Andrews Family

What do you get a guy who’s turning 30 and has pretty much everything? That was the dilemma Jenny was faced with recently. The first thing she gave me for my birthday was an Alton Brown cook book, baking specifically. I do like baking and I like Alton’s scientific style so that was a good choice. Now some might think that is a little on the “sissy” side since one of the things I looked at last year was a motorcycle. But that is where gift #2 comes in. After running a lot this past winter and spring, Jenny knew I was looking to take a little break from running. So my second gift was a certificate for three months to a new gym, the XFC Training Center which is a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) gym. You may not be familiar with the term MMA and are more likely to know it as ultimate fighting or cage fighting. Before you get too worried though, let me explain a little bit about what it really is. MMA is just what the names says, a mix of several disciplines. I would describe it as a mix of boxing and wrestling and yes, there are rules.

Jenny’s present was to let me try it at least until the new baby comes. The gym actually lets you sign up for a free 30 day trial so for the past month I’ve been going to Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes. My only prior experience is wrestling in high school and a semester of Shotokan Karate in college. (I’m not counting my Kung Fu stint in Little Kid wrestling when I was five which my family still makes fun of me for.) I’m not planning on fighting competitively, but I’m more interested in the conditioning. The first class I went to was Muay Thai, which is like kick boxing except you can throw elbows and knees. I really like the class format which is warming up doing some technique drills for the first 15 minutes then doing drills with a partner such as taking turns throwing kicks while the other guy blocks it with his shin. We do where gloves and shin pads but it still hurts. Then the last 15-20 minutes is sparring at 20% (or whatever you and your partner are comfortable at, the coach says no broken noses). I thought I was picking it up pretty quick when we were doing the kicking drills, but it was a whole different ball game when it was live and you could throw kicks and punches. Needless to say, I ate a few punches, and a few kicks, but I survived the first class without major injury. My shins were a little bruised from kicking and blocking kicks, but by far the worst pain was from my feet. Bare feet on the rubber mats with all the kicking and twisting left me with blisters ripped open. Next was the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class, which is like wresting where you use joint locks and choke holds to submit your opponent. It was a similar format of class and I felt more at home there with my wrestling background. I felt pretty good until it was time to go home and I was so exhausted I could have used a designated driver. This week I rolled with one of the coaches during sparring and I learned I’ve got a lot to learn about Jiu-Jitsu, but I left with all my limbs attached.

I’ve really enjoyed it and it is an excellent workout. It is cool to learn new stuff and then actually get to use it in live sparring instead of just doing technique drills. The gym is also a good atmosphere of guys looking for a good workout and helping each other learn; not just a fight club. So Mom, don’t worry and remember, it was Jenny’s idea.