fight song

back to the boxing cage.
me & my girl.  ok, so maybe she's not old enough for the fight yet, so i just got the wi-fi password from this dude...



(the boss)

..and she was happy as pie just to play on her phone while her mom sweated it out.


I was actually a bit nervous going into this class.  First of all, i always am.  Just the idea of a boxing gym, where people train to knock each other out, is a tad intimidating.  Secondly, i wasn't sure if they'd let me in, it's been so long the package deal of classes i'd purchased a year ago must be expired.  Thirdly, i had no idea who this female instructor was, except for what i'd read on the site, that she'd already been in four amateur boxing matches, at Durham's Bull City Brawl.



 So, as i was joking on the way there with my daughter, we were both imagining some kind of hulk named Bertha...

(and pardon me as i have just a little too much fun with google images!!!!)

    

 



(like the name Blubbery Bertha my sister had given me as kids, where she would call herself Wiry Wilma and then proceed to whop me down on the living room floor, face rug-burned into the green shag carpet again and again.  I'd credited it to her gymnastic finesse, but really, now i think it's because fighting is a mental thing, and since she always controlled me in so many other aspects of our sibling rivalry, i think she just intimidated me so much that i almost let her win.  but NO MO!!  Now I'm singing my fight song... but i'll get to that later..)

anyway, so we go in and the girl is just your average sweet, slender chick, chillin' with her phone, waiting for her students.  only way i knew she was the "teach" was the timer hanging around her neck, ready to time our sessions of torture.

yes, torture:  after a jogging warm-up, (thank God, no jump roping today) we lined up and did sprints across the floor, usually involving inhumane ways of locomotion such as bear walks and spider man crawls.  then russian dancer-style squat kick thingys, etc.

(by the way, this instructor did have some cool tatts, including one all the way up her calf, a full-size, full-color smiling Jesus giving a thumbs-up.  Also a cross, a smiley face, and a mickey mouse. interesting what you can try to read into a person by their ink. but anyway...)

next we grabbed 5-pound weights in our hands, and she gave us a good lesson on footwork.  how to stand, balanced, one foot behind,  weight on back foot, then moving forward or backward in a smooth motion, no bouncing, just smooth control from the torso.  back and forth, and how to quarter-turn, keeping up our guard, eye on our opponent.  add shadow boxing with the weights, for quite some time.

 i liked that lesson.  i love learning new things.  Robb, my Body Combat instructor, always says that the best exercise or class is the one that you will DO... and for me it's anything that teaches me new things, new physical techniques, like boxing or dancing.  not sport techniques, never been a team sport person, never find me cooperating with a team throwing a ball around, guess i'm just too individualistic, not very cooperative, ha ha.  so this was fun, and then when we gloved up and started our hitting sequences, she threw in some of that quarter turn move, which my girl captured in a vine, right here:

Check out my post on Vine! https://vine.co/v/eHgbOlaY9r7

(not the greatest, i know, but it's hard enough to tear a teenage girl off her phone to be her mom's videographer, how embarrassing for her, right?)



I think the reason i enjoy learning boxing footwork is, because it's similar to dance, and i love to dance!  

anyway, back to that fight song. i've been going through a lot these past 2-1/2 years, a lot of growing up. leaving behind some childish ways, breaking out of my self-imposed prison, finding my voice, dealing with issues and taking my life back.  becoming my real self again.  so when i heard this song, and then looked up the lyrics, it really resonated with me.
just like going to the boxing gym revs me up physically and gives me mental confidence when i learn new skills that i could apply in real life situations if needed, i am also encouraged by words like these, proof that i'm not the only one who has a fight going on inside of her.  cuz even if nobody else believes me...i've still got a lot of fight left in me!!

so here ya go...







yeah, love this feeling.



till we return to the cage, friend.

the last shall be first

hola!  como estas? bien?  que bueno.  hoy tengo un "periscope alert!!!"
si, periscope!  ok, no mas espanol.

What i'm trying to say is, i now have the periscope app, signed in with my twitter account, and today i tried broadcasting live from my body combat class!  woo hoo!  ok, so it was a little awkward, and i mostly just got some other chicks in the class, or just the cieling and the sound of Robb the instructor's voice, or someone's too-close-up-for-comfort spandex or something, and it ended after 14 minutes, but eh, not bad for a first go-round.    Next time i'll try to give a heads-up first, but if you're reading this, just remember that i do this body combat class most thursday mornings, (re-starting last week, anyway, i was a bit absent for several weeks there...) so if you just check out my twitter name, jennerositync or just jennerosity, not sure, on periscope at 9:30 thursday mornings, you just might catch us in action!
But if you're quick, you can still catch a replay of it before 24 hours goes up!  run!  don't walk!!!



ok. seriously.  today was a "launch" day, when they do a new release for the first time. ok that's redundant. new release MEANS for the first time.  and Robb told us all to wear camo or black and green, which some people did, and there was a Ninja Mutant Teenage Turtle theme to it or whatever, you'll see at the end...

i'm not getting into the technical details today, just appreciated the good workout. i'll let some other dudes do that.  like this guy...



Tommy Damani has a youtube channel where he reviews and  breaks down every track of this new release, or whatever release we're on, and it's pretty good, if you're into learning the correct body placement and technique for these fun combat moves.  he does a lot of blabbing in the beginning, though, so you can just skip to a couple minutes in.  here he is..click below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLKcRdC3t_s

hope you enjoyed that.  moving on...



this guy usually does good reviews, but this time it's just the track list:

http://grandnat.co.uk/dare-you-look-the-track-list-for-les-mills-body-combat-release-64/


and here's a chick i've never seen before, you never know what you'll find on youtube...but i guess she's an instructor somewhere in the world:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZcPm414hgI&list=PLTjmGWwyi0KVHfRCO7mnQh5OGZmYA7vWY&index=1

ok, now my turn.  had fun today.  some of my favorite moves:  i loved the scoops and the push kicks, and it felt so good to do elbow strikes again, love those.  jump kicks were back in this release, yay, and lots of repeated side kicks, all on one leg, while balancing on the other.

but i approached class cautiously today.  not only because it's been awhile since i've been a regular at this, but because i'm tired of the headaches i used to suffer every day after this class. did some research, learned that this is more of an "explosive" type of exercise, so i decided to put a bit less "explosion" into my moves, and maybe i'd suffer less. so i was gentler, calmer, as a fighter today.


 

funny, but just as i was getting started, getting into my gentler mode of fighting today, in prances this one girl, and i'm not trying to judge here, but she was so totally opposite of the gentler fight mode i was attempting, that it was very distracting, especially since she came in late and claimed a spot right smack in front of me, blocking my view of the mirror.  (that is sooo annoying..) but anyway, as i chided myself for trying to judge at first, i realized that i kind of saw myself in her.  a forty-something mom, going absolutely crazy in this class, throwing every molecule into her punches like her life depended on it.  actually she was much more fit than i am, and i know that she does have a personal trainer, as well, which explains the clearly defined muscles to the point that her legs didn't even look soft or feminine anymore.  sorry, that was judging.

any-hoo, i know that a couple years ago, just starting out, i was into this to an extreme, like i had so much fight in me i just had to get it out, and this was soooo therapeutic!  it still is, but like i've mentioned elsewhere, i'm in a calmer stage right now, i'm accepting where i'm at, and i know that working out is not a  life-or-death trek through the jungles of South America, ready to pounce and fight off every cheetah or anaconda or drug lord that crosses my path.  no, this is just my life, my routine of keeping my  body in good health so i can live for a reeeeeally reeeeeeally long time, like past 100, maybe.  (if it's a good life, i'd like that, otherwise, take me Jesus!!)

all that blabber to say, i still enjoy the combat sport, the way it bangs you into great shape, but i'm not so personal about it anymore.  i'm done fighting for my life.  The Lord is fighting for me.

oh, that's right. the teenage ninja noodle terriors or warriors or whatever..  i think it was in a song someplace.  anyway, you know i just hate winning stuff.  no no i mean, sure it'd be great if i could ever win a lottery or a trip to costa rica on wheel of fortune or something big, but it seems whenever i enter some silly drawing in a public place, i end up winning some silly prize and have to embarrass myself walking up in front of everybody to claim it.  it happened when i was 4 years old at a church picnic.  i won a sandbox toy.  it happened in second grade.  i won a bag of stupid uncooked cranberries at a church potluck.  that was horrible. we had to guess the number of marbles in a jar, and why did i have to be so smart.  when they announced the winner, i was in the process of trying to sneak out the door, when they called my name, dang it, and somebody saw me out in the hallway and made me go back in and claim my stupid cranberries. how humiliating for a super shy little girl!  and what's a kid supposed to do with a pound of cranberries????  ay-yi-yi!!

any-hoo. i digress.  so during this class, Robb reminded us to put our names in the drawing.  i was the last in line for the pen to scrawl my name on a slip of paper and drop it in.  almost left the line to re-join the class, hated missing part of the workout.  The bag was immediately brought up to be chosen from, and after a good bit of mixing up the names, they drew mine!   and here's my prize:
a teenage noodle minty turtle bath towel and washcloth!!  wow!!!  (actually, i'm quite fond of it, and may have to use some of these body combat moves to fight off my kids for it!!)

so have a great day, and remember, 9:30 on thursdays, i will try to broadcast live on periscope.  check out the replay while it's still there.

tschuss, aufwiedersehn!!!!

(ok, wrong release, i know, but i love this little guy....and that crane move!!!)

Body Combat 63

Feliz Cinquo de Mayo!!

I had to re-post the following from Grandnat's Blog... a big reminder that I really need to haul my boo-tay back into my gym's Body Combat class again. Soon.  I've been dealing with some headache issues lately that are brought on by various things, such as dehydration, pollen, changes in the weather, and especially by the intensity of this Body Combat class, so I've been avoiding it.  I'm planning to see a specialist about these issues soon, but in the meantime, I also hope to get into the gym again soon for this awesome new Body Combat release.  (after prepping for it by taking some headache medicine, drinking gallons of water, eating the right pre-work-out foods AND lots of coffee!!!)

So here it is, a review of Body Combat 63.  Enjoy it vicariously, like I just did:

(and here's the link, love this guy's blog!

http://grandnat.co.uk/fight-the-resistance-review-of-les-mills-body-combat-release-63/ )

New post on Grandnat's Blog Fight The Resistance – Review of Les Mills Body Combat release 63 by roger Let's start with a huge positive. Les Mills Body Combat release 63 kicks the proverbial in delivering a tough workout and physical results. Programme directors Dan and Rachael delivered something different with number 63. Still the same Body Combat we know and love but with subtle changes. Like Marmite some people love the changes and others hate them. Change is good. Of course it is. But after teaching Body Combat for over 11 years I've found it's taken longer to "get" this release. Longer to sell it to my participants. Longer to fully appreciate it. In fact it wasn't until just last night, in a packed "Monday Night Fight Club" that I finally thought, "This is a great release". Up to that point people have walked out, demanded the immediate execution of T2 and T4, insisted upon standing options instead of  the floor work in T4, and bemoaned the lack of sing along "fun" songs. Here's what I think is different about Body Combat 63 perhaps contributing to the long flirtation before consummation I've experienced here. I've based these thoughts on genuine comments from participants. Speed and Intensity Faster than earlier classes, Body Combat 63 works you hard from the start. It feels as if there is no warm up. Straight into intense hard work our shoulders particularly feel the effects after only a few minutes. I don't have a problem with raising the bar. We can give lower options of course. Samey music Tracks 1a, 3, 5, and 6 all sound the same. A heavy pounding bass and drum combined with epic synth and limited lyrics. Whilst the choreography that goes with the music is fine, it took me so much longer to find hooks in the music to translate into fun for the participants. For example T3. "Do it do it baby", repeated about 50 times is not as catchy and memorable as we've had in the past. Compare that to "And I never thought that you would be the one. Come along and snatch my heart and run." T5: "Hold on" repeated about 200 times. The Muay Thai is the first track with a genuine singalong opportunity the "La La La La LAH!" in the circle phase. Too Serious and where's the fun? Up until the Muay Thai it's all so serious. I know that Dan and Rachael want to create an authentic martial arts experience. But the reality is that a large proportion of the participants don't want immersing and definitely want drowning in the "essence of martial arts". They want a fun escape from daily life. This release feels as far from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" track as it's possible to get. And yet there's a reason "Pirates" remains the most often requested old routines. Floor work in Track 4 Great to see some conditioning earlier in the class. And it toughens the work out. But having the floor work in the middle of a routine devoted to advancing side kicks doesn't work in most UK studios. Some people want mats. But there isn't time to set them up and put them aside. People sweat buckets on to wooden floors during the floor work and then have to skate through the liquid for advancing side kicks on the left. A better way to handle this would have been a T4a and T4b with a musical bridge to allow time to place mats and towels where necessary. So let's have a look at the tracks (and you can click on the links to listen to the music on Amazon). Upper body warmup – Get Ready (Steve Aoki Vocal Radio Edit) - 2 Unlimited Different to any warm up we've ever had. We think we recognise the song (first appeared in Body Combat release 10) but it shifts direction. After the bluff we have fast hooks, fast uppers and then those powerful jabs synchronised with the "Hey!" samples in the music. Perhaps the first warm up never to feature any shuffling forwards or to the side. In fact there is no shuffling at all in this class. A definite first for Combat. Lower body warmup – Survival Of The Fittest (Radio Edit) - Coone Initially reminiscent of past lower body warm ups, this has an unexpected and tough capoeira section burning the legs and raising our heart rates. Combat 1 – Badboi - Pegboard Nerds Yes the low switch lunges are hard and continue the onslaught started by capoeira in the warm up. Yes the forty odd roundhouse kicks challenge balance, work the supporting leg and test even the most crafted techniques. But after one or two tries T2 is just boring. And it's not helped that the music is an abomination. I will be acting on my participants requests to execute this track soon. Power training 1 – Get A Way - Sporty Breed An epic power track with great moves and uplifting music. I love the last two reps on the main combos where the main musical theme repeats. Turn it up loud and sweat. The "Dynamic Pull" or as people call it "The Body Attack Bit" is an interesting innovation working a set of muscles in a different way than I think we've ever seen in Combat. Combat 2 – Edge Of A Revolution - Nickelback Powerful front kicks and squats. Advancing side kicks building from the slow introductory examples to the faster section and topped off by the little Bruce Lee hop before the kick. It's challenging and the timing is tricky but the side kicks continue to sculpt our legs. Floor work is a welcome change but as I've said before it doesn't work in the middle of the kicking. Make it a separate track. Power training 2 – Holdin’ On Right Now - The Solar Rival Another solid hardcore power track culminating in a huge combination of punches, hooks and weaves. Just as a power track should be. Building a combination layer by layer and then fitting it all together into melee of blurred breathlessness. Combat 3 – Fight The Resistance - Brennan Heart & Zatox First time we've ever seen the Jump Front Kick in T6. A couple of good combinations set to a pounding bass line. A pretty unremarkable track. Muay Thai – Dead! - My Chemical Romance Insanely fast. Takes time to master the speed of the knee strikes to the beat of this thrash rock song (with its bizarre lyrics about death and hospitals). A grower it now stands out as one of the best in the class. The social ending with double knees in a circle and everyone singing along to "La La La La LAH!" redeems the lack of singalong moments earlier. Power training 3 – Shine (JBC Remix) - Geos Crew feat. Zara A typical all round cardio blaster finale. The main combo builds again and the uppercut repeaters give us the opportunity to finish off our shoulders and work the core abdominals in a very visible way. Conditioning – Three Strikes - Afrojack feat. Jack McManus Since we've already performed our fair share of press ups in T4 this conditioning routine focuses on the abdominals. Influenced by CXWorx a series of hovers, side plank raises and last crunches ignite fires in the core. Not one part of the body isn't fatigued by this point. Cool down – A New Way To Bleed (Photek Remix) -Evanescence Stretches and Katas to a powerful heavy metal ballad by Evanescence. It's taken time but like a fine wine Body Combat release 63 has matured and is another solid release. Now It's Your Turn: What do you think of my review of Les Mills Body Combat release 63? Do you agree? What do you think of the floor work in T4? It looks like it's in the next class as well. Is that a good thing? Please leave a comment below or post a link to your own thoughts. roger | May 5, 2015 at 3:38 pm | Tags: body combat, capoeira, exercise, fitness, fitness classes, fitness magazine, fitness professional, les mills, martial arts | Categories: Fitness and Yoga | URL: http://grandnat.co.uk/?p=5215 Comment    See all comments Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from Grandnat's Blog. Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://grandnat.co.uk/fight-the-resistance-review-of-les-mills-body-combat-release-63/ Click here to Reply or Forward 6.98 GB (46%) of 15 GB used Manage Terms - Privacy Last account activity: 50 minutes ago Details

bag talk

see da bag?

see da bag shakin, cryin?

oh yeah.

da bag knows who's here. knows who's about to smash those 150 lbs. of sand over and over again, till it's swingin back n forth like it's in a friggin hurricane.

                                                                   oh yeah.
                                                            i'd be weepin too.
                                                              cuz here i come.        

   but seriously folks.  am i doing something wrong? am i NOT supposed to be hitting this bag so hard that it swings out at an angle of at least 45 degrees for the whole 3 minutes we're doing a hitting sequence?  i don't get it.  everyone else's bag is barely jiggling.  am i supposed to be, like, conserving my energy instead of letting it all out at this thing like i've got a mega-ton of road rage that i've just got to let out on this poor thing?  i dunno.  that's why i ask.  all i know is hitting that thing while constantly moving around it, keeping up the heart rate, mind in the fight, imagining i'm the beastliest of the beasts, oh it's fun.  sooo fun.  feels great.  puts me in the mindset of ronda rousey when she says, "Some people like to call me cocky or arrogant, but I just think, How dare you assume I should think less of myself?"  i just love that.

quick review, boxing class.  led by the dude that just recently won a fight someplace around here.  he's also about my age, which is encouraging.  there's still hope for me..

so it's a "leg day" today, lots of squats and lunges.  crazy planks, too.  would've been fine, would've stayed in my mental "zone" all peachy if not for this grunter-groaner next to me yelling like a wildebeast.  (do wildebeasts yell?) and i know i'm spelling wildebeast wrong, oh well.  but the worst thing is, this grunter, groaner isn't a man, it's a  woman!!  girl is a kind of scary looking, hefty, tattooed, not in great shape, but bully-ish, i hate that type, and sports a "support your local fire dept." t-shirt, looks like she could be the anchor of a fire hose belay team.  or sumthin.  how do you concentrate on your planks and cat stretches when you've got that kind of noise bellowing in your ear?  ugh.

good class otherwise.  simple, fast-hitting punch sequences.  he gave me some pointers on my "3,4"'s, (hooks), to keep it closed in more, rotate in the core, less arm movement, more pivot. makes sense.  only one more complaint....on the last let-it-all-out sequence of 5,6's (upper cuts) at the end, he poured out a sermon on us, preaching to us about the evils of non-organic foods, plastic water bottles, and sugar.  aw come on, man, i've seen you come into starbucks for the super-sugary, non-organic cinnamon coffee cake, mm-hmmmmm, yeah i see you..

oh well. great class anyway.  now 2 days off till it's body combat class at the other gym.  adios!!

BODYCOMBAT 62 Sizzler

G'day, mates! (sorry, i'm being influenced by these Body Combat head honchos down under in Auckland!!)

You wanna know what makes me reeeeeaaally exhausted, tired, out of breath, aching in every muscle and molecule of this ol' body?  Sitting here in this comfy chair, sipping my Casi Cielo dark roast, curled up in fuzzy slippers and blanky....watching THIS:

It's a 3-minute "sizzler" or trailer for the Body Combat 62, the new release that we just did in class yesterday.  What's so amazing to me, watching these, is how people all over the world, starting from these guys in New Zealand, are doing these exact same moves to the same tracks, with the same teaching tips, exact choreography.  this is worldwide!  worldwide aches and pains and nicely rounded buns, too, i might add, for those that have been doing it as long as they have!  I just watch these 3 minutes of action and i have nothing left to say in this blog to review the pain and torture, yet glorifyingly amazing energy and spiritual fervor that goes on in each of these classes.  Yesterday was a perfect example. We really had the room sizzling with energy, music pounding, Rob's encouragement to pull out all the stops, give it all we've got, and there was no lack of enthusiasm in the resounding cheer of Rob's: "MAD CARY MOMS!!!" and our response, "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!!!" over and over again.  Powerful.  Wonderful.  Loved it.  till i hated it, with a passion, hours later, as the muscles broke down and the mild headache from lack of sufficient oxygen or water seeped in, and i had to go to bed super early to recover.  

So to recap...this video reminded me...

Importance of FORM:  these guys are the pros.  Rob's great, but watching these guys is really impressive, the sharpness, the accuracy of their kicks.  the fury of their punches.  no flabby, flailing arms like the car-washing chick or the hammy the squirrel characters i sometimes see in my class.

Their description of the roundhouse kick, spot-on.  just like Rob's, so i'm glad about that. 

I remember those new "guard" moves that i'm still trying to figure out.  Doing karate moves when i've never actually donned the white bathrobe thingy can throw me off sometimes. feels foreign but that's ok. i like it.

combine those guards with the side kicks, smacking out both opponents: POW!!

new boxing combo, mixin it up, fast, "maintain rotation for the hook". 

Dark Horse remix.  liked it. but ouch, 56 continuous strikes: first knees, then side, front and back kicks. never ending. 

 grab some water if there's time.  or at least try to breathe between tracks.

Then the killer Capoeira, lower-body work-out.  ouch ouch ouch.  standing on one leg for 2 whole minutes, doing killer S-L-O-WWWW kicks and lunges till the fire in your legs is about to erupt and explode you.   Rob's comment, "you can do anything for 2 minutes. God knows i have..."  (translation cue,  Rob in 3 words: gay. 2 kids.  biological. ok moving on..)

Muay Thai. perfect mix of all my favorites, including the brawler blow, ascending and descending elbow strikes mixed with jab-crosses, every beat, nonstop, no rest for the weary. "arms above the head" keeps the heart rate up, up, up.  Recovery time? a short stint of running in place, Keep those knees up!!!

Finished with some new ab work, things called Quarter Crunches.  

Cool-down and goodbye.

For someone else's review of Body Combat 62, check out this link:

https://nzglen.wordpress.com/2014/08/09/bodycombat-62-filming/

This has been exhausting. just thinking about it makes me tired.  Need to keep it up, stay in better fighting shape.  Fitness goal: (i know, i keep trying to stay on track and keep renewing my vows to 

fitness, but here goes again:)  Body Combat once a week, Boxing once a week, run a few times in-between.  i'm getting there...

till next time...keep your guard up, mates!!

WCF?

Feeling a good burn from my boxing class today, ready to jump in a hot bath with epsom salts...i'll be feeling this tomorrow.  But first just a few words..

Almost didn't go today when i found out who was instructing.  he may be a nationally top ranked kick boxer, but as a teacher? no thanks.  Teachers need to really teach, give clear instructions, several times for some of us newbies or non-regulars at the gym.  This guy just tells us once, whether it's 3 minutes of lunges with weights or a combo of 10 upper cuts and then 3 burpies, or a sequence of "5,6, 1,4" or "1,2,2,3"... which is not much guidance if we've forgotten which numbers are right jab, or left hook, or upper cut or whatever.  he lacks the charisma of the other instructors, too, but oh well.  i still got a good work-out.

He gave us a very creative bunch of push-ups, i can say that much.. Variations included: frog-legs, swing one leg thru like a hip escape, oblique mountain-climbers, crawl to the left or right, tap the bag and down, shoulder taps, and more.  He also gave us a long, long, long round of ab exercises, which I might not have finished if not for a sudden glimpse of entertainment from the other side of the room that kept me going...

by the way, is this wcw? aw shucks, it's Friday, but this woman crush was on this young boxer chick who was with her trainer over by the boxing ring, beating the crap out of this bag with such amazing technique and form...i was very impressed, and yes, jealous.   After class i snuck in a couple vines of this fighting and training action i was observing, first of the 2 guys in the ring, (one of them an instructor who also fights at least semi-professionally) and then of the girl.  

My observations of her technique:  i know i don't know much yet about the sport, but i could tell she did a few very important things: she kept her guard up really well, she totally used her core muscles in slamming that bag around, she was super FAST at it, she made funny little noises with each strike, and then she'd suddenly back away, like she was ducking from her opponent.  She also spent a few minutes just practicing her footwork off to the side.  girl be nimble!   wow. 

so i'll upload those vines here.  enjoy!

More boxing (wcf)

Check out jennifer nelson's post on Vine! https://vine.co/v/OjbEdXmWVq2