muay thai

thai kickboxing

I hear you about rendering on the PC.  It takes like 10 minutes or it crashes but  on my mac it takes a couple seconds.  LOL on Vista.  I still have XP, I don't want Vista either.  I hate how MS forces you into using their products.  I hate drivers, they are a pain in the butt.

I love gmail just because of the spam filter.  I don't like how it views emails, and how it groups the emails from the same email address together.  but, have it directed through Outlook and its awesome.  Plus i like that its online so I tend to forward important emails to my gmail and just archive it.  So this way the information is available to me where ever i am (except of course at work because gmail is blocked!).  I can't take credit for the filtering idea, my husband actually told me to try it.  Yes, it is a brilliant idea!!

There's a lot of sites i need to look at for the mac.  I do the same thing, if i have a problem i have to go online and look for the answer.  Usually the answer ends up being on a message board or forum (blocked!!) so its hard sometimes.  I've actually had to go home and look up stuff & download stuff.   There are a couple MT sites that aren't blocked (yet anyway), USMTA & Thai Boxing Assoc....

Definately try P90X, they are great workouts.  And, the bo-flex is cool and they have great customer service.  I think its a great product, I can't believe its 8 yrs old.  I bought a recumbent bike a couple years ago, it was Nordictrack but it wasn't crazy expensive,  a couple hundred bucks i think.  It was about a year old and it needed a new pedal (which costs about $85 to replace).  This boflex after 8 yrs (and it gets used) had one part wear away. 

Yay on the shorts.  That's cool!  I'm glad CC & MT are helping you! 

I was thinking of adding the MT shorts to snoopy, I may just draw one in Illustrator, I mean I am supposed to be a graphic artist.  I'm sure I can draw a new snoopy with shorts on.....this will be my new project.  I will have to put the CC community section on hold for a couple hours....

Well my back feels better today so I'm glad that I rested.  I'm pretty sure if I went last night I'd still be limping.  I was stupid with my shoulder, so I'm trying to be a little more intelligent.

So funny about Troy and feeling fat!  I know I have the same exact feelings, my husband says that too. LOL. It's not just you!!  I used to do MT on Fridays until they changed the time.  I was usually the only one there but that's ok, its like private training.  I'd still be going if they didn't change the time, I realy liked going 4 times a week...

Well back to the grind!

OMG, I know what you mean about blocked message boards ... argh.  I am convinced that, at this point in history, a good third or more of the world's collective knowledge is out there on internet message boards -- LOL, also, a good 1/2 or so of the world's BS.  When I was initially here as a temp, long ago, I couldn't get to anything, and it sucked.

I can't wait to see your custom Snoopy icon!  Oh -- speaking of graphics, btw, I am going to take your advice and get rolling on some comics again.  I have an idea for a graphic novel that I really want to put on paper.  It's been kicking around in my head for like four years now (I am somewhat embarassed to admit that it was inspired by a Yanni tune -- I think it's called 'Nightengale,' if you want to look it up).

This will mean investing in a new graphics tablet, since mine is still in Baltimore :::sigh:::  I miss it profoundly.  I'm debating trying one of the off-brands, since I h8 Bluetooth hard and have been having trouble locating an older Wacom model in the size I want (mine is 6" x 8", I think, and that worked nicely; the 4" x 5"s seem too puny and the larger sizes, while probably fun, would likely be unwieldy, since I lack a desk to work on).  Part of me thinks, "Hey, it might work out," while another part of me thinks, "Hey, it might be a giant waste of money."  OTOH, since I'm planning in minoring in visual art/graphic design, maybe I'll bug one of my profs-to-be and see if it's worth it.

LOL, I have absolutely nothing on-topic to contribute, apparently :D  Here's one: I practiced knees and kicks in the kitchen last night while making dinner.  LOL

Oops -- time for a meeting!

Check out my snoopy! I added the shorts which say I <3 Muay Thai on the waist band.  LOL!

LOL about Yanni, i actually like Yanni (and Enya for that matter).  HaHa.  And the really funny thing is that my music of choice is more heavy metal hard rock type of music.  I'll have to check out Nightengale.  Its very relaxing music.

I hate my graphics tablet.  I have a wacom 6 x 8 but i hate it.  I should try to use it again.  I'm not really an artist, so i'm not too good at drawing to begin with.  I'm better at tracing things but still, i don't use the tablet, i probably should.  I end up tracing things with the pen tool (instead of using the pen itself for the tablet....duh).  When i was in school we didn't use tablets so I just never got used to it.  I should learn, I know its a good product.  it is expensive though.

Definately do the graphic comic, that would be cool, especially since you have something in mind already. 

Funny, I usually practice my 360 round kicks while i'm in the kitchen cooking! 

I changed the snoopy, i added the mong kol so snoopy can be official. I tried adding the arm band too but it looked funny. I was thinking of adding a tattoo but i don't think there's enough room.  I'll probably be changing it all day long!

YEAY!  I <3 your Snoopy icon!

Oh, and the mong kol is genius.  Yeah, I don't think his arms are long enough for the arm bands, LOL.  I love the look on his face, too -- focused and determined!  I hope I look like that in class (and not like a flaming moron with a headache, or a cross-eyed wingnut, or something).

I secretly love Enya, but then, I'm kind of a technophile to begin with.  Yanni is hit or miss, IMO, but some of his stuff is pretty cool indeed ('Nightengale' sounds like a story, if that makes any sense).  And I totally hear you about metal ... LOL ... When I was a kid, I only listened to Classical and Jazz until somebody turned me on to old Metallica.  Sadly, by then, they were already into their decline :::sigh:::  I branched out, after that -- I like almost everything now :D

For bands playing these days, where metal is concerned, I am rather fond of Avenged Sevenfold (OMG, ppl who actually know how to play the fracking guitar!!!) ... and I've developed a taste for old hair metal from the 80s and early 90s -- even power ballads, LOL.  I love singing power ballads in the car :D 

Of course, I am obligated to love Queen, because Freddie Mercury had one of the most beautiful, lyrical voices ever to grace the rock-n-roll stage, and the Eagles, because Eagles + Harmony = OMG.

I figure, WRT to the graphics tablet phenomenon -- you should use whatever tools work for you :)  I'm a painter, so I kind of took to the tablet like ducks to water -- but I don't think it's the universal answer (and, yeah, the price tag -- OW!).  It's great for the kind of work I do on my comics (especially for inking, coloring, and adding tones), but I don't feel as much need to use it for web graphics.  OTOH, trying to actually draw with a mouse makes me crazy and kills my wrists (I've been writing code literally since first grade, so they're a little sensitive, LOL).

Glad to know I'm not the only one practicing Muay Thai in the kitchen, LOL!

Haha, everytime I login and see my snoopy avatar I just chuckle.  He sure is cute! At first I had him plain, then I thought how cool he would look with the mong kol so I whipped one up.  I wondered if his face was too angry looking but I kept it. I had added a slight smile to his face but then I thought maybe that was too cocky so I removed it.  A lot of thought went into this little avatar!!

I love Enya too.  A lady I worked with told me once that at lunch time she would sit in her car and put an Enya CD in.  So she made a me a copy and I loved it.  Yanni is ok, yeah hit or miss like you said.

I like Metallica, there old stuff is good, the newer stuff is ok.  I listen to satellite radio so I am a bit spoiled with my music, I only listen to one genre.  I like Linkin Park, Sevendust, Rage Against the Machine, Godsmack, Flyleaf, Avenged Sevenfold has grown on me, and of course how can you NOT like the hair bands! On satellite I have an 80s station and a 90s station, once in a while I'll hear some old Motley Crue or Poison...haha, it's hysterical! The best power ballads to sing in the car, by far, is Meatloaf (old stuff of course).  I bought one of these in the bargain bin for like $3 bucks, my girlfriend laughed at me, in a couple hours we were singing our hearts out...it was sooo funny.  Eagles and Queen good too.  I like Zeppelin too.

Oh, I did that first day of the 100 push up thing, it was really hard.  I am also trying the 200 sit up thing too, I didn't think the sit ups were so hard.  I'm curious to see if it works.... My arms are finally even in strength after my shoulder injury in when was it....uh September....wow about 6 months...but I didn't miss class !

Oh yeah, and my kitchen has the perfect floor for pivoting!!

OMG Meatloaf in the car, yes!!!!  LOL  I like Zeppelin, too -- oh, and what I've heard of Iron Butterfly ("Born to be wiiiiiii~iii~ii~iiild!")

LOL -- I think I might do the 100 push-ups thing as well.  I TOTALLY humiliated myself in class last night when we were doing push-ups ... I just didn't have it in me.  I fought like a tiger and still failed, LOL.  OTOH, I got at least 80% of the push-ups done.

Hey, congrats about your arms being equal now!

Besides humiliating myself in the push-ups arena, though, class went pretty well.  My kicks are profoundly less n00b-tastic than they were not all that long ago, though my low kicks still like to become mid-kicks.  I'm learning blocks and stuff as well, now, which is good, because it's probably a bad idea to go into a fight just knowing how to strike, LOL.

We have some training thing this morning, so I have to run off and be bored for like four hours (argh).  OTOH, maybe they'll feed us?

...Though, if they do, it's probably going to be something like doughknots :\

BTW, in case you're wondering -- doing a 1.5-hr 7 PM class having not eaten since noon?  Yeah, not a good idea.  LOL  I think next time I'm goign to make myself eat a snack -- that might help with the getting really freaking tired at the end fo class bit.

Wow, Iron Butterfly, that's an old one, that's a good tune.  I like Iron Maiden too, another old metal band.

It's hard doing push ups at the end of class.  I know if I don't eat enough I poop out too.  Saturday I ate a banana before class, well that wasn't a good idea.  It's weird because sometimes I can eat a banana and I'm fine but other days I can barely make it.  I do the same things with the kicks, mine are usually higher than they should be.  Good thing you are starting to learn those defensive moves, you'll definitely need those, LOL! 

Well hopefully tonight will be a good class.  I feel bad I missed Monday but my back is better so it's better that I missed it.  I usually go Thursday if I miss a day but I'm not feeling it this week.  It's such a big rush to get to Thursday class.  I guess I'm a little down this week, I got my bone scan results and I lost more bone, not a lot but still, it didn't get better.  I work out so much so it's upsetting.  Although, I did have some deficiencies that I just found out about 8 months ago which do contribute to bone loss.  So we'll see, next bone scan is in 2 years. 

Well 4 hours of training sounds very boring, do you start to nod?  I know I definitely would be nodding!! 

I was surprised!  This training class managed not to be boring!  :D

It was one of those 'Appreciating Diversity' kinds of things -- but it was well done, and the trainers were fun.  As much as I appreciate diversity and all (what with the fact that I'm gay and all, LOL), a lot of 'diversity' training just reeks of NannyCorp.  IMO, if they really want us to appreciate diversity, we should all just train Muay Thai together.  It's hard not to respect someone after you've sweated your butt off with them long enough.

LOL, yeah, I like Iron Maiden too.  My ex bro-in-law is older than me and is a metalhead from back in the day, so he's turned me on to a lot of good older stuff, though Iron Butterfly is even before his time -- that one I picked up from  old roomie who was twice my age (along with James Gang and a bizarre fondness for that late 50's/early 60's 'Phil Spector Wall of Sound' sound).

I think it's harder to kick low than high, LOL.  Last night, we had an odd number of people, so we were divided into groups of three doing some bag work.  My group consisted of one guy who just started last night, one guy who's been training for a long time, and me -- and the experienced guy kept saying, "Low kick!  Low kick!  No, no -- low! Kick!  Kick lower!" LOL  Meanwhile, the other noob and I were drilling away with the mid-kicks.  By the end of the first round, though, we pretty much had it down.

My kicks are getting better.  Jay is a freaking awesome teacher.  He's great at demonstrating body mechanics, and has a great sense of humor.  At one point, he was working with me on a partner drill, and I kept being a spaz and forgetting which punch came first.  He was like, "I should really get blinking LEDs on my gloves.  I keep meaning to do that." LOL!

Bananas are a good idea.  I think I'll start keeping bananas at work -- maybe I'll buy one of those little wooden Banana Tree things.  I know what you mean about eating certain things not being a good idea sometimes, though.  I've decided that protien shakes before class are a non-option, since the last few times I did that, Bad happened.

LOL on the defensive moves -- you're not kidding (now if I could learn to block t3h f34rful self-punch, LOL!).

I'm sory to hear the bone scan didn't go as we were hoping!  OTOH, now that you've uncovered some more deficiencies that could impact your bones, maybe your next one will be better.  I know I would be pissed if I were training as hard as you and still losing bone.

BTW, started working on the script for my graphic novel last night ... I think it's going to work out nicely.

Also, made another MT Extreme N00b logo.  Yeay!

Well at least your training wasn't so boring.  My company has a mandatory sexual harassment seminar about every 2 yrs.  Boy are they boring, the last one they had a bunch of movies that looked like they were filmed in the 70s with old groovy music and the men where wearing the jeans that flare, its was really funny.  But there's always some bozo who likes to ask about 50 questions.  The diversity sounds like it could be interesting.  I agree about doing the MT together, its funny how that works, how you really do respect the people you workout with (except maybe the fanners...still can't understand fanning yourself in a work out type setting)

Oh, funny about Iron Butterfly, I know nothing about them I only know the born to be wild song and I didn't know it was them, I'm just familiar with the song.  Anyway, I just found out that its one of the songs on my husband's band's play list.

OMG, I'm a spaz too when I'm demo person too, I'm always doing things backwards, I start punching with my right, all the time....I don't know if my brain is mixing things up or what....weird...I think I just get nervous.

I eat a banana every day.  I don't use one of those trees, but I read in one of those chain emails that you should separate each banana and it will take longer to ripen. I've been doing this for about a year and I find it works. I buy a bunch of green bananas on Saturday, separate them from the bunch, and they last me the whole week, they don't rot.  I love bananas.

Sucks that my bone scan didn't go well.  But, when I found out about the deficiences I was skeptical that anything would improve.  Next time!

Good luck on the graphic novel, it sounds cool.  I like your new N00b logo!

So last night I really didn't feel like going to my MT class, just not feeling it this week or something....but I did miss Monday so I really didn't want to blow it off so I went.  I guess I'm still upset about the sparring thing, plus it's been a freakin' month since he first mentioned it.  So I got there and I was starting to wrap my hands when the master came out with his equipment catalog and says 'anybody interested in contact class come here to order your protective gear' OMG OMG OMG!  So me and guys go in there (no fanners allowed!) and he's explaining how we're not going to try to beat the crap out of each and go all out with punches but even then when you get hit it's going to hurt and you might not like it.  In other words....you can't return the gear.  We all decided that its no big deal to sell the used once heard gear on Ebay, haha.  The guys told him that they needed extra padding for my kicks, either that or I'm not allowed to kick. LOL   One of the guys was saying that he gets really winded just doing combos and what's it going to be like when we really spar, because three minutes is going to be really hard.  So I said, yeah I practice at home on my bag doing 2 minutes and that's hard, 3 minutes will be really hard.  Well...all their mouths dropped and they go 'oh that's what you're doing'....I'm like what am I giving you guys information that i shouldn't...is this secret training information that you shouldn't know?  I guess they are afraid of my kicks but some of these guys can pack a punch so I don't really get it.  I guess they see me different than I see myself. I think I'm the one who should be intimated sparring with some of these guys....It certainly was funny though.  So I'm not sure when the class will be, i think he has to find out from all the students who will want to go, last night we were sure of at least 7 ppl, he thinks there will be other girls from day class (which I don't think I know).  He said it would be once a week.  So hopefully it will be within the next month!  I'm very excited!!  Last night was a great class, he really kicked are asses.

Hooray for your sparring class finally getting formalized!!!!!  And hooray for a class without Fanners!  We

LOL -- So the guys didn't know about the Super-Secret Ninja Technique of practicing at home?  Geez.  I bet they don't do kicks in the kitchen, either :::sigh:::  (But, srsly ... I often wonder why more people don't practice their martial arts at home -- it makes a huge difference, especially if you only have class like two or three days a week.)

I think it's kind of funny that the guys are afraid of your kicks, LOL.  I mean, don't get me wrong -- like I said before, it's always the girls who have the deadly, 'cause you have great aim and like to strike the same spot over and over and make the boys cry and stuff :D  But seriously ... getting kicked is pretty much what Muay Thai is all about, LOL!  If it weren't for the kicking part, it would pretty much just be boxing-with-elbows, LOL.

It's cool that they feel intimidated by you, though, in that weird way that I suppose is only possible in competitive fields (when I played violin as a kid, I had similar feelings about a few other violinists I occasionally ran up against in competitions -- respect/awe coupled with, "Oh, crap, this person can hand me my tailpipe," LOL).

Oh!  This reminds me.  I had this hilarious conversation with Cam last night.

Cam: Yeah, Muay Thai is pretty, but it's not an effective fighting style.

Me: ...????   Who told you that?  Muay Thai is considered just about the fiercest striking form out there, except for maybe Kyokushin, and then only because the whole point of Kyokushin is to completely destroy your opponent.  TKD -- there's an ineffective fighting style.

Cam: Well, Muay Thai is made for skinny little Thai boys.  It wouldn't work against a "Real Fighter," like a brawler or whatever.

Me: Um ... okay.  I can see where it's not gonna help you if the fight goes to the ground -- but neither is anything other than BJJ, pretty much.  If the fight goes to the ground, the BJJ guy wins, end of story.

Cam: Seriously.  If you put your average Muay Thai guy up against, say, one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship guys...

Me: (barely restraining my hilarity) ...Um, you know the vast majority of the pro MMA guys' striking component is pretty much straight Muay Thai ... right?

Cam: You mean modified Muay Thai.

Me: Well, if by modified you mean 'they learn BJJ so they have some kind of ground game.'

Cam: Look, Muay Thai is porn.  It's for little scrawny guys.  It wouldn't be effective at all against real fighting styles, like, say, Street.

Me: How do you define 'Street?'

Cam: You know -- like bar-room brawlers.

Me (attempting to envision drunk people fighting competently): So ... boxing?

Cam: No -- not boxing.

Me: I mean, the focus there is on punching.  Is that what you mean?  That's boxing.  It's like Muay Thai, only without all the kicking.

Cam: No.  I'm talking about Street.  Like, punches, knees, kicks, elbows, head butts.  (Note: Yes -- that's EXACTLY what he said, LOL!)

Me:  So ... uh.  What you mean is Muay Thai ... plus head-butts.

Cam: ...

This has to be the funniest conversation I have EVER had with him.

"Punches, knees, kicks, elbows."  OH!!!  You mean MUAY THAI.  Head butts were also legal, once long ago, though now they're not.

B1tch, we don't call it the 'Art of Eight Limbs' for nothin'.

Hooray finally sparring yay!!!!  Hopefully no fanners, not sure what other girls he's talking about, the only other girls I know of who come to Sat. class are in their 50s and I'm not sure they'll be strapping on gear and sparring (the head gear is expensive, he suggested we get the leather one with the steel bar in front of the nose, insurance reasons I think), so maybe there are girls in the morning class that I never met....we'll see.

Yeah weird about the practicing thing. Is is so strange to practice at home?  I think not but yeah I get to go to 3 classes and that's not enough to perfect form if you don't practice.  Plus, I think it's harder to get good rotation on those round kicks unless you stretch a lot, plus I work on my balance all the time too, can't get a good round kick without the balance either.  Maybe the boys should be scared!  I will be kicking in the same spot over and over and over...haha.  I was just reading something about this, about accuracy and how if you get the same spot over and over stuff goes numb.  I guess the guys are not practicing in the kitchen, perhaps we are in the minority here with our kitchen practice sessions.  Well at least now I know to work on my cardio, because if I can get through 3 min practice rounds without tanking out I will definitely have an advantage (I think).  I agree, the kicking is the fun part, that's what's it's all about! 

Now I really can't believe this conversation you had with Cam.  As I was reading the conversation I was wondering when the UFC was going to enter the conversation.  I guess he doesn't watch too many fights because the majority have MT and if they don't they usually aren't as good strikers.  Punches and elbows and knees oh my (like the wizard of oz)!  I like the modified MT comment not sure if he knows what he means by that.  I think the Street comment might be funnier, I wasn't aware of Street, I'll have to check around and see if anybody teaches that.  We learn about head butts in self defense, I don't think I would hesitate.  Yeah, you're right, they don't call it the art of 8 limbs for nothing!!  Not only that, but in Thailand its how they train their military I believe it was created so you can use your limbs to replace a weapons, elbow is like a sword sisnce it can cut skin and the leg is like a bat.  Now that sounds pretty!! (pretty deadly)

LOL -- perhaps we should package and market our Secret Muay Thai Kitchen Training Strategy.  Come to think of it, the package could include one of those hanging pots-n-pans racks.  People could hang targets on it!  :D

I agree with you about flexibility.  I suspect a lot of the less-serious guys, in particular, damage their game by not working on flexibility.  That's the one thing we don't cover enough at Core, though it's more or less because the assumption is that you're doing it on your own (all the 'serious' people spend ages stretching before and after class).  I'm more flexible than most people by nature, so I'm trying to maintain and improve that capacity -- I figure, it's only going to make me a more effective fighter in the long run.  Okay, if I can ever stop being a complete idiot.

Yeah, LOL, Cam doesn't watch UFC ever, AFAIK.  I was kind of wondering what he meant by 'Street' myself, LOL.  When people talk about 'Street' as a fighting style, I generally assume they're talking about morons who think they can fight.  (Whereas, I may be a moron, but I know I can't fight, LOL.)  IMO, most of the people who warrant the title 'street fighter' have at least some experience with some or another formalized system.

Yeah -- MT evolved from military training techniques.  Ack!  I have to run away.  Lunch break!

Edit: Okay, I'm back from lunch now :)

As I was saying -- yah, you're right about MT evolving from military training.  Its ancestor, Muay Boran, was practiced along with krabi-krabong, for martial applications.  Apparently Muay Boran is nearly extinct, these days.

In other news, I kind of lost my switch kick somehow.  It's one of those centipede's dilemma situations -- I was fine until I started thinking about how it works.  Then, suddenly, I realized I had no idea how I was actually executing my switch kicks, and even though they worked quite well up to that point, I somehow wiped that data from the disk.  Argh.

I'm hoping to get that straightened out tonight.  Tuesday was the most noobtastic day in the history of my Muay Thai training thus far, which is kind of sad, LOL.  It bugs me that I slow the experienced ppl down, though part of me is like, "Tough, you were a n00b once, too."  OTOH, it doesn't seem to bug them.  There are a couple that frequently volunteer to work with me, and I'm okay with that.  Part of me kind of hopes that Jay will break out the n00bs again tonight, though.

LOL on the Secret MT Kitchen Training.  Yeah little targets to punch and kick would be fun!

We don't stretch much in class maybe 5 minutes, its not thorough at all.  I hurt my back a couple years ago and went to Physical Therapy and have been doing the stretches and core exercises on a stability ball they told me to do every day since.  It's really helped my flexibility a lot.  Since I started MT, I upped my daily stretching/ball exercises to about 25 minutes a day.  I can't believe how limber I am now. I think the looser you can get your hips, the easier the round kicks become, you can get a better rotation on your leg (i think anyway).  I'm sure you're not a complete idiot.  I used to tell my husband that all the time...i feel like such an idiot.

I love that street fighting thing.  I thought street would be poor fighting, unless he was thinking about fight club fighting but I wouldn't think that was street, more underground mma ... funny how somebody who knows nothing about it makes a comment like that...haha

Oh I hear you on the switch kicks, that's why i used to feel like an idiot, switch kick, looks so easy but your brain makes it hard.  You have to stop thinking to have it work!  That's one of those moves that I woke up in the middle of the night and said...oh now i get it.  I doubt anybody minds if you slow the class down.  Everybody goes through it and nobody gets it right away.  Sometimes if we have a lot of n00bs it slows things down, it's really not a big deal.  Bag work always makes up for it.  Usually the other master comes out and helps the n00b but usually the n00bs just do what they can or go slow and we just go at our regular speed.  I may sweat a little less but I'm still drenched.

Have fun in class tonight!!

I'm glad to know switch kicks bugged you, too!  I wish I'd never started thinking about them, LOL!  I haven't done bag class since Saturday, but we usually do lots of switch kicks in bag class.  I'm hoping that if I can't get my switch kick back in shape tonight, I'll be able to work it out on Saturday.

It's funny how there's that weird distinction -- thinking about kicks, etc., when you're not doing them is almost always good: at least, it is if you've got a good demonstration 'video' in your mind :D  Thinking about them while you're doing them, OTOH, is disastrous, LOL!

I think you're right about hip flexibility.  They're big on that at Core (that, and zillions of push-ups, and keeping your guard up :D).

Okay, I guess I should go do some work now, LOL.  I'm trying to make effective flow charts that don't suck.

First of all TGIF!!!

Yeah switch kick and switch knee too was a problem, then after I finally got the switch (which I thought was an accomplishment), it seems I was adding a bounce that I had to get rid of, it was a process.  Yeah its funny how you really can't think about doing it because it screws everything up!

We used to do 50 push ups but I guess it was taking too much class time, so they cut it back to 25 a class and he tells us to do the rest on your own.  We have to do 100 good form push ups for our black belt test so unless you do it at home I can't see how a lot of people are going to be able to do it. I always see him yelling at the TKD black belts because they aren't flexible enough, or their form is off, I don't want to get yelled at!  I practice and I definately think the stretching helps a lot.

We get the 'keeping your guard up' thing too.  i remember when i first started, it was like my 3rd class or something, and we were doing the no contact sparring thing. so it was me and the master and he throws a punch, it hits my glove which then hits me in the face.  Since then, I have corrected my form to make sure the gloves cover the side of my head to avoid punching myself in the face. 

Have fun with those flow charts!

Hooray for Friday!

LOL, yeah, apparently the self-punch to face as result of a poorly-executed block is something we all do at first :D  I smacked myself in the head that way last night.

Jay broke out the noobs and had us working on blocks -- low-kick blocks first, then mid and high kick blocks.  I can block low kicks 'til the cows come home -- that's pretty much instinctive -- but on my first shot at the high kick block, I spazzed, did something crazy with my hands, and popped myself in the temple.  My partner did the same thing, though, so I didn't feel so bad :D

I also got one of those sort of indirect compliments, LOL.  Jay came over to observe my partner and me, and I threw a nice high kick, and he said, "Damn!  Where's that kick when we're doing bag work?!" :D

Admittedly, my bag work sucked hard last night.  I think I got my switch kick straightened out, though -- now I just have to figure out how to eliminate the sticky gear shift thing that happens sometimes during combinations that involve both punches and kicks. 

Last night, I was all like, 1-2-3-low kick ... uh ... uh ... 1-2 ... crap.  1-2-3-low kick ... uh ... What are we doing again?  What I was actually trying to do was: 1-2-3-low kick-1-2-3-2-switch kick.  Somehow, my brain kept resetting after the low kick, LOL.  We did the same combination with a mid-kick, and once again ... I re-set after every mid-kick.  It was frustrating, LOL!  I'm doing bag class on Saturday; here's hoping that will get my bag work back in order.

BTW, I managed to actually eat something before class last night, and it helped considerably.  I had half of my steak from Wednesday's dinner and I kind of inhaled that and an apple around 4:00.  It made a big difference; I felt awesome throughout class.

We ran over so we didn't do the usual calisthenics at the end -- and I was sad about that, LOL!  I was all, like, "Darn, I actually have energy today!"

Well it sounds like you had a good class on Thursday night, excluding the self punch to the face, of course.  That's cool that you got compliments on your kicks!  LOL, I understand the sticky gear shift comment.  It's funny how that happens, like brain farts or something! 

Good thing you ate better before class, I hate when I don't eat enough, you really do feel yourself run of out steam.  I only had a banana before Saturday class, and I really felt it.

My Saturday class was good.  The master had a friend of his come visit our class because he wants to add MT to his dojo (he has cardio kickboxing but everybody wants real kickboxing).  He had one of his black belts join in our class.  So, needless to say, it was a kick butt class, he definately stepped up our workout.  I was pooping out during bag work, so was my partner (I've been avoiding the fanner lately, trying to stick with the boys).  So I went home and looked up the dojo and it's actually close to my house, like one town over, like 10 miles closer.  I'll have to put it on my list of MT dojo's....haha.  Well tonight's class should be good, I get my green belt, yay! 

Hope bag class was good on Saturday, although your journal post doesn't look too promising!  Hope your weekend was good!

Hey, congrats on your green belt!  Also, interesting news about the dojo that wants to add an MT program.  I think it's a good thing that you're avoiding the fanner, LOL -- IMO, having a fanner as a partner could definitely bring down the intensity of one's own workout.

I was out of sorts yesterday morning due to a combination of factors ... Saturday was Cam's birthday, so we kind of overdid it with the celebrating -- not in the way most people over the age of 21 do (LOL), but with the cookies and cake.  I rarely mess around with sugar in any quantity, and I forget that it makes me feel terrible when I do.  OTOH, we had a good time, and it was worth it.  And all vestiges of cookies, cake, Red Lobster's cheddar biscuits, and the like, have been eaten at this point :)  (We went to the Lob on Saturday, and our waiter gave us a dozen extra cheddar biscuits to take home!)

Moreover, I took 2 Valerian root tablets on Sunday night because I was not sure I was going to sleep well ...and I really could've just slept on through Monday, LOL.  I was 90% of the way asleep all day -- even at the grocery store after work, I was in a total haze.  It's a good thing that I had dinner set -- all we had to do was nuke the leftovers from Sunday night's burritos, toss 'em in a few tortillas, and we were good to go.

I slept quite well last night, and I am now at last fully awake and rarin' to go, as they say.

Saturday I did a training ride for the Ride to Conquer Cancer thingy which overlapped with my Saturday classes.  I figured it wouldn't kill me to take one Saturday off and concentrate on cycling.  I couldn't swing any of the other organized training rides this month, and I want to try to hit at least one per month.  From now on, I'm going to try to find training rides that are either Monday or Friday night or Sunday.

This week, I'll be training Tues, Weds, Thurs, and Saturday.  That's pretty much my plan for the next month; then I'm looking at possibly stepping it up to five days a week.  My goal is to train five to six days a week by next semester, provided I manage to swing the rest of my Master Plan (which involves enrolling in school full-time and working part-time).

So yes, I got my green belt last night, which is cool. Class was good, a couple of the guys got to spar.  The master wants to make sure that all the people who want to spar know how to hit each other without hurting each other.  He also wants to make sure that before we buy all the gear that it's something that we really want to do.  I guess he thinks that we'll get kicked or hit and change our minds.  So, he was only able to have two of the guys test spar (and they were only using chest guards).  I wasn't able to see what they were doing since class was still going on ... but I guess I'll get my turn Wed or Sat.  One of the guys is a little shorter than me, so sometimes they partner us up together to do pads and stuff, so this guy looks at me and says I bet they'll pick up to spar together.  I told him I'm sorry that you are getting stuck with me, I hope that's not a bad thing.  He said it wasn't, so that's good.  Guess I'm a little self conscious, but I don't think the guys think of me as the girl, I'm pretty sure they all have the same attitude as you.  So that's something to look forward to....getting kicked!  I kind of felt bad ignoring the fanner, she's a nice person....but yes it can bring down the intensity of one's workout.

So I hear you on the sugar overload.  I always feel bad after too much sugar.  I can definitely feel a difference when I put crap in my body .  My in-laws came to visit on Sunday and they brought us some candy (or I should say they brought ME some candy since my husband usually doesn't see it) and we also went out for mexican food (or in my case salad & margaritas )  I actually budgeted for this so I did ok (I think).  Those cheddar biscuits sound awesome....I remember biscuits.

So I guess Valerian really does work.  Sounds like you had a Valerian hang over. I was really tired yesterday, I slept like crap Sunday night.  Glad you are feeling better, just in time for your classes.  Sounds like you have a busy schedule.  5-6 days a week, that's nuts, although if I could, I would too!  And, with all your training for the cancer ride, you go...

Good luck with your Master Plan, sounds quite busy!