09: Confidence Booster

"I wish we had more fighters like you. That would really make our team awesome."

I looked over my shoulder, already knowing there was no one else there, but thinking I must be wrong.

(Gee whiz!) "You really think so, coach?" I said.

"Yeah man - a lot of guys come in and try out to fight, but most of them don't hack it. We need more guys like you."

Whoa. That is something I really needed to hear.

Of course, I have a LOT more work to put in, but I think he was mainly talking about my dedication. Either way, I was glad to hear that I'm making a good impression.

Another thing that made today different was that I brought in one of my Army buddies, Jorge, to check out the gym and have one of our coaches run him though a Muay Thai lesson.

He started off with kicking lessons on one of our heavy bags, and soon his shins were all lumped up and hurting.

Additionally, when one begins kicking the heavy bag for the first time, the ends of the feet and toes end up taking a beating too. You see, with a Muay Thai kick, your lower leg is supposed to be relaxed, and so your shin bone basically whips into your opponent. All of the torque comes from the torso/hips. When the shin connects with the side of the bag, sometimes the foot will smack into the back side of the bag at a 90-degree angle.

This is not so much a problem when kicking someone's leg or body, because the circumference of a body or leg is much smaller than the heavy bag. However, for the first few weeks of Muay Thai class, a student's feet will usually look like the one in the picture (mine). It is important to encourage the student to continue through the pain, because it eventually goes away as the nerves and skin get used to the constant impact.

Jorge's first lesson was just as brutal as mine, but he was really into it. He seems to have the heart for it and it didn't really take much encouragement to keep him going.

I flashed back to when I started Muay Thai a few months ago - when my shins were lumped up too - and it helped me to gauge the progress I've made in such a short time.

I shared with him the pillow case technique for shin conditioning (see chapter 02: The Pillowcase) in case he can't get to the gym regularly to kick the bags. I can almost guarantee that he will be employing this shin conditioning before his next trip back to the gym. That's just the kind of guy he is - great work ethic. He is a Soldier, after all.

Today I got a great workout in, the Carolina winter temperature rose to 62 degrees, and I had the tastiest chicken wrap of my life. More than all of these things though, my coach's compliment really made my day.

I can't wait for tomorrow.