*miserychick is actually happy

Since I’m ‘vacationing’ in LA for a month, my daily schedule’s been totally opened to visiting people, checking out such-and-such place, and eating at ethnic joints rarely found in Toronto (namely Mexican restaurants in this case). So when my friend Kat mentioned that she was doing this Jukari class, I was super eager to go with her. A mid-day workout for free? Hell ya, sign me up!

Juka-who?

Supposedly Jukari, the word, “comes for a word dialect meaning ‘to play‘” — dialect of what? who knows. But more importantly, who cares. It sounds just as made up as the routine itself looks and feels, but whatever: it’s new and it’s designed by [drum roll...] Cirque du Soleil. [pow!]

Remember Taebo by Billy Blanks?, the super fad that was an exercise routine, for, like, a year or so, back in… shoot, I can’t even remember… late nineties? This kind of has the same aura of (lack of) authenticity. But it is a hardcore cardio work out, and since I’ve done it, I’ll attest that I did feel like I burnt a thousand calories and sweated my little butt off. By the end of it, even though it was very fun, I was huffin and puffin like a lung cancer patient who can’t catch her breath and my muscles were sore in places I never knew they could be sore.

It’s a mix of aerobics and, for lack of a better word, flying (as humanly possible in a gravitated environment). bit difficult to describe what it is exactly that we do, but hey, here’s the YouTube video of Jukari Fit to Fly:

I was smiling the whole time I was doing it, too. In parts because it was fun, because I felt a little silly, and mainly because I couldn’t believe how much work it was to hoist myself up while jumping and spinning in midair. Just like most things, it looked way easier than it is.

Now that I’m writing about it, I just found out that the gym Kat and I went to was a “Custom Designed Reebok Gym Exclusively for Celebrities” in L.A. There’s no address of the place anywhere and the frosted glass doors had a little sign said “invitation only”. Just as well, cuz you know, it’s L.A. But if you’re reading this and you’re in the vicinity of 3rd St. and La Brea… you’ll know the place I’m talking about (2 buildings down from Trader Joe’s).

The commercials and all the movement and rhythm in the class seemed to aim primarily at women. I’d have a hard time imagine straight macho guys doing this even though anyone with strong muscle control could be pretty good at it. This workout also requires that you have specific equipments and a lot of space, so it’s not like you could get a DVD and do it in your humble abode or even your normal gym. If you’re curious, this page has a list of cities where they’re offering it.

I am a little sad that they don’t have it in Toronto, despite the fact that Cirque du Soleil is Canadian (!! ok, 3 locations in Montreal but that doesn’t help me any). I would actually go back to do if it fits into my schedule because I might be better at it the next time around.

But hey, now I can say, I did Jukari at the studio where [insert your favorite gossip celebs here] went! Oh la la!

Posted on Monday, 1 June 2009 at 0:59 UTC