Muay Thai - Day 426 - PT with Muner at Lamai (kicks, elbows, anger, getting beaten up on the pads)

Day 426 Lamai Muaythai, 1st May 2023 Muner put me in his small four-ounce bag gloves and had very small focus pads. This combination really required accuracy from me in my boxing. Need to get myself some of these gloves when I get back to Sydney - I couldn’t find any in the shops on Koh Samui. Also elastic wrist braces to keep the wrists more rigid were pleasant in combination with the small gloves. The footage today is only at the very end of a long PT, most of it wasn’t captured. Some points: Don’t think mid-move when on the bag or pads. If you need to think, stop, walk back, think, then execute. Thinking is too slow and will interfere with execution. When kicking the bag, kick specific places. Choose high, middle, low, and identify the point on the bag you want to hit. Deliberate, spaced out kicks, emphasising power, speed, accuracy, and most importantly, balance. You can do a right switch kick from orthodox stance by first stepping out wide to the right for an offline right round kick. Balance and range are related. If you kick from the proper range, you will automatically assume a more balanced posture. Up elbows can have different kinds of momentum. More of a slicing upwards motion to target the chin or face, or a forward stab for the face (e.g. temple) or chest - particularly the juicy spot just below the clavicle. Which one you choose also depends on the shape of their guard at the time it is thrown. When moving in for the elbow, be short and close with your footwork - move your back leg in with you. Don’t try to throw elbows from way outside punching range. If they try to step in from too far away, just sweep their lead foot out as it lands - or throw a knee into their belly, or something. Don’t throw elbows at the forehead. If throwing a down elbow, go diagonally for the side of the head, accompanying a step offline. I had a problem with not moving into range on elbows - I was throwing elbows expecting my pad man to reach out to meet them rather than moving forward to hit him. But I should be very aware, there are two different scenarios available here! One: I move towards him to attack with an elbow. Two: he’s moving towards me and I intercept him with an elbow. Distinguish between these cases and the pads might begin to make more sense! I need to stop dropping my hands down after strikes and just pull the hands straight back to the guard in a linear fashion. Same thing on all punches, even crosses to the body and such. An interesting note on pain or anger or I’m not sure exactly what. At 23:18 I get kicked in the face, just above my right eye. This stimulated a seriousness. My movements were much sharper after this little bit of peril. I need to keep this feeling in mind and tap into it when required. But also, even if I’m evading a strike, keep my damn hands up! Things can still get through! When absorbing combinations - keep strong behind the guard, and then when the time is right, throw a counter, especially a low kick. I’m enjoying how Muner hits me with some force. I have to keep my guard up. Later in the day was my first time joining the fighter class. Got obliterated by James and some others. Very hard, right quad taken apart by low kicks. Pain + restricted mobility. Also smacked in the chops many times. Some good advice was given on clinching by Muner and James but other than keep tight with the elbows in and shoulders up it’s hard to piece together exactly what the advice was. A demonstration of how to get an arm to the inside was given at some point. I need to do some study. Anyway, difficult, humbling. I am very much starting at the bottom of the ladder here. Easily the least-skilled and least fit guy and by a good margin. Chapters 0:00 Kicking the bag 5:25 Stretching 7:20 Elbows 15:10 Pads 21:35 Sharp pads with counters