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!

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.