DOMS, DOMS, DOMS ....

Well the legs are much better, but my upper back has clearly just remembered all that kettlebell stuff I did last night. Am slightly surprised - thought it would have been my shoulders / upper arms that would have been protesting today!

Kung fu no more!

I got an email from Sifu last night telling me that he is stepping down as an instructor with immediate effect, as he would like to pursue his own learning and development for now. I am actually quite gutted about this, as he is an excellent teacher. I totally understand where he is coming from though. I have already emailed the other Sifu about joining one of his classes.

I shall miss my Thursday chi kung and kung fu :=(

On the positive side, I can at least return to Thursday krav maga now.

More personal training

Since I survived my first spin class in about a month, last night I cracked on with the kung fu training as follows:

Bow and arrow stance, glide step forward left and right - 5 each
Bow and arrow stance, glide step backward left and right - 5 each
Bow and arrow stance, drag step forward left and right - 5 each
Bow and arrow stance, drag step backward left and right - 5 each
Bow and arrow stance, open step left and right - 5 each
Bow and arrow stance, closed step left and right - 5 each
False leg stance, left and right - 5 each
Unicorn step, left and right - 5 each

Rear palm strike left and right - 20 each
Front palm strike left and right - 20 each
Rear cannon punch left and right - 20 each
Front cannon punch left and right - 20 each
Side strike left and right - 20 each
Thread palm defence left and right - 20 each
Brush palm defence left and right - 20 each
Inner defence left and right - 20 each

I then broke out the kettlebells for a more demanding session:

Snatch - left and right
8kg x 20
12kg x 10
16kg x 5 (my first 'good' snatches at this weight)

Single arm presses - left and right
8kg x 17
12kg x 12
16kg x 7
20kg x 5(r) & 3(l)

Overhead squats - left and right
8kg x 10
12kg x 10
16kg x 10
20kg x 10

Swings
20kg x 25

Definitely a lot tougher session!

Thought for the day

Correct practice makes perfect

more kung fu skills

I had the DOMS from hell yesterday (despite the Tiger Balm) so again I used the time to get in some kung fu skills work.

I set aside some time to work on footwork. I found it a wee bit tricky as I don't have the right sort of space in the house. Suppose it's good practice though for 'real life'.

Bow and arrow stance, glide step forward left and right - 10 each
Bow and arrow stance, glide step backward left and right - 10 each
Bow and arrow stance, drag step forward left and right - 10 each
Bow and arrow stance, drag step backward left and right - 10 each
Bow and arrow stance, open step left and right - 5 each
Bow and arrow stance, closed step left and right - 5 each
False leg stance, left and right - 10 each
Unicorn step, left and right - 5 each

Rear palm strike left and right - 20 each
Front palm strike left and right - 20 each
Rear cannon punch left and right - 20 each
Front cannon punch left and right - 20 each
Side strike left and right - 20 each
Thread palm defence left and right - 20 each
Brush palm defence left and right - 20 each
Inner defence left and right - 20 each


My quads felt ok after this, so after a short break I broke out the kettlebells for:

Double press
8kg x 10

Overhead squats
8kg x 5 each side

Swings
20kg x 10
16kg x 10
12kg x 15
8kg x 20

Single arm presses
20kg x 1
16kg x 5
12kg x 10
8kg x 15

A very light session with the kbs!

I love the smell of Tiger Balm in the morning!

Quads are still smarting today so I applied a pretty liberal dose of Tiger Balm before I left the house this morning. Now even I'm sick of the smell lol.

Am planning some more kung fu skills training tonight, along with perhaps some light kettlebell work. Maybe a few swings to limber up and then some presses. Need to think about ordering a pair of 24kgs soon though.

Fried quads!

Since my quads were basically toast last night, I avoided any of my usual kettlebell or bodyweight stuff. Instead I used the time to get in 100+ good quality reps of my kung fu skills training. My reps looked like this:

Rear palm strike left and right - 10 each
Front palm strike left and right - 10 each
Rear cannon punch left and right - 10 each
Front cannon punch left and right - 10 each
Side strike left and right - 10 each
Thread palm defence left and right - 10 each
Brush palm defence left and right - 10 each
Front push kick left and right - 1o each

for a total of 160 reps

I actually enjoyed being able to focus exclusively on kung fu training for a while.

some achievements

1 - Single arm pressed a 20kg kettlebell above my head (3 good reps on the right, 1 slightly iffy one on the left).

2- Swung a 24kg kettlebell for the first time.


I am pleased with these :=)

Sunday Service - let us play

Run by the 'Very Rev'd' Rannoch Donald (Simple Strength) and Gerry Higgins (Bond Fitness), Sunday Service is a free and fun-for-all session on the Meadows, Edinburgh. Those who come along get to play with battle ropes, kettlebells, tyres, powerbags and all the bodyweight fun and games you can shake a wet summer's day at. You could almost call it fun-ctional training lol.

Went to my first Sunday Service last week. It piddled with rain the whole way through. The half dozen or so that turned up basically went home soaked through, covered in mud and knackered. It was great!

Yesterday was better as the sun was out. It was still pretty damp underfoot though, so I still went home covered in mud and grass. What did we do this week? Bit of running to warm up, our 100 reps (press ups and variants, lunges etc), then onto sets of 'explosive' kettlebell squats (full squat, up to halfway, down to full squat then explode up) interspersed with T pushups. My feet were all over the place due to the wet grass in this one so I ended up dropping to my knees for my own safety! Then we partnered up and one did alternate deep lunges whils the other ran out to a designated point and back again. 3 sets of this, quick drink break and we got on to the real fun.

Gerry set up various stations for us: kettlebells, explosive medicine ball throw, powerbag carry (25kg plus, run out and back), battle ropes and tyre pull. When we'd all had a shot each, we split into 2 groups. One group took turns flipping the tyre 6 times (flip one way, run round then flip it back the other - hilarious on wet grass ....) whilst the other ran out with a 16kg kettlebell tied to a length of rope. Once the rope was fully extended, you dropped the bell, ran back to the start then hauled the kettlebell in hand over hand. Pick up the bell up in the other hand and run back out, run back to the start and haul the bell in again.

Once we'd all had a shot and the groups had swapped over, Gerry decided to really finish us off with a car push! We paired up again and ran down Melville Drive pushing a Nissan Micra. That was good fun actually.

Fun session, the hour went really fast although I could prob live without quite so much running. Give me heavy things to pick up and put down again though and I'm quite happy lol.

Boy, do my quads know about those explosive squats though! It is unlikely that there will be any krav tonight - I think I would be a risk to myself and others.