The First Month: Damn, This is a Steep Learning Curve!

I've been training at our mma gym for about a month. During that time, I've been learning the basics of boxing, kickboxing, and jiu jitsu. Coming into this experience, I knew virtually nothing about all three disciplines. Luckily I've had some great teachers. Here are a few early lessons:

Boxing: I had no idea how to actually throw a punch. After one session, I learned the basics: keep your wrist straight. Use your entire body instead of just your arms. Hit with your first two knuckles. Throw mostly straight punches. Immediately bring your hands back to protect your face. Use simple combinations like a left jab (#1) -> right cross (#2) -> left hook (#3.) Perhaps most importantly- don't close your eyes when you punch.

Oh, and punching the heavy bag sort of hurts. I'm sure it's due to the fact that I have the hands of a computer programmer. I'm told that it gets better. 

Kickboxing: Like punching, I also had no idea how to kick. I looked like a placekicker on stilts. It turns out technique is pretty important. So far I've learned a push kick, which is sort of like pushing someone directly in front of you with the sole of your foot. I've learned a flipper kick where I'd kick the inside of your left thigh with my left foot... sort of like you'd expect if fighting a dolphin. Finally I learned a Thai kick, which is a kick to the side of your target... with your shin. The foot has too many fragile easy-to-break bones.

Jiu jitsu: Jiu jitsu is a grappling art... sort of like wrestling with joint locks and choking. Lots of choking. And a uniform called a gi. At first it felt very intuitive due to my wrestling experience... until I realized every single instinct I had was wrong. Each "rolling" session basically went the same- my partner would do something, I'd use a wrestling counter that would put me in a bad position, they'd immediately throw me in an arm bar or choke of some sort. Getting choked was tricky at first- it induced a momentary panic. While in the midst of panic, I'd forget to "tap out" which indicates you more or less give up. I finally caught on by the third day. I'm a slow learner.

Choking really is a major component of jiu jitsu. I've had what feels like a perpetual case of strep throat for the last three weeks. Not only is choking an offensive strategy, it's also used as a counter to many moves. The repeated crushing of my trachea has resulted in some pretty serious bruising. Luckily I'm finally learning the art of tucking my chin. Again, I'm a slow learner.

The other challenging part of jiu jitsu was the gi, which is basically like a really heavy ninja costume. It's perfectly acceptable to grab your opponent's gi. In fact, most of the techniques involve various methods of grabbing and/or twisting your opponent's gi. There's nothing quite like the experience of getting choked by your own shirt.

All in all, the experience has been awesome. After years of specializing in running trail ultramarathons and developing a pretty high degree of competency, it's been refreshing to try an activity where I'm a complete newbie. The learning curve has been steep, but the initial progress has been rapid. 

There's something primal about getting your ass kicked on a regular basis. It's a little bit like the experience of running exceedingly long distances- there's a lot of lessons to learn, sometimes it hurts, and you know you're doing something most people are not willing to attempt. The feeling of venturing past the zone of comfort, which scary at times, is also exhilarating.

I'm looking forward to the coming months!

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