but my mid-section conditioning, I'm simply having a guy throw full speed round kicks into my stomach and sides.
I don't get offended easily, so no disrespect taken. But it does look like somebody's trumping up the terminology a little. Is the dude throwing the kicks trying to kill me? No. If you got that notion from the above statement. . .then, I don't know what to tell you. The thing I find most amusing is that nobody jumped all over the dude said he could rupture my internal organs, lol! Again, it's progressive, I don't go from zero to full-speed in 1/2 a second. I do three sets: Thai pads, light, then full. Every now and again I tell them actually throw one as hard as they can, just to see if I can take it. It's not an outrageous clam; more of a misinterpretation on your part. Also, I'm not standing there like a brick wall; I break and absorb, the same way I would were I to have to take one in a fight. Now, is full speed sparring in the gym the same as a ring bout? Pose the question to yourself. The answer is no.
There are PLENTY of times I don't go full-speed on conditioning, and plenty of times that conditioning is much more of a cool-down drill than anything else. . .particularly as the guys I train with get better and start working me harder during sparring. Nevertheless, I want to fight at some of Fairtex's events, so I want to be uber-confident. There is a psychological aspect to the drill--at least, I find that there is--in that you get used to having someone stand in front of you, knowing they are going to kick you, and forcing yourself to take it. Thus, personally, I try and push myself every workout. I have bruised shins, skinned knuckles, a silver-dollar sized purple spot on the inside of my knee; where you got this notion of no injuries, I have no idea. But I enjoy every minute of it. I go through so much tiger balm that I should buy stock in it. If I get hurt, I take some time off, or go easy where my injury is, no big deal.
The original point I was trying to make is that with a progressive workout, the intent of which is to do a little bit more every time, you can reach a point where you can both physically and psychologically reconcile, with yourself, the unavoidable fact that, when you fight, you will get hit. Go back and read; I still cringe when I have to take leg kicks. We go pads, we go soft, in an attempt to eventually reach a point where I will not cringe if I have to take a leg kick. I have never trained in Thailand. I wouldn't expect the Pro/Pro-Ams to train this way, because, as I previously noted they can't afford to take a week off. I, however, pay for private lessons and train on my own with friends that share my interest in fighting in various smokers. . .not exactly obligatory.
I'll try and grab some video, if'n that'll make ya happy. In fact, I might have some video of some of the two-man drills, where you can clearly see, we are going quite easy and get progressively harder, until we hit our limit. Personally, I don't see how the concept is different from that of maxing out while lifting weights; I want to know my limit, and push it. Does that make me invincible? No. Could I take one of your kicks? Well, unfortunately for me, I'm just dumb enough to try.
