2 posts tagged “muay thai”
Well, this was what it said on my shirt when I attended my Muay Thai class the other week (I missed this week's class). I got there very late, no thanks to the traffic in Ortigas and my hectic work schedule.
I'm finally getting the hang of doing my own handwraps, thanks to Maynard for helping me out this time.
Come and get me.
I still have to get my own gloves..in purple!
I was improving on my kicks this time. Well they tried to get a decent shot but well these are the best ones.
I'm so into this sport right now and I can't wait for this week's session. I hope to build my endurance and stamina as well as strength so that I can learn to defend myself. I wonder when we'll learn to tackle and grapple.
Just to give a little background, Muay Thai is referred to as "The Art of the Eight Limbs," as the hands, shins, elbows, and knees are all used extensively in this art. A practitioner of Muay Thai ("nak muay") thus has the ability to execute strikes using eight "points of contact," as opposed to "two points" (fists) in Western boxing and "four points" (fists, feet) used in the primarily sport-oriented forms of martial arts. Well that's how Wikipedia says it anyway.
I attended my first session last week without knowing anything about the sport. I arrived 15 or 20 minutes late (guess why) and donned my leggings and shirt ensemble. My first hurdle, I didn't know how to put on my hand wraps properly, much less doing it alone. It's a good thing the trainer offered to show me how. I don't think I was able to memorize the proper steps but I'm sure I'll get it in time.
The class was small, during that time we were only 7, two girls and five guys. I was there with my bestfriend and his wife.
As with any sport, we needed to do proper stretching. I didn't have much
trouble catching up. Mostly we worked on flexibility and control. It's a good
thing that I did yoga months before because the stretching exercises were a
breeze for me. After stretching, since I was the newbie they had to assign a
person to teach me one-on-one about the basics of muay thai. The first thing he
showed me was the proper fighting stance. I tried to mimic how he looked as best
as I could, sans the feeling that I looked ridiculous (which they assured I do
not). I had trouble at first because I was so conscious with keeping the form
but in the end I got used to it somehow. Next they taught me how to do straight
and jab punches. Hooboy, my punches were weak during the first tries but it got
stronger as I tried a few more. I also learned how to do left and right hooks
and uppercuts. Whoopie! My arms were feeling stronger. Next I tried out some
kicks. The kicking exercises were fun except that I was growing a blister on my
big toe and I was having a hard time because it hurt a lot. I kicked high for a
beginner. Yay!
There was a one-on-one review after the group exercises. I punched and kicked as hard as I could. They told me the trick was to channel my anger to my punches and kicks. Hahaha but it worked!
At the end of the session, my body wasn't surprisingly sore but I felt the effects a day after. It was a new and refreshing experience for me.I'm definitely going to keep this up. Next time I’m going take pics.
Time to buy purple gloves!!!
