Muay Thai 5/27

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?

Muay Thai 5/12

7:30 Casey BBCF
Started out warming up with kicks. Eyes to chest, get the rotation, stuff with the hand. Don't pop with the kick, think heavy leg, heavy kick

Stance - Don't start doing the tank, keep tall and march.

Hook - still feels very weird, big arc.

Added in teep today - knee up first, then out

Muay Thai (private w/Casey)

I would really like to incorporate Muay Thai into my schedule for a few major reasons; #1 - super good cardio training and #2 - it's just fun to hit things and #3 - it will help loosen up my hips and flexbility for BJJ.
So, the goal is to be able to attend *regular* muay thai classes and at least feel like I'm performing each movement safely and correctly (before doing it wrong 5,000 times). With that goal in mind I have started private lessons with Casey. My goal is to learn and perform all the basic fundamentals correctly.

So, I had my first class Tuesday morning (5/5) and it was AWESOME!!!!!!!!
In just the first 45 minutes I came to trust Casey - when he said that I could stop looking where I was hitting and instead look at his chest and trust that I'll still see what I need to see I was very skeptical, but I tried it anyway, and he was right. There were many mini-trust scenarios like that. So, in just 45 minutes I feel like there was 200% improvement. Granted, we were starting from scratch. :)
He is a really great teacher and I look forward to a long teacher/student relationship with him.

So, here are my notes from that class:
GENERIC
-don't bounce, march
-breathe!!
-don't look/follow punches. Focus center, let peripheral do the work
-Distance - Feels too close to me sometimes and slightly to far other times, but I'm always wrong. I think it's just not natural to me yet. Measure including the shoulder extension with the jab.
-After anything, always get the gloves back in defense right away

KICK
-It's not the speed that brings the leg around...so practice it slowly
-Bring the leg off the floor in basically the natural direction that it was on the mat and bring it around in an arc that will come slightly down on the target
-Make sure to stuff with the hand
-keep the torso engaged, don't lean away from the fight/kick
-for the left leg there will be a quick switch of feet

JAB
-jab bring the shoulder up to protect

HOOK
-The thumb stays up
-Using the rotation of the hip

Combination
Push hard enough with the open hand left hook to sell it in order to get them to weight the front leg
Step quickly and cleanly out of the alley
Stuff them up...and use them for balance...with your right hand
Kick that weighted leg