First kickboxing class.

[dodger87]

This was the first time I went to a class, the place was called Terry Tyzack in Inglewood if anyone here lives in Perth.

When the class started the instructor made us do stand on the spot and stretch our arms and legs for about 3 minutes, and then do punchs in the air and then jump with our feet out and then crossing. And then he had set up these stations and everyone was to go around in a circle in each station. The stations consisted of either a knee pad, where one person would hold a pad and the other would knee it taking turns with his left and then right, boxing gloves and these mitts where the person with the boxing gloves would practice his jabs, hooks and uppercuts, a rectangular pad where one person would hold it beneath their hips and the other person would kick with their shins on to the pad, weights where we would put it on top of our shoulder and squat and do a rolling motion with on top of our thighs, benchpress, a mat where a person could do crunches. Each person would be at a station for one and a half minutes and then he would tell everyone to stop and then move on. There must have been 25 stations or so.

After what seemed like 20 or 25 minutes he made us all stop gather in the centre and place our hands with another person and push against each other, and then made us do pushups with our arms up against our chest not spread out and he said it will work the biceps.

I woke up in the morning and my legs were sore like crap. The instructor mainly gave us a physical work out rather than teaching us how to fight. He didn't really show us how to knee, kick or punch properly. We'd just somehow do it. It felt like it was some sort of aerobics class except all males. And we didn't do any sparring. Should I keep going? I mean it seems like a great workout but I want to learn how to fight.

[mossman]

See if he will let you watched a class filled with advanced students so you can get an idea of what his teachings produce.

[SevenStar]

cardio is a big part of kickboxing - you won't last in the ring if you don't have the conditioning. That said, you should be fighting and learning techniques also. I'll outline a typical 1.5 hour muay thai class where I train:

10 mins jumping rope
6 mins shadowboxing

stretching

calesthenics
- 2 mins of side knees (face a wall, place your hands on it and do side knees, legs moving in penduum motion, kneeing on every third hop)

- 1 min of active rest (this consists of 20 hindu squats and 20 pushups)

- 2 mins of skip knees (same as above, only skip knee instead - alternate knees, knee on every step.)

- 1 min of active rest

plyometrics - hops up and down the floor

duck walking

200 crunches

leg raises - usually 70

alternating leg raises - usually 70

padwork - this includes learning the technique. you learn it and go straight to bag / pads, as opposed to merely hitting air. we will cover various aspects of striking could be only hands, only knees, setting up your kicks with punches, etc.

neck wrestling

drilling - working the combos we just trained on the pads

sparring

we will close out with some thai related stamina drill, like 2 mins of kicks on the thai pads, 2 mins of skip knees, 5-10-5's, etc.

after class, coach and I will help out anyone who wants to work extra, and we also spar more. In the even that it's only the two of us, we will do pad drills, bagwork, maybe sparring, depending on how we feel.

he should be making corrections in your technique while you are doing padwork, sparring and shadow fighting. If he's not at all concerned with your technique, that would raise a red flag with me.

[SevenStar]

Originally posted by mossman
See if he will let you watched a class filled with advanced students so you can get an idea of what his teachings produce.

there may not be an adv class - we don't have one. during padwork and drilling, we split into groups. beginners will work beginner techniques, advanced will work advanced techniques.

check out their techniques and sparring - what level of attention do they pay to detail?

[dodger87]

7* when you guys spar do you go at it fully with protection? Do you guys have a ring or is it just on the mat?

[SevenStar]

right now we're on the mat. We have a ring, but the posts are too tall - we have a welder cutting them down now. A ring isn't necessary, but is favroable if you're training to fight - you need to be familiar with the confines of the ring, fighting off of the ropes, etc.

we do spar full, but not every session. We pad up the way you would in the ring - mouthpiece, cup, gloves, shin pads, head gear, but we don't always use head gear - not the more advanced guys, anyway.