Eric Sandalh, Chief Instructor of the Budo explains how Muay Thai came to be and what it is for the people of Thailand today.
A more detailed post on the topic can be found here.
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Cal Poly’s Muay Thai Student File: Thielk, Aaron
Aaron Thielk was wandering around Cal Poly’s University Union before he found me. It was about fifteen past the hour when he finally called me asking me if I still wanted to interview him. Somehow, he didn’t see me and managed to walk right past me. I didn’t see him either because I was looking down.
Thielk sits down with a recyclable coffee cup in his hand. The way the cup echos once he sets it down, presumes that the cup is empty. Whatever he was drinking, isn’t keeping him awake. He slouches in the chair, eyes slightly glazed over, distracted by what is over my left shoulder.
This “zombie” like behavior is similar to the way he was acting towards the end of Winter Quarter. It’s also the reason why I didn’t see so much of him during the last Muay Thai classes we took that quarter.
He’s been practicing martial arts since he can remember, mostly because his older brother started out before. Thielk says his brother didn’t motivate him to join a martial art, but it was more his Dad who pushed him to be as active as his older brother. Practicing Isshin-ryū karate, Thielk developed a strong sense of competition. He would compete in tournaments as young as 12 years of age and bring home numerous trophies. “I didn’t realize it, but I went to more competitions than anyone else in the entire [dojo],” he says, rubbing his chin as he realizes his accomplishments as a young child.
There is a sense of missing Isshin-ryu karate; however Thielk is too busy with a indolent lifestyle to get back into the art. He does admit to wanting to get back into the style, but since he moved out to California from New York, it wasn’t easy for him to a dojo that he liked. The fact that he wasn’t able to find the right dojo contributed to his losing interest in the sport. Not even Cal Poly’s Shorin-ryu class could bring Thielk back to the karate side.
“I took a class of Shorin-ryu and it was too strict and almost old fashioned, and [Muay Thai] seemed a lot free flowing and less structured. I guess that’s what I was looking for after all those years of doing something like Shorin-ryu. I was looking for something with a self-defense in a fighting style.”
Similar to what Wukadinovich said, Thielk believes Muay Thai to be more practical than karate. “Sometimes, specially with the katas, it’s very showy. Muay Thai is very to the point and no wasted emotions.”
Although is not a member of The Budo Ryu, he would like to be a member. When? Not even he knows. He doesn’t even know when his last final is for Spring Quarter. For now, Thielk is taking it a day at a time and hopefully when that day comes for him to enroll in the Budo Ryu, he won’t be needing a cup of coffee.
Cal Poly’s Muay Thai Student File: Wukadinovich, Thomas
Thomas Wukadinovich is a second year Civil Engineer at Cal Poly and took Muay Thai for the first time during Winter Quarter of 2010. Listen to him describing his experience with the art and where he would like to be to go with it, even though he doesn’t think of the future too much.
Cal Poly hosting MMA Benefit Match
When I first saw these fliers on campus that looked like it was advertising a MMA match, I only thought, “Oh hey! Another cool poster to snag!” But then I noticed that it had the colors green and gold on it. The next thing that went off in my head was, “What?! Could Cal Poly could be hosting a MMA cage fight?!” Sure enough, they are.
This coming Saturday May 22, Cal Poly’s wrestling will be hosting “Fight for Wrestling”, a benefit MMA event that will be supporting Cal Poly’s current Wrestling program. Wrestling hopes to raise $75,000 to secure a future for the Wrestling program that looks like it’s in jeopardy.
Aside from raising money for wrestling, Fight for Wresting is going to be the first professional MMA event held on a college campus and in San Luis Obispo County.
Those who are only familiar with big time MMA names should note that UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, (and who also happens to be a Cal Poly graduate), Chuck Liddel will be making an appearance. Founding member of MMA, Jeff Blatnick will be in attendance as well.
The actual contenders of the of the night include students of Cal Poly such as Mike Gahan, a third year Wine and Vit major, who will be making his professional MMA debut in Mott Gym. Corby Poulis and Sam Temko, (a former Cal Poly wrestler) will be fighting out of gyms in the county Half Moon Bay and Hitman Training Center, respectively. while three others, Brandon Drucker, Preston Scharf, and Terry Cook will be fighting out of SLO Kickboxing.
Lady fighters Casey Noland and Jenny Trujillo who will also be competing that night. Noland is a Cal Poly graduate herself and still has connections to the campus with her parents who teach on campus and coach wrestling.
Many of the wrestlers who are competing were former Cal Poly students and also a part of the school’s wrestling team.
Other events to gain more of the public attention include an open workout to the public on May 11 at SLO Kickboxing. Downtown Brew hosted a “beauty pagent” of some sort for the next MMA ring girl on May 14. The official weigh in for the matches will take place this coming Friday, May 21 also at Downtown Brew at 3 p.m.
Admission for the general public is $35, with a valid Cal Poly ID, admission costs $25. In addition, there will be a Reserved Bleachers, Floor, and Chairback seating for $55 and VIP Tickets will cost $75.
Doors open at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday.
For more information, you can check out Fight For Wrestling.
Krav Maga is there to defend you.
I still remember the day we started Krav Maga during Winter Quarter Muay Thai. It was the day my usual partners both Aaron and Brandon were absent. When Eric told us to find a partner and get a kick shield I scanned the area looking for a potential partner.
This guy was in front of me, and he was also in a dispute about partners with some of his friends. I don’t remember the exact situation, but one of their friends was missing for the day and this guy in front of me didn’t have a partner.
I decided to be a confident young woman and offer to be this guy’s partner and I am damn glad I did cause this guy was very attractive. It was the best Krav Maga lesson I have had yet because not only was my partner pleasing to the eye and the nicest guy, but Kru Eric was pleased with how I was well I was learning the defensive techniques.
Krav Maga is a fighting style that I like to think of Israeli counter-terrorist stuff. Not only is this statement true, but it makes you look like a bad ass. It gives you a good sense of protection by knowing how to defend yourself through practical situations with practical methods. Krav Maga was developed by Imi Lichtenfeld, an Israeli, but roots of the style can be traced back to Muay Thai therefore making it a hybrid martial art.
Although Krav is not a good idea for something to use in the ring, it’s a great tool to use when you’re on the street. It’s a defensive method used by police forces, Israeli Defense Forces, and even Liam Neeson for his role in the film, Taken.
Nathan Zimmerman of The Budo Ryu and Sleeping Tiger Fitness believes that if any demographic should be learning Krav Maga, it should be females. His reasons are as practical: Krav Maga is a street art and it’s designed to help people survive an attack on the street.
Although I don’t know much Krav, what I do know is how to get out of a choke from four different angles and counterattack. As Kru Eric states, “It’s a dirty art.” Dirty as in the sense that you’re allowed to go below the belt. During drills, Kru Eric instructed us to aim for the chin when we kick because the groin will get in the way first.
Currently, not just in San Luis Obispo, but in all of the central coast, the only school offering Krav Maga is The Budo Ryu. If you would like more information, you can check out The Budo Ryu‘s website and the official Krav Maga Wordwide website.
Fighters In Your Neck of the World
MMA fighters and kickboxers come from all parts of the world. Below are some fighters that are known internationally and some not so much. The map I’ve included shows you the locations they fight out of and then some.
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Megumi Fuji
Megumi Fuji is one of those girls you don’t want to get on the wrong side of. She just comes off as a total BAMF, (urbandictionary.com that if you don’t know what it means). Fighting from Japan, Fuji debuted in MMA in August of 2004. Her style includes Shooto and she carries a black belt not only in Judo, but in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu as well. Fuji competed against Serin Murray and within the first round was able to get Murray to tap out because Fuji had her in an ankle lock.
Melchor Menor:
Melchor Menor proved that Muay Thai is a deadly art on National Geographic’s Fight Science. Born in the Phillipines, Menor fights out of San Diego and unfortunately, isn’t as big of a name internationally as he is nationally. Menor believes that Americans view Muay Thai more of something to stay fit and in shape with and not so much as a sport as would other countries would. Because of this American Muay Thai can’t live up to the Muay Thai of Europe, let alone Thailand.
Masato
He may be retired, but he could probably still beat you clear into the ground. Masato is a kickboxer also from Japan and made his debut in March of 1997. Masato fought in K – 1 (Japanese counterpart to UFC) and carries the title of the title of two K-1 WORLD MAX World tournaments. If you have the chance, take a look at one of his fights, do it. Not only is he extremely fast, but when he lands a punch or a kick, you want to buckle over and die because it looked like it hurt so bad.
Kyra Gracie
Kyra Gracie is a descendent of Helio and Carlos Gracie who started the Brazilian Jiu-jitsu movement. Fighting out of Brazil, Gracie holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and several titles after participating in several competitions and plans on making her debut into MMA sometime in 2011. A neat, but also slow video to watch of her is a Brazilian Jiu-jitsu competition she fought against Fuji. It’s a really slow start, but once you see Fuji struggling to get out of Gracie’s lock, you really understand that there is no perfect fighter.
Andy Souwer
Andy “The Destroyer” Souwer is bringing the heat from Europe. As a Dutch fighter, he is a Shoot boxer who competes alongside Masato. In one of Souwer’s matches against Masato for a K-1 World Max Championship Final is the only time when Masato looks like he’s not in control of the fight. Despite Masato’s gut wrenching push kicks, Souwer’s defense enables him to make it through the fight to victory.
Buakaw Por. Pramuk
Buakaw Por. Pramuk is not the real name of this professional Muay Thai kickboxer, it’s just his fight name that translates to “The White Lotus.” Like most Thai boxers from Thailand, he started at a young age and began to take home some belts from fights done in Thailand. He went on to compete in K-1 and take several titles from fighters such as Masato and Souwer.
Sleeping Tiger Fitness
KT Streder and Nathan Zimmerman are the only two people present at the Budo Ryu on a Friday afternoon. Streder and Zimmerman are both instructors for a new body conditioning program that requires special equipment that you usually wouldn’t use for a workout.
The thing is, other people at the gym have discovered the uniqueness of their equipment and decided to use them without Zimmerman’s or Streder’s permission. Naturally, those who used their equipment didn’t return it to its proper places. Zimmerman and Streder decided to take action after this offense and buy locks and chains to secure their equipment so wandering hands don’t come across them.
The Sleeping Tiger Fitness program, (named after Zimmerman’s fight name) is geared to fighters and non-fighters alike. “So depending on who you are it’s going to be different,” Zimmerman says, going down to his knees after standing for about four minutes. “Obviously we expect more out of the people on [a] fight team than the person who’s coming in to get in shape. We do a lot of stuff that’s gonna be easy to apply to real life and in the ring.”
The structure of Streder’s and Zimmerman’s of program is hybrid of things they have learned from their education as kinesiology students and internships. This is why their program is something they developed on their own, but components are borrowed from what they have learned together.
“The difference is that we’ve been able to manipulate the exercises for specific needs or just to make it better. We have fun with the exercises. They’re not just exercises to us. We’ll just come to the gym and mess around with the stuff and make up new stuff,” Streder says comparing the difference between their program and what she and Zimmerman have learned over the years.
“We’re trying to teach them how use their body correctly at the same time,” Zimmerman adds.
It’s important to know the difference I mentioned earlier between lifting weights for cosmetic reasons and for a fighters reasons. Cosmetic lifting is the type of lifting that can be found at any gym, a body building style of lifting weights intended to get a maximum growth. Fighters need the same amount of muscle strength without the big muscles. They can get that from high intensity resistance muscle training. “You’re lifting heavy weights, but you’re not doing it slowly necessarily,” Zimmerman has now moved to the even more comfortable position of sitting with one leg bent and hugging the other.
So what if you want to get into MMA? Should one hire a professional martial arts trainer?
“If they’re really serious about going into MMA, they need to hire a trainer. They can read books and get an idea of what they should be doing, but the trainer, specially if it’s a college educated trainer, so they should be going for CSCS certified trainer, not just regular personal trainers. [CSCS Trainers] have such a bigger knowledge base and understanding of what it takes to get prepared like that.”
For the college students that can’t afford a specialized personal trainer, (like myself), Zimmerman recommends metabolic exercises. A super high intensity work out that doesn’t involve heavy weights.
Streder gets the gear locked up in time for the 5:30 p.m. Krav Maga class. The two of them move onto another project that involved a wheel, a hammer and hole. From inside the gym, a banging noise is heard until it gets drowned out by the workout music played by both the jiu-jitsu class and Krav Maga lesson.
A hour goes by, and it’s now time for the Muay Thai camp class to begin. Zimmerman has his hands wrapped up in distinguishable colored green wraps. Zimmerman then jogs to across the gym floor to the locker to get to the gear Streder had locked up earlier. He sits there fumbling, with the lock trying to get it open.
After numerous failed attempts, Zimmerman calls out to Streder saying something along the lines if she remembers the combination to the lock. Streder comes over commenting on Zimmerman’s short term memory and only takes two tries to get the lock to open.
For those interesting in trying out Sleeping Tiger Fitness program, the first class is free. For more information, you can check out The Budo Ryu‘s website and look under the programs they offer.
Gloves and Mouthguards
I have pink MMA gloves.
I still remember the day I bought them. I was at a Big 5 Sports store the Saturday before I was to leave for the Winter Quarter preparing for my Muay Thai class. The ASI website said that boxing gloves and hand wraps are required for this class; however, the one thing I remember was being slightly intimidated by the numerous types of boxing gloves available.
ASI said I needed boxing gloves, but were they the same boxing gloves that western boxers use? From what I’ve seen on TV, those fighters were using what looked like kickboxing gloves. But I was watching MMA on TV, not Muay Thai.
My next step was asking a sales associate what gloves I should get. He told me to get the kickboxing gloves for some reason I cannot recall. So I bought the pink kickboxing gloves, (They were pink because a percentage of sales was going to breast cancer research) and black hand wraps because I thought pink and black was a spunky combination.
When my Muay Thai class called for use of boxing gloves because of the actual sparring we were going to do, I was going up against students who were using legitimate boxing gloves. I was anxious about getting beaten up badly because they’re gloves were five times the size of mine and the boys wearing them were also twice my size. My partner Manuel actually hit me, (on accident of course; his excuse was that his arms are too long.) in the jaw. I wasn’t wearing a mouth guard and my biggest fear is losing my teeth. I held my hand up to stop him as I checked myself. I still had all my teeth and the pain was already starting to fade.
I could handle a punch from a 16 ounce boxing gloves. Granted the punch isn’t a powerful one.
Buying MMA or any type of martial art gear can be challenging, specially if you are new to the art, or if you’ve only done a style that requires gear or equipment that isn’t very specialized, such as Tae Kwan Do.
Hand gear, (to me at least), are the most important thing when it comes to martial arts, second to mouth guards. There are more than twenty bones within our hands and they are pretty delicate so it’s important to know what to purchase.
You want to be sure and get hand wraps. That’s you base when it comes to hand protection. Hand wraps come in all kinda of colors and lengths, but I suggest getting the 180” because of the extra padding will give you better protection for your knuckles and wrists. A brand I recommend is PRO, but I do not recommend Everlast. They don’t last, ever.
Picking out your glove really depends on what style you will be doing. For Muay Thai, boxing gloves are used, but for MMA, MMA gloves will be used. In Muay Thai, if you are a beginner, start out with 12 ounce gloves and then later upgrade to the 16 ounce glove. MMA gloves are lighter and the fingers are free for grappling. When picking your gloves, be sure and have your hand wraps with you when you try on your gloves so you know how snug it’s going to fit with the wraps on. Leather gloves are also the best option for both Muay Thai and MMA gloves.
Mouth guards. They’re there to prevent your teeth from cutting your mouth up and to absorb any trauma. Mouth guards can be either single, only protecting the top row of teeth; or double, protecting both top and bottom. Eric Sandahl, a Krav Maga and Muay Thai of the Budo Ryu believes that the double mouth guard to not be that much better than a single. I chose to use the double because I am very paranoid about my dental health.
The last thing I am going to leave you with is to not be stingy when it comes to buying gear. Would you rather pay $30 for MMA gloves, or a $100 emergency room hospital bill because you were too cheap to by a good pair of gloves?
The Budo Ryu
It’s the start of many lovely Friday afternoons that become a precursor to the coming summer months. Winter has retreated and the weather is getting significantly warmer compared to the average 60 degrees San Luis Obispo has been braving for what seemed long enough. This amazing April weather is a reason why the main floor of a martial arts gym on South Higuera is next to empty.
There’s a Krav Maga class scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m., but it’s already well past the start time and the instructor is running late. However, it appears that what few students that decided to sacrifice their beautiful Friday, are used to a delayed instructor.
Andrew Sullivan, 26, and Seth Hutchinson, 33, both live in San Luis Obispo, seem indifferent about their choice of coming to class today as they grab jump ropes and begin with their warm up. Joseph Barnash, a third-year civil engineer, also joins in with Sullivan and Hutchinson in the warmup after taking a couple punches at a nearby punching bag.
A door in the back opens and in walks Eric Sandahl and a white curly haired dog at his heels. He’s wearing an olive Krav Maga shirt and a pair of surfing shorts that match his shirt. The students continue warming up, but watch their instructor in anticipation, waiting for instructions for the rest of the warmup. After speaking with a friend, Instructor Eric, or Kru Eric as he is formally called, tells his students to begin choking drills.
In the room where Kru Eric walked through, there is another class going on, but the instructor also appears to be missing.
Everyone who is present is warming up for a Brazilian Jiu-jitsu class. A man in red and black shorts is doing deadlifts with what appears to be 200 pounds. He finishes and moves to a smaller but still loaded, weight to do bicep curls. He carefully watches his stance in the mirror, all while making faces as his muscles feel the burn. Besides him is another man in white shorts, also doing bicep curls and making faces in the mirror with each repetition. A young woman moves towards the punching bags near by the man in red and black shorts. Behind them are two young men doing sit ups with a medicine ball. Another man doing a cardio exercise consisting of dropping into a squat, throwing you legs back to perform a push-up, then returning back into the squat to proceed into jumping in the air.
This continues for another five to seven minutes, and the instructor has still not made themselves present. Or have they?
Andrew Kader is a second year business major and is late for his Krav Maga lesson. Kru Eric is lenient and doesn’t pressure him as he casually wraps his hands. Kru Eric’s dog, Miles wanders around the gym floor, doing his best not to be trampled on as the Krav students spar with each other. The dog senses the hostility on the floor and gravitates to the relaxed environment radiating from Kader. Miles sniffs Kader, pauses to watch him wrap his hands and lays down next to him.
Once the warm up is finished for the jiu-jitsu students they all work together to return the warm up equipment. The man in the black and red shorts proceeds to take off his damp shirt and continues to put the gear away with the others. Once all the gear is cleared from the floor the students partner up and begin wrestling with each other. However, the man in the black shorts doesn’t find a partner. With a clean shirt on his back, he watches the others wrestle with each other.
Caleb Lopez, 29, is today’s Brazilian Jiu-jitsu instructor.
This is just another Friday at Kru Eric’s gym, the Budo Ryu. What began as friends training in Kru Eric’s garage with beaten kick shields and a punching bag, became a 20,000 square feet business offering classes in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and proudly has the title of the only gym on the central coast that offers Krav Maga.
Mixed Martial Arts Varies by Nation
Remember that company based in Las Vegas that reclaimed mixed martial arts when Senator McCain wanted it out? Zuffa, LLC is the big cheese company that runs and manages pretty much anything related to the acronym UFC. Ultimate Fighting Champion is considered a “registered trademark” and “brand” that started in 2001 with intentions to reconstruct MMA into an organized combative sport. It is now being broadcast on PPV channels and on cable channel Spike TV.
Ask anyone and they would agree that MMA is a growing sport not only in America, but internationally as well. MMA’s start in the early 90′s not only got things started in the U.S., but it other places around the world such as Japan and Brazil.
Shooto, (pronounced shū-to), or Shoot, is the Japanese counterpart to MMA. It originates as far back as the late 1980′s giving it the bragging rights as the first mixed martial arts system out there. It’s creator, Satoru Sayama, was considered an expert shoot wrestler long before he even had thought of the idea of Shooto. Aside from training in Muay Thai, he was a practitioner of Catch-as-Catch can wrestling and Russian Sambo.
When Sayama started to think of what he wanted out of this new form of combative martial art, he wanted the fighters to be “utilizing kicking, punching, kneeing, evasion and footwork.” This combative sport then could be moved to the ground, (if either of the fighters hasn’t been knocked out during the boxing part of the match), where submission and grappling skills will be the determining factor of the bout.
In this next chapter in MMA around the world, we’re going to learn some Portuguese. Vale tudo, is Portuguese for “anything goes”, as in anything goes in this international mixed martial art. Helio Gracie, one of the original practitioners of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, helped establish Vale Tudo not only in Brazil, but in other parts of the world as well. However, unlike Shooto or MMA, Vale Tudo has very few rules, including no gloves, no rounds, no time limit, and the only two options you have to end a match is by knock out and submission. The only interference from the referee aside from calling a fight, is when fighters appear to be hanging around the walls of the cage for too long.
Vale Tudo I feel to be the most intense out of three of these variations solely because of the lack of rules and regulation. This is another reason for the lack of it’s growth outside of Brazil. Promotion companies sometimes refuse to promote such an unsafe sport. Although for some people, the lack of rules could make it more appealing.
