Month: September 2010

my own stuff !

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I had to write about today´s training. I train different things everyday,  I try to harmonise during the week to cover it all.

Today was mostly on the  heavy bag.

I started jumping the rope for a couple of minutes.

Then on the heavy bag I started slow:

Jab  then cross then hook

jab and cross

jab cross and hook all together

then I work a round of 3 minutes with all hand techniques jab cross hook uppercut elbow…

Kicks:

I actually worked a while on the side kick first

Then low hook , normal and high,  on both sides.

Right at the beginning (and because I use to hear it on sundays) I feel my guard is low when I kick, I decided to get a rope  around my shoulders and put my arm in it,  in the correct position which provided me from loosing my guard while kicking.

 Amazing feeling here as I feel I got a whole new and better stability during kicking !

I have some work to do on the side kick still,  the start position of the knee is too far on the inside, I know what I have to do, lift and kick,  easy ! I just need to have my body to get it ! but as I train it again and again,  I will get there.

Hook kicks feel good , front kick OK, I did not use any other kicks tonight , I thought I limit myself to a few.

Then I took it all on the heavy bag ( 180cm and 75 kgs ) it  did not use to move a lot when I punched it , but as I got myself a bit stronger I see a difference now.

I did a couple of rounds on the heavy bag .

I decided to work on my straight lead again, and I took the gloves off to feel better, this is exactly what happens you feel the punch in a whole other way and when you hit wrong you know it because it hurts like hell 🙂

Anyway I am always happy about the feeling, if I get blisters  so what , I train Martial Arts not golf 🙂

Some hard stretching after that ( I WILL get that split for heaven sake ! ) 

Sit ups

Push ups (and  no girly ones in case you wonder,  I ´d rather not do it at all! )

20 push ups- 20 secondes rest –  20 push ups  … 5 times totally.

Then I could sit down and start thinking , my God training JKD is the best feeling in the world…

KILLING Time!

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Well,  when Micke says the training will be intense he is not joking .

Only me , Training at my place this sunday.

I warmed up before Micke arrived and as soon as he took off his shoes,  it started…

Heavy bag :

5 minutes – intensity power and flow-  all combinations. 5 minutes with high intensity is quite a long time but it felt good 

Pads:

4 Punches , alternate with 4 push ups – 5 times

Kicking pad:

10 punches – 10 push ups -5 times

10 punches – 10 situps – 5 times. Intensity and speed and NO resting in between ! 

On the floor:

Lying on my back, Micke sitting  on me ( ! ) holding pads

Hit the pads with full power while lying on the floor with not much movement possibility. Quite difficult position with no possibility to use the body, this requires quite some arm strength.

Focus mitts :

10 hook kicks-   10 side kicks  both sides. God my hook kicks felt good today ! this is GREAT !

Helmet on :

hit the focus mitts with speed and power and return into position  before the mitt hits you back. Quite shaky at the beginning but I managed to get some rythme .. 

Kicking pad :

10 front kicks , both sides alternated with frog jumps. Yeah being french you would assume I know all about frogs … those frog jumps must be the most ridiculous ever ! 

On the floor:

Lying face down Micke is lying on me NOT using all his body weight ( Thank God ! ) , I have to get out and up using no hitting at all, just get up.

This requires the ability to  use your body to find a way out , mostly legs and back, no easy task !

We repeated 3 times before my body gave up totally , no strength left ,  that was the end of me!

I really like those sessions , testing the limits and abilities in all aspects, it is very hard but it feels good !

Thoughts

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Sometimes I wonder where I would be today if I hadn´t started with JKD. I just turned 30 + something 🙂 , I must admit either than JKD , I haven´t  done much with my life.

I feel very frustrated sometimes and sometimes I think it is good, it is the way my life is supposed to go. Well, I chose my path some years ago  and from that decision it influenced the years hereafter. I don´t regret it but I should  have done some things differently , pay more attention to important beings that I lost before I could do something about it.

I put my whole self into JKD and let the rest of my world pass me by. I will never regret starting with JKD because today , this is my life , this is all I am about and I am so proud of it . I would never want to go back to the life I had before but the rest is  not there,  I just have to do something about it. 

JKD brought me so many things and much more than a fighting ability and I don´t think it will end there. One thing is for sure,  I will never give it up and if it means I have to sacrify other things so be it , I start to get too old for those other things anyway but I won´t give it up without a fight.

I strongly believe that life is what you make of it, and JKD gave me the opportunity to get strong enough to know and decide what I want out of it.

It is about time …!

Pump it up !

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I have looked for different forms of complement training for the winter,

Yesterday I tried Body Pump . I found it to be a good workout and I decided to integrate it in my weekly schedule:

Footwork and stretching: everyday

Body Pump: once a week

Technique and Heavy Bag:  Three times a week

Sparring: once a week ( sunday )

Regular gym: one to two times a week.

I think this is a good start , I will try it for a while and adjust or change if needed.

Certification

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Do you need one ?

This is the question I have been asked today my answer is:  NO, I don´t NEED one

do I want one ? well by ONE what do you mean ? in my eyes there is only one possible certificate in JKD and it is the Instructor certificate but it is hard to get and it should be !  If I get good enough to deserve one of those it would mean something to me of course.

But nowadays I see all kind of ranking in JKD , did we forget what Bruce said ? 

The legacy that  Ted is trying to keep ?

“KEEP THE NUMBERS LOW AND THE LEVEL HIGH ”

( and don´t get me started on those who are making a business out of it!)

 The question here is why do I train JKD ?

It started because I always wanted to train JKD, because it was Bruce Lee´s style, because there are hardly any women training proper TWJKD nowadays and because of the opportunity I was given .

But it  went deeper  when I met Micke. He taught me another way of thinking, another approach and I became another person. It is all about my personal achievement, I don´t need to tell people , to try to explain, this is personal and private because JKD changed my life, changed me. I believe I became a better person and I feel I have achieved something, I am proud of it and I do not need a certificate to prove it to myself.

There is no certification or ranking in JKD, some students better than others , this kind of competition is banned from our group. We train together as equals not towards certification but towards personal achievements .

The only thing I need is to train more in order to get better,  I want to be a good JKD fighter, I need to feel I am good,  this is what  I need  because JKD is for me a way of Life.

Working the mitts !

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Well I have been writing this post 4 times already but I can´t save because there is something wrong somewhere,  but I won´t give up ! let´s try AGAIN

The Sunday sparring session was cancelled so I asked for a private session to work on my technique .

We practised on mitts:

Straight lead as the mitt holder is moving and only showing the mitt quickly.

working the speed and reaction ability as much as the footwork

same drill with cross and then hook.

Combinations: showing the pad in any position : adapt to recognise which punch to use , constantly moving to adapt to the correct distance and work the speed !

And last we added the ” mitt response “, by that I mean the mitt will hit you back ! feels a lot like regular sparring but hitting on mitts instead and mitts hitting you !

the thing here is the focus on hitting the mitt, the partner is actually controlling the game as he is controlling where  you will be hitting , this is not a free / regular sparring where you can hit wherever you want , anywhere you find an opening.

kind  of interesting exercise though,  it requires a lot of awareness, control and speed in reaction.

then we worked on footwork.

I placed myself next to Micke and tried to follow him, trying to get some flow !

This will be perfect for me to practise alone during the week.

Finally I could write this whole post, means it works again !

 I am going to work on my footwork now:-)