BodyCombat 59 Thoughts – Do or Die

I can’t believe it’s the 2nd quarter already. What does that mean? Well, it means release time.  Facebook, Instagram and twitter again have exploded with various chat in relation to each release across the Les Mills stack. I posted quite a few track listings up as requested but for this post the BodyCombat 59 tracklisting can be found here.  This time round sizzlers were quite slow to hit the net but eventually they arrived, BodyCombat 59 Sizzler.

The instructor education DVD was done “on the road” away from Auckland in Stockholm.  The stage and lighting rig looked huge.  We just had our first massive quarterly workshop this year : GFX 2014 Glasgow. Watching the masterclass I can’t imagine what the atmosphere  was like 🙂

I’m still not sure why there are still alot of stage changes?  Why can’t we have a consistent team on from 1 -> 10?

Anyway onto the tracks

[blockquote source=”Anonymous”]I need oxygen treatment. 1st time doing BodyCombat 59. Totally busted![/blockquote]

Track 1a – Upper body warmup – I Knew You Were Trouble (DRM Remix) – Girls Only

I am really liking this warm up going from the basic boxing combinations of uppercuts and jabs to the Karate kata.  On the run up to launching this release I stuck with BodyCombat 55 as they are quite similar.  Lots of areas to focus on technique before hitting the max effort button.

Track 1b – Lower body warmup – Everything about you – SupaHit

One thing for sure is that this track doesn’t lack in lyrics to hook into. I like this lower body warm up for the reason that we side kick to the one side for a couple of reps before the choreography changes. This means I can focus the class technique and set a grounding for the rest of the release.  Solid lower body warmup. Shame the push kicks aren’t used else where in the release but we can’t have everything can we….

Track 2 – Combat 1 – Danger Zone – International Outlaw

The almighty sword is back and it’s not as complicated to pick up as the pirates track from BodyCombat 43. Is simple back to front(body hit) and over the head(head hit). I like the variety of this track. We’ve not seen the advancing side kick for a while and it’s a perfect finisher to the combination.  In the education DVD I personally was disappointed at how this was presented. A “do as I say, not as I do” approach while screaming down the mic isn’t something I expected.

Track 3 – Power training 1 – Be The One – Hixxy,Sy and Unknown

How many uppercuts in this track? Simple but challenging boxing combinations. Shoulders be prepared to burn. Interesting combo the uppercut and jab but it’s effect on the working shoulder is great.  The final round of alternating 3 uppercuts show’s that more than a physical sweat is needed. Lots of areas to really push with your voice and easily grow the levels. Again disappointed in how this was presented in the education DVD. Alot of great energy but screaming down the mic, too much singing and well one bad scripted statement. 

Track 4 – Combat 2 – A Warrior’s Call – Volbeat

The shoot is back, the jump kick is back, throw in some knees and you got yourself a combination. I like the break down of the combinations with the kata from the warmup.  It’s very easy to hook into the music and am sure everyone is using “combat warriors” banter :).  Keeping an eye on technique with the shoot and giving options on the jump kick is a must.  If you’re not sure ask an instructor/check education notes.

Track 5 – Power training 2 – Bright Like The Sun – Sy and Unknown
Feat.Kirsten Joy

I can safely say that I really like this track. Being half way through the class I think the synths and lyrics in this track really help pick participants up where normally they’d pull back. Boxing combinations are massive and there is room to push through to a new level.  The layering is done perfectly and flows so well. The 3rd round throws a new travelling combination into the mix.  I have found to get a little bit more out of participants is to split the room :).

Track 6 – Combat 3 – Danger Zone – K Drew

They’ve pulled another combination out of the bag with this track. Under 5 minutes of which afterwards your legs should be screaming. Lunges, lunges and more lunges topped with a switch and esquivias.  This is where you need to push through, it’s meant to be difficult so grit the teeth and suck it up.

Track 7 – Muay Thai – Lost in the Space – The Original Movies Orchestra

On paper it doesn’t look much but doing it is another kettle of fish. Just like BodyCombat 58 Muay Thai track has lots of movement for various levels.  I do like the simplistic combinations as it allows you to just go for it. Knees, knees and more knees, bit of close combat with jabs,crosses and ascending elbows. When they’re down it’s ground and pound time with the downward street brawl punch. Every round take a higher level, knee harder, punch faster, by the end you’ll be breathing from places you didn’t know you had.

Track 8 – Power training 3 –  Falling From The Sky – Hixxy, Dave Castellano & Fat Steve

Our final power track and it just doesn’t stop.   The 6 combo and slip combined with the music makes you want to work harder in each round. The last round “dedicated to the hook” really finishes off the shoulders.  There is no room to pull back here, dig deep and explode.

Track 9 – Conditioning – Do Or Die – Flux Pavilion

Oh my word.  Where did they get this combo from? The hip escapes and press-ups are just pure evil but at the same time very effective.  I really do like the mix and match of this track from shoulders to core.   The “hip escape” from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has been adapted for BodyCombat. In the video below you can see how it has been adapted from BJJ.

Above Video “Hip Escape Variations | START BJJ Academy” :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HbtEGcqwXQ

Track 10 – Cool down – Fleurs Du Mal – Sarah Brightman

Quite a dramatic cool down.  Doing the katas after such a beasting in the conditioning track is a challenge in itself especially if you’ve been on your toes every round.  Yeap, they’ve done it again, flows from a to b resulting in a perfect ending to the class. Body Combat 59 = DONE.

What Next?

Will they introduce a new move  for BodyCombat 60 that will hit our doorsteps/laptops around the summer time? Can we expect another belter of a track 6 with the crane?  I’m a little nervous about this next release as I think Dan and Rach will take the whole thing to a new level. What do you think?  Will we be seeing a Les Mills Karaoke album soon hashtag: #LMIKaraoke ?

Got launch pictures/videos you want to share?

Every release after my thoughts have been made public I do a post on “Everything BodyCombat release?”.  These can all be found : http://www.siphilp.co.uk/tag/everything-body-combat.  If you’d like to share something in the Everything BodyCombat 59 then please get in touch.

Give Feedback

If you have any thoughts about BodyCombat 59 and you’d like to share then please feel free to comment or get in touch. If you didn’t already know you can also give feedback to Les Mills in relation to any programme/release. Are you an instructor? Heard of the BLAH (be loud and heard)? http://www.lesmills.com/blah Are you a participant? You can let Les Mills know about your experiences with after class. http://www.lesmills.com/global/classes/after-class-surveys.aspx