Ouch
Krav Maga is kicking my ass. Still. As expected. I’ve never bruised an ear before, or the lower point of my shoulderblade, or the ball of my right pinky finger. And I have some very intriguing scratch marks and fingerprint shaped bruises on my arms. I haven’t been that exhausted from a workout in a very long time. Useless arms, useless brain, headache, and (yes) damn near cried from sheer exertion, frustration and exhaustion at the end of a burnout drill at the end of class. And a 12oz glass of half-strength lemon juice last night doesn’t appear to have delayed the influx of lactic acid into most muscles of my upper body.
Still a good class, though hand wraps and more cardio classes are on my to-do list. And a whole lotta push-ups and sit-ups.
9/8 (two days later): Broke a blood vessel in my thumb 15 minutes into class, had to quit for the day. Pretty pissed, but what can I do? At least my thumb is only 3/4 blue and purple, instead of entirely like last time. And it appears I won’t have a bum hand for a week this time, just a couple days. Glove gloves gloves… and ice. I hate having to quit, especially when I busted my butt to get there on time, and was revved up for class. Argh.
I think I broke the vessel while playing freeze-tag. It was an exercise in peripheral awareness and touch-sparring combined with sprinting. Pretty cool.
li>
I submit that studying a martial art can, through time and steady practice, continually thin the wall between intention and action - barring head trauma. Very praxical, if you ask me. Kudos for not being put off by pain and suffering!
Comment by John — August 8, 2007 @ 3:37 am
Who said anything about suffering? Grim perseverance at times, certainly. But the long-term effects of the pain are increased ability, confidence and safety, which increase my happiness in both the short- and long-term.
It is a personal point of mine never to suffer. It is incompatible with life.
Comment by praxical — August 10, 2007 @ 11:42 am
I studied Kung Fu for a year or so and thoroughly enjoyed it, its a great workout and I saw noticeable improvements in blanace and coordination as well. But I’ve been looking for something more practical, and found only Jeet Kune Do or Krav Maga. Everything I have read of Krav Maga thoroughly imrpesses me. Obviously you are enjoying this class tremendously, how long have you been at it? I’m going to look for one of these schools near me. Kudos to you, kick ass…
Comment by Matus1976 — September 11, 2007 @ 10:09 am
I love Krav. I started last spring-ish, got busy in the fall and didn’t go, and of course was gone for the spring semester. I’ve been at it again for the last two months. So my experience and ability isn’t all that much yet.
It’s the whole approach, the philosophy, of the system that makes me a fan, and makes the workouts totally worthwhile. It emphasizes fitness as a means to an end, aims to capitalize on instinctive behavior/reactions to situations, but also emphasizes the need for practice and training in developing healthy habits and effective skills. We learn a bit of psychology-related stuff, in terms of our own weaknesses and strengths (personally and situationally), and common attitudes and weaknesses of attackers that can be used to your advantage. There’s an integrated list of priorities, starting with “I don’t want trouble,” and then if provoked, to most effectively protect oneself and stop the attack by transforming your situation from defensive to offensive and ending it as fast, effectively, and appropriately as possible. We work with mirrors, each other, punching bags of various kinds, and props (plastic knives and such). The general structure of the class is kick-your-ass-cardio-and-strength for 20-25min, followed by introduction of the problem scenario (e.g. someone comes up to you and tries to choke you from the front), a full demo of the technique, then step-by-step practice through it slowly, then with partners, then we usually end with a burnout or group-work, where we take turns fending off multiple attackers. Something like that.
I learn a ton about myself, physically and mentally, and have learned a lot in a short period of time, but the nature of the approach and techniques haven’t tempted me to be stupidly confident. The 2-3 instructors I have interacted with are not He-Man meets Drill Instructor types. My favorite one (and by far the most experienced of the 3) is soft-spoken, purposeful, focused, positive, patient and interested. It’s very rewarding and constructive to work with all of them.
If you want to compare my studio with any potential ones in your area, their site is www.berkeleykravmaga.com. It’s at the Ralph Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy, but I don’t do jiu jitsu. Oh, and I hear the History Channel just recently did a program on Krav.
Comment by praxical — September 11, 2007 @ 12:34 pm