Shadow Boxing

But I have to admit that I suck at shadow boxing. It must be like when someone wants to dance and discovers there's no rhythm in her hips and feet. Like watching everyone around you move easily and you think you got it and when you stand up and do it... you just suck!

How can I be light and fast and dangerous? 

Dear KFB friends, I will be traveling to the land of the tulips for a few days, on a tight budget, so wish me luck with fish sandwiches and choosing between protein and Rembrandt. I don't plan to take my jump rope with me because I will walk for long hours every day and there's something bothering my left heel so a jumping rest will be most welcome. Let's see how I manage to adapt the workouts to the hostels and parks.

See you soon!

Mindful Consumption

In the spirit of KFB I have been extra mindful not only on Friday but the days after. Here are some images of the magnitude of life around me!

Exploding blueberry. Magical fruit. Tastiest kind of blue and a great recipe.

A chinese friend taught me how to prepare this. Touch, smell, sight, taste, thirst.

For the first time I saw the flower of the leek. Deep inside all those layers was she hiding.

On a walk: jewelry for the Ruhr

I was about to clean the dust on my table...

Then came the night and my love took this photo. Can you see the red moon behind the glowing pine?

How much have I lost by being somewhere else?

What my body says

It's a big advantage if you know your body and listen to it. Yesterday I woke up feeling very cold and a little voice inside me said: "today it's not cool to exercise". Thinking it was just my lazy creature, I began to jump anyway until I understood that it really was my body who didn't want to make such an effort and instead was hoping to use that energy to fight an imminent cold.

So I stopped and spent a humid and cold Monday recovering my strength. 

Thanks to that break, today I woke up feeling better and the workout was fun. I had a lot of energy.

With the years I've began to understand what my body is going through. Doing yoga and working out refined that awareness very much. It wasn't until PCP that I learned to recognize hunger.

Do you talk to your body? Do you listen to it?

Today the training took me an hour and ten minutes. Horse stance was savage and shadow fighting... well, let's say I enjoyed fighting like an idiot, moving like a heavy sack of potatoes. 

Gordon is awsome

There are days that I prefer in terms of exercises than others. The sequence of day 33 is one of my favorites. That's because I get to fly like a crane and I feel the most kung fu like doing the double punches and blockings with bottles of water. Those exercises are though and playful. They make me imagine I'm the character of a movie.

Talking about movies I was seduced by Gordon Liu's photo from Patrick's mail about hip flexors so I had to watch The 36th Chamber of Shao Lin. What a cool movie! Makes you want to stand up and try some moves. And the colors, the characters, the beauty of the movements.

Today I felt better doing the targeted punches. It's a matter of rhythm. Targeted kicks need a lot of work.

Slow

Today I slowed down during the targeted punches and I had more success. If I wait a little between punches or kicks I get to touch the ball. That's good, but until I develop speed and coordination the workout could take half an hour more. 

This slow down also brakes the rhythm of the training. The impulse from the previous section is lost and my mind begins to worry about time and not being able to punch and kick with strength.

Like Heather said, I notice now that I like strength exercises a lot. My arm muscles are stronger but leaner.

Standing crane was my favorite moment of the morning. I'm beginning a nice relationship with planks.

Stretch was not so nice. I wanted to finish and for the last couple of days my meditation is not working.

Broken Nail and Impatience

Do you know how long does it take for a poppy flower to open up? Exactly the time between rope jumping and abs.

Well, I missed the target and my toe crashed against the door frame while doing the kicks. This targeted kicks are so tricky. The ball moves in every direction, in different rhythms and I couldn't hit it two times in a row. I felt how inflexible my hip still is, specially when I tried  the back kicks. 

Punches and hooks are also impossible to do in a sequence at this moment. Too much confusion, slow reflexes, bad posture. I felt like a drunken cat. I was angry by the end of the sets.

Patrick, great job on those videos. I could use one where you successfully punch the darn ping pong ball.

4 day long mindful consumption!

For the past four days an old friend of mine has been visiting. The challenge was to entertain a friend and still lead a KFB life. My big worry was the absence of salt in the food and the lack of wine and desserts. Specially because in her previous visit a year ago she declared Pablo and me the biggest food sybarites. I didn't want to disappoint her this time but I wasn't going back to all that exuberance.

Balance was the answer to this challenge. I followed the diet as much as possible and I also indulged a bit. For the most part I cooked simple recipes that bring out the natural salty flavor of ingredients and we also had special treats like a homemade pizza, wine and even some cake.

I had a great time. I didn't feel like falling off the wagon. Without knowing what Friday's KFB program would be, I felt like I was having an extended mindful consumption: having something special every day, in small amounts, on purpose.

This is what I thought:

I'm in the middle of KFB, I want continue with the KFB, my friend is coming to visit, this is a special occasion,  life is short. Therefore I'm going to do my stuff and enjoy at the same time. There will come the morning for exercising and having a powerful KFB breakfast and there will come the night to celebrate, remember and make a toast. So... relax. Anyway I've been such a good girl since January!

What happened is that once I gave myself that freedom, whenever there was a chance to eat something out of the diet, I could stop and consider if I really wanted that and if so, how much of it would be perfect. There was no overdose, no regrets; only a light headache.

I did felt shy as I was exercising in the mornings and her eyes were on my (perhaps) clumsy moves... Anyway, my friend was positively impressed with the changes in my body and my appetite and I feel that if I do my best regarding nutrition and training most of the time, a few days of moderate festivities are just fine.

Day 23. Already?

Time has passed very fast this week. With lots of work, emotional and biological turbulence I didn't get to write here. But I have been following my team's stories and paying attention to my body and mind. So here are some observations.

I'm sore everyday. I feel it as soon as I open my eyes in the morning. It's a general soreness of the muscles close to the bones and the ribs. It feels good.

Until now I have been able to workout early in the morning which has many advantages compared to exercising in the evening but I'm wondering if the tiredness I feel in the middle of every workout is because I haven't eaten anything yet or because KFB is much more challenging than PCP. Some days I seriously consider taking a nap after breakfast just like Heather did!

About the exercises: 

I notice how high I can swing my legs now. There's a moment when I feel the muscles warming up and stretching more and more.

The stances are getting interesting with muscles on fire as the duration of the stance increases and I enjoy very much doing the equilibrium exercises: flying crane, resting buddha. All my mind and my muscles and a kind of heat in my belly are devoted to getting to the full form and staying there.

The uppercuts are giving me a hard time. I feel clumsy, graceless and zero dangerous. I haven't found the rhythm, how to move my hips and loosen my shoulders. I'm getting better at the other punches, though. More speed and strength in them.

As my hips and legs get more flexible the kicks also improve. But to be honest by the 3rd set I'm very tired and have to stretch my hips between sets.

New exercises are welcome. They keep this adventure fun. 

I have noticed that the complete workout takes me longer everyday. Is it only me or is it because we have more sets with more repetitions?

I haven't lost weight until the moment but I know that all these exercises are doing their job because the area around my hips is leaner and so are my arms. 

KFB must be fun because I wake up and WANT to exercise.