Billy Bishop WW I Flying Ace, WW II Air Marshall

My Grandfather Gillis Maloney was wounded 5 times in WWII, and his best friend was killed on the last night of the war. Everyone knew the war was going to end at midnight that day, so some of the boys decided to celebrate early, my grandfather was one of them. His best friend took his shift on watch. Just before midnight a shell (probably shot in a final act of revenge) hit my grand father's best friend's fox hole and killed him. Gillis lived with this regret his entire life. I know this because in his later years he yearned to tell some one about his pain before he died. I was young and interested (11- 12) and loved to hear war stories. After everyone went to bed he would come out to the living room (I slept on the couch when he was in town) and he would talk for hours. Things I now know he probably never told anyone, but needed to tell in order to unburden his soul.

We as a society need to pay tribute to people like my grandfather and those like him (including the many friends we now have serving in Afghanistan) who sacrifice so much for us, so we may live our lives to make free choices. Our lives are better because of their sacrifice.

Myself I like to go to the Parade, pay my respects and have a couple at the Billy Bishop Legion in Kits. This legion is legendary and there is no better way to honor our veterans than a dance and a laugh.

Come down and share in the love and respect, it is an awesome time.

Wednesday's classes: same as always 11am is moved to one.

Wednesday's WOD

Mystery Day (My students asked for one, here it is)

WOD: Coaches choice




Remember the fallen


Patty

An Old Classic from a few moons ago. Lots of familiar faces with old hairstyles in this one. Thanks for all the support over the years guys. It means a lot to me.

Some things change, somethings stay the same. I believe when you truly connect with some people, that connection is never lost.

Having said That......I believe The Monk needs a rematch and an opportunity to "Dent that Can". It could change his life!

Stay Tuned for Dober Monk III

Tuesday's Lesson Plan:

Warm Up / tech: Muscle Up Practice (just play with the Muscle Up and do a whole bunch of them or work on advancing your progression.)

WOD: 16 tabata squats - How many rounds can you do

In MadLab last night, Dober did over 35, Pup 40, Monk stopped at 45 rounds(he probably could have done 50 rounds)!!!

Most incredible thing I have witnessed in Crossfit

How many rounds can you do?

patty

I want to start off this week with an apology to our best athletes in our region who want to compete at the highest levels of Crossfit. I want to apologize to those who choose to make Crossfit their sport.

Guys/Gals (especially last year's team) I have done a poor job in coaching you to attain that elite level. I suspect the reason for this comes from a few sources.

1) I was a competitive athlete and don't have any desire to become one again.
2) It had been more exciting to watch "normal" people regain their vitality, than to see an athlete jump an inch higher. *see footnote below
3) I had a personal beef with the games because I thought Greg and I had a deal to do MadLab tournaments before the Games were invented (I have let that go)

What ever the cause, it will not happen again. here is our solution

CROSSFIT VANCOUVER'S HIGH PERFORMANCE CENTER

This will be a sub-division of Crossfit Vancouver and will be open to anyone from any affiliate in our region who wants to participate in and win both the individual and affiliate competitions of the Crossfit Games,

Our mandate: To produce winners who will represent the BC region with respect and dignity associated with our community.

We open our doors to all of the affiliates in our region to collaborate with us and help produce champions. We will be following the program outlined below, and are open to input from anyone who makes sense and wants to help all of us achieve our mandate.

Our Program:

1) Follow a Daily WOD (ours, .com's, your own box's..any daily WOD)
2) Compete (daily WOD's, Weekly Madlab Tournaments, Quarterly MadLab Hoppers, CF Games qualifers, CF Games)
3) Work on Weaknesses (develop a program to work outside of WODs on Weaknesses)
4) Nutrition: We will seek out the best resources and get them to help. Robb Wolf is coming in January
5) Support system: Coaches, buddies, mentors what ever it takes to support champions
6) Community: It takes a community to raise a champ

Things we won't be doing because they don't work:

1) people working out in the corner by themselves with no support, competition or comaraderie.

2) Separate programming. The code for fitness is there (Functional movements, intensity, constantly varied) I don't think it has to be reinvented. After that last games I asked Andy (who finished 23rd and contended the whole way, would have been top ten if he knew what a sledge hammer was for) if one of us (him, me, OPT) should take over our programming. His answer "Craig I think that our program helped me the past two days. By having each coach take a week, it has maximized the randomness of the WOD's, I think it would be a mistake to take that away".

Competition is the key to being a champion. Think boxing, hockey, gymnastics..........is there anyone on their own, training by themselves and not competing who wins???

Regular local competitions are crucial, and will give us a leg up.

Most people who have done well at the games, as I understand it, do the WOD and work on weaknesses, have a performance based diet (room for negotiation here), possess great genetics and above all have a great support system and community to go along with the heart and desire to be a champion.

If you want to make Crossfit your sport, compete at the games or just compete period. Post your name to comments.

I also want to acknowledge Jenika Gordon and her crew from Crossfit Westside for the awesome vibe they brought to the hopper this past weekend. Great work!

Monday's WOD: Crossfit Total (stop ducking the strength days, you need at least one a week)

Warm UP - with a bar - 5 deadlift, 5 squats, 5 shoulder press x 5 rounds

Tech: Squat, Deadlift, Shoulder press

WOD: 1 rep max

squat, deadlift, shoulder press

I am a Noble man - Patty

More here...

Lots going on this weekend!

On Saturday morning we kick off the MadLab Hopper. Volunteer meeting is at 830am. Athlete registration starts at 9am. First workout starts at 1030am.
For those who are not going enter the Hopper (whimps) but still want to workout, show up around 1130am and we'll put you through a WOD.



Sunday morning Lumber is reviving the long dead Sunday morning class. 1030am start time.

Sunday afternoon Giselle and I are hosting a 2 hour Introduction to Stretching Workshop this Sunday for those who are interested.
This will be the first of four planned workshops (the others being an Upperbody Focus, a Lowerbody Focus, and a Total Body Focus), and will be considered a prerequisite for the ones that follow.
Cost is $40. Those who have already been to one of our Intro workshops can hop into this one for the low low price of $20.
Shoot me an .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) if you are interested, or if you have any questions.
See you there.



Andy

Many of you may have seen Fynn Mulligan around the school, he has been a fervent Crossfit vancouver supporter for many years, he has brought in a lot of good people.

It is our honor to support his business.

Fynn is a good man, a Crossfit certified coach, and a student at Crossfit Vancouver for 2 years. After being subjected to our daily beatings he began using the Crossfit method with his clients and it has proven to be effective and enjoyable. His business is like a mobile Crossfit gym.

If you want to work out at home or the park across the street, or just gaze at his huge quads in awe.

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call (604 315 1123) him today!
 

Come on in and work on your lifting skills, the snatch or the clean & jerk. What ever it is that you feel you need work on grab a coach and ask them for tips!

Start by teaming up with 1 or 2 people that are working on the same movement. Coaches will go over both lifts with the sticks at the beginning of class after everyone has completed the warm up.

Todays warm up for people that came in on Tuesday will be 20 Turkish Get up (20/35)lbs thats 10 each arm! Those who skipped out on the run will run 1mile for warm up.

Work on proper technique in these lifts, the leader board will sleep so don't worry about a new max or big weight. Just get it dialed!!

And of course have fun, after all its play day.

Here's some old school footage when Big Man Night came about back at the 2nd & Ontario box!