I went to the Muay Thai class today. New things are always a stressful time. This was newer than most. It is completely unlike any martial art I’ve ever done. I think it must be like boxing. I did the usual stretches and warm up, then the instructor had me do a jab, a left/ right combination, knee strike and a pushing front kick. Then it was timed intervals against someone with pads calling out each move and moving around, so I was constantly moving and having to punch, kick, and knee. The few minute (I wasn’t wearing a watch obvs, and there is no clock in the gym) intervals were exhausting. There were an even number of fighters there and me, so they had me do one interval while someone sat it out, then I’d cycle for an interval, then back fighting again. I can see why MT is so effective. It’s actual fight training from lesson one.
No disrespect to the other martial arts I’ve done, the black belts are all scary, but in my experience it takes ages for the lesson to work as a fighting system. You go to the dojo, warm up, do a kata, then do specific drills each week. The trouble is it’s a different drill each week. For a noob it’s confusing and you don’t retain much beyond the basic principles of the moves. And you do a bit of light sparring every now and then. Eventually it all must gel.
I swear down though, in that one session today I must have thrown more punches than in 18 months of Taekwondo. That is what makes it such a real world fighting system. If you repeat a move often enough it becomes muscle memory. And the fitness needed is extraordinary.
I have high hopes for this one. It’s a great beasting, (which I enjoy) it’s tons of repetition of real world skills, and the training is all real. You don’t have to wait for it to make sense. Also they seem to ask for bookings in advance, which plays to the strategy I employed for the swim sessions: book it the night before, when it’s future-me’s problem, then I have to go. And curse past-me’s betrayal. I never missed a booked swim. Also there were only 6 men and 2 women there today. That’s not a overwhelming mass of people who’s names I’ll never remember. I’ve already got the names of the main bloke, the instructor and one, possibly another 2, of the fighters. This is all do-able.
They reckon that it takes 3 years to get to black belt. That’s not so bad. I’m officially adding it to my life goals. Knee-down, sub 3, LEJOG, black belt. It is something I’ve wanted all my life. Well, for as long as I’ve known what it was. I could be 3 years away from achieving it. Perhaps that would even be something I could feel proud about. Apart from the cost (£12.50 a lesson) there is absolutely no downside. Confidence, adding to my fitness for my other goals, and not being cowed by the threat of nazis on the streets.
Cool.
…
Next day.
As I said before, you have to book the next lesson in advance. They asked me last night when I wanted to train, so I said today. There is no 10.30 lesson on a Wednesday so I had to do the 18.45. I was all giddy and up for it. Then I woke up this morning feeling stiff and sore. All day long I’ve been dreading it. It was so, so hard graft. And that was when I was fresh. I didn’t know if I’d be able to do it when I was so stiff. I avoided doing a run or a bike all day, I was stressed about getting sufficient calories inside of me, so I spent all day in limbo waiting for the evening session. Happily the system worked. I booked it while I was buzzing, so had to go even though I was dreading it.
Huge relief!
Yes, it was intensely hard work and I was soaked in sweat and knackered, but it was do-able. Not the impossible session I’d built it up to be in my mind. I’m available to work until Monday so I’ve booked that lesson, another 18.45 start. I’ll do a run in the morning this time. It will de-stress me and it won’t feel like I’ve wasted a whole day waiting to train.
It’s back on.
I got my kit today. Club T-shirt, short and hoodie, white belt, boxing gloves and ankle supports. With my club membership and martial arts insurance, £175! Ker-ching! Still, that’s me for a while. When I progress to free sparring I’ll need another £300 of kit (head guard, elbow and shin pads, different gloves) But for now it’s just the price of lessons. Hopefully I’ll get my first belt by the end of the year.