felt like he was watching me a lot. We did light sparring today, focusing more on technique and rhythm than beating the crap out of each other. Even though we were going light I had one training partner tell me that he could tell I had good power in my hands, which is a nice boost to my confidence. Overall I felt my hands and my movement were good but my knees and kicks need more work although my theep felt good. I talked to Chike a bit more about fighting and he told me that he wanted to watch me over the next week or two to see how my technique holds up. I told them flat out that if they feel I'm not or won't be ready to compete in April then I absolutely wouldn't. The way I see it, they're the experts and if they tell me that I need more work, than I need more work. As much as I want to compete, I'm not going in there to be someone's punching bag.
I won't lie, the thought of all of this makes me nervous. Especially the fighting part. I got popped a couple of times tonight and it didn't feel great. Part of me wonders if I'm biting off more than I can chew. This isn't crossfit or some 5k. This is fighting, this is for real. Even at an amateur level I can still get hurt. It's a scarey thing to be willing to intentionally walk into a fight. But, I think part of that fear is excitement. It's something I've never done before. And its knowing that I could get hurt that keeps me focused. It keeps me wanting to get better and better to get sharper. You can't slack off when someone is coming to punch and kick you. Even during the light sparring today I felt it.
It's just like last month where I almost got kicked out of the military because of my PT test and I felt that fear the week before the PT test. The tests I took before that day I was too relaxed and overconfident. A little bit of fear is a good thing for me. It motivates me and keeps me from slacking. When I was doing crossfit, I never really felt fear and that's why I kinda fell off of it like I did. Even now during my personal training sessions, I'm thinking about fighting and that keeps me going. I do my best when I'm not totally comfortable. Too much comfort is a bad thing for me.
No matter what, I'm still taking all of this one day at a time.
Monday, February 21, 2011
A step on a new path
For those that don't know, I've left my crossfit gym to go back to Muay Thai. I've got nothing but love for all my peeps at Crossfit Paragon (www.crossfitparagon.com) but I felt I needed to take my training in a different direction. Also, I've got that itch to get punched in a face again...and yes I am a sick fuck.
To help me in this process I've started working with a personal trainer by the name of Scott Shetler. I've only had two sessions with him thus far, but I like what we're doing. We're doing a two day split, one day upper body, one day lower body as well as some conditioning work to suppliment my Muay Thai training.
Last Wednesday he had me do bench press with resistance bands to get me to focus on power and explosion. Then I did floor presses with Chains superset with pull-ups. For the circut he tossed a med ball at me which I caught and then sprawled before jumping up and throwing it back and then I got introduced to the almighty prowler for a couple of sprints. At the end of the session he had me do 3 x 3 minute rounds of kettlebell clean and press with 1 minute breaks. The focus on the kettlebells was to keep moving throughout the whole time rather than do a certain amount of reps. This simulates the end of a fight where you might be gassed but you still have to keep moving and pick your shots. It also served as a solid cooldown from everything else.
Yesterday was lower body and I did box squats with bands supersetted with tire jumps. Then I did Zercher squats with atlernating supersets of sit-ups and barbell throws where I rotate the bar from one side of my body to the other. After that my conditioning was 3 x 3 minute rounds of KB Snatch, KB Clean and KB C & J and then pulling a sled while pushing my arms forward and then pulling it back while pulling my arms back like a row. Before all this however Scott was able to call in a friend of his to help work mits with me and give me some pointers. He told me that my fundamentals were solid and that I just needed to fine tune some of my mechanics. He also gave me some pointers on my movement in general both in stance and moving in and out of strikes.
Today was my first Muay Thai session at Bangkok Fitness and it went well. It was mostly bag work and conditioning today and I definately had some rust to shake off. Marshall was the instructor and he gave me some great coaching on a few things. It was a pretty small class so he was able to give some really good one and one coaching to everyone there. I'll hopefully get to talk to Chike and Khunpon more about training for the fight in April and beyond.
Overall I feel good about this new path and the people I've brought in to help me out. I have to keep reminding myself that each day is a step in the right direction and not get too down on myself for feeling like crap. I just got to take it one day at a time and keep pushing forward.
To help me in this process I've started working with a personal trainer by the name of Scott Shetler. I've only had two sessions with him thus far, but I like what we're doing. We're doing a two day split, one day upper body, one day lower body as well as some conditioning work to suppliment my Muay Thai training.
Last Wednesday he had me do bench press with resistance bands to get me to focus on power and explosion. Then I did floor presses with Chains superset with pull-ups. For the circut he tossed a med ball at me which I caught and then sprawled before jumping up and throwing it back and then I got introduced to the almighty prowler for a couple of sprints. At the end of the session he had me do 3 x 3 minute rounds of kettlebell clean and press with 1 minute breaks. The focus on the kettlebells was to keep moving throughout the whole time rather than do a certain amount of reps. This simulates the end of a fight where you might be gassed but you still have to keep moving and pick your shots. It also served as a solid cooldown from everything else.
Yesterday was lower body and I did box squats with bands supersetted with tire jumps. Then I did Zercher squats with atlernating supersets of sit-ups and barbell throws where I rotate the bar from one side of my body to the other. After that my conditioning was 3 x 3 minute rounds of KB Snatch, KB Clean and KB C & J and then pulling a sled while pushing my arms forward and then pulling it back while pulling my arms back like a row. Before all this however Scott was able to call in a friend of his to help work mits with me and give me some pointers. He told me that my fundamentals were solid and that I just needed to fine tune some of my mechanics. He also gave me some pointers on my movement in general both in stance and moving in and out of strikes.
Today was my first Muay Thai session at Bangkok Fitness and it went well. It was mostly bag work and conditioning today and I definately had some rust to shake off. Marshall was the instructor and he gave me some great coaching on a few things. It was a pretty small class so he was able to give some really good one and one coaching to everyone there. I'll hopefully get to talk to Chike and Khunpon more about training for the fight in April and beyond.
Overall I feel good about this new path and the people I've brought in to help me out. I have to keep reminding myself that each day is a step in the right direction and not get too down on myself for feeling like crap. I just got to take it one day at a time and keep pushing forward.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Come at me, bro!
Over the past month I've been debating which direction to take my training. I have interest in both power lifting and Muay Thai/Mixed Martial Arts. I have since decided that while lifting heavy shit is awesome, being able to move and kick somebody's ass is even better. So I've decided to focus on training like a fighter.
As I made this decision, I just happened to find out about an Amateur Muay Thai Tournament that's happening on April 9th. Since I don't believe in coincedence, I've decided that as long as I have the weekend free, I'm going to enter that tournament. Even if I can't do the tournament I'm going to train as if I am anyway so there's no excuses one way or another.
Seeing as how I don't know the first thing about training to be a fighter, I've enlisted the aid of a personal trainer named Scott Shetler (check him out here -- http://www.extreme-fitness.org) I met with him yesterday and he's helping me to develop an overall strength and conditioning program that will compliment my Muay Thai training. This will be my first time working with a personal trainer and I'm actually very excited to work with him. From the first time I emailed him I could tell he knew his shit and that he would develop a plan that's right for ME and not try to force feed me some pre-made garbage.
I'm looking forward to this new phase of training. Oddly enough I'm actually looking forward to getting punched in the face. Nothing helps remove the bullshit in life more than getting punched in the face...
As I made this decision, I just happened to find out about an Amateur Muay Thai Tournament that's happening on April 9th. Since I don't believe in coincedence, I've decided that as long as I have the weekend free, I'm going to enter that tournament. Even if I can't do the tournament I'm going to train as if I am anyway so there's no excuses one way or another.
Seeing as how I don't know the first thing about training to be a fighter, I've enlisted the aid of a personal trainer named Scott Shetler (check him out here -- http://www.extreme-fitness.org) I met with him yesterday and he's helping me to develop an overall strength and conditioning program that will compliment my Muay Thai training. This will be my first time working with a personal trainer and I'm actually very excited to work with him. From the first time I emailed him I could tell he knew his shit and that he would develop a plan that's right for ME and not try to force feed me some pre-made garbage.
I'm looking forward to this new phase of training. Oddly enough I'm actually looking forward to getting punched in the face. Nothing helps remove the bullshit in life more than getting punched in the face...
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