MIT students get the entire month of January off. It is one of the most glorious things in the world!

What can you do during IAP? You can take fun classes like glass blowing, do nothing, enter programming competitions, or even take academic classes if you want to get ahead.

This IAP I diiiiid:

A membership at the MMA gym down the street
Two programming classes (I'll write more about these later)
A snowball fight
Got into a sword fight. I lost.
A lot of sleeping and eating + experimenting with something called the Slow-Carb Diet
Picked up basketball, and learned to play COD
Chilled with my friends :)

So my IAP wasn't the most productive. There are still some things I didn't do - such as make some more of my own origami, and perhaps brush up more on my programming skills. But it was awesome.

So I thought I'd write a little about my MMA membership:

I went to the Redline Fight Sports Gym on Mass Ave - it was AWESOME!

I learned/at least took a class or two in:

Wing Chun (Kung Fu style)
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Muai Thai
Kickboxing
Boxing

Kickboxing/Muai Thai:

A solid style to learn, with fun combinations involving round houses, knees, and punches.

Kickboxing differs slightly from boxing in the way you stand (because you're expecting to get kicked or swept your legs aren't as wide as that of a boxer's stance?) My favorite part of kickboxing was adding in rotation to all the kicks. The rotation of the body reminds me of a lot of the body rotation there is in swimming - so I had a pretty solid round house.

This may sound weird, but I enjoyed getting the bruises. It felt like I was getting stronger, or at least I maybe the next time I get kicked I won't start crying like a baby.

We used pads and beat the crap out of each other. I especially hate holding back because I love to go wild, and I'd rather my partner hit me as hard as they can rather than be afraid of hurting me.

I mean, I'm so swoll it won't hurt anyways.....:)

Aside from the standard round house, I learned teep kick, front kick, switches, flying knees, elbows, and takedowns. I think take downs were the most fun for me because now I can counter round houses :D

Boxing:
Good 'ol boxing. Reliable, fast-paced, and just as fun as kickboxing. You want to get closer to your opponent. In kickboxing you'd want to stay a little farther out of reach because you can throw kicks/ avoid clinches. I didn't take any boxing classes officially but there was some boxing thrown in to some of the classes I took.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu:

Kickboxing may have been my favorite class, but THIS class was super fun. Except it made me feel REALLY stupid.

Kickboxing and boxing are sort of intuitive. It's not too hard to punch and kick. The more you want to hurt someone, the better your technique to an extent. That's not to say kickboxing and boxing are easy, but they're definitely more accessible than BJJ is for beginners.

Why? To a beginner like me, BJJ is a mess. It is pure, raw, grappling and calculated technique. You definitely can't win with brute strength. I know, I tried and it got me nowhere except humiliating defeat.

Brazilian Jiujitsu focuses on ground fightings, and promotes the concept that a smaller, weaker person can defeat a larger one by using proper technique and leverage through joint locks and choke holds.

I've never thought of myself as small, so I approached this the wrong way. Against an opponent bigger than me and more experienced, I literally tried to brute force my way through it. The result? I got flipped over and choked over and over again.

In my first class, they taught shrimping and how to get away from a person while on the mat. It's an important technique to learn.

So when you're on your back, you can sort of scooch away from your opponent, creating some distance.

Except right after that first class there was free jiu-jitsu wrestling, and I had NO clue what to do.

Yes, it's awkward when a sweaty guy is literally trying to get on top of a girl. But it's only awkward if you make it awkward, and I respect these people who can master such a difficult sport.

With nothing more than one technique under my belt, the instructor gestured me towards the mats and said, "Go".

Wait what? What do I do with my hands? What's illegal? How do I subdue someone? How can I make this NOT look stupid?

So it was awkward at first, because I was just a mess of flailing limbs and "sorrys", but then I thought, " Aw fuck it" and tried to do something stupid, like put someone in a head lock, which never worked, but it at least looked like I was trying.

In at least 20 scuffles I perhaps won twice- but it was awesome and fun. It was like being a kid again, and thinking on your feet. I had no idea what I was doing, but for the first time in a long time I went at someone like I really wanted to have a go at them. And yes, I did learn a few things in the process. Painfully.

It's a pretty good stress reliever :)

Wing Chun:

I took this class right after the BJJ class. I stopped after 15 minutes because my back started hurting. I can't say much about this class.

MMA is FUN

More girls should try it. Don't ever think you can't do it because you're weaker.
If you fight like you mean it, you WILL do awesome.
Kick like you want to hurt someone, practice like a respectful partner, and fight like you're protecting your loved ones.
It's also a great way to burn calories :)