These guys nailed this drill!!
When working in partner drills it is very important to communicate; that way speed, power, and intensity or as we usually call it "hot sauce" are the same on both ends.
Great Job Maria, and Greg! — with The-Dragon Gym.
Visit www.dragongym.com for more information on our Muay Thai Kickboxing Program!
Master Somnath makes it look so easy!
As intended, any good lesson should be as simple as possible.
We are fortunate to have instructors who can actively participate in class, not just talk the talk, but also walk the walk.
Lets hope no one ever catches this reverse jumping roundhouse kick!!!
It was awesome to see we had FIVE instructors supervising the black belt class on Tuesday night!
It is inspiring to have kids come in to the gym as white belts and watch them transform into black belts right under our eyes!
You’ve trained for some time now. Hitting pads with your coach or a partner, pounding the heavy bag like it made fun of your Mom and round after round of shadow boxing and cardio has you one with your skills and ready for the next challenge, sparring. If you’re like most people you have a hard time being organized in thought under pressure and often resort to an all-out offensive when it comes time to tango with a live person.
Don’t worry as I’ve been there, like many people have, and often digress back to my old ways now and again. What I can offer you is the trick I was taught by one of the greatest fighters to ever step into a Muay Thai ring.
Now, this isn’t a quick fix or win-now trick but rather one that, when practiced diligently over time, will yield fantastic results and really take your sparring to the level of learning and growth we all wish for. First let me lay out how sparring takes life in the mind of an average student.
The bell rings and you tough gloves with your partner. You circle left, jab, jab, kick. Feeling pretty good and then boom, you get whacked in the leg or head and forget everything your coach taught you. It’s at this point that most students feel that the proper response to this is to get bouncy and move as if club music was being played at deafening levels. This is a typical response that often leads to injury and discouragement and one that I too experienced when I was a beginner. Not to worry, there is a way to simplify and control this process.
1. Have two techniques you WILL work on in each round. For example, today I will work on my cross to the body and left hook to the head AND kick back when I get kicked.
2. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. I say this to myself every time I begin a round. Remember that Muay Thai is not a dance competition. In fact, Thai Boxing has a slow rhythm that is best described as ‘smooth swagger’. So the other mental note to think about is to control your movement.
Inevitably, you will meet the same person more than once in a long sparring session and yes, they may begin to figure out that you are doing the same thing over and over again.
For now that is ok and your arsenal will only grow over time.
There is another VERY important thing to know about sparring and this is something that I see is often the root of many injuries, arguments and bad training.
WINNING is NOT the goal of sparring sessions and people who believe this are not fun people to train with. Sparring is a modality used to hone skills in distance, timing, combos and to begin to learn how to put together and execute an actual plan not three minutes of a free-for-all beat down without consequence.
If you want the ability to be controlled, thoughtful and collected while sparring take the time and invest in yourself the tools needed to become successful and confident in sparring.
Coach Lonnie Beck
Head Instructor, Dragon Gym Muay Thai
Last week, on Friday, my wife and I went out to lunch. This is a typical ritual for us. By the end of the week things are winding down at the gym and I can spare a few hours during the day to have lunch with her and my daughter. She had a morning appointment with the chiropractor so we ended up going for lunch earlier than usual.
Normally we head out to some place in Exton and eat around 2pm, but this day it was 12:30pm. Bad idea, the crowds were intense, but we made it work. At the end of lunch, I left them in the restaurant and went to bring the car closer. It was quite far (due to the crowds).
After returning I made a couple of observations.
1. People generally have a really poor awareness of their surroundings.
2. People need to calm down. There stores aren't going anywhere folks.
3. Courtesy has really atrophied in our society / community.
Let's talk about the 3rd. My seniors have oft lamented that "chivalry is dead". I don't know about that, and maybe that isn't a bad thing. There are some pretty archaic things that go along with "chivalry" and those are best left in the past. However, what about courtesy? I would like to think that is something we can all get back on board with.
Anyway, back to the lunch. When I was leaving, the line was long, blocking the door. No problem, "excuse me", audible and polite. The response: A sideways look and a slight roll of the shoulder. Now, luckily i'm still thin enough to get by, but the two inches you moved your shoulder is not enough to prevent me from invading your personal space to get by. So be it.
It was weird, but that's not what bothered me.
So I run across the parking lot, grab the car and head over to the restaurant. I hop out of the car to give my wife a hand. This is what I see, and my with recognizes the same.
There is a line of youngish (teens through 40s) people blocking the exit / main door to this place. Remember, these people are in line to order. Their hands are empty and are doing nothing but waiting.
Meanwhile, my wife has seen me pull up to the front and she tries to make an escape from the restaurant. She cannot. Remember, we have our daughter with us. She is an infant and needs to be carried. Not only do the folks refuse to budge a foot in line, but no one even offers to hold the door for her. By then, I've made it back into the place and help them get out and back to the car.
Was it a big deal. No, not really at all. However, this is something she notices over and over again when she is out and about the town running errands and such with the kid in tow. People are unwilling to budge and rarely willing to lend a hand.
Well, what does this have to with Martial Arts Training?
A lot actually.
Martial Arts communities tend to have tenets or codes that much of the training is based around. One of tenets is "loyalty to the nation" and another is "courtesy". "Loyalty to the nation" is not mere patriotism, but a recognition that we are part of a community and that the guild of martial artists as some, maybe even greater, responsibility to uphold the quality of that community.
Courtesy follows a similar direction. It is more that being polite. It is about respect, cooperation and social order.
In the dojang (the training hall) we have a lot of rules of etiquette, essentially quirky ways of doing things. Quirky, quite possible, but still important.
What are some of these things?
1. Addressing each other formally --> Sir, Ma'am, and / or traditional Korean Titles like Sahbumnim, or Kyobumnim
2. Bowing
3. The clothing we wear
4. The "language" of training
These are just a few examples but affect the students in an important way. The dojang is different, it is a different kind of place. As a result, students feel a sense of belonging. Here is a group of people that are otherwise very diverse, in all of the normal ways we track such things, but they have come together for a common goal and unified way of doing things.
This sense of community helps them to realize that they are doing something, that they are part of something greater than themselves. And, here's the important part. When the students feel that way, they start to expect more from themselves, both in and out of the training all.
When we start to expect more from ourselves we start to expect more from each other.
Maybe it's time to start expecting more from each other.
Which means it's time to start expecting more from ourselves.
Somnath Sikdar
Master Instructor, Dragon Gym
