Fighting Frog

If you're getting significantly hurt each time you spar then there is something wrong - you're not ready for it/your sparring partner is not ready. I would say back off, work on pads and the bag until you are confident and controlled and your basic technique is solidly there. Then spar with someone who is much much better than you; someone with excellent technique and control, so you can learn. When you are okay with that then start light sparring with other people. I got royally thumped on the nose this morning while training (I was trying for a quick double whammy and ploughed heavily in just as my trainer popped a quick one through my guard - only I was coming in like an express train - my fault) but even so not hard enough to make it bleed or rattle my head. Yes, one is going to get hurt while sparring occasionally, it stands to reason; but it shouldn't be happening every time, and not badly, and certainly not when one is first sparring. Mind you, I can see why you are so keen to get in there, especially as you are used to BJJ! (which always looks to me as horribly dangerous and rough!) Good luck with your MT work.

Crumbs, when I was a kid and played hockey (not ice hockey - the game on a grass field) at school all the people who taught it said that the most terrifying hockey they ever saw was schoolgirl hockey; not the boys! Back then the rules for boys and girls were slightly different (I'm not sure in what way, and I don't think there is any difference now) and we girls sneered at the boys because they would wear shin pads. We never did; only the goalie was padded up.

Oops. sorry for the multiple postings - it looked like the server hadn't accepted the post... obvs I was too impatient! Anyhoo, today's training was pretty mild as trainer not feeling too well.

I get furious and frustrated with myself for being too slow, or missing a good shot, or failing to put up an adequate block - especially if it's something I've already been caught out on and I know I have to correct it! However I am pretty good at taking a deep breath, calming down, and trying to use the annoyance to strengthen my game. My trainer sometimes deliberately tries to wind me up, which is good it means I have to keep a lid on my emotions and not get riled, because that only leads to disaster (which is why he does it, to teach control). It drives me crazy though when he is pinging in and out with his lovely footwork and constantly disappearing just as I'm trying to set up a shot, then zipping in and smacking me! But boy, is it teaching me to improve my own footwork and to watch for the moment when I can shoot in and catch him.

Yesterday was day off (went out for the day with Himself); back to two hours again this morning. This time after shadow boxing I was taught a new move. We then practiced it amongst some general padwork, and also worked on correcting an error that is creeping in. Then we had some light sparring concentrating on trying to use the new move (I failed at that!), and avoiding making the persistent mistake (that was more successful). In time we moved onto harder and more general sparring, looking particularly for me to improve my head blocks and guard immediately after a flurry. Finished off again with long sets of crunches and some pull ups. I think I'll ask for a bit of extra work on clinching - I've noticed I'm getting a bit flustered and overpowered; I'm not quick enough with the knees and end up getting chucked all over the place. I try to avoid getting into the clinch when sparring - I prefer to throw a knee from a distance and then get away again!

Yesterday was day off (went out for the day with Himself); back to two hours again this morning. This time after shadow boxing I was taught a new move. We then practiced it amongst some general padwork, and also worked on correcting an error that is creeping in. Then we had some light sparring concentrating on trying to use the new move (I failed at that!), and avoiding making the persistent mistake (that was more successful). In time we moved onto harder and more general sparring, looking particularly for me to improve my head blocks and guard immediately after a flurry. Finished off again with long sets of crunches and some pull ups. I think I'll ask for a bit of extra work on clinching - I've noticed I'm getting a bit flustered and overpowered; I'm not quick enough with the knees and end up getting chucked all over the place. I try to avoid getting into the clinch when sparring - I prefer to throw a knee from a distance and then get away again!

Yesterday was day off (went out for the day with Himself); back to two hours again this morning. This time after shadow boxing I was taught a new move. We then practiced it amongst some general padwork, and also worked on correcting an error that is creeping in. Then we had some light sparring concentrating on trying to use the new move (I failed at that!), and avoiding making the persistent mistake (that was more successful). In time we moved onto harder and more general sparring, looking particularly for me to improve my head blocks and guard immediately after a flurry. Finished off again with long sets of crunches and some pull ups. I think I'll ask for a bit of extra work on clinching - I've noticed I'm getting a bit flustered and overpowered; I'm not quick enough with the knees and end up getting chucked all over the place. I try to avoid getting into the clinch when sparring - I prefer to throw a knee from a distance and then get away again!

I've got a week off work, so I'm training every day except one. So far we've spent the entirety of two two-hour sessions sparring, working specifically on my push kicks (ie getting me to use them more, trying to be quicker, using them in conjunction with other moves, etc etc etc). The first 45/60 minutes are being taken fairly lightly; then we move up the gears until the last five rounds are pretty intense. Today we finished off with 30 minutes of power work too - crunches, pull ups, press ups.

When working pads I try to keep my gaze on the centre of the upper chest, just below where the clavicles meet. When sparring, I stare into my trainer's eyes. However I am blind as a bat without glasses so it doesn't feel 'awkward' to be staring directly like that because I can't actually see his eyes beyond being blobs anyway! :wink:

I haven't done six days on the trot (yet!) because my trainer has always made me have a rest day; but I have done four or five days together, or six days but with a break in the middle, several times. I train for two hours at a time followed by some power work. The warmup is shadow boxing, then two hours of pad work, practicing something new/technical, and then anything up to 12 four-minute rounds of sparring (start light and easy, build up). This week I've trained four days in succession (and one of those was immediately after a night shift in hospital theatres); I'm okay but today we really kept it to lighter technical stuff; we sparred for about six rounds but kept it light and slower so I could practice and work on stuff that I am really flaky on. I was definitely slower today (not that I am fast when at my best) but in some ways that was good; it meant I really had to concentrate on neat footwork and my punches/kicks being light but super-accurate and tidy. I work full time too, so if I want to get four days or more days together then I have to fit it in before my shift starts (or in the case of a night shift, afterwards). This week we've had some pretty heavy sessions on top of several hard ones last week, and I am a bit bruised and sore, especially my right shin which is quite battered. But it's all good, I love training as much as possible. And now I must go and sort out my horse, and do some work in the garden! Incidentally, I'm in my 50s, so don't let anyone say that just because you're not 21 anymore that you can't train six days!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/470bb480-4714-495b-8522-ae5b854b35b1 Nice little video about a female Muslim MT professional fighter. I've noticed that MT is quite popular with Muslim women; and a colleague of mine has said that a lot of young Muslim girls box. Ruqsana has also designed a hijab for sportswomen. The video is largely concerned with how she felt about being a devout Muslim from a religious home taking on such an untraditional sport. She was afraid that her family would disapprove and kept it a secret for a long time - however the article doesn't go on to say how they did react when they found out - presumably they didn't mind at all seeing as she then went professional and still lives with them! I find it astonishing that she could keep it a secret for so long, bearing in mind she was fighting regularly by then. You'd think they'd have noticed some bruises...!

I would have thought that training in the weather we've had in the UK over the last week would be pretty good preparation in itself!!! :woot:

Interesting. My riding instructor always used to say when something was going Horribly Wrong: "Never mind. So the last stride was rubbish. Forget it, it's gone. Work on the next stride - make that work. If it doesn't, pfft, work on the NEXT one" and so on. Don't look back. Look forward. Always look forward. Happily the religion I espouse says precisely the same thing. So something wasn't how it should have been. Never mind, learn from it. Now is a new day/hour/minute. :woot:

My comment here is not entirely to the point but does tie in with some of the comments made...I wonder if MT in the West is 'struggling' a bit because there is no grading system (like there is for Judo, TKD, BJJ, karate etc etc etc), and as most people will never get the chance to fight or even spar hard against a total stranger it is very hard to judge one's progress and see whether one is improving over time. I'm not saying I'd want to see a grading system (I wouldn't!) but at least in such martial arts instructors can be seen to have a black belt or 'top' grading (althought whether they gained that in a reputable club is another can of worms). This ties in with the the comments about a lot of Western clubs having 'trainers' who aren't necessarily particularly good (someone said 'Anyone can set themselevs up as an MT trainer') and how a lot of trainers look at power or speed first and technique later. I realise how fortunate I am in having a trainer who drums technique and balance first, second, and third; after all a perfectly delivered kick or punch has a tremendous impact even if it was fairly slow and weak. I suppose not enough MT trainers here have had lengthy fighting careers (or even fought at all) whereas any trainer in Thailand would have had years of fights. So inevitably the techniques between Western and Thai fighting are going to be very different. And the goals of the clubs are different too because, as I mentioned above, so few people here will ever get a fight of any description (and many people don't want to either - they do MT for the exercise and fun), whereas it seems that anyone in a Thai gym is almost certainly going to fight. Just my twopennyworth.

Get your money back. You're in the UK, you can use the small claims court if necessary because he has taken your money and not provided the service paid for. The guy doesn't want to train you anymore - ok, fair enough in a way because training is a joint relationship but it would have been courteous of him to explain why (maybe he just felt he wasn't connecting with you) and perhaps put you in contact with another trainer. Crumbs though, you don't want to train with someone who doesn't want to train you, do you?! This guy has done you a favour before you've wasted too much time on him - get out, find a trainer who wants you, and GO FOR IT!!! Try not to feel down about it, I've been 'dropped' by instructors etc over the years from various activities; sometimes they've said why (examples being: 'I'm not getting through to you, I am the wrong instructor for you, try Fred instead', 'Sorry, you have no ability whatsoever and you are frankly wasting your time'), sometimes they haven't, and they've just refused to make the next appointment. Shrug it off. It isn't personal. Find a new trainer. And use the experience for when the new trainer says 'I want that punch to have more power' and put the guy's face where you want to hit hard!

My trainer has me doing both. Sometimes bare handed, sometimes with gloves; both ways sometimes slowly with lots of technique input, or fast and furious, or in play mode! I find it a lot easier without gloves, but gloves are how it would happen in the ring, so I like that we do both. Damn difficult either way! :teehee:

I train with a friend (who is a professional trainer) because I prefer one-to-one training; I do go along to a club occasionally (where again I tend to go for one-to-one training) but they only know of one club that does interclubs and no-one knows when the next one will be. They are more than happy for me to compete - I was supposed to have done so before but one I couldn't make due to other commitments and the next one I was still recovering from major surgery. I can't attend another club except for one-off occasions due to various reasons. Thanks for the info though on clubs that do hold interclubs - I have been in contact!

I've contacted every gym within reasonable travelling opportunities and they have either a) not replied b) said they don't know of any interclubs c) have said 'Oh there's loads on' but refuse to give me any info because I am not a member of their club Oh well. Nuts to it all. I give up. I'll just never get to see if I can hold my own in a decent spar against someone of roughly my height and weight etc.

I've never been concussed through sparring, but plenty of times through riding and general clumsiness (like the time i jumped out of a car and forgot to duck - I smashed my head into the car door frame and not only gave myself a lovely concussion but compressed three of my neck vertebrae to boot). I find I feel pretty washed out for a day or two afterwards, and slightly 'behind events' for a little while. Getting concussed has never stopped me continuing to ride (or, regretfully, stopped me being clumsy) but I wouldn't do anything like drive until I felt I was back on top of things. Obviously though don't continue with any contact sport or risk activities until the concussion is completely cleared up; getting a second one on top of an existing one would be a very bad idea! I doubt getting concussed through Muay Thai would stop me wanting to spar etc - probably would just really teach me to hold a better guard next time!

I'm not surprised you now feel there may be some fear about hurting your nose again...! What rotten luck that the pad caught you like that. I hope your nose is better soon, and that you are able to get back into sparring and pad holding gently so as to rebuild your confidence.

Thanks folks. I know there is an interclub coming up At Some Point at a fairly close location, but don't know the date. It's frustrating because I need to know well in advance because I work weird shifts and need a couple of months' notice (at least) to be able to make sure that I won't be working. Apparently there are loads of interclubs on - but where!!! when!!!

Each person reacts differently to injuries - for example, I tend to keloid and scar really badly. I've been putting BioOil onto my new abdominal scars and so far they are just neat purple lines; it's too soon to know how they're going to appear long term. I've also heard that cocoa butter is good for reducing scars. I put it on my horse (who also scars easily) and there is only a tiny mark where she had her stitches. As for facial scars on women: certainly in the recent past in the UK a facial injury to a woman was granted far greater compensation than a similiar injury on a man! However any surgeon will always try to minimise facial scarring on either sex.

OK, I'm now back after my major abdominal surgery; I've started training and exercising again, and starting to lose the weight I've put on after three months of enforced do-nothingness (God, is it ever hard to start clawing back the ground you've lost!!!!) Anyhoo, my ambition this year is to have an Interclub. Herein lies the problem: I know there are lots of them happening out there, but they don't seem to be advertised at all. Does anyone know of any Interclubs likely to be held sometime between now and end of August in the UK? I would prefer the south or southwest of England, or South Wales. I have been sending out feelers to every club that I can track down, asking them if they know of anything coming up, but does anyone here know of a suitable competition/event I could enter? Thanks in advance! And if anyone else out there has had to stop all exercise for months at a time, take heart, it does all come back...it's just absolutely knackering...

I do pay-as-you-go which is £35 for an hour's me only session.

I'm not so sure about the bit at the end suggesting that it's almost a form of love for your opponent, but I think I see what you're getting at. Frankly I don't fancy MMA because I do quite enough things that court injury without adding that to the list! I didn't much like watching boxing on the TV as a child (I'd sometimes watch with my father) as I didn't understand what it was all about (same reason why I don't like watching athletics and most sports even today) and it seemed like pointless violence. I suspect that's why most people find it hard to reconcile full contact martial arts with not being violent - martial arts are one-on-one with the aim of actually physically defeating your opponent; not a team sport like rugby where the point of the activity is to get the ball somewhere - the injuries happen more as a side effect rather than being the raison d'etre. And in a one-on-one fighting sport it's completely down to the individual's physical and mental power. From an outsider's point of view it IS violent. And let's face it, although many people take up a martial art and find that they love sparring etc, plenty of others enjoy the sport and fitness aspect but hate sparring: in their own words they "don't have the killer instinct". I do think that to enjoy sparring and fighting there has to be something inside you that takes that step. I suspect it's similiar to the 'spark' that makes the difference between the person who enjoys running and the person who does a competitive marathon; between the person who enjoys riding and schooling their horse and the one who competes in horse trials. And, quite rightly, that inner whatever-it-is doesn't necessarily make you a violent person. I can still enjoy flower arranging AND want to kick the **** out of my opponent! People are complex, and being one thing doesn't necessarily make you another (eg you can be religious and also a scientist). I would think that a lot of actually violent people (in the sense of folks who pick on strangers, knock their family members about etc) don't do martial arts of any kind because they are disciplined activities, and randomly violent people usually don't do discipline (nor do they like being hit back, which inevitably happens in a combat sport). A skilled martial artist might perform an act of violence, but I'll bet you it will be controlled, only as violent as it needs to be, and for a damn' good reason. A violent person will be uncontrolled, random, excessive, and for no reason other than "you lookin' at me?"