3/1/19: Post Xmas mince pie buster - Thai drills, thai pads and a little stick

The joy of the first session back after Xmas, getting rid of a few cobwebs, getting the engine started again and trying to remember what your doing with your hands, feet etc.

Warm up:

light shadow boxing - body mechanics and movement

Thai drills:

kick for kick round kicks

double kick for kick (e.g. lead then rear round kick)

teep and knee (lead or rear teep with opposite knee)

1) Jab and rear round kick (playing with the lead hand - straight down middle, slight fake, round the outside head height only) one for one partner working on punch defences.

2) add the occasional cross lead round kick (to keep partner guessing (again playing with timing and through the middle or outside lines)

3) Add occasional Kick defence (receiver adds an occasional crush with kick/teep/knee reply) only occasional to stop the attacker from being gun shy with kick (i.e. stopping them short)

I worked with James on this and had great fun working on concepts while focusing on correct technique. we both played with range and timing of strikes, checking partner's guard, long guard and positioning (how can I make myself harder to hit and be able to anticipate what is going to happen) and keeping work rate up

Thai pads:

3 min rounds

1) Jab rear round kick, cross lead round kick.. steady rate partner keeping your hands up and keeping you moving.

2) Power shots: cross, rear elbow, rear knee rear round kick

Note: injuries suck but they force you to listen to your body and adjust what you do so don't be afraid to tell your partner. my shoulder is not in good shape at the moment so I went lighter than usual on the cross and on the power round I mixed doing cross and rear elbow with jab and lead elbow - after discussion with my partner. I also asked him to do light technical cross/elbow on his rounds too as the pad holding was also causing some pain. You have to be mindful of your training partners during drills as you can still learn and develop even if you are carrying an injury - you just work around it

Stick work:

5 count sumbrada and box pattern - focus on flow and movement a little mixing of responses to feeds and then using the left hand! (again adapting due to injury) - using the left hand makes using the stick like trying to man handle a drunk octopus! Needless to say, break it down to smaller chucks, go very slow and light and get mechanics and movement nailed first.