Sitting here in the gym parking lot. It's been over 2.5 months since I've been at this class. Fearful? Just a bit. Muscles feeling flabby, lungs, are you ready for this? Reaching down deep..deeper..for that fighter within. Hello? Anyone in there? Ok no more procrastinating.. Open that car door, grab your mat, water bottle, here goes. Time to smash some opponents. (More later, if I survive this!)
And I survived! just waiting for the headache to descend upon my skull now...that always happens after this class. I drink tons of water, so it's not dehydration, i don't think, but just the constant intensity. I can go to my boxing gym and I'm fine afterwards, but it's because they do interval training so the heart rate gets a break. We'll do like 3 minutes of high-intensity boxing into the heavy bags, then a few minutes of strength training exercises, so the body keeps guessing and adapting to the changes, but at least the heart rate can recover in-between. But not in Body Combat at my regular gym. and it just keeps getting harder, with each new release of choreography. Instructor Rob explains the change over the months & years, as eliminating more of the "pulse" counts and inserting more and more punches. For example, while previous tracks might include sets of "jab-cross-jab, then pulse, pulse" where you just rock in place for a couple counts, now it's more straight-up jab-cross-jab, round-house kick, repeat, repeat, repeat. no rest for the weary. i guess i'm just getting old. oh well. Took my pain reliever BEFORE going to the class, like my doctor suggested, so hoping for the best here.
So today i was happy to hear some of these old tracks in the mix, more time to recover, for someone who hasn't been in class for awhile. Starting out with some familiar Pit Bull, this song i remember from my very first class.
My favorite karate track to Pink's "Your Hand" song, got me singing along, as usual. karate chops, back snap kick, and the squats with the hand blocks, where you do a side elbow jab, then a sideways push of the wrist, so it's to the throat, then the chin. take that!!
A strictly boxing track, set to a dance remix of Police's Every Breath You Take, with a new combo that feels strange: it's an upper cut-cross jab. i'm so used to doing an upper combined with an alternate hook, that this feels weird. i keep getting mixed up. but it's a good thing. you gotta fool your enemy. make them keep guessing what you're gonna do, can't let them predict your next move. takes mental flexibility, confuse that muscle memory, keep it open to new moves. liking it.
Then another favorite oldie, that fun track of constant kicks to Alesha Dixon's "Drummer Boy":
she goes something like: "hoooooo----- i think i need a better drumm--mmer!!!" (band responds: "Say What???!!") she says, "I THINK I NEED A BETTER DRUM-MMER!!!" During which time we are all balancing on one leg, other leg extended in a forever side-kick pose...then the beat drops and it's non-stop side kicks, front and back kicks for the whole song. Good for the Boot-AY!!!
here's a pretty cool video of a class doing this kick track: (select, copy, paste in new tab?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WaBbYZWV-U
<iframe width="
640" height="390" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_WaBbYZWV-U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
anyhoo....
Move along to the muay thai track, set to the song Phat Bass by Aquagen vs. Warp Brothers (??).
Here's the song, to set you in the mood for some killer ascending and descending elbow strikes, knee strikes and various other Muay Thai moves:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIrUWqLiJVo
A couple notes from Robb: if you look like you're fixing your hair on the ascending elbow strikes, you're doing it wrong. Gotta twist the body, lift the opposite heel, and pull the energy from the ground. "Power comes from the Earth" says guru Robb. hmm, sounds a bit New Agey, i'm thinking, yet dismiss it as just a good metaphor for balancing your physical energy with the solid ground beneath you, a kind of leveraging. If i get too spiritual thinking about it, i might think about summoning evil fighting demons from the earth or from myself, don't wanna go there. keep it light.
not that this song is light, no, it's a pretty good thrashing fast track, great for this Muay Thai work-out.
Finished the class on our mats, doing push-ups, planks, and komodo dragons.
For a little sneak peek at the new BC63 release, here's a blog post by an instructor who was there at the reveal, when they filmed the work-out for the DVD's they sell. It's mostly a bunch of vague hype, no song titles mentioned, just keeping us guessing and piquing our interest in what's to come. sounds very intense. I'm sure we'll get it live from Robb sometime in the new year.
http://nzglen.wordpress.com/2014/12/07/bodycombat-63-filming/
Hope you enjoyed it. Till next time, keep your guard up, your fighter in control.
As for me, time for a nap!
