Over the last year, the sport that has gotten most of my focus has been Muay Thai. It challenges new and different muscles and parts of my brain as compared to Highland Games. I love the problem solving aspect of the sport, and it really takes me back to the days of being a competitive fencer. I love the thrill and challenge of facing off against another individual trying to solve you, while you are doing the same. It feels like one of the purest forms of competition.
Lately things have been coming together well. I have been on a roll, and the skills are starting to come together better. I was promoted in class, and things are slowing down during drills and sparring.
Thankfully, I had a frustrating sparring session today where nothing seemed to work. That makes me happy. Allow me to explain:
You will reach the point in any activity where you get over the initial "newbie" hump, and things start to flow more freely and make more sense. It's at this point you can fall into the complacency trap. Often times, you will feel so happy with your newfound level of skill that you are happy to just continually use your current tool kit to solve problems, and feel proud of all the tools as well.
A good, sound, defeat will snap you right out of all that. That's what I got today. My sparring partner was a level above me, and while we are similar weights, he is much shorter. Because of this, he is very used to dealing with longer, range-y strikers like me.