Training: A Case of the Mondays

Training went well tonight, albeit it takes a long time after a day and a half off to warm up.

Started the day with a 20' jog with the dog, worked, felt totally drained around 3PM and tried to nap with the dog while the chicken and beets were in the oven. #MEALPREPPER. Then hit pads before class with a teammate Malik who is on the same card as I am. Stayed for advanced jiu jitsu/rolling to sweat a little water weight out. My memory isn't as sharp on our warm-up technique having skipped some days to hit bags. The shoulder also tends to flare up after rolling which makes other conditioning and striking more difficult so I've laid off jiu jitsu more to focus on technique and work for my fight.

Lesson of the day: eating a 1/4 c. of roasted garlic to stave off an impending sick feeling before the gym is not a great move. Case in point:

Scott: "You smell like...kerosene."
Me: I think you mean garlic...
Scott [sniffs]: That's it!

Yesterday a teammate challenged me via Instagram (@jesse_smash) to 100 kicks for 7 days to raise awareness for drunk driving (somehow it helps...). If nothing more it gets me doing 700 extra kicks this week alone. So just for kicks (for shits and giggles?), after jiu jitsu I went to LA Fitness.

When Coach said he wouldn't promote me to yellow belt until I fixed my cross it became the bane of my existence. The harder I try to fix something like that the worse it gets. Tensing up is horrible for form because a lot of it is just staying loose and rolling relaxed shoulders into punches. So I practiced kicks a lot instead since I couldn't seem to get my cross right without being watched and corrected. They've gotten decent as a result. Tight hips are common in training and while mine are tight someways, my groin/psoas muscle allows for head kicks which can be a great weapon in a fight.

In Muay Thai, one kicks with their shins since it's the hardest part of the leg and with the leg acting as a pendulum from the hip, the damage can be devastating to a liver or head. At first, the kicks can be painful. I have knots of tissue on my shins but they don't bruise much anymore. The nerve endings eventually die and it stops hurting. Like a broken heart. Oh, damn... But really, it's ideal for inflicting damage.

All in all, feeling loose. Just gotta get this garlic out of my system.