Tossing Grandma (alternatively titled My First Aikido Class)

The Saturday before last, I tossed a seventy-something year old woman to the ground - repeatedly - and enjoyed it.  The woman in question had the sing-song voice of a kindergarten teacher and looked, well, like your quintessential pie-baking granny type.  She happens to be a sixth level black belt and the Chief Instructor of Bond Street Dojo.  I think it's fair to say that she only fell to humor me.  Still, it was totally empowering, and a very fun introduction to Aikido.

Aikido is a martial art that teaches self defense techniques that inflict minimal harm on the attacker.  The movements focus on redirecting the attacker's energy to gain control of the situation as opposed to meeting force with opposing force.  I've always wanted to a try a martial art, so when a friend from college told me that she's been studying Aikido and invited me to join her for a free introductory class, I said yes right away.

Bond Street Dojo is located on West 29th on the third floor of an unassuming office building.  Once you're inside, though, it's totally a dojo.  The decor is traditional Japanese and students practice in hakama (pleated trousers) once they achieve a certain level.  There is a lot of bowing and ritual in Aikido.  I spent a few months living in Japan, so that part came pretty naturally. 

Aikido is very pretty to watch, but it's also pretty badass.  My friend showed me the wall of boken (wooden practice swords) and explained how her instructor once chased her around the mat with a boken to teach her to get out of the way.  I imagine that's a fairly effective technique.

Getting out of the way actually ended up being one of the harder lessons during my intro class.  To practice, one of the more advanced students came at me repeatedly with his arms extended forwards.  All I was supposed to do was turn to the side to let him pass.  I was surprised at how many times I instinctively reacted by grabbing his arms instead of using the energy of the contact only to turn myself out of his path.

The class was great, and very easy to follow.  Each move was demonstrated by the instructor and one of the advanced students.  Then everyone broke into pairs to practice.  I always worked with an advanced student so that they could show me what was expected.  We switched off being the attacker and the attackee.  Everyone was very patient and eager to show me the ropes.

Bond Street Dojo offers free intro classes once a month.  If you're curious, I highly recommend checking it out.

-Gym Belle-

Formula 57

This morning I tried Formula 57, a Physique 57 class created by one of my favorite Physique instructors, Chanelle.  Formula 57 is an uptempo remix of the classic Physique 57 ballet-meets-pilates class and the Mat 57 pilates class. 

The vocabulary of movements will feel familiar to Physique-goers, but there are a few twists.  For example, we were asked at several points to do one thing with one leg while moving the other leg in opposition, or to do a bicep exercise with the right arm while working the tricep of the left.  I'm not so much a rub my tummy and pat my head kind of a girl, so this was pretty tricky.  

Also, in the traditional Physique 57 classes, you tend to work one muscle group till it fatigues and then leave it alone.  In Formula 57, we were constantly switching around and repeating muscle groups.  I never knew what was coming next.

Formula 57 is super fun, but, like it's creator, it's no joke, so if you're new to Physique, you may want to hold off on it until you've got the techniques down. 

-Gym Belle-

David Barton

Earlier this week, I got an email from one of the guys at the upper east side David Barton offering me a free training session.  I said yes.  (Duh.)  And then I wondered if that was such a good idea.

Free personal training sessions sound great in theory, but they're usually disappointing.  After all, gyms don't give freebies to be nice; they do it to convince you to buy sessions.  From what I've seen, a lot of trainers knock you down to build you up.  The more insecure they can make you about your weight/shape/strength/health etc., the more dependent on them you're likely to become.  The technique must work, because I've encountered it a lot, but it drives me absolutely batty.  I really didn't want to spend an hour hearing about how we're going to slim down my bulky thighs or strengthen my weak back or whatever.

I needn't have worried.  I arrived at 6:00 am and was set up with Taisha.  She was awesomely chill.  There was no pre-workout interrogation.  She had one question for me: when was the last time you were in a gym?  Then we got started.  We chatted as the hour progressed, about my upcoming half-marathon mostly, but it felt totally conversational.  She told me about how she's starting to train for fitness competitions.  About three quarters of the way through, as I was using a funky squat machine, I caught her looking at my quads.  I braced myself.  But what she said was: "You've got great muscle mass on your quads.  A lot of runners get too skinny.  It's good that you lift."  Woohoo! 

Truth be told, the workout was pretty vanilla.  We stuck to the machines.  The weights weren't particularly heavy, but that makes sense since it was out first time working out together.  All in all, I was pretty happy.

The gym itself has an industrial chic vibe.  The pipework is visible, and the main room is lined with pillowed window-seats and dotted with mirrors.  The music was clubby, but not obnoxiously so.  At 6:00 am, the gym was super quiet.  Taisha said that's because it's the first week of school and people are just getting back from the Hamptons.  (This is 85th between 5th and Madison, after all.)  Soon, the gym will be packed at that hour.  Taisha described the gym as intimate; most people work out with trainers, and everyone knows everyone.

If you want to check out any of the David Barton locations, consider scheduling a training session for September 22nd.  Sessions that day are $50, and the proceeds go to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund and The Clearity Foundation.  (More info here.)

Perhaps I'll check out the legendary Chelsea location that day...

-Gym Belle-