Jeremiah Blatz (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} jeremiahblatz) wrote,@ 2008-07-05 17:06:00 |
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Martial Arts Walkabout #10: Five Points
Getting a little behind on these, but here goes.
Last Saturday, I went to Five Points Fitness from 11-3 and took classes in Kali, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ). They don't have a free trial or anything, but you can pay a $25 day fee and take classes all day.thompso2 had to work on that Saturday, so I figured I would take all the martial arts classes they had.
I showed up around 10:30 and filled out my waiver, paid my $25, and got changed. First up was Kali. The regular instructor wasn't there, but there was a fairly advanced student who could step in. Fortunately, since I didn't know anything, there was nowhere to go but up. Class was split into two groups; there were thee of us who were new, and a few regular students. The regular students looked to be doing some sort of free-form push-hands drill, only with training knives. The rest of us and the instructor started off with basic movement drills using a single stick.
Apparently in Kali there are a few basic strikes, all of which have a number. We learned 1-4. 1 is a cross-body diagonal downward slash, and 2 is the same only starting from the same side as the hand (so right to left if you're holding the stick in your right hand). 3 and 4 are the same, only upward. We practiced these motions with a partner, hitting each others' sticks as we went through 1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4,etc. After we did the drill on both hands, we then learned more realistic multi-step drill. None of us really got the drill all that well, but as the instructor worked with each of us, I felt like I began to understand some of the Kali principals.
Immediately after Kali was Muay Thai (MT). I wrapped my hands and put on my gloves. Since it was my first class, they had me work with one of the instructors on some various focus mitt drills. After clearing out some initial cobwebs and learning some of the unfamiliar prompts, I got into the rhythm. Apparently I was halfway competent, as the instructor grabbed a thai pad and had me work on my round kick for a bit. After a few helpful pointers, the instructor came over and decided that I was competent to join class.
The topic for class was using the round kick defensively. For the first drill, our partner would throw a punch, any punch, then we'd block/slip and throw a low kick. We each did that for a round (I guess 3 minutes?). Next was a front push kick, we'd check/avoid/divert, then throw a low kick. Last was a round kick, we'd check then throw another round kick. My partner for these first few was a little awkward, but we muddled through. We then rotated partners and did a round where any punch or kick was allowed, we'd block, etc. then counter with a round kick. My partner in these two rounds was quite a bit better than me. I don't think he got a whole lot out of it, but it was nice for me to be pushed. After that we then did an exercise where we pummeled for the clinch. I had done this pummeling for underhooks in a 50-50 clinch, but not in the Muay Thai Clinch. Anyway, I think I surprised my training partner by being about as good as him at it. Who knew?
Anyway, one thing that was unusual, even for Five Points, I gather, was that we didn't wear wear shin pads. Let me tell you, when you haven't really even worked a bag for 9 months, checking a round kick hurts. Immediately after class, my left shin was just a series of bumps, and had already started to discolor. Note to self, condition shins!
After the MT class, it was an hour to BJJ class. I changed my shirt then went to my favorite chinantown snack restaurant for 2 baked pork buns, then headed off to visit the temple. I was sad to note that none of the dorks were there, but I hung out a bit. Soon it was time to go back to Five Points.
BJJ class was no-gi, and pretty small. We warmed up with some joint rotations then light static stretches. We then learned a leg triangle from the mount. I had more than a little trouble with it, and have no doubt that I'd be unable to do a triangle in a high-presure situation, but I did learn the general idea. After that we did a few rounds of free rolling. One of the guys was injured, so we did some technical work and two of them were ridiculously better than me (one was the instructor, he eventually took pity on my and told me what I was doing wrong as he submitted me). Oddly, one of them was significantly worse then me, I'm guessing it was his first class or something. Anyway, I managed to get my first few free rolling submissions (a guillotine and two rear naked chokes).
One thing that struck me while we were rolling was that New York Jiu Jitsu was really effective in the one trial class I took. I had no difficulty applying the choke and didn't have to muscle may partner around, either. In retrospect, it seems like their introductory BJJ class might be a good way to get started.
After BJJ class, I was pretty much done raining for the day. Halfway through my walk home, the adrenaline started to wear off and my shin started to hurt a lot. Today, exactly one week later, it's still pretty sore. All in all, though, it was a good experience and a good value. Folks were focused but friendly. One thing I did notice was that people seemed to work hard and get good fast. Some of them had some disparaging things to say about NY San Da, which I could understand, even if I didn't agree. Another thing was that the space was ridiculously clean. They had a full-time cleaning guy who was always wandering around mopping, vacuuming, polishing mirrors, dusting, etc. One thing that wasn't so great, and they even acknowledged it in MT class, was that the space was really cramped. The space is awkward to begin with, and they have a lot of workout equipment as well. They did mention that they're working on reorganizing the space.
Getting a little behind on these, but here goes.
Last Saturday, I went to Five Points Fitness from 11-3 and took classes in Kali, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ). They don't have a free trial or anything, but you can pay a $25 day fee and take classes all day.
thompso2 had to work on that Saturday, so I figured I would take all the martial arts classes they had.I showed up around 10:30 and filled out my waiver, paid my $25, and got changed. First up was Kali. The regular instructor wasn't there, but there was a fairly advanced student who could step in. Fortunately, since I didn't know anything, there was nowhere to go but up. Class was split into two groups; there were thee of us who were new, and a few regular students. The regular students looked to be doing some sort of free-form push-hands drill, only with training knives. The rest of us and the instructor started off with basic movement drills using a single stick.
Apparently in Kali there are a few basic strikes, all of which have a number. We learned 1-4. 1 is a cross-body diagonal downward slash, and 2 is the same only starting from the same side as the hand (so right to left if you're holding the stick in your right hand). 3 and 4 are the same, only upward. We practiced these motions with a partner, hitting each others' sticks as we went through 1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4,etc. After we did the drill on both hands, we then learned more realistic multi-step drill. None of us really got the drill all that well, but as the instructor worked with each of us, I felt like I began to understand some of the Kali principals.
Immediately after Kali was Muay Thai (MT). I wrapped my hands and put on my gloves. Since it was my first class, they had me work with one of the instructors on some various focus mitt drills. After clearing out some initial cobwebs and learning some of the unfamiliar prompts, I got into the rhythm. Apparently I was halfway competent, as the instructor grabbed a thai pad and had me work on my round kick for a bit. After a few helpful pointers, the instructor came over and decided that I was competent to join class.
The topic for class was using the round kick defensively. For the first drill, our partner would throw a punch, any punch, then we'd block/slip and throw a low kick. We each did that for a round (I guess 3 minutes?). Next was a front push kick, we'd check/avoid/divert, then throw a low kick. Last was a round kick, we'd check then throw another round kick. My partner for these first few was a little awkward, but we muddled through. We then rotated partners and did a round where any punch or kick was allowed, we'd block, etc. then counter with a round kick. My partner in these two rounds was quite a bit better than me. I don't think he got a whole lot out of it, but it was nice for me to be pushed. After that we then did an exercise where we pummeled for the clinch. I had done this pummeling for underhooks in a 50-50 clinch, but not in the Muay Thai Clinch. Anyway, I think I surprised my training partner by being about as good as him at it. Who knew?
Anyway, one thing that was unusual, even for Five Points, I gather, was that we didn't wear wear shin pads. Let me tell you, when you haven't really even worked a bag for 9 months, checking a round kick hurts. Immediately after class, my left shin was just a series of bumps, and had already started to discolor. Note to self, condition shins!
After the MT class, it was an hour to BJJ class. I changed my shirt then went to my favorite chinantown snack restaurant for 2 baked pork buns, then headed off to visit the temple. I was sad to note that none of the dorks were there, but I hung out a bit. Soon it was time to go back to Five Points.
BJJ class was no-gi, and pretty small. We warmed up with some joint rotations then light static stretches. We then learned a leg triangle from the mount. I had more than a little trouble with it, and have no doubt that I'd be unable to do a triangle in a high-presure situation, but I did learn the general idea. After that we did a few rounds of free rolling. One of the guys was injured, so we did some technical work and two of them were ridiculously better than me (one was the instructor, he eventually took pity on my and told me what I was doing wrong as he submitted me). Oddly, one of them was significantly worse then me, I'm guessing it was his first class or something. Anyway, I managed to get my first few free rolling submissions (a guillotine and two rear naked chokes).
One thing that struck me while we were rolling was that New York Jiu Jitsu was really effective in the one trial class I took. I had no difficulty applying the choke and didn't have to muscle may partner around, either. In retrospect, it seems like their introductory BJJ class might be a good way to get started.
After BJJ class, I was pretty much done raining for the day. Halfway through my walk home, the adrenaline started to wear off and my shin started to hurt a lot. Today, exactly one week later, it's still pretty sore. All in all, though, it was a good experience and a good value. Folks were focused but friendly. One thing I did notice was that people seemed to work hard and get good fast. Some of them had some disparaging things to say about NY San Da, which I could understand, even if I didn't agree. Another thing was that the space was ridiculously clean. They had a full-time cleaning guy who was always wandering around mopping, vacuuming, polishing mirrors, dusting, etc. One thing that wasn't so great, and they even acknowledged it in MT class, was that the space was really cramped. The space is awkward to begin with, and they have a lot of workout equipment as well. They did mention that they're working on reorganizing the space.
