MMA and me; day 155

Back at Alderwood, I came for the earlier class and worked on kickboxing. We started with a 1-2-3-10. A big part of throwing the 10 is stepping to the outside and leaning over your lead leg so you don't get punched in the face. Next was a 2-3-10, leading with the straight is different than the jab, and you have to make sure you keep your weight back and don't over extend. We moved on to using a push kick, and added it on to the 1-2-3. I like the method of turning the heel up, and driving their body back. After the teep, you have to slide forward to close the space. We then started throwing a heel kick to the thigh after the 1-2-3, and I gotta say, that sucks big time. A well placed heel in the center of the side of the leg hurts quite a bit. Next we worked on throwing a quick front kick to the thigh at the end of the combo. Simply bringing up the leg and slapping the front of the quad muscle was all it took. We finished by throwing a spinning back heel to the other thigh. It was a slightly different entry with the punches. It went 2-3-spinning back heel. Before the 2, you fake the jab, then drive the 2 straight down the middle. You then come up as you throw the hook, and then drop the head to spin to the outside and take a peak over your shoulder before spinning the outside leg around and driving your heel into the middle of their thigh. Again, quite painful! We ended class with Reagan leading us through some beastly ab drills, and after barely scratching my way through them, it was time for jiu jitsu.

It was a fairly simple class, but that doesn't mean it was easy. We started with a nice stretching session, working the hip flexors, groins, and backs. Then we moved onto drills, like shoulder rolls, front and back rolls, mirror rolls with a partner, but scoot drills (sorry coach, that's the best way I can think to describe the walking back and forth on the mat using only our bottoms and feet) Then we went right into flow grappling for the last bit of class. I really liked working with new people (Hannah and Nikki, you rock!) and I can't wait to put all this hard work to good use!