Sparring day, sweep the mates off their feet
It feels great to be back sparring at my old gym. Even though I trained a bit in Thailand and did a few months in Durham after coming back, with my rustiness unscathed, this young buck a foot taller than me or so expects the low kick to his thigh. He lifts his leg up to check, but my feint completely bypasses his guard, and I deviously front-kick him right in the solar plexusā a quick snap with the toes. If only he were roughly my heightāI would have teeped his chest and watched him fall down like a tree.
We trade strikes with our fists. He almost catches me with his lead hook, barely grazing the top of my head; I didn't even see it coming, but pure instinct made me duck. Moving closer, I quickly chop his lead leg again. If he were more confident, he would try to clinch me (the stand-up grappling where you try to strike with elbows or knees).
Instead, I feint for his lead leg again. He takes the bait and eagerly lifts it up to check. Rhythmically, I sweep his rear standing leg. I felt so cool, like David defeating Goliath. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
After the spar, I told my coach about itāsaddened that he missed my sweep. He always seems to catch me with my hands down, but never quite makes it to see the cool moves I enact.
āCarsons been here for a little over a year nowā heās new but improving fastā cmon, coach just give me the winā I think to myself. I like it when a coach gives me positive reinforcement it makes me feel good and therefore makes me want to continue doing good. Some fighters operate best with challenges, I on the hand, like to get my ass kissed sometimes. Coach smiles though, and he seems proud. Told me good job and looks forward to seeing it next time. I told him that next time I would like to sweep someone in the midst of their roundhouse kicks. Iāve done all those kinds of fancy sweeps but never had the chance to do that particular oneā without my hands or arms to use as leverage. One of these days though. That would be the day š©·š
(Side note: I was reading this novel about a chef and her cooking so it inspired me to write about my experience as an athleteā one that likes to train kickboxing & Muay Thai. This is my first attempt writing down my sparring experienceā¦. Makes me feel good because it shows to me I have fighters IQ when I get to put it down on paper š©· like I know what Iām talking about. The beginning of the writing I act as if itās been a while since Iāve trained but realistically itās been like roughly since last Winter. But everything else is pretty much on pointā I did sweep a taller teammate on his rear leg which isnāt always easy to do as a female sparring partner with another guyā guys are usually ahead of the game but with some years of experience, confidence, and swagger, of course I should be able to execute some moves).
