Maya Flores

Has anybody tried those apps for boxing/mma/muay thai that are supposed to help train at home? Was it useful? How often did you use it? How much did it cost? I want to train at home more often, so I thought I'd try out some apps to help. I just wanted a basic boxing timer, but I found a ton of apps that are way more intricate and exciting. I just downloaded a free app off amazon called "Shoutbox Workout Timer" and I did three five minute rounds today. I actually really like it! There's this robotic voice commanding you to do different moves for either shadow boxing or bag work. I did fifteen minutes of shadow boxing and it was fun. The intensity level was at 1 so I raised it to 2, but 2 was pretty fast so I went back down to intensity level 1. Hoping to build up to intensity level 2 (level 2 involved getting combo commands in really fast succession). There's a screen where you can adjust how long the rounds and intervals between rounds are. You can adjust the intensity and the frequency of certain moves (i.e. I raised the number of front kicks on a screen and during the rounds the front kick command came more often). There's also a screen where you can keep track of how many punches/kicks/knees you did. I really like the voice call out feature in shoutbox workout timer. I am one of those people that exercises a lot harder if someone is telling me what to do and when to do it. I just wish it could also yell out motivational things like, "keep going" or "don't stop" lol I still have to try this other one, "Get Fight Fit" that I actually paid a dollar for. It also has voice call-outs for combos. I'll give it a test run tomorrow and come back and post what it was like! If you've tried any tablet/smart watch apps that are helpful, please share! :)

Thank you everyone for the replies and great comments! @threeoaks --I am trying not to take it personal. It's his gym, I understand. Is it weird that I get jealous of the fighters? lol, sometimes I bite my lip while they all talk about fighting because I am green with envy! I'll work on not taking it personal or being defeatist about my situation. Also, you are pretty freaking badass for accomplishing what you have! Thank you!! I am totally willing to claim my space. I just have to work up the nerve to ask my trainer how long and what to practice to get to the next level! @radarjam --best wishes on your fight goals! Going to Thailand sounds sooo awesome! It's nice to know there are others who are still reaching for their muay thai goals and that I'm not the only one questioning where I'll go from here! @rachel --I loved this quote: "it just has to be discipline and (in my case at least) a pigheaded refusal to concede defeat to the shitty thoughts" Discipline is hard, but I noticed it's a good sub for motivation, i.e. the days I feel like not going due to no motivation, I still go just because it seems like the necessary thing to do. I will work on building more discipline and commitment for those days when I feel like not going. Thanks! @newthai --I loved that quote, it's Bruce Lee, right? I guess I do need to be patient. I just sometimes get impatient and frustrated. This week I will continue to show up early to run. I'll stick through sparring, despite feeling less than! Your guys' comments made me think that I should take this not as defeat but as an opportunity to learn from people who are better at muay thai than I am. Cheers!

I've been serious about muay thai for about a year now, been going inconsistently for a few years before that. I'm back in the gym after three or four months off due to finances. Now that I'm back, I'm feeling my motivation seeping away as I see new members get to do smokers and I have never gotten the chance to do one, though it's been brought up to the gym. I am overweight and my stamina needs work, I know this, so I started going early to run before class. I am making extra efforts to build up my stamina and work on my form. I'm starting to think my form is so horrible that my trainer doesn't want to embarrass himself by putting me in a smoker--or anything like a fight. He's always telling me to keep my hands up. I don't know how I look during sparring, sometimes he says good, but usually it's keep your hands up or look at the chest. He has told me I am getting better...but better does not mean decent. I started skipping sparring this week because the thought of sparring with really good people who are probably going super easy on me and not throwing at every opening they see, has me cringing. I've been sparring since August, 2015, but I don't see myself getting to do a smoker anytime soon. :ermm: It's frustrating. I don't want to go to the sparring class because I'm very self-conscious about how behind I am, but if I don't go, I'll be even more behind. I love sparring but I want to reach the next level and I don't think that's going to happen. Did anybody have to go through a ton of training, more than other students, before doing a smoker/interclub? How did you deal with the feelings of inadequacy? How did you motivate yourself to be aggressive about making progress? Has anyone seemed to hit a wall in their progress and, if so, how did you overcome that plateau? Thank you!

I kicked a knee and now I have this exact thing. My shin was knotty so I massaged it out. Now, my foot and lower calf are swollen. I've been massaging it out for like five minutes at a time, using either liniment or some icy hot. How long does this last? I kicked the knee Friday and the lump is almost gone, but the ankle is still puffy. Am I supposed to keep massaging it routinely? Congrats on your fight!, wibble!!

I love my city, in terms of art! Great vibe, too! I am totally surprised and ecstatic that gym #3 owner even came to look at my paintings, let alone ask how much!! I will see tomorrow what they had in mind--I figure I can cut the price down if they pay cash, maybe that would be an incentive. Thank you for the advice and encouragement and good luck on your own fashion art! I would love to see you design some Muay Thai shorts !! :-D I was surprised to learn that there actually is a niche for Boxing and Muay Thai art. It is even better because I started doing those paintings out of love, just wanting to express my love for Muay Thai through my second love of painting, and it turns out---I had the opportunity to show at a boxing gym---and then the gym owner liked the first boxing painting I brought in and told me he'd like it if I brought in more fight sports art! I'm working on an expressionist portrait right now of a woman doing the wai kru, hopefully I'll have it ready for tomorrow (art show is tomorrow). Thank you for the advice, everyone! :-D

Micc, yes I started training on Friday at gym #2 and I do want to stay there long term. That's a good idea (training for free in October). By pledge, I meant I gave my word I'd pay on the first and I will. I sparred on Friday and man, am I out of shape!! Those 3 months out really took its toll on my stamina! :-( That idea about promo stuff is also really great! I hadn't thought of that! After thinking, I think you're right, maybe I can negotiate a cash payment instead, as I had added the words "negotiable" to the price. Thank you!!

So, I'm an artist (not a tangent, I swear)---I show my art at a local martial arts gym. I couldn't afford muay thai at gym #2 for like 3 months, but I was going to this other gym as a hosted artist during that time, (gym #3), just to sit there with my art and chat with the people who showed up to visit the art (in my city different businesses "host" local artists and open their doors for free to the public to come look). My friend asked me to paint her, so I painted an expressionist portrait of her throwing a roundhouse kick. Gym #3 owner liked my art so much he asked how much I wanted for it. I initially told him it wasn't for sale, but then I saw an opportunity and said it would cost one month of free training (I am sneaky). That was when I didn't have money to go to gym #2, and I am shy about pricing paintings "per square inch", as some painters do because it would come out super expensive and I'm not a prized artist so I'm not too comfortable charging per square inch, yet (well, I won an award at the community college level, but I haven't been in a formal gallery where the paintings start at like 500 dollars and go up from there). He didn't reply to my text at all, so I assumed he was offended and I left it alone. I was kind of kicking myself for making such a dumb offer: :wallbash: This week, I managed to save up enough to go to gym #2 (where I'm happy). The day before I showed up for practice at gym #2, the gym #3 owner replied to me and said we could discuss the "price" at the next art show in September. I was so surprised! Now, I have to decide what to do. If they actually do offer me some sort of free trial month, or even a discount, how can I refuse? They all seem really enthusiastic and nice at gym #3. The gym #3 has longer hours than gym #2, so if they accept my trade (muay thai classes for muay thai painting), I was thinking about going to both. I already pledged to pay cash for gym #2 in September, and I don't want to make it seem like I abandoned gym #2, but I would love to barter a painting for muay thai classes! For the most part, I have waaaay more muay thai-inspired art then I do hard cash, so this would be an amazing opportunity! I feel loyalty to gym #2 owner and I wouldn't want him thinking I was testing the waters to leave his gym. What should I do? Should I tell gym #2 that I'm training simultaneously at gym #3 or just keep it to myself? Should I accept a discount and hand over my best painting or just sell it for hard cash? I already made the offer, so I can't take it back, even if I wanted to (legally, as a business entity, I cannot rescind an offer, and I don't want to anyways), but I might be able to renegotiate. I also wanted to tell this story because I think it's comical that I offered a large muay thai-inspired painting for muay thai classes. It's even more amusing when I found out they're willing to discuss this option further! My friend (the girl I painted) was like, "you did what??" :ohmy: but then she told me to just go for it and see what happens. I guess I'll find out next week what they are thinking in terms of payment/trade!

Hi, there's a thread here that talks about vision/lack of vision and fighting/sparring! The thread is called Sparring, Fight and Vision. Someone mentioned they fought in a matter of months (P.Evi mentioned this in that thread). I've been sparring without contacts or glasses. My eyesight is like -8.5 or worse. Everything is a blob to me. I got used to not relying on eye movement, just body movement during sparring. There is a fighter at my gym who is great and who can't wear his glasses. He's really near-sighted, too. He said he got used to it and relies on his other senses to help during his fight. I don't have his spidey senses yet, but I'd rather spar with no glasses, especially since Lasik is so expensive. Good luck!

I wore high heels at a nightclub and tripped, landed on the sofa at an awkward angle, then fell off the sofa and somewhere on the way down my knee popped. I fell down onto the ground, and I couldn't stand up until I shoved my weight down on the side of my knee. That injury kept me out of muay thai, mostly out of my own fear that it would break during class. I went to the doctor's office and showed him my knee, but I'd let about two weeks pass and by that time my knee looked fine. I had taken a lot of time off from kicking, running, and clinching so I think that really helped me recover faster. One nurse said that if it had been, in fact, a (dislocated?) "popped out" knee that it might happen again or reoccur more often. The doctor said it didn't look like it had been popped out, but he couldn't explain why I couldn't stand up until I'd thrown all my weight into the knee to get it feeling more in place that night at the club. He said if it still hurt, he'd get an x-ray done. It didn't hurt, but every now and then my knee feels more wiggly (does that make sense?). There might be exercises that can be done to strengthen the ligaments and stuff, no? I found this video on youtube called Best Knee Rehab exercises and Bends for Injury Recovery and Strengthening - Wellki : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVTORtOzu-g I'd embed the video but I don't know how.

Back again at home! I'm looking around for a tire. I have to go get my kicking shield back from my friend. I invited my friend to come over for "sparring parties." She was open to the idea! I just have to convince my family to let me use the backyard for a sparring ring, or just do it when nobody is home. Backyard Muay Thai will be my thing for the rest of the June, maybe even July! I liked the idea on here of holding pads with other students at home. I have one friend on board, maybe there's someone else at the gym that wouldn't mind coming over for a cup of tea and some sparring/pad holding. Still, the discipline I have alone isn't as great as with a formal class, but I have to practice! Thanks again for the great ideas, and I'll let you know how my little at-home ring comes along!

I found this nice link from the muay thai guy's website on how letting out grunts while training is good for your body and mind. According to this, it causes more oxygen to rush to your brain. For myself, when I hear the huh! oosh! or any sound being bellowed out, I get intimidated. That might have added benefits, too. http://www.muay-thai-guy.com/muay-thai-grunt.html

update: my knee is healing nicely. The doctor said to take a few more days off and then I'm good to go. He said he wasn't sure if my knee was dislocated, but it just looked swollen and bruised now. He said just ibuprofen, rest, and my knee brace are all that is needed for my knee. On a humorous note, he was very supportive of muay thai. He complimented me for going regularly...until he noticed bruises..and then he was like, "you get hit?" and I was like, "well, yea." He immediately got this stern look and said, "as a physician I must advise you to stop these types of contact sports immediately" but then he signed off on a blood test so that they'll be on file should I compete in muay thai within the next year. He must have been conflicted haha. :)

Thanks so much! Two weeks sounds bad, but definitely not the month I was afraid of! Going to the doctor today instead, so I'm going to ask about how soon I can kick. I am now utterly afraid of this happening again, especially in the clinch! I was just thinking about how to avoid falling awkwardly from clinching. Ouch. Glad to hear you've made a full recovery!

Back again! Ironically, my new injury is not related to muay thai again. This time, I was walking in high heeled boots in a nightclub with strobe lights, stumbled, went down, and my knee popped out of its socket. My leg had fallen at an awkward angle after I bounced off a coach and table, and the kneecap had swiveled and was jutting out of the inside of my leg (sorry for the graphics). I shoved it back in and I could walk enough to make it home that night. I have a doctor's appointment next week, but until then I'm kind of on my own. I can walk fine, it just feels "tight." Bending my knee feels slightly to moderately painful. Questions: Anybody else have a popped out knee? How long before you went back to kicking? Should I expect more knee troubles from here on out? *I should mention that my knee did this once before in 2011, when I did a flip over another person during judo and landed incorrectly, never did see a doctor, my judo sensei said it was a sprained ligament. Is a knee brace a good way to keep this from happening again? I am now concerned it will pop out during sparring or when I get thrown from the clinch. Any tips on keeping my knee in place is greatly appreciated! I've been using icy-hot gel on it and spending a lot of time lying down getting rest. Are there any exercises to strengthen the parts of the knee? Thank you!!

I have not seen this video, but I would love to! I tried to find it on youtube but I couldn't. :( Flora- I will message you, as I would like to know what you recommend if I can only buy one or two essential oils. Thank you! I did initially try to work around it, only punching, no kicks, but I got carried away and wanted to do what everyone else was doing. I'm going back today. I might not do kicks during the beginner class, that way I can save my ankle for sparring. Also, my trainer will let me just spar for boxing, no legs, so hopefully my ankle will be okay. I lost my tape, so I'll just wear the brace for the sparring class. Thanks for everybody's suggestions and concerns! Can't wait for class tonight, I missed 2 days plus the weekends already.