As promised here is my initial impressions and review of the Elite Sports Warrior Series Blue Large Duffel MMA Gear Gym Bag & Backpack. Elite Sports are a sports equipment company that supplies equipment for BJJ, Boxing, MMA, Muay Thai, and Judo. I had seen their products around but had never bought any. I was surprised when they contacted me to do a honest product review of their products.
I am always happy to try a new product that will help me with my training and in this case help me lug my gear to and from the gym.
If you would like to see the gym bag in all its glory I made a video of me pulling out all of my gear that I stuffed into the bag. I carry around a lot of gear to help me train Muay Thai and Kali.
As I am typing this today I have used this bag for 3 days of training. However, I have packed and unpacked that bag a good 20 times. Why you might ask? Because I am a huge dork or nerd you name it, and I had to re-record that video many times.
First Impressions:
Holding Capacity: I was happy to be able to get all of gear in the bag. I found that it was well made. I love the quality and thickness of the zippers. When I unboxed the bag, I was impressed with quality of the fabric. It is thick and I absolutely love the color.
Durability: It seems very durable and we will see as I continue to use it how well it holds up. I love the structure in the bag. The other duffel bag I had, had absolutely no structure. So this bag standing up is wonderful.
Many Pockets: I was impressed with the amount of pockets in the bag. It has 8 total! I love pockets. Maybe I am a little strange but I love to be able to organize my stuff and know exactly where it is.
Comfort: This bag is comfortable to wear as a backpack or as a duffel.
A few things that could be reengineered for future versions of the bag:
The plastic mesh and how durable that will be. If I accidentally leave the bag in the car will it melt to my gloves on a hot day?
The side pockets on the bag zip from the bottom up. I would encourage the new versions to open from the top down. This would be especially helpful when opening if you are using the bag like a backpack and having it stand up. I found my items falling out onto the floor.
It might be nice to have a pocket that is a thermal pocket. So that we can put cold water bottles or snacks in.
So there you go. I love the bag. I was happy to get a chance to test it out. If you are interested in getting a bag like this of your very own… I have some links you can use down below. Helpful right?
Did I miss something that you would like to see in the review?
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This is not a sponsored review. This is just a review of a bra I tried, and hoped would finally be the answer. I bought both of these bras.
Here is a link to the website. SheFit Apparently you get a coupon for $10.00 off. That is nice.
Here is the short answer. I tried both the High Impact bra and the Medium Impact bra. I LOVE THEM!
If you don’t know, I lead an active lifestyle, I practice Muay Thai, and other martial arts, I run, I weight lift and am always doing something. I needed a good bra to keep the girls locked and loaded.
Now if you want to hear the why love them, please keep reading.
What was I looking for?
I was looking for a bra that was supportive. Yes but what does supportive mean to me? When I exercised I did not have to wear 2 to 3 at a time. I did not have pain when jumping or plyometrics. I wanted one that would fit my cup size and my band measurements. Believe it or not we women are not all made the same, and sometimes we are even half sizes, in band measurement and cup size. So this was an ongoing search for me. I assume an ongoing search for most women.
Did this bra meet the above criteria?
Yes! Yes, yes, yes… it really did.
Ok so the fabric and the manufacturing is such that it holds you tight and does not move once you are cinched in. Now this may sound band but it is not. Because of he manufacturing and the fabric I don’t feel the need for multiple bra’s.
The bra adjust in the shoulder bands, and around the under bust, or chest band. So you can adjust it to your body. It works for half sizes, quarter sizes and everything in between.
A picture of the directions on how to adjust the bra to your dimensions
For lack of better terms the mass of your breasts move with your body, not counter to your body movements.
What did I buy?
1 high impact bra, and 1 medium impact bra
For reference I am a 38 D. I chose the 1 Luxe size for both the high impact and the medium impact.
front high impact
back high impact
zipper covers
This is the high impact bra, in black. The girls are locked and loaded.
If you look closely the high impact bra has extra darts across the breast. This is added structure and form to keep everything locked down. There is a zipper cover for both the top and bottom of the bra. Great addition to the bra. Normally I see only one zipper cover on the bottom of other sports bra brands.
The high impact bra is the most supportive sports bra I have used. This bra is fantastic for running, HIIT, and any other high impact sports. This bra holds you in tight. Does not have a lot of give.
front medium impact
back medium impact
This is the medium impact bra, in black. The girls are still locked and loaded.
The medium impact bra does not have the extra darts/fabric across the breast. It has the same zipper covers. The support for their medium impact bra is what the competition say is the high impact.
This bra is great for running, and HIIT. The medium impact bra is great for martial arts. It has a little more give, so I feel I can move around better.
My Notes
Both:
Come with their own garment washing bag. Very quick turn around. 2 business days.
Packaged well.
Use the same adjustment and cinching/sizing
They both come with a mesh washing bag so that you can wash your bra properly in the machine without it getting damaged. The mesh bags were each different from the last one. I only bought two but both were different. So out of my sample size 100 out of 100% different.
Fit true to size chart on website.
Both came to me in about 2 business days, so super fast shipping.
Both came with a tape measure if you have any problems with your sizing so that you can measure and send back your bra to get the correct size. If you don’t need it you can gift it to a friend to use and it has coupon for them to get some money off their first bra.
Both came with a hair tie that had positive affirmations on it.
Medium Impact:
The medium impact is as controlling as a high impact bra from other manufacturers like Champion.
The medium impact is great for every day wear.
Smoother silhouette.
Buttery feel on skin.
More range of movement
High Impact:
High impact is fantastically built.
Can be stiff at the beginning but it conforms to your body after a workout.
Great for HIIT workout, for running, for high impact sports.
Felt more confining which is what you need in an high impact bra, so less range of movement.
The Verdict
Would I buy this bra again? The answer is yes. A million times yes. It does everything I need it to do. Your girls will be locked and loaded, front and center. No more pain when jumping, no more errant breast flesh flying. It does what you need it to do. Nothing can hold you back from being the warrior women you are, and want to be.
Let me know if you liked this review or if you have any questions. Thank you for reading, and keep working to be the best you that you can be.
2.5 hours of training Bo Staff, and Striking/JKD. Brace yourselves this ended up being long. =) Maybe grab a tea, or coffee, what ever libation you prefer, and hunker down for a read. I even drew pictures of where I was striking on a stick figure.
Today we worked on Bo Staff, and I was finally able to try out my new polypropylene bo. That sucker is heavy but great for an arm workout, and are almost indestructible.
This is the polypropylene staff that I have and use now as a training staff. Picture credit (Cold Steel)
You can get this staff at this website. https://www.coldsteel.com/training-staff.html I bought this with my own money. I was not paid to review this, and as far as I know they don’t know I am even talking about their products.
I also bought the Baliki Sticks for my Kali stick training. These are also made of the polypropylene. Again they are indestructible, and some what heavy, but great for training.
I mention indestructible because, my rattan sticks I had for one year, had started to shred and fall apart. The only thing that was keeping it together was the duct tape. So yeah having tools/weapons that will not get destroyed for a billion years is so awesome.
This is the Balicki Stick. Picture credit to Cold Steel.
Ok so again I am not being paid for this review. As far as I know they don’t even know who I am, except that I have thrown money their way for their products. So I paid for this with my own money and I am happy with them. They are very sturdy and they are heavy. You can buy them here. https://www.coldsteel.com/balicki-stick.html
Over all I love them. The only thing that is a little weird is they sell them in singles instead of in pairs. So if you do double stick in Kali/Escrima you will have to buy two like I did. They only alteration I did was add some bat tape to end of the stick, where I hold it. Because when I use them bare handed I find that the tape helps me hold onto the stick when my hand gets sweaty.
I have been using these for two weeks. They had been in my living room waiting for me to use them and stop being sick. =) I borrowed my husbands before and found I liked them so I ordered them.
My criteria for equipment, is:
Good quality for the cost. I don’t mind paying more for something that will last.
If functions as intended.
It is not stupid expensive.
Durability ( I don’t want to have to buy it over and over again just cause it breaks/wears out quickly)
Anyway enough gabbing about the equipment I use. If it is helpful to you, and you are looking for training equipment please take a look at these things. =)
Bo Staff Training – Redondo like a helicopter
Today was a fun clear beautiful day. It was not to hot, and we got to work outside with our Bo Staves. We worked on 4 drills that worked the figure 8 with a low strike and high strike at the end. Then we did a redondo that looks like a helicopter.
Training:
Warm up using single stick, heaven figure 8 with low strike and high strike.
Upward figure 8, with low back hand strike and high back hand strike.
Downward figure 8, with low back hand strike and high back hand strike.
Lop sided figure 8 with low back hand strike and high back hand strike.
Redondo high, low, high, with a low back hand strike and high back hand strike.
I tried to scribble out what the figure 8 strikes looked like. Its okay to laugh at my drawings. I do.
In these two figures, you can see the upward figure 8 and the downward figure 8. Husband asked why they were smiling, I said cause they were happy to help me practice. Anyway, on the upward figure 8, you aiming for the knees or inner thighs. So you are targeting 12 strike point, and a 11 strike point in an upward swing. For the downward figure 8 you are targeting a 1 strike point, and a 2 strike point in an downward. See dummy below for strikes points.
In this last figure you see the lop sided figure 8. You are targeting the 1 strike point, and the 4 strike point. These figure 8 were fun, and hard at the same time. Hefting the staff and trying to follow through in the strike is hard, when it meets a resistance and wants to just bounce back.
Redondo high, low, high, with a low back hand and high back hand
This last video is the redondo/helicopter looking swing. Swing where we go around our head hit a high point/head, then hit a low point torso, then high again head area, then low back hand and high back hand.
That is what we did in Kali, and that was just Kali. Now to the Striking class.
Striking class – ABD – Attacking by Defense
So today we worked on how to defend and react to a Jab, Cross combination. We worked on JKD or Jeet Kun Do, the martial arts created by Bruce Lee. Kru Krysta said if you get into a fight or fight in the ring, that Jab, Cross combo is going to come up, so knowing how address it, parry, block, catch and return an attack is very important. She told us her instructor called it ABD – or Attacking By Defense.
For instance if a person throws a jab at you, you can catch the punch or you can destroy their jab/hand by directing it into your elbow.
We worked on how to address, respond, and return attack when you are fighting a person who knows how to box/punch. For instance when they throw a tight Cross.
Then we worked on how to address, respond, and return an attack when you are fighting a person who is a little less knowledgeable in boxing. When they end up doing a wide cross, think John Wayne type cross you can see coming from a mile away.
Striking/JKD training we worked on Jab, Cross Defense
Feeder throws a Jab
You parry
Feeder throws a tight cross
You lean back make your shoulder tight to your face for protection and then Nao Tek their inner thigh with your lead foot, then return an cross, hook, cross, Nao Tek.
Alternately you could Inside Parry, with a punch to the face, or bare handed a eye gauge, then return cross, hook, cross, Nao Tek
The other alternate reaction you could is split the jab, hit simultaneously, then return a hook, cross, Nao Tek
Feeder throws a Jab
You parry
Feeder throws a wide cross
You inside wedge/post on their shoulder, return a knee to quad, step in and you are in south paw stance. Finish with an upper cut, cross, hook, and cross.
Striking was fun today. We worked on JKD, instead of Muay Thai. However, it is good to cross train. Things that are done in JKD translate to Muay Thai and vice versa.
I am not certain how much help this is to any of you, however, having this written down helps me to remember what we did, and I have a reference for the future if when I am struggling, and or when I want to remember something.
As always thank you for reading. I hope you have a great day, and hope your weekend is fantastic.
Thinks with Spinks 