Muay Thai - my first lesson

Yesterday I had my first lesson of Muay Thai kickboxing. Really enjoyed it, I have done some striking before In the form of san da (chinese kickboxing) but on recent reflection the coach was abit of a numpty. This class however was taken by Mick Walker who Ive known for a while through the BJJ classes, Mick really knows his stuff and has a great eye for detail. Perfect for a good striking coach. For some reason Mick reminds me of a slightly larger and more violent version of Tony Robinson. Mick takes the thursday classes and Mike Wood takes the monday's. Really looking forward to Mikes class as well.

Some thing I didnt realise was long time training buddy Kieran has been doing the class since its inception some time ago. So thats 2nd dan judo, blue belt BJJ and experienced muay thai striker - oh dear mr opponent I do not envy you.

We did a long warm up that was pretty good. Then one of the guys decided today was the day they wanted to work on some body conditioning!. So 50 leg kicks to the thighs each side and 50 kicks to the abdomen both legs!, and 20 kicks to the fore arms both legs!. Mick then got me working on some basic stuff with a partner. Jab and cross, Mick got me driving from the back foot on the cross which added alot more power. We then moved on to leg kicks, Mick got me to spin alot more on the ball of my foot and corrected my distancing. We then worked on elbows, I was doing more of a fore arm smash so he got me using the boney point. With elbows he got us using what is called "long guard". Which is when they have their arms outstretched, ineffective for punching but great for elbows following kicks.

Then with swapping with my partner that was it, almost 2 hours mind you. Enjoyed myself alot and if I can get the hang of this striking malarchy then you might see me dabble in some MMA. The club is just at this moment organising a MMA team and training sessions so thats motivated me abit. Its invite only though, and you either gotta have some smoking striking or atleast a blue at BJJ. So I qualify, but want to get my striking up to a decent standard first. Just so I can survive enough to pull x- guard and juggle my opponent like a beach ball.

Must.get.back.on.track

Been a loooong time since my last update, life has just been stepping in the way. But Ive been steadily building up a library of content that Ive been dieing to post. Went on a barge trip around France and have been working quite abit which has slowed training annoyingly. And the pilgrimage, but Im hoping to put that right very soon.
Heres some holiday snaps though:


Showing off my guns at this cool resteraunt. I had snails but avoided the horse burger.

From this holiday I gained 2kg's in about a week and a very fond love of Desperado's!

Bringing the boat into a lock, we did about 50 of these!

Giving the camera's a show.

Club news:

Big bunch of our guys recently got promoted to blue, which is fantastic. Myself and some of the older blues each got a stripe.

Couple of medals from the british open so big congrats to the guys who do well there, especially Rich who Ive been training a fairbit with in his private lessons. Very steady progression.

The guys also held a 6 hour grapplethon at the academy to raise money for a hospice one of our guys works at. Was a great success and everyone did spiffingly. Matt apperantly lost over 5kg'sin sweat.



Pilgrimage news:

Aaarg its been killing me being unable to get the momentum going. But its not dead I promise! the dream is still alive. Camberly, Mill hill, Haslemere, mataleon, bjj school battersea, Zt fight skool brighton! Im looking at you!!!

The GAA (grappling arts association) also just offered me complimentary insurance and membership which is very generous of them so Ill be sporting a patch in support. These guys do a great job so check them out.

Other news!:

Check this awesome video of Cobrinha showing off his Capoiera .
Also funnily enough, Cobrinha asked on his facebook page for questions for a fan interview and he was kind enough to select one of mine. Its in the background/history section.

Check out both these blogs. Both are excellent and use quite different formats:

Laymans journey into BJJ

Moving to Brazil