Yesterday I asked Micke if we could have a private session instead of the gym, I needed more attention to the front hand lead , footwork, speed and kicks and wanted him to correct some details and to give me some advice on my own training during the week

I practised on the heavy bag, on mitts and on the paper sheet.

It is always the same problem as soon as I start thinking I loose it all !  Seems so easy when Micke does it , actually !  but again, I can absolutely not compare myself to him.

I can only watch and learn and practise until I get it right , he says he gives me three years and I will be as good as Him … euh .. no he did not !  He said three more years and I will be a good fighter, I realise I have to put some more hours daily training because I personnaly think I will need it.

Anyway after at least a hundred times trying to get the front hande lead  right , I went to the heavy bag and worked on my kicks, they are better apparently which is good, I feel more stability and that was good news.

After that we did some more drills to gain stability in the moves.

In the air, hook kick:  low  regular and high, first with landing in between , then without landing 

Same thing with side and front kick

after that we repeated with some speed

and the last one with the slowest motion possible,

This one was interesting is NOT as easy as it sounds, the position and  balance to be kept at all times during the developement of the kick , good exercise actually.

I repeated al this a while after Micke had left yesterday and this will be part of the program for quite a while from now on.

I spend more time on footwork and straight lead these days.

My technique is doing better, I need more strength and stability to push it harder. I studied the last filming and I see what needs to be improved, I have now rearranged my own daily training to focus on those points which are:

– A better on guard and a better Front hand  lead.

– Being tighter in my movements and less tensed .

– Stretching and Power

By focusing on those things for a while until this becomes natural will help me get all the rest better as well.

I saw a very good documentary on TV yesterday where Bruce speaks about muscle memory, there is no secret if you train all the time the muscles will remember the moves and you won´t need to think about it. I am working hard towards this.

I am not a quiter,  I am pretty determined to get it right and I will.

🙂

Filming is a great way to see what I do wrong. I usually get angry at myself but this is the way to target the work I need to do and it gives me even more determination. I have trained for 6 years ( 5 with Micke ) I just HAVE to get to the next level.

No surprises here: Footwork.

I know this is what is holding me back, I cannot get to the next level If I cannot correct this , and I decided to  focus even more on this one until I get it right, this is the basics, without the basics there is nothing good.

Here is what I worked on yesterday:

Heavy bag:

– Punches

First Jab, then  Cross and  Hook separately. I went on with combinations of all three using both power and speed.

Looked bad at first but better after a while.

– Kicks

Side, hook and front, then combinations. If you ask me I find the side kick better, the hook lacks power, the front is  Ok , but all of them could use more power and stability, I am working heavier at the gym these days,  to get some more strength in those legs.

– Working the bag, all in.

using all kicks and punches in rounds of 3 minutes trying to get some flow. On film the technique looks quite Ok , looks like I have power ( at least more than before ) , the flow however needs more work.

Punching Ball:

working with one hand then two with speed , Bob and weave, blocking.

Paper Drill:

I really like this one but I would like to know what Micke thinks about it, I asked him to look at the film or watch me do it.

JKD Pole:

Ah the famous exercise that kills your arms… really good one though I just need to achieve more reps

Wristroller:

If the JKD Pole has not killed you yet this one will finish the work, if you ask me this is the worst but I love it !

As a conclusion I would say that  filming yesterday was a good idea.

Today I spent quite some time on my footwork especially with the Straight Lead, at the end I WILL get this one right  !

Yesterday starting the training session at the top of the slope, it was too hot I could not get it right. We decided to go down to the water and try it there instead.

First getting some balance  when trying to kick then we went on with light sparring. the movements are slowed down by the water power and this is a great deal to keep the balance on the sand soil, but I have to say I want to do that again soon because it is very interesting and gives another perspective about the training and the possibilities in different conditions.

My thoughts about this training : Adaptation,Awareness,  turn the evironnement to an advantage, recognize and use whatever tools available.

“Be water my friend”

Today I started at a new Gym, a bigger one with more modern equipment.

Micke and I trained hard on biceps,  back and stomach.

It is more than 35 degres outside  but thank God they have A C !

It was pretty tough training today but I get even more motivated because  Micke has gone crazy with training those days , can´t stop him anymore !!!

Well, we fore sure are gonna look good in San Francisco 🙂

Let´s hope we ´ll meet a lot of JKD friends in the States in november … I Can´t wait,  this will be quite a trip and I just have to quote our friend Michal Czapla from Poland : “This will be AWESOME!!!”

During the week end I felt very stressed and the best way of getting rid of it is through training. Yesterday evening although it was late I thought I could not go to bed in that state of mind, I put on my running shoes and when out for a run.

Due to some private factors I have a very stressed time in my life right now, I try to focus on my training and not let this negativity invade my head again, this is quite difficult but I try.

Micke had other plans this sunday so I trained by myself, footwork and biking to the gym …

this is such a beautiful warm sunny day,  this was nice to be able to ride the bike, at the gym I only focused on the legs today…

Hard but necessary …

I hope some of our training partners will remember our names soon …

I am not writing everyday of course but I train everyday .

yesterday´s training was good but I am more and more aware of what´s missing.

I start with footwork and go over to the heavy bag,

 Starting with straight lead, then cross and then hook and then combinations.

I feel I have power ( not enough if you ask Micke , but I feel I gain some everyday )

I go on with all kicks and then work the bag with all combinations I can think of, adding knees and elbows and TRY TO GET SOME FLOW!!!!

After that I went back to footwork

The key is to practise until it feels right , until it comes naturally 

I will get there for sure, am I going on practising seriously everyday.

I spent quite some time on this yesterday and I chose to skip some other things

The question of the day: How far are you prepared to go to meet your goals ?

Well I already answered that question, I need a kick in the A.. to get up to next level, and I am giving it to myself .

I already train every day but I have changed program to focus on the basics which are not good enough for me to evolve properly.

Yesterdays training:

Footwork

Shadow boxing

Skiping rope-  6minutes

Squats-  1set of 30 on each side x4

Situps- 2 sets 50 each

Wristroller 3 times down and 3 times upp , this burns ! I could actually see the forearms growing,  great !!!

Stretching ..

It feels good, I push myself harder because otherwise I will stay where I am.

Having no limitation as limitation.. I always keep that in mind Bruce.

Our friend Remy is gone travelling in the USA, our friend Michel  is … well  I don´t know … the Sunday group training is reduced to me.

We really miss our guys but at least Remy will be back in a month or so, during this time, I will get only private and intense sessions,  which is good.

Yesterday we worked hard on the punches and Kicks

. Punches on focus mitts

– Straight lead, I cant remember any comment on this one, must have been good 🙂

if anything I lack power ,that I am sure of…

– Hook, the movement is not deep enough I am retracting the arm too soon..

. Kicks

– hook kick,

– side kick,

 – front kick,

. Moving on to the kicking pad

– side kick

– hook kick

– spinning back kick

We are testing the time of reaction when Micke says which kick or punch I should do.

Working with the brain… and adapt to the distance and situation when hearing the words..

Same drill with the heavy bag, Micke moves it back and forth and says “Kick”  whenever he wants, this means the bag kan be anywhere at that time, the speed in the reaction and the distance adaptation are crutial.

. Kick combinations on heavy bag:

– Hook kick : low , regular and high  1-2-3 fast

changing the position immediately to the left side, same drill- 10 times

I need more speed !!!!

. Punch combinations :

Uppercut , hook, and high straight lead- 10 times fast both sides

. last exercise :

Combination Hook – Cross on focus mitts

Punch until you drop !

Speed Power and Stability , let´s start with that, then add calculation of the distance, FOOTWORK!!!!! isn´t that the essence of JKD ?