I got what I asked for and sparred for pretty much the entirety of the session in Muay Thai tonight. Funny thing is I chucked away my mouthpiece after a couple of minutes because it didn't fit.
I'm all offense, as a result of not sparring. I can hit hard and fast but my defense sucks. All that time instilling the habit of keeping my hands up in boxing went out the window with kicks, which were a completely different animal from dealing with George's TKD kicks.
I also gassed, but luckily I actually have fortitude now unlike my 17 year-old version and I keep going. Hell, I not only keep going, but I'm game when another guy asks if I'm good to go after sparring and gassing with the first. I sparred three different people in a row, at one point. My conditioning at least recovers lightning fast. It may be that my awkward movement and susceptibility to getting hit by kicks and then subsequently punches with my downed guard was just draining me, not that my cardio is bad. As I said before, my defense blows and I got hit at will. My hands were doing good in straight-up boxing and I actually scored a lot of really great jabs and crosses, but I had no idea how to defend against kickboxing. My hands would drop and I'd be an easy target. Got my left leg on the quadricep absolutely battered on this way, and I was practically limping after awhile (but still being competitive, believe it or not). It still hurts but I can walk and run just fine.
The more I learned the better I got. By the end of the night I was doing far better than when I first came in, and I honestly wanted to keep going. Bringing the knee up to guard instead of clumsily dropping my left to block the kick makes a world of difference.
My meal beforehand was too close in proximity. Time that better. Another thing: when working the bag I'd really cannon my jab out, and that definitely didn't feel good on my shoulder. Take it easy. I can already whip it hard enough to hurt, I don't need to try to be Mike Tyson so early in my recovery.
I have a headache, my nose hurts (goddamn Middle-Eastern snout), my jaw hurts, and my leg hurts more. I had a blast.
