MMA and me; day 203

Kickboxing was another day of getting stretched out, and then working on our leg kicks, specifically opening our hips, and turning the knee over to drive the shin down into the thigh. Since this is something we've been working for a while now, I'm just going to touch on a few things I picked up that seemed particularly helpful. When throwing the leg kick, keeping the leg more bent than straightened really helps whip the kick around quicker, and makes it easier to bring out and around to drive down and roll the knee over. Also, and I know we've been covering this concept in all classes, but STRETCHING IS IMPORTANT!! It helps warm you up before class, it helps cool you you down slowly after class. It makes kicks more fluid and grappling more relaxed. It's incredibly important, and you should be devoting large portions of your day to it! We finished off with some awesome core exercises, and then it was back to grappling.

We once again covered the key lock flow, and the leg lock flow, except I was the one teaching the flows! Pretty exciting, and I didn't do too terrible. Again, this is something we have gone over for a couple weeks now, but there were a few new details that jumped out at me. For the muscle locks, do your best to wrap their arm around your arm just above where your forearm muscle tapers into your wrist, and make a fist. When you bring their hand back into the body, keep it as close to the mat as possible, and cup the outside of their wrist with your elbow pit, and when you implode, do so with your entire body, and try to bring your elbows together. It's TERRIBLE!!! For the straight arm lock, pinch your arm and biceps together before pressing their arm down towards your elbow, and you can create a ton more space to leverage the arm lock. For the leg locks, your best friend is keeping your knees pinched together, and hiding your bottom side foot under their body, or flat against their chest pushing. If you don't, you will get a toe hold slapped on you, and they hurt like crazy! Here's to leg lock flows, key lock flows, and as always STRETCH YOU FOOLS, STRETCH!!!