Speed vs Slow

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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.

Back to basis

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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.

🙂

August 1st , Great day !

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We started with running up the stairs,  Remy first , then me and Michel who stopped at the middle ?!… Well,  that was just the beginning…

We decided to do some cage ( fighting in a limited space ) sparring this sunday, with regular clothes on ,  for reality fighting. We also filmed the fights. (I have posted the videos on our Group page on facebook .)

First exercise : One  person is trying to keep the TWJKD on guard position, The other person uses any way of attack he wants, this is really good and intense way of practice, it forces you to adapt because you don´t know what´s coming and how .
First Remy and Michel and then Michel against me.

I noticed it before with this kind of stressful situation where you have nowhere to go, I get some kind of strength and I give it all, this is pretty interesting how I also feel no pain at all during the fight ( comes after ) and just go for it, the adrenaline level in my body must be fenomenal !!! I have been training for 5 years with Micke,  first today I feel I have made some progress and I can see and feel it, I also can tell what I do wrong and it gives me the opportunity to target the work I have to do from there.

Exercise no 2 : Intercepting .

Michel and Remy had some great fights together and after the Intercepting session where one is attacking and the other tries to apply the JKD technique , it ended with Remy lying on the ground for several minutes after being hit by Michel´s knee to the groin 🙂

We finished in the stairs, Michel and Remy carrying each other and me doing the wheelbarrow ( go upp the stairs on my hands )  upwards.

Very intense session indeed ! but real good and the fact that we are filming gives us such a good opportunity to study our good and bad sides so we can work on it !

Later that day I retrieved some old films from the time with Coshe, I lent the tapes to  Micke and he told me we will do some of those exercices next sunday …

One word ( or three ) : Get ready guys !

Caught on film… FOOTWORK

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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  !

2010 martial arts festival in France

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I am so happy when I see this.

On Facebook , Our friend Mike Shen from Saint Louis Missouri posted a video from you tube today :

 In Paris at the 2010 Martial Arts Festival,   A french stunt team ( Cascade Demo Team ) openned the show with a exibition / remake of a fight scene from Fists of Fury.

 37 years after his passing, Bruce is still  impacting generation after generation, this is so great to see. 

Thanks Mike for posting 🙂

“Be water my friend”

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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”

20/7/73 – 20/7/2010

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I just cannot imagine how sad this day must have been  but today, more than 30 years after we still miss Bruce very much and cannot help but wonder how he would have lived his life after the great success from Enter the Dragon. 

Micke and I had our Bruce Lee T shirt on today.

As we do,  a lot of people all around the world will be thinking about him today,  that is for sure.

Training with a Master Magician & World Champion

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Today we had a “guest star” training with us . Seth Engström is a  Swedish Magician, he is very  inspired by Bruce Lee ´s philosophy and is using it in his own way to develop his art.

I asked him today what he meant by using Bruce ´s philosophy in his art and he said,  quoting Bruce:

“Having no way as way, having no limitation as limitation, not going after rules, finding your own way, the way that works for you”.

He said he recognised himself in what Bruce Lee writes because he has that way of thinking and has been living his life that way. He has been practising with cards since he was four years old and at the age of 16 ( I hope I got the age right 🙂 ) he was asked in an interview : Who is your inspiration ? and he answered : Bruce Lee. Seth  is really interested in the philosophical aspect, he  finds a lot of inspiration in Bruce ´s writings.  He reads all books and everything he can about Bruce,  especially from trusted writers like John Little .

Seth is actually a very busy man practising card tricks up to 10 -12 hours a day … but I would be very interested if Seth himself  would like to write about how Bruce Lee inspires him and how he applies it….

For more information on Seth please visit his website http://www.trollkarlen.se/ or check him out on you tube.

…

Today we introduced JKD to Seth, starting with basics. We found him very dedicated and intrested and keen on learning. We certainly think he has some potential and are very pleased to welcome him for more sessions.

Bring it !!!

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Michel Remy and Gina  where there for a great sparring session this saturday instead of sunday this week.

We started on the back side of the slope,   sparring one on one

. Defense

. Attack

. Interception

. Blocking

Rounds with each other and then with Micke  ( who was in the mood for throwing people around this day 🙂 )

All of us tried to take him down….. Yes, I said ” tried” …

and I am quoting myself to Michel:  ” it is like trying to move a mountain!!! ”

The session was pretty intense , some of us where bleeding from ending down on the ground.

Then we finished with carrying a partner on the shoulders up  the slope, I cannot carry any of these guys so I did not do it, but Michel and Remy carried each other managing one third of the hill …. will have to improve that one  guys!
🙂

Gym

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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!!!”