I did a few rounds of shadow boxing & bag work at home today, in addition to a bit of other exercise (which is in my regular training log). I have a mirror off to the left, so I am generally trying to face either it or the camera. I think the elbows looked better in terms of staying in my frame.
I got interrupted so only half a round for the first one. I'm flaring my straight punches, and not distancing well for them. I should be tucking my chin--I haven't been at all. I think my teeps are decent.
This is by far one of the coolest threads on MAP. I'd say only two or three things for now. Your back is too straight. You need to buckle yourself somewhere between your belly button and your rib cage. It's called engaging your core. When you do this you will start slipping punches correctly because the movement will be much smaller. It also helps with power generation and general body mechanics. Another point would be focusing on your footwork and weight distribution. It should be most of your weight on your back foot most of the time, so you're ready to defend. Right now it looks like you're throwing a combination, stumbling a bit, then reseting. When you finish a combination you should immediately return to your stance,rather than relaxing and starring again. It's a habit worth breaking now rather later. Punch, kick whatever, reset, turn off the center line, start again. You're Muay Thai vocabulary seems all there now, you can move from push, to elbow, to knee without too much thought process behind it. Your combos are varied and solid. Now it's just a matter of repping them out! I wish I could come and hold pads for you man! You've got an awesome attitude for learning
I did a few rounds (after warm-up) trying to focus on kneeriders advice, though I wasn't able to keep my mind on them all. I tried to keep my core engaged, but forgot about the rest for the most part, though I did move around a bit more than usual. I think this tired me out much more than usual; I had to take longer breaks than usual, several minutes. (40s plank after each round, then break) I'm still flaring straight punches, I need to slow down until I get better at not doing that. Also I should practice my switch stance more here, as it needs work. My left knuckle still feels slightly off, and I think hitting the bag with just gels & bag gloves wasn't helping, so I did gels + wraps + 16oz gloves today. I'm flaring my straight punches still; I caught myself a few times, but I think I went right back to it afterwards. I tried to get off the line a lot, and that has me breathing hard pretty quick too. So probably good cardio for me. I was thinking about keeping my weight in the rear at least some of the time, and I think I kept my core engaged at least some of the time too. I need to work on switch kicks.
I did one round of shadow boxing & one round of heavy bag today. I should be bringing my elbow up higher on some of the hooks. I'm standing in one spot a lot, and mostly moving forward & back, I should move side to side more. I'm trying to rise up more on the ball of my foot when kicking. It is difficult though, especially on switch kicks. I should slow down a bit.
2 3-minute rounds, one punching with a few elbows (stopped elbowing as I ripped open my right elbow... poor technique + psoriasis making the skin thin), the other kicking with a few knees. I wasn't really focusing on technique, just getting some exercise in & seeing how this impacts my shoulder for tomorrow, and a bit of shin conditioning. That said, I see tons of technique issues watching these.
I did three 3-minute rounds of bagwork after warming up. (Well, 3.5, but the first round the camera fell over half-way through and I ended up just stopping as I had gassed myself out a bit as well.) I was working mostly jab->low kick, and jab->cross->switch kick. I was a bit sloppy with my stance; I need to keep my core tucked a bit (I was some of the time...) and tuck in my chin. I also dropped my hands a bit on some combos and kicks, I should work on not doing that. I didn't pace myself very well and got pretty tired early in the round. My kicks could have been better too, I wasn't throwing my hip into them hard enough most of the time... Worked a bit on a jab->shovel punch->lead hook combo. Noticed a lot of the same stuff from the first video still applies, especially pacing/how much power I'm using. Sloppy on a lot of punches, not staying in my frame.
Still improving though! You've got your hands up the whole time now. Combos are alright, just don't be in a rush to get them all out at the same time! Only really big thing though is when you finish all combination especially with all leg kick you want to come back to your original stance. Don't want to end up crossing your feet. And keep it up! You're doing well, consistency is king.
You know, I've never actually seen this thread before. I looked at it for the first time last night. I watched the first videos you posted back in 2017, and I looked at the ones you posted yesterday. There is a noticeable massive improvement between now and when you first started posting. Try and keep that in perspective if you feel frustrated with a perceived lack of progress.
I know I've improved a lot over the past couple years, I guess I just felt off on those latest bagwork videos; I haven't done any bagwork at home in months now due to the construction/the bag being down. I think I need to keep pacing in mind and focus more on technique and working on specific things, vs just sort of going nuts on the bag and gassing out in 60-90 seconds. I'll try to do some more bagwork tomorrow probably (resting today).
thanks for getting more videos up, definitely improvements! I don't think I could anything that @Pretty In Pink hasn't already written. Keep on with the routine I look forward to the next one.
I assume you mean this in a martial arts context. (I do work with a personal trainer for strength training.) I have not had any private lessons at this point, but have started thinking about doing so. I was planning to look into it more when I get back to the gym (should be next week, ankle is doing pretty well). I've been thinking about doing private lessons for a while now, I think it would be good to help me figure out what to focus on. One issue I have is that there are 3 instructors who I am fairly familiar with (2 really familiar as I've been to a ton of their classes, one a bit less familiar as I don't go to his classes very frequently). That is out of the 6 or so instructors of the gym. (Two others I never make it to their class times due to scheduling conflicts, and then there is the head instructor who sometimes cuts in to teach advanced class with the usual instructor for the class assisting him, and is usually at the fight team practices.) I have some sense of their styles from their classes, but I've seen them doing private lessons off to the side sometimes and I'm not sure whether their class style translates well to their private lesson style. I guess I just pick one and see how it goes. One is fairly traditional (uses Thai words for the different punches/elbows/kicks/etc, spent a lot of time in Thailand), has competed in boxing & Muay Thai, focuses a lot on conditioning in addition to technique. One does a lot of Dutch style drills, works with the MMA students a lot, not sure what he has competed in (I think all the instructors have at least competed in Muay Thai, this one may have also done some MMA fights). One teaches only beginner classes as far as I know (the other two teach beginner + advanced classes), does a lot more clinch drilling than the other two I'm familiar with. I'll have a look at the times different instructors are available, and rates, and go from there.
Yeah, sorry. I meant in the martial arts context. I was referring to attending regular classes. I was just curious. It's great that you're working with a strength trainer. I should look into doing the same.
Ah, yeah I do attend Muay Thai (group) classes regularly. I got the heavy bag ~mid 2015. (I think I trained a bit of MMA at this time through a small class at work run by a colleague with experience in Muay Thai & Catch Wrestling, may have just started doing traditional jiu jitsu around that time.) I started doing Muay Thai in late 2016, though not very consistently and had several long (month or more) breaks. First bagwork post looks to be late 2017, so after a year or so of casual training.
3 5-minute rounds today I have my mouthguard in and was trying to breathe out without unclenching my teeth... not sure how to do it without snot blowing out all the time (thus all the nose wiping), but something I should probably practice more of. Breathing without opening my mouth was really difficult (and I didn't even do it very much, mostly I was breathing with an open mouth). I'm not really throwing many straight punches at this bag, but I could probably tighten up my hook a bit and stay in frame better. I see I'm winding up a bit on some of those hooks too... Noticing more sloppy punches from the rear hand especially... I notice I'm not throwing my arm out with all my kicks. This is something I've had pointed out to me by instructors too. I'm also not really kicking at 100% power for any of these kicks, I should at least try to get the hip turned over though, even when I'm trying to conserve energy. I noticed a lot of kicks where I didn't turn the hip over at all. So the things I want to work on right now are: - Keep my chin tucked/core hunched a bit. - Punch within my frame, stop flaring punches so much. Don't wind up hooks. - Breathing properly with a mouthguard in (not opening my mouth often). - Tighten up my kicks, even if not going 100% power I should be turning my hip over. I think I need to slow down and be more deliberate with my technique. That may help me not tire out as quickly too. Hopefully I'll remember this list (or remember to check it) when I next do more bagwork.
It's been a while since I posted in this thread. Here is what I plan to do here, moving forward: - Occasionally (not sure on frequency yet) record some basic technique demos (individual strikes or combos). - These will be relatively short, just to get a sense of 'where am I at with this strike/combo'. - Then I can look back on these over time and see how various things are improving/not improving. - And of course anyone else watching these can provide feedback for me as well. I'll combine some orthodox & southpaw techniques as is convenient, so that I don't have to switch where the camera is. (E.g., rear kicks from orthodox, and switch kicks from southpaw, both kick from the same leg. So the same camera position is good for both.) Today's demos below. (I just saw some of my older videos--I think those camera angles were better, will try that again next time.) Rear kick from orthodox / Switch kick from southpaw Rear kick from southpaw / Switch kick from orthodox I need to work on rotating more fully, getting that shoulder pointed at the target when the leg strikes.
Oops mixed up which was which in the description right before the video above, its past the edit window. The first one is Rear kick from southpaw / Switch kick from orthodox, the second is Rear kick from orthodox / Switch kick from southpaw
Rewatching them now, I see that I am way dropping my guard hand (the one I'm not throwing out for counterbalance).
