My M-1 Story

Today 07/01/2014 is my 3rd anniversary with M-1.  We had our last class last night & it was solid, some of us were totally gung-ho while others were in denial & rebelling a little- instead of jumping rope we danced or shadow sparred to warm-up trying to keep the trademark lighthearted ways a prominent part of the class.  Bittersweet is a decent way to describe the atmosphere of class last night, it was great to have a lot of the "original crew" back in class for one last shabang but it was a sad reason for bringing everyone back together.  I wasn't expecting to cry because I had thought about the school closing for a while but there was a moment after I signed the banner and saw everyone else's signatures/messages that really got to me.  We all joined for different reasons, whatever they might have been but we all ended up staying and committing for the same reason.  

The day I joined M-1 was the day my engagement was broken, I joined to fill a void in my life and the art plus the people I met lifted my spirits and filled my heart with happiness and laughter.  I joined to learn Muay Thai and for a distraction (hitting pads was also a big positive in my books) and ended up finding a team and a family.  I didn't know there were all these people missing from my life, but now they are found & forever a part of my life experience and experiences to come.

My dad says something like all good things come to an end, a few years ago I was in complete disagreement with him, I thought to myself, "I'll always love surfing, I'll always surf, I'll always want to surf, always always always." but the reality is that one day I may not be able to surf anymore if I'm fated to live that long and I don't think his point was to crush my spirits and burst my bubble but help me appreciate all the things, all the passions, opportunities, moments, and even the people I am able to have in my life now because one day they won't be there- for whatever reason.  

Last night Yoshi, coach Arthur's wife noticed me having my moment of coming to terms with the school closing, she embraced me like she always does and I told her "I'm not sad" with tears in my eyes, she just laughed and said, "yeah, OK."  I was sad but what I had I meant was more like I'm not sad because I was able & lucky enough to share the past three years with her and her family.  My words just failed me as my brain raced through all the memories and thoughts I had- all the things I wanted to say but you know what, she and her family were there for all those moments and memories I couldn't express with words so I guess there wasn't much to be said anyway.  I'm not sad because I was fortunate enough to have created so many memories at M-1 & met all the great and colorful people I now call my friends.

What can I say about last night's class, there was no "highlight" because from start to finish it was awesome.  After our normal warm-up rounds we did Freestyle Padwork the only move we were to incorporate with our partners was none other than the freaking Flying Knee, oh yeah so fun.  We had a good time with this.  The Flying Knee is not a common practice at our gym because we spend most of our time drilling the basics but it was the last class so heck yeah we practiced it.  The next best part was the Conditioning Round *dun dun dun the M-1 signature is 50/50/100 so of course Coach Arthur doubled it 100/100/200 that's 100 left kicks, 100 right kicks, and 200 knees.  I gave it 110% never have I ever done 100/100/200 and I remember I used to struggle with 50/50/100 but I powered through with everything I learned- technique wise and mental toughness came into play I didn't want to skimp on my last session.  I tried as hard as I could through 100/100/200 usually I pace myself because I worry about not making it to the end but there was absolutely no way during my last class would I not make it to the end of the exercise, there was no giving up, in my mind it was my last opportunity to experience this moment in our gym with my teammates, failure was not an option, physical fatigue would not get the best of me, not last night.  I'm happy to report I made it and I feel good about the effort I was able to give.  Ah, when we thought it was all over the Muay Thai music came on and it was Wai Khru time, we asked Coach Arthur to teach us the Wai Khru again and he led the entire class in the pre-fight dance.  Couldn't have asked for a better last class.

As for the future, who knows what will happen we've got plans to stick together but if we do or don't it's all good.  My M-1 experience was a very positive and uplifting passion/obsession I was able to share with people of like-mind & heart when I think of each person individually I can't picture them without a smile on their face and imagining all of your friends smiling with genuine smiles on their lips and in their eyes is quite touching & therapeutic (for a lack of a better description.)  

06/30/14 just "a bunch of strangers M-1 brought together who enjoy kicking, punching, elbowing, and kneeing each other" -First Lady aka Mama Yosh

Body by Sea-shels, Duchess, Wasabi, Coach, Shoots, Duke (I can't remember what he recently changed his name to so we're sticking with given nicknames), Mr. Perfection, Magday Delight 

"That's a lot of thigh." -Nate M-1

Weirdly yours,

-Kimmie M-1 aka Wasabi