Muay Thai Madness

It all started with an innocent Groupon that made me think to myself, "What a deal!" What a great way for me to check out the techniques involved in the ancient art of Thai Kickboxing, aka Muay Thai. This was back in October of 2011. I've since enrolled in a monthly membership and I've exclusively trained in Muay Thai even though my membership allows me access to train in boxing and a handful of cardio conditioning classes. My membership does not include Brazilian jiu jitsu (BJJ) but I might give it a shot if another Groupon presents itself at another gym, because they usually are only offered to first time members/visitors to the gym to attract new blood. San Diego had a handful of gyms, all of good repute. I laugh when I hear the term, "McDojo" as if these gyms focus on just getting a work out. As far as I know, all the gyms that specialize in mixed martial arts are not McDojo's as evidenced by the focus on making a fighter out of you. You actually learn techniques, and how those techniques actually apply in a combat situation. If you wanted, you could train to participate in an actual competitive fight with an opponent from another training camp. You'll start off in the amateur circuit and wear protective gear, but as you progress in your training, you might actually get in a full-contact bout. That so cray!

"When you practice drills with each other, you do yourself and your partner a disservice if you don't actually aim for their body or their head. What's the point of practicing blocking strikes if those strikes don't even reach you? So go ahead and try to tag them in the face, the ribs, the thighs."

"There is no such thing as a 100% successful defense. You WILL get hit. A lot. The point is to hit your opponent more. Of course, be smart about it, but you need to get over the fear of getting tagged with a strike. You and your partner will agree on the level of intensity during sparring, but make sure you're hitting each other using the techniques you've learned so far."

"Train to the point of exhaustion so that when you are in a fight and exhausted, your strikes will flow automatically."

Freakin' warrior status! Today, I must say that I came away from training, with two banged up thighs (from absorbing middle kicks), a bloody lip (from sparring), bruised inner biceps and fatigued back/neck muscles (from clinch training); and I loved it!

Tomorrow morning is gonna be hell. It's hard being bad ass, but so worth it!