Workout Recap - Week of February 18, 2024
I worked with a lot of newbies this week, which was honestly a positive thing for me; I took it as a sign that the kru trusts me to bring them along while she's focusing on getting competitive fighters ready, and trying to teach them is a useful check on my own understanding. Still a little ways out from returning to sparring as I'm recovering from a forearm injury (minor but enough that I don't want to risk aggravating it in an chaotic setting), but I'm expecting to do that at some point in March.
Monday
Muay Thai class
This was a packed class with a number of newbies, so the kru kept things pretty simple. I had been partnered with one of the regulars, but the kru brought a newbie in to join us as a trio while she balance giving them attention and also preparing the competitive fighter's for this weekend's event. Inexplicably, the newbie bailed out on holding the pads for a round kick in the middle of a drill rep, but I had been keeping my striking fairly light and controlled to avoid overwhelming them, so I was at least able to react in time to limit the impact to a gentle caress of my shin against their lips. No harm, no foul, and I have to admit that it was cool to witness that I could pull off a head kick against someone slightly taller than me and still retain the control to stop it and retract without losing my balance.
Tuesday
Muay Thai class
This was a day for power kicking and endurance punching. I was in a trio again, this time with a different newbie and with one of my favorite padholders, so I was still able to have an intense session on my reps in between helping teach the newbie. I felt pretty good about my lead leg round kicks in particular this day, and my punches were cracking with consistent snap. I'm not sure what it's been about the classes for the last week or so, but after that shit class last Tuesday, it's like I've found renewed motivation.
Wednesday
Muay Thai class
This was my third straight day in a trio with a different newbie, so the drills were once again focused on solid fundamentals. Unfortunately, I seemed to push this one a little too hard for their physical conditioning, and so they ended up having to sit out a few rounds to recover. Hopefully I didn't scare them off on accident by doing that, because at least from my perspective, it was generally a good class that should get them started in the right direction if they want to learn actual useful fighting (I save feeling good about scaring people into quitting for when they think it's a good idea to go hard with me in sparring).
Thursday
Muay Thai class
This class was a grinder to get some final conditioning in for the competitive fighters before the big event this weekend. For a chance of pace, I got to work in a trio with one of them, along with another gym regular, so we had some fun ripping into the pads and mixing in defense checks. A different competitive fighter also ate a kick on accident, and I got to laugh at them getting folded over from it (once they said they were alright and it was just the surprise of the whole thing, of course, though knowing the person is typically terrified of ever being hit, I think that was ego-sparing bluster more than truth, but regardless, I will take an excuse to indulge my sadism in an acceptable way). I did start to burn out by the end of the class, but I was still striking with good power (albeit not on every rep), so I'm still taking my stamina as a good point.
