You can’t help but Feel like You’re fighting

On my wall in my room, I have flyers for Muay Thai fights that I wanted to attended or fights that I have attended.

I’ve seen five of my friends compete in a legit Muay Thai bout and it was an accelerating experience.

My first fight was to see Anthony Cardoza of Sityodtong L.A. in Saugus, CA. I was on the edge of my seat by the third round because I knew it was going to be close. I was getting too nervous to continue taking pictures for the event. Anthony may have lost the fight, but I was still extremely impressed with his performance.

Glen Spencer Jr. was next and I was also quite nervous as well because the first round he wasn’t doing much. But once he started throwing the knees, one right after each other, sending his opponent to the ground, I was inspired to see myself one day, as the last one standing in the ring.

The Budo Ryu, my gym here in San Luis Obispo had three of their fighters compete on December 11 of last year. It was a low key smoker fight in Lompoc, (my friend Mimi and I got lost getting there).

The fight that meant the most to me was Jessica Chan because I had helped her train for it.

When her opponent walked into the room, I was super nervous for Jessica because this girl had tattoos on her legs. It’s one thing to have tattoos on your arms, but if you have tattoos up and down your legs, you must be an all around bad ass.

Helping Jesscica train for her fight, I knew she was extremely grateful because she took the time to thank me for helping her after our workout.

I remember KT Streder telling me that when she was helping Geri Ooi for a fight, and Geri’s opponent didn’t show up, KT also felt cheated because of how much work she put in helping Geri. I felt the same way with Jessica. If she had lost the fight, I would’ve felt like I lost the match as well.

Through Jessica’s accomplishment, among Glen’s and every other fighter I have seen, I now want to become a Muay Thai competitor.

It’s a lot of work. I have discussed it with my coach Eric Sandhal more than once and he told me that I would have to treat it as a part time job, that’s 20 hours a week. I don’t know how many hours I put in for school or even WOW Team alone.

I don’t know when I will be able to start training for fighting. Even if I do start training at that level, there is no guarantee that I will get a fight because it’s much harder for girls to find a match up than for men for obvious reasons. My only reason to start fighting is because I want to start teaching classes.

I mean, yeah sure, it would be cool to have a fight record, but I’d rather spend more time teaching other students on how to empower themselves in the art of eight limbs.

Sleeping Tiger Fitness got me To a Size 9 and counting down.

So I have these jeans, that I haven’t been able to wear since my sophomore year of high school. I’m now a sophomore in college. Four years ago, I was into heavy metal and anime. I wasn’t very physically active, aside from my aerobics class, (which looking back at it, makes me laugh.) And my eating habits were better than most, but they still had room for improvement.

Now, as a sophomore in college, I’m into electro music and media law and able to fit into these jeans from Gap, size 9.

I still remember the day I bought them. I was at the Santa Anita Mall with my grandma and we were just shopping together. I took the jeans off the rack because they were on sale. I had also grabbed this leafy green skirt just for fun as well. It was a size 8. I had tried the jeans on and the skirt and they both fit perfectly. (Aside from the skirt, it pops out in the back because of my huge ass.)

After that, I had gained enough weight to upgrade my jean size to an 11, then to a 13, by my senior year of high school. During my first year of college, there wasn’t much of an improvement. The jeans lay dormant in my dresser. Every time I opened that drawer, I frowned because, at one point, I could fit into those jeans and feel good about myself, but I had let myself down and re-gained all that weight again.

Enter Nathan Zimmerman, KT Streder, and their Sleeping Tiger Fitness program.

Within one month, I knew I was losing fat and gaining muscle. I noticed my arms were becoming more sculpted and my calves were looking bad ass. I had more confidence in my body image to wear this extravagant golden zipper bodysuit from American Apparel for Halloween.

Sleeping Tiger Fitness is probably the best investment I made in weight loss. I’ve had a personal trainer before and as awesome as she was, the results weren’t as successful. And I’m not being bias.

The way it works is Nathan or KT survey their clients as they work at one of the eight stations. There are four exercises, each one lasting for thirty seconds with a fifteen second break between each one. So it may not seem too bad at first, but the second time around the circut, I’m tired.

My shirt is sweaty, but when I’m a station with weights or kettlebells, I don’t go for the lighter weight, I got for the heavier one because I want to challenge myself to get stronger. Some of the exercises are from hell, others are kinda cool when you realize that you can do them.

Since starting this program, I felt like I had to challenge myself to actually get results. In a way, I feel that Nathan and KT set up the program to get you to challenge yourself without even realizing it.

For example, I challenged myself with rope climbing. The ropes and I have been enemies since middle school. And my determination was so great, even Nathan could feel my burning fervor to get to the top of that rope.

The day I did reach the top of the rope, I was flabbergasted. I couldn’t believe I was at the top of the rope. There was no bell to ring, just me to soak in the fact that I can climb ropes now. But as I put down one challenge, another arises.

Chin ups. Back in middle school, I could only do one. Now I can three. It’s a start and I’m sure I’ll be pumping out six or seven in no time.

To find out more about this worthwhile program, you can check out Nathan’s Sleeping Tiger blog here.

A Plateau of Constant No Progress

This is more of a rant, than an “official” blog post.

Yesterday, I was at my Muay Thai I and II class. And we were just doing drills and what not; kicking shields and doing combos and such on the Muay Thai pads. Every time I do a right round kick, there is always something wrong. I’m either too close or my left foot isn’t pivoting enough. I only make a pivot to a 45 degree angle instead of the full 90 degree. And when I feel that I am moving my foot to the full 90, it’s not, it’s only to like 70 degrees.

On top of that, when I was sparring with Nikki, (bless her), Eric was telling me not to let her push me. Pretty much just learn to take a punch. Which is hard to learn when the one reason you’re family discourages you from Muay Thai/Boxing because of brain damage.

And wait! There’s more! I need to relax when I spar. According to Eric, I’m, “Happy Feet”. He always tells me that I need to relax more and I feel like I’m letting him down every time he has to tell me that.

It was when my hooks were being mistaken for an elbow and when Nikki was getting in all the combos and I was only getting in a jab after I had leg checked that I had realized that I wasn’t making any progress for the past week.

I’ve reached that plateau that people run into when their trying to loose weight. It’s like that last pound of fat your body is holding onto desperately because it’s paranoid that there’s going to be a famine and you won’t be getting any food. But instead, I’ve reached the point where I feel like I’m holding myself back from getting any better. I’m stuck here at this point where I can’t rotate my hips enough, turn my foot far enough, or bend my elbow far enough.

The day before, in my western boxing class, we were doing wall climbers and then straight to push-ups or some unforgiving warm up involving upper body and resisting gravity. The point is, I was tired as hell and ready to take a break. I don’t remember what Coach Darby had said exactly, but it was something along the lines of making the decision to “take a break” was all mental and we really didn’t need a break. It was all mental.

If it is all mental and all in my head, I hope that through making a list of things I need to work on will improve things.

Pivoting my foot with roundkicks.

Keeping my elbow at a 90 degree angle for hooks

RELAXING!!!

Not always circling your opponent, but taking some to land some.

Keeping my hands up

R-E-L-A-X!!!

Driving my hips

Stay on the balls of my feet.

At the end of the night, when I was unwrapping my hands, everyone I was working with told me I did well. I honestly begged to differ. But those who were telling me otherwise are the experts. I would’ve been lectured if I didn’t do a good job last night. The only thing left for me to do is to listen carefully, relax, take my time and keep coming in. It’s the only way I can get better.

Back to the Budo Ryu Routine

You always return to your roots. No matter what.

Even though I never really left San Luis Obispo, I’m now back and settled in my new home that is too bitter to be called bittersweet.

The important part is that I am now a member of the Budo Ryu. Instead of spending several hours watching students throw combos and leg checks for my journalism class, I am now there with them.

The time I spent at Sityodtong was no where near in vain. Kru Eric Sandalh invited me into Muay Thai Level 2 class upon asking me how my training at Sityodtong went. I can only image what my face must have looked like when he asked me that.

On my first day back under Eric’s instruction, he asked Geri Ooi, a well decorated fighter and instructor to be my partner for the day. Sure I was intimidated, but Geri’s vibe and personality completely smashed my anxiety. I don’t know how old she is, but she could definitely pass for a college age student with her zesty attitude and straight-forward diction.

Having Geri as a partner was a privilege and an honor. (As is anything with Muay Thai.) Her instruction was extremely helpful and blunt, which I always appreciate. When I did something wrong, she corrected me with a witty comment and smile. She didn’t hold back when I was holding the pad for her; something I should expect if I aspire to attended the Level 3 classes. Her knees had so much power, I felt like my spleen, (or some internal organ of mine), had ruptured. My abdomen was is in so much pain that when I got home, I couldn’t finish my bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats. And who am I to turn down a bowl of cereal.

I do admit, switching from a northern Thai boxing stance, to a traditional boxing stance, and now back to a northern stance is hard to adjust to. And it’s not just the stances that take sometime to getting used to.

Training at the Budo Ryu during the school year is much more different from training at Sityodtong during the summer. At the summer months at Sityodtong, things felt more relaxed, but extremely disciplined. My Fall quarter here at the Budo Ryu is swift, but on target.

As soon as school began, I was only able to come into the gym about three times that week due to WOW Week and start of the quarter celebrations. Nathan Zimmerman, threw me a comment that made me feel guilty about how long it was taking for me to get into a routine. I then remembered something I read on Sityodtong’s website. It basically said that if you can’t come into their gym at least twice a week, they don’t want you coming at all.

Muay Thai is a commitment. If you treat it as a workout, come in for five hours a week. If it’s a sport to you, eight hours a week. If it’s your life, you should be in the gym twice a day, two hours each time, five to seven days a week.

Kap Kun Kaa, Sityodtong L.A.

I can’t remember what was going on in my head when I decided to pick Sityodtong L.A. Muay Thai Camp. I was probably too lazy to continue looking for other gyms to train at (This is probably those few times indolent behavior will actually benefit you). Sityodtong L.A. was the best decision I made this summer. It was a stand off decision between continuing my training in Muay Thai or starting something new with Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. I think it was my ambition to become a better kickboxer than my peers back at Cal Poly and my goal to be a total bad ass had something to do with my decision.

My first day was on a Wednesday, a sparring day. Not really the best day for any new person to start a boxing class, but because this is Sityodtong L.A., they are prepared when things like this happen. Of course I was nervous and naturally I was highly intimidated. After doing the warm up with only one hand wrapped, (I was fairly embarrassed to be honest), Kru Walter “Sleeper” Michalowski wrapped my second hand. I wish I took this moment more seriously because at the time, I wasn’t aware of how knowledgeable, experienced, and illustrious Kru Walter is. Spend one class under his instruction and you’ll know that this guy knows his shit.

With each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning class I took under Kru Walter, I had an amazing experience. Any part of the exhausting warm up wasn’t a punishment because I felt that Kru almost treated us as equals. When we’re running laps around the ring, he’s doing his own laps on the treadmill or doing his own round of sit-ups with us as well. The days he doesn’t, he tells us stories; stories from Thailand that leave the same impression as the story of a war hero from overseas. They describe a time before he spoke Thai and how he was forced to learn the language because his coaches didn’t speak English. As the stories progress, you begin to think of him as a war hero who fought overseas and brought home medals. But he’s a different type of war hero because he didn’t come home with the weight of death on his shoulders, just the weight of title belts.

Training at Sityodtong L.A., your peers are also there to coach you. If you’re not popping your heel enough, the Professor will tell you until you will. If you can’t bring your foot back far enough after throwing him in a clinch, David’s going to remind you about it. Ramon won’t hesitate to hit you in the head with the Muay Thai pads if you don’t keep your hands up. If Anthony is padding you, don’t worry if you mess up, he wants you to get the technique down the first round then he’ll burn you out in the second. Kiara is patient and experienced enough to work with any Muay Thai newbie who doesn’t understand how to hold pads for an elbow. Alex and Steve are down to let you take a free swing at them, but do it correctly. Meanwhile, Ako and Tracy are there to cheer you on when you’re ready to quit because they know you still got it in you. And finally Ozzy is there to offer an answer to all your Muay Thai concerns; whether it be about what the hell duck jumps do or if ankle braces are just a placebo or really do help.

The structure of the classes are simple, you warm up, stretch, shadow box, learn a new technique, practice that same technique on the Muay Thai pads, about two to three rounds of kicking conditioning and finally a round of sit-ups, duck jumps, and bam, your done. All within one hour. But once you’re done with the warm up, bust out your towels because you’re bound to be dripping with sweat and it won’t stop there. The conditioning done on the pads is meant to be done hard, quick, and importantly, correctly. That’s where the difference between a kickboxing and a Muay Thai class is: kickboxing is about how many, Muay Thai is about how many, how well, and how powerful. When it comes to mastering these, you loose track of time because your focusing really hard, but mostly because you see Kru watching you. If Kru sees you not doing it right, he will come over and show you how to do it correctly. Beware, he doesn’t hold back.

A gym’s personality and family environment gives credibility to any gym. Sityodtong L.A. welcomed me to their gym and into their family for the swift summer months. Every member has their own character and individual personality that really contributes to distinguish Sityodtong L.A. from other Muay Thai gyms in the area. Go to any 24 Hour Fitness, L.A. Workout, Bally’s, etc. and you wouldn’t feet that same feeling you get from here. Sityodtong L.A. is there to support each other when it’s needed most: doing heavy pad work before a fight, during a fight, or probably even when someone’s getting married. Regardless of the number of members or the fans on Facebook, each Nak Muay, (Thai Boxer) is humble enough to welcome you to the family by greeting you with a “Sa wa dee kop!”

“Just A Girl” in a Muay Thai World

I started going to Sit Yod Tong’s Saturday Muay Thai camp classes. It’s two hours long, so it’s pretty much a sweat fest. You’re practically swimming to get around the gym with the amount of drops of sweat that can be found on the floor.

Aside from that, I was the only girl in the two classes I’ve been to. I’m almost past the point where it doesn’t bother me anymore. When I am the only girl in class, I know that I’ll be working hard and learning a lot today. Mostly because, (no offense to any of the girls), I feel that the guys take Muay Thai much more seriously in the sense that they see Muay Thai as more than a work out. And don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there are TONS of girls out there who see Muay Thai as more than a workout too.

When I am the only female, I call those classes “All But One” classes because ALL of the students are men, BUT ONE: me. I know I’m going to be working hard in All But One classes because the boys aren’t going to go easy on me because I’m a girl. If my partner is a guy and he’s holding the Muay Thai pads, I know he’s going to make me work each during two minute round. And he will counter-attack or try and hit me when my hands are down. Importantly, he will stop and correct me when I’m doing something wrong. But even more importantly, he’s PATIENT with me. When I spar with guys, it’s kind of awkward ’cause for one thing, I think that most guys don’t want to spar with girls because well, they’re girls. Hell, if I was a dude, I’d be afraid to spar with a girl unless she was my good friend. But when I do spar with boys, there is gender equality; they still make hard contact when they hit you. My own personal favorite of why I like All But One Classes is that classes are an eye candy sweet shop. I can go on and on about the boys in my Muay Thai class, but we’ll save that for another post.

This past Saturday, I met this guy named Alex. He just started Muay Thai not too long ago like me. We sparred together and he stopped to let me take a few hits at him and he even encouraged me to hit hard. (Which I never do.) Once sparring was done, we began clinching and Alex taught me a technique on how to get out of clinch. The idea is when your opponent has you locked in the clinch and he’s kneeing you, catch his knee and sweep his feet from under him. So by some crazy twist of Fate, Alex had me in a clinch and he came into knee me. I caught it, and swept his feet, and BAM! He fell hard onto the floor.

Suddenly everyone in the ring stopped what they were doing and looked at us. Even June, (who is a female Muay Thai Instructor and all around Martial Arts bad ass), stopped her conversation to see what happened. All the guys who were in the ring made that “Oohoooii” thing that they do when something big happened. Then came the applause, followed by June calling out, “Good job, Alice!!!” I was so happy and proud of myself, I totally forgot to help Alex up.

On the way home, No Doubt’s Just a Girl came on the radio. I listened to the lyrics and thought about how society has set girls up to be treated delicately. I bet for some guys it would be hella weird to clinch with a girl. I bet for some guys it would be weird to spar with them, or embarrassing for a guy to be knocked to the floor by a girl. Just a Girl made me hope that just because I’m a girl, you won’t go easy on me. Because I take Muay Thai just as seriously and going easy on me won’t make me a better fighter.

These Questions will Have to Wait

There is one thing my grandpa will always say to me and it will always be true.

“You have rocks for brains.”

(Sure beats having shit for brains.)

I don’t know what I was thinking when I was packing up my things in SLO and didn’t put my voice recorder in the bag of things I will be taking to my grandma’s house. Because of this stupid stupid mistake, I am missing out on amazing chance to interview experienced fighters who have actually trained in Thailand and are active fighters.

Kru Walter, of Sityodtong LA has amazing stories. They’re the kind that make you admire the storyteller for what he’s accomplished and worship him for what he’s seen. You also get an idea of what you could be getting yourself into if you chose to train in Thailand.

Each time Kru finishes a story, I want to continue asking him more questions on the subject, but I can’t because we have class.

So I’ve decided to compile a list of question I would ask Kru Walter the next time I’m in the 626 with a recording device.

1. How did first discover Muay Thai?
2. What made it more appealing to you than any other sport you’ve done?
3. Where did you start training at?
4. How did you get the opportunity to train in Thailand for the first time?
5. Can you tell about your first fight?
6. What was your highest and lowest point in your fighting career?
7. Do you feel that Muay Thai or just boxing in general has a negative image in the US?
8. Have you taught at other places aside from Sityodtong?
9. What do you want your students to gain out of your teaching?

Most likely, more will be added.

The Sun Never Sets for Me and Muay Thai

I’m not done with MMA, let alone Muay Thai.

I’m just done with the mandatory 400 word count blogs and the deadlines that come with it.

I started this blog out for my Journalism class. It was multimedia based journalism and prior to that, I thought blogging was ridiculous. But I learned so much out of this blog, that this summer, I decided to continue my Muay Thai training.

Although I am not residing in San Luis Obispo this summer, I was able to find a gym in my hometown of Pasadena.

Sityontong L.A. is one of those few gyms found in the United States that actually has a branch in Thailand. One of the reasons why this gym is legit is because the gym is associated with Kru Yodtong Senanan. He’s a big name in Muay Thai. According to one of the instructors of Sityontong, Kru Yodtong will get recognized on the streets on the occasion. That’s how big he is.

Intimidation was an understatement for what I was feeling when I walked into the gym. However, the vibe given off by those residing inside was the absolute opposite. The instructors approach you before you approach them and make sure that you’re all set before a class.

The best part I get out of this gym is that the way you are taught here in L.A. is similar to the way you would be taught in Thailand. Granted, this was another plus for me because I aspire someday to study abroad in Thailand and hopefully train there as well.

The training here is hard. It makes me proud to be a part of such a hard sport and I feel I get bragging rights that come with the sport. If I were to tell someone that I practice Muay Thai, and they know what it is, that person is automatically impressed and thinks of me as a bad ass.

Uniform requirements are established and I finally have my own pair of Muay Thai shorts. I look forward to showing them off in the Fall in addition to what I learn from Sityontong.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the Soft Art

Jermey and Caleb Lopez are both instructors at the Budo Ryu teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a ground art that can be used by small people against bigger people.

Muay Thai with Eric Sandahl, pt. 2

If you’ve come here to get a workout, you’re in the wrong place. The Budo Ryu’s Muay Thai class is not a place to get a workout. It’s for those who want to learn about Thailand’s culture, how Muay Thai is a big part of the nation and learn Muay Thai. Be wary: Muay Thai is not a sport for everyone. It’s for those who are willing to get beaten and battered.

Known as the “Art of Eight Limbs”, Thai boxers have been known, unlike western boxers and kickboxers, to be able to utilize their knees and elbows in addition to hands and feet. “They developed most of their technique to use their elbows which would cut very similar to a sword or create the same kind of traumatic damage.” Sandahl says about the historic Thai soldiers who used Thai boxing on the battlefield.

Muay Thai in Thailand is very different from the Thai boxing done here in the states. The fighters in Thailand start as young as 8 years and compete once they’re 12, but once they hit 25 years of age, they’ve hit the retirement age. “It’s a hard and demanding lifestyle,” Sandahl’s tone in his voice that suggests that he knows how demanding boxing in Thailand alone can become. Boxers from Thailand, and probably from any third world country use boxing as an escape from the poverty that they live in. Boxers in the United States, me included, Thai box because it’s cool.

My original reason to do Muay Thai was to get started in MMA. The only knowledge I had prior about Muay Thai was that it was used by some UFC fighters. I knew I would be learning some pretty awesome techniques that wouldn’t be able to compare to Tae Kwan Do. Once I actually took the course, my reason changed. I now wanted to become an all around bad ass and eventually have to register myself as a weapon because of my knowledge in martial arts.

Sandahl, who has no experience in the ring with MMA, but can hold his ground, stands by the option as Muay Thai good for a stand up fighting style. “I think it needs to have a good blend of western boxing incorporated in it. I really think that’s the one thing Muay Thai itself is lacking It’s just the hand speed and power and unpredictability of western boxers. If you get a really good Muay Thai striker that really understands how to throw their hands, that is one dangerous person on their feet.”

For those who are interested in taking a Muay Thai course, ASI offers Muay Thai as part of their instructional classes. It will return to the course listing in Fall Quarter. If you enroll during the school year, and are interested in continuing, Sandahl, (and me as well), recommends that you enroll at his gym to become a better boxer.