Day 3 Part 2 - I Made It To The Front Row!

It's past 1am and getting late but I better write this down before I'm too lazy to do so.

Day 3 was the first day of the filmings.
RPM 39 - 1500
BODYCOMBAT 36 - 1700
BODYATTACK 61 - 1830
BODYBALANCE 41 - 2000

We woke up late again, this time about 10 plus and had a very late lunch before going to the LM Clothing store (again!) for the third time in three days. I got myself a BC SEAL pants which looked quite cool, at a very cool price too! NZ$135.95 less 20% discount. Add that to the BC top I got, that means I spent about S$150 on a new set of BC clothing already. But I will be wearing them for the filming.

After that, it was straight to registration. We got a very cool Welcome Pack. There was a t-shirt inside, supposed to be a tight fit. I ordered M but it felt like XS to me haha. We also got a very cool wristband (yellow for instructors, black for trainers) and my yellow one is very similar to the LIVESTRONG wristband.





We also went to the LM Clothing store (this time it's the Global Summit one) featuring the LM USA designs. The designs include the latest LM logos and are very very cool. Nice. I helped Joel (of Cali) buy a set of BP gear. Sorry dude, no BB gear left.






BP top - NZ$65, shorts - NZ$60, LM wristband - NZ$10

The store was open only about half an hour and there was a mad rush already. Ed was very disappointed that there was no BC top left. He was nearly desperate and eventually he asked Oscar if he could give up the BC top (S size) that he was holding. Oscar was in the queue and about to make payment. But Oscar was very nice and let Ed have it.

The first filming was RPM at 3pm, and it was controlled due to the number of bikes available. But spectators were allowed to view the classes, which was great. There was a special staged performance, and they had this crazy man dressed as a police and barking out orders and separating the bikers and spectators. Being a typical kiasu Singaporean, my initial intention was to recce the room for the BC filming right after, the cameras, the spots, the entrance, everything. But what I didn't expect was the great experience I got from the filming.



The spectators went in first, hi-5 with the presenters before the bikers entered. While the bikers spent some time adjusting their bikes, the 'policeman' was entertaining everyone with his hilarious one-liners, with particular reference to 'Team Canada', telling them to hurry up. It was sarcastic but in good fun.

'A quarter of Team Canada is ready.'
'This is the front of the bike, this is the handle, this is the seat, this is the pedal.'
'If you do not know these, you shouldn't be here.'
It was really funny. One has to be there to visualise it.

RPM was awesome, I didn't stay all the way, but I felt the energy even while standing there. The choice of tracks were quite good. There was 'September' for the warm up, one Scooter track, 'Tribal Dance' (not the version in BC27), Kick Start My Heart (in BC22)... talking about recycling tracks... I'm not a fan of recycled tracks though.


RPM Filming

So while waiting for BC filming, I was walking around and saw Kili (presenter for BC30 and BJ). Took a pic with her.


And I saw G! G is Gandalf, the Bodyjam Program Director and Lynn's God. Hahaha!


BC was just insane. There was a massive crowd formed outside the recording room, even half and hour before filming. Too bad I didn't have a camera to capture the scene. The staged performance this time was some guy dressed as a witch doctor or freak in a cloak speaking in some gibberish and directing people around. Nobody could understand him cos he just didn't make sense haha.

Now, immediately after the RPM filming, Ed and myself had stationed just outside the door, ready to pounce. However, one or two teasing moments from the LM staff by opening the doors a little had the crowd behind us slowly nudging forward. We found ourselves getting lesser and lesser space. One girl beside me said 'I think I'm going to faint even before this starts.' It was hilarious.

Once the gates were open, there was a mad rush in. Believe me when I say it was total chaos. Once people got through the door, they were practically sprinting to get their spot. Both Ed and myself managed to dash to the front row. (I'm slightly on the left side, not sure if I managed to be captured in the DVD.)

It was ridiculous how close we were standing to each other until there was hardly any space to move or kick. On the stage, there were some people doing some martial arts fighting to get people in the mood. Once the presenters appeared on stage, they started almost immediately without asking people to space out. It was kinda dangerous. Team BC36 consists of Dan, Rach, Oscar (BC31), Thomas (BC32), Hernan (BC34) and this Japanese trainer. I didn't catch the name.

I got kicked many many times. From all angles and all sorts of kicks - front kick, roundhouse kick, back kick, side kick. I stepped on feet behind me several times on the ginga and couldn't swing my arms fully or execute full range hooks cos I could be hitting someone beside me.

For the BC filming, I think I enjoyed the atmosphere more than the workout. There wasn't enough space to do some of the moves, and I was unfamiliar with the tracks, and there were several occasions that I stood there like an idiot, not knowing what move is next. You guys know my stance on pre-cueing and not letting participants feel like idiots.

After that, came out and everything was scrambling to take photos with Dan & Rach. I was lucky to be able to take a photo with Team BC36! Except Hernan. Though there was one earlier pic which I took but everyone was looking away cos there were too many cameras and they didn't know where to look! But I managed to take one with Hernan separately.






Post Bodycombat Filming - just check out the number of people there are... imagine all of them and more crammed into a room!

Here's my thoughts on BC36

T1 - Upper body warm up is pretty simple, music didn't get me excited, not like Summermelody (34) where I loved it on first listen. The lower warm up is the James Bond theme by Moby... lovely lower body track... ginga here and there and stepping on people.
T2 - I can't remember how the song feels, just remember some karate punches, rising blocks, roundhouse, groin backfist (new move)
T3 - Great power track presented by Oscar. Felt the energy even though the combos are simple and repetitive.
T4 - My favourite track of the entire release. A remix of Cranberries' Zombie. The claw is back! Zombie style too =)
T5 - Was very messy cos there were too many people, and I couldn't really see the presenters. And the moves are pretty simple.
T6 - A remix of Michael Jackson's Bad. Love the choreo. Too bad the ESK was taken out at the final cut. Boo Hoo. But perhaps it wasn't suitable for ESK given that there is no space!
T7 - Knees, lotsa them. My butt actually hurts after the track. And a combo that's similar to 'Hit' 'Em (BC24)
T8 - This is a great track for shoulders, especially the ending with that special extra bit. My shoulders really ached at the end!
T9 - Purely abdominal track. Not a fan of this track. If the cues were earlier, I guess it would have helped. I didn't feel the music at all.
T10 - No space for kata. Simply too crowded.

Day 2 - International Team Teach

Day 2 was a short day. I only woke up at 12:30pm because I was so damn tired. Half a day was wasted... not that I had planned to do much anyway, I had just planned to attend a BP class in the morning but unfortunately I missed it.

Went for a quick lunch, and walked around where I live, as well as the Queen Street area, it's a shopping street. There's nothing much to shop around in Auckland. Things are expensive and there's nothing much that caught my eye. Since we were early for the 3:10pm BB class, we checked out Sky City first. That's where the filmings (and Global Summit) will be held this time round.






Some pics of Viaduct Harbour, near where I am staying.



At Sky City, we saw Lisa and Fabio, and a bunch of other instructors whom I didn't know, rehearsing for BA61. They were in this cool blue and orange outfit. The location seemed a bit small though, for the 400 pple expected to attend the filmings. After that, we went back to grab our stuff and head for BB.

When we reached the gym, guess who I saw. Dan and Rach! I quickly took a photo with the 2 of them, knowing that on filming day, they would be swamped with people wanting to take photos with them. They seemed pretty rushed for time though, but they were nice to oblige with a couple of photos.



I attended BB alone, and had a nice surprise. It was international team-teach featuring Ann See and Sarah from UK, another instructor from NZ, and another one from Italy. Ben Tang from FF Singapore was here attending the class too too.


That's me at the bottom left hand corner doing the 'option'. I can't do the split.

BC after that turned out to be international TT too! This time it was Nathan, as well as 7 or 8 instructors from Team Brazil. Team Brazil were full of energy and passionate, and reminded me of Nathaniel and Gabby. The class was more rowdy than yesterday, but the general feel was that the Auckland crowd cum international instructors did not like to shout that much heh... I was in the front row with Ed, and Ben came forward and stood just behind us.


Ivens & Myself - Ivens presented BC3105


Nathan - the instructor for the class


Team Colombia - a really friendly and warm bunch!





Stayed for a few tracks for BP international TT, this time featuring 4 instructors from Team Sweden along 2 NZ instructors. I thought Sweden was really good. Good posture, good form, clear instructions. Their English is really superb. They even did a few tracks from BP65.




BP International TT featuring trainers from Team Sweden


Short clip of BP team in action


Ben Tang - master trainer from Singapore


Ed - who appeared in front row in BC30

All you BP fanatics, don't be jealous... I took a pic with Petter from BP62! He's like a mini-giant, really that big. Had a good chat with him, asked him about Sweden (yes they teach the programs in Swedish) and the reason why they're so fluent in English is because they learn it from third grade. He's not with Team Sweden for International TT as he's going to rest to prepare for BP66 filming. How exciting. He will be presenting T4 - Back track, and I will be attending the BP filming too.



After that, dropped by LM clothing store to try out more clothing. The zip-tops don't really fit me, but the Seal pants do. I've every intention to get myself a pair. It was getting late, near 6plus, so we rushed back to wait for PJ to drop by with some pizza for dinner!



Had a nice chat and really looking forward to catching him again. Looking forward to the filming tmr!

Day 1 Part 2 - First Bodycombat class in NZ

So I attended my first BC class in NZ - conducted by Mike and Nathan. There were many international instructors around for the class, and my rough estimate is that there were about 100 people in the room. The class was ok, I thought it could have been better had the crowd been more spontaneous. Heard from PJ that Auckland members don't usually make noise, unlike the crazy people in Singapore I know, but I certainly think shouting makes it more fun.

It was funny hearing Ed say 'Exhausted' after T8. After I started teaching, attending classes somehow doesn't seem to make me sweat that much since since I'm always busting my lungs out during my classes. What I didn't like was that there were a few occasions when they tried to subdue the crowd sometimes by saying 'shhh' or 'don't shout first'. I was thinking to myself, why control during level 1 and only shout during level 2? How about letting it out in level 1 and bringing it higher in level 2?


The class doing the circle track - Hymn



After the class, I stayed back to watch BP. Before BP started, managed to exchange a few words with PJ, and saw glimpses of some 'stars' who have appeared on previous DVDs. Yes, I saw Hernan (BC34), Ivens (BC31) and Oscar (BC31). Strangely, nobody looks like their size in the DVD! Oscar looks smaller and Ivens look bigger.

BP had 5 or 6 international presenters lined up. They did a preview of BP66. Here's some tracks for you guys. T2 is a remix of Bon Jovi's Livin' On A Prayer. Not the same version used in BC24 though. I think the song's great to use... with its lyrics "Oh... halfway there... Oh..." BP really rocked. I guess BP is the most popular program in Auckland. The crowd was making so much more noise than the BC crowd. Yes, I actually feel that BP66 music is good after thinking that the music for the last few releases haven't been that good!






Managed to grab a pic with Hernan during the BP class, hehehe...


Left after T4, and on the way out, I actually took some time to explore the gym, and guess who I saw! Dan the Man. Doing his boxing training. He saw us looking across and winked back. Must be the BODYCOMBAT top I was wearing. Heehee.



Seems like quite a fulfilling day, really wanted to do BP, but thought I shouldn't exert myself so much after a 10hr flight... Hope the rest of my trip is good! =)