All Aboard the Pork Chop X-press!!

[Pork Chop]

went back to muay thai again today.
solid workout for sure
20 minutes of heavybag
about 10 or 15 minutes on focus mitts
15 minutes of technique work between 2 sessions of 10 or 15 minutes on thai pads
one of the best workouts i've gotten down there.
kinda wussed out on sparring but i don't feel like i'm in the stage yet where i really need it.
at the moment i'm trying to drop weight and get my endurance & technique back, while getting as few injuries as possible.
sparring's integral for timing and hopefully i can get that from some of the back and forth technique work; otherwise my power, form, and speed i can get from the thai pads, and a lot of the strategy is coming from that technique work - which is kinda like one step sparring with a specific attack/counter.

[Pork Chop]

Friday night i hit the gym late.
Cut out a bit of the workout, but it was still a good volume...

Flexibility
3 sets of the following superset, 10 reps (5 each side), 10lb dumbells:
rotating squat
reaching lunge
lateral lunge
spiderman
T-pushups

Strength
3 sets of each superset, 10 reps
compound 1 (squat + bicep curl + vertical press) w/ 30lb dbells -> lat pulldowns with 140lbs
alternating lunge (right foot step forward, right foot step back) x 5 reps x each leg w/30lb dbells
bench press -> 1 armed row x 10 reps each side with: 60, 65, and 70lb dbells

I was pretty dead after that workout.

Saturday was a nightmare.
Got to the gym later than i wanted.
Did a good slam ball workout (medball on a rope)
came back in and loosened up with some shadow

moved on to technique drills with young kid david.
david's 120lbs and about 5'3
The kid has no control, or doesn't feel he needs to because he's small.
kicked me in the funny bone so hard i can't straighten my arm today
"but i'm going light" -him
I take a break to walk it off
next drill he lays a full out round kick on the front of my thigh that wasn't really part of the drill
"it's a great technique, see?" -him
"umm, i'm breaking my back pulling every technique so i barely tap him and he's laying into me"
-me to assistant coach that's "supervising" us
"aww, he's just a tough little kid; he's going to be a champion at 115 soon" -assistant
"whatever" -me

i ask to work on clinch work/neck wrestling to keep it friendly
guess he gets tired of getting embarrassed in the clinch, so he throws 3 knees to my junk
(mind you, we're not wearing cups or mouthguards)
i decide leave my knee up for a while occupying space between us (no contact); eventhough it's hanging there a few seconds he decides to go for a 4th knee to the nuts & jacks up his own thigh on my knee - which was doing little more than protecting my groin
around this time he decides to stop "letting me" get to the clinch (revenge for jacking up his own leg?)
so as i close distance to re-engage the clinch wrestling, he starts throwing kicks and punches.
i catch one of his kicks and literally toss him - he had a good second of hang time.
we take a little break
then he starts up with the same cr@p again - punching & kicking with no shin guards, no cup, no mouthpiece (alternating his targets between my nutz and my head)

i get him in the clinch again, making the mistake of trusting him.
i wrestle him to a position, where i could totally knee him in the head, put my knee in front of him- no contact, i let him back up and he does a quick, full force skip knee to my thigh before he's even upright, followed by a huge punching flurry to my face (see comment about mouthguard), finishing up with a big uppercut to my throat.
i just turn around and walk off, trying to shake off a couple of cheap ones...
"not trying to be a wuss; but you caught me in the throat" -me
"no, it's ok, if you get hit in the throat you get hit in the throat" -him
"yah, i took a break to keep it friendly" -me
"i was going light" -him
"you're concept of light and my concept of light are completely different" -me
end of session.

think i'm gonna call the coach today.
i've been stewing on this cr@p all night last night, i'm ticked, and my thigh & elbow are aching.
at least with a big guy, if he hits me hard or with a cheap shot i can hit him back
but this guy's so tiny, and just a kid...
i want to put him in the hospital soooo bad but doing everything i can to take it light with him...
still, i can't be his punching bag

depending on the reaction from the coach i may not be working out there anymore...

EDIT: Called coach, explained my situation, and he was real understanding.
Gave me some encouragement not to take the stuff so personally.
Said he'll keep an eye on us if we get paired up in the future.
We were laughing by the end of the phone call and it really helped me deal with the anger that was eating me up.

[Pork Chop]

muay thai tonight.
yesterday i was supposed to work out with my coworker at power team but i was busy and starting to feel sick again.
workout tonight went pretty well, eventho still a bit congested.
wish the pad work was more intense.
shoulda done more bag work at the end.

got to meet forum member vankuen; hopefully we'll get to hang out more next time.

[Pork Chop]

muay thai today
got dropped today
sparring with athletically gifted noob.
he's about 6'1 and has a perfect build for 170 or 185lb weight class.
we were doing head movement earlier in the class and i was working with an orthodox fighter.
this guy's a southpaw.
southpaws mess up other southpaws more than the mess up orthodox fighters.
all my reactions were basically wrong.
i did something and the kid lost his cool.
started throwing bombs on me in the corner.
I slipped a couple
guess he got frustrated, because he hammer fisted me on the base of my skull.
lights went out for a split second, as soon as my knee hit the canvas, it woke me back up.
I was on my feet in seconds, but slightly dizzy.
They gave me a few seconds to recover and gave me some headgear, then we were back at it.
Sparred one more guy later on - we had an agreement to take it easy to the head; still caught him throwing a few shots up top - but at least they weren't bombs so it was all good.
got a lot to work on.
hate to brush off the flash KD but i think almost anyone hit in that spot woulda had the same experience - his targeting was perfect.

[SAAMAG]

PORKCHOP?!

Who ko'd you?! I've never seen the guy...but he apparently is in the same general weight class as me. I'm 175lbs.

I'm not going to be going to any more of the night classes...the only time I'll be available for MT now is during the day, and probably only on Mondays when summer session at UTSA starts again.

Who do you train with at Power Team? Are you going to Marraj's near Blossom or Rodrigo's near Brook Hollow? I tried that place out and decided to go with a Judo place in Universal city.

I had a decent rolling session last night, no subs on me but I didn't sub anyone else either. Tried to get a triangle on a green belt but couldn't get my fat legs around his fat neck. I gassed out and just turtled for the remaining time...I often times wonder how things would turn out if I could use strikes...but that's not why I'm there, I know.

I didn't know you grappled...maybe we'll get together sometime on an off day. I suck at groundwork so any training will help me. With you outweighing me by so much it will force me to work on technique and not muscle.

[sanjuro_ronin]

muay thai today
got dropped today
sparring with athletically gifted noob.
he's about 6'1 and has a perfect build for 170 or 185lb weight class.
we were doing head movement earlier in the class and i was working with an orthodox fighter.
this guy's a southpaw.
southpaws mess up other southpaws more than the mess up orthodox fighters.
all my reactions were basically wrong.
i did something and the kid lost his cool.
started throwing bombs on me in the corner.
I slipped a couple
guess he got frustrated, because he hammer fisted me on the base of my skull.
lights went out for a split second, as soon as my knee hit the canvas, it woke me back up.
I was on my feet in seconds, but slightly dizzy.
They gave me a few seconds to recover and gave me some headgear, then we were back at it.
Sparred one more guy later on - we had an agreement to take it easy to the head; still caught him throwing a few shots up top - but at least they weren't bombs so it was all good.
got a lot to work on.
hate to brush off the flash KD but i think almost anyone hit in that spot woulda had the same experience - his targeting was perfect.

Timing and even foot work is specific to training, you fight MT righties, you have difficulties with MT lefties ( or vice-versa) or you have difficulty with anyone that doesn't "flow" like you are used to.
Its one of the problems with sparring in a given rule set / style, you footwork and timing become "sport specific".
Not much you can do about it though other than "ignore your opponent", but that doesn't really apply to sparring/training , only to fighting.

[Pork Chop]

vankuen
The guy that caught me was Jerek - the tall kid with the emo hair cut (he said 6'1, but he looks at least 6'2 to me). I've been KO'd before and that causes a nasty headache that lasts for weeks. I don't have the headaches or any signs of a concussion. It was more like getting stunned for a split second. It was kinda scary, coz I felt the shot and it wasn't a hard one, it was just in the right spot. Kinda like Steve Jennum - Paul Varelans in the early UFCs, but I didn't take a nap - just dropped and got right back up.

I want to try an afternoon class, maybe on the next holiday. I heard it's a lot of fun. The guy I sparred after Jerek was from the afternoon class- he wears Reyes and is also about your size I think.

My coworker that works out at Power Team off of Evers is an American-born Japanese guy named Ken. The gym's at Evers and 410, i don't know any more specific than that. I mostly go to Power Team to help my buddy with standup, lift weights, and just to work on simple grappling stuff. I'm not a huge fan of rolling after a bad experience in maryland but it's something i want to try again some day.

You woulda loved it last night - I fit in a PERFECT seionage on Jerek (just before the hammerfist) - it just came out automatic. Just scored the kuzushi and fit, didn't complete the throw.

I'll talk to Ken. I was supposed to meet him at Power Team monday but got stuck at the DMV renewing my license. Think he might be a lil ticked. Next time we go workout I'll give u a heads up. He likes to work out real early for me - starting at 4pm; so we usually jet work early. He's got a wrestling background and I'm sure he'd like any takedown practice he can get.

sanjuro_ronin
Yeah, in general I was doing alright. Kicked him in the head (lightly) a few times. It's just when he jumped on me with that flurry, i zigged instead of zagged. Instead of using head movement, in retrospect i wish i'd opted for parrying, counter punching, and/or maybe shielding.

I stopped working with a pro boxer a year or two ago because he was dropping elbows on the top of my head anytime i bobbed & weaved under a punch. This was kind of a similar thing.

New guys have funky enough rhythm to deal with, but noobie southpaws should be euthanized.

[SAAMAG]

Timing and even foot work is specific to training, you fight MT righties, you have difficulties with MT lefties ( or vice-versa) or you have difficulty with anyone that doesn't "flow" like you are used to.
Its one of the problems with sparring in a given rule set / style, you footwork and timing become "sport specific".
Not much you can do about it though other than "ignore your opponent", but that doesn't really apply to sparring/training , only to fighting.

Good point. Another thing to work on is to become ambidextrious in one's stance work so that one no longer has a preference on which is the lead side. When I teach people something...EVERYTHING is done on both sides, and whatever side was worse, gets more practice than the strong side until there is consistency in application with one side relative to the other.

I fight both in an orthodox manner and as a southpaw (if you want to use boxing terms). In fact, I don't really ever think about what "side" I'm on, I just move in relation to my opponent. I may end up after a kick with the right side forward, fight like that for a bit, and follow through with a left overhand, left low kick or something, and now I'm a left lead.

But I never really thought about it to be that big of a deal to be honest until I sparred with someone who said that he couldn't figure me out because I kept switching stances on him. Interesting...I used to think everyone did what I did.

[Pork Chop]

yah i learned orthodox lead first so in retrospect i shoulda just switched- coz i know i can reverse the southpaw game better than this new guy can play it. gotta go back to training the other side.

[Pork Chop]

Saturday
boss took us to the bar on friday and a beer on an empty stomach hit me hard; so i missed training that night. i was anxious to get in the muay thai saturday and sweat some of it out.
showed up a bit early and started jump roping, did a bunch of slam ball stuff wearing the weight vest.
had a great workout, but about an hour ~ hour and a half in it came to a screeching halt when i had to teach this new kid. finished relatively hard with some pad & technique work.
went home, showered up and drove to houston.

sunday
wanted to make up for my missed workout on friday so i lifted weights at my folks place.
Was using these adjustable bowflex dumbells and a weight bench.

Flexibility - 3 circuits, 10 reps (5 ea side), 7.5lb dumbells (thought that was 7.5lb each side, confusing)
twisting squat
reaching lunge
lateral lunge
spider man
T-pushup

strength - 3 sets, 10 reps
squat, curl, press complex straight into 2-armed lying row (17.5, 35, 35 lb dbells)
forward & backward lunge complex (35lb dbells)
bench press (165) into 1 armed, elbow-out, bent row (52.5 dbell)

afterwards i went swimming for almost an hour.

Don't usually work out on mondays and don't think i'll work out tonight - didn't sleep much last night, if i workout that's 3 days straight & it might hurt me later in the week.

[SAAMAG]

when is the sat class at phets?

[Pork Chop]

He changed the time on it.
Saturdays used to be 2 to 4
These days it's 11ish to 1ish.
Dunno if you heard, but Saturday's become kind of the "fighter day", supposed to be a harder workout, more geared to folks who may want to compete.
So, as a result of that, I was a bit surprised at having to spend so much time on Saturday coaching a total noob - he probably shouldn't be going to that class.

[SAAMAG]

Aw c'mon Porkchop...everyone has to start somewhere...and to be honest you shouldn't have to be coaching anyone. That's Phet's job. If he was your partner holding the pads or something than coach him on how to hold the pads, or have Phet pair him up with someone else.

I personally like teaching new people...I like the enthusiasm levels and the yearning for knowledge. I also like seeing the progression. Anyway...looks like I can't make Saturdays either. I won't be going to Phet much any longer it seems during the summer because of school/work scheduling conflicts.

[Pork Chop]

Phet told me to teach him, it was only his 2nd class. I usually love coaching people, but this kid just didn't seem to want to do anything and wasn't great at picking things up. He started complaining of sore forearm minutes into the workout and didn't seem to want to work hard.

I would've been more than happy to help him on a normal class day, but seeing as how it was a class that was sold as "fighter's day"; it wore my patience a little thin.
Still, I tried to do what i could - half the time spent on proper technique, the other half just jumping head long into mixing up the kicks n punches (at Phet's recommendation).

He was a nice enough kid, i just felt like there was more I should've been doing.

[SAAMAG]

Hmmmm...yep...Phet sometimes has a habit of having the more experienced students teach the noobs. He wouldn't let me put that big black dude into class until I went over the basics with him.

You've got to expect that from Phet and try to get involved with another higher up guy and start going to town there so that he sees you're busy. That's the trick. I learned that about Phet many moons ago.