What I learned...

I had the pleasure and honor of working out with this guy Xavier from the Oakland (or was it Alameda?) area. Xavier's style is a mix between muay thai, western boxing and maybe some jujitsu. Or so it seemed to me.

It was very nice to exchange techniques with a fellow martial artist, and I believe that both of us came away with new ideas. I think I had the better deal though ;)

I learned two kicks from Xavier. First, the thai-style low roundhouse kick to the opponent's outer lead leg. It doesn't look like much. I mean, you're kicking a guy's LEG for cryin' out loud. But it hurts like hell. I think my legs are fairly well conditioned. Not as tough as a muay thai fighter, but certainly much tougher than your average Joe on the street. I had Xavier give me a half-strength kick, and well, it still hurts today, 24 hours after the kick landed. Very fast, very deceiving (esp in conjunction with a face jab or two), very effective.

The second kick was the rear leg stomp to the opponent's lead leg knee. No, I didn't ask for a half strength kick to my knee, but I can say it's very fast and effective as well. I think it works better as a counter because of the way your body leans backwards when you deliver the kick. Great kick for street combat, but not for sparring cos it'll mess up your sparring partner's knee if it lands.

On the giving end of things, I taught Xavier how to use the back thrust kick as a counter attack, where you spin, use your opposite side hand as a block to a roundhouse kick, and kick as a counter. Pretty common TKD technique, and scores lots of hits in sparring.

I also taught Xavier how to deliver a heel front push kick in response to an opponent's raised knee defence. So it goes like this. I move in for a kick/punch. Opponent reacts automatically by raising his knee as a deterrent and closing his guard (hands) around his body. If I continue with my kick, he can counter with a side or front kick after I have committed my kick. Not good for me. So instead of kicking at his head/body, I use a front push kick to push at the opponent's knee/hip. First, it hurts the opponent. Secondly, and more importantly, it pushes the opponent hard enough to throw him off balance, so that I can follow up with a step-in side kick or something.

Xavier also started picking up my (bad?) habit of spinning in close to the outside and using a spinning back elbow. For example, he charges at me with a punch combination. I spin away to the side and throw a blind spinning back elbow high at his face. Nice deterrent against someone who wants to get in too close.

All in all, it was a great workout. Thank you Xavier!