Central Bucks Family YMCA

Maggie and I have been teaching Budokon at Central Bucks Family YMCA for a couple years now. Over that  time have built a small but remarkable community of practitioners and friends.  To offer a little peek into what we’re all about, one of our newer students came up with the following list of things to expect in your first Budokon class. For more information on Budokon at the Y, contact Valerie Tanner at 215-348-8131, x1140.

10 Tips for Enjoying Your First Budokon Class

1. Budokon is a martial art. You’ll begin class with a flowing yoga-style series of movements, then transition to more active martial arts moves later in the hour. Sparring and grappling are not taught in the Budokon fitness classes at the Y. A white belt is awarded after 10 or more hours of practice. Subsequent belts are earned after testing with Budokon founder (kancho), Cameron Shayne.
2. Budokon includes yogic elements. If you’ve taken a yoga class, you’ll recognize many poses in Budokon – basics like downward dog, warrior II, and crescent lunge, balances like half-moon and warrior III, as well as occasional inversions like headstand and handstand.
3. Budokon is different than yoga. The Budokon “rolling vinyasa” flow will be new. You’ll learn to roll your spine fluidly from down dog into up dog and back again. Side angle and warrior II will transform into martial stances when you move your hands into defensive positions. Other yoga poses have been modified to bear an opponent’s body weight while grappling.
4. You’ll probably find someone like you in class. A wide variety of students come to class each week. There are men and women, parents and teenagers, those who are attracted to the martial aspects and others who prefer the yogic elements.
5. You’ll move out of your comfort zone. You know that back left corner that’s “your” spot? You may spend most of class there, but expect to move out of it towards the end of class when it’s time for the animal series.
6. Bonus points for animal sounds. What do Komodo dragon, chimpanzee, bullfrog, dolphin, and grasshopper have in common? They’re all Budokon movements. Hopping, crawling, floating, rolling – you’ll get a cardio workout during this portion of class, and have a hard time keeping from smiling as you do.
7. Smiling and talking is encouraged. Don’t be surprised if the person next to you offers suggestions or assistance during class. Budokon students embrace their roles as senseis (teachers) and it makes for a more interactive class than most others at the Y.
8. Contralateral movement doesn’t come naturally anymore. Babies do it when they crawl – right arm with left leg, then left arm with right leg – so you think it would be simple to remember how this movement works. Budokon incorporates contralateral movement throughout class, and you’ll be surprised how challenging this is for your mind and body.
9. The whole point is to connect your mind and body. As fun as it may be, or as challenging as you consider it, Budokon is a practice to get your mind and body working together.
10. “Osu!” means patience. You’ll hear this at the beginning and end of class and several times in between. You probably won’t get everything your first class, but most likely neither will the person at their fifth or fiftieth class. Budokon will teach you to be patient with yourself.

Click here to link to the Budokon class schedule at the Y.

Eric Haflett
Budokon Instructor
Central Bucks Family YMCA

Hello to all of my BodyCombaters and future Combaters!  This is my second blog.  I wanted to tell you about the new release.  All classes are launching the newest release (#51) in our classes beginning with the Sunday class on May 13^th.  BodyCombat 51 has rock and roll driving music giving us the feeling of hard core fighting.  We have a really cool blocking sequence in track 2 and short but tough Muay Thai track.  This release is all about cardio.  Each track is packed with fighting and very little rest.  You will be challenged and you will have fun, fun, fun! 

Last blog I quoted a few of my class members.  In my next three blogs, I’d like to introduce my three other BodyCombat instructors.  I just want to say that each one is awesome and I feel privileged to be able to be teamed up with such a wonderful group of women.  I’ll start with the newest BodyCombat instructor,  Rebecca.  Here is what Rebecca has to say… 

“Kia Ora”.  My name is Rebecca Miller Russo and I am the “newest” addition to the fabulous BODYCOMBAT Instructors at the Central Bucks Family YMCA.  You may recognize me as a “red shirt” or “Fitness Coach/Fitness Center Coordinator” in the Wellness/Fitness Center and may or may not know that I lead an amazing group of Health Seekers through their wellness journey on Monday and Tuesday evenings at 5:00 p.m. in Studio A.

Over the years I’ve had the fortunate opportunity to start my day with a traditional greeting native of the country I’ve lived in.  ”Good Morning”, “Ohayo Gozaimasu” or “Buenos Dias” quickly brought a smile to my face and put the pep in my step but it wasn’t until I accepted the challenge of BODYCOMBAT Instructor Training that a “Kia Ora” had any real meaning to me.  The traditional New Zealand greeting came from a place where I had only dreamed of visiting.  This greeting, shared by the warriors known as “BODYCOMBAT Instructors”, is one that is filled with an intense feeling of pride and no longer feels “foreign”, if you will, to me.  

After extensive Les Mills training, I began my journey of bringing an empowering cardio workout to others at the Y.  Step by step, strike by strike, punch by punch, and kick by kick I see the results in the dedicated Y members that accept the challenge each week known as “BODYCOMBAT class”.  Ask yourself, “Am I up for the challenge?” If you’re not sure, feel free to stop me or stop on by the Wellness/Fitness Center and I would love to answer any questions you may have!!!      

Come out and meet Rebecca.  She teaches every Monday and Tuesday evening at 5:00 in Studio A.

We look forward to meeting you.  Come out and join the fight! BodyCombat is definitely something you have to experience for yourself.

For more information on Bodycombat, contact Amy McGahran, 215-348-8131, x1118.

Click here to view Bodycombat in our current brochure

MISSION: Central Bucks Family YMCA is a charitable non-profit organization whose purpose is to improve the quality of community life. The Y strengthens the spirit, mind and body of its members. We build character by promoting the values of caring, respect, honesty and responsibility.

Hello to all of my BodyCombaters and future Combaters! This is part 2 of my blog introducing the BodyCombat Instructors & the new Body Combat Release I wanted to tell you about the new release.  All classes are launching the newest release (#51) in our classes beginning with the Sunday class on May 13^th.  BodyCombat 51 has rock and roll driving music giving us the feeling of hard core fighting.  We have a really cool blocking sequence in track 2 and short but tough Muay Thai track.  This release is all about cardio.  Each track is packed with fighting and very little rest.  You will be challenged and you will have fun, fun, fun! 

Last blog I quoted a few of my class members.  This blog I wanted to introduce the other BodyCombat instructors.  I just want to say that each one is awesome and I feel privileged to be able to be teamed up with such a wonderful group of women. 

Fiona was the first and only BodyCombat instructor when we first brought the class to the Y.  Here is what Fiona has to say…

“I’ve been a participating in BodyCombat for the last 11 years (BC #8 was my first release!) and have been teaching for the last year since moving to the USA from Scotland. In fact, my choice of gym when I moved over here was based on BodyCombat classes being on the schedule. I’m glad that I was able to support BodyCombat being introduced to central bucks Y.  I love the way BodyCombat works every muscle (legs, core, shoulders, and arms) as well as giving you a great cardio work-out. The music is fab and the routines are fun and the participants are a lively (and noisy) bunch. Where else would you get to fight pirates or aliens??” 

Janet and I both started teaching at the Y in January 2012 when BodyCombat was launched here.  Here is what Janet has to say…

“My name is Janet and I teach BodyCombat on Sunday mornings.  My first introduction to Les Mills was with BodyPump back in 1999.  I was thrilled when I finally got the chance to experience Les Mills BodyCombat in 2010, a mixed martial arts group fitness program.   I was instantly hooked and tried to take as many classes as I could manage in a week!  I especially loved the energetic music, the innovative choreography, and the overall physical challenge of the program. I became so addicted that I was made the life changing decision to become a Certified Instructor.  Why is it life changing?  It is a privilege to share my passion for this program and to motivate each and every member to push themselves to the next level of fitness!  I enjoy connecting with the members and have met so many wonderful new people.  My hope is for people to leave my class feeling their time was well spent and they pushed themselves both mentally and physically. If you are looking for a way to unleash stress and get in the best shape of your life, BodyCombat is for you!  To my fellow Combaters, “keep it real and stay with the fight”!”  

Come out and meet Janet.  She teaches every other Sunday morning at 10:30 in Studio A.

For more information on Bodycombat, contact Amy McGahran, 215-348-8131, x1118.

Click here to view Bodycombat in our current brochure

MISSION: Central Bucks Family YMCA is a charitable non-profit organization whose purpose is to improve the quality of community life. The Y strengthens the spirit, mind and body of its members. We build character by promoting the values of caring, respect, honesty and responsibility.

I can now say I am an official Tough Mudder finisher! I’ve been wearing the Tough Mudder shirts while training, but didn’t feel like I’d really earned the right to wear them. Sometimes, people would ask me if I did the Tough Mudder when I was wearing one of the shirts, and I’d have to tell them I was training for it. Now, I can say I did it!

This was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life (right up there with jumping out of a plane when I went skydiving back in my 20′s). But, while I have no desire to ever jump out of a plan again, I’d love to do a Tough Mudder again!

Don’t get me wrong, I loved the experience I had when I went skydiving, but this was completely different. I had to study a book and take an 8 hour class before I was certified to jump out of a plane by myself. But, my preparation for Tough Mudder required hours of training, and the accomplishment of crossing that finish line was so much more rewarding.

When I first saw the videos of Tough Mudder playing in the fitness center at the Y, I thought: Wow, that looks so cool…I wish I could do that! After talking to my friend Lynn, who did a mud run last summer, I changed my thought process to: This is my goal…I just need some guidance on how to achieve it. But, I WILL achieve it! Thank you for inspiring me, Lynn!

I’ve never been much of an athlete. I didn’t make the softball team in high school, and I was on the basketball team my freshman year, but really only played during the last minute of the game when the coach was certain that I couldn’t mess up the lead, or when he was certain we had no chance to catch up to the other team. I spent most of my time at the games filling up water cups for the starting players and handing them out during time outs. I also could barely run a mile in gym class. I was so out of breath by the end, and I would always blame it on my asthma.

After my first Tough Mudder training class at the Y, I could barely lift my arms over my head to wash my hair in the shower or dry my hair, I had trouble walking down the stairs, because my legs were so sore, and I seriously felt like passing out for the rest of the day. I kept going to the classes though, and I also started working with the most awesome personal trainer in the world – Marsha Hughes.

Little by little, the classes started getting easier for me. I knew the classes were actually getting tougher, but I was getting stronger and wasn’t in so much pain afterwards. I went from barely being able to do a push up the regular way (not on my knees) in Mike Sobczak’s Saturday morning class back in January to doing 350 regular push ups on the Monday before Tough Mudder.

I started this journey not because I felt like I needed to lose weight, or get in shape. It was because I wanted to prove that I was tough, like those people in the Tough Mudder videos at the Y. I wanted to prove it to myself, and to the people who told me they didn’t think I could do it when I started talking about it.

This Tough Mudder challenge made me realize one very important thing…Being an athlete is a choice, and not something that just comes naturally. Of course, there are people who have natural talent, but even the superstars have to make a choice to train for their sport and do what it takes to be successful.

You can’t just show up for practice and games (or the mile at gym class) without doing anything else, and expect to be good at it. It takes more than that to be a true athlete. You need to do more than you think you can and push yourself harder than you’ve ever pushed before. Sometimes, it takes another person like a trainer, an instructor, or even a friend to keep you going. Sometimes, you can do it on your own and just keep pushing yourself, even when your body and your mind are telling you to stop.

I’ve always been a “glass is half full” kind of person, but this experience just solidified that mentality for me. I’m doing the Broad Street Run next weekend, and I just registered for my first half marathon in September. I am also quite certain that a marathon is in my future. If I can run through fire, jump into icy water and swim out when I can’t even breathe, make it over a massive wall and get electrocuted at least 8 times, why can’t I do that too?

There might be some things I won’t do, but there is NOTHING I can’t do. I believe there is a path that leads to the achievement of every goal…You just need to follow the path, stay focused and believe in yourself.

Thank you to Central Bucks Family YMCA for helping me to realize this amazing goal!

Jennifer Peters
Y Member

The journey continues with AMPED, training for the Down and Dirty comptetion in July. Contact Valerie Tanner for details, 215-348-8131, x1140.

The Impact Fish is a multicolored, single handprint representing the power of one gift and how it can impact our community. We need all hands in. The multiple colors represent the different pathways and programs into the Y including:  

• 7th Grade Initiative providing free memberships to 7th graders at a time when they are making independent decisions and need a healthy support system.
• Financial Assistance to individuals in our community who cannot afford membership and programs.
• Health Seekers striving to lead a healthier lifestyle but are unable to do so without support.
• Special Needs Memberships for those who need adapted physical and social activities.
• Summer Learning Opportunities for kids to keep up their skills learned during the academic year.
• THRIVE Cancer Wellness Program provides 12 weeks of physical activity to individuals and their families to help in the recovery process.

Our goal in 2012 is to raise $400,000 for those in need in our community. Anyone can give through monthly draft, High-5, text CBFYMCA to 20222, outright donation or entering beCause. 

Contact Bess Godin with any questions, 215-348-8131, x1124.