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!

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.