Workout Recap - Week of November 13, 2022
Took a light week, since I was going to skip out on sparring anyway. I thought about messaging the kru to ask about using MMA gloves instead of boxing gloves for punching pads/bags (to get better feedback on knuckle/wrist alignment and because I'm almost certainly not going to be wearing boxing gloves if I ever need to use my fighting skills), but I decided against it; I'm close enough to my membership ending that I figure it can be left as something to ask about if I come back.
Monday
Muay Thai class
I was very depressed this day, but I still forced myself to go to this class since I'd only be in four this week (assuming no injuries or other surprises). It was a head-to-head defense drill day, with a couple of freestyle rounds to finish up, which are always a fun time. I got some practice with rapid return kicks after a shin block, which ought to be nice practice for my next sparring session, and I seemed marginally better at reading the height on incoming kicks. Ultimately, I'm glad I went to it.
Tuesday
Muay Thai class
There was some talk about people's weights among the active and would-be competitors, and I noticed that I was consistently underestimating how much people weighed. This is actually a bit of a confidence booster, since it means I'm probably getting hit harder than I can appreciate in sparring, so being fairly comfortable absorbing those blows and still being able to think somewhat effectively feels like a good sign. Granted, most of my sparring partners don't seem to try hitting hard with me, so I have to be wary about building false confidence, but still, I'll take the minor win.
Wednesday
Muay Thai class
It was a boxing focus today, but my stamina actually kept up better than it usually does. Maybe I'm getting more used to it, or maybe it's just that working in slipping/rolling reduced the energy output required enough for my body to handle it better. In any case, I need to work on staying more upright while rolling under hooks to limit how much I'm exposing my face to knees, so that's another point for future improvement.
Thursday
Muay Thai class
Complimenting the previous class, this one was focused on kicks, including a round of isolated head kicks with each side. My left round kicks are definitely improving, to the point of starting to feel decent even without switch-stepping (though that obviously does help for power). That said, I left annoyed. There was an accident where someone actually got kicked in the head, and everyone seemed to pause to express concern. I had had the same accident happen to me at the start of October (and it was on a drill for body kicks, at that), and nobody cared at that time. Everyone seems to insist that the gym is one big family here, but it's becoming increasingly obvious as time goes on that their actions don't back up that being the good sort of family. Granted, I know I'm not good at being social and probably sending off cold vibes unintentionally, so I'm not expecting that to be very different when I try going elsewhere after my membership here expires. I'm just disappointed that yet another activity which is supposed to be a good way of making friends turned out to not work that way for people with a brain like mine.
