BODYCOMBAT 38 :: First impressions

Posted by: nzglen on: November 17, 2008

• In: BODYCOMBAT
• 6 Comments

Saturday was the first time I’d even seen BODY COMBAT 38 (apart from the track listing). Did feel kinda strange as I’d already done BC39 (due to the fact I went to the filming) but nevermind! Anyway, in short – I loved it. LOVED IT! It is hard to get a decent feel for a release when you’ve only done it once, but honestly, after having done BC39 once as well I enjoyed 38 A LOT more. It rocked!

I’ll write a full review of the release once I’ve watched the DVD and received the notes (should be in about 48 hours) but for now here are the highlights in brief (presenters were Dan, Rach and Hernan);

I loved the warm up mainly because I really like both the tracks that make it up. If you don’t like dance music obviously you won’t feel the same. Both tracks are light and really uplifting! The upper body is “Writing on the wall” by 2-4 Grooves whilst the lower body warm up is “Because the Night” by Cascada. Really enjoyed this.

Combat 1 seemed to me to be a typical track 2 – it was “Try It Again” by The Hives. Both track 2 and the power training track (“Like I feel (squad-e mix)” by D:code Feat Emma) aren’t really standing out in my memory which leads me to believe they are exactly what you’d expect from combat 1 and power training 1.

Combat 2 (track 4) is a TOTAL KILLER. If you thought “We will survive” was hard in BC37 with it’s 260 odd kicks then you’re in for a rude awakening. Dan claimed there are 300+ in this track! (Addition: As it happens there’s no where near 300 kicks in this track – more like 240; So around the same as We Will Survive – maybe Dan was just trying to freak us out haha – however make no mistake it FEELS like there’s over 300 that’s for sure!) It’s in two parts. The first part is “Headbangerz Rock Da Club” by Nick Skitz and that is a kick combo not completely different to the kick combo in BC37. Lots of back kicks, knees and front kicks.  The second part (“Cold As Ice” by Starsplash) really finishes you off with loads of roundhouse knees into sidekicks (think The United Vibe from BC35). Absolutely leg shattering track and a real highlght for me. I’m not sure what the track length is but it is loooooooong! I think people will either love or hate it.

Track 5 (“The Best Damn Thing” by Avril Lavigne) was MUCH better than I thought it would be. MUCH! I’m not an Avril fan and I expected something similar to the last Avril track 5 – “Girlfriend” from BC33. Thankfully it’s not. It’s not a split room track either which is all good. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this.

Prepare to have your legs cained in track 6 (“No Good” by The Prodigy). The esquiva is back and it’s a killer. The one thing that really stood out for me in this track is the cool esquiva into front kick combo. This tracks hurts no two ways about it.

I know I enjoyed the muay thai but I honestly can’t remember that much about it! The song is “Raver’s Paradise (Stadium Mix)” by Nick Skitz feat MC BB. I can recall a lot of street brawler downward punches and lots of knees… I’ll write a lot more about this in full when I get the DVD.

Highlight for me without question: Track 8: “What hurts the most (Al Storm remix)” by Cascada. THIS TRACK WENT OFF! It goes on and on and on and the levels just keep building! You think you’ve hit level 4 and then bang – the music builds again and you reach even deeper and power on! Then just when you think it’s over – WHAM – another level hits you and you’re off again! I swear the endorphins your body produces in this track will keep you buzzing for hours afterwards. Absolutely awesome! The whole room was cheering as the track progressed. It was incredible and I can’t wait to release it.

Conditioning – was hard. The track was “When I grow up” by Pussycat Dolls. Personally I hate the song with a passion so wasn’t expecting to enjoy it. Dan challenged us to do it all on our toes. In fact he said he’d buy a beer to anyone that could – and it was probably a pretty safe bet for him… the track has 64 press ups with no breaks! 32 chest and 32 tricep. However, Dan you do owe me one as I did manage it (just!). The ab portion also has the plank which is a killer move as we all know.

Cooldown: “Say (All I Need)” by OneRepublic. Beautiful. Not too much kata which I prefer. Excellent end to a fantastic release.

As I said expect a much more complete review in a few days… but this release is DEFINITELY one to look forward to… yay! Pics follow – apologies for quality they were taken from my cellphone.

BODYCOMBAT 38 - Dan, Rach and Hernan

BC38 release - me 🙂

BODYCOMBAT 38 release

BC38 release - me 🙂

BC38 release

2008 Q4 workshop; In this pic, Me, Erina, Hernan, Anise and James

Tags: BODY COMBAT, BODYCOMBAT, BODYCOMBAT 38, BODYCOMBAT REVIEW, GYM STUFF, LES MILLS, LES MILLS WORKSHOP