This has been a test

Knife draw x 55, Grand Total: 330
Jab/Cross x 20

I was actually somewhat motivated to get my reps in on Saturday night, but I deliberately did not do them. I tend to have a very hard time getting back into something (such as martial arts training) when I've been away. I know that two days really isn't "away", but I figured it'd make a good little test. No problems getting back into it tonight, and I have my friends and this blog to thank. I'm pretty sure that if I didn't have the support network in place, I would have fallen off the wagon.

Tonight I got fancy with the knife drawing. I did the first 25 in the normal, slowish manner. Pause, acquire a grip, draw, pause, close the knife, replace it, pause, repeat. The next 10 I practiced putting my left arm into a vertical elbow shield while stepping forward and to my right. The following 10, I did the same, only stepping back and to my right. For the last 10, I got a bit fancy. I pretended to use my right arm for a cross-tap on an imaginary high line slash. Step back with the right foot to create space to pass the (imaginary) blade. Shift forward and replace my right arm with my left to pin the attacking hand into the attacker's hip while drawing my knife and stabbing into the jugular. I did these last 10 *very* slowly. Not a particularly realistic scenario, but more fun than standing still and pulling my knife out of my pocket.

Jab/crosses were done in the same manner I did them on Friday. Shuffle about, nearly shadowboxing, with eyes closed. Stop, feel your balance (try to take note of balance while moving as well, actually). When you feel like you are balanced, open your eyes and fire off a jab/cross. I concentrated a lot on keeping a Tight Economical Structure (TES to the crazy monkeys), with my shoulders up, back rounded, elbows in to my body (this was hard, my old muay thai habits tend to flare the elbows out a bit), and upper body dropped into my hips. I did notice that it felt easier to get my balance right after stopping when I managed to keep a good hunchback stance. When I was more into my old muay thai stance, it took me a little longer to find my balance, but that also could be because I was also trying to drop into the hunchback at the same time.

One last thing - kudos to Rikalonius who did his first 40 kicks, but just hasn't had time to blog about it yet. Welcome aboard.