Australia

We're back! Had a great time catching up with old friends at the Nationals in Sydney. How did one entire generation of our friends (o bar one), end up living overseas & mostly in Australia? I don't get it... it's just not that great over there! Yes it's warm but it costs a fortune, it's big & pretty ugly & everybody lives in caves!

However, I have to say, we were pretty taken with the Manly lifestyle. It could be the beaches & cafes & the super relaxed style & the cool people we were staying with (thanks Matt & Deb Cameron for taking us in for one night & making us so welcome it turned into 4!) or it could be the Fight Gym?

There was something very homely about a Kyokushin Dojo that also hosts a BJJ club not to mention weights gym, boxing ring, capoera & yoga. It sounds huge but no, barely bigger than our dojo (and nothing like our matts :) but they know how to cram 'em in! Everything appeared fairly normal at 5:30pm when I started a BJJ class on the main mat. There was loud music and people on aerobic machines & milling about doing weights & hitting bags but that was okay. It was half an hour later when the BJJ class squished into 1/3 the mat & a large mixed crowd started a kick & box fitness class on the other 2/3! We literally had to lean, ear to ear, above our instructor to hear what he was saying as he demonstrated each move. There was a lot of mime! Apparently it would not be unusual for there to be yet another fitness class squished into a small area about the size of the boxing ring. The fitness class turned into traditional Kyokushin by the time we'd finished but the rest of the place was still pumping. There were plenty of serious looking, hard bodied, thick necked fight types but rubbing shoulders with grey haired old ladies & tiny Japanese girls with limp wrists. It was a much fun place to be!

It was pretty hard to extricate self from family at dinner time so the only other class I checked out was a 'box fit' class at 6am (me at 6am and on holiday!!!). Deb is a regular so she supplied me with the gloves & 'uniform' (very short shorts). Apparently I was unlucky because the usual instructor wasn't in...they reckon I would have liked him... he has a stick which he uses to beat the slackers, he calls it Milo because it's amazing what a difference Milo makes! Regardless, it was a fun class, loud music & everybody with bed hair & puffy eyes. Basically the whole thing is done with one partner, one with focus mitts & one in gloves doing boxing combos interspersed with push ups & crunches. It sounds very simple but I did still manage to shame myself (I blame my kyokushin background ENTIRELY).

I'll explain because Chris has been taking the piss ever since so I'll get in first. One of the exercises involved the pad holder calling between 4 &10, the puncher would then throw that many punches & then drop flat on the deck. The pad holder was then supposed to "walk over" the puncher (from their head to their feet), the puncher would then jump up & repeat. Now at 6am & with no demonstration & everyone else faffing around I found myself with Deb prone at my feet saying "come on, walk over me"... so I did... as you would... I walked on her back! I knew it was all wrong when she couldn't get up for laughing (thank God she's a Kyokushin girl too) & someone came over & patted me on the back. Apparently "walking over" someone in the normal world means you tip toe down either side of their body being careful not to catch any bits of loose flesh. Who knew?

I think this style of class would be great here if anybody's volunteering to take them :) I'd definitely get out of bed to do more the same but not to hold the stopwatch & shout... not even with a stick.