Category: Sports

Spotted this “small” miniature golf setup in the Basement of Discovery Mall. I’m guessing its for kids but it’s strange no one has built a proper miniature golf course in Kuwait. I guess it probably has to do with the weather…

UFC legend and hall of famer Royce Gracie is coming back to Kuwait! Last time he was here I didn’t participate in his seminar but I managed to get a picture with him while he performed the rear naked choke on me. [Link]

Back in May I posted about MILSIM and how I took part in one of their Tactical Military Simulation Games. It was amazing! I was totally surprised we had something like that in Kuwait, it was lots of fun, the weapons were very cool and realistic and the location the simulation took place at (old abandoned prison) was something right out of Call of Duty. Now this year my friends at MILSIM (which is short for Military Simulation) have introduced something new called Desert Ops Tactical Paintball for the trigger happy people. Unlike the Tactical Military Simulation Games which require a lot of patience, skill, strategy and discipline, Desert Ops Tactical Paintball is a faster paced game that’s easier to get into right from the start.

The MILSIM Paintball is located in an area near Mutlaa. You can sign up and come as an individual or group. Price is KD15 for a full day of playing. A bag of 500 balls is for KD10 and can be shared amongst the players. You need to book in advance and you can do that from their website [Here]

They have another field opening up at Shaab Park in mid January. It’s going to be the first Milsim Airsoft and Milsim Tactical Paintball field in the region. Basically real life Call of Duty stuff and it’s going to be located right near my home so I can’t wait.

For the advanced players who are interested in the Tactical Military Simulation Games (pic above) which I took part in back in May, if you’re willing to take a 2 day training program at desert Ops to get familiar with the MILSIM game play and gear then you can also email them [Here]

A reader emailed me asking if it’s true that if Kuwait wins in tonight’s game that tomorrow will be a day off. I hadn’t heard about this and was wondering if it’s true?

I noticed Sports Corner in Salmiya has a small section with authentic Red Bull Racing Gear. They had a bunch of their Formula 1 branded gear including Vettel tshirts and Red Bull racing caps and polos. For those of you don’t follow Formula 1, this year Vettel who drives a Red Bull car was the champion.

[YouTube]

I don’t know how many people remember Abdullah Al-Moussawi or know who he is but two years ago a video popped up on YouTube of this young charismatic Kuwaiti 9 year old playing football against older kids and outplaying them. He had long curly hair and people were saying he was the next Maradonna and watching the video above you could understand why. Well anyway a reader emailed me a story about Abdullah he wanted to share, it’s kinda long but it’s interesting to read.

[YouTube]

The story talks about how a talent scout in Holland saw Abdullah’s video on YouTube and came to Kuwait to watch him live. Abdullah was then given an opportunity to go to Holland and compete in a few trials where he proved to be extremely talented and one of the top young players they had ever seen. He was then accepted into one of the best football academy’s on a scholarship without any binding contracts or strings attached. Problem was Abdullah couldn’t move to Holland without his family so they asked for help from Kuwaiti officials who agreed which prompted the family to move with Abdullah to Holland so he could attend school there and join the football academy. They even made a documentary about Abdullah which was broadcasted on Dutch TV and also screened in the Gulf Film Festival held in Dubai last year (promo clip above). Problem is Kuwait never ended up helping out and so the parents were forced to move back to Kuwait after 2 months with Abdullah ending what could have been an incredible experience for him.

That’s basically a quick summary but I recommend you read the full story. It’s very sad how Abdullah was extremely popular and big in the Dutch media while no one gave him any attention locally. It’s also sad how things turned out in the end and I wonder how Abdullah is doing right now. Check the full story below.

Posted by Fahad

A lot of people crucified Core Fitness thinking that our 20-minute version of a workout was for everybody. As per what Mark has stated earlier, our 20-minutes were meant to cater to those who a) don’t have time for high-volume conventional training, b) new to the world of health and fitness, c) are the center of mockery and scrutiny because they’re too fat and d) hate to pursue health and fitness, but need to lose some weight due to health and Sharm Al Shaikh reasons.

To shed some light on our 20-minute workouts, we are merely a single idea in the fitness industry. We don’t defy ourselves as the be-all and end-all of exercise; we represent a technique that combines both convenience and intensity in one package. One big huge gargantuan awesome incredible package.

Gradual Transition

Back in January when Mark signed up with Core Fitness, I honestly thought the dude was a hopeless case. He looked motivated, but acted kind of lazy. Mark wanted to get in and out and just live life outside of the gym. Gradually, he kept on coming for more and asking for harder diet plans. He even low-carbed his meals without inquiring with me, and refrained from cheating for over a month (which is something I wouldn’t even think of doing).

I remember the day he sluggishly walked into my office. Last Thursday, the dude walked in with his shoulders back and his chest high, ready for what’s next.  I presented him with the idea of signing up for 60-minutes. What shocked me the most is his prompt reply; I even had a list of come backs in order to negotiate him into 60-minutes. Conclusively, Mark now dedicates 5 days of his week to gym and MMA work; he has officially caught the fitness-bug.

By Popular Demand

In order to cope with the  “high volume” and the “we-have-more-than-20-minutes-to-spare” fitness crowd, we at Core Fitness developed a training technique roughly 3 times as intense as our initial 20 minutes, but with 40 more minutes of pain and agony. Keep in mind that we would like our clients to stick to the 20 minutes, so expect 1-hour training to be our way of saying “Today, we will give you 60 reasons why you should stick to 20 minutes. FUL.”

Offering Healthy Lifestyles Since 2008

Does anyone remember the last time Mark posted a burger review? Go ahead and look back at his posts. Taco Bell was a total bust, but they do have a semi-healthy menu. The Abercrombie and Fitch post was LOLingly homorific, but I’ll give him credit for finally setting a target. And what does every strict dieter do? Post about their next cheat meal.

It’s safe to say the fitness-bug he caught also effected his posts, including activity oriented articles and topics pertaining to how people can achieve a healthy lifestyle without sacrificing their current one (Michel Dines in Hell).

The point is, Core Fitness offers lifestyles and not just a means to an end. We at Core want you to be healthy, stay healthy and live healthy, since health and fitness is our business. We promote diversity with our clients by asking them to try out what the market has to offer, and only then can they differentiate a Core Fitness workout from a conventional one. The point is we do lose clients like any other business, but we rarely fail to permanently stamp them with healthier lifestyles.

All top-notch health clubs and gyms in Kuwait already have 60-minute personal training services far before Core existed, but how many of them offer you individualized lifestyles and a training technique?

Training Services

Mark’s currently enrolled in Muscle Building, since he earlier decided to dedicate 30-minutes of post-workout treadmill cardio work to his already activity-infested routine. Mark and cardio don’t mix at all, and I couldn’t convince him to do 10 minutes (I swear to God). Those 30-minutes were his idea.

For the 60-minute personal training workout, we offer 4 training categories specified below:

– Muscle Building

– Fitness Boxing

– Fat Loss

– Sports Performance

20-Minutes is still our Bread & Butter

For those of you contemplating on signing up, I’d advise you begin with at least one 20-minute workout membership to get the feel of the technique. The intensity of our 60-minute workouts are no joke and require a certain level of physical fitness experience. We designed it to transition our current 20-minute clients who have already been through the short torture.

Follow Mark’s foot steps and gradually increase workout intensity and meal planning. You’ll look good, feel good and hopefully live longer assuming a bus doesn’t run into you anytime soon.

For more questions and inquiries concerning timings, prices and location, feel free to contact Core Fitness at 22520407 starting at 12:30 pm to 10 pm, or contact me via my blog here.

Posted by Fahad

Beat Diabetes – Join the Walk is the first ever walkathon to be organized by Landmark Group in Kuwait (under the patronage of the Ministry of Health and Dasman Diabetes Institute). The walkathon will start at the Yacht Club and end at the Green Island on November 27th. To register you need to pass by any Landmark Group outlet (Centrepoint, Max, Home Centre and New Look stores).

Date: Saturday, 27 November, 2010
Kit Collection: 8.00 am
Walk Time: 9.00 am
Venue: Yacht Club to Green Island

Participation is free and everybody is invited.

The first professional Kuwaiti racing driver Khaled Al Mudhaf is participating in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge this Saturday and Sunday. I found out about him recently and think what he’s doing is very cool. The GT3 Cup Challenge is the biggest motor sport challenge in the Middle East and Khaled will be representing Kuwait with his black Porsche pictured above. The two rounds of the race will be shown live on Abu Dhabi Sports Channel on both free-to-air Channel 2 and Channel 6. Round 1 will be shown tomorrow (Saturday) at 15:25 while Round 2 will be broadcasted at 14:45 on Sunday. I wish him the best of luck.

For more information here is the GT3 Cup Facebook page [Link]

The kid in the video above is an 11 year old young Kuwaiti player who’s currently living in the US. He’s extremely talented and the Daily Intake blog managed to score an interview with him which you can check out [Here]

Just found out about this 15 year old Kuwaiti female motocross rider called Ghada Al Faraj. While trying to find out more about her I realized The Adrenaline Fix had already interviewed her so you can check out that post by clicking [Here]

Photo by Ibraheem Al-Sahood

I passed by with some friends last night to the Pro Kart Racing track off the 6th ring road. The track is located next to the drift track and a motocross track but to get to that whole area is a bit tricky since you need to take an unofficial exit off the 6th ring road but I’ve got a link to the area on Google Maps at the end of this post to help you out.

The track opened up a few months ago but the weather now is perfect for it. You don’t need a driving license to race on their track, you just need to be 14 years old or older. The cost is KD5 for an 8 minute session which is a lot longer than it sounds and I would say is 4 or 5 laps around their large track. The last time I had done go karting was in Lebanon back in 1995 so don’t really have much experience with it. The karts seemed pretty fast once they picked up speed but acceleration was pretty weak. The karts mostly had incredible grip on the track which made my ride back home in the FJ seem like I was driving a boat.

We raced at night which I highly do not recommend. They had issues last night with their flood lights (some were not working) which resulted in patches of the track that were pitch dark. Even the patches that were lit up weren’t really that bright. I would imagine things would be a lot more fun during the day since other than the fact you would actually be able to see the track but you would also be able to see your friends. Since they open up at 5PM there really isn’t much daylight hours so you would have to get there early.

The track is fairly big with a lot of great turns and a good amount of straights. One of the guys in our group races on the Bahraini national karting team and he obviously kicked all our asses. I came before last on my first try since my first couple of laps I was still getting used to the karts and then managed to pick up pace on my last laps. My second race was a total disaster since I came in last. After my good last laps in my first race I came in to the second race too confident and ended up going into the turns too fast and spinning out. I spun out at least 6 times and by then I was just too far behind to catch up.

Karting was a lot of fun but next time I would definitely want to go back during the day. Here is the location on the [Map] and here is a link to their [Website]. They’re open daily starting from 5PM, each race session is KD5.

A reader emailed me to tell me that tomorrow tonight on the “Taw il Lail” show they will be showing the Seabreacher and interviewing the local dealer . I hadn’t heard of the Seabreacher until a few moments ago and after watching the video above all I can say is where do I sign up for a test drive?! [YouTube]

Thanks Clark

Update: The episode has been pushed back till next week

A friend of a friend of mine came up with a cool idea for Halloween, he wanted to dress up as spartan since he’s a huge fan of the movie 300. He had 65 days till Halloween and he was overweight and unfit. So he decided he would go on a strict diet, exercise his ass off and document his journey on a blog. There is now 11 days left till Halloween and as you can see from the picture above he has practically achieved his goal. I think that is just amazing. When you see the before and after pictures in magazines you don’t think much of it but this guy is real and managed to achieve all that in just 50 days. Check out his blog [Here]

This personally gave me the push I needed to start doing cardio. Starting tomorrow morning I am going to start running every morning!

Since the weather is currently great I figured I would try a new activity this week which is scuba diving. I had never scuba dived before and have always been wanting to try it out but never really had a chance until today. I woke up early and headed to the Kuwait Science Club next to 360 Mall with Nat. There we met up with some members of the Kuwait Diving Team who were going to take us through the Discover Scuba Diving course.

The first thing we had to do was sit and watch a short video about scuba diving. After that we were verbally instructed on the basics of scuba diving, some safety advice and given a bunch of other information before we headed to the pool for a live test.

The idea behind the Discover Scuba Diving course is to give you an idea of what it’s like to breathe underwater. When I first put the air regulator in my mouth it felt a little uncomfortable but I quickly got used to the idea of breathing in and out from my mouth. The scuba gear on your back isn’t as heavy as it looks which was surprising since I thought it would be much heavier than that.

We spent a short period of time in the shallow end of the pool practicing how to breathe, how to put the regulator in and out of our mouth under water, how to signal if everything is ok or if we need help, etc… We then proceeded to swim to the deep end which goes down to 5 meters and we then spent the rest of the time at the bottom there swimming, throwing a small toy torpedo around and generally getting comfortable swimming, breathing and spending time deep in the water without going out.

It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Nat is going to continue scuba diving by taking the open water course with them but I on the other hand don’t think will have time for scuba diving with all my other activities.

The Kuwait Diving Team guys are really great, they love what they do and they’re extremely dedicated. If they aren’t spending their time instructing they’re out in the sea saving the coral reefs, recovering sunken ships or performing some other environmental heroism. The Discover Scuba Diving course is free and runs for around 3 hours. Once you take the course and feel like scuba diving is something you want to get into then you can sign up to the Open Water / Advance course which is KD140. That course involves 5 pool dives, 5 classroom sessions and 4 open water sea dives. Once you complete that course you would get your scuba diving certificate and will be able to go diving with other certified scuba divers without a need for an instructor.

For more information or to setup an appointment for a Discover Scuba Diving course you can contact PADI Instructor Meshari Alkhabbaz on 97900714.