Guitar Nado's sharknado of martial arts

No offense taken. I have been there 2 1/2 years and 95% of the time the kicks have been roundhouse kick and push kick only. The focus on side kicks was a rare thing, maybe we did it a year or two ago before? The hook/spinning kicks entirely new. Usually it is exactly the sort of thing you mention.

I'm with you that these things don't seem to be usual Muay Thai, but I don't have a lot of experience in MT outside of this school. I had a Kali instructor that showed me some moves, 1 hr at a Dan Inosanto seminar, and seeing a little bit in the Netherlands. Ok, also I have watched a few instructional videos, youtubes, and that great font of where all my original Muay Thai knowledge came from - JCVDs Kickboxer!

 

Yeah! Same here! I was really scared our coach was going to make us start kicking trees!

Thanks for clearing things up about your Muay Thai classes. It's probably not a bad idea to branch out and diversify (just like with your financial portfolio!).

 

So Wedsday ( Jul 20th) did Karate for 100+ minutes:

Had high level guest instructor to show bo kata - Shishi No Kun. Everyone there but me was at least 1st dan black belt, and so I am just along for the ride to do the best I can. Drilled basic moves, which are very similar to 2 other bo katas I have had exposure to. From what I have seen, there aren't that many different moves. Then step by step went through the first maybe 3/4s of the kata. Then talked a little of applications - how to do the kata moves when unarmed, how it relates to unarmed kata moves, etc. I can only speak for myself, but the bo kata are a lot more natural to me than unarmed karate kata, from what little I have seen.

Cool stuff. I didn't think it was a hard workout (that is good for a change), but next morning my legs were pretty sore, and my arms too from doing Karate stances and swinging around a piece of wood for a good while with no breaks.

Thursday (Jul 21) Did Muay Thai for a short class (maybe 50 minutes):

Did knee strikes across the room a few times, then push kicks.

Then ladder drill with bear crawls and pushups. 1 pushup, bear crawl across room, 2 pushups, bear crawl across room 3 pushups, etc. for 90 sec or so. then same idea but with squats and walking lunges.

Then sprints alternating with shadow boxing for what seemed like a long time.

The 1 situp, 1 leglift, 2 stitups, 2 leglifts, and so on for 90 sec or so.

Then partnered up and did something that was very similar to the last class I did:

One partner practiced punches on wave master, other partner was behind them with kicking shield calling left or right side kick.

switched pad holder and repeat.

The one partner did straight punches into wave master, pad holder (with Thai pads) called left or right round kick.

switched pad holder and repeat.

Then got focus mitts and worked this: jab, cross, head height round kick, spinning backfist. (with 100 straight punches first)

switched pad holder and repeat.

Then 100 straight punches - and : Jab, cross, head height round kick, spinning backfist, head height round kick, hook kick

then 100 straight punches and switch pad holders.

Was a short, and not particularly tiring class. But I am a short, fat, and old guy and I don't think I will ever be great at the high spinning kicks.

 

Dude, seriously. I get tired just reading your posts.

You're making us old guys look...

Well, you're actually making us look GOOD. But you're also setting the bar high (curse you!).

 

So cause I am a slacker I didn't log Friday (July, 22) Muay Thai till now:

Don't remember exact details now, but it was about 75 minutes of class. Very similar to previous classes I have logged, focus on high round kicks, spinning techniques. One thing I remember in particular, a drill where we partnered up, - one person did 100 X jumping jacks while partner did situps. Then partners switch roles. Then 100 X jumping jacks, and partner does leg raises, then switch. Then 100 x Jumping jacks and partner does legs 6 inches off mat.

It was mentioned at the end of class that this month we had worked very non-typical Muay Thai techniques. Basically that the spinning techs are not standard Muay Thai, and this is a bonus instruction. If we want to practice this sort of thing - do before and after class. My feeling is I won't see these sort of things in class again for a while.

So Saturday - Tuesday it was 50/50% me being busy, and me being a complete slacker where I didn't do any Martial Arts class. But I did watch some Karate videos, and practiced the occasional Karate stuff.

Wednesday (July 27th) did Karate for about 90 minutes.

For 45 minutes we went over the Shishi No Kun Bo Kata from last week. Can't say I know it fully (at all), but this is a head start if I ever get to Shodan rank. This is really something my instructor is learning for his level, so I think training me is practice. The whole if you really know something, you can teach it type thing. I am happy to learn, and this is cool stuff, cause I like stick/staff weapons.

The rest of class, we go through all the non-weapons Karate I know. Seisan Kata, Seiunchin Kata, Naihanchi Kata all X 2. Then 15 upper body , 10 lower body basics. I am thinking I'm pretty crappy at Karate about now (and I am sure this is true), but my instructor says in the next few weeks he will teach me some of the next Kata, Wansu, which is a bit harder.

I should point out here that the Karate classes I go to are free, and it is pretty much a private lesson for me typically. Other times it is basically a seminar for advanced techniques, where I tag along with the black belt students. I learn a lot, more than I think I would in a typical class with a bunch of students. If I keep going, my hope is to one day not be crappy at Karate.

 

Thursday (July 28th) I did 75 minutes of Muay Thai, and Friday (July 29th) did a 45 minute Muay Thai class (lunch break!).

Both these classes were nearly identical other than length. It was a return to a more typical focus, and the only kicks we drilled were round kicks. The main focus was on catching round kicks (both how to catch, and what to do, as well as what to do when your kick gets caught). For whatever reason, I'm not really big on trying to catch kicks in sparring myself - but it does happen to me sometimes. Did a short (but pretty decent) sparring session on the Thursday class.

Both of these classes featured the highly dreaded (by me) "playing card conditioning drill" - pick a card, and do the number shown of the following exercises:

hearts = burpees
diamonds = V ups
clubs = pushups
spades = squats
joker = 10 sprints

Somehow there are always back to back hearts with some high number. Maybe did 10 cards each day?

Today (Sat, July 30) home practice. I did a little light punching on the wave master. Also went through all 15 upper body Karate basics on the wave master. Ran through Seisan Kata once. Watched Shishi No Kun Bo Kata video, and tried to follow along, but got hopelessly lost so gave up.

 

All the staff and kobudo kata I know had to be digested one section at a time. Try that with Shishi No Kun and see if it works.

 

Behind in logging due to travel and school work.

Monday (Aug 1): did karate for 90 minutes. Went through bo kata for 1 hrs. Learned first part of wansu kata for 30 min.

Tuesday (Aug 2) did muay Thai for 85 min. Standard stuff nothing fancy. Lots of core work at the end

 

Sat Aug 5th. Traveling so solo training. 20 x sit ups ,pushups,squats. Did the 3 1/2 karate I know x2 each.


Friday night was out and asked a gentleman wearing a shirt that said OSS! On the back if he did karate. He was 7th Dan in goju ryu and was president of the Oxford karate club. He had many karate people with him, and seemed very nice. Unfortunately didn't get a chance to talk much.

 

So was on vacation last week, so no training.

This week, Monday Aug 15th did Karate for 90 minutes:

We had a new student in class, so we practiced the basic seiken tsuki and ura tsuki punches for a bit. Then split up in separate groups, and I learned the rest of the Wansu Kata. I had learned maybe the first 1/3 previously so it was a lot of new stuff to learn. I feel like I am pretty clumsy at some of the stances, and transitions.

Wednesday, Aug 17th, Did Karate for 90 minutes:

Did jogging, with side to side, high knees, skipping, front kicks, round kicks, bear crawls,etc. mixed in for 10-15 minutes. Did stretching, and 30 X pushups.

Did jabs in focus mitts. Then crosses. Then covering distance, and crosses. Then jab, skip forward, cross. The way we did this the pad holder took a big step back between the jab and the cross, so there was a lot of distance to cover. Then practiced hook punches, but not the standard hooks - these were the ones where your hand is flipped over, and your thumb is pointing towards the floor when you hit the pad. Did jab, slight move forward, hook. Doesn't sound like a lot of stuff, but spent over an hour on this. Of course half the time I was holding the pads.

A lot of this was a bit awkward to me as to cover distance in the above exercises, the back foot comes forward even with the front, then the front goes forward.

I am very used to stepping forward with the front foot (pushing off the back foot), and then moving the back foot forward. To me this is way more natural, and doing it the above way makes me feel like I have 2 left feet. It is possible to cover more distance with the method we did in class tonight. I'm pretty surprised how much distance the instructor we had for tonight's class can cover just using straight punches and this sort of footwork. I guess I have never really focused on covering a lot of distance in one step for a punch - if someone was far away, I'd close distance and kick them.

It's interesting to do these moves a different way than I am used to from Muay Thai. For one thing, no gloves - just bare hands. Also it is awkward to do punching covering so much distance. Especially covering the distance in the middle of a combo.

No Muay Thai this week, because the school is closed - they are on vacation.

 

Monday 22nd. Did Karate for 90 min.

Jogging, jumping jacks, squats, etc. warm up. Did "inchworm" across the floor - pushup, walk hands up, walk hands out, pushup, etc.

We have a new student in our super small club (one instructor and us 2 students there tonight), so focused on basic karate punches and front kick. Also did jab, cross front kick drills. Lots of hitting pads. Went up and back the length of the school a bunch.

Interesting thing is that in karate, when we do boxing style jab, we do it as a power punch, with a slight twist at the feet. I have done it this way before, but in Muay Thai (at least at my school), jab is range finding/setup punch mostly. Same at my previous kung fu school.

Tuesday, 23rd, did Muay Thai for 65 minutes or so.

Jogging, then lunges/ 10X push kicks per side, then shoulder touches (from plank position)/ tricep extensions, crunches/v-ups.

Did a long combo sequence, which we built up in stages.

double jab, cross, round kick
cover right, cover left, upper cut, upper cut, hook, cross
sway back to avoid jab, cross, hook ,cross, round kick

did each part separately, then whole thing at once.

Wednesday, 24th did Muay Thai for 75 minutes. Before class talked to classmate who had won BJJ comp, and got some details which was cool. Heard about a big tournament in our area in a few months.

jogging, then lunges/jump squats, tricep extensions/pushups, bicycle crunches/V-ups.

Then did funny stress relief of playing dodge ball for 3-4 minutes. Only downside - if you got hit - burpees hit 2 X = 2 burpees, and so forth.

Then we did something we don't do a lot, back breakfalls, and technical standup. I like doing the breakfalls - reminds me of when I did DZR Ju-Jitsu 20+ years ago. Then we teamed up in groups of 3 and did this:

1 person holds Thai pads, and 2 strikers on either side do 10 straight punches, breakfall, technical standup each. By the time one person has finished 10 punches, the othe ris up and ready to do their 10 punches...

Each of the 3 gets a turn to hold pads.

Then, one person holds pads - one striker does right round kick, the other on other side does left round kick. Then they change sides. Each person gets a turn holding pads. In my opinion holding pads is harder than kicking.

Then got in pairs of 2 and did jab, cross, right round kick X 10. Jab, cross, left round kick X 10, Jab, cross, right round kick, left round kick until told to stop. Traded pad holders.

Them did jab, cross, light left round kick (to legs), power right round kick to body or head. Interesting thing - 2nd kick is a "hop" before first foot hits the floor. then same thing switching kicking sides. Then worked a move I couldn't really do - which was jab, cross, plant foot on partners hip, grab their neck, climb up them, and elbow strike to top of head. This is one of those Muay Thai moves I have seen 20 yr old 130 lb Thai fighters do maybe, but I am too old and fat to really do this, especially with someone 4-5 inches taller.

I got a group of 3 and we drilled the light kick , and "hop" into the power kick with the other leg moves. The point was made that on one side of the partner a round kick to the body was a good strategy, but on the other side, would be not as effective. Round kicks to the head on either side will work of course.

Then did a back and forth drill where we did a few strikes, got partner in clinch, and they had to escape.

Then did sparring - changing partners every minute or two. Sparred against 4-5 people, for some reason all of them taller and younger than me. Tried to cut angles, and tried to do Karate moves (just for fun). I have found the odd karate move here and there catches people by surprise. People were nice and didn't mash me.

Then did a lot of stretching.

 

For a second, I thought you did all that in one day!

Dang near had a heart attack just reading it.

Your Muay Thai Class sounds fun. Any martial arts class that incorporates dodge ball is okay in my book!

 

Today, Friday Aug 26 did Muay Thai for approx 60 minutes.

This was a special conditioning heavy class. It was packed, maybe 50+ people there?

Jogging, side to side, high knee, etc. warmup run.

10 X shoulder touches, 5 push ups - repeat for 90 secs
10 X lunges, 5 push kicks on each side - repeat for 90 secs
10 X rocking ab moves, 10 X situps - repeat for 90 secs

Some stretching.

Then we did jogging outside in the parking lot, and surrounding businesses parking lots/side walks for 10 minutes. 30 reps of squats were mixed in a couple of times.

Then started off some drilling with a partner - one partner punches, the other roundkicks to body when they see the shot. Trade off on this.

Next step in this is to do the same thing, but with one partner catching the round kick each time.

Next drilled same thing, but with kick catcher throwing 2 punches after the catch.

Then we practiced with one partner having their leg in "caught" position for 60 sec or so throwing constant punches at catchers held up glove. Then other leg. Switched catchers and catchees.

Then same punch/round kick/catch drill - this time person who is caught grabs the head/neck of catcher, twists their caught leg, forces it free, at this point has catcher in full clinch and does knee strikes

Got some Thai pads, then did 5 X hard power round kicks on each side, switched pad holders.

Then did 30 x speed round kicks on each side, switched holders, then 20 X, switched , then 10 X.

 

Today did Karate for 90 minutes:

Usual warm jog, side to side, high knee, backwards run, etc. warm up.

Then 20 X situps, 20 Pushups, 20 X jumping jacks, 20 X squats and stretching.

Went through all 15 upperbody basics ( some 15 X per side, some only 3 X).

Then I paired up with one instructor and went through Seisan, Seiunchin, Naihanchi and Wansu Katas a few times each, then isolated moves where I was having problems.

Good class.

 

Today did Muay Thai for 75 minutes:

Jogging, side to side, etc. warm up.

Then did sprints the length of the room (in groups of 3-4 tagging off - so got a break between sprints) for a couple of minutes.

then knee strikes the length of the room 2-3 times, then push kicks, then side to side, then jabs with forward footwork, then "inchworm pushups"

Did some stretching stuff, then partnered up.

Partnered up with the drummer in my band who was there today. I held pads first.

Drilled single jabs, then crosses, then rear elbow, front elbow, uppercut elbow strikes. Then did some combos (from usual left side forward stance):

Jab, left roundkick
jab, cross, left round kick
jab, cross, left hook, right round kick
jab, cross, left hook, right uppercut, either leg round kick

Did each of the above a few minutes.

Then a drill for a few minutes:

2 straight punches 2 round kicks, 2 punches 4 kicks, 2 punches, 6 kicks, etc.

then did elbows strikes where the striking hand sweeps the opponents covering hand out of the way - horizontal elbows, upwards elbows as chosen by the pad holder.

Then a similar thing sweeping a hand out of the way, grabbing the neck/shoulder and doing a knee strike.

And then sweeping both hands down, getting a clinch and 4 knee strikes.

switched pad holders.

Then without pads drilled round kicks vs partner catching them for a while.

then did a sparring exercise where one partner only could jab, vs other partner who could only push kick.

Then standard light sparring, switching partners 4-5 times. My last sparring partner said "I think you did that with kind of a TKD style there" - because I was throwing lots of kicks against him, and a lot of them were non Muay Thai ones.

Then got back with our original partners and traded off doing 10 X V-ups , while our partner held this position with feet 6 inches or so off the ground, and head and shoulders 6 inches or so off the ground while we did them. Maybe that was for 3-4 minute?

Then more stretching.

 

Wednesday, Aug 31, did Karate for approx 100 minutes:

Normal warmup, jogging, side to side, high knees, etc.
20 X each - pushups, situps, squats, jumping jacks
some stretching

We then did footwork for sparring and/or self defense the whole class. We practiced trading off shoulder touches with a partner (basically tag on the shoulders and avoiding tag). Then we practiced cutting various angles, and pivoting, as well as different ways of moving backwards.

We practiced a method of moving backwards, which is basically taking your lead foot, and moving it back quickly to be your rear foot. Switching stances as a way of moving your front side back quickly. Our main instructor says he doesn't prefer this method, he likes keeping same side forward, and either hoping or shuffling back quickly (we practiced these as well). For me, I found that doing this stance switch to move back really works for me against someone much taller with more reach, and with the other methods I am just not fast enough. When I used to do Kung Fu - we drilled this method a lot - and this is something we never do in Muay Thai, so it was neat to be reminded of this.

We then practiced head movement, swaying back, shoulder roll, etc. as ways to avoid punches.

We then put on gloves and drilled a few minutes against each other person there, taking turns punching and avoiding punches.

Was a pretty tiring class as we were moving around nearly constantly the whole time, only pausing for brief instructions/commentary or to switch partners.

 

So didn't go to class for a few days due to holiday weekend.

Today did Muay Thai for 75 minutes.

Started off with a lot of neck stretches - looking side to side, ear to shoulder, etc. Then laid down on our backs and did them from that position, and bridged for 30 seconds. Then did the usual jogging, side to side, high knees, etc.

Partnered up and drilled clinching stuff for a while, switching hand positions, clinching and doing knee strikes, etc. Practiced doing hand sweeps and elbow strikes (dragging opponent hand out of guarding position, so strike can get through)

Then we got in groups of three - all doing hand sweeps (in the air) and knee strikes into wavemaster. Then same thing with elbow strikes and round kicks.

Then had one person do 10 X situps punching wavemaster at top of situp, while other two partners held the position with feet 6 inches or so off the ground, and head and shoulders 6 inches or so off the ground. Switched situp person every 10 situps.

Then some pad work:

One person on wavemaster doing hand sweeps - and quick low kick on one side and power high kick on the other side.

One person holding pads, and the other doing combos - one was handsweep, elbow, hook, knee - the others were similar, but I forget them.

Switched positions so that each person got 3 times in each position, and doing a different combo each time striking the pads.

Then 6 minutes like this, one person: 24 round kicks each side, other person holding pads, the other doing straight punches into wave master. Switched these roles every time someone finished 25 kicks per side.

Then had one person do 10 "rocks" with the same position I mentioned with feet 6 inches or so off the ground, and head and shoulders 6 inches or so off the ground. With the rocking you hold this position, but rock so your hands hit the mat at the top and feet at the bottom of the rock. Did 10 X of these, while partners are in plank. Every 10 X of these rocks, a new person does them. Did that for a few minutes.

Then put on headgear and gloves. Got in different groups of 3. One person in the middle, while one of the partners throws punches at them. Middle person tries to get clinch, throw some knees, and push or throw them to the side. Meanwhile other partner is waiting to wade in throwing more punches, and middle person again tries the clinch, etc. 30 seconds before switching roles, and went through each person in the middle a few times. Then ramped up speed/intensity a bit and did for 90 seconds in the middle.

Then some stretching.

 

Monday, Sept 12th Did Karate for about 100 minutes.

Instructor had me lead the class for the first 50 minutes or so. The class was only one student slightly junior (in our club anyways) to me, and the instructor, and another instructor that came in later. So the warm up was the usual jog, high knees, kick back, side to side, skip, jog backwards stuff that we usually do.
Then 20 X jumping jacks, pushups. I did 10 X regular situps/10 X bicycle situps and 10 X squats/10 X jump squats for variety. Also some stretching.

Then did 15 upper body basics, and 10 lower body basics. I am about 90% remembering the correct order and full Japanese names.

Then went through the Seisan, Seiunchin, Naihanchi and Wansu Katas.

At this point we split up, and I got lots of corrections on the Wansu Kata. Things like where I am looking, overall attitude. Also, to do one part in a softer more "Tai Chi" type way, where I have been doing it in a more robotic sort of way.

On Tuesday, Set 13th Did Muay Thai for about 65 minutes:

The usual jogging, side to side, high knee, etc. warm up.

Did 4 rounds of shadow boxing - 1 with just hands, one hands and knees, one with any techniques, one with just kicks.

Then I partnered up with a new student who I think was on his 3rd class. We practiced clinching for quite a while with 3 different set combos: 1) Clinch, 2 knees, pull them toward you with right hand, release with right and elbow strike. 2) Clinch, 2 knees, step forward with lead leg, push, and superman elbow. 3) Clinch, 3 knees, plant lead leg outside their leg - buckle their knee with your knee, swing them to that side, and then elbow strike. Did all these wearing gloves with no pads - trading off one striking one defending.

Then we got pads, and ran through these 3 combos with one person holding and the other striking the whole time. One modification, the elbow at the end of combo #3 is now a round kick. Then we did a conditioning bit where we did 50 straight punches, 20 knee strikes from clinch, repeating the cycle for 6 minutes. Then switched pad holder.

Then did 10-15 minutes of sparring where striking only occurs once in clinch position.

At this point we did some ab exercises - one partner does 20 X bicycle situps while the other holds the head and shoulders 6 inches or so off the ground position - then switch roles. Ran through a couple of cycles.

Did a few more ab exercises I am too lazy to describe, then some stretching.

 

Today ( Sept 15th) Did Muay Thai for 55 minutes or so :

Usual warmup.

Partnered up with a veteran partner I often team up with in this class.

We practiced clinching for quite a while with 3 different set combos: 1) Clinch, 2 knees, pull them toward you with right hand, release with right and elbow strike. 2) Clinch, 2 knees, step forward with lead leg, push, and superman elbow. 3) left upper elbow, clinch, knee, throw them around, knee, push - uppercut elbow, horizontal elbow, downward slashing elbow.

Then 30 knees, 30 lunges. Switch pad holders.

Did a conditioning drill as follows:

21 jump squats, 21 clap pushups, 21 V-ups - then 15 or each, then 9

Did some sparring and sparring drills.

Then switched partners for round kick tradeoffs (both partners holding Thai pads) - right kicks, then left kicks, then double right, then double left, then 4 kicks switching sides, then 4 kicks with 2 pushups in between. Switching partners each time.

Then ab exercises. 8 rounds of this:

20 Sec situps, 10 sec rest, 20 Sec feet 6 inches off ground

Then stretching.

 

Monday, Sep 19 - Did Karate for 90 minutes.

Usually jogging, side to side, high knee, etc. warmup for 10 minutes or so. 20 X jumping jacks.

Then did 10 X each pushups, squats, situps. Also did 10 X "clap under legs" crunches, 10 X diamond pushups, and 10 X "squat jacks". Then usual stretching.

Did Bunkai for the first 1/3 or so of Sunsu kata for an hour or so. Some interesting stuff, and some stuff it was hard for me to get to work. Then we drilled bo basic moves for 30 minutes or so.

Didn't realize it until the next day (Tuesday), but I must have got quite the forearm/grip workout doing the above stuff, because I was really feeling it then.
----------------------------------------

Tuesday, Sep 20 did Muay Thai for 1 hr.

Jogging, side to side warmup. Some quick stretching. Then did 3 seperate conditioning/warmup things, each one for 2 minute or so:

1) 5 squats, 10 "little leaguers" (which are fast switching lunges) - repeat till time up.

2) 5 situps, 10 bicycle situps - repeat

3) 3 "divebomb pushups" (which I think of as Hindu pushups or dands), then 10 X tricep extensions

Got in a group of 3, and we drilled this combo - jab, cross, push kick, jumping knee, elbow. did this with no pads, just hitting each others gloves/guard.

Then one person got thai pads/belly pad and one person was a striker with them. The other partner drilled on a wavemaster.

Did 3 90 second rounds. Person hitting the pads did the exact same combo as above. Second round added uppercut, hook and hook, cross after the jab cross part of it. Round 3 was same thing, but with spliting up the punching portion of the combo in different ways at strikers choice. Person on wavemaster did 1 round of just jabs, one round jab/cross, one round 5 jab/cross combos, and 4 round kicks.

At some point here, my forearms were on fire, and I am sure this is from Karate the day before.

Each person took a turn on wavemaster, holding pads, and striking pads.

Then we did 90 second rounds of sparring, with the 3 person hitting wavemaster while other 2 sparred - switching every 90 seconds. Went through a couple of cycles of this. My partners got some really good shots on me - including a round kick to my head I did not see coming at all. I felt I was about even with one partner during our rounds, and the other partner was pretty much dominating me most of our rounds. To me fair this guy is one of those "there every day" types, who also trains BJJ a few hours extra a week, so his conditioning exceeds mine by quite a bit I am certain, and I think he is just better at this point.