After a break last week, we resumed regular training again. Sort of. A couple hours prior, the sky turned ominously dark. Thunder. Lightning. Then the clouds burst. Onoes. Fortunately when the time came, we had nothing more than a sissy light rain to contend with. Still, I didn't want us (which means just Tong and myself) to get drenched so I changed the plan a little.
I originally intended to have a circuit class this week, but since Tong wanted to get the basics of striking right as one of his goals, I decided to just concentrate on striking today:
1. Shadowboxing
2. Jab and cross
3. Low kicks
4. Knees
5. 3 x 2 minutes punches and knees to the body
Tong was still having some trouble being natural and comfortable in a fighting stance, but got much better after a few pointers. We then took turns holding the kick shield for each other. Tong's punching was getting better but the low kicks still need a bit of work.
As for myself, I felt really good throughout the session. It was good to be able to focus on my own technique and try to improve on some things, like throwing jabs faster and sharper or landing a good knee strike to the body without having to clinch. I was particularly happy with my performance for the last three rounds of cardio. I didn't feel as drained and unfit as I did the previous time. My body rips felt solid too. I just need to keep this up and eventually increase the rounds to three minutes.
Personally, I really enjoyed this session. I had much more time to work on Tong's technique and he had more time to try, try, try until he got it right (or close). I am absolutely positive that you will be able to achieve your goal dude. Next week we run!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
A day off
Due to a work-related appointment (which eventually didn't happen), I called off this week's training. I was planning to train after the appointment anyway, so some last minute arrangements were made and Tong and Ting came along. Just a relaxed run around Athinahapan again. About midway, a game Ting, this time without laksa in the belly, pushed ahead without us. Tong and I finished the lap in about 30 minutes. Not bad Tong, well on your way to improving your cardio. It was also good preparation for our upcoming 5km church prayer run in October. Next week is training as usual guys!
Friday, August 14, 2009
Training Summary - 12/8/09
Welcome rain blessed our hazy skies this week. Fortunately for us, it didn't bless our training. Unfortunately for James, he had no excuse not to come. We went back to some basics this week, as some of the newer members had not learnt them yet:
1. Relaxed run (warmup)
2. Dynamic stretching (full body)
3. Spider crawls (upper body and core)
4. Zenkutsu dachi pushing (legs)
5. Pushups (upper body)
6. Squats (legs)
7. Striking (full body)
8. Half Tabata (cardio)
This time, the participants learned how to move in fighting stance. Most felt awkward, having only ever alternated between left and right legs for most of their lives. Remember guys:
1. Weight on the balls of the feet.
2. Move one leg first, then the other follows.
3. Don't hop.
4. Relax.
The other stuff we did was pretty much the same as before - 1-2's and front kicks on the kick shields. One point to remember about front kicks (and most kicks in general) is to lift the knee first before kicking. Not lifting the knee might work for kicks aimed low, but if you ever want to kick higher than waist level, get used to the idea of lifting the knee.
To finish off, each of us did half a Tabata round. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept: there was a guy in Japan called Tabata who discovered a way to increase cardiovascular performance, both aerobic and anaerobic. The procedure is simple - pick any exercise (preferably full body) and perform as many reps as hard and as fast as possible (go balls out) for 20 seconds. Rest for 10 seconds. Repeat seven more times and the total time elapsed should be four minutes. Sounds simple? Yup. Easy? Hell no. If you do it correctly and at the intended intensity (yes, balls out!) you will be close to puking the first time around (and maybe the second time too). From personal experience (I did mine with burpees), Tabatas were very helpful in my quest to increase stamina for Kyokushin fights (3-minute bouts of toe-to-toe action, with up to two 2-minute extensions and less than a minute's break in between). Everyone managed to complete their half Tabata. Well done guys!
1. Relaxed run (warmup)
2. Dynamic stretching (full body)
3. Spider crawls (upper body and core)
4. Zenkutsu dachi pushing (legs)
5. Pushups (upper body)
6. Squats (legs)
7. Striking (full body)
8. Half Tabata (cardio)
This time, the participants learned how to move in fighting stance. Most felt awkward, having only ever alternated between left and right legs for most of their lives. Remember guys:
1. Weight on the balls of the feet.
2. Move one leg first, then the other follows.
3. Don't hop.
4. Relax.
The other stuff we did was pretty much the same as before - 1-2's and front kicks on the kick shields. One point to remember about front kicks (and most kicks in general) is to lift the knee first before kicking. Not lifting the knee might work for kicks aimed low, but if you ever want to kick higher than waist level, get used to the idea of lifting the knee.
To finish off, each of us did half a Tabata round. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept: there was a guy in Japan called Tabata who discovered a way to increase cardiovascular performance, both aerobic and anaerobic. The procedure is simple - pick any exercise (preferably full body) and perform as many reps as hard and as fast as possible (go balls out) for 20 seconds. Rest for 10 seconds. Repeat seven more times and the total time elapsed should be four minutes. Sounds simple? Yup. Easy? Hell no. If you do it correctly and at the intended intensity (yes, balls out!) you will be close to puking the first time around (and maybe the second time too). From personal experience (I did mine with burpees), Tabatas were very helpful in my quest to increase stamina for Kyokushin fights (3-minute bouts of toe-to-toe action, with up to two 2-minute extensions and less than a minute's break in between). Everyone managed to complete their half Tabata. Well done guys!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Training Summary - 5/8/09
Howdy fellow slackers! This week was our first ever running day. I plan to have running days once a month, every first Wednesday. So, instead of feeling like throwing up from doing bodyweight exercises with silly animal names, we can feel like throwing up from trying to propel our unfit bodies forward with no mechanical assistance for a change. Unfortunately, nobody turned up except for Edmond. Good on you buddy. Just remember to not drink lotsa laksa soup the next time.
Seeing that this was the first time, we didn't do anything fancy, just a relaxed run on the road. We circled the whole Athinahapan area of Taman Tun in about 25 minutes. I'm no runner and I don't know how many K's that was, but I'm sure the time we clocked is far from impressive. The good thing about the area is that there's not many cars and the combination of flat and hilly areas keeps things interesting. I plan to eventually mix things up a bit, sometimes having consistently-paced runs like this week's, sometimes sprints and stair climbs.
Ed was done after the run, so he had the honour of holding the kick shield for my striking practice:
1. 1-2
2. Front kick
3. Body rip
4. Low kick
5. Knee to body
6. 3 x 2 minutes punches and knees to the body
We finished off with three sets of 40-second planks. Another good full-body training session with some much-needed focus on cardio. Hopefully more people can actually make it the next time. You do want to lose that belly right?
Seeing that this was the first time, we didn't do anything fancy, just a relaxed run on the road. We circled the whole Athinahapan area of Taman Tun in about 25 minutes. I'm no runner and I don't know how many K's that was, but I'm sure the time we clocked is far from impressive. The good thing about the area is that there's not many cars and the combination of flat and hilly areas keeps things interesting. I plan to eventually mix things up a bit, sometimes having consistently-paced runs like this week's, sometimes sprints and stair climbs.
Ed was done after the run, so he had the honour of holding the kick shield for my striking practice:
1. 1-2
2. Front kick
3. Body rip
4. Low kick
5. Knee to body
6. 3 x 2 minutes punches and knees to the body
We finished off with three sets of 40-second planks. Another good full-body training session with some much-needed focus on cardio. Hopefully more people can actually make it the next time. You do want to lose that belly right?
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