Monday night class - Contact Work
Mondays class was primarily contact work which felt good. By contact work I mean all partner work drilling techniques, combinations, conditioning and so on. I was already warmed up from the before class training but some extra stetching always seems to help. I said some hello’s to my kungfu brothers and than we all got down to some serious training.
*note* Monday and Tuesday morning I trained saap baat um gen sau and clamping palm just before I catch my train. Its quite hard to train when you arent a morning person, lol, especially in the heatwave we have been having! Like i said, I would get up earlier to train…but i sleep late, love my rest and hate getting up in the morning (hence the training till late in class)!lol.
Mantis Contact Work
I will try to remember everything we trained but if I forget anything maybe some of my class mates can add comments to fill in any gaps. We started of with the usual warm ups and we all had to do Sarm Bo Jin twice. I was hot but I think the warming up and training before hand made me train the form a lot better as my mind and body felt a lot better connected, if that makes sense. The form didnt feel like my body was in different sections (ie arms separate, legs separate) but rather moving and functioning as one unit. It is still very very hard to do this form and its even harder when Sifu is walking around testing peoples stance, form and conditioning. I tell you, that makes you grip and put tension in your arms / legs / stomach / back / ribs like your life depended on it, haha.
I’ve been wondering about my techniques through out saam bo gin with regards to the elbow position, I will clarify with Sifu tonight, but the question is the proper position of the elbow through out the form. If you do the form you will either notice that the elbow is truly down and the top of elbow joint is facing directly upwards when it can…or it is slightly out (pertaining to what is natural for most of us). The proper position in my mind should be elbows down down down and in in in. This seems to place more emphasis on tension in the elbow and activation and compression of the ribs and some in the back.
Try it out - place your arms straight out in front of you - palms down. Now look at your elbows and just turn your elbows inwards so the joint is facing directly upwards. What do you feel and where do you feel it? Or is it just me? 
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After saam bo gin twice we basically worked in alternating partners for the whole class. We trained combination attacks up and down on alternative steps, the same side and attacking using fast mouse steps.
2 man drills
We trained:-
chic jeurng (chop), chic jeurng (or cover), gow choy - with this the partner defending will block out with a chop, his arm will than get blocked / covered following with a gow choy to his head, which he blocks with his other arm. This is a good drill that helps condition the arms, co-ordination, timing, stance and so on. Like most of the training chongs.
gow choi chong (hammerfist drill) - A clip is available on the site - http://www.tonglong.co.uk/index.php?categoryid=112 . Admittedly on this I am not protected my head well enough, but you train and learn eh?. I like this chong as if my partner is willing I can really put some power into all the techniques and use my waist, ribs and stance (when I can). This really puts some pressure on the arms and is a great conditioning drill to do to.
Fun Sau with attack - this is a good training drill to test your partner. From a both bridging position you fun sau (changing hands technique which moves your opponents bridge to your opposite hand) and attack the head, body or wherever. It is done quickly and fast and your parter reacts in order to block them.
chic jeurng , upward chic jeurng (or cover), low phoenix eye punch again done with a partner. I was with one of the seniors and we went for it and made each other work and move. Pretty much put power behind the techniques with speed and intent to hit (with control). That really makes you move a lot differently and more aware. Again the clashing of arms and hits that do get through make for good conditioning (and i do love my conditioning).
chic jeurng (chop), cover, gow choy, straight punch to solar plexus 4 hit combination this time (i think this was the right combination). Again these drills were trained on alternate steps and different levels of speed / intensity.
Conditioning
We did a few conditioning drills, I cant remember the order of what we did each thing but I am pretty sure the conditioning came next. Again changing partners we conditioned the palms by doing:
Poc Jeurng (palming) - with alternating hands against a partner doing the same thing - Hitting each others palms and using the waist and ribs - nice drill and does begin to ache after a bit. Palms are a great way to hit and a well conditioned powered palm can do some serious hurt.
Gow Choy - You can see this drill in the clip from Sifu Paul Whitrods instructional video tapes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obUQNsv-6gU). Basically you gow choy each others palm and condition the palms, hammerfist and work on the gow choy technique.
Leg Conditioning - We did 3 things for this. I remember doing Mor Sut (leg grinding) which is like chy sau for the legs. Locking legs and resisting while turning the knees in a circular motion.
We kicked each others thighs.We went up and down while your partner kicked at different parts of your thighs. I dont mind the pain and whenever we do this I just remind myself that if a thai boxer was too get a well placed power kick to my thigh (ouch!), that this conditioning may help. lol.
We also trained outside of calves by doing the same outside circular type kick which hits each others outside of calves and usually the shins / ankles depending on where / how you kick. This is done with alternate legs as you continue forward.
Pretty much anything to do with conditioning i like - except….well…if i say that you all gonna make me do that conditioning and hit me there!
Next we ran over some sections of Kau dau sau continuously (the 1st and 2nd sections) and I really put the intent and power behind it. After running them continuously I got tired and arms ached so I still tried my best but found i relaxed more and worked on the technique with execution of power at the last second. Once we finished that we worked in partners on the applications from the second section which include a forward block and simultaneous strike to neck, push the head down push down,knee strike whilst the other arm locks the opponents arm, and claw to neck. We also added an elbow strike to back of the neck / head or side of jaw.
The last thing i remember doing was pad work with an application from the first section of law suen sao (propeller hands). The partner holds a pad near his shoulder and gives his arm (bridge), you make contact, double soc sau and pull him and simultaneously crash in with an elbow strike to the shoulder where the pad is. (of course this can represent the head, shoulder, solar plexus etc).
I was feeling good after the class, i could feel the burn, the small aches from the contact and I was again covered in sweat from the work out. We finished with some breathing and chi gung type movements and I had a quick drink before grappling class.
Grappling Class
Grappling class is always quite tiring as we grapple / wrestle, do pad work, work on drills and so on. I worked on take downs and locks and chokes from my back with half mount and full mount. We drilled the ones we know over and over and worked with different partners. We each trained with each person and grappled trying our locks, escapes take downs etc. I worked from upright position, to take down, from my back, from the mount and so on. I like the grappling a lot and learn a lot from it - especially when training with someone a lot heavier, stronger and skilled than me. You realise a lot about sensing your opponents weight and position, making yourself heavier (using your weight), the gaps you make, your breathing, the dangers and how grounding and pounding can f£%% you up, lol. Also the many chokes and locks that can finish you very scaringly easily.
The last thing we trained was constant round thai type kicks on both legs to the pad (which tires you out quickly) and once you have finished both sides you grapple with your partner who is fresh while you are tired and out of breath. It was a killer and when you are out of steam, it can be your worst enemy!
We did the same thing but this time your partner holds of your legs (like he has caught a kick) and you constantly punch the pad while he moves you about and you jump and move. This kills your legs, calves and arms. Than again, both sides and grapple. It was all timed but I cant remember the timings - I think 3 mins grappling and 1 min non-stop for punching and kicking.
Again, drenched with sweat, aching, tired and thirsty like anything, i said my byes and made off for my longish journey home! A great lesson and looking forward for tonights hard training.
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