Morik's Bag work progression.

Discussion in 'Training Logs' started by Morik, Oct 31, 2017.

  1. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    My gym is closed for Thanksgiving so I did some bagwork today.
    My energy was not so good today, compared to last time.

    I warmed up with 3 minutes of jump-rope. I had to take a couple breaks, 30 jumps was my max before catching it on my feet or needing to stop due to muscle fatigue/breath.

    Then I did 3 5-minute rounds of shadow boxing, with 2 minute breaks between them. (Longer break after 3rd one to wrap & glove up.)



    I drop my guard a lot on my block, cross (dropping my lead hand), hook. I should work on that.
    I got pretty tired by the end of this round.



    More dropping my lead hand when throwing a combo with a lead hook...
    Next session I'll try to just think about breathing and not dropping my guard.

    I was really tired at the end of this round... stopped a few seconds before the bell.
    I really didn't want to do another round of shadow, so I did another round.



    I got a bit more energy in this round. I feel like I go over a warm-up hump where I get pretty tired, but then if I keep going I get a second wind.
     
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  2. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    After the shadowboxing I did 3 bag rounds.



    I wasn't throwing punches as hard, both due to lower energy, and a blister on my left knuckles from last time. (It is healing up pretty well and I didn't make it worse today.)

    I'm not happy at all with my switch kick, which is why I kept throwing it. I couldn't get it very high nor get the power to a decent level.

    I opened a wound on my right leg (its been taking forever to heal, it was the site of a biopsy)... whoops. Didn't notice til the start of round 3.



    I see myself leaning forward when I change levels.
    Guard dropping some, telegraphing by moving my hands before starting the strike.



    Still not happy with my switch kicks. I got maybe one halfway decent one this round.
    I did try to avoid hitting that spot on my rear leg.
    I'm leaning forward when changing levels.
     
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  3. Knee Rider

    Knee Rider Valued Member Supporter

    One thing I noticed really clearly in your shadow boxing when facing the camera is that you are flaring your elbows s lot when you punch. Try to keep them down tighter to your body. If you extend the arm from there then turn the fist over at the moment before impact it'll be easier to stop them turning out. You will telegraph way less and improve structure and power.
     
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  4. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    I did 2 rounds of shadowboxing & 4 rounds of bagwork. I finished working out ~30 minutes before this, so was already warm.
    5 minute rounds for shadow, 3 minutes for the bag, 2 minutes rest between each round (longer between shadow & bagwork, to wrap up).
    (Bagwork is in next post, due to media limit per post.)



    I was consciously trying to keep my elbows in tighter. However, I see that they drift out and stay out about halfway through. And they weren't in that tight the first half either, for the most part. I remember trying not to throw them out further while striking, but I wasn't paying attention to how they were already out. I pulled them in for one combo towards the end, but then they went back out.



    Elbows still out. I'll work on that next time. I think I'm dropping my guard a bit less during combos.
     
    Last edited: Nov 25, 2017
  5. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award



    I'm still having trouble with my switch kicks. I throw a lot of them this session as I'm trying to work on it--I have trouble getting power through my hip. Or maybe my hips are too tired from the workout. I tried moving the mat over so I could come at the bag from a different angle, not sure it helped much.



    I keep trying to throw more power in my hip for the switch kicks, but it isn't going well. They may be worn out from the workout, which did a lot of hip stuff. Though I am still able to put some power in my rear kick.

    From this angle I can see my elbows are still out.



    Still trying to get power into my switch kick, still not getting much.



    I see at least one good rear kick where my guard doesn't drop at all on the other arm--that is where I want to get with all my kicks. I still see both my arms going all over the place for a lot of the kicks.
     
  6. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Knee Rider (or anyone): I've been playing around a bit with keeping my elbows from flaring out.
    One issue is that I have a big torso that gets in the way... so if you look at my shadowboxing clips, my arms kind of make a triangle, with my hands at the top and the elbows out at the corners of the base of the triangle. (Which is flaring my elbows, as Knee Rider pointed out.)

    To fix this, can I bring my hands out further, so they are stacked on top of where my elbows are?

    Or do I have to bring my elbows in? The problem with bringing my elbows in is that my chest is in the way, forcing me to shove my arms further forward, which feels pretty awkward. But maybe that is an ok position and I just need to get used to it before it doesn't feel awkward?
     
  7. Knee Rider

    Knee Rider Valued Member Supporter

    Hello mate. Yeah that sounds like it could be contributing towards your flaring. I think you might need to play around and just get to know what feels right for your own body re stance/hand position. Talk to your coach too.

    From my perspective, I certainly can't claim to have an expert jab but I suffered from a similar problem and still do when I get tired, lazy or tired and lazy ha! A few tips:

    1) stand by a wall. Let the shoulder of your jab arm touch the wall (or your elbow if it is farther out than your shoulder). Extend out without hinging the elbow, keeping it in a linear path with a vertical fist. Turn your hand over. Bring back repeat.

    Get that motor pattern in your body then

    2) take it to the bag and shadow work. Be mindful of it and maybe even hit the bag with a vertical first for a bit to get rid of the habit of turning your hand out early which is causing you to flare the elbow as you punch.

    If I get to the gym this week (ongoing lung infection) I'll do a clip of it to help or I'll just film in my kitchen. It's simple and easy to fix but the habit can be hard to build. I slip out of it all the time when I'm not being mindful. Work in progress!

    Edit - one thing I should mention is it's easy to let your hands come together in a triangle (I do it on the bag and in late rounds) but really you are better keeping your hands up and at your chin (either side) more above your elbow. That also may help. Locking down your torso and hunching could help those elbows get into position too.
     
    Last edited: Nov 29, 2017
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  8. Knee Rider

    Knee Rider Valued Member Supporter

    Attack of the unflattering kitchen lighting... Arrrgh

     
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  9. David Harrison

    David Harrison MAPper without portfolio

    Worth every penny! :D

    Seriously though, using the elbow like that is a common mistake with linear punches (kicks and use of the knee joint too), well-spotted and corrected, you're too self-deprecating!
     
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  10. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    I do appreciate you catching that, Knee Rider. Thanks for the video response--makes sense, I'll play with it.
     
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  11. Simon

    Simon Administrator Admin Supporter MAP 2017 Koyo Award

    Good stuff, Knee Rider and good to see another member posting a video.
     
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  12. Knee Rider

    Knee Rider Valued Member Supporter

    No bother mate. Hope it helped! Keep up the good work, dude.
     
  13. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    I didn't do any bagwork on Sunday like I had planned. This was purely an issue of motivation.

    Anyway, I tweaked my back bowling today (team outing at work). In that spot that always troubles me, connected to the left hip I think. Putting my left leg up on a chair & bending down like for a normal toe touch stretch hits it, as does doing hip circles--they cause moderate discomfort. Same with the hip snapping motion you make for a kettlebell swing. (Bracing my abs during these makes it much less uncomfortable, though I can still tell something is wrong.)

    I probably shouldn't have tried those left hand throws (I'm right handed). I am truly terrible at bowling and generally just goof off. The muscles on the left side were tight, and I minorly pulled something I think. Anyway, I can walk generally without issue (the occasional step will make it twinge), so I figured it needed some movement (I haven't exercised at all, aside from the weight training, for 11 days.)

    It mostly seems to come out when I tilt or twist my pelvis, so I figured jump-rope would be ok. I tried it out and though I could feel the area a little bit, it didn't feel like it was going to irritate it, so I warmed up with two 3-minute rounds of jump-rope (had to take a few breaks).

    Then I did 4 rounds of shadowboxing.


    Protip: Don't wear (old?) socks on concrete unless you are ok destroying them. I figured the basement floor would be chilly and threw on a pair of socks... during the first bag round they were catching oddly (I think this is when I was destroying them), so I took them off after the round to find the bottoms completely shredded up/huge holes. Maybe if they hadn't been old & starting to fall apart a bit already it would have been ok.


    Anyway, I was focusing on not flaring my elbows with my punches, so tried to face the camera the whole time & work a lot of straight punches. I went pretty slow.

    For the most part I didn't feel that spot on my back at all. There were a few times that something I did hit it slightly, but after I stopped it felt better than it had when I started, so moving was probably good for it, though it is stiffening up now (an hour or so later).


    I took 1 minute breaks between the 5-minute shadow boxing rounds, and maybe 1.5 minutes between the first & second 3-minute bag rounds. (Longer between shadow & bag, to wrap up.) Bagwork in next post due to the media embed limit.





    I think I am keeping my elbows in for the most part. It feels different doing it this way--hopefully I'll be able to feel if I am doing it or not when I can't watch video afterwards, by the difference in how it feels.





    Around 1:26 I flare my elbows a few times. (The one at 1:58 or so was deliberate, to feel the difference.)





    Around 1:30 when I'm facing away from the camera I am watching myself in the mirror in the bathroom.


    I flared my elbows a few times in the latter half of the round.





    Flaring around 1:56. My wall/guard/whatever you call that is way too wide at 3:39 (the 2nd one).


    Another flared punch around 3:49.
     
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  14. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award







    I seem to flare my elbow out often on combos.


    I need to work on this more.
     
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  15. Knee Rider

    Knee Rider Valued Member Supporter

    Those straight shots are looking far... Straighter! Straight as an arrow. Good job. Your breathing sounds more consistent too.
     
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  16. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Hey Morik, I appreciate your videos!

    One question. Does your style teach you to have your foot up when you do a crane stance or knee? Like in the still shot for shadow boxing 2 clip. Where the foot is parallel to the ground? We are taught to have the foot pointing downwards. And if you are doing what you are taught, I am curious as to why? I just find the differences in what different styles teach interesting.
     
  17. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    I think I've been told to always flex on them, not sure if it was explained why.

    The Kru in class tonight told me have your toes flexed when checking, and I can't remember exactly what he said as to why. Something about muscle tension. I'll try to remember to ask next class, though it's with a different Kru.
    I won't have another class with tonight's instructor for a few weeks due to the holiday schedule at the gym.
     
  18. Knee Rider

    Knee Rider Valued Member Supporter

    You keep the toes parallel to the ground to engage the muscles around your shin and make it more protected. It makes the check less painful. The foot/leg should also be turned outwards to align the shin with the incoming blow.

    So it's not a crane stance per say. Although it looks not dissimilar from a certain angle and certainly in one of Morik's video thumbnails.
     
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2017
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  19. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    My gym was closed today so I did some training at home.

    I warmed up with:
    ~1 minute of jump-rope, at which point the screw & frame that allows length adjustment flew off. Must have been loose. Took a bit to fix it.
    Then 3 minutes of jump-rope, 10 push-ups, and 3 more minutes of jump-rope. I did have to pause for breath a bit, especially in the 2nd round.

    Then I did two 5 minute rounds of shadow boxing:





    On all the elbows I'm throwing I see I'm flaring out. Some elbow strikes do loop around, but I should mainly be throwing the ones that don't loop out. I just did a couple wall drills and I can feel a difference when I'm not able to flare out. I'll try to do more wall drills and get a good sense of how it feels when not flaring out.

    I'm flaring my jabs.
    I want to work on throwing more digging hooks that don't flare out much, fewer of the slower hooks where I'm throwing my elbow out quite wide.

    I should be keeping my chin tucked down.

    I'm still dropping my guard a little bit on combos, especially dropping my lead hand when throwing with the rear. I should focus on bringing it up higher when throwing with my rear, so it stays at a good level.

    After that I did some bag work, which is in the next post (media limits).
     
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  20. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Four 3-minute rounds of bag work on my 150lb banana bag. ~1:30 between rounds. Due to my knuckle injury I decided to just work on kicks.






    I am having trouble with my lead leg kicks. It is much harder for me to get good power into it compared to the rear kick. Even if I stand in southpaw & step first, though that helps. I think I need to practice those more.
     
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