Leg Kicks

I hate getting kicked in the leg. I think that I would prefer to get punched in the face. Tonight I went to my first Muay Thai lesson in Farnborough. The warm up was brutal, although I do tend to enjoy raising my heart rate in this manner. There was thirty minutes of running, star jumps, burpees, shadow boxing, squat thrusts, push ups, squats and crunches. By the end of the warm up I was drenched in sweat and ready to start pad work.

I have trained in some striking in the past. I did karate for seven years (obtaining a brown belt before giving up at the age of thirteen), boxed in an unlicensed gym for six months and have attended quite a few Muay Thai lessons over the last few years. When asked after the warm up if I had done any striking before I said that I was a beginner. There was one other student, who was recently promoted to blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, who was a beginner and we got paired up and taught the basic footwork and how to throw jabs and crosses. I did not mind doing this but as soon as I saw some of the other students throwing punches and kicks I realised that with my prior martial arts experience I could have easily joined in the class.

The worst part of being partnered with this guy for pad work was his lack of accuracy. He was a large, strong guy with thick legs and an enormous paunch. I have found him very awkward to grapple due to his dimensions and weight. Whilst his strikes lacked technique the weight that he put behind them translated into decent power. When practising leg kicks I was given a thin pad to protect my leg, normally used for punching. Admittedly the target was small, although somehow he managed to miss it with the first kick he threw and catch me round the back of my left leg with full force. I felt a shooting pain straight away and must have winced because he asked if I was OK. I said that I was fine and he continued to kick away at the pad. He did not miss again, although the first strike did all of the damage. I now have a painful, dead left leg. I hope that it does not affect my dance moves for Aces birthday weekend.