Author: ginajkd

I am from JKD Sweden /Jeet Kune Do Sweden, Bruce Lee´s martial Art. Only authorized training Group in Sweden under Bruce Lee´s private student Ted Wong.

Don´t get down !

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It was only Will and I this sunday, we worked rounds on the heavy bag and then sparred with each other but with no contact, we had to control the distance and the movements and be very active with the footwork, we also used the hanging bags as obstacles to take into account.

Last week  after the wrestling sessions I injured my arm again, I must have squizzed it real bad when Mikael threw me all over the place :-),  I will not be able to wrestle for a while so I let Will take it all !

It was a really heavy lesson he got there. Mikael showed and explain how to and especially gave him the reasons why you should not go down. When you are down the only thing you should try to do is to get up again. Some guys only want the floor fighting and are so good at it you don´t want to end up there, JKD is about fighting on your feet , not on your back .

The techniques were  repeated in  lots of different situations to prove the point, this session even for me who was just looking, was very rich and interesting.

Interception

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Yesterday was mostly about interception and speed , we also worked on blocking, with mitts and on the Redman.

I worked with Remy first and we did that footwork fun stuff, we have done this many times before, I really  like this exercise and it is tougher than it sounds ! We face each other trying to step on each other´s feet, the key is to keep a good form and footwork and not to look like  a couple of retards dancing around, we laughed  but  managed pretty good in my opinion.

Another thing I would like to talk about is holding pads or mitts. This is important to know how and not only for the other person. We worked on speed when one person is trying to punch or kick and the pad holder moves the pad away at the last second. Holding the pad correctly and moving it away correctly will avoid certain accidents !

Wrestling time ! Mikael had a lot of energy yesterday, Remy André and I went flying around a couple of times. Even André who is around 100 kgs, was picked up and thrown on the floor. I came last and wondered what´s the point ???  but I don´t think this is pointless, I would say it is the other way around, getting used to difficulty will make me better, even if trying to move Mikael is very hard,  he gives us some opportunities to try some stuff and this is our job to recognize the openings and act.

Pushups situps and stretching after that, it was very quiet in the room during stretching time 🙂

Basics

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JKD Sweden has a strange habbit, they break things …Now Will killed our dummy with a kick in the heart !  Mikael repaired it  with silver tape so it is not totally dead yet  :-)’

Will requested some footwork drills for yesterday´s session, I really liked it and I think we need more of this.

Then we worked on basics , pad drills and appropriate footwork. The session was intense , we focused on footwork and techniques only .

I was happy to work with Will yesterday, he is very focused, we worked with good tempo. The only drill I had trouble with was when Will had to punch with high tempo and as hard as possible, for that I held two pads and positionned myself against the big bag, but I felt like a slice of bacon in beween and had trouble breathing.  Will hit pretty hard and it was the point. So good work !

As I just said Will and I worked with high tempo and the session was intense,  it felt really good. Adam and André worked together and we laughed at several occasions when Mikael told him to work less with his mouth and more with his body 🙂  Adam was very ” entertaining ” yesterday,  at one point I asked if he had taken any steroids before the session !

We are a great team I really like all these guys, it is really nice to train with all of them. Thank you for this last session and see you next time.

Protection

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Yesterday´s session was hard for me, I have been sick earlier in the week , but even if it was hard I did it…

After some killer stretching exercises with Remy and Mikael ( who suddenly decided to join our stretching challenge,  not sure I like that ! 🙂 ) , we started with  drills on mitts and light sparring. the tempo was high and I fighted to the end to get this done !

Mikael put the Redman on and we had a harder sparring session.

I want to talk about protection today, it did not take too long for me to be stuck against the wall but I punched and kicked my way out a couple of times but then I lost my focus and bend my body too much so Mikael´s punch ended up in my breast.

Let me tell you, breast protection is as needed as groin protection in sparring, I lost my breath a couple of minutes and could not go on with the fight. This is something to think about because all you need is one good punch in the right place and that´s it. I use to look like a little crazy mosquito when I sparr and it felt like someone just slapped me flat !

Joke aside,  this is not a good feeling, I never wear protection  but I may start.

Now about the stretching challenge , Remy and I had decided to be able to do the splits on July 1st. Now Mikael has joined the party but he is ahead of us…….

We had a great session with  Remy and André yesterday, two really determined guys who work very hard and who have a great spirit and sense of humour. Mikael is always mixing seriousness and jokes , we always have such a great time!

BLOG BIRTHDAY :-)

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My blog is 2 years old today, 215 posts.

I have always written about everything since I was very young. I almost have a book of my life, now I also have a blog.

This is something that I do and enjoy doing. Not sure a lot of people are reading or even are interested but I mostly do it for myself . Writing about some events is for me a way to remember. In this case the purpose is to see the progress, the evolution, to remember things that happen and feelings that I have at that moment and have something written about the way that I train. JKD is such a part of me, I see nothing else I would want to write about.

I rarely go back and read what I have written at all,  but  sometimes I do and I often smile. I like to think that events are not just happenning , I write them down so I don´t  forget anything.

Some events like the trip to San Francisco in 2010,  celebrating Bruce Lee´s birthday and  meeting his family and friends. The second trip in 2011, spending time with Allen Joe and his wife Annie, Jeff and Julie Chinn taking us around town visiting Bruce Lee sites,  these were  days that I described in details, some of the best days of my life.

There are of course a lot of events prior to the Blog that mean a lot, these are described somewhere else because of the personal aspect but there is definetely one day to  mention, the day that changed my life is the day I met Mikael. I believe none of what I have experienced after that would have happenned if I had not met him. Of course I forced a couple of things on him, like facebook. I believe it helped us getting in contact and  meeting great people along the way and we have learned from the good and from the bad that came out of it. Where we are now is the result of our hard work as a team.

It has not always been easy, I have my opinions and I speak them. I have not always written about everything because when I have an issue with someone I take the matter directly. I don´t want my blog to be  political or controversial, some people have tried to use it that way through comments but I decide which comment I publish and these are going straight to the trash.

I am happy to have lasted so long and I look forward to write about more special days and experiences.

Thank you for reading and thanks to some of our JKD friends in the USA who have linked my blog to their website.

What´s the point ?

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Being a woman and training JKD in Sweden is a challenge. First of all, no one understands why I do that. Not my problem, I do it because it makes me happy and it brings all kind of positive things to my life and to my health, mental and physical, I do not need to explain this to anyone.

The other aspect is being the only woman, is that a problem for me? No Sir! It is an advantage and I will tell you why.

When I started in 2004, I was put in the girls group and I did not like it because it had nothing to do with JKD.  But soon they moved me to the JKD guys group. This was better although not good enough as most of the guys did not want or dare train with me. That was one of the reasons why I left and started with Mikael instead.

What is good about our group now is that no one treats me like a girl, I train with anyone and they are professional enough to adapt but still they don´t hold back too much.

I like training with guys and especially Mikael because he is twice my size and weight and it is so hard for me,  it makes me train harder and be used to the level of difficulty, this is how I progress.

My goal training JKD is simple and personal,  I do that for me and no one else. I don´t need to prove anything, I don´t need a belt or a piece of paper telling me how “good” I am. The proof is in fighting , the proof is in me.

I don´t want to participate in any war, a lot has happened lately, groups within groups, alliances, strange attitudes, discords… I have no time for these childish guy attitudes fighting about who has got the biggest ego…  Again, this is their problem not mine. I ´d rather spend my time training and even if nobody would ever notice me, I will always feel good about myself because I know where I come from and what I have achieved.

I will always say what I think and some people won´t like it  but I don´t need anyone liking everything I do, I don´t need sucking up to anyone to be noticed either, to me training is a personal thing not a race towards fame and recognition.

So what´s the point?

The point is what JKD brings me, the person I have become and the people I have met along the way.

Break Machine!

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Nothing to do with the band from the 80´s, that is just Mikael breaking things again !

Last time he hit Will´s bag, this one went fllying as the chain broke. Today as he threw a punch at  Will, the grid of the helmet  broke. The sound was scary,  luckily Will wasn´t hurt but this could have gone bad… ( We got this on tape ). I can´t believe the helmet just broke, talk about power ! 🙂

We worked only with Red Man today. Both Will and I noticed a certain confusion when hitting Red Mikael, we felt we were hitting in an awkward way, by that I mean we used strange and unconventional techniques that are not quite right. I felt most confused,  it was a strange feeling , I could hit exactly where I wanted but still it did not feel right. I did not like being confused, I actually felt kind of stupid. Well it means we need more work on this.

That was interesting that both Will and I had the same feeling. We are going to use the red man in addition to the normal sparring.   We taped most of the session and took pictures, I look forward to see them.

Cruelty

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I can´t stand seing or hearing about cruelty against animals. I just looked at a video on FB not knowing what is was about,  it starts with a “man” beating his dog, I feel sick to my stomach. There is so much cruelty out there, so many cowards that feel strong and in power! These guys beating animals, women and children are all of the same kind.

I always wonder what I would do if I witnessed something like that in life, considering how I feel now I really don´t know if I would be able to control myself.

This is something to think about, considering what this could imply but there is no way in hell I would walk or look he other way.

Killer Session

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Pads- light to hard sparring-  finish with the famous combination pad-pushup-pad-situps-pad pushup,  killer!

Stomach and leg hardenning after that …

I feel stronger in the way that I can make it through ( and still …no girly pushups! )

I don´t have so much muscle pain the day after either, I am better with stretching and I think that helps.

I feel really tired today but I haven´t missed a session since we started in January and it feels good. I gradually increase the tempo …

Remy and I made a bet yesterday .. Again !  be able do the split on July 1st, will see who wins but for the record I have never been able to do it so it can be difficult. Anyway a bet is a bet ! and considering the fact that regular stretching has made my kicks look better,  it is only a good thing to increase the frequency even more.

The sparring session started with light contact and ended with full contact with protective gear on.  Adam got hit in the head and he was very pale when he left, we hope he is feeling  better now. I want to add that both Adam and Remy are doing a great job in sparring, I personnaly like their ability to adapt to different kinds of fighters.  We have all different body shapes and strength, the fact that we never work with the same person is good , it forces us to adapt and work on different fighting aspects and techniques that will work with one and not with the other because the weakness and openings are  not the same from people to people.

The man in the Mirror

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What to do when you are unhappy with how things are going ? 

I will quote my favorite artist Michael Jackson : “start with the man in the mirror and make that change”.

I always say if you are not happy with something, just get out ! it can be personal affairs, work, friendships, weight problem or whatever, I like to say nobody is forced to a situation, your life is what you make of it. Often we blame others for being stuck somewhere because doing something about it can be very hard and involve many other things.

Some people talk about time, that things will get better with time, what do we know about that? Anything can happen, time won´t fix any problem, time will only make you lose an opportunity, make things be too late or unfixable.

It is exactly the same with JKD, if you think that you suck, just do something about it and not tomorrow, now ! Nobody will do the work for you. Now being aware that something is not right is already a good thing !  That means you have a certain knowledge, the next step is to know how to fix it, then just do it. Simple and direct !

In any situation in life the key is YOU.