Body Balance 47

Monday 3rd August - 8:30pm

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I unfortunately was not able to attend the Body Balance 47 filming, though you guys shouldn't be disappointed, since it's given you a great opportunity for you to hear the musings of my wonderful friend Patrick. He is currently trained in Body Jam and Body Vive, and is looking ahead to doing module training on Balance and Step.

He's a passionate Les Millser, and a great friend of mine - so I was thrilled when he accepted my invitation to write a guest post on the Balance 47 filming. Without further a due, I hand it over to him.

I have been given the great privilege of contributing to Raina's blog in regards to the most recent Balance filming, and it's funny because I'm not sure how to begin. OK, from the beginning it is, or at least part way through the story...

This happened to be my second filming trip of the year (I live in Melbourne, Australia, so it's generally a 3.5 hour trip to Auckland on average). My first trip happened to be back in May this year for the GFX Festival, which was an unreal experience in itself. This trip was even better!

Back to the main topic though... the Balance filming! To be more specific, BodyBalance 47 (or BodyFlow 47 for our North American neighbours). This particular release was quite interesting... for starters, it marked the first time in a while that there were no male presenters! Yes you heard right... no Dr Dave, no Corey! Instead, you had 3 wonderful and strong ladies in Dr Jackie Mills, Kylie Gates from Australia, and Peggy Cleland from Canada. And these aren't just your standard presenters either!

Jackie is, of course, the Program Director for BodyBalance and has been since the very beginning. Kylie is the Training Director for Les Mills Asia Pacific (which encompasses Australia and South East Asia). And Peggy is the Head Trainer for BodyFlow for the whole of North America. So you would expect that these ladies know what they're doing. And yet the one thing that strikes you about all three ladies is just how down to earth they are. They do not act like they are better than anyone else, they're just human like everyone else. And that humanity and compassion shows through a lot in Balance 47.

This was the 5th filming class that I did for this particular trip (after having done Vive, Combat, Step and Jam). Needless to say, I was in need for a bit of physical release and calm. And nothing does that better than Balance :)

In terms of the release itself, the main difference that people will find between 46 and 47 is its focus. With 46, the focus is on strength and athleticism. But 47 changes that focus to strength and grace. Do not be deceived though into thinking that it means that 47 is easier. Far from it! I personally did this release twice before filming night, and some parts I still found particularly challenging at the filming itself. A lot of strength is required (complete with the low options, of course), but it is also about maintaining the pose and showing the grace that comes along with it.

The music for this release is just exquisitely beautiful, and Jackie has done an awesome job yet again with the track selection. The choreography is beyond what I've seen in a Balance release thus far.

Jackie started off with the Tai Chi warmup which is almost environmental and energising in its mood, and sets the scene for what is to come. Peggy then led us into Sun Salutations, which in my opinion are more challenging than the ones in 46. A few little things to push even the more hardcore Balance participants and instructors alike.

Kylie then did Standing Strength, which was also quite tough. Jackie then took us through one of the hardest Balancing tracks I have ever done, and this one will take a lot of practice! Peggy then took us through both Hip-openers and Abs, and all I can say in relation to the Abs track is MEGA-OUCH!! Get ready for an Abs track that is guaranteed to give definition in all of our tummys!

Jackie led us through Twisting Poses with a very majestic sounding track. And wait till you see some of the poses she has for us this time! My first reaction was:

“Surely she does not expect us to do that?!”

All I can say is, thank god for the low options!

Kylie took us to the end with one heck of a Forward Folds track. Very different from the one in 46. And finally, relaxation and meditation time (my favourite bit). The good thing about this one is that it will give our minds something to do.

And because this was the last filming for the night, everyone got free pizza and drinks in the studio afterwards. I had some great pics taken with the lovely ladies, but then my laptop decided to delete them when I tried to transfer them from my camera (URGH!!). I had a very nice chat with Jackie, and do hope that she comes across the Tasman one of these days to Melbourne for one of our quarterlies.

Peggy is also very endearing to talk to. She is also quite the dynamo when she wants to be though. I had the pleasure of being a few spots from her in the third row of the Combat filming a few nights earlier, and man she can kick and punch with the best of them!

And of course it was great to see Kylie representing Australia once again. She will push you to your limit, but she does it in a gentle and calm way, which was very helpful for this release!

This is a fantastic release overall. I will personally be doing my Balance module training early in the new year 2010, and this will be the release that I'll train on. You may even possibly catch me in the second row on the DVD when it gets released ;).

- Patrick

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Next up...

Body Jam 51+