threeoaks
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Posts posted by threeoaks
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Laughing on Metro North. Barf.
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Well that blog post was just fantastically gross. Thank you. I like the scars, flat out.
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I enjoyed the fight but I also really enjoyed the ring girls getting credit and gym affiliations! Those ladies work hard!
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I have alcoholism in my family and I can see the ways in which each of the four kids in my family have dealt with that inheritance. We've all thrown ourselves into things that are microscopic on a scale of general interest but we've each blown that single line out to become the whole frame. And I know exactly what you mean about the empathy of physical contact that isn't, from the outside, "embracing." I cannot tell you how many times my trainer has put more pressure and pain on me when I'm in a difficult place and it feels exactly as comforting as a hug or shoulder cry... complete with about as much snot.
I'm sorry about the years your family went through the insanity of an undiagnosed illness. I reckon doctors really hate not being able to give answers and the more asshole-ish among them turn that into the patronizing of patients, and mothers. Glad your son is doing better now. My cousin had undiagnosed Lyme for years. It was a nightmare for the whole family.
Love that - all of you blew up one line. Beautiful, positive way to describe a type of focus that some people pathologize but I see as the root of genius.
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Severe drug addiction and alcoholism run in my family and I am no exception - total garbagehead. It is not uncommon for fighters to treat their addictions this way; Kevin Ross is a prime example. Exercise put a damper on my problem until college sports ended, then I had to seek help which I did. So I no longer use sports (or substances) to regulate my moods and basic personality although I remain addictive in every sense; I freaking love combat sports and Muay Thai in particular. Now its just passion though :)
Two years ago my son was bedridden with an unknown illness for nearly a year. We made the rounds of doctors including two different big city hospital systems and my own very expensive East/West (allopathic and alternative) doc. We even brought him across the country to the famous Mayo clinic to try and get him diagnosed. He was nauseated every. single. day. for months. Time was creeping by so slowly and I had to be calm and positive for him. I was also beyond furious at every patronizing _(*&*( _{#%*{)( doctor who treated me like a stupid hysteric. To compound it I had (and still have) differing views of the situation than my spouse. There would have been total mayhem had I not been training boxing and Muay Thai. One of my trainers knew the situation and while not delving in (to keep me from crying), displayed every kind of empathy and kindness available to a sparring partner and padholder. It may not be your grandma's idea of empathy (violence rather than hugs and tea), but for me it worked and I am eternally grateful. My son is better now, but never had a diagnosis.
I am charmed by laurakg's prescription for menopause. As I approach it I am definitely becoming a battle axe in every way and its ever more fun to train Muay Thai.
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What kind a gym are you training at?
Big ,small? Many members?
Are there child classes?Do they have many training day?
Is there any gear for sale in the gym? Things like that...
First I'll tell about the gym I train at:
We are located on the outskirts of Antwerp,we train Thai boxing on monday,tuesday,thursday and friday evening, saturday at midday and also on tuesday and thursday morning with our adult group. On monday,wednesday and saturday we have kids training. On monday and wednesday we also have classic boxing class. We work with 2 head trainers and 5 or 6 fighters who also teach classes in the gym. Because we have various training hours we have about 300 members who train at the gym.We welcome all levels of experience,long or short stay. Average class consist of 20 advanced students and fighters and about 25 students in starter class. In our gym we have about 25 active fighters in various weight and class
both woman and men and also kids who fight.Our gym is not small but when its a busy training it feels very crowded...its fully floor covered, we have a ring,4 heavybags,weight area. We also sell all fight gear at the gym; brands are : Booster,Twins,King,Queen.
I think training at our gym isnt cheap but neither too expensive, because all student get appropriate guidance.
Love to hear about your gym.
Nick
My gym Stockade Martial Arts, is located in upstate New York, 30 minutes from my house. It is a nice small space in a row of historic buildings. The gym is co-owned by a trainer, his wife, and a current Lion Fight Pro. I am not sure of the exact number of fighters but its pretty small, maybe 10. Occasionally fighters will come down from farther upstate for a few weeks leading up to a fight to be coached and then cornered by our coaches. There are a fair amount of people coming from far and wide to train with the main trainer; their presence is not felt at every class because they often have to travel.
It is all Muay Thai with the exception of BJJ Fridays and Kali Sundays. Usually there is a Thai fight playing on the telly as you come in the entryway, which not like being in Thailand but still nice. It is also indicative of the stylistic focus; this is not an American style kickboxing gym or a fitness center. The focus and admiration seems to be for Thai and international style Muay Thai. I know that's general but its based on observation and I don't want to speak for the coaches.
Two days a week there is a kids' class, otherwise it is organized as follows: 1 hour bagwork at 5 (beginner's are welcome here), 1 hour padwork and technique at 6, 1 hour sparring and/or clinch at 7. Sparring is by invitation but its not horribly exclusive; its just to keep the absolute beginners out and to allow the trainers to make sure people have appropriate control. There are open mat periods as well on the weekends; the gym is open for something 7 days a week. There are two higher level pros who train at the gym on their own during the day as well as at classes (as coaches and sometimes to train).
There are only two weekday Muay Thai mixed-level classes, because around here most people work during the day. One owner offers private lessons as well; he's an incredible teacher. They sell shorts and you get a glove/guard/shorts package when you sign up though I already had the gear from another gym so I don't know the type or quality. Think its Twins gloves anyway.
This is my third gym offering Muay Thai and by far the best in both atmosphere and quality. Its laid back yet technical and the owners are welcoming to women to train and/or fight. I'd say the price is competitive with the local places; they want people to able to train but of course have to make a living. I have trained at one more and one less expensive place. Very good value.
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Some other martial arts require full power on pads at all times. Maybe this is happening with her; has she trained other forms? Or as Sylvie says (and has written about), she really may not know. My boxing training partner has absolutely not a clue how incredibly hard she hits - just stone hands. Its great. But I had to work hard to get her to back off the power on my head - she just did not understand (other people took some rounds with her and hit her medium power so she'd get a sense of it). She is a really good person who requires loud, clear, verbal communication (not squints & hints or anything which I would read but not everyone does). Sorry they keep sticking you with the girl. I hate that. Not because I hate working with other women but the assumption is just annoying. It also makes me feel like the guys don't want to work with me, which may be true in some cases but too bad. I am just an annoying southpaw but I claim my place and hopefully, prepare you for fighting a southpaw :teehee: .
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Actually, we had a bit of an altercation yesterday, and it has become clear that she is beyond help. I should add that she has been having the same problems with everyone in the gym and constantly complains no matter what. When the trainers and Master Toddy try to tell her how to adjust things, she is incredibly rude and talks back to them, saying that she is right and telling them what her trainer at home says, which, as you can imagine, does not go down well. It's all quite embarrassing. She's told the trainers that they aren't holding pads properly, too. This is a complete beginner, here.
We were sparring and to be fair, she was going very light, as was I. She doesn't block punches at all, so I was touching her only very lightly with my gloves to let her know that she was open, but she didn't like that. We got maybe two rounds in before she said 'can you go light? because you asked me to go light' I'd usually be very polite and reasonable, but I was already doing basically nothing there was simply no way I could have gone any lighter unless I shadowboxed in front of her, so I told her that. Frankly, we're all fed up of her shit, so it's hard to be patient with her. We started adding kicks and she got really angry any time I landed any on her, even though we were both still going super light. She stopped again to complain, and I started to wonder what the fuck was going on. This is the first time I've ever called anyone out in the gym. I told her that if she didn't want me to touch her at all, she ought to block, and that I was trying to help her learn how to do that. I also mentioned that she was getting annoyed because she wasn't 'winning' and that she does nothing but complain in every single training session. She said 'actually you are the one who is complaining', and I had no response, because none of this made sense. I just carried on sparring because I didn't want to waste time, but at this point, landing anything on her was too much for her to handle, so she stopped and said 'I'm done here, I'm going on the bag'. One of the trainers waved her off and said 'OK, then go!' He couldn't be bothered to deal with her, because she's like this all the time.
Shortly after this, she was kicking the bag when Master Toddy approached her and said something like 'that's good, much better. Now, to take it up to the next level, you can start turning your hip over a bit more to get more power'. She screwed up her face and said 'but my trainer at home doesn't tell me to do that', refusing to do it. Well, he WENT OFF at her. This is the same attitude he's had from her the whole time he's been here. He said (because she is studying teaching) 'if you had a student who kept telling you that you were wrong and didn't want to do anything you told them and fought you back all the time, would you still teach them? Would you?' She said 'yes'. SERIOUSLY, SHE WAS STILL TALKING BACK AT THIS POINT. His response was, 'I can't help you. Go your own way', and off he went.
We've had some frustrating people come through here at times, but she is undoubtedly the worst. She's here for another week before she goes to another gym for a couple of months. Should be interesting! I don't understand why anyone would pay to be taught at a gym and then not actually want to learn anything.
Sylvie wrote a post about why people sometimes think their opponent is going harder than they are:
Brain Science: Why Sparring Gets Out of Control – Neurology and Muay ThaiShe's lucky you did your best to alert her to her jackassery, and she got a nice direct telling off by Master Toddy, and now DOWN she goes, never to get better. Its my most feared brand of fuckery in life - to be unteachable. Arrogance almost always equals stupidity. Pity the fool (or just get rid of her). I appreciate your generosity though Emma. Its understandable to want to never spar with beginners of course. I obviously don't want to give someone a nagging, pointless injury, hence the thread. But I'll never get better without people being willing to go at it with me, and to tell me my mistakes directly, instead of grumbling privately. Thanks again.
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Reading this I thought, "wait, do I do this when we spar?" I think that's a result of being unfocused and so people default to what they learn in padwork, which is aiming for the mitts. Gloves = mitts. Great note of learning to be mindful of this though, because you'll totally bring that to fights without realizing it.
Just got put on notice for this today. Oops. Wish I read it first. Thanks!
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We have a girl at my gym right now who is a classic case. She spars mega hard, but will stop in the middle of the round and complain to the trainers if she thinks anyone else is using any power at all. One of those who can give it but can't take it, and thinks everyone else is the problem. She genuinely doesn't know that she's doing it, which makes it difficult. She throws a bit of a tantrum even when people are going light with her, and then talks back to the trainers when they try and tell her what's really happening. It's all very awkward. I was sparring with her yesterday and let her know that my left shin was a bit banged up from my last fight and also that I was due to fight in two days, and she still tried to smash me, and dug her elbow into one of my legs when blocking. As a result, I was walking with a slight limp just before a fight and feeling rather grumpy about it, haha! She's here for a month, and we're trying to work on it, so I will let you know if we manage to improve the situation somewhat.
Eh is it not right to just bang her up a little, make it clear what going hard actually is? Oh you said she gets all nutty and doesn't listen. Oy. Sounds super annoying.
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Finally got to see the installation today. It was awesome to see in person. So much going on it was hard to take it all in. I found that if I stood facing a corner of the room it was like watching a split screen with a closeup/highlight of the fight on one side and the main fight on the other. The soundscape was very minimalist, just the grunts and breathing of the fighters, the sound of gloves hitting flesh, and feet shuffling on canvas. No music or background crowd noise. Natalie Fuz's low kicks sounded especially dramatic, really hard, sharp slaps.
Thank you so much for going! Yeah I love the sound - Geoffrey Hutchinson did it for me. He is a sound artist who did this as a job but I asked him to twist it however he liked. I am glad he went with mostly really sounds though for slo-mo he turned it into that chattering sound (which is better than the low tone that would normally be there). It is not meant to be TOO overwhelming but its edited to work with your peripheral vision kind of like sparring would (set up patterns and break them). Anyhow so glad you liked it and thank you again! I'm really touched you went.
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I fan girl frequently and Rjiker is my God. Thank you, Emma! Enjoying now & also shared to FB (crediting you, yr blog & MTR).
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Very exciting fight thank you. Pity you are left out though; is it a political thing? Clinch looked great here. No sweeps? Was it a rule? So much standing on one leg makes me wonder (in clinch). Thanks again.
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Yay! I am on the road with slow thumbs (cell not laptop) so short response - this is great!
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Being hesitant about kicking leads to A) leaning back too much and B) not turning over on the kick; neither of which is a mortal sin but it creates an upward angle that leads to knee-to-knee collisions on blocks and is easier to end up kicking into an elbow instead of getting a shin into the body or against a proper block. You won't hurt your partner this way, but you will hurt yourself. I guess the knee-to-knee thing hurts both of you.
Slow your roll enough to land knees deliberately, both so you don't go too hard, but also so you don't knee people in the junk (male and female) when you go for straight shots. I fucking hate this.
OOHHH!!! This is like a goldmine. Thank you. I see the more experienced people going slo-mo with their kicks in doubles padwork and I really appreciate it because I can see the shape of the kick better. This means the angle is super visible to me and since I don't produce that downward arc yet I can really emulate it. Now your points about knee to knee contact with hesitated kicks makes sense. So be deliberate but not all jerky about it. I better shadow a LOT. As for knees I am so far from sparring with knees its crazy but yes - no nuts, no crotch shots. Oof. Again - priceless.
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Common things I've experienced with newer people in spar include the elbow crunch to protect from a front kick, late checks against body kicks that become elbow spikes to the shin, and generally being too tense, which leads to flinch responses to everything and firing hard counters.
I've been pretty fortunate so far with having experienced partners who haven't injured me when I was green (and now being experienced enough to avoid injury with new greenies). Stuff happens sometimes though, so I try not to stress about it and enjoy the training.
Thank you this is exactly what I am looking for. Appreciate it NewThai! (now I frigging wanna go spar.. relaxed.. except NOW. injury is a bore).
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The foot injury described in another thread inspired this question: can you experienced people please describe common and very SPECIFIC beginner's mistakes in sparring? I am not talking about going too hard and trying to "win"; I want to know about common & pointlessly destructive "flinches" like the elbow reaction that broke someone's foot.
I don't know when I will be cleared to spar by my doc and my trainer but I'm excited (and have done in regular boxing) but I am big and don't really want to injure someone like that. Just visited an 12 year old girl who was concussed pretty bad at my daughter's karate school. I am not afraid of violence, just want to know what types of control you all notice are commonly underdeveloped in Muay Thai beginners.
I have already read Damion Trainor's and Sean Fagan's posts on the subjects and again, I am not a total tool - I have sparred in boxing somewhat - I am just moved to inquire because though I am training teep defense, I am not yet aware of things like that elbow jerk tendency.
Thanks!
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Not sparring in Muay Thai yet so this is very helpful on what NOT to do - of course I know not to go too hard or try to win (I have some experience in boxing) but I did not know about this awful elbow reflex. We are drilling teep defense and I just thought of it as... teep defense. I wonder if its possible to start a detailed thread on errors beginner's make in sparring (I've read Damian Trainor's post and Sean's somewhat similar one)? I had just begun sparring in Muay Thai and felt like I had 15 limbs not 8 (when I got injured) so while I don't want to get all psyched out about it when I return, it would be great to know how to avoid common beginner mistakes above and beyond being the jackass who tries to "win". Be gentle though - it sucks being a beginner and I will probably be one a long time!
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then Valentina Shevchenko VS Anke Van Gestle (Belgium)
Just fantastic. Evil explosive southpaw with so much variety. Thanks.
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Incredibly interesting. Going to read more. Thank you.
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Sorry to soapbox it but: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/07/emdr-trauma/399650/?utm_source=SFFB
Again - your essay was beautiful & I recognize this missed the point.
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I do like all these reasons to train over 40. I also really appreciated the "Muscle Power" post on 8 limbs. The fight between Aurora and Gerry was almost unwatchable though - I hate seeing that kind of height/power/skill and age differential. Very glad to read that Gerry got back at it and did much better. Cannot believe she is that old. Any time you mention age or someone being old and fighting I appreciate it. Part of me also is embarrassed though. My trainer posted a video of some padwork with a 58 year old and everyone was very appreciative in the comments (or a few people were anyway). For me I appreciate it but I also kept thinking 'jesus he's slow. aw come on pick it up... standup for the old folks.. oh no he's wobbly too'. So its bittersweet.
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Doesn't Lion Fight break up the clinch kinda fast?
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Well that was a beautiful post, Kevin. You two are a beautiful pair. I would add this example of trauma recovery (less poetic but just my experience), that EMDR which is used by the U.S. Army for PTSD in vets for example, uses rapid eye movement manipulation to relocate traumatic memories. In other words, horrors, like rape and war, are stored in too readily available form by the brain, instead of going back in time as they should. In dreams (the REM stage), we store our memories every day (you see peoples' eyes moving when they are deeply asleep - this is the process). During EMDR therapy a combination of talk and moving the eyes (with a pendulum or just a finger), permits the separation of the horror from immediate memory stores (thus no traumatic response in daily life any more). My limited experience of sparring tells me that it is the most highly sensory, visual experience possible and so much depends upon making things happen outside peripheral vision, for example. Perhaps this incredibly consistent, vigorous use of her sensory apparatus has disseminated and diffused the horrible memories of Sylvie's rape. I frigging hope so. EMDR has worked for me in profound ways. Good luck with her family and much wonder and love to you both in your radical, exemplary marriage. http://www.emdr.com/general-information/what-is-emdr.html
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My First Fight - Video, Before and After Thoughts
in Muay Thai Technique, Training and Fighting Questions
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I love this description of teaching. That is true of the best art schools too - individual teachers with strong styles, but no "house-style" for the ensuing artists.