Will Joined us earlier this year, I see him as a talented and decicated person who takes JKD very seriously and is willing to learn everything he can. We are very pleased to have him in our team.

I asked him to write about himself and here is what he wrote.

Thank you Will for your participation in my blog.

I took interested in Jeet Kune Do by chance in a period where I was looking for an art to learn.

Yesterday´s session was with Will and David.

We worked on techniques and applications mostly.

Punches and kicks on mitts and feeding. Feeding is good training for the awareness, adaptation and speed in reaction.

Reaction in attacks: one is initiating an attack the other one has to hit first. This is definetely a really good one, it shows how speed is a crutial element in the art of JKD, if you are not able to recognise the signs and adapt first you ´re dead!

Surprise attacks from behind: when grapped from behind, try to get out. Difficult one but not impossible , depending on the situtaion first of all be aware of the surroundings not to end up with a creep grabbing you from behind and when it is not evitable there are things you can do to get out of there, like groin hitting or grabbing or anything you can grabb or hit,  in that situation everything is allowed.

Fights on the floor : use whatever you can to get up again. This is the tricky one for me. All 90+ kgs of Micke sitting on me, this is almost impossible for me to get out. I tried this self defense thing that we learn in self defense class: put your legs around the attacker´s waist and press all you can, this should make it difficult for him to breathe. Well do that on girls during class yes sure ! but do that on a big guy, yeah right ! does not work, he was laughing at me asking “what the hell are you trying to do” ???

I like  to work on those things, we kept it simple working on only few techniques and focus on the application side.

I could use my arm to a certain point, I did not use the full power anyway , I think it is good that I could punch , I still cannot hold the pads and I still take it easy on sparring. 

This is taking a pretty long training time away from me  …

In our group, only serious and loyal people will remain, yes we have proof of that everyday… and I feel I have now the possibility to make a new list of those people.

JKD stockholm members :

Mikael Egidéus Instructor

Members : Gina , Coshe , Michel, Remy, Will, Adam, Nicklas.

Mikael invited Robin, Remy´s brother as he trained at Stefan´s school also a couple of years ago and we hope he will be able to join sometimes.

I take the opportunity to thank all our members that were present at the seminar, yes a group of really good and serious people we have here. For my part, I was able to train almost as normal and  of course I have been paying for that afterwards because it went worse, but I feel I will be done complaining as some people have dislocated their shoulder and this is way worse. We wish Coshe a quick recovery .

The seminar was a success, we all were very happy to meet each other and the gathering was not only appreciated but needed.

This is such a good opportunity to  get to know people and share knowledge and experience. everyone has always something to learn from other people and this is how it should be. Sharing the knowledge , learn from each other and  even criticize each other in order to come a dialogue which will benefit all parts.

The climate was very simple and relaxed, the question is not to know who is the best because really , this is not the point, the question is evolution and comparing to last seminar in 2009,  we noticed an improvement in each of us, which is so good !

The level of this seminar was good, we had a great time, Mike is a very good teacher and we thank him for giving us the opportunity.

A special thanks to Mikael who worked very hard to make this happen.

I also want to thank Robin Ng for being our photographer and Stefan for letting us use the club.

Thanks to all participants, see you next time .

Last sunday , it was only Adam who showed up for training.

After I warmed up by running up the slope we practised a few techniques on mitts.

Then we went on to sparring where the point this time,  was to focus on the technique. The fact is Adam is so tall I had to adapt to his height and his range. This was actualy very interesting because I sparred in a whole other way, this was obvious that I would have difficulties to reach him with punches so I had to work my kicks more than usual and try to keep the distance.

I also found myself moving my head more to provide  him from reaching me. It felt good, better than the sunday before when I felt totally worthless.

But I should be able to use a good technique in all situations so I heard we will go back to the chicken coop this sunday and  I will have to opportunity to correct my mistakes there as well…

AH what a nice team we have there! participants of the day : Michel, Remy, Will, Micke and Gina.

We started with technique on mitts, first all punches in whatever combination just to feel it right.

then we worked on cross with retreat

and a combination of Straight lead, the partner tries to hit with the other mitt and  cross straight after the blocking.

all this was done using both sides.

I was working with Will, he hits pretty hard! my arms where shaking after the exercises just by holding the pads 🙂 but I could hold unlike when I train with Micke , it feels my arms are gonna fall down when he hits!

Then it was sparring time,  we took the level up a little trying to keep a good form but giving it all.

The thing with today´s training is that because of the heavy rain, we trained inside the shelter or  “chicken coop” as Micke likes to call it,  which is a very small aera and the awareness of what´s around is extremely important , I mean by that : try not to throw the partner or fall on the bench or something like that…

That was some pretty tough sparring out there,  great time!!!

After everyone has done that,  we decided to try a sitting attack : one person  is sitting on the bench and the other one coming right at him. We laughed a lot when Remy and Michel fought, they were shouting at each other,  the film is going to be great! This is such an interesting training that when it was my turn I requested to do it without protection. The reason for this is simple, while sitting on a bus or train , I don´t wear a helmet and I wanted to see how that would feel.

Of course against Micke there is so much anyone can do and in that position well , it looks pretty finished as soon as it starts, but I am a pretty stuburn girl and I did not give up easily. I loved this exercise, real life situations are important to work on because you never know if you gonna need it someday.

After all this Micke thought we would run the stairs but as Michel and I started we noticed it would not work because of the high grass that had completely covered it in the middle. So instead we ran up the “ski jumping” landing slope made of some kind of slippery plastic grass, this was fun ! then at the top I looked down and as Michel and Remy decided to run it down I told myself: NO WAY ! I took it on the side,  on the real grass instead but the guys went down not running because that was impossible but sliding on their behind!  I was called “chicken”  when I came down 🙂

we trained with Nicklas yesterday. first techniques on pads / mitts and then some sparring.

Nicklas had disappeared for a while and he was not feeling at the top but I have to say he´s got some good chances to be good at it, as for a beginner he has a really good form. this is the thing with JKD you don´t get away with only training once every 3 months or so…

I felt very low on energy and had problems with the flow. It happens sometimes. Micke says I need to accept it, no one can be at the top everyday all year round. I am better but I still have difficulties to accept this when it happens, I get depressed because I feel I kind of spoiled a training session for myself.

Anyway, we filmed the sparring with the headcam. Micke was carrying it on his helmet, he was keeping the distance more than usual and hiting also harder than usual. I did not feel good about this sparring at all.

I thought about it afterwards and actually the fact that Micke makes our sparring as real as possible, is for sure hard on us but on the other side, he is doing us a big favour: preparing us for what could happen in the streets. Of course we don´t only train that hard and for what ” could ” happen” but let´s get real about why we all train martial arts.

yeah ! ok first the back and now the eye, I wonder what´s next….

Oh Well, that´s the way it can go sometimes, this is martial arts. I take it because I have to, the day I get myself into a real life situation there will be no time for pain or fear.

Anyway this black eye hurts like hell today but I did not feel a thing yesterday at all, I discovered the “surprise” this morning when I got up.

It was nice to meet new people at the training yesterday, David I had met before, Adam is the giant man that I met for the first time yesterday. We hope we´ll see them on a regular basis as some of us disappeared without a trace.. again…

We only sparred yesterday, I started with some “teaching” David about the basis, I explained how footwork is the key and that you cannot do without. I gave him some advice on what to do at home and what to focus on , it was nice of Micke to let me do that , I really appreciated the opportunity.

Then we let them sparr against each other and we sparred ( Micke  and I) , on the concrete plattform with no gear and we toughed it up a little. I fell good and in control even when he tried to strangle me, I got lose and fought back.

The we sparred one on one against a wall, Micke had decided he would go for the arm that I injured a week before…

Well, once more I have to learn to protect my weaknesses!

We were talking with David about the awareness and how to not make our disadvantages worse , David and I have almost the same height, I told him to keep a straight body because he has a tendency to bend and look down, this makes a too  easy target for the other who has a double advantage. The disadvantage of smaller people has to be compensated by an outstanding footwork, this is what will make us at the same level or better.

At last,  Adam asked Micke to sparr and we got some pretty good filming on this one 🙂 you can check this on our group page .

Ah this is so nice to be able to train outside .

This sunday we were pleased to see Will and David, our two newest members,  join the party !

We went on the backside of the slope and started with running it up and down.

Then footwork up hill

Mitt/ pad training, combinations jab cross hook -the pad holder hit the sides of the body- and finish with cross- cross

Then we worked on cross for a while

and hook kicks combinations:  low- high- low,  without landing the foot.

we did some sparring with the pads: the pad holder is  in movement and shows the pad in whatever position.

The exercise is to respond with correct punch or kick, adapting with correct distance and appropriate footwork.

We trained on kicks up hill, the pad holder has the higher position and goes up while the other one is kicking the pad  going up with right and left hook kick. Good exercise for high kicks balance and stability !

Then the guys carried each other running up , my partner was Micke and there is no way I could carry him ! so I pushed him up , while he was resisting and trying to push me down…

We raced each other up, I was not one of the first up , but I ran anyway.

Some protective gear on, it was sparring time. Again up hill,  the exercise was to sparr the opponent who has a higher position and this is easier for him to just push the other one down.

Last exercise, frog jumps … all the way up… only one person  did it, the frog eater : ME  ! 🙂

Ah this session was great , we worked all hard and had lots of fun !

For the first time this year we trained outside, fantastic day !

I warmed up and stretched at home before meeting Micke outside and we took our bikes for the first ride of the year !

That was kind of tough, at the arrival at the slope we met Remy and decided to go check the front side. That is where we found lots of snow and instead of going around,  Micke decided we would go up instead. Riding the bike up this slope is mission impossible due to the steepness so we pushed/ carried our bikes while Remy ran up. YEAH good idea Micke, I thought I would never be able to train after that!

At the top we worked on the mitts:

Combination : Jab cross hook ,  without gloves focusing on power and speed , keeping a good stance and appropriate footwork.

We were told to do a 1000 but I don´t think we did them all !

Then we worked on the double hook kick: low and high without landing. Here too, focus on a good position,  stability and control as much as power.

I was quite happy with the feeling I had today on the mitts, I think I can notice the improvement because of  the work I do at home, both kicks and punches felt more controlled and stable today, I surely need some more work and especially with the balance, but stretching before the session felt like a good idea for me, and with that kind of warmup I think it all helped a little !

We went to the edge of the slope and did some light / controlled sparring with Remy. A couple of times I corrected myself with the position of my body, I am already small but I make myself smaller by looking down and bending my body, which makes me target the center of the opponent too much. I know about it and correct it by myself which is good, because I have to be better at this. I think this will help me be more centered and see openings in a better way, I also believe this will help me be more stable on my feet.

Everytime I write I feel like I find new things to work on, the learning process never ends. After 6 years I have so much more to learn. The positive aspect is that the things I am working on now are adjustements, details that will help me get better, I feel I have the basis and what I am doing now is taking them to the next level and this is such an awesome feeling. Nothing will make me more happy than the day I  feel I master some techniques, the day I feel stable and strong and in control of my movements, this day will be a great day, one of the best.

Finishing the session with Micke standing on the edge of the slope we were down and jumped up to a hook kick on the mitts, same exercise with the knees.

I was worthless with the knee exercise as I could not reach the mitt so I brought the mitt down instead but that was not the point !

anyway we were actually done with the session and started to go down the backside of the slope. then we rested for a minute and decided I would run up the slope.  I could do it as the backside is easier than the front side.

That was finished for the day… for Remy who drove back home, we on the other side,  had to ride our bikes home, and let me tell you something about Sweden, this is no flat country, up and down hills at all times!