Sayoc Kali, assistance with JKD

Tonight the Sayoc Kali class reviewed and worked body positioning and footwork for Receivers using True Right concepts, using 3 of 9 as the skeleton. Then we added weapon arm controls/locks and then simulated striking during the controls and locks. It was a good class that exposed a lot of my weakness in the footwork and body positioning, usually ending with a grievous or fatal injury.

Afterwards, I assisted in tonight's JKD class. The assistance duties really help keep me on my toes, as I try to better my abilities to be a better example to the newer students. Working the TBA boxing count learned today will hopefully shore up my weak hand-to-hand game, and help with my defense. I got knocked around a bit during some of the demonstrations with Sifu Nick because I failed to recover from punches, or left my head or my chin too exposed during exchanges. He gave some structural pointers today in a mini-private session during some of the drills which really fixed a lot of flaws.....

• Tucking my chin down and in to be shielded by shoulders during punches and during bobbing-and-weaving.
• Aligning my hooks so they're parallel to the ground, and not at an angle like a weaker shovel hook.
• Not leaning too heavily to one side or the other.
• Keeping the eyes focused on the opponent's center during bobbing-and-weaving
• Snapping the punches out for quicker recovery

All in all, a good evening of training.

Stepping stones

Yesterday was an evening of intense concentration and exertion. In my Inosanto Kali class, we hit the heavy bags, did a lot of free flow sumbrada, and a few rounds of light soft-stick sparring. I tried to pace myself during this class, because the previous week I gassed after overdoing it on the bags.

Then came the evaluation again. The previous day I was told I needed to work on the Muay Thai component of this week's block, and so I spent a good deal of practice, shadowboxing, and visualization time working on it. Guro Nick gave me some last minute pointers that resharpened my focus. When I finally passed, it was quite a relief, but I know that my work isn't done yet (is it ever?). Once I get my schedule figured out pending a new employment possibility, I'll see about training Muay Thai again once a week.

We hop across stepping stones all throughout the pond of life. Sometimes we slip and fall, but as long as we know how to swim a little bit, we resurface and try again.

Today, I'll be resting, as I feel a bit sore, and need a mental break. Tomorrow will be Sayoc Kali, a class I enjoy quite a bit, and some limited assistance duties later in the evening that don't figure to be too intense, due to this being evaluation week.

Perseverence

What does it mean to persevere?

Today was the start of evaluations week for this cycle at PMA. Phase 2 was being tested on their performance of TBA 15-count thai pad drills, Panantukan Destruction Series #6, and JKD Loy Pak trapping series.

My Muay Thai kickboxing skills, which has degraded precipitously since I stopped training in the MT classes (my skills weren't all that fantastic to begin with), were very poor today, and cost me any chance of passing the evaluation for promotion.

"You're not pivoting on your shin kicks". "Your punches are nearly indistinguishable from one another". "You need to get up off your heels and rotate your hips into your knee strikes". "You're overcocking your right leg, and you're leaving your hands down". These were the words spoken to me by my instructor. Harsh, direct, and to the point.

... and much needed.

What does it mean to persevere?

It was a hard pill to swallow. I thought I was trying hard, I was trying to hit the thai pads as hard as I can. Yet, aggression without control or technique is little more than a wild animal thrashing about. Martial arts is the creation and the realm of humanity, and must be elevated above mere primal instinct.

Form and technique, within each other. It is what I have to recapture. I had lost it today, and wasn't even aware of my own failings in this regard. Just going through the motions overconfidently doesn't cut it. It shouldn't, because if it did, the value of what we're trying to do at the academy in elevating our level will be lost in a worthless avalanche of underqualified promotions and pointless backpatting.

What does it mean to persevere?

I enjoy weapons work the most of all my training at PMA. Yet, the core of the school curriculum is still the empty-handed fighting skills. After all, what to do when you're disarmed for one reason or another? I cannot neglect it for these very reasons.

So, this week, I will work slowly the TBA 15 count drill, shadowboxing it, working it in front of a mirror. Within it is a lot of key concepts of generating power Muay Thai style that I must try to clean up. I will take the words spoken to me and let them echo in my mind as I work to fire every neuron, every muscle fiber, slowly, putting it all in the proper structure and timing as best I can.

Regardless of whether the promotion happens or not, I will have learned a powerful lesson today. If the lesson is applied, it will be what counts most, regardless of some stripe or some new color belt.

What does it mean to persevere?

It means that when you are knocked down, you keep getting up, and try to be better each time. Sometimes, it's hard to be best, even as we strive towards perfection. The last man standing is the best by default. So keep getting up.

The Alpha post - a not so brief introduction.

Hello.

Some of you who know me well know me as the crazy cat fanatic behind www.kennethchia.blogspot.com ... That blog has been rather inactive for quite a while (darn you, Facebook!), yet I've decided today to start a martial arts workout journal today.

First, a bit of background. I am an American-born Chinese male, age 33. I'm about 5'7" tall, and 160 lbs, give or take a pound or two. My first exposure to martial arts was a bit of Taekwondo around age 9 or 10, only at the 1st little yellow stripe... injury and schedules cut that short. Then there was a little bit of chi-gong training at some Shaolin temple off-shoot in Flushing, which didn't last very long due to teenage impatience. Not a very auspicious beginning.

My next experiences were in college, again very brief and not terribly dedicated. There was a little JKD at Progressive Martial Arts Academy, which I was only able to do for 3 months around 1994 before transferring to CMU and leaving NY. There was the Aikido club, which didn't mix well with the heavy harmful binge drinking I did in college in Pittsburgh, with its 7:30am start times. Then there was the Kempo Karate club... fun stuff, but a knee injury from a spirited (read: out-of-control) sparring session knocked me out of it. Not surprising, since at the time, I was the same height I am now, yet 120lbs wearing a wet sweater. Martial arts lay dormant for many years thereafter.

Flash forward to 2002. Years of college, graduate school, and general inactivity have left me pudgy, and sorely in need of exercise and an outlet for aggression. Master Gao Xian, a martial arts trainer and actor from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon had opened up a wushu school in Flushing. My mother suggested I give it a try, and I enjoyed it so much, I stayed with it, for nearly 4 years. I met very good people there, some of whom I still keep in touch with. Those bad knees of mine (made worse by the repetitive low stances, and all the jumping kicks performed on hardwood floors), and some extenuating situations, forced me to leave... but I still remember a few of the old forms.

I wasn't leaving martial arts though... I remembered the JKD I was doing nearly 12 years prior, and thought I'd try out the school again, since I was disatisfied with little to no contact and combat skills with wushu. I was 160 lbs now, not terribly muscular, but infinitely more durable than the scared 120lb weakling that strolled in that long ago spring season. Thus began another long martial arts dedication period, this time at my current training hall at Progressive Martial Arts Academy, under Sifu/Guro Nick Sacoulas. The place has become a second home to me! I currently study Jeet Kune Do Concepts, and several methods of Filipino Kali (Inosanto/Lacoste Method, Sayoc, and Atienza family systems).

I am a very active forum member for the school member's site, frequently posting up class notes both for sharing with students and for my own personal recollection. The notes I post here in this workout journal will be of a more purely personal nature. I put them here to remind me of where I've been, where I have to go, and what I need to do, on my martial arts journey.

And so it continues... read on. :)