This is how I felt practicing knees in Krav last night.
Seriously, though, it was a good class. We reviewed some material for last week and introduced the knee without hold (while protecting your face like in Thriller) and getting up off the ground ready to fight.
I have more opportunities during the week to train, so I’m pretty excited about that too.
If I thought I was sore yesterday, I didn’t know the meaning of the word.
We had a very active Krav class. We reviewed punching and inside blocks and then worked on kicks. My arms are still yelling at me, and I expect my legs to follow suit by the end of the day. Today is definitely a rest day.
In spite of all the soreness, I’m in really good spirits! I feel like I’m making major progress; something really clicked for me last night, and the front kicks were smoother and better formed than they have been so far. My only real complaint at this point is that my sparring partner’s Velcro on her gloves cut up my arm. Boo hoo, right?
I’ll be at fencing on Friday.
The morning after a challenging workout.
I had a fantastic night at Krav. I got to use my brand new MMA gloves for the first time, and after practicing blocks and counters, we got to do some sparring.
At one point I was working with a fellow who is roughly twice my size: tall, broad, experienced with Krav. Anyway, because his reach is so long, I knew I’d have to get in there to be anywhere close to my striking distance. I did get in there, and I missed a block, and he legit punched me in the face.*
Now this fellow is very kind to his training partners, and it was not his intent to punch me in the face, so I got to see the look of “Oh, shit, I just punched this little gal in the face” flash through his eyes. So before any of that can leave his mouth I started laughing through my mouth guard (I stress-cackle, apparently) and moving in for my next attack. I earned a little street cred and had an awesome practice with some real-life application.
I came home and told Nik that since we’re sparring in Krav, he’s going to need to re-calibrate me each time I fence so that I don’t get too in the zone.
I feel so alive.
*This is why we wear gloves and sign waivers. I’m fine. I don’t even think I’ll have a sweet bruise for work tomorrow.
Last night at Krav we went back to basics and worked on technique. It could have been tedious, but I thought it felt really good to work on that stuff, especially since I could feel the difference in my legs. I remember when I first started and how sore my calves would get. My calves are still sore, but they held out so much longer. It’s a little improvement, but it’s an important one.
Last week at Krav I trained so hard I forgot what day it was. I said, “See you Wednesday!” to my friends as I was leaving, and they looked at me, confused, and said, “…it is Wednesday.” I’d call it a good night.
This is the month that we’ll start training toward passing the proficiency tests. I’m super stoked to see the new curriculum tonight.
On Friday I got to go to fencing. I spent the session helping a new lady fighter. I’m trying to figure out how I can help young women who are new to the sport make it work with their body mechanics.
My mentor is coming to town this week, and he’s going to visit my students. I can’t wait to see him and to see him interact with my “kids.”
All in all, I’m just super excited about all the fighting in my life this week.
Oh, yeah… I dropped one pants size.
Today on my drive home from Krav, I realized I wasn’t in any pain. I wonder how long I’ve been not hurting.
Oh, and BTW, I’m drug free. No ibuprofen before or muscle relaxers after.
I’m looking forward to taking my Krav evaluations when I get to that point. It’s not what I was looking for, but it’s nice to have a measure of progress.
Still haven’t done a lot of fencing lately, but I’ll keep you posted when I do.
Krav was rewarding but brutal today. I think my attempts to improve my running have only fatigued me and tightened my legs up so far. In addition to fighting and yoga, I spent some time on the elliptical twice last week. I guess I need to slow down or do something else for cardio. I’m also going to add more rigorous stretching no matter what I do. I always stretch before activity. Apparently I’m not doing enough.
As always, if anyone out there knows good stretches for the quadriceps, I’m open to suggestions. My calves could probably use some love too.
Today I did my lunges after doing 30 minutes on the elliptical and 5 minutes on the punching bag at the gym. My punches are getting better. The big knuckles are the ones with the chafing from my gloves!
I don’t know how much lowering the target for my lunges helped me because I’m still sore around the edges from Krav last night (it wasn’t nonstop like Monday, but it was a challenging class, and we did go over our time). I hit the target more often than not. When the movement gets robotic, I get sloppy.
I’m taking ibuprofen before combat activities and a muscle relaxer after (like as soon as I get home so I’m not a zombie the next day). Shoulders are stiff but starting to get back to where they were, flex wise. Now my calves are angry with me. Fortunately, what I’m experiencing now is soreness, not pain.
I had an amazing night at Krav. My instructors were talking about setting tangible goals for us, so we did an exercise that works to prepare us for certification (not instructorship). We trained for an hour straight. No breaks. If we needed to stretch or drink water, we did it while we were moving. It was pretty intense. I hated the running, so I guess that means I need to do more of it.
I don’t have any specific goals for this class. I signed up because it sounded cool, and it’s affected me in ways I never could have imagined. I’m totally cool with seeing where the road takes me. It’s a low-pressure environment that somehow still pushes me and challenges me. Unlike other activities I’ve tried, it helps my fencing instead of hurting it.
It was just a really good night, folks. It’s tub time.
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