Workout Recap - Week of March 24, 2024
It was an interesting week. We did a lot more light sparring than usual, and it seemed like the kru hinted at wanting to make that a more regular practice. I'd certainly be game for it, since (a) it's a nice excuse to spar without headgear and (b) it's a good way to get live experience, especially since my streak of not being able to attend the typical sparring classes extended this week (not my fault this time, though; I was actually reserved to attend it, but the kru cancelled it, presumably due to too few other people planning to show up).
Monday
Muay Thai class
We returned to focusing on fundamental stuff for this class. I partnered with one of the younger trainees who the kru seems to harp on often for slacking, but in all honesty, they seemed like a better partner than some others that I've had. The class seemed shorter than usual for some reason, too, though that might just be in my head; in any case, what we actually worked on wasn't anything remarkable, but it's always good to grind on the basics and always aim for some incremental improvement.
Tuesday
Muay Thai class
This was a head-to-head defense day, where we worked on a number of kick defenses, as well as mixing in a little punch defense to keep from being too basic. The kick defenses did include some catching of round kicks, but we felt it at just punishing with punches, so I didn't get a chance to check if I was making any sort of headway with sweeping. To finish, we did a few surprise rounds of light sparring, which left me feeling a lot less rusty than I was last week. I managed to achieve my goals, too (executing a lead leg low kick into lead leg switch kick at least twice per round and keeping my eyes focused on my opponent's chest instead of their face), as an added bonus. For my next sparring session, I want to continue trying to diversify my tactics, so I'm setting an offensive goal of landing at least two freestanding rear knee strikes per round and a defensive goal of evading a punch and countering at least once per round.
Wednesday
Muay Thai class
Well, it was a good thing that I set some sparring goals after the previous class, because this day ended up being a full class of light sparring. On the plus side, I did achieve both of my goals (well, technically there was one round where I didn't land the knee strikes, but it was a pure boxing round, so I'm not counting that). The defensive goal did mean that I got caught a few times from being over-reliant on head movement, but hey, that's part of the learning process. For my new sparring goals, I want to open at least three offensive sequences per round with a lead hook punch (feinting into it is fine, but I think it'd be good to have some more variety on how I initiate) and to interrupt my opponent's punching offense with a counterpunch at least once per round after an initial block (when I don't evade and interrupt an opening punch, I tend to find myself waiting until a kick in order to counter).
Thursday
Muay Thai class
This was a padwork class, focusing on doing one or two power hits into a round kick. It was a rare-feeling opportunity lately for me to work with a competitive fighter for padwork, so we also spiced things up with mixing in defensive checks. They complimented my knee strikes and lead leg round kicks as seeming especially powerful for my size/frame, which was nice, I guess, though I can't trust that it wasn't a lie from a generic drive to be complimentary. More importantly, they also gave me some advice on improving my flow from defense to countering/offense, which was much appreciated. Ultimately, it was an exhausting but very good class.
