Cardio Dance Videos Part 3-3

Three more videos bring this week to an end! Be warned that the last video is 21 minutes long, and completely not worth watching.

Track 5 is a Peak Step track, featuring the song Yeah! (Techno Remix) by Usher:

Cardio Dance 4: Step Peak from Zemien on Vimeo.

I enjoyed this choreography but noted that it wasn't really tiring at all, even with the running. And the squats at the end do not really belong in a Peak Step track. I also missed my timing near the end and had to cut short the single knee repeaters.

To cool things down a bit while working on our lower body muscles is Christina's Ain't No Other Man, "inspired" from BodyStep 66:

Cardio Dance 4: Step Recovery from Zemien on Vimeo.

Once again, an easy and fun choreography to teach. So far I've pinched two step recoveries from BodyStep (the other being Sexyback), but rest assured I have an original choreo up my sleeve.

The last video is one that I hesitated posting, but I finally chose to because public humiliation has been proven to improve future performance. I hope.
It's the add-on House block from BodyJam 41 with a little tweak for the ending. There are several songs stitched together to make a 21 minute track:

Cardio Dance 4: Add-On Block from Zemien on Vimeo.

Watching myself in this video I realized I had become the type of instructor I hate most: instructors who have horrible technique but expect their participants to be flawless. I did not have the chance to practice this block in front of the mirror, so I assumed I looked good enough to teach it. Oh boy, what a shocker! It wouldn't be far-fetched to write "HYPOCRITE" on my forehead after what I commented about her (you can see her teaching the same thing towards the end). With this kind of dance quality I can't possibly expect to be a BodyJam instructor!! :(

Cardio Dance Videos Part 3-2

Two videos grace your browser today, both of them step tracks!

The first video is an original step track, featuring the song "Lose My Breath" by Destiny's Child:

Cardio Dance 4: Step from Zemien on Vimeo.

I like step tracks and I try to do more of it, but if you take your eyes off of me and see how the participants are coping, you'd know why I have so few step tracks. I'm really at a loss of what to do. Is my cueing so bad that they can't follow? Or is their coordination darn horrible? They generally have no problems dealing with mirror image, except when it comes to step tracks. They also have trouble with the Around the World move unless I follow their side. If you know why, tell me! Please! You might be able to catch a hint of my despair and frustration if you crank up your speakers.

The next track is "inspired" from BodyStep 56's Speed Step, using the song "Chihuahua" by DJ Bobo:

Cardio Dance 4: Speed Step from Zemien on Vimeo.

I personally like this song due its pure cheesiness. Not forgetting that it's very simple to teach too. However I feel I didn't speed up the song quite fast enough for the chorus. I haven't heard it in the gym for some time so I couldn't compare the tempo with what I did. Any Steppers out there can comment?

Cardio Dance Videos Part 3-1

I skipped uploading my last release because the quality was pretty bad. I also noticed that I tend to make more mistakes when the camera is pointed at me. Am I that self-conscious?

These are the videos from my latest class release. There are a few original step tracks, but 2 tracks are from BodyStep and the add-on track is from BodyJam. I know I said I would stop copying from Les Mills, but since they canceled the training I am not under any binding contract. Sure it's copyrighted and all but I never took credit for creating the choreography.

The first video is the step warmup track, consisting of 2 tracks:

Cardio Dance 4: Warmup from Zemien on Vimeo.

The first track is Alcazar's "This is the World We Live In". It was used as a BodyAttack warmup but I changed the choregoraphy completely for this track. An innovation for this track is the Step Forward move. Simple, but requires concentration not to trip over when walking back.

The second track is "Sound of Freedom (Everybody's Free)" from Bob Sinclair and Cutee B. It has an upbeat reggae feel to it and a great song to warmup to. This is also an original choreography track.

You can't see it very well, but I'm wearing my 3 month-old Nike shoes. My older videos show me wearing my old pair of running shoes.

A Workaholic's Nightmare

I resisted it the whole year. Even went the opposite direction! But the year is catching up on me, and I realized I should just take a deep breath and get it over and done with.

I've got to.... clear last year's vacation leave.

When I joined last year, I got 5.5 days of pro-rated leave from the company. And you know what the elders say- "Don't take vacations in your first year, it'll give a bad impression!". But somehow even without their advice I settled into the 5 day week rhythm pretty quickly.

In fact, I used to despise 3 day weekends coz I would feel sluggish when I return to work. So to offset the effect I would come in on Saturday to work unpaid hours (doesn't happen anymore because I have classes to teach!).

Therefore I had a real dilemma when I realized I had to clear 5.5 days off before 2008 rolls in. The project is in its final stages and this is when my involvement is critical, but I also don't want to end up a boring workaholic who doesn't need time off!

What to do? What to do?

In the end I split up my leave into half-day chunks. So I *still* have to come in to work, I just spend less hours on certain days. And of course, I'm off on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve as well, thus forming two long weekends in a row. Hopefully I can enjoy them this time around.

Pursuit of Financial Freedom

I've been playing the virtual investment game Bursa Pursuit for a little over a month, and while it does teach me a lot about the stock market, it also revealed what a lousy investor I am! At this precise moment my gross profit and loss (more loss than profit, actually) is -RM10,903. Sure, I could blame the recent downturns but it does reveal my trading weaknesses.

First, I don't do any research. I already spend 10% of my workweek on non-work stuff (damn you RSS feeds!) and I can't be spending even more reading through market reports and stock tips.

Speaking of which, so-called stock tips are not anymore accurate than me randomly picking the top trader each day. It's really frustrating following all those "Buy" and "Sell" calls, which I really wonder if their researchers follow themselves.

And lastly, my own personal failure in cutting my losses is a factor as well. I followed a random stock tip in the daily news reports and it didn't take long for it to go southwards. But I held on to it, naively optimistic that it will reverse directions. 6 weeks later, I'm RM1878 poorer (and still holding until market conditions improve! hopefully!). I guess I wouldn't be so careless with real money, but human nature is pretty hard to beat.

Whether I'll actually invest real money after this game ends... perhaps. The lure of high returns is like a siren to my ship.

I just hope I don't crash into the sharp cliffs.