Like Mike

“Without discipline, no matter how good you are, you are nothing! One day, and I might not be around; you’re going to meet a tough guy who takes your best shot. He’ll keep coming because he’s tough. Don’t get discouraged. That’s when the discipline comes in.”

I fail at blogging my martial arts journey. To be fair there has been an abundance of wonderful crazy shit happening in my life these past few months but still... NO EXCUSES. So where to even begin?

Simply put, my training has evolved so much within the past year and it's been an awesome ride. I've been continuing my training with Grand Master Eric and occasionally my female Cro-Cop training partner at his shop (t-shirt warehouse) in Kalihi. I decided to take up Kempo Jutsu-Kai. That's right. Mutha effin' Karate.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I head down to Pearl City for some good ol' fashioned martial arts training. I'll have to admit that in the beginning I had some reserves about joining. I did Karate once awhile ago and hated it. I think I might've just had a bad first time experience but it lasted only a month before I called it quits. And ever since then I never really held an interest in my own culture's martial art.

Whatever I was feeling at the time, I was sure of one thing: that martial arts is something that I truly love. And there was an abundance of knowledge sitting right there in front of me. It'd be foolish not to take advantage of it. So I set aside my past differences with Karate and headed west.

The Kempo classes take place on the second floor of a rec' center and is run by Eric and Glenn. No 'Cobra Kai Dojo' in sight. It's about as legit as you can get. Hard tile floors and four walls. That's about it. That's all you really need. The class has a great mixture of adults, children, and belt colors. I won't go too into detail with what we do, as it changes up every single time, but it's old school to a tee. Going to these classes has slowly molded me into something that I didn't even knew I had in me. It's here where I pushed it to my limits, and when I reached that point, I pushed a little harder. There's no sympathy. Just hard work. Honestly, I only ever felt that way once when I was sparring with my training partner and she kicked me in my solar plexus and I crumbled to tears haha. But here I feel that every Tuesday and Thursday. Shit is real. And I love it.

Twitch

Lately I've been sparring with a bunch of guys because for now I'm the only adult woman in the Kempo class. Guys, girls, it doesn't matter to me as it really helps sparring each time with people who think and react differently. BUT... I hate to say it, and perhaps I may get shit for this, but there is a downside to sparring with SOME guys and that is ego. I don't know what it is about certain men and ego. I can't express how much I can't stand it when a guy gets cocky with his training and train like they don't give a shit when they get to me. I take mine seriously. So look me in the eye. Make your move. This isn't Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em. Brains over brawn. This is a game of wits. This is a chess match. This is war. And I'm here to conquer. Yeah you might be able to win this battle by simply over-powering me with no real technique this time (which is nothing to be proud about), but I'm going to show up more than you, come earlier than you, work harder than you, and learn more than you to win the war. My eye begins to twitch when a guy proclaims, "Oh man I don't wanna lose to a girl." I don't know. I find it demeaning. Like when someone proposed that women should wear skirts while boxing at the 2012 London Olympics. Perhaps I'm getting all over-emotional about it but I wish those guys would just look at me as their training partner. Not just a 'girl.'

I WILL REACH YOU!

None the less, sparring with the guys can prove to be fun and frustrating all at once. The frustrating: Sometimes the reach advantage they have is mutha effin' ridiculous (like Spud Webb vs Stefan Struve ridiculous. Well at least in my mind it's like that). No matter how much I feel I'm stepping in to close the distance I'm still swinging at air. Sometimes I really feel like I'm extending my punch to it's fullest extent AND still, nothing but air. I've replayed this scenario over and over in my mind and the only solution that seems plausible to me is to slowly work my way in via the infamous peek-a-boo style and start wailing. Or maybe the ol' stick and move. Damn it I don't know. But it's starting to piss me off and I can't stop thinking about it. I'll figure something out. I also have an issue with attacking the body. I just don't. I've somehow managed to shove it into the 'uncomfortable' category. Not sure what it is but I know it's something I really want to work on and conquer more than anything else. I constantly dream of the days where I can throw body shots like my all time favorite boxers, Cotto and Frazier. I'm going to study their tapes. I downloaded Mike Tyson's whole fight career for the sole reason that I'm so pissed about this issue of mine. One day I'll throw one with confidence. Like I mean it.

The fun: Man I love sparring. I love starting out with my footwork to get a feel of my opponent. I love attempting to control everything physically (breathing, exertion of energy, etc) mentally. I love when I set up my punches just right. I love when I fake a jab to the head then land a cross to the body. I love it when my partner sends me back to earth with a resounding punch right to my eye. I love trying to control all the wide array of emotions that are rushing through my body all at once. It's an experience every single time.

Each week I find myself growing, changing, evolving. Each week my spirit is tested. Each week fear stares me in the face and asks, "What are you gonna do about it?" And each week I test myself to stare right back and with double middle fingers. I have Kempo, Grandmaster Eric, and female Cro-Cop to thank for that.

Every day I find myself getting a little rougher around the edges too. Perhaps I've been hanging around too many guys lately haha. Might be getting to my head. But my mentality for training has changed tremendously. Hell even my pre-workout music has become more beastly. DMX (Insert dog growl here), 2Pac, Nas, Wu-Tang Clan, Eric B. and Rakim, Big Daddy Kane. The all-time greats. I find myself reacting to punches differently for better or worse. Before when I got punched it was like, "Ow. Let's run and not feel that again." Now it's like, "OH you punched ME?! (Insert Tyson-kill-stare here)" No longer am I that shy, weak girl who was filled with so much fear and doubt and gave up the very moment things got hard. Those days are long gone.

I hope the next time I post here I'll be sharing tales of bitten-off-ears and growls. Epic body shots that caused my opponent to crumble to tears like I just stole his/her very soul. Just kidding. Or not.

I think it's time to unleash my inner DMX. My inner Tyson. Get at me dog.

Enter the 36th Chamber

The two disciples of the 36th Chamber and Grand Master Eric

Allow me to demonstrate the skill of Shaolin. The special technique of shadowboxing...

Enter the 36th Chamber. 

My training partner and I met up at the pavilion in the afternoon yesterday to train with 'Grand Master' Eric.  I only refer to him as the Grand Master here well.. because.. it is what it is. People I know, including my coaches, would always tell me stories of Eric as if they were sharing legendary tales of an undefeated warrior who trained in the mountains of Shaolin and dwelled in the streets of Bangkok defeating all those who dare try to impose their will against him. He is The RZA of our Wu-Tang Clan.

Grand Master Eric

Training or just being in the presence of his teaching makes me feel like I've travelled to 1980's remote Thailand, learning the ways to defeat Tong Po in glorious fashion. Okay perhaps that's being a little ridiculous but working with him truly makes you feel like a warrior.

We started out with footwork drills. I always love starting at the root of all things and when I'm not over thinking it, footwork is something that I feel have slight confidence in (though I'm not sure why as it seems to get tossed right out of the window during sparring). He watched the both of us carefully, sometimes shouting out corrections that we both individually needed to make. Every 5 minutes or so of watching us just do footwork, he would add on some kind of movement to use in our repertoire. Resets, pivots, bobbing and weaving, slipping and pivoting.

Blended fight stance ala Operation Condor

After that we worked on our hand positioning/fight stance. I've learned so many different fight stances that sometimes I tend to blend them all together into something that really just isn't pretty to look at. But I really like what Eric showed us. I tend to keep my hands close to my body in order to protect it but it honestly does no good for my face. Our hands can be used as sensors but my sensors are so close to my face that once somebody throws a punch at me I won't have enough time to react defensively. He suggested I keep my hands more out but still at an angle in which you can quickly retract your arms to protect your body. It was perfect.

From there my training partner and I practiced defensive hand movement drills. We went back and forth deflecting each others punches by only an inch (or perhaps even less) using our own wrists. I really enjoyed this drill as it reminded me of the Wing Chun techniques I learned.

Once we finished up and went to grab a quick drink he asked us what kind of style we wanted to learn. I honestly wanted to reply with "Badass" but resisted. My training partner and I didn't really know what specifically we wanted to learn but I think he could tell we were leaning towards kickboxing. I honestly just want to learn techniques that work. I feel that it won't always be boxer vs boxer, kickboxer vs kickboxer and so on and so forth. So if someone is coming at me with things they are pulling out of their ass, I want to know the exact technique to counter or defeat it.

One day...

We started out with some kicking drills against the wall. He showed us a Kempo kick (which is his background). I instantly felt discouraged before we even began. As I stated in my first post, kicks are not something I am comfortable with. I am the least flexible person you will ever know (but perhaps with the help of The Kid, I'll be doing split kicks ala Trinity from the Matrix in no time). But none the less, I tried to work through it. Eric figured out that my stronger leg was the left one. I actually felt quite balanced kicking with that leg and after awhile it looked like I was throwing some decent kicks. Maybe one day I can throw some Michelle Yeoh kicks! Wishful thinking. My training partner had no problem at all with her CroCop-ness.

Ouch.

When we switched to our right leg... well things kind of went downhill from there. I had no balance, no power, and zero technique on this leg. And lawd was I stiff. Seeing this, Eric attempted to stretch me out in the most painful manner against the wall. "Does it hurt yet?!", he would ask as he pushed one of my legs upward. Uh yes. Yes it does Eric.

After doing these kick drills (which were pretty damn awesome... I'm going to insist that my training partner and I do them before each session), we were asked to do these drills without the support of the wall up and down the pavilion.  We started off with the left leg. At first I had a little trouble but after a few kicks and attempting to relax my kicks were actually looking pretty decent! That is... until we switched to the right leg. I had so much trouble with this leg again but continued to push through it, trying not to over think the movements ("Step.. slide.. kick!") as Grand Master Eric would yell out corrections and compliments to the both of us.

The next and final thing we did was work on the mitts. Eric's mitt work is INCREDIBLE. Dude is like Freddie Roach meets Roger Mayweather on the mitts. It's beautiful to watch and even better to be a part of. I always try to mimic him when holding mitts for the girls but... I just kind of look stupid. Eric just looks too suave. But enough complementing his mitt powers... My training partner was first up on the mitts.

Eric and my training partner

I enjoy watching people work with Eric almost as much as I enjoy training myself. Like I said it's like watching the creation of a magnum opus. It's beautiful. It was also great seeing my training partner work with Eric for what I believe was the first time. She's got beautiful movement and incredible power. Eric told her that if she used the lower half of her body more than trying to rely on her upper-body strength (which she has an ABUNDANCE of), she would be able to discover and unleash her inner Shaolin warrior (okay those weren't his exact words but you get my point). They started out with some boxing but eventually moved onto combinations of kicks and punches. Seeing her mix it up gave me goosebumps.

When it was my turn to jump on the mitts with him, we started out with the basic jab. All of my coaches have told me to just jab... jab jab jab. Jab offensively. Jab defensively. Jab for distance. Just jab. So I was happy when Eric told me I have a pretty solid jab. Both my training partner and I had a bit of a hard time adjusting to Eric's mitt holding. Eric just seamlessly flows from one thing to the next calling out (what seemed to be at first) random as hell numbers as he just held up a mitt. Sometimes two. Eventually we both sort of fell into a groove. I swear there must've been a twinkle in my eye, as I began to feel like Floyd Mayweather working with Uncle Roger (Eric and I share the same love for Floyd). I felt more precise and fluid working with him. Sometimes, when working with others on the mitts, I tend to feel like my punches are so pitter-patter (I'm sure the girls that I train with are tired of hearing this from me haha). It's true really... but for whatever reason... I felt strong working with Eric. He truly brings out the best of you.

We both did a couple of more rounds with Eric before ending our training session for the day. There truly are no words for how awesome yesterday was. My training partner found herself giggling like a little school girl while working with him... she made Grand Master Eric blush. HAH! I'm glad I was able to set this up for the both of us. We really needed it. And Eric seemed to enjoy working with us. We really are just so eager to learn and get better at this point.

And thus we became disciples of the 36th chamber. Until our return...