Participants, Micke, Nicklas, Gina.

Ah , well this Sunday  training session was all about I what do wrong ! 

I am not complaining this is good because I cannot notice it all when I train all by myself, I asked Micke already to give me one extra technique session in the week because of that, and after this Sunday it seems I need it more than I thought.

Training by myself, I pick bad habbits and one of them (which I have had all along) is the CLAW !!!

The Claw is me having the left hand open and it looks like I am waiting to pick up something , I don´t know. Micke kept repeating it the whole session:  ” THE CLAW”  so I closed my fist and now I can´t get this out of my head so yes it works.(For those who don´t get the joke, this is out of Liar Liar with Jim Carey )

This session was all about technique  exercises on pads and on the heavy bag.

Footwork back and forth on a line, then footwork” sparring” : no punch or kicks just using footwork. then we tried to step on each other foot, hit each others hand, all this using appropriate footwork.

we worked on the legs strength and I finished with statical training.

Then I asked Micke to help me with stretching.

It was a great session, as usual. I am just not in a good state of mind these days, I hope this will get better.

you will definetely feel it the next day … Yeah let me tell you I have pain from my neck down to my legs, not unsusual that is the beauty if it, always something that you´re going to remember for at least a few days.

Anyway I thought I would tell a little more about the training from yesterday. It was not my day, I did not do much right and had no energy, I guess it happens

First , free warming up, I kicked the bag.

We started with light sparring,

– using only the punches.

–  using only kicks

–  using it all .

All three again with another partner , no breaks.

Light sparring is a bit different, no protection means no hitting the head or the groin ( too bad 🙂 ) In my case I feel restrained and the technique looks awful, we open our hand when we see an opening for head strike , but there is no power in those either, yeah as I just said this is light sparring. I need to work on that.

I felt good on my feet but here again when I focus too much on something the rest does not look good. I learned over the years that after long hours training it will come together but training the right way and often is the only way and if thinking too much about one thing  is affecting other things, means I train wrong!  ” DON`T THINK!!!! FEEL…” 

We did some grappling, changing partners. I did not get down once,  this is good.  I took Niklas down tough but I think it was an accident…

Exercises on pads,  going forward on a aproximately 6-7 meters length and back :

– using jab

– same thing with cross

– then hook

– hook kicks and finally side kicks- no break

I completed it but struggled with the energy level at the end. My sidekicks felt like crap.

Then the boys carried each other on the back and made small jumps up 10 on each sides

I lifted a piece of wood as the lightest weight around was 62kgs and I could not lift him on my back.

PS:  Congratulations Remy who lifted some heavy weight (102kgs ) I was impressed , good work!

Then we did some statical training, I remember Will asking ,” what is this ? ”  I don´t want to brag too much but well let´s say not many could do it…( nothing to brag about anyway, my legs where not high enough!)

Then we finished with pushups and hands up for Will and Gina who finished this race brilliantly  AH 🙂

First of all I want to welcome Will to our training sessions, I met him for the first time today, I think he is very serious and dedicated and we hope he will come to more sessions from now on.

Remy and Nicklas were there too today, we had a very intense session full of heavy activities. Micke is very good when it comes to make the sessions great and not like a routine, always bringing new things and exercises at different levels of difficulty.

I was talking to Nicklas today, he says he feels like he lost everything because he hasn´t trained for a month, Nicklas has been sick and I told him he had to give it some time because it is normal to feel like this at the beginning.  I had the same attitude myself expecting  too much but the training process is long , nobody becomes good overnight.

I myself don´t feel good right now, not a lack of training really because I train more than ever but I got some personal stuff going on that are messing with my head and I feel insecure and vulnerable. It does not show in my training according to Micke but in my attitude.

I talked to Micke about that yesterday, he told me what he thinks, what  is good and what I have to work on to make the weakness go away, a lot of things that I already know  but somehow when it does not feel right , well it does not. I did not let this negativity affect my training today. I have to say it helps to have great training partners, the atmosphere when we train is very special, just because we are all on the same page,  all of us take it seriously and have great respect for each other.

I had some times when I felt really bad about myself  but this time it makes me want to train more, just because I know that I reached some kind of acceptable level and it would be really stupid to let bad stuff that happen in life destroy that. Let´s face it JKD is most certainly the only thing I have accomplished in my life, I am not getting any younger so it looks like it is the path I am supposed to take.

Micke is taking time out of his personal life to teach, he does not take any money from anyone and always comes up with a great training session of the highest quality. We all have a great time and we all should be greatful to have a certified JFJKD Instructor teaching for free, this is an opportunity that not many have and I request for some respect in the way of showing up to the training sessions.

First training of the year outside in the snow:-)

that was fun , and so cold…

we decided to start the year with some tough stuff and showing off our nice Colorado Tshirts, gifts from Mike Gittelson.

We actually did not train that long considering the temperature outside but we did some mitts training with combinations and some hardening on the wooden structure of the cabin.

Then we runned the stairs, this was not planned at first because we simply could not find them ! but Micke started and as I never want to be left aside so I did it too. We both fell a couple of times but  this was actually a good exercise for endurance and resistance to the cold as well as adaptation to the slippery ground.

We tried some kicks as well some of us succeeded,  some of us ( me ! ) did not .

I was saying to Micke just now how annoyed I am with him being able to kick that high and never ever stretches at all !!!!

Again, I feel I have a huge work in front of me and the goals for this year are not different than last year, the way on the other side will be different and the plan is already set , I have a clear picture on what I need to work on .

We will travel to Colorado this year and we hope Mike and Dan will come here to Sweden after that. This means a lot of preparation for both events on top of the usual training towards my goals.

Today as this will be a unique opportunity to gather all members at the same time and because it will also be the last training of the year 2010,

We will dedicate this training session to our Sifu Ted Wong.

It is hard to find strength to do anything at all right now,

but today we will train because it is for sure what Ted would want us to do.

This training is for you Sifu.

This sunday was the first time in the warehouse, together with Nicklas , the newest  member of the team.

Technical and physical training.

The bag :

50 straight leads right and 50 left, probably my best punch, hand before foot still needs an adjustment but I work on it everyday it should come soon ….

Thai Pads:

Jab Cross Hook with increasing power , hook togheter with a step back , My hook is in need of more work ! but the footwork is good in this exercise

Groin kick- jab- hook kick, the jab has to come before the foot touches the floor, good feeling in this one too..

Focus mitts:

Work on that cross!  right and left …mmmm no , looks no good for either of us …

Bag:

Groin kick- side kick -hook kick, this bag is hard I put on some leg protection !

some work needs to be done on the technique but Nicklas managed some good ones.

I still have some trouble with the side kick…

the Moving bag !

Micke is holding the bag at the highest level and let it go,  as soon as it comes right at us we have to kick , Side kick.

Well I went flying on the first one then I managed but the kicks didn´t look that good… it needs some work, good for the stability but in my case and my light weight,  I struggle with this.

Bag:

50 hook kicks right and 50 left.

At my own surprise my left one was not so bad !It must be because I work on it at home during the week.

Kicking pad:

45 seconds punches at full power and speed

30 seconds pushups

45 seconds punches on the pad

30 seconds situps

30 seconds pad

30 seconds frog jumps .

With no gloves ….my knuckles exploded as usual in this kind of exercise, but it is always something you notice and feel  after you´re done:-)

We both managed the whole session ( good work Nicklas ! ) this was intense and really fun at the same time!

We will have to add some structure and discipline within our Group.

Mikael and I decided we need some more seriousness and we will have a Group discussion soon.

We plan on developping our Group and the details will have to be discussed but we need to focus on this point now.

Everybody knows who Stefan is and that he is running a fitness center in Nynäshamn, there is also a group of  Stefan students that are  training JKD by themselves over there.

We are the only authorized Ted Wong JKD Group in Sweden, Mikael Egidéus is the Instructor and we are running the Group together.

I would like to see some more JKD interest and I guess it won´t be too difficult to find, we will work on that.

Yes this is probably the most beautiful season for outside training.

We went down to the lake and started with light sparring

The pier is only a section attached by a chain on a rock which means it is really unstable and there is water all around.

The exercise is having you very aware of the surroundings and forces you to adapt to the distance and judge the correct amount of movement in order not to take a dive!

The fact that the pier is moving and feels more like a floating wood plank,  makes you understand that a good balance is crucial!

The interesting thing here is that while sparring I hardly noticed the pier moving …

We moved up hill to the graffiti place and worked on focus mitts a while:

Straight lead

Cross and hook

Straight lead- cross- hook – cross- hook- bob and weave- jab

Then we added some kicks :

Mainly hook kick  and side kick

While the guys went to the other side of the hill I decided to run it up and met them down on the other side.

This one surprised me; I ran faster than ever and felt stronger on my legs. My own weekly training is going in the right direction.

On the other side,  we worked on pads I wanted to add more time on my kicks:

Low regular and high hook kicks

Side kicks

Micke told me the technique looks good and I am stronger and more precise.

This is good,  it felt like it.

We discussed later on about my evolution and especially the mental part where I am not afraid anymore and just do it.

I have evolved mentally not only during training but also in life and I am happy about it. I feel I am more in control of my life and more balanced than ever.

JKD is more than something I do or a passion it is part of my life, something I would not live without.