Newbie questions!

[corinthian]

I started taking Muay Thai about 3-4 months ago. It's been going very well, I enjoy it quite a bit, I've gotten into better shape, and so on. The only problem is this: I am currently living in Korea for a year, no one at my gym speaks English, and my Korean is minimal. Between their English and my Korean we manage to get the basics across, but complex questions are... difficult, if not impossible.

Consequently, i feel like I'm missing out on some of the theory. The practical aspect is great, I've got a K-1 champion and a former Olympic gold medalist coaching me, but I'd like to learn more about things like why we do what we do, I guess.

In particular, I'd like to learn how to find openings for attacks. They have me do something where I spar with someone, but just far back enough that I don't really make contact, or they'll spar with me but throw very weak attacks. In both cases i have trouble with being aggressive. I've got at least the basics of the attacks down (jabs, hooks, elbows, kicks, knees, etc) and I can sometimes see where to use it in a counter or a combo, but I have trouble starting off. Pretty much all I know how to do is throw a kick or a jab (which will almost certainly be blocked) and wing it from there.

So I'm wondering, are there any books or videos that discuss this kind of theory? I've found lots of stuff that goes over the finer points of, for example, how to throw a kick (which has been helpful), but very little that talks about <i>when</i> to throw a kick, or why we punch the way we do. Normally I'd ask my coach, but... there's the problem Not exactly an ideal situation, but all I've got at the moment.

Thank you very much for your help!

 

[Drac]

Wow, you are in a tough situation. Since I am not an MT practioneer I can't really offer any useful answers.You might look into the programs offered by Rosetta Stone www.RosettaStone.com, they claim that their way of teaching is the fastest..

 

[corinthian]

Yeah, I've been working on that, but I think realistically I'm just not going to learn fast enough to get the answers to all of my questions. Thanks though!

 

[Carol]

Ouch, that is a tough situation.

I have never read this book, but it had good ratings on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Muay-Thai-Unl...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274022463&sr=8-1

Other suggestions off the top of my head, is there anyone that you know in Korea that you could "borrow" for a brief period of time to serve as an interpreter? Perhaps if you, a friend, and a coach could sit down together to talk a bit more?

Alternatively, try to document as much as you can, through your own notes, video tape, photography...whatever you have accessible to you. While it won't answer your questions right away, it may help in the future when you are with a Kru that speaks English. Best of luck

 

[Nibla]

You know the Korean for "why do we do this" yeah? Along the lines of - Wae irukae hae yo?
I know it won't help because you won't understand much of the answer but!

You do have a great opportunity in combining your MT training and learning a new language. When I moved to New Zealand, every hour I didn't spend eating and going to school I spent learning words when I was learning English. Still took me about a year to be able to understand 95% of stuff on TV.

So by the time you leave, you'll know enough Korean! Haha. No, you'll be able to pick up most of the gym stuff earlier than that. Good luck!