Fighting Fit and Getting Hit

I've recently taken a new and exciting venture into the world of martial arts. A few sessions at the local boxing club led me to discover a sport that I'd never even heard of before: Muay Thai.

Muay Thai sits somewhere in between kickboxing and mixed martial arts. They don't seem to be too worried about silly things like "rules"; hits can be landed anywhere and made with knees, elbows, fists and feet. Fights also include "clinching", which is where your opponent gets a hold of your head and does their best to keep you there whilst getting some good knee action into you.


The first training session I went to was tough. I realised I am absolutely crap at skipping and that being able to squat heavy translates in no way whatsoever to being able to kick hard. Holding up pads for others was almost harder work than hitting them myself, the next day my shoulders and forearms were dead. Shortly after that first session, a message went out asking who wanted to be involved in the club's first Interclub, a fighting showcase involving several other clubs from the local area. With one training session in the bank it was probably a bit soon for me to get involved... but I went for it anyway. Learning always happens quickest by jumping in the deep end.

No amount of friendly sparring can prepare you for a proper fight. My opponent was a bit taller, a bit heavier and a lot more experienced, so she was asked to "be a bit nice". The problem is, once the adrenaline is pumping it's very difficult to hit lightly. I don't think more than thirty seconds had passed in the first round before I was bleeding from the nose. I seemed to forget about the simple and easy tactic of getting out of the way, favouring instead the more physically taxing hold your ground and take all hits. Hard kicks to the body had me dropping my guard and subsequently leaving my face wide open. For anyone who isn't sure, leaving your face open is not ideal. One or two clatters to the head really did send me spinning, but it was exciting. I felt properly initiated to the sport.

"Whoa, it's like a bicep on your leg"
Good quote sis!

Once the excitement was over and my opponent had finished apologising profusely for "finding it very hard to go light", I cleaned the blood from my face, arm and gloves, slumped down with some Thai noodles and realised that four and a half minutes was definitely enough to knacker you out. My head hurt, my ribs hurt and my leg really hurt from one particularly hard shin clash. So, better start getting ready for the next one.. and maybe buy some better shin guards.