Squad training yesterday morning was pretty cool. I'd been out drinking the night before, so even going was a bonus. But anyway!

The session started with circuit work, which I am not a great fan of. I find myself feeling like an idiot doing it, especially when paired with someone to 'cheer you on' through the stations. Not entirely sure why. Either way, we got through the circuits quite well. Next was some padwork. I wasn't entirely stretched (we'd done a very brief stretch before circuits and hadn't warmed up enough for sure), so I did pull my groin muscles a fair bit when doing head-height kicks. This is a massive issue. If you ever aren't warmed up enough before doing padwork/drills/whatever is on the agenda, be careful! In order to combat the cold muscles, I had my partner start out with the pads much lower than I usually would, and worked my way slowly higher. This way you stretch and improve technique at the same time. Nifty.

We did some more flying kicks (I think this trainer likes to make me suffer), and I didn't do half as well I did the day before. The class size was larger, and I felt more a fool. I did however manage to hit the bag a few times, so at least I have that down! Just need more power, and to overcome putting two feet on the bag. It will be done.

After we'd done that for a while, our trainer gave us a choice. Most of the class went on to do some staff form, and the trainer, two other green belts and I went on to do some conditioning! We did bare knuckle punches to the stomach & ribs, which was fine. I have strong muscles there anyway so it wasn't an issue (my partner appeared to have less strength there, though, and shyed away a bit). We moved on to turning kicks to the ribs, and finally some facial conditioning. I'd like to note that conditioning of the head isn't done much for obvious reasons. Doing it too often, for too long, too hard will eventually cause brain damage.

We donned gloves and basically practiced boxing each other for a while. I found it quite hard at first not to kick, it's pretty automated by this point. My partner and I went on for a while, before we switched up partners. I ended up against the trainer for my last match. The idea behind this sort of conditioning is so that if you are hit in the face during a match, you won't be pressured to the point of not being able to fight or retaliate efficiently. My trainer told me that he expected more from me because he already knew I got stuck in and took the blows and went forward rather than backing off. Darn, means he expects more, hehe.

Footwork is very important, even if you're only using your fists. I've still a long way to go with footwork, but I've improved a lot, and am now focusing more on the footwork. It'll all come as a package, I'm sure, but I want it up to scratch for the next competition. Let's have at it!