7:00am Muay Thai (private) Casey BBCF
This morning was my third class with Casey and I have to say that when you're a total beginner things seems to get better very quickly. Today, many things felt far more natural than they did last class. Of course, some things were still exceedingly akward (teeps).
Always working on:
1. Breathing
2. Standing tall (Don't sink down and down and down. This doesn't mean to put my head up like a target, it really means keep good posture, don't shrink down)
3. March on toes, don't do the tank (Don't sink down real heavy and start flat footing around like an army tank)
4. Eyes (peripheral vision)
5. Keep the torso engaged (part of standing tall...not leaning backwards)
The warmup kicking is starting to feel better. The hips are loosening up for a more natural swing around. With the kicks, I'm working on:
1. that downward arc for the leg kick (still kicking too high)
2. stuff with the hand
3. heavy leg, not snapping
4. quick reset
5. on the toe at the end (the follow-through so to speak)
Then we did some drills with the jab, cross, hook, kicks, teeps. All of this is starting to feel better.I'm starting to feel the rhythm of it all and it's really cool. My hook is still a little bizarre, but I'm starting to get the arc down. With my kicks and teeps I need to keep that core engaged to keep that torso in there so that I'm not leaning back off balance (especially with the teeps). This is where the "stand tall" thing really comes into play. If I am standing tall then usually the kick or teep starts in the right place and it has nice power because I'm really engaged with it. If I start off all hunched up or backed off then I either have no power and/or have to reach akwardly.
During the drilling today he started giving me little taps between my drills to make sure I was defending, keep my gloves up, getting them back quickly, etc. I'll throw some punches and he would give me a hook to make sure I was back in defense or 'keeping me honest' so to speak. When he starts taking these little shots back at me he barely taps me, but in my mind I want to enter defense mode (which is heavy and low like a tank, quits moving and covers everything). So, when he's tapping me back I have to do my little mantra, "stand in it, march in it, keep tall, keep defending, don't scrunch, don't back away". I'm trying to see with my peripheral vision the physical ques that are precursors to where these strikes are coming from, etc. Today I noticed what his chest looks like when he opens his left shoulder for a left hook. It was my first "a-ha" moment; granted on probably the most telegraphed strike and in slow motion, but it was still cool.
I know this is going to sound funny because I've been doing BJJ, but the close Muay Thai distance feels way too close to me. It feels to me like if you're that close to somebody you may as well be grappling. Most of the Muay Thai is in an uncomfortably close zone that just feels akward to me. Also working on that (staying jab close, staying engaged, etc).
I think he's a great teacher because I notice that he is progressing me a little bit at a time, yes, even over 3 lessons. I noticed that today he started giving me the pad locations and not calling out the numbers so much and I was noticing that a pad in that location should be a jab, there means a cross, there means a hook, etc. Seems like a small thing, but it was nice to see that my body/vision/rhythm has potential to all come together naturally. I noticed this again when he taught me some blocks. I'm not staring down his gloves and I can still see other stuff. I'm trying really hard to work on this. I need to develop that peripheral awareness. I don't have the accuracy so I especially end up kicking him a lot. The teeps seem ridiculously off balance and off target right now. I'm aiming dead center, but I could hit anywhere in a 1.5 foot radius. I keep telling him he'll need to wear a cup for my training. ;)
He gave me a jab block, a cross block, a hook block, and an over the top right cross block. What they all have in common is one hand is stuffing in their shoulder or face and the other hand is protecting your head (usually with the palm facing your head). BOTH hands are open. The reason for the left hand open has to do with naturally bringing your shoulder up to protect. The right hand is open because it leaves less space. So, front, side, and then opposite side with the blocking (opposite side is open palm facing out). We discussed slipping vs blocking and I'll just say we're in agreement and I get it.(Risk vs Reward)
So, it was a great cardio workout first thing in the morning; loosened up my hips and back for the day and I got to hit stuff. Who doesn't like to hit stuff?
2 comments:
What's a teep?
First, I checked to make sure it really was called a teep....lol.
So, since I looked it up to make sure, here's the definition from a muay thai site:
"The teep is a push kick that can be used for both defense and attack. It is similar to the jab for keeping an opponent at bay and is good for knocking off their balance. In general a foot thrust is quickly followed by some other form of attack. Use the front leg as it is quicker to deploy. Place your toes in your opponent's sternum."
ha - this says you're kicking them in the sternum....lol...well, he is about a foot taller than me. ;) All I can tell you about it in practice is that you get the knee up first and then the foot strikes out...meanwhile you're balancing on the other toes = he needs a cup. ;)
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