JEET KUNE DO SWEDEN

Last Sunday we had such a fantastic weather we decided to go to the slope and have a BBQ after training.

Boris and I were first in place so we started running up and down.  By the time the other guys arrived Boris had already run twice. When the other ones started I went for my second time. That is the thing, this slope is a real pain! You have to have good stamina and real good legs otherwise it is impossible. Boris is running it up like it is nothing!!! I stopped a couple of times to catch my breath and have my legs recover. It felt good to be able to do it two times anyway,  I even run all the way down. 

Some sparring after that and two injured people, André has probably a broken rib and Michel twisted his ankle.

After a while we decided it was time for reward, the BBQ was awesome, Mikael and I had portable ones from the company where I work ( Primus ) and Mikael even had another type of stove which he used to make a “ratatouille “, it was a pretty advanced BBQ style but it was so GOOD!!!!

We had an amazing time, as usual.

Yesterday in the afternoon I started to feel pretty tired , my legs felt strange, as the afternoon went it became worse and on the way home when I walked up the stairs that lead to my appartment,  I felt the pain ! OMG today is even worse can´t walk down stairs at all !

Yeah  this is how you realize that slope is doing the work ! We need to do that again

When Boris and André arrived yesterday we got a request, as Boris has a shoulder injury ( yes him too ! ) he asked if we could adjust the training.

This is not too difficult since both Mikael and I are suffering from inflamed muscles.

We worked only on kicks and leg strength yesterday and I almost puked at some point.

That was an awesome training, it took a lot of energy and strength of mind to go through it.

Talking about injuries my shoulder and arm are back to worse, I knew I would pay for last Sunday.

This is actually really getting on my nerves, it´s been 3 months!

now that was a day like I love them ! OUTDOOR training, first of this year = AWESOME!

and even better when everybody was there, the whole group together, it was such a great day.

When the guys arrived we thought it would be too tight and warm inside so we decided to get the cars and drive to the slope instead. The sun was shining it was a great opportunity.

We introduced the slope to our newest members and started runing it as a warm up.

after that we worked on pads up hill first hook kicks and front leads, both sides

A light sparring   : the pad holder is attacking and making it difficult for the other person to advance

then we started with sparring.

I sparred with Michel , we decided to take it easy because we both have the same shoulder injury but as usual the “easy” part is forgotten quite fast . I also  got a straight lead right in the nose again, this makes me say only one thing, FOOTWORK God damn it ! I ´ve  got to get better at this someday! Rotation to the right side still sucks … Well there is no better way than sparring to notice what you need to work on.

This session  felt good and everyone was happy,  as usual we train in a very good atmosphere.

We are a great team and a day like this is always one of the best. I look forward to next sunday.

It was Boris and I yesterday, statement of the night : “I had no idea training could be that tough in that so nice little room “. You bet Boris ! Mikael  don´t only look scary to some people, he is really tough when it comes to make us work our A.. off. But I have to say one thing, you haven´t seen anything yet ! :-)  Yeah this can get worse … and I have a feeling we are going to have a taste of that on Sunday. if the weather is allowing it , this sunday will be the first outdoor training of the year and I don´t need to tell what´s going to be on the menu !

We worked on footwork, basics on pads : hook, hook kicks , basic reactions, stop kicks  and  interception.

Then we added some basic leg strength training, deep and low on guard position holding a medicine ball with straight arms.

and the famous invisible chair against a wall  ( there was some kind of unusual shaking going on in Boris´s legs… )

Mikael said I was showing off too much during this exercise, so he thought he would finish us with something else.

On the kicking pad 45 sec punching full speed and power- 30 sec pushups- 45 sec punching- 30 sec situps- 45 sec punching – 30 sec pushups.

we finished with stretching .

I am happy to add I could punch and do some pushups , I did not do it too properly because I did not know how the arm and shoulder would react.Unfortunately today I  feel some  pain in my shoulder , it is not too bad but we´ll see what the physiotherapist says about that tomorrow.

I take the opportunity to welcome Boris Kiprich to the team, first impression is that he is very dedicated and serious about  training JKD.

It was only me this sunday, which was kind of awesome regarding what I was in for!

Botttom line of this session was switch! switch side , switch step switch switch and switch to the point I switched even if I was not told to !

I worked only on the heavy bag and on the kicking pad. I started the first exercise with my left side : hook kick and straight lead immediately after before the foot lands, it was not that good so i tried it on the right just to get the feeling then i switched to the left and it started to get better. Then I had to kick  left and right switching lead very fast in between, Mikael told me to stop because that was not good, he tried something else to have me get the switch feeling better and this is what we did on the pad, he increased the tempo gradually until I just switched on my own and before he said anything!

My favourite was on the bag , low front -low hook and  high hook kick, alternate and switching lead and  side. I felt good about this one, I managed to feel more stable more in control and stronger. I repeated lots of times. This is only after that mikael told me waht he thought and that was good to hear it also showed that I got this one Ok  .-)

One on one session are always very intense as there is no time to rest and hold pads for someone else, which is good because intensity like this makes the body and mind concentrate and work much harder.

I have always been told I should work on both sides and I did but not as much as the right. Now I have no choice but train the left  and all that  injury stuff makes me realize I should have done that all along. I start to feel I am more flexible in a way I can change lead more easily and use it, still not perfect but I am getting better at it and as I cannot use the right side, I feel good I am not totally worthless and still can train making the weak side stronger and usable.

It was only André and I last wednesday, as I still cannot use my right side I trained only the left . I feel it difficult to adjust but I think it is a good thing to train this weak side, I will definetely notice the advantages when I have fully recovered and can train as usual.

We did some killer drills, it was an intense session as always !

We worked on balance, in wide and low  on guard position  holding the medecine ball in front of us with straight arms, holding the position as long as possible.

Then switch from on guard to  low and wide position, fast movements and multiple repetitions

kicks : 50 hook kicks on each side , with speed and control

On pads: 50 of all punches first, 50 kicks and finish with 100  straight leads on the sand bags.

We rotaded on drills with mitts using both kicks and punches , with very short  breaks in between.

I worked on the heavy bag while André worked on the technique  with Mikael.

Then we worked on the strength of the legs trying to push Mikael with only one leg in side kick position..

Push ups, only 10 for me as the shoulder could not bear my weight , I was very disappointed because I could do 50 clean ones and after so much time not training them I know I will loose it all  and have to start from the beginning all over again… but that´s the way it is .

Situps holding the medecine ball  to finish the session, no problem with this one .

Even if this is very frustrating I try not to let that negativity affect me, I  find ways around my limitation, I know it is not permanent and even if it was I could not let this destroy my 7 years of work.

there won´t be any group training until sunday of next week because someone is travelling for one week to the sunshine of Charlotte, USA. I am not very happy about that !!!!

Well I will stay here in the coldest country in the world and train by myself then …

Ok I don´t know yet what I can do with an inflamed shoulder but I am sick of not being able to use my right arm, at the training session yesterday I used it anyway but I take it easy and try not to do more damages.

I have an appointment with a  physiotherapist today and I look forward to it.

Remy and Michel were present yesterday , we worked mainly on the legs I think Mikael adapted the training to my disability ! which was nice so I could participate. We did some killer leg drills , lots of kicks and stability exercises.

it actually got the best of Remy at some point who felt really sick for a while, the picture says it all, great session !

It was only Will and I this sunday, we worked rounds on the heavy bag and then sparred with each other but with no contact, we had to control the distance and the movements and be very active with the footwork, we also used the hanging bags as obstacles to take into account.

Last week  after the wrestling sessions I injured my arm again, I must have squizzed it real bad when Mikael threw me all over the place :-),  I will not be able to wrestle for a while so I let Will take it all !

It was a really heavy lesson he got there. Mikael showed and explain how to and especially gave him the reasons why you should not go down. When you are down the only thing you should try to do is to get up again. Some guys only want the floor fighting and are so good at it you don´t want to end up there, JKD is about fighting on your feet , not on your back .

The techniques were  repeated in  lots of different situations to prove the point, this session even for me who was just looking, was very rich and interesting.

Yesterday was mostly about interception and speed , we also worked on blocking, with mitts and on the Redman.

I worked with Remy first and we did that footwork fun stuff, we have done this many times before, I really  like this exercise and it is tougher than it sounds ! We face each other trying to step on each other´s feet, the key is to keep a good form and footwork and not to look like  a couple of retards dancing around, we laughed  but  managed pretty good in my opinion.

Another thing I would like to talk about is holding pads or mitts. This is important to know how and not only for the other person. We worked on speed when one person is trying to punch or kick and the pad holder moves the pad away at the last second. Holding the pad correctly and moving it away correctly will avoid certain accidents !

Wrestling time ! Mikael had a lot of energy yesterday, Remy André and I went flying around a couple of times. Even André who is around 100 kgs, was picked up and thrown on the floor. I came last and wondered what´s the point ???  but I don´t think this is pointless, I would say it is the other way around, getting used to difficulty will make me better, even if trying to move Mikael is very hard,  he gives us some opportunities to try some stuff and this is our job to recognize the openings and act.

Pushups situps and stretching after that, it was very quiet in the room during stretching time

JKD Sweden has a strange habbit, they break things …Now Will killed our dummy with a kick in the heart !  Mikael repaired it  with silver tape so it is not totally dead yet  :-)’

Will requested some footwork drills for yesterday´s session, I really liked it and I think we need more of this.

Then we worked on basics , pad drills and appropriate footwork. The session was intense , we focused on footwork and techniques only .

I was happy to work with Will yesterday, he is very focused, we worked with good tempo. The only drill I had trouble with was when Will had to punch with high tempo and as hard as possible, for that I held two pads and positionned myself against the big bag, but I felt like a slice of bacon in beween and had trouble breathing.  Will hit pretty hard and it was the point. So good work !

As I just said Will and I worked with high tempo and the session was intense,  it felt really good. Adam and André worked together and we laughed at several occasions when Mikael told him to work less with his mouth and more with his body :-)  Adam was very “ entertaining ” yesterday,  at one point I asked if he had taken any steroids before the session !

We are a great team I really like all these guys, it is really nice to train with all of them. Thank you for this last session and see you next time.

Yesterday´s session was hard for me, I have been sick earlier in the week , but even if it was hard I did it…

After some killer stretching exercises with Remy and Mikael ( who suddenly decided to join our stretching challenge,  not sure I like that ! ) , we started with  drills on mitts and light sparring. the tempo was high and I fighted to the end to get this done !

Mikael put the Redman on and we had a harder sparring session.

I want to talk about protection today, it did not take too long for me to be stuck against the wall but I punched and kicked my way out a couple of times but then I lost my focus and bend my body too much so Mikael´s punch ended up in my breast.

Let me tell you, breast protection is as needed as groin protection in sparring, I lost my breath a couple of minutes and could not go on with the fight. This is something to think about because all you need is one good punch in the right place and that´s it. I use to look like a little crazy mosquito when I sparr and it felt like someone just slapped me flat !

Joke aside,  this is not a good feeling, I never wear protection  but I may start.

Now about the stretching challenge , Remy and I had decided to be able to do the splits on July 1st. Now Mikael has joined the party but he is ahead of us…….

We had a great session with  Remy and André yesterday, two really determined guys who work very hard and who have a great spirit and sense of humour. Mikael is always mixing seriousness and jokes , we always have such a great time!

Nothing to do with the band from the 80´s, that is just Mikael breaking things again !

Last time he hit Will´s bag, this one went fllying as the chain broke. Today as he threw a punch at  Will, the grid of the helmet  broke. The sound was scary,  luckily Will wasn´t hurt but this could have gone bad… ( We got this on tape ). I can´t believe the helmet just broke, talk about power !

We worked only with Red Man today. Both Will and I noticed a certain confusion when hitting Red Mikael, we felt we were hitting in an awkward way, by that I mean we used strange and unconventional techniques that are not quite right. I felt most confused,  it was a strange feeling , I could hit exactly where I wanted but still it did not feel right. I did not like being confused, I actually felt kind of stupid. Well it means we need more work on this.

That was interesting that both Will and I had the same feeling. We are going to use the red man in addition to the normal sparring.   We taped most of the session and took pictures, I look forward to see them.

Pads- light to hard sparring-  finish with the famous combination pad-pushup-pad-situps-pad pushup,  killer!

Stomach and leg hardenning after that …

I feel stronger in the way that I can make it through ( and still …no girly pushups! )

I don´t have so much muscle pain the day after either, I am better with stretching and I think that helps.

I feel really tired today but I haven´t missed a session since we started in January and it feels good. I gradually increase the tempo …

Remy and I made a bet yesterday .. Again !  be able do the split on July 1st, will see who wins but for the record I have never been able to do it so it can be difficult. Anyway a bet is a bet ! and considering the fact that regular stretching has made my kicks look better,  it is only a good thing to increase the frequency even more.

The sparring session started with light contact and ended with full contact with protective gear on.  Adam got hit in the head and he was very pale when he left, we hope he is feeling  better now. I want to add that both Adam and Remy are doing a great job in sparring, I personnaly like their ability to adapt to different kinds of fighters.  We have all different body shapes and strength, the fact that we never work with the same person is good , it forces us to adapt and work on different fighting aspects and techniques that will work with one and not with the other because the weakness and openings are  not the same from people to people.

Nobody came to the training today so I had Mikael all for myself!

We worked  on my ” problems” and I have some homework to do.

That feels very good and I want more of that.

I hit the bag and worked on kicks and  footwork movement to the sides. I have a serious problem with my movement to the right, it feels more natural to me to the left but I really suck when it comes to the other side, so I worked on it with Mikael and repeated until it became better but  it did not ! I worked on it by myself on the bag and will do that at home as well until this looks and feels better.

Repeating the movement again and again is helping me, on the bag I stepped to the right side with a showel hook and right after that with a corkscrew, the footwork seems easier on the heavy bag but when Mikael throws a punch at me,  I can´t get it right , I am just too slow…!  I felt a bit frustrated but I know that the more I work on it the better it will get, it cannot come out right all of a sudden like magic! Mikael says my form is changing and it feels like it, I got a deeper understanding of what I am doing now, this is good but the thing is,  I have so much work ahead. I really get it, JKD requires so much work before anyone can be any good !  There is always something you suck at ! but well, accepting it and training on it until you get better is the spirit so … let´s do it .

Mikael was not joking when he said this year will be tougher but the fact that he said “you ain´t seen anything yet”  is a little scary !!! 5 people present last wednesday,  we worked a lot on pads series and combinations at full power, almost all kicks and punches were involved, to finish with a really painfull serie of punches on the big pad alernated with pushups and situps… untill you drop !!!!!

Sparring right after that…………

I felt sick but no puking ( Coshe wasn´there ) .

I thought I would have the worst muscle pain ever but I did not, I think the increased intensity is just good.

I feel better and better , this swedish winter is always getting on my nerves real bad but we gained almost one hour of light and this feels so good, I so look forward to more light so the days feel longer and we can start living again. I never minded the cold or the snow but I just can´t stand the night, even after almost 11 years in Sweden, this bloody night is my enemy number one, if only I could kick it away !

I went down to the dojo today to join  Mikael who was training . We have a lot of new gear in there, now it really feels like a Martial Art place!  We have some kind of heavy bag formed like a man that is used for different things, Mikael gave this thing a name, that was funny ! So we kicked that guy´s butt for a while and worked on the new bags,  then I did some pushups, burpees and situps.  It was a light session for me , but after a long week it  feels so good to be able to go there and blow off some steam ….

Now we are almost done with the place, we need new lights and a few mirrors and we are done !  The inauguration is just around the corner!

I met Mikael yesterday to look over the training routine and plan more private sessions during the week. It feels so good to be able to meet in our dojo and just work on whatever we need whenever we want. I still have to train by myself  but these extra sessions will be really good for me.

So far the group sessions were very good, we are getting more training gear and that offers more possibilities. Mikael is also planning the upcoming sessions and it will be really interesting to see what he comes up with.

Last sunday  it was only Adam and I. Mikael made us work rounds on the bag and on pads, it was more or less the same session as the week before with Will and last wednesday with André. When only two people are present, the training is more intense in my opinion and we get more attention, which is good. I start to feel the benefit of the extra group training and it feels good

This was the almost last session in the warehouse, one more and the one after will be in our new place!

Participants: Pierre, André and Gina

Pierre and I started warming up and jumped rope for a couple of minutes

Then we worked on mitts :

Straight lead

Cross

Hook

Shovel hook

Combinations: jab cross hook with different rhythms and speeds

Hook and side kicks

When André arrived he worked on the same thing with Pierre, I did some footwork during this time.

Then we started on sparring drills.

First trying to take  the partner down who had to avoid it by keeping a good stance

Then adding punches and kicks to it

Then we put the helmets on to spice it a little more.

We did several rounds, I worked with Mikael and the guys worked together.

There was some intensity in the sparring and as for the last minutes Mikael and I stopped to look at what the guys did, we agreed there is some good potential there!

I requested some pushups and sit-ups to finish the session which wasn´t so popular…

Then while Mikael drove the guys back to the train station, I went on with more sit-ups drills and finished with stretching.

It felt Ok to spar but I have a big problem with my helmet which blocks the sight too much. André replaced his grid with one from a Hockey helmet, it looks like it works just fine, I will try that as well.

The fact that I don´t see well makes me do big mistakes and misjudge the distances, I punched Mikael right in the jaw and this was not meant to be as he had no helmet on (He lent his to Pierre for the session).

This is why we all need to have our own gear so everyone can train at the same time, I would add that for hygiene reasons I would not lend mine!

So we hope that as for January 1st,  everyone has the requested gear for each session.

Mikael and I discussed the session afterwards and were pleased to say we have two good guys here that look serious  dedicated and have really good potential.

So see you next time for the last training in the warehouse,  we will have to celebrate somehow!

Here we are, one year after one of the best days ever. I will always remember the feeling I had when Mikael and I entered the room of the Empress Of China in SF. Being part of the dinner party,  celebrating Bruce Lee´s birthday with his family and friends, that was so unbelievable. One year has gone, Bruce would be 71 today.

Today we trained as usual, I started sparring with Adam and injured my foot but I went on after a while to keep it warm and then noticed it was not so bad. Then we sparred with gear on,  I threw  a couple of really nice straight leads and let Niclas hit me a couple of times because I think it is good to know how that feels.

We added some take downs and I was happy to see my technique worked as Niclas could take me down only once.  After a while I lost a contact lens and could not see so good anymore. Mikael told me to sit down and watch instead , well  If there is something I cannot take is to feel I am a girl and whining about a small injury or problem . I was not injured so one eye is better than no eye, let´s go!

I still felt something wrong with my position and even if I work on it at home,  I noticed that during sparring I put too much weight on the rear leg, I could feel it and I tried to correct it a couple of times though, which is good.

After that, we started on mitts and pads, doing series back and forth,  mostly hooks on both sides then hook kicks .

We added the famous one :  Hit for 45 seconds with full power and get down and do some push ups  and do that again until you drop !

Then It was time for situps and several drills for the stomach, then different kinds of pushups.

Mikael said we would do some stretching  because it is obvious we all need it . Well I only have one comment for everyone in the group : God we suck !

I feel I am getting more flexible though comparing to before , but still I really have some work to do !

We finished with static training and  again,  not many could  hold the position but I am happy to say I am not one of them , training that at home is paying off.

This was a great session,  even with only one good eye

Ah this session was awesome and Mikael said: “it is just the beginning!”

We were 6 people today, everyone had a training partner.

Welcome to our latest member André Farao who is from Brazil, he was so pleased with the session that he will definetely join  the team.

(We also hope our friend Pierre is going to find us one way or another someday, we found out he came to the training, but in the wrong town! )

It was a 2 hours session, here is how it went:

We started with warming up, I jumped rope for 5 minutes and then did some stretch kicks.

We worked on mitts and pads, single punches and combinations:

-         Cross

-         Hook

-         Jab cross hook

-         Hook kick and jab (hit before landing the foot)

-         Hook kicks low and high

-         Side kick

We intensified the tempo a little bit with more power and speed and more combinations

-          Jab cross hook- 2 hook kicks, 3 cross

-         2 jabs  - Bob and weave- 2 cross – bob and weave  and jabs again … – 10 times

-         Jab cross hook- hook kick,  hook kick- jab, cross, hook – knee kicks- jab -cross -hook- pushups on the knuckles, up and start again – 5 times

We did some drills with one person jabbing the other towards the face, the other is avoiding with minimum movement of the head and intercepting.

And we started the physical training session:

Hit in the stomach

Hit on the legs (on the inside and on the  outside)

Hit on the forearms

Sit-ups hitting on the pads when coming up

Hit the pads keeping the sit-up position (without dropping)

I finished with stretching and static side kicks.

Will and Adam started sparring but it did not last long as Adam got almost knocked out.

I was very pleased about the energy I had, I could do it all, the arm is still a bit fragile when it comes to hold the pads but I can train and hit without any problem, I am very happy about that.

As I said earlier this was a killer session but it will get tougher as Mikael has a lot of drills he is going to introduce.

I am very happy about that and about the fact that we have a nice team here, I hope everyone keeps it up.

Last sunday was a really hard training on pads and mitts just as I like them.

It was only Will and so the intensity was increased,  there was no time to rest !

I warmed up first and jumped rope for 3 minutes

Then we worked on mitts and also on thai pads.

. Straight lead

. Cross

Then with combinations:

. Straight lead, cross, hook

. Straight lead , cross, hook , hook last one with movement of the body to the right with blast to the ribs (light touch)

Then we worked on static hook ( to get the feeling of the punch and the hip rotation , no footwork) on both sides, facing the pads with a wider stance.

Then we added  kicks :

. Front kick  , straight lead,  cross,  hook

Only kicks:

. 3 quick hook kicks, then 4 –  working on both sides

Then we did some series of hook kicks first right,  then left.

Kicking while the pad holder is backing up, right and left , back and forth:

. Hook kick

. Spinning wheel kick

. Axe kick

We finished with stretching .

As we all noticed,  these sessions are really good and we asked Micke for more. We will incorporate those more often in our routines.