Body Combat 44

I trotted off at the end of Pump and changed into my newly acquired Body Combat top, feeling all smarmy and "Lookit Me, I has OFFICIAL GEARZ". Noone has to know that it's an XL in the Mens range.

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Anyways! Body Combat 44.

I'm totally going to spoil the introduction. Why? Because I actually think it's funnier NOW than it will be when the DVD finally gets to the instructors. If anyone at LMI has any objections to this, please contact me and I'll remove this portion of my post.

By chance, are any of you familiar with this?

One of the international instructors had mentioned it to me before, and mentioned how she'd told Dan about it. So imagine my surprise when I see Dan get up onstage and promptly start saying "Paaaaynts on the ground, paaaaaynts on the ground, lookin' like a FOOL witchyor paaynts on the ground". He had the lyrics learned perfectly.

Stollery was completely in the dark about the original American Idol clip, and was slackjawed firstly at Dan, and then at ME as I started rapping along, knowing some of the words. Stollery... you better start learning the words, since you'll need them come launch time!

This release wasn't themed, though Stollery framed what Dan said about the release very nicely.

This release didn’t appear to have a “theme” per se – Dan mentioned he’d been watching a performer on Idol that had him in fits of laughter and that this release – much like that day – was about finding pleasure in the smaller things in life. Hmmm… interesting theme for a combat class! :)

I don't know about you, but I think it would be an absolute crack up to have a Larry Platt themed Combat release. If you all did the release wearing those sunglasses and balaclavas, and opening up the class with that rap? What a hoot! Of course... this might work better in the countries that followed American Idol.

Presenters this time were Hernan, Dan and Rach. I actually felt a bit sorry for Dan and Hernan, since they were wearing tight, longsleeved black tops from the new LM official clothing line. While they were attractive, you certainly wouldn't see me wearing them, I'd get FAR too hot. On the other side of the coin, Rach's top was absolutely beautiful. It had a cross-over neckline and looked fabulous on her. Again, you wouldn't see me wearing it, as I'd look like an overstuffed sausage and be spilling over the edges!

Here's a picture from the filmings - Stollery has given me kind permission to use it here:

What do I think about this release?

I think there's some good innovation there, and some good, decent blocks of choreography. I particularly like the release through the middles phases - tracks 4 to 7. No part of the release has grabbed me like BC42 and BC43, but with that in mind, I did like it a lot more the second time than I did the first. So if you happen to do this release and think "Huh...", give it a few more opportunities before forming a set opinion. I've only done it twice and I'm sitting on the fence. I think there's good things about it, but I'm not all over it like a rash - especially following up from BP74 which is FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC.

The filming itself went pretty smoothly, as always, Hernan is a crack up and Dan and Rach are rock solid. I had interesting times down the back since there was a tall, uncoordinated guy in front of me who stood in place whenever the class had to move/shuffle forward as part of the choreography. I had to move so that I could see the presenting team again, and as a result, caused a bit more crowding at the back (sorry guys!).

Stand out tracks for me personally are tracks 4 and 6. I don't think track 6 is as EPIC as it was in BC43 - I don't think there'll be a track that awesome for a long time. But! I do like the angle that D&R have taken for this track, even though it makes me owie.

After the big show and spectacle that was BC43, it might just have been the filming experience that was a comedown. Never mind that it had the unfortunateness of being scheduled after BP74. There's innovation, good blocks of choreography, and you work hard in it. It didn't grab me straight away, but it is bound to grab others, and that's the main thing.

Oh, and track 9. I actually refuse to do it. I physically cannot do it, and I feel like I'm not achieving anything other than feeling like an idiot. There are other conditioning tracks where I can modify safely and still work hard, but I don't feel like I can do that in this one. I'm interested in the feedback of anyone who has seen the release and if they were able to do this track, how they found it. Please leave a comment!

Oh, and one more thing. Biggest surprise for me was track 1b. We've often had tracks re-used in releases, it's been happening in Jam where latin tracks are being reused, and in Combat apparently Kickstart my Heart was used in an earlier Combat release before BC43. However, the music that has been selected for track 1b of BC44 has been used in a VERY recent Combat release, and I'm surprised that they would even think about reusing again so soon. When others see the release for themselves, let me know what you think, I'm keen to know what your thoughts are.

I think BC44 will grow on me. I'm prepared to give it more opportunities before I decide whether I like it or not, though my mind is not made up yet.