independent taskt #2

Literal: What have I completed this semester?

a) “I, Julio Urbina, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”

b) Hello, I'm affirming that I completed my 30+ for my second semester. For the second semester I did much more than last semester: I ran 5 kilometers every Saturday, sometimes people would join me, I train in the garage hitting my punching bag, I started watching fighting, I kept going to my Muay Thai class, and I trained four people, Rene Urbina, Gaby Murphy, and a junior.

Interpretive: What I got out of my independent task and prove of how my work is 30+hours.

 

Running: This semester my running time for the 5 kilometers when up from 25minutes to 30minutes because I'm running up hill. This is a lot of time as a runner, but I decided to run up hill because it will create more endurance for my Muay Thai fights (fight for longer times) and also giving me a greater challenge (is harder to run up hill than on a flat surface). It usually takes 20minutes to get to the hill walking. When people join me at running I do a better time (24minutes) because I have motivation to do better and not look like a poser (someone who pretends to be something he is not).

Punching bag: When I train with my punching bag I have to use hand wraps to not cut my knuckles. I train for 2 hours when I use my punching bag because I want to increase and force of my hits. If I want to increase the speed of my punches I have to do repetitions of 100 punches 3 times under the time limit, which is less than 15minutes. I have to try to incorporate all the punches and elbows I can do, like the followings;

 

·  Jab

·  Straight Punch

·  Swing

·  Uppercut

·  Hook

·  Striking Elbow

·  Perpendicular Elbow

·  Levering Elbow

·  Diagonal Elbow

·  Chopping Elbow

·  Smash Downward Elbow

·  Double Elbows

·  Reverse Elbow

  To increase the speed of kicks I try to improve my technique by shadow boxing (shadow boxing is when you pretend your opponent is in front of you and you try to hit them and block hits) or due a lot of repetition on the punching bag. Some kicks are:

 

·  Straight knee

·  Jumping knee

·  Small knee

·  Rabbit knee

·  Farewell knee

·  Lower knee

·  Flying knee

 

·  Side Kick or Round Kick

·  Diagonal Kick

·  Hook kick or Down round kick

·  Kick to the outside of the knee joint

·  Kick to the inside of the knee joint

These are some of the many hits a Muay Thai fighter has to practice and each hit could take between a months to a year to master.

 

Watching fights: I decided to start watching fights because if I did spend my time wisely, I should be able to identify mistakes and the poor quality of technique which a fighter could have. I go watch fights at different gyms and one of the professionals asked me to be one of the judges for kids tournaments because I was writing on a paper mistakes that the fighters were making and rating their technique with specific statements, an example could be: Steven didn't keep his hands up, leaving an open spot for any possible cross or upper-cut to enter. This means my eyes have gotten better due to the amount of time I dedicated to watch fights, because I can catch fighters’ mistakes and be able to correct them, something an instructor would do or if I would be a fighter, a weak length that I could attack.

 

Muay Thai class: I decided to continue going to the class because I have professionals who correct my mistakes, I enjoy going three times a week to class for one hour each day, and my mentor is also there. 

 

Diploma & Belt

This diploma and belts lets me teach other people up to that level. The yellow belt usually takes six months to get. Each belt takes three months to acquire.

Training people: I got the best experience out of teaching people what I know and have a passion for.

Rene Urbina: Rene Urbina is my dad and he went through the same experience as Ryan but he didn't lose any, because he gains it on muscle weight.

       Rene's Training

     The left picture shows the placement of the hands in Muay Thai and the right picture shows one of the ways to block a low kick.

Gaby Murphy: She has been training with me for three weeks now. What I'm teaching her is how to fight since she has no knowledge how to, she is a fast learner, and is not scare of getting hurt. Thank to this training she feels confident about her.

                                                   Gaby's training

Junior student: He is the most advance from all my "students" since he started training last semester. He has learned various moves and is able to do some combos.

Applied: How did it help answering my EQ? 

     The activities I did help me find, expand, and experience my three answers.
1) Running and practicing my techniques on a punching bag help me experience and find a good way to increase endurance which is one of my answers for my EQ
2) Watching fights helps me to learn to catch fighters mistakes and correct them. Such mistakes may cause a fighter the fight and he will not become the best fight as possible. This proves that my second answer, having a good instructor is necessary because they do not only teach you knew strikes but they are responsible to correct the fighters’ mistakes. This has also helped me train my "students." Students have a different type of training since they do not want to become fighters, so I have to ask them what they want me to help them with.
3) My Muay Thai class helps me with my personal training. Since without training I cannot learn how to defend and attack with Muay Thai, it became my most important answer. During training you learn everything; discipline, new moves, how to block, respect, to be humble, how it may benefit you as the student or fighter in your everyday life, etc. But to really know all this the best way to find an answer is to go to class and experience it.

first answer.

     My first answer is training. I came to this answer after six month of participating in a tough and rigorous Muay Thai class. There were many important reasons to join the class, some having higher priorities than others, depending how you see it. The first reason is after seeing Valerie kick her big tall brother and knock the air out of his lungs with a simple kick, I decided to never be humiliated like Valerie's brother. I had to  learn how to attack an opponent and defend myself from any possible injury an opponent may cause during an attack. The second reason is to work on my independent task and get the most out of it, like getting in shape, doing something I enjoy, gain muscle weight to look better, have better balance, making new friends, and way more. My final reason is to join a class that has a lot of physical activity to push my limits, meet other fighters who share the same passion that I do, and learn in a new kind of environment to challenge my abilities.
      The first few weeks of the Muay Thai classes were the most challenging, difficult, tough, and brutal because of the huge distances I had to run, all the exercises that were new to me which worked out muscles I did not even knew I had, and the 30minute sparring with other fighters. Sparring is the the one activity I remember the most due to the immense pain you feel after kicking each others shins bones. I was intimidated by the professional fighters. They were able to move and land hits with no problem. I wanted to reach a professional level but I could not  due to the clumsy body movements I use to do. But committed to improve my skills i decided to go to class as much as possible for the next two months. My instructor Rodrigo notice my improvements and told me to keep up the good work. Then third month, I learned to block  kicks, elbows, combos, and other more complex hits. Then, I asked Rodrigo if I was good enough to train with the experts and his answer was yes because of my discipline, endurance, skills, and performance in class.
     After joining the fighters' classes after my third month my training became longer and intense. There were no breaks during the three or fours hours of exercising, and afterwards, we fought each other with out equipments because we were consider professionals fighters. Also, we had to get used to the impact of a really strong hits. At the end of each class, no matter how long people had been practiced Muay Thai, everyone will be sweating. This is precisely how I came up with my first answer to my essential question. If you practice more than others of course you're skills will be greater but it also depends on the intensity of your train like doing in 100 push-up as a fighter than doing 30 push-up as a student. So my first answer is to practice as much as possible keeping in your body limits and your health because if you are not a healthy, responsible, and dedicated fighter then you are not even close to become the best fighter you can be.

intro

     Oh man, my senior project is really fun to do but choosing my topic was really difficult since I had no clue what topic to choose for my senior project. I wanted to do something that people knew and it could be interesting to talk about. My top choices were video games, exercise, and how to have a good relationship.
      Video games was the first thing I though about since is really popular between guys but it was too much work for me because all I know about video games is how to play it and I didn't find any service learning and research on how to create a video game for three weeks. My best move was to simply move to my next choice which was exercise. I enjoy exercising, especially junior since I had my friends at the gym before they move to an other place. I was on great shape last year, but the worst happened and my left knee got injured because I was playing football with the guys. It was a heartbreak not being able to exercise for months. That was a bummer dude! My last option was relationships and I refuse to work on relationships after spending too much time with my family.
      After arguing with my parents one day I decided to go to McDonalds for a burger, then I saw a couple fighting. The girls was really small compare with boyfriend, but despite the sizes different the guy kept pushing her, so she turned around and knee his ribs. The guy started to complain, yell at her, walked into the car, and waited in the car for her. Wow I said, one kick and she almost knock a guy twice her sizes! After the fight was over I walked up to her and asked her what was all about, I found out that they were family and her brother was bugging her since she joined Muay Thai classes.
     I did not know what she was talking about. in my mind I thought she was just a crazy 11 year old that was trying to look cool in front of me but then it hit me. I remember someone talking about it, then the irony happen. I was three stores away from the Muay Thai class. After I ate my hamburger and waited for her and her brother to leave, then I went inside the class and found out that Muay Thai is a martial art an the name of that 11 year or girl is Valeria who had practice Muay Thai for few years now. BOWM, I said in front of the instructor who looked at me awkwardly. I found my senior project which contains all me previous choices. I have to exercise in order to become good as a Muay Thai fighter, we have to create a relationship with the instructor and other students, and finally they have video games with martial arts.