We’re just a couple days from New Year’s and, I’m sure like many of you, I have been reviewing my goals for the coming year both mental and physical. One of my main physical goals last year was to make some significant progress with removing pain from my body in a few nagging areas -- I’m proud to say I’ve made some serious progress there. This year it’s definitely going to be about flexibility; Touching my toes is a lot harder than I want it to be!
I asked Meghan O’Connell, our in-house Health and Fitness expert (who has been a tremendous help to me), to write a bit about New Year’s resolutions. Here’s what she had to say about her own journey this year:
Boxing Day… and the mashed potatoes with gravy was delicious! So was all the Belgian chocolate. Likewise, many of the little nibbles that have been making their presence known over the past few weeks.
For close to a decade now, I’ve kept in tune with my boxing background by bringing in the New Year on January 1st with “The Day of a Thousand Punches.” This year, I decided I’d better start things a week earlier to get myself back on track. So with that out of the way today (whew!), now I can move on to mapping out some of my goals for 2014.
I’ve just signed up for another StrongFirst course in May; a one-armed pushup is part of my strength requirement to become certified. As usual, I’ll run Seek the Peak in June, and this year, I have to finish ahead of my co-worker Adrian! Finally, by the end of the year, I want to be able to knock off 10 consecutive pull-ups, and maybe even start to work on what feels like my loftiest personal goal, the kip-up.
What about you? What do you want to accomplish with your body in the New Year? Maybe it’s to lose those few pounds that have crept on, or to tone up and pack on a little muscle. Perhaps you want to step up your game, swordplay or otherwise – or you may be tired of having a certain body part hurt so often. Whatever it is, I am available for a free consultation to all Academie Duello members. So be sure to book some time with me early this year to learn how to transform your desire from resolution to reality.
And for me, well, I guess this year, January 1st has just turned into The Day of a Thousand Kicks instead.
If you want to learn more about Health and Fitness consultations and options at Academie Duello read more on our website here.
Devon Boorman is the Co-Founder and Director of Academie Duello Centre for Swordplay, which has been active in Vancouver, Canada since 2004. Devon’s expertise centres on the Italian swordplay tradition including the arts of the Renaissance Italian rapier, sidesword, and longsword, as well as knife and unarmed techniques. Read more from Devon Boorman.