Mizblog

Christian is back, and he shaved his head and mustache! He looks much younger. I teased him about which High School he goes to.

Class started right into shoulder tag. I didn’t get hurt.

Then we did warm ups with abs and stuff. I didn’t get hurt.

Then we went into bursting punches – bare hands into focus mitts. I didn’t get hurt!

After that it was knees into bare bellies. I didn’t get hurt.

Then it was knees into pads. I did get hurt. Mike was pinching my shoulder and tricep, and slamming knees through the pad into my sore ribs. Damn. I tried to return the favor, but without the pinching.

After that we did 360 defenses overhead, and practiced the simultaneous counter punch to the face. It’s really hard to get a fist in one hand and a bladed hand opposite. I messed that up a lot.

That worked right into knife defenses with a wrist grab. We ran out of time on that one, but TJ is supposed to continue it on Thursday.

TJ’s Saturday class. Saranya’s class was before, and Brandon taught her since Christian is back on the East coast. My left knee was hurting, and I really had to consider whether or not I should train today. I finally manned up and lined up.

We started with shadow boxing, shoulder tag, and calisthenics. Then we had a game of flag tag, hopping on one foot. I was on team yellow. We won the first round, and then Calvin and I stalemated at the end of the second round so everybody but us had to do sprawls.

After that, we brought focus mitts and gloves out back to the tarmac, where we practiced combos on uneven terrain with the threat of cars coming past. I partnered with Mike again. Outside combos in the sun were different but not too uncomfortable. We added knees and kicks with thai pads too, and I didn’t have much problem except for one twinge in my sore knee.

Then back inside for self defense training. We did choke from behind first, but finished with an arm bar take-down. I don’t think I got the blade of the wrist on right, or the wave motion to turn the elbow. Got to work on that.

Then we did full nelson defense. It involves peeling the fingers off the back, with a samurai sword drawing grip. Use the finger to step out, throw combatives with the other arm, spin to get the finger bent toward the attacker, and then snap it down and continue the fight. Mike got my finger pretty good. I heard his pop, but he said it didn’t hurt at all. Anyway, that was the class.

TJ’s Thursday morning class. I was pretty sure my toe would be okay once I got going, but it was still a little sore. I was right – it was fine.

Started with shadow boxing, then shoulder tag, then stretching.

Put on boxing gloves and focus mitts and just did punch combos 1-4 with Eric. He’s got a vicious uppercut.

Then we put on shin pads and practiced taking kicks on our legs. Eric kept kicking me in the knee, which hurt. Then we practiced responding to the kick with our own combatives.

Then we put on our gloves and focus mitts and did a drill where we’d do punch combos on the mitts and sometimes the mitt holder would throw a kick that we’d have to check or absorb. Eric kept kicking me in the middle of my combos, or during the last punch. Thanks, Eric. That sucked.

Final drill was a kick line, where we all lined up and took turns throwing leg kicks on one person, who had to check or absorb each one. Then we were done.

TJ’s Saturday morning class. Started right in to shadow boxing. I did okay mostly. Partnered with Mike for the class.

Next we took turns running out to the speed bump behind the studio with a heavy thing, then came back in to do combos in thai pads. 3 rounds then switch.

After that we did boxing sparring. I didn’t land a whole lot but I didn’t get tagged a lot either, except by Susan. But I tagged her a couple good times too, so I don’t feel too bad.

Then it was gear off and back on the mat for stick defense. I got a group of 3, with Mike and Leo (who I barely remembered from BJJ class, and who complimented me on looking “thicker” than when we met) and we went 1 for 1 for 1. It went really well.

Finally we did a stress drill with stick and knife defenses. When it was my turn to defend, I accidentally punched Curtis in the face. Oops. Sorry, Curtis!

After class, I found out that in Saranya’s BJJ class, she was awarded “Queen of the Mat”. Congrats, Saranya!

Christian’s Tuesday morning KM All class started off with some ladder circuits. Ali shuffle, Diki shuffle, etc. I came in with sore hands but once I got going they barely bothered me.

The whole rest of the class was ground fighting. Maneuverability drills with Melissa. Bag kicking drills. Then we had getting-up-and-running competitions. Melissa gets going fast!

After class I scrambled to change and get back on the mat for 805BJJ21.

TJ’s Saturday morning class. Starting off stiff and tender, and ending even more so.

We started with warm up, then shoulder tag, then a very slow intro to various punch defenses. Bobbing and weaving, answer-the-phone blocking, slipping, inside defenses. Then we started putting them into practice in pairs.

Spent the last 2 minutes of class boxing sparring, and I got lit up by a guy who was not even wearing headgear.

Small-ish class. Me, Thomas, Jeff, and Arlene. We were all a bit beat up, but warm up commenced.

After a push-up circuit, I started getting a cramp in my left triceps. I rubbed it and favored it until it calmed down.

We did face punching and leg kicking to toughen each other up.

We did some kicks and movement drills, then mixed in inside and outside drills. I felt I did way better than I used to do.

We mixed it in with kick blocking drills. Then we incorporated them in the partner work, doing punch and kick blocks. Finally, we got to almost-sparring.

Feeling delicate going in. This one is going to suck, but I’m going anyway.

Started with a cardio circuit, then kick combos to our unpadded partner, then kicks to the bag, then kicks to a partner with a pad.

Then we did a getting punched drill. Eric messed me up. When it was his turn to block, he messed me up more.

Then we tried to pick each other up, and finished with a rugby scrum.

Curtis’ Saturday KM All class. Saranya was doing her first ever BJJ class with Jasmine (we didn’t know it would be going on, so she didn’t bring her gi) while I was working.

Class started with shoulder tag. I accidentally poked my finger into Calvin’s nose. Sorry, Calvin.

Then, thai pads and combinations followed by a knee. I partnered up with white belt Mike.

After that we worked on inside defenses, which is great because I suck at them. Mike and I went slow and I don’t know how much I improved but I feel like maybe I did. We also did defense against straight punch to the body. Then we did one hand defenses against straight punches. Then we put on boxing gloves and headgear.

As I was getting my stuff, Christian yelled at me from the kids’ training room that Saranya knew how to pull guard. I yelled “Yeah!”. I’m so proud. :)

I got to introduce Mike to sparring. We started one handed, then switched who was one handed, and then went normal.

After that I sparred with Scott, Alex, and Renée. Scott got me a few times. Alex was being showy and elusive, so I just started chasing him around with punches (to the great satisfaction of Curtis). Renee and I traded some pretty good shots. She’d just come in and wail on me and get out, so I started trying to time her with uppercuts as she came in.

And that was class.

TJ’s class on Thursday morning. I came in with a stiff neck, but it had about 90% mobility so I took a chance on training. Came in early to wrap my hands.

Standard warm up. Shoulder tag.

We used MMA gloves for the straight punches (1-2) so I had to unwrap my hands. Dinged my thumb right away, so switched to palm strikes. I partnered with Eric, who is a blue belt in BJJ but a raw white belt in Krav Maga.

Next, we did front kicks, and I had to remove my MMA gloves to hold the pad. I just left them off. Hope I didn’t leave them on the mat. (Nope, they’re in my bag.) Then we did knees. Eric threw some heavy knees.

Stress drill for basic strikes was 4 pad holders on the cardinal directions, and one person in the center spinning with eyes closed. A pad tap and hold for strikes until TJ called time. Easy.

After that, we did bearhugs from the front, arms in or out or with no space. Base and space. Drop down, hands to hips (or smack the groin if there’s no space) and kick the groin to make more space, then side control and strikes and get out.

Stress drill for bearhugs was just eyes closed and then defend when the bear hug comes in. All were basically the same – get low, get space from the hips, strike, control, more strikes to get out.

Aaaand we’re late for 805BJJ17.