I posted on Amy's forum first and it took almost an hour for me to write it! This is the abridged version. I *heart* Amy for the rest of my life for how wonderful she was to me and DD.
UPDATE:
So, I watched Amy's film her upcoming kickboxing workout Rumble yesterday and it was really an incredible experience. Some of you may have seen my previous posts, but just quickly I'm not related to Amy or her production company in anyway. I emailed Amy about a month asking if I could bring my DD, Margo (12 yo) to the filming of Rumble because Margo was going through some body image issues (middle school-ugh!) and I thought that Amy would be a great role model for her.
So, yesterday was the big day. Wow. Wow. Wow. They decided to film indoors at the martial arts studio where Amy had been training. The forecast was still iffy re: thunderstorms so better safe than sorry. We met her and her crew early in the afternoon at Calasanz. I have to confess that we were 15 minutes late getting there because I HAD to do Amy's HLCKO before we met her. (I only do one half at a time because Amy just KILLS me with this workout. ) I was really proud because I finally clicked with the 'kick ball change, knee, knee, step behind, step behind, pivot' move in the first combo. I felt triumphant--LOL!
So, we didn't get to see Amy film the intro but we got to see everything else! The room they filmed in was really cool with all these martial arts training devices all over so the setting completely fits the workout. Her production crew (8 people) were great and really friendly toward us. They'd come up and chat and eat the Trader Joe Peanut Butter Pretzels we brought for snacks. Our chairs were set up, let's see, maybe 8-10 feet of where Amy was standing when she filmed so, yeah, we had ring side seats!
We also met a friend of Amy and Toni's who takes classes with both of them. She was such a sweetie. Like my DD, she studied martial arts when she was younger so she could understood what Margo was describing when she talked about her karate classes. This woman was in amazing shape and she credited her 40 lb weight loss to working out with Amy and Toni in their live classes. I'm sure her own dedication to exercise and nutrition was a big part too! Amy's background exerciser Toni was completely adorable--there's no other way to describe her. She made us feel completely comfortable and welcome. She's beautitful and super fit too. We were told that Toni completely kicks butt when teaching classes so their friend thought it was funny to see Toni as the modifier in the workout. Toni's classes are seriously tough apparently.
Okay, I'll just say it: Amy was absolutely AMAZING! Aside from being drop dead gorgeous with the biggest, bluest eyes I've ever seen,
she was truly kind, sweet, friendly and welcoming and you can tell that's just how she is as a person. Just one example: Here she is filming this workout, basically in charge of the whole production team, 10,000+ details to keep track of and she's asking Margo and me if we want some water or snacks (!) I want to be her when I grow up...
Amy was very funny and relaxed during the whole shoot. She and Toni do this knee block move during Rumble that reminded them of the Michael Jackson "Thriller" video so they'd do these cute little dance excerpts singing bits of the Thiller song. Or, they'd do some choreography bit from any earlier Amy workout (crazy shuffle). On camera, Amy is such a natural. Her delivery is just like she is off-camera. Her on camera persona is 100% Amy. She was patient with everything, any delays in set up for logistical reasons or crew questions were all handled so professionally! Again, talk about being a great role model for an almost teenage girl!! I could not have asked for a better example of how to treat co-workers and collaborators when working on strenuous project.
Filming these workouts is a workout! They used 2 cameras so they'd have different angles and one was on this boom thing that would be easily raised and lowered and shifted all around. Amy and Toni went through most sections twice so there would be double footage to choose from when they edited the workout. Amy and Toni are best friends and it's obvious when they film what a terrific team they are. Toni would be quietly counting while Amy is cueing and concentrating on giving form pointers, never losing a beat or missing a move. Then Toni would give Amy a reminder, "2 to go" so they'd make sure both sides were evenly worked. If there was a occasional goof, neither one ever let on, just kept their 'game faces' on and kept going. They'd practice the moves in between takes and it was obvious how much they each liked and respected each other. Their on-screen banter is not rehearsed at all, it differed from one take to the next. The music was playing quieter than I expected during the shoot. We were told that a background track is played to keep Amy and Toni on beat and the more pumped up version gets dubbed in later.
Amy gets very sweaty when filming and she joked about it throughout the day. Sweat drops were just flying from her because she put so much into the workout. Wearing weighted gloves and doing each section twice through looked tough just from the sidelines! The workout sections looked great! She had strong flowing combinations with no breaks in the workout itself. Amy was giving her all on every punch, kick, and knee strike. The drill format is very different from Amy's more choreographed workouts and she really showed how versatile she is as an instructor because I thought Rumble rocked from start to finish! (Am I objective? No way! I'm sure the clips will back me up, but you can check them out once they get posted and see what you all think. )
Master Calasanz joined Amy for the stretch and the man is made of rubber. He could sit on the floor with his legs outstretched to the side in a full split, then lean forward, and lay flat on his stomach.
At the end of the shoot, Amy had Margo hit the bag while she cued various punches and kicks. When we first arrived, Amy gave both of us boxing gloves to use when we did Rumble ourselves. (How sweet is that?!) Amy working with Margo was filmed to roll during the credits at the end of the workout! Amy had the whole crew cheering for Margo as she punched and kicked the bag. Can you believe that? I literally had tears in my eyes because Amy was so encouraging and generous to put this 12 yo girl in the spotlight, a girl she'd never met before that day. I'm still tearing up as I write this. Afterward, Margo was over the moon about the whole experience. She pretty much thought it was the best day of her life and cannot wait to do the whole Rumble workout.
All in all, I'm genuinely in awe of Amy and her generous spirit. She's an exceptional instructor and more importantly, she's an exceptional person. I'm so honored to have met her and am so grateful for her warmth and kindness to me, and especially to my daughter. I know everyone may not understand what it's like to have an almost teenage girl, but media images stressing "being thin=being cool" are overwhelming. Kids adopt these attitudes and can be very harsh to anyone who doesn't meet these insane standards. I'm so thrilled that Margo got to meet people who workout because it feels good to use your body, not because it makes you skinnier. She learned that girls should have strong muscles because it's an important component of fitness. And finally, that being kind triumphs everything else.
I feel so fortunate to have met Cathe at the Aug. '07 RT and now Amy and I cannot emphasize enough how talented these women are and how hard they push themselves to make these dvds. They are both such lovely people, inside and out, and true professionals. Getting a behind the scenes glimpse was eye opening to say the least and it was a once in a lifetime experience for me, as proud owner of 150-200 workouts. (shhh, don't tell DH).
Thanks for reading my epic and sharing in my experience.
Jonahnah
From now on, I'm going to be more decisive. Possibly.
UPDATE:
So, I watched Amy's film her upcoming kickboxing workout Rumble yesterday and it was really an incredible experience. Some of you may have seen my previous posts, but just quickly I'm not related to Amy or her production company in anyway. I emailed Amy about a month asking if I could bring my DD, Margo (12 yo) to the filming of Rumble because Margo was going through some body image issues (middle school-ugh!) and I thought that Amy would be a great role model for her.
So, yesterday was the big day. Wow. Wow. Wow. They decided to film indoors at the martial arts studio where Amy had been training. The forecast was still iffy re: thunderstorms so better safe than sorry. We met her and her crew early in the afternoon at Calasanz. I have to confess that we were 15 minutes late getting there because I HAD to do Amy's HLCKO before we met her. (I only do one half at a time because Amy just KILLS me with this workout. ) I was really proud because I finally clicked with the 'kick ball change, knee, knee, step behind, step behind, pivot' move in the first combo. I felt triumphant--LOL!
So, we didn't get to see Amy film the intro but we got to see everything else! The room they filmed in was really cool with all these martial arts training devices all over so the setting completely fits the workout. Her production crew (8 people) were great and really friendly toward us. They'd come up and chat and eat the Trader Joe Peanut Butter Pretzels we brought for snacks. Our chairs were set up, let's see, maybe 8-10 feet of where Amy was standing when she filmed so, yeah, we had ring side seats!
We also met a friend of Amy and Toni's who takes classes with both of them. She was such a sweetie. Like my DD, she studied martial arts when she was younger so she could understood what Margo was describing when she talked about her karate classes. This woman was in amazing shape and she credited her 40 lb weight loss to working out with Amy and Toni in their live classes. I'm sure her own dedication to exercise and nutrition was a big part too! Amy's background exerciser Toni was completely adorable--there's no other way to describe her. She made us feel completely comfortable and welcome. She's beautitful and super fit too. We were told that Toni completely kicks butt when teaching classes so their friend thought it was funny to see Toni as the modifier in the workout. Toni's classes are seriously tough apparently.
Okay, I'll just say it: Amy was absolutely AMAZING! Aside from being drop dead gorgeous with the biggest, bluest eyes I've ever seen,
she was truly kind, sweet, friendly and welcoming and you can tell that's just how she is as a person. Just one example: Here she is filming this workout, basically in charge of the whole production team, 10,000+ details to keep track of and she's asking Margo and me if we want some water or snacks (!) I want to be her when I grow up...
Amy was very funny and relaxed during the whole shoot. She and Toni do this knee block move during Rumble that reminded them of the Michael Jackson "Thriller" video so they'd do these cute little dance excerpts singing bits of the Thiller song. Or, they'd do some choreography bit from any earlier Amy workout (crazy shuffle). On camera, Amy is such a natural. Her delivery is just like she is off-camera. Her on camera persona is 100% Amy. She was patient with everything, any delays in set up for logistical reasons or crew questions were all handled so professionally! Again, talk about being a great role model for an almost teenage girl!! I could not have asked for a better example of how to treat co-workers and collaborators when working on strenuous project.
Filming these workouts is a workout! They used 2 cameras so they'd have different angles and one was on this boom thing that would be easily raised and lowered and shifted all around. Amy and Toni went through most sections twice so there would be double footage to choose from when they edited the workout. Amy and Toni are best friends and it's obvious when they film what a terrific team they are. Toni would be quietly counting while Amy is cueing and concentrating on giving form pointers, never losing a beat or missing a move. Then Toni would give Amy a reminder, "2 to go" so they'd make sure both sides were evenly worked. If there was a occasional goof, neither one ever let on, just kept their 'game faces' on and kept going. They'd practice the moves in between takes and it was obvious how much they each liked and respected each other. Their on-screen banter is not rehearsed at all, it differed from one take to the next. The music was playing quieter than I expected during the shoot. We were told that a background track is played to keep Amy and Toni on beat and the more pumped up version gets dubbed in later.
Amy gets very sweaty when filming and she joked about it throughout the day. Sweat drops were just flying from her because she put so much into the workout. Wearing weighted gloves and doing each section twice through looked tough just from the sidelines! The workout sections looked great! She had strong flowing combinations with no breaks in the workout itself. Amy was giving her all on every punch, kick, and knee strike. The drill format is very different from Amy's more choreographed workouts and she really showed how versatile she is as an instructor because I thought Rumble rocked from start to finish! (Am I objective? No way! I'm sure the clips will back me up, but you can check them out once they get posted and see what you all think. )
Master Calasanz joined Amy for the stretch and the man is made of rubber. He could sit on the floor with his legs outstretched to the side in a full split, then lean forward, and lay flat on his stomach.
At the end of the shoot, Amy had Margo hit the bag while she cued various punches and kicks. When we first arrived, Amy gave both of us boxing gloves to use when we did Rumble ourselves. (How sweet is that?!) Amy working with Margo was filmed to roll during the credits at the end of the workout! Amy had the whole crew cheering for Margo as she punched and kicked the bag. Can you believe that? I literally had tears in my eyes because Amy was so encouraging and generous to put this 12 yo girl in the spotlight, a girl she'd never met before that day. I'm still tearing up as I write this. Afterward, Margo was over the moon about the whole experience. She pretty much thought it was the best day of her life and cannot wait to do the whole Rumble workout.
All in all, I'm genuinely in awe of Amy and her generous spirit. She's an exceptional instructor and more importantly, she's an exceptional person. I'm so honored to have met her and am so grateful for her warmth and kindness to me, and especially to my daughter. I know everyone may not understand what it's like to have an almost teenage girl, but media images stressing "being thin=being cool" are overwhelming. Kids adopt these attitudes and can be very harsh to anyone who doesn't meet these insane standards. I'm so thrilled that Margo got to meet people who workout because it feels good to use your body, not because it makes you skinnier. She learned that girls should have strong muscles because it's an important component of fitness. And finally, that being kind triumphs everything else.
I feel so fortunate to have met Cathe at the Aug. '07 RT and now Amy and I cannot emphasize enough how talented these women are and how hard they push themselves to make these dvds. They are both such lovely people, inside and out, and true professionals. Getting a behind the scenes glimpse was eye opening to say the least and it was a once in a lifetime experience for me, as proud owner of 150-200 workouts. (shhh, don't tell DH).
Thanks for reading my epic and sharing in my experience.
Jonahnah
From now on, I'm going to be more decisive. Possibly.
