What is Krav Maga Bag Class?

Okay so those of you who know me know that I teach and work at Krav Maga Worldwide.  KMW is
basically my 2nd family!  I've been working there for the past 12 years and I will probably continue being there FOREVER!!!   This place is THAT great!  The staff, instructors, and members are like family to me and I am so grateful to be a part of such a great community!  I'm thankful I get to work at a place that brings me so much joy and wouldn't trade it for the world!

One of the best perks of my job is teaching KM Bag Class!  You may have heard about it, read about it, saw bits and pieces of it... but if you haven't actually tried it, you are seriously missing out!  This is one of the most fun, intense, high energy, kick ass classes you will ever take!  We mix in some Krav Maga techniques... punching, kicking, elbows, knees, sprawls... with everything else you can think of that will make your body say "OMG, I am getting a killer workout!!!"  I'm talking sit-ups, lunges, push-ups, squats, burpees, pull-ups, plank, V-ups, running, Russian twists, jump-rope, mountain climbers, box jumps, wall balls, toes to bar, deck squats... I can seriously go on forever.  You not only get to work on your fight combinations and feel like a super hero badass, but you get to improve your game by doing agility, speed, high intensity, interval, and speed drills.  Your instructor will guide you so you focus your energy on giving your all on whatever the task is at hand.  You will see that results really happen when you are pushing your body further than you even thought possible... and who is there to push you?!?!... ME!  You're getting MY coaching!  You hear MY voice saying "You can do it!" "Keep going!" "Don't stop!" "Fight for it!".  Those of you who already take my class, I know you can totally see me saying all of these things!  I genuinely want all of you to be better and stronger than yesterday! 

The ultimate joy comes from seeing the progress in all of my students/athletes!  Trust me, I pay attention.  I see you work hard!  I see you struggle!  I see you able to do something you weren't able to do when you first started!  Like I was saying earlier, the results really kick in when you push yourself beyond your comfort zone and I know a big part has to do with me yelling and motivating the hell out of you.  One of the best parts of my day is seeing everyone drop to the floor at the end of class! LOL  Call me crazy but it's seriously out of love!

Anyways, here's a clip from one of my classes.  I encourage you to try it out... or if you're already one of my awesome students, then I encourage you to bring a friend and spread the joy that we already have in our life!  Now go punch some bags and have an awesome day!  Kida!

GORUCK Light - 7 hour and 12 mile adventure with my KMW Crew

Last weekend, I did one of the craziest, funnest, and physically challenging things ever - the GORUCK Light Challenge.  What is GORUCK?  Well, GORUCK started by Special Forces, Jason Mccarthy, first off was a gear company specializing in rucksacks that are supposed to be good for everything... war, open roads, training with bricks, mud, etc.  These rucks can take a beating and they claim that they can hold up to just about anything.  The GORUCK Challenge (an event patterned after Special Forces training) was created to basically prove this... to show how durable and tough these rucks really were.  It was after these challenges that GORUCK became more than a gear brand... the challenges brought out a higher purpose - THE TEAM!  What I love about this is that challenge takers learn how to lead, how to solve problems, how to work better... TOGETHER!  You end up bonding with your teammates more than ever.  You'll be amazed at how far your body can go... past limitations you thought existed... and for the sake of not letting your team down.  It's amazing!

I participated in the Light Challenge... and let me tell just say that LIGHT does not equal EASY.

Taken straight from the website:

"GORUCK Light is an introduction to the team-based training found in Special Operations. It is also much less grueling than our original event, the GORUCK Challenge. Your class will consist of up to 30 participants (aka members of your new GORUCK family). One Cadre, an experienced member of Special Operations, will teach leadership as your class overcomes adversity to become a team. (Team being a very important word. GORUCK Light is a team event, never a race).
GORUCK Light takes place over 4-5 hours, and you will cover roughly 7-10 miles. You will also smile. A lot. We promise.

Those who complete GORUCK Light will earn the GORUCK Light patch, which will never be for sale. Upon completion you are also qualified to participate in GORUCK Scavenger. All other alumni-events require you to pass the GORUCK Challenge, GORUCK Heavy, or GORUCK Selection.
You must be 18 to participate in GORUCK Light."

My bricks wrapped up Krav Maga style!

The regular challenge according to the website is 8-10 hours (more like 12 hours after talking to some of my friends who did it) and each person carries 6 bricks (4 if you're under 150lbs).  For the Light, it's supposed to be less grueling... only 4-5 hours according to the website and each person carries 4 bricks (2 if you're under 150lbs).  My backpack was about 20lbs with my bricks and water bladder.  Most of the guys were carrying about 35lbs.  And guess what... my Light Challenge wasn't 4-5 hours... it was 7 hours!  Underpromise, overdeliver is what I hear they are big on!  Thank god my friends warned me that it might be 7 hours so I was prepared!




 I don't want to give too much away about my crazy day because I highly encourage you try it for yourself and get the experience... but I do want to share some of it with you.

Pre-GORUCK Challenge with my KMW Crew

So we started at 7am at LACMA.  There were 101 people there for the challenge.  16 of which were from Krav Maga Worldwide.  From the beginning we started off with a set of pushups... as a team.  That means if someone messes up, you start back from 0!  You can see how a set of 25 pushups with a team that big can become 100 pushups easily.  LOL  A few people showed up late and right away they were told to bear crawl their way to us.  I could already tell I was in for a treat when I saw that.   We hustled our way to some park where we got down in the dirt right away... more pushups, thrusters, bear crawls, flutter kicks, etc.  I'm sure we did at least an hour and a half of physical torture as a team in the dirt.  From there, we were sent on missions with time caps and if we didn't reach our goal, we were punished.  At each destination, more physical tasks were given.  By the end of the challenge, we covered roughly 12 miles throughout Los Angeles.  All this while carrying bricks the entire time... and sometimes carrying each other.  There was one point when they told us we had 10 casualties and our team had to carry them for what seemed like 2 miles but I'm not sure.  One of the best parts of this adventure was getting into the fountain on Avenue of the Stars in Century City!  I still can't believe we did that.  Yes, we got soaking wet during this.  It's not GORUCK if you don't get wet and dirty.  Throughout this crazy 7 hour adventure, you learn to do everything as a team or you get punished.  I think that's what I loved most about it.  I'm huge on teamwork so this was right up my alley.  I'm so glad I did it and that I got to do it with a ton of friends.  We are now even closer than before.  We are all pretty crazy and I never thought I'd say this but I kinda can't wait to do the 12 hour challenge next.  I really had a lot of fun!

Post-GORUCK Challenge!  After 7 hours and 12 miles!  Dirty and Wet!!!

I survived this adventure and now want more!  Go figure!   I earned a patch at the end.  These patches are never sold too so it's pretty cool to say I have one!  You can only earn them... and I did just that!

Always earned, never sold!

So that was my latest and greatest story of last week.  Don't worry I got more for you.  Now it's your turn to go do something that scares you.  :)  It's healthy!  Overcome something and succeed!!!  I'm cheering for you.  

You need a workout?... I got ya covered! :)

This post is dedicated to my girl, Misty!

Of course I made a special birthday workout for Misty!  That's me on the left.  Misty on the right!

For those of you who don't know me, I teach Krav Maga Bag Classes at Krav Maga Worldwide... we are talking one hour of hardcore, intense, dripping sweat amazingness.  I will have you punching and kicking heavy bags then doing burpees then lunges, situps, squats... then back to another fight combo on the bag then jump rope, more squats, more situps... the list goes on... oh man and that's just a small sliver of what this class entails!  If you've taken my class, you know this is no joke.

Misty is one of my hardcore veterans!  She always comes in with a great attitude and works so hard!  I absolutely love having her in class!  So today I get this message from her saying how she misses KHo Bag Class so much and that she's bummed because she has this shoulder injury and can't make it in for the next 2 months per her physical therapist!  BUMMER!  Uggghhhh... injuries are the worst!  I know the feeling and being out for 2 months already sounds awful!  I completely sympathize.  (I've had my share of injuries so I know how much this sucks)  I thought the sweetest thing was when she told me that she started looking up pictures of my finishers aka torture boards to find workouts to do.  I forgot to mention that I usually dedicate the last 10 minutes of my class to a crazy finisher!  If you do CrossFit, just imagine a full-on WOD after you've just sweated your ass off for 50 minutes.  Yes, I'm a little insane but in a great way of course! :)  I swear I think I'm going to scare my students away with my ridiculous finishers but nope... they keep coming back and it kinda blows my mind! LOL  Anyways, Misty asked if I could recommend any workouts or circuits for her that don't involve her upper body.  Well of course I'm gonna help this girl out!

Misty inspired me to write this post to help "broken people" (those were her words, not mine) like her so they can get their workout in too.  Here are a few workouts I thought of for her.  You all can do this at home.  These workouts focus more on lower body since she can't use her shoulder.  I'll be happy to write up some upper body workouts if you message me.  :) 

Workout 1: (in less than 15 minutes, you should feel spent!)
3 rounds:
30 sec High Knees
30 sec Running in place kicking butt with heels
30 sec Lunges alternating legs (Jumping if you want more of a challenge)
Rest 1 min then...
3 rounds:
30 sec Jumping Jacks
30 sec Situps
30 sec Squats
Rest 1 min then...
3 rounds:
30 sec Box Step Ups (you can use a bench or chair)
30 sec Bicycles
30 sec Wall Sits

Workout 2: (each 2 min AMRAP should be a sprint... go balls to the wall because you get a minute rest after each one)
2 min AMRAP (as many rounds as possible):
5 Squats w/ Jump
10 Situps
Rest 1 min then...
2 min AMRAP:
5 Lunges (each side)
10 Bicycles (each side)
Rest 1 min then...
2 min AMRAP:
5 V-ups
10 Squats
Rest 1 min then...
2 min AMRAP
5 Lunges with Jump (each side)
10 Accordian Situps

Workout 3: (This one you definitely want to push but pace yourself.  Just keep moving for 8 min.  Do not stop!)
8 min AMRAP
10 Box Jumps or Box Step Ups
10 Situps
15 Squats
15 Bicycles (each side)
20 Lunges

Okay, I hope you enjoy these workouts.  I figured I would post a few of the finishers I've done in class in case you want to do some of these on your own too!  Enjoy, have fun, and sweat baby sweat!!!