What Martial Arts mean for me

"JABCROSSHOOK"

2011-08-18T23:31:00.006Z

OK...Its late but hey, today, I had a private lesson at Greg Halls and we went through some boxing drills. I was a little bit late but I really enjoyed the training today. It proved to me that you can never stop training. Ever. And, even though my left hook was crap before I went training, I felt it had improved a lot by the end of the session. I can hear these words replaying in my mind..."Initiation, delivery, transition, recovery". That's the sequence of events when throwing a "one-two" combination.(Maybe there should me a "delivery" after transition). Also..."jab,cross,hook", should be 1 word, as that should be as fast as it should be executed, "jabcrosshook". Greg said that for him, he made his cross work for him better than any eye jab or groin kick. Also, the most conveninent thing from these combinations is that you can switch from fists to palms or to elbow strikes, as its all coming from the same body mechanic.
Speaking of training, lately I have been getting back into the gym as well, but its no longer the University gym that I use, its a local gym nearby. It has to be said that this gym is a proper decent gym with plenty of free weights and machines. Its got machines I have not seen before and I just don't know why I didn't start going earlier. For me, the Uni gym got too "modern" and I myself felt really out of touch, me being an old guy...Anyway, one of the best things about this gym is the availability of a great protein shake after training, something that was never available at the Uni gym.

MMMMMM nice, looking forward to the next one!

Quiet out there...

2011-08-04T10:24:00.003Z

August 2011, and hardly a blog entry in sight this year. Ah well...still alive and kicking, well, perhaps not so much kicking these days, but never mind.

Martial arts has taken a back seat now for a while but I shan't forget the lessons I learnt from the many instructors, masters, gurus and so on along the way.

One must not forget those five tenets for example, if your thing is Taekwon-Do. And then it depends which federation you are assimilated to and so on :)

Anyway, just to finish this very, very short blog, remember the following:

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, that is why they call it the present
- Master Wu Gwai, of Kung Fu Panda.

I'll be back...shortly.

Not to prove you wrong, but...

2010-12-09T09:42:00.004Z

Well...thats it, another year has almost gone by and blogging for me has very much been on the back-burner. To date this year I have only had two martial arts lessons which admittedly is pretty pathetic but life takes over in a lot of ways (for me, lots of very good, happy ways). Maybe its good once in a while to take a little break so you can review where you are at.

Anyway, the other day a colleague at work said that I couldn't kick very high anymore, of course, being just the wrong side of 40, I thought maybe yes, I couldn't, but I gave it a go last night with a side kick, just to see.

Not so bad after all, eh? Well we all have to pat ourselves on the back sometime, no one else is going to do so.

Take care
L.

15th June 2010

2010-06-16T23:04:00.002Z

Hmmm. Now there's a date. It was the date I went back to Steve Powell's JKD class. It has been a very long time, almost a year. But its great to be back. In a way its also a little disheartening, I lost a lot of timing and was well rusty. But here's the best thing. You can go back as if you had never left. And just train, learn and enjoy. There were some familiar faces too. When I trained on a more regular basis in the mid 90's, this was it. It all felt like family. And it still does.

So...next week, I intend to go again on tuesday. And then who knows....?

The end? No...just wait and see.

2009-12-30T00:40:00.004Z

The other day I tried on my dobok from my TKD days (2001-02) and lo and behold, it didn't quite wrap around so well! As expected to be honest, especially what with the Xmas season with food everywhere. Without labouring the point that I am more and more Samo these days than ever before, (and no, I don't iron my shirt over a wok) I wanted to discuss with you what a coloured belt means.

In the past, I have echoed the notion that coloured belt systems build ego and nothing else. But in an article in the July/August 2009 issue of Scientific American Mind, pride can be a good thing (before it feeds your ego). Pride in fact pushes us to keep going harder and can make others like us more. A message like this would do well at many a martial arts class right at session opening, i.e. don't abuse your pride, its not for building ego.

People who get told that they have done well in a sincere way normally press on for bigger goals. My coloured belt achievement with certificate was me getting told I did well in my grading. The bigger goal was then the journey to the next grade. In fact, if you feel pleased with yourself, the upshot is a more confident posture and perhaps you will even smile more. Other people will see this and, appreciate you more.

It is important to note that pride should not slide into the annoying "know-it-all obnoxiousness or narcissism". That was the thing I noticed in the TKD class, with some of the other coloured belts, the kind of "I am a higher grade than you, therefore you are below me" attitude. Terrible. I always recall one guy who was a green belt blue stripe. He told me he loves freshers, because he can beat up on the beginners. NOT GOOD!!

In any case, I only got up to yellow belt, green stripe but whenever I look at that belt, I have to admit I am very pleased to have obtained it. A lot of training went into the grading for it. I remember the grading well, with Master Liversidge saying that we would all (potentially) become black belts.

Be proud of your coloured belt achievements. You earned it, but don't let this overwhelm you. KEEP HUMBLE! There's always someone you can learn more from and there's always going to be someone better than you. This holds true across the many paths that make up life.

2010 approaches us very very soon. I go into it knowing that I have finally (happily and proudly) reached fatherhood with a beautiful little girl. As the first decade of the 2000's reaches its ultimate year, I know that this in this decade I have met and trained with many many great people. Its been an extra special martial arts decade. Oh and a yellow belt, green stripe (that now doesn't fit so well).

Keep on training, and I wish all the best to you for 2010.

An easy drill....?

2009-11-12T22:55:00.004Z

Just now, I was thinking about a way of training the angles 1 and 4 into focus mitt training. When you take away the stick and do an angle 1, that's like doing a hammerfist or forehand strike, and angle 4, without the stick becomes a raking back knuckle strike. So here is a way of partner training, "A" holds the mitts as if he was saying the classic bully-type "come on then", i.e. the mitts are target side up, not quite flat but slightly diagonal, with arms at shoulder-width apart. So "B" has his hands down by his sides, not in a guard or fighting stance. You may do this to the count if you like, 10 to a set, two strikes to one count, i.e. a forehand and a backhand together. Or perhaps have them go at it for a one-minute round. After one minute, get the hitter to do 10 normal grip knuckle press-ups, 10 squat springs and 10 situps, or other exercise variations. The second round: get the student to double-up, i.e. two forehand/two backhand for one-minute. Then follow up with bodyweight exercises, 10 squat thrusts, 10 hindu squats, 10 crunches, (or if you are mean and just because its the second round, do 20 of each). The third and last round might be to try triple hits in quick succession, full of intent, always beginning with hands down by the sides. Follow this with either a final round of 30-rep bodyweight exercises, things like star jumps, wide grip press ups and over-the-knee sit ups. Final round would perhaps be to do the same with the soft-padded stick on the pads, working the same angles, 1 minute, all-out. Bang bang bang! Repeat this with the mitt holder now.

Who knows, it might work and maybe your students will like it. You could always vary it, after all.

Train hard,

Salford University gym

2009-10-25T20:10:00.004Z

Salford University's gym has had a massive facelift. A brand new feel to welcome the students of 2009-10 and beyond. Its looking all rather good.

A lot of gyms have sprung up in the Manchester area, but Salford Uni has the best! All the new stuff is very impressive. The following pic shows where the running machines used to be.

All the equipment is brand new and the old equipment is hardly there apart from all the free weights as before.

Good stuff.

The Gym

2009-09-15T19:21:00.002Z

What is it about the gym that keeps me going? That's an easy one. In the gym, I feel free. Free from all the things that drag me down elsewhere. Free from all the uncertainties, insecurities and idiosyncracies. OK maybe I don't train as hard as I used to, but in the gym, there are people there who have a lot of positivity. In life's long twisting roads, sometimes you find that you may have to tip-toe around people and do a lot of pussy-footing. Sometimes you get appreciated, but most times no one has time or cares for individual efforts, so what happens, you feel under-appreciated. Then what happens? You might work extra hours thinking it might help, but then you actually get even less recognition for the good that you did and you get it on the chin for working late and being slow!! Some people feel so insecure, that, even if you want to sympathise for them, that little bit of attention to another human being, can still land you in trouble! Why? Because these weak-minded individuals want to be recognised for their strengths and not their weaknesses. So much insecurity!!

In the gym, its a totally different ball game. Its a place where you can de-stress and train. Its a place where you can chat to people and have a laugh, and not feel like you need to be on your guard. Why is this so? Its because all of the people in the gym have a common goal. They all train to varying degrees but the common thread is that they want to get results. They use the same tools, if you like, to attain a better, healthier body and mind. There is no conflict, there is only you, and the barbell, the dumbbell, the machines, or the focus mitts, the cage, the ring, the Thai pads and so on. Elsewhere in life one might find conflict because of personalities, ego, and down-right arrogance. Why does it need to be this way?

Sure enough there will be people in the gym hyperextending their backs because they aren't training right. Or there will be those who will train wrong and have big egos, throwing their weights down and so on. Whats worse is that some will use artificial means rather than properly "feel the burn" and arrive at CheatWorld via needle. These guys I tend not to mix with so much.

Tonight I was in the gym for a short while, and met up with some familiar faces. I will tell you this: just to be there was a very positive affair. So much positive energy which far outweighs any and all of the bad stuff I mentioned before. I felt good and I worked out as well.

GET IN THAT GYM AND WORK OUT. Its money in the bank as some Olympian might say.

Cheers

Why You Must Carry On

2009-08-31T22:38:00.007Z

The Roman orator, Cicero said:

"It is exercise alone that supports the spirits, and keeps the mind in vigor".

Best reason ever. Even as we get older, staying physically and mentally active helps us to stay sharp as we age. There is an important connection between mental acuity and physical activity.

To me, its important to pick up a new skill. And the good thing is is that in martial arts, you can never stop analysing, learning and assimilating unless you decide to not participate.

Simply, you must carry on some kind of physical activity to keep the mind active. There is no disconnect between the mind and the body. Why should there be?

In the July/August edition of Scientific American MIND, its stated that "staying fit helps us keep cognition more robust". Physical activity reduces several risks, e.g. type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, colon cancer and others. Colon cancer is also associated with compromised cognition, same with diabetes. So, exercise can honestly only be good for you. I notice this at work sometimes too, colleagues who remain seated throughout the whole day seem to be less energetic and even suffer memory loss than colleagues who enjoy some kind of fitness regime.

So....I think I will leave it here, and go do something active. Why don't you, too?

Painful?

2009-08-11T20:52:00.008Z

The other day I was doing some amarra training, i.e. going through the 10 different methods of line familiarisation with the sticks, when I realised that my hands really hurt and it was difficult to hold the sticks. I did the heavy sticks first, then mid-weight, then light sticks, but even the light sticks hurt! Sometime back I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome, (its funny how they have to call it a syndrome, God knows how many syndromes there are out there.) This syndrome is a condition of the nerves in the arms from the neck down. In fact, typing right now hurts.

I am wondering what caused this problem. Too much stick sparring? No can't be. Too much punching the pads? No...don't think its that. In today's legislative world, I might not even be allowed to say what I think what the main culprit is.

The thing is, is that I can't train properly. And its hurting me inside! You know when you pick up an injury, any injury and you get sidelined for months? Arggggh! Not good.

I remember reading about Bruce Lee and his back injury. I can't imagine how stressful it must have been for him, not to be able to train. With the fire in his belly raging, it must have been like an inferno. With me, I just come to blogger-land and have a bit of a rant.

We are a strange bunch. We can't live very happily without training. Our skills become a shadow of what they once were. Its injury times like this that one must show one's indomitable spirit. But even that can take a serious beating and need time to recover. In a way as martial artists, we develop that particular spirit, especially if you follow Korean martial arts. Several years back, I wrote about what I liked about Taekwon-do. I recall popping my hamstring in one of the lessons and having a massive bruise going all the way down my right leg. I think I returned after a couple of months. Indomitable spirit did help. The doctor said I'd need 6 months. I just kept wanting it to heal, so I could go back and train. Why so badly? Because I enjoyed it and it made me feel "free", for two hours of the day, twice weekly.

Enjoy training, all.

A show of appreciation

2009-07-18T15:53:00.003Z

What does an instructor feel when a student tells him that he feels he isn't progressing, yet at the same time, tells him he has no time to practice? Is that the instructor's fault? Why should the instructor bother?
You can bring up a student to level 1, or yellow belt, and its hard work for all concerned. But then if the same guy tells you, he has forgotten some of level 1, then surely he has no true foundation. To be honest, it makes me feel numb.

Its a little pointless if a person can't practice. If a person pays good money to learn whatever you have, and then doesn't consolidate afterwards with extra "in-his-own-time" practice, there is just little point coming! Might as well give up right there and then.

I called this blog "A show of appreciation". If your coach, your trainer, your teacher, etc, puts in the effort to give you something that makes a difference in your life for that hour in that lesson, and you fail to go away and practice, then you just won't get it. You might think you have got it, but no. Whatsmore, you have just failed also to appreciate your instructors efforts. There are in truth different levels of instructors, in terms of experience, but he or she got there and got the grade because he or she, PRACTICED and practiced HARD.

There are those guys who genuinely appreciate your efforts, and genuinely go and practice with their friends. They keep it going, they are the ones that propagate whatever art you are showing them. They have whats called ENTHUSIASM.

Enthusiasm is key in any role, in anything you participate in. Its part of the human psyche that makes you the individual that you are. I am enthusiastic about writing this blog, though I know that not many people will read it. Don't much care, though.

The jagged road of Life throws up many challenges and presents many mountains to climb. One should never lose heart and just give up.

Keep going. Show your appreciation for those who have gone before you. But don't tell them you feel you haven't got anywhere when you know you don't practice.

Thanks
L

Sayings...

2009-03-22T21:39:00.003Z

"The ultimate test of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and moments of convenience, but where he stands in moments of challenge and moments of controversy."

or...

"They say that the true measure of a man is determined not by how many times he falls down, but by how many times he picks himself back up."(Eddie Guerrero)

Yeah. Deffo.

And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

2009-03-17T13:50:00.001Z

How's that for an opening title? Thanks to Mr Abraham Lincoln for that one.

Well...back to work.

L.

The Toughest Day part 2

2009-03-10T10:28:00.008Z

Theres more to the 8th March 2009. Much more. Three main instructors were on hand that day, Dennis Martin, Greg Hall and Si Squires, delivering the best quality material in combatives. Other seminars and workshops that I have attended don't seem to be so relevant at this point in my life. It's clear in my mind what matters and I remember before the seminar trying to entice others from other systems to come along and try it. None did, and it was like trying to break their religion. Still, each to their own, and I guess I shouldn't care so much.

Kit and I had waited outside with several others, it was getting progressively colder and maybe this was part of the test. We were definitely going to be tested that day..!

Two objectives: 1. Whatever we learn on the course, we should be able to use straight away. 2. Whatever you learn should stick with you for life. These objectives were emphasised throughout the course.
The set up was so that we began with a powerpoint presentation about the mindset. This was great because I could take down a ton of notes. This in itself was a pleasant change. It was packed with information that was relevant to everyday life. Names etched into the history and development of combatives were mentioned: W.E.Fairbairn, Lofty Wiseman, Col. Jeff Cooper, John Boyd and others. So much work and effort had been done to forge what there is today. Much was discussed, and one of many points was that training in the gym is not training for the street, and another was that you are not on maximum alertness all the time. My bro and I came away from the presentation with a different outlook to our martial development. There were many things I had never heard of and every detail was well explained. We will now run the tactical lifestyle and replay it daily. I will leave it up to you to discover for yourself what that means. Here's a start, check up Cooper's Colour Codes....

The physical training was introduced. It was rock solid, and one participant threw up a waterfall, poor guy. There was a lot to cover so I can't go into too much detail. But you know what, I will not forget the TON in a hurry:

3 sets, 10 reps each of

burpees

shoulder width push ups

frog sit ups

squat springs

narrow grip push ups

crunches

tuck jumps

wide grip push ups

hand over knee sit ups

squat thrusts

Pain, thats all I can say. Actually, add sweat, and a bucket load of.

Dennis Martin took us through elements of the tiger claw, developing power reaction time and speed. I can tell you now that the noise coming from the way he hit the pad was sharp and was delivered with a loud smack. Greg Hall took us through several kicking drills, and was very technical. He talked about the roundhouse kick, and the application of the knee, and emphasising two ranges, i.e. you are either in a fight or you are not. Greg also showed us some groundwork for the street. Dennis Martin once again took to the floor, leading up to Si Squires presentation which began with two more conditioning exercises and then kicking from the ground followed by a takedown technique. Then came the grand finale. The bulletman.

Before this, I had never been to a seminar when you actually get to battle with one of the instructors at the end.

One word: buzzing. Question: when's the next one?

Cheers

The Toughest Day part 1

2009-03-10T00:55:00.009Z

"Could you open the door, Greg?" I said in an exhausted way. Greg tells me, "I might do". We said our goodbyes and that we both had a great time, and staggered to the car. By that time I hadn't even eaten lunch, but it was worth it. This wasn't a walk in the park. My ribs were killing me. My legs had cramped up. My heart felt like the alien in Alien ready to explode through my chest. Why? Because my bro, Kit and I had just attended our first Combatives seminar, in Blackley, and what a grand one it was too.

I remember waiting downstairs for the call up to face the armoured bulletman. What was he, 6 foot 3 or taller. With the silver coloured dome-shaped helmet, he suddenly became 6 foot 7 or maybe more. Intimidating.

It was getting cold downstairs. Kit and I knew that we would be in for it as we told the powers that be back home that it was going to finish at 4pm. But it was going into over time, but I didn't think of it too much. There was over 20 guys waiting for a shot. All I thought about was what was going to happen when I got back up there.

Suddenly, Lee shoots down the stairs scrambling for a first-aid kit. My bro and I looked at each other in more than a slightly concerned way. Drama over, we still waited. Two other guys needed to get away, so they challenged the bulletman a little bit before us. I remember when eventually both guys came back down, they looked worse for wear that was for sure.

My mind was racing, it was like waiting for exam results. There was a lot of shouting upstairs. Was it encouragement..? I couldn't quite make it out. Everyone enjoyed different scenarios.

My bro Kit went up first, before me. He had to do several warm-ups first like running up and down the stairs and tuck-jumps before getting a share of the bulletman pie.

I heard lots of shouting, and was told he fought hard with bulging eyes and a snarling face, using hammerfists to fight the bulletman.

I was rubbing my arms to beat the cold, when I got the call. After more punishing hindu squats and burpees, my mind and body was put to the test. No quitting! No indeed. Two guys place their full weight on my chest and legs, with these huge pads. No quitting! I thought I could do a bench and push up but no. I was panicking at this point, but we had completed this exercise earlier on. Technique never entered my head, I just couldn't remember planting my foot anywhere. Words of encouragement were whizzing past my ears. I just had to try and roll out.

In the corner of my eye, I saw the intimidating bulletman. What a concept!

After rolling out, then I was right up against the wall in the far corner, and bulletman was right in my face, breathing through the four rectangular holes of his headgear, and barking at me, literally. Two other guys with large pads were at my sides. The instruction was: "You move when he hits you, hands by your sides first", I was told. I didn't even have time to look around, and then whack, it started. The shout outs of encouragement flew through thick and thin as I tried to power out. I must have shoved the bulletmans chin or helmet back so I wouldn't get hit. I pushed with my legs, making sure they were firm to the floor. I had no choice really. My left elbow came up and I just shoved him back as I moved along the wall. Result: escape!! Secondary result: a huge buzz!!

Martial arts for me will never be the same, combatives has to be the way forward, or at least, a combative mindset. But after the confrontation with the bulletman, it bought back memories of the chippy confrontations I had had. It was that realistic, and what a great day it was. And I had my copy of Working with Warriors, signed by its author himself, Dennis Martin.

So I staggered out to the car, with Kit, thinking about all we had learnt. It was the best seminar ever. Why? Not just because of the aching legs and body, but because we both absorbed an immense amount of information. You know how you have "seminar head" on when you attend seminars, and get only a bit of information. Not so today, my friend, not so today.

Unbeatable Imagination

2009-01-06T00:10:00.011Z

People go and train in martial arts because ultimately they might learn something that will help them survive a violent assault or win a trophy. Good for them if they win trophies along the way. They go and train and get all the drills right and do the belt gradings as required. They'll pick up new sequences in new partner drills, and learn a new thing called sensitivity, or learn a new pattern fighting imaginary opponents. Note the operative word: imaginary.

There are many books out there on self defence and a recent addition that has made compelling reading is called Meditations on Violence, A Comparison of Martial Arts Training and Real World Violence. On page 20, the author says

"Imagine studying something for a decade or more that you will never actually use. You have worked to perfect it, but without a touchstone to reality, how do you know what perfection looks like?"

In my own experience, I probably was never disciplined enough to perfect anything properly, but I have had a slight brush with that "touchstone to reality" when its all kicked-off in the chippy. People who work on the doors will have an even bigger touchstone than I will ever have but I know that dealing with the public can be a scary and dangerous thing. Maybe if I did perfect all the drills I had learnt, the mitt rounds, etc, it could have been less scary and less dangerous.....

Why can martial arts be such a big con? Because its all watered down. Because after all this time its all still mystical and you still get the instructor who will say he is unbeatable or say "hit me", so you do so and he does some fancy move, and wow, your chin hits the floor, and you sign up. Years ago, an instructor actually said to me he was unbeatable. I never signed up to his club at all. Some of these guys even produce DVD's and they will tell that you have to punch in a certain way because its "proper". I have this particular DVD where thats exactly the word this instructor uses with no other explanation. To top it all, the DVD has "Instructor Certification" in the title!

Please. Show me something that does the job. Don't show me move after move, drill after drill, lock flow after lock flow, and tell me it works.

Once I was asked how you would do a one-stop punch. HOW WOULD YOU DO IT? Does it exist? I heard stories about a famous karateka punching a bull. One hit. Kapow.

Martial arts work as long as you are doing a move within the same martial art. I think that this is what martial arts are all about. Like if one person is doing a sensitivity drill with someone, that same someone will know the same drill and actually helps the other guy finish the technique. Since when in the street does someone actually help you finish him off in an altercation?

I am reading this book called Working with Warriors and its quite an eye-opener that I could not put down. I think you should read it.

So to summarise in a round about kind of way:
1.Do martial arts - it will bring up your self-esteem, courage, build confidence, enhance your flexibility and aerobic fitness, and help you make new friends.
2.Forget about it, because you might find that a lot of it doesn't work. No disrepect meant, as for most people, they are living the dream. They want to believe that all that they have been shown has some validity in the street. Some arts are more suited than others, but it doesn't mean that those people who might be studying arts less suited to the street will believe in their chosen art any less. And dangerously, all those belt tests can build up your ego so much (if you allow it to) so that you might just believe too much in your art, and come crashing down hard when someone with no martial arts training clocks you one in the street. Ego is a horrible thing, sometimes. Or you might be one of those movie star type people, and then of course if you are, it all works....
3.Maybe you can make it work. I don't know, BUT, find out whats real for yourself. To do this:
4.Find an instructor who has seen it and done it, someone who knows the truth and is willing to share it. Someone who has used his art, and who has enough common sense about him to recognise the signals.
5.Know that its not about the art, its about the man, the creating individual. Don't get so sucked up into the art. But decide what it is you want to get from the art.
6.Find someone who can talk about mindsets, what to look for when trouble arises, and how to recognise the cues.
7.Sod it. Just do whatever the heck you want to do, as long as it includes points 4, 5 and 6. Just keep healthy. And read good material like in the books above.

Cheers

L.

Profoundness in the written Word

2008-11-18T01:29:00.011Z

We all communicate through the medium of words.

Here are a few words from various sources that may or may not mean something to you.

"Advancing, the foremost leg takes the lead, followed by the near leg, which comes just so far as to leave it the same distance behind the front one before." A very wordy instruction but typical of the style of writing from the time. To me, it means to push off the back leg to advance forward. But then, I can see this image in my head anyway.

This is from a book called Boxing, by A.J.Newton, 1910. Stances and footwork haven't changed any since then, have they? He had a Boxing gym in London called Newton's School of Arms and Physical Culture. Prof. Newton, as he was then known, was light-weight boxing champion, 1888-1890. This man was the inventor of the "Perfect Punching Ball and apparatus, also Patentee of the Revolving Medicine Sack and Ground Punching Ball". He must have been a true innovator of the time.

How about: "Its what you learn after you know it all that counts". This kind of means a lot to me. Learning the six levels to get to Katugulong Guro only really means something if you are lucky enough to have someone to teach it all to. Then you really learn what you do and don't know. The statement came from a book called "You, Inc" by Burke Hedges. Its on page 130 and he took it from a guy called John Wooden, a legendary basketball coach. From the same book, on page 139, we have a statement by Benjamin Franklin: "There are 3 things that are extremely hard: steel. a diamond, and to know one's self."

And how about this: "A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams." That's quite a strong one, I believe. What dreams have you? There have been a lot of people opening up full time martial arts gyms in my area. They are living out their dream, which can't be a bad thing.

I found an old research paper about the physics of karate strikes the other day. That's full of words too, and I am going to read it and write about it in my next blog. But from this blog, I am not sure what you can take away from it, as its just me babbling on again about nothing.

Have fun training

Sometimes just reacting is a lot of fun

2008-11-02T16:59:00.010Z

Martial arts is a funny thing...I mean, years ago, I would have never thought I'd still be doing something at 40, or be at apprentice instructor level in Warriors Eskrima. After all this time, when I began at 13, martial arts still fascinate me.
There are those people who tell others that this won't work and that doesn't work. For me, it depends on who it is, and what reality he or she lives. A simple wrist lock can work, if the trouble-makers not expecting it. My reality when I was a teen was that some guy pointed his finger at me after making trouble in our shop and a quick wrist lock made him scream. No ceremony, no stance, no nothing. And the guy shut his mouth and didn't say a word. That was my reality back then, in that split second. So is that a martial art, or just a reaction? Or was that a trained response? It just happened. The answers presented themselves. I never trained for it, I was just switched on. In the zone. Faced with adversity, I just did something I'd never thought I'd do. Weird how that part of the brain wants to take authority for that tiny window of time.
I remember other occasions when we'd have trouble in the shop. I switched on, got rid, switched off, got back to serving. Some customers found it comical, and I did too afterwards. In fact, the moron that I got rid of would also come back in later weeks and we'd laugh.
I saw a reaction partner drill once that was a lot of fun. Much like a game of tag, and so easy and child's play in application, I appreciated instantly what the instructor was trying to show. There was a bit of sprinting involved, thats for sure. And its great for kids. Two guys would stand aside each other, as if they were sparring. One of them tags the other, then sprints away before the other guy can tag him back. In a self defence situation, that sprinting could be very useful.
Training and researching in martial arts is always a lot of fun. The proof of the pudding as they say, is in the practicing, then you can see for yourself what'll work and what won't.
A good drill to train reactions, at least with sticks, is a counter for counter drill called Pakgang. This could be a single stick or double stick drill, and is not so much of a game, but its something that hones your empty hand skills too. If you don't time your hits and blocks properly, you'd get hurt.

Have fun training.
L.

PS check out the article in this link: http://www.bodyconfidential.com/index.asp?Sessionx=IpqiNwU6IWApJpqiNwF6IHqi&realname=Dreaming_of_Bruce_Lee,_looking_like_Kung_Fu_Panda

Gettin' on the good foot

2008-09-05T00:28:00.009Z

In the book Jeet Kune Do, Its Concepts and Philosophies (Vunak, Unique Publications), Chapter VI begins with a section on Footwork. In fact, the section opens with a profound statement from Guro Dan Inosanto, who says: "Footwork is probably one of the most important qualities a fighter can possess". If you look at any martial art, footwork is indeed key to good body mechanics. But, not all footwork is the same, for example footwork in wrestling is not the same as footwork in capoiera! But its all important, nevertheless.

Tonight, my bro and I tried to emphasise use of footwork in the lesson. Typically, beginners in martial art sometimes forget that they also own their legs and move only the upper torso. Its like their feet are nailed to the ground! Often, they don't emphasise the triangle enough in the triangle step, and end up closer to the opponents oncoming strike than they should! So tonight we built upon last weeks training and we will continue to do so in the following weeks. Lots of "female triangle" moves tonight.

If we look to page 143 in the Tao of Jeet Kune Do, there is a statement that really stands out: "The essence of fighting is the art of moving"...how profound is that statement? So really then, footwork is not only used to determine your escape route, but also to best effect your position for attack or counter. Footwork, then, encompasses timing, distance, balance, mobility, springiness, correct positioning, power for the counter or attack, mentality for defence, mentality for attack, correct weight distribution, which in turn allows for correct weight transferance, advancing, retreating, circling right, circling left.....there is a lot to think about!

At the end of our session, I think what we did paid off, and our lone student seemed better for it and worked very hard. Well, at least he learnt a couple of new drills to help him along his way........

Thanks for reading

The Used to Be's

2008-08-25T22:29:00.003Z

One night we had a massive queue in the chippy. It was probably a saturday night, and it was well busy. This guy had come in and was causing quite some noise. He had always been a bit rowdy whenever he would come in. I just couldn't wait 'til closing time. My dad went into the crowd of customers to try and shut him up. He refused to listen. I had also accompanied my dad and thats when the guy said how he knew how a certain bunch of people would kill me easily. I can't remember what happened next, or what was said next. All I remember now is that dad had done some quick throw on him after gesturing to shake his hand. And he didn't just do this the one time. Dad offered to shake his hand again, and again, the guy ended up rolling on the floor. He ran away, but only as far as a building site a little further down Ashton Old Road, where they were going to build a Kwik Save. He came back with a big plank of wood. Maybe he thought that this would be an equaliser - so out came the rice flails from under the counter. All this time we were serving, cooking, frying. I came out and did a few moves, I don't remember what but I do remember having a great book by "Fumio Demura on Nunchaku, Karate Weapon of Self Defense" and having a few lessons at Steve's George St Gym, (http://www.jeet-kune-do.info/). I would never hit anyone with anything, especially a rice flail, and in the end I gave away that book. But a few flashy moves worked, the trouble-maker threw the plank down, said "burn it" and walked away. He only lived on the next block! He sat outside his house on his doorstep long after our queue of customers had left (some of whom left for good and never came back!) Dad and I went to chat with him. Can't recall now what was said, but in the ensuing months and even years, things were fine between us and him. I think that was in 1985 when the chippy did good business in that affluent decade. Apart from this and other episodes of violent behaviour, those times were great! If we never had the chippy, I would never have begun any martial arts, would have never got to see Way of the Dragon when it was on "Rank Video" (this was the first Bruce Lee movie I opted to rent out), and would have never have got to meet the great people that I have along the way. Oh also along the way, I learnt how to do a bit of cooking, and no, its not all MSG!

So, you want salt and vinegar on your chips and gravy? Eat now? (Yeah. "Sore Finger", heard that one before...)

Happy training
L.

Whats an Instructor for?

2008-08-07T22:41:00.003Z

There was this one time when I looked at the TKD class from the balcony, (the class was held in a squash court) and I recall that this Green belt guy had no idea how to hold the focus mitts for his training partner. The Green belt guy got told off big time by his so-called friend, who really made him feel small. His so-called friend was a Yellow belt, Green stripe, one below the "rank" of the ever-luscious Green. And, it was obvious to me, that the Yellow belt, Green stripe man, had done something else before TKD. He could have just asked him to hold the mitts, but maybe the Green belt man failed to pay attention, himself being a rank higher and all, well, he must be right.

I think that, had the instructor seen it, he should have stepped in to help. But as is usual with most arts where people don the angry white pyjamas, ego seems to brew without the instructor seeing. This only leads to a path of self-destruction. Ultimately.

When you have a large class, its hard to give everyone the same amount of due care and attention. This is a problem as you then get a mass production line of colour-belted individuals with skills that don't really meet the colour at all. But...all the way through this journey of martial arty bullshit, ego just builds and builds and builds.

Ego got the better of me when I was doing Wu Shu Kwan back in my teens at college. We were training in the common room and I saw my friend coming through the doors, so I ran to greet him ending with some silly flying crescent kick. He responded: "Yeah, yeah I know you can fly."

Ego hit me in the face again when, I challenged this huge guy from Kickboxing to a sparring match, and I got the shit beat out of me. I think that when your hormones are raging in those now far-away spotty years, you do some silly things....

So what's an instructor for....to build ego? Or should he strive to dissipate it?

Everybody has ego. Its like a double-edge sword. You have to temper it down. If you don't have ego, how will you know what you can and cannot do? How will you get that drive to keep going? How will you know when to stop...?

An instructor can only be your guide, its up to you for all the rest. In my own journey I think I have learnt much about myself, and the grand thing is is that it isn't going to stop anytime soon.

For that, I thank all my professional instructors past and present of whom one stands out and he lives here: http://www.jeet-kune-do.info/ Cheers for all Steve! Much thanks goes also to Greg Hall http://www.greg-hall.co.uk/

Happy training,

New Pictures of Old Times

2008-07-26T20:47:00.002Z

Stickability

2008-06-26T22:49:00.004Z

As mentioned elsewhere in my blogs, Mark took his level 1 grading in Warriors Eskrima a few weeks ago. In this picture, Kit is teaching him a single-stick drill called Herada. Its part of level 2 and is a very important drill that helps to teach distance, that is, using the stick at close range. We went through a lot of stuff, including empty hands, left handed disarms, knife work, jabs, footwork, hooks and lots more. Mark, who had self doubts just a few short weeks ago, now shows he has a lot of stickability. In the picture, the angles might be slightly off, but he might be at that concious incompetence stage right now.
I personally have no stickability at all. I keep saying I will get down to class and do some training, but on the verge of my 40th birthday I can look back into my 30's and ask, "where has the time gone?" "Just what did I acheive in that decade?"
The way to do things in life is to set acheivable targets, small, juicy chunks that are manageable. Time helps build us, but at the same time, time can also deceive us. Its just so easy to do something you enjoy, the time flies fast and before you know it, its gone. The goal that wasn't set isn't missed, until much later.
So I am hoping I can stop forging excuses from nowhere and knuckle down and do something. It seems there is a common theme throughout my blogs that outline these little shortcomings, or maybe its something within me that wants to strive for something that can be a success.
Stickability! I need to get that back.
Roll on til 50.
L.

A Long Trip Begins Today

2008-06-08T23:12:00.008Z

Warriors Eskrima North and South Manchester teamed up to visit Warwick Racecourse on a fine and very warm summers day for gradings on 8th June. Several levels were being tested and I have no doubt in my mind that, by gradings' end, everyone felt a huge sense of achievement.

Kit, Gaz, Mark and I set off down the M6 to Warwick from Manchester that morning, and we got to the grading venue at about 10.15 am.

Mark and Gaz were taking their level 1 tests, tests of which should not be sniffed at. Technically I think that level 1 is the hardest. For level 1, Gaz, Mark and several newer faces from Johnny's South Manchester group tried their damn hardest in a great all-purpose gym. Gaz and Mark, on their first visit to Warwick, worked extremely hard and did a grand job at the grading, pure concentration and focus. No nerves showed through at all and all the technique was spot on. Congratulations on getting through it, guys!!

The level 6 grading that took place put Keith, one of Johnnys students through hell....it can very well be the most physically demanding grading ever. Keith went through what must have been at least 50 minutes of stick sparring, knife sparring, empty hands sparring and mat work. And with no fans in the gym, it was too hot. It was a grueling, hard test for Keith, and he did tremendously well under pressure. A level 6 very well deserved.

Sheer determination and will power, conditioning, skill and technique, under pressure, put all the guys through what was a brillant grading.

Here are some pictures from the day.

It was good to see Guro Krishna again - he took the time out to show all of us some knife techniques after the grading despite having a very busy schedule ahead.

Well done to all! Happy training, onward and upward!

Week in, week out

2008-05-28T19:36:00.006Z

Train, train and more train. I wish I could! Right now I think I am still in first gear. Maybe I think this way because I want to improve myself, and am not satisfied with just doing "a bit". Like a lot of things, it would be great to turn my hobby into my job.....

One day, it will all come to pass. Something will stop me doing what I like, for good. One day, I will get old, and that day comes closer as soon as this day ends. So when you have a chance, you should take it.

Here's the key thing. There are those out there who do martial arts because they can acheive something in their chosen art. They can't express themselves in their everyday roles, perhaps their jobs don't allow it but the martial arts gives them that capability. Its important for them. Their jobs are awkard too, they have trouble booking time off to do the gradings.

Then there are those who tell you they can do it, and that they are ready, even if its not really for them to say so, but in practice when it comes to the last hurdle, or even the first, they falter, they fall, and they screw up. Its just one of those things, you have to practice. Its like doing a presentation at work - if you don't rehearse - you screw yourself up. (I know this from experience!)

Dedication is of utmost importance. I know full well that work gets in the way. But perhaps sometimes, when it comes to the test, some people bite off more than they can chew. Their conception is too far wide of the mark, but they don't realise this error because their standard remains stagnant due to lack of practice.
Martial arts take up a lot of time, but only if you can give it time. Martial arts, should not be a chore.

If you can't give it time, then you need to find something less demanding as you'd reap very little reward otherwise. And then you'd get fed up and wonder why.

Training and dedication breeds intent, fitness, technique, skill, good health, and above all reaps results.

Results can only be achieved in life through positive lifestyle changes, not through pissing away half the day in bed. Martial arts offers the average guy a tool to help make that lifestyle change. But if you live in ExcuseLand, even if you have club membership, then my thoughts ultimately are that you are much less a martial artist, and much more of a martial arts enthusiast. And, come to think of it, you screw up your instructors as well, as they turn up week in, week out. 110%.

Keep training

Why violence?

2008-05-13T10:13:00.005Z

Some people will walk past a martial arts school and tell themselves and others that it looks like a violent place or that they will never want to learn anything like that because they perceive it to be related to violence. Maybe these people know something we don't. But a martial arts school is far from the whole notion of violence, in fact, to study martial art is to study the act of being non-violent. In the news everyday, you will hear of a violent attack, a fight or a stabbing, a rape or a beating, a bullying or a shooting. Why can people hurt other people? Is it something to do with social dominance? Why is it in our nature to always pick on those who are weaker? Before you might say its something to do with testosterone levels, lets look at what we can call "The Five Stages of Violent Crime"process.

In these stages, it is seen that, if one is to embark on a rampage of violence, he first has to detach himself from normality, and make that decision that he is going to harm someone. This can be called INTENT. This part of the process can be a pre-determined decision or can be a reaction to something. The body posture of someone who is about to commit a violent act should put anyone on edge. There is always a build up to this stage. Even a habitually violent person will have to mentally prepare himself. Usually, alcohol is to blame, but in truth, that person is already there, already waiting for the opportune moment.

The key thing prior to launch for the violent attack, is that the would-be assailant feels safe enough to know that he can take you. The criminal decides upon your status as a possible victim. This stage is called the INTERVIEW.

The interview stage is where the criminal might approach you and distract you, like perhaps asking you for the time. Once you look down to your wrist watch, POW he is in. What he is doing here is checking your awareness about all around you and whether you are paying attention. By the time he has asked you the time, he is already in your safety zone. He is making sure that you aren't attentive enough to fight back. Also, the interview stage might be in the form of him, or her, stalking the victim, and looking at the victims habits.

POSTITIONING is the next part of the process. This happens because the criminal wants to put himself in a position where he doesn't need to fight you. This is so because he wants to overwhelm you. Once this person has gone this far, you can be rest assured that he is far from innocent. What if its more than one...? A group might use what we can call a pincer....you need to be especially aware if you see two individuals approaching you and all of a sudden they split up.

The obvious step following positioning is the ATTACK, this may be in the form of intimidation for psychological gain, or threat display. There are two goals for a criminal at this stage.

1) The use of or the threat of violence to achieve a goal.

2) That goal is physical in manifestation.

Your reaction to a real threat should in turn be just as real and this is justified.

The fifth stage is REACTION, i.e. the criminals reaction to what he has done. The issue here is that he might want more, for example, if a victim co-operates under threat, then this might further empower the assailant, and he will want to attack again, perhaps more viciously than before.

There are various models to check how a violent attack occurs. This five stage model is all but one of them.

In all this, we should question the actual level of testosterone in a person in relation to violence. Is there neccesarily a heightened level of this hormone? In fact, testosterone is as much the result of violence as its cause. Testosterone levels rise when someone wins a sporting event, or even a chess match. So we can't pinpoint if violent attacks take place because of increased testosterone levels.

So. Martial arts have nothing to do with violence. For most martial arts, it could be said that they aren't violent enough to deal with the 21st C.

'Til next time, all.

Steam it and hit hit hit

2008-04-15T10:48:00.006Z

What started the ball rolling for me in martial arts was really my cousin back in the 70's. He was studying in London for a bit and he was learning karate, probably Shotokan. He stayed at our place and he would show me how to punch in a karate type way. Back in the 70's I wasn't very healthy at all and it was in that same decade my dad bought me a Bullworker to help me. Cycle through to the eighties and we all headed north to Manchester and here is where it all (properly) started.
What was the reasoning behind starting martial arts? Back then in 83, I rented my first Bruce Lee video: The Way of the Dragon. Sitting there watching the alleyway fight where the "Dragon whips its tail" and of course the superb Coliseum fight just totally blew me away. And so it began, first with Choshin-kai Karate lessons held at the Gransmoor Pub which then shifted later to the Halfway House, and then onto Droylsden, probably in 1986-87. Back in the 80's, I tried a variety of styles like Wu Shu Kwan and kickboxing, the latter looking at the sports side of things. Hmmm. I recall there were three variations of spinning backfist. Thats not the take home message though!! The sports side of things was a lot of fun, but in my opinion would be dangerous to use in a real situation.
Fast forward to 2008, and another weekend has shot by and Kit and I managed to get some stick practice at Salford Uni Gym.
I went for another private lesson with Greg Hall recently, in which knife combatives were discussed, from a more live point of view. We used my dummy stanley knife. I didn't want to use my normal training blade - just for a change. Another student was there, a guy called Mark, who recognised me from Wythenshawe Forum. Small world....Anyway, we did quite a few scenarios, and it was good training. There are different mindsets involved for both the guy holding the knife, and the guy who is facing the guy holding the knife. My suggestion is to give Greg a call to find out. Ultimately though, just "steam it" and hit, hit and HIT AGAIN.

In an even more recent private lesson, we went through stick combatives. The entire combative mind set is truly effective stuff. No cermony. Just hit. See target, destroy target.

25 years on since 1983, from the day we put up the Karate poster in our chippy, right up to the present, and I am still in there, learning to teach, and teaching to learn, as my brother says.

Theres always something to pick up and there is always something missing in martial arts. I am aiming to fill in the gaps ('cos I am still crap at this stuff!!) Roll on the next 25 years???

Thanks for reading,
L.

Wigan, Warwick, Knuckles and Mitts

2008-03-27T00:40:00.006Z

Just enjoyed another Rick Faye seminar (check out http://kittomainia.blogspot.com/ for further details.) Rick covered quite a bit in 3 and a half hours, although there is never quite enough time. On this occasion, on a cool March evening, my bro and I travelled to Wigan to Mel Corrigans group. Due to various circumstances and lifestyle changes, Kit and I hadn't trained together for a long while, at least not in a classroom/gym environment. As we drove down the East Lancs heading into the sun, we began wondering where the venue was, as it seemed to be a never ending stretch of straight-ness for an absolute age. We amused ourselves thinking maybe the actual sun was the final destination. It was the most obvious thing we could see, or couldn't see, for that matter. Finally, we made it. Although we were ten minutes late, both Rick and Mel greeted us with a smile and a handshake each. Neither Kit or myself had ever been to Mel Corrigans JKD gym before. Very impressive place and reminded me a little of Rick's gym in Minneapolis. As Kit and I entered, there was Rick and Mel demonstrating stick and dagger techniques. And, as time seemed to speed up ahead of us, we went through some more weapons work, some fundamentals in the hubud drills, and finally some quick-fire mitt work. Rick looked over to us when we practiced some of the arm drags in hubud and I think we did it with a bit of intent as Rick asked, "you two still like each other, right?" Kit and I smiled and laughed. It was good to see him.
As well as the Rick Faye seminar this March, Kit and I made it to Warwick to attend the Instructors Workshop held by Krishna Godhania. It took just over two hours to get there and we were a bit late for that one too, (albeit I think not the latest.) It was a great workshop with about 10 instructors and it began with sparring drills using padded sticks, followed by plenty of sparring! Nice to put things into practice, and against other instructors of the system. We also did some knife work, a follow on from Palakaw/Palisut. And again, we tested each other out. We ended the workshop talking about body postures and when bad people hide their blades and what their body language might be. Some of these guys live a lot closer to Warwick than us, so I have little doubt that they will always make more workshops than us. But one nice thing right at the end was that Krishna came up to us and told us that we were doing well and to keep on coming.
March has been a great month for meeting different martial artists and training. I have been going to Blackley for some lessons in combatives as taught by Greg Hall. Again, fantastic stuff and good solid training, plus the combatives side of things cast a different light on what martial arts are not. I hope to do some more soon! Lets see if I can keep the momentum going....
Til next time.........

Unconcious Competence: Learning keeps us alive

2008-03-19T01:01:00.004Z

It was Greg Hall who told me about the different stages of learning of which comprises 4 stages:
1. Unconscious incompetence

2. Conscious incompetence

3. Conscious competence

4. Unconscious competence

In learning any new skill, we all strive for Unconcious competence, when things become second nature. The brains capacity to learn is ceaseless, even now my father at over 70 years old strives to learn a new word of English almost daily.

Take the sumbrada drills for example. To the untrained eye, it looks almost like a blur. And, to the beginner, it looks like a long arduous journey, usually peppered with -ve statements like "I'll never get that". So...in our sumbrada sequence, it begins with 3 hit sumbrada, to 5 hit, then to punyo sumbrada, then to hubud, and then back out again right back to the start with 3 hit. Its interesting as it teaches movement from one range to the next, and of course it teaches co-ordination and target specifics. For the beginner, practice is of course the key, minus mistakes and bad habits though! Its quite easy for someone to fall back from "second nature" to Concious competence, so practice and commitment is vitally important.

Learning how to punch correctly also has a sequence of movements, from the hip to the shoulder to the elbow to the fist. And then of course the sequence would perhaps end with the puncher going back to guard again, protecting his head.

Learning a simple punching sequence, e.g. jab, cross, uppercut and hook, may also appear difficult, for the pad holder as well as the beginner puncher. If the mitt holder fails to be there at the right time, the puncher loses out and his rhythm is shot. Not to mention joint injury! Then you throw a knife into the sequence to the pad holder, and the pattern changes once more.

To explain the levels so that we can identify where we are all at, lets begin at:

1.Unconcious Incompetence:

the person is not aware of the existence or relevance of the skill area
the person is not aware that they have a particular deficiency in the area concerned
the person might deny the relevance or usefulness of the new skill (am I bothered?)
the person must become conscious of their incompetence before development of the new skill or learning can begin
the aim of the trainee or learner and the trainer or instructor is to move the person into the 'conscious competence' stage, by demonstrating the skill or ability and the benefit that it will bring to the person's effectiveness

2.Concious Incompetence

the person becomes aware of the existence and relevance of the skill (sudden realisation that a grading looms forever closer)
the person is therefore also aware of their deficiency in this area, ideally by attempting or trying to use the skill
the person realises that by improving their skill or ability in this area their effectiveness will improve ideally the person has a measure of the extent of their deficiency in the relevant skill, and a measure of what level of skill is required for their own competence
the person ideally makes a commitment to learn and practice the new skill, and to move to the 'conscious competence' stage

3.Conscious Competence

the person achieves 'conscious competence' in a skill when they can perform it reliably at will
the person will need to concentrate and think in order to perform the skill
the person can perform the skill without assistance
the person will not reliably perform the skill unless thinking about it - the skill is not yet 'second nature' or 'automatic'
the person should be able to demonstrate the skill to another, but is unlikely to be able to teach it well to another person
the person should ideally continue to practise the new skill, and if appropriate commit to becoming 'unconsciously competent' at the new skill
Practice is the singlemost effective way to move from stage 3 to 4

I believe that between 3 and 4, gradings can happen, and its unfair as the student concerned has not quite reached stage 4.

4.Unconcious Competence

the skill becomes so practised that it enters the unconscious parts of the brain - it becomes 'second nature'
common martial arts examples are punching, hubud, sticking hands, focus mitt tasks, knife sequences
it becomes possible for certain skills to be performed while doing something else, for example, stirring whilst reading a cook book
the person might now be able to teach or show others in the skill concerned, although after some time of being unconsciously competent the person might actually have difficulty in explaining exactly how they do it - the skill has become largely instinctual
this arguably gives rise to the need for long-standing unconscious competence to be checked periodically against new standards (workshops, class, seminars)

So in martial arts, there is a huge array of bruises, sequences, katas, forms, body mechanics, techniques, and basic blood, sweat and tears. The learning process and final self realisation should be an enjoyable journey. Once you master one thing, go on to the next. It keeps you going and its better than sitting in front of the box!

Train hard

Meaty arms, stress and combat

2008-03-13T07:10:00.006Z

Martial arts are not meant for fighting, or so I am told by a guy who does ninjitsu. I remember attending the class he was part of, and I remember another guy in the same class putting on arm lock on me explosively. That was probably over a year ago and it still aches sometimes now. I was told by the ninjitsu guy who was obviously backing up his friend that, as my arms were a bit meaty, perhaps his friend thought that he needed more power to put the lock on. So....martial arts must be meant for proving a point and to feed the ego! NOT GOOD.
Needless to say, I have not been back to that class since. I also have a strong feeling that both these guys have never been in an altercation. Good for them! They have the chance to walk away, in which case, its much less about martial art, its almost bordering more on the realms of self preservation and taking themselves out of the firing line. But being able to say that one has never been in a fight, and citing martial arts as the reason, that in itself builds an ego which surely creates a false sense of security. I think that if you have a tactic that helps you avoid trouble in the first place, maybe thats common sense or you are a couch potato, not going out at night and you'd rather stay in. That's nothing to do with martial art.
What of those people who have to use their martial art on a regular basis? What is their psyche like, compare to those who stay in the gym? Obviously, real-life is totally different. Sure, anyone can be stupid in training and let his ego tell him to whack on a lock explosively. This means to me that the instructor was not observant and allowed it to happen. But...in real life, on the street? Its not going to go your way. What if the assailant is all coked up? How do you prepare for that? The problem with martial arts is that, in that safety zone, the application is all so easy, and everything works on a compliant training partner (which I was that day in ninjitsu class - damn, its such a pain to have "meaty" arms.)
You can't prepare for someone who is coked up, violent and persistent. There is just no way. This is why I said in the past that no one spars with you in the street.
Combatives is one way of survival that is different from martial arts. The difference being that "martial arts are what we do with one another, combatives is what we do to each other." I had a great training session with Greg Hall, at his club, recently. We covered a good few basics, coupled with his experiences of real-life altercations. I have known Greg a number of years and this was my first visit to his club. He draws from a huge array of methods and disciplines and is extremely knowledgable and down to earth. Adding the combative way of thinking to what I have can only do me good and it was great to be a student again. Its helping me get back on my feet and deals with the stress I am suffering from right now.
This week has been an interesting week, martial arts-wise. Bear in mind I am using this to help me combat stress. For a long while I stopped doing the things I would do usually in a heartbeat with no question. The road back to normality isn't an easy one. So martial arts-wise, my friend Irfan of Rochdale(The Dojo) invited me to his karate club to do a private lesson in Eskrima. He used to do it at Salford Uni when Bob Melia was teaching. I covered some basics with Irfan, and he showed me what he remembered from the old days. Irfan's club is really good and well equipped and he teaches mainly karate but draws upon experiences from a wide variety of disciplines. On the same day, a friend of mine and his son were involved in a local kickboxing contest. I had wished them the best of luck several days prior.
My time at Irfans was followed by my private lesson at Gregs, and then my chat with Bob about techniques and styles, life and stresses. Of course, all this wasn't in the same day!
Seems now I have to take stock in my life and to see whats what. Could a career in martial arts beckon? Could I do something I enjoy in life? I have seen what others do, and I was told that for these people who can live off their own club, one reason is because they have a core art and thats what makes them good at it. Could I get to that level? Am I fit enough? Time will tell.
I have a workshop to look forward near the end of the month as well!
Thanks for reading all my boring dross!!

Year Of The Rat 2008

2008-02-11T10:30:00.000Z

The gothic Town Hall wore a bright yellow banner yesterday as Manchesters famous Chinese New Year Celebrations fell upon us again. The actual New Year fell on thursday.

Master Chu and his team emerged from the Town Hall with a huge dragon.The grounds of the Town Hall were packed as people watched this long, colourful beast take its short path to a crowded ChinaTown. Enjoy the pictures! My friend Bob is in them somewhere....his first participation in the celebs was way back in the early 80's and he is still in the forefront to this day. Well done Bob!

Stress Relievers

2008-02-09T16:36:00.000Z

Its getting to me. I have had stress now for ages and have been away from regular activities for a long time. Work stresses me out. I need an outlet, somewhere where I can pummel something. Somewhere where everyone is happy.

Does this sound like you? The slightest little thing can send you flying over the edge. That thing in your head is about to click, its about to go off as you drive home. You think of the days events that maybe didn't go so well, or the colleague who made it worse for you, or the manager or boss who couldn't fight your corner when he said he would, or the work that went appreciated, or the computer that crashed right as you were adding the finishing touches, or that customer who showed you no respect in your shop.......you think....when is it going to end? Then when you go home, its not that easy either, there is always something in the way, something that screws your plans - theres just no escape from the stress. Its already getting worse, your mind can't take it, its spinning out of control. Then the downward spiral begins, and you want to face reality but its tough!

Stress is horrid, it brings illness and disease, poor circulation and terribly itchy skin conditions. Stress is something that should be taken seriously.

People will tell you, "snap out of it", "stop thinking like that" or "stop scratching". But they never tell you how.
So...what's to do?

Martial arts is always a nice outlet for stress release. It always is an honour to receive some quality instruction in martial skills and always a pleasure to listen to anecdotes from your instructor, especially funny ones.

Over the years I have had the pleasure of training under many instructors who had have certain qualities that have help get rid of the day's anxieties. Any physical activity is good for you anyway and when you have someone who can inspire you then that makes it all worth it.

So...if possible, get someone you can trust to hold the Thai pads so you can rattle out some hard punches, knees, elbows and kicks. A top stress reliever.

Or visit the gym and rack 'em up on the barbell and power out some decent Bench presses.

Best of all...spend time with those who care and with those you care about.

Real-time Stresses, Knifework and Blackouts

2008-01-14T01:21:00.000Z

Its been a long while since I last got inspired to type anything. Over xmas I got ill with a cold and cough, plus stress which has really got me down. But anyway...! Recently we did a bit of filming, i.e. filming some of our techniques, mainly for our own reference. The subject matter was some number 1 stick disarms and knife work, including palisut and palakaw. These two components are from level 5. Its great to be able to have a video reference, we hadn't shot any footage for a very long time!

What I would like to do is to develop all the stuff I know, which isn't a great deal compared to a lot of other people in this field, and just bring it to a level that has practical application. Recently, I was lucky enough to have someone ask me to provide a private lesson! (Ha, me teach a private lesson!) So...we began with Higot Hubud, working with the lock flow. This person actually works in a medium security unit and handles a lot of weird shit with violent and angry patients as well as sedated ones. I certainly would not like to have the job he has. He had been attacked a few times and told me one time he had a blackout after being punched. That's really bad. These guys also make weapons from various objects. like CD's.

Funny thing is, the night before I watched Louis Theroux on TV, visiting an American prison and it was all quite similar in a way. I was asking similar questions to this guy.

Anyway....from the lock flow, we isolated the locks and worked with them, we went through some basic knife defences and Tapi-Tapi, some crazy monkey stuff and scenario training with my new stanley knife training tool. It was fast and energetic, and we tried to play with real-time stresses and psychology.

It was a lot of fun, and I did ask him on several occasions, what he was allowed to do and what he wasn't to the patients.

And so it goes. I feel that its important to develop the ABC's into something that seems more real. I hope I acheived something close for our private lesson. There's a lot to be said from jumping from just drilling something into something that could be viable for real time applications. My next stage might be to try and train something in a confined space. Simulated something like this ages ago using our kit bags and make believe.

...til next time,

Trouble again

2007-12-18T22:28:00.000Z

Hello...firstly, Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to all (or rather, any) persons who frequently peruse my useless ramblings. So..its been a long time since the last blog, and I am a little sad to say that my in-laws are having trouble with the local kids, throwing eggs and stones at their window, effectively breaking it in four places. Not nice! Tonight we were able to track down the culprits and make friends with them. They were, as you might expect, playing the goat. Still after several weeks of unrest and trauma, I am hoping that making friends with them (keeping enemies close), they are going to quit messing.

I am myself off until the New Year now, 2008 has come very quick. Here's hoping it will be a good one. A new year resolution in my head at the moment, is to pick up on training once more.

Teaching has been up and down over the last few weeks, with some people turning up and others not. A bit like me really.

Speaking of training, Kit and I rarely get together these days except for some weights and some stick work, but we both aim to get more serious on all of it very soon. I was chatting to Kit about it and we both felt it would be a shame to stop just because someone else doesn't want you to go, or because of time restraints. I am pretty certain that I don't want to be saying "I used to do that" just yet.

In the meantime, I will end as I began, have a very Merry Xmas, and don't get too happy this New Year.

All the best

2007-11-06T22:53:00.000Z

Back when I was training in TKD, I found myself being a major critique, telling people that this wouldn't work and that's just for sport. That was a couple of years ago and now I realise what a total twat I have been to criticise an art that someone enjoyed training in. I was trying to make them see the light, albeit my light and I didn't do it very well. I was in effect trying to persuade people in the TKD class to give it up and try something more "street-wise" like I knew it all.

I have since come to realise that I was looking down on what these people were enjoying, and that it meant the world to them. I think this is what martial arts does to you, it creates ego.

Its the same old story, you want to go back in time and tell yourself NO, THATS A BAD THING TO DO!

Now when I look at myself I realise that I don't really have either, no TKD at all, and all my other training is at best, bitty. My excuse, though lame it might be, is that I am nearly 40, tired from work.......really I ought to be saying I am just too plain lazy.

The take home message is that I shouldn't have bothered about other people, I should have just kept myself to myself, and not been such a pain in the ass! That would have been much more satisfactory.

Anyway....back to it. Last week Kit and I attended Steve's weapons class. A great class as usual and good for training left handed punyo sumbrada! Never really trained that before and Kit and I had a lot of fun struggling. Great learning curve, it was fun to be a student once more.

Rick was teaching that day, great fun was had by all, methinks.

Kit and I were teaching our own little class the other thursday, little being the operative word with many of our students away. We literally had a force of one but then he asked me how much we get charged for the squash court so I told him what it was, he said "God you have made a loss then" but I said to him that he has made a lot of progress especially on this night where the Brothers Lok got to help him get his skill level up further. To me, thats a positive gain.

Anyway, have a laugh at this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7ZfQBYAE6s

Til next time

Wotcher

2007-10-26T12:16:00.000Z

Not blogged for ages but here we go. Reason for that really is two-fold...got sod-all internet at home (The future is NOT Orange! Their customer service needs a lot of attention!! In other words they are utter trash!!!) and I haven't been up to much training-wise. Another thing is that I have an ugly looking bump on my car...after attending a class in W'shawe...stupid car park had very poor lighting if any (Health and Safety issues here???) and whoever did it drove off, I guess with no insurance....leaving me with a huge bill, that I don't really need. I was really kicking myself that night, I really ought to have gone home. That's the way the cookie crumbles I suppose.

Again, I think the on-going theme in my blogs of late is that I need to be consistent and get back into something (where parking is safe!!) However, when I get home I am really tired these days and feel like my brain has been fried. I am sure I used to train more when I travelled out to other countries!!

Anyway, lets get away from this boring, negative, theme...a few up-shots lately:

1. Our pa turned 72 recently! Yayyyyyyyy!! When he was younger in Hong Kong, he too had an interest in martial arts. In fact, the famous Kwan Tak Hing (who portrayed Wong Fei Hung way before Jackie Chan and Jet Lee ever did) went to his village and Dad said that his kung fu was real and genuine!
2. I got an award at work! Yayyyyyyyy!!! Too bad they mis-spelt my name but hey, its OK!!
3. $%*&!! I am struggling for a 3rd!!
4. I am hoping to make it with my bro to 1 seminar in November.
5. Our little class of dedicated students seemed to be going well - until last night! No one turned up, lazy so and so's!! But its OK...I know how that feels. One guy needed a lift but the others let him down for whatever reason! My guess is is that they are all training hard when not attending. (LOL)

So anyway, thats it for this blog, til the next time
L.

Back to Basics

2007-08-30T23:03:00.000Z

Nowadays people seem to want it easy. I have noticed in certain circles, they want to take a chance with you and make out they are more important, after all, they are paying you, and they have become much less the student, and more a fee-paying (or even fee-dodging) customer. There is none of this master/student or even teacher/student...you really have to earn their respect. Cheeky b'stads.....!
After all, they don't know how much sacrifice you have had to put in to get to where you are, that is your personal journey and that's all.

In the relatively short while that we have been teaching, I have seen people come and go with that promise of coming back except of course you never see them again. However, for those that have kept coming back, we have tried to keep it interesting. Now, I think its time to go back to basics. With some of our students not being able to throw a proper punch, and also with the mentality that daily practice could not be scheduled in by these students, it was clear that we had a serious challenge.

No one can work miracles, and as Paul Vunak would say, you have to put in the flight time. If you don't, won't, can't, then, really, that's your own fault. Class lesson can give you the theory, it can give you a map and its up to you to find a way. Being in the position of beginner and a lazy beginner at that will bear little fruit. It might make him or her think that its not a problem to take a little more time than usual to get things right. I guess its up to the motivating Guro to change this mentality.

Back in the day when Kit and I trained regularly and hard, we reaped grand rewards for our efforts. Any art we tried, we enjoyed, because the training was good. It's like anything in life, you work hard, you get respected, you don't, well, there's the door. Kit puts in all the hours he can at work and has gained much recognition. Some things you sacrifice, such as, for both him and I, are training hours. That's the way the cookie crumbles. In training, it's very much the same, practice is essential outside of class time. Work takes its toll, but can you spare 20 minutes a day out of a whopping 24 hours on say, amara number 1, or a jab and a cross in front of a mirror? What window in your busy diary can you give up? Training is discipline. And you have to discipline yourself.

Speaking of jab and crossing, a good friend of mine came to watch the class, and mentioned that we need to gear the class more to the beginners and use the KISS method of Keeping It Simple, Stupid. So...as of next week, we going to shift it down a gear or two. He also asked if I was satisfied after class. This was a key question for me and something to be addressed for sure. No point teaching if you get less out of it than the students. It's time to aim for a win-win situation.

Teaching is indeed a challenge when you have beginners. It's a good, sometimes mind-numbing challenge. When we first began in Warriors, we weren't beginners. From teaching beginners, comes patience. We were all there once.

Desire is key. You have got to want it before you can finish it.

...must...try....harder....!!!!!

Til next time, those who don't practice NEED to!

Chippy fights 1

2007-08-16T22:46:00.000Z

We once had a chippy on Ashton Old Road. It was very busy during the 80's and sometimes we'd get some trouble. This one time we had a couple come in, and the fella was extremely loud and abusive. Certainly put the frighteners on my mum a bit. His girlfriend was just laughing, and dad went out to try and quieten the boyfriend down, but he made fun of dad's accent. Despite dad's effort's, he kept up the abuse and all the crap. I don't what happened next, perhaps it was the dream effect, but I came out and thrust a push front kick to get this moron off the premises. His girlfriend was saying "what d'ya kick him for??" and started panicking. At this time, dad and I were now outside, faced with this guy who still wanted to mouth off. He said "come on, I will take both of you on, come on." His girlfriend was having a fit in despair but then....guess what...the police arrived. They are never there but on this occasion, there they were, a police van, can't remember what it was, either a Transit, or a Sherpa. The two coppers came out and took him into the van. Next thing I knew, the van was literally rocking from side to side for two or three minutes, and then it was over. To this day, I will never know what would have happened if the cops didn't turn up.

I think that we were probably lucky. Very lucky. Oh the picture features Bruce Liang in TV serial from back in the day and it was really really good....too bad we all get old and the kicking slows down a bit....!

Anyway, til the next chippy story, see ya later

2007-08-13T22:30:00.000Z

Another week and another blog. Just my thoughts yet again. Kit will be visiting Vancouver with his fiance this week for two weeks, it should be a great fun filled and well-deserved holiday. He and Elaine will visit the Rocky Mountains whilst there. I remember my trip out to Canada and I was in Sin City itself, Windsor, Ontario for two weeks. I miss Tim Horton's coffee in the morning, and the general great time I had out there, even though I was working.

Have a great time, Kit and Elaine!! Safe journey there and back.

Hmmm....over here, on a thursdays, class is building up and its looking good. The guys keep coming back. Now we just need some ladies. Ladies should take up some kind of training, even if its just to hit something. Anyway....!

Again, last week, Johnny came down and bought his student Keith. I have class from 6.40pm til 8 and a little bit beyond sometimes. Last week, we stick sparred and I am very much out of condition. Perhaps we will make sparring a weekly thing. My training is pretty much at an all time low, just hitting the weights sometimes, but I watched a programme tonight about a patient who had 4 cardiac arrests. I thought that'll be me in 10 years if I don't do something now. He had no history of any chest pain either, same as me!

Here's a pic of Kit and I sparring. This was probably before the instructors grading last year. Great time!

Si and myself sparring. Nice hand guard, eh?

Some of the beginners need to work on getting good body mechanics. We have lots to do. This is what I might do this week.

Anyway, til next time, another boring blog has gone by, happy training, all....

May I help you?

2007-07-27T12:08:00.000Z

Kit and I were teaching last night. And it was great fun. One rewarding thing that comes out of all of this is that they enjoy it, they get to train and they have a good time. I gave one of the guys a lift back to Swinton and he said he was going through a bad patch in life but the training and exercise made him happy and feel better. Thats why he keeps coming back. And he is coming back to a weapons-based system, which is actually quite unusual. The first thing people think when they think martial arts is a striking art like karate, Muay Thai or perhaps, as is the trend these days, MMA. I feel good that the training and exercise has helped him. Makes me happy that he is happy. If I can help anyone get out of a rut using martial arts then that is a major plus. I think that maybe thats what martial arts can be all about. How a person learns about himself or herself, never gives up, channels negative energy into positive...hmmmm! All good things. That is what good training gives you. Whilst Kit and I have only been teaching for over a year, we are enjoying a good time doing so.

Johnny, Wythenshawe's Warriors Eskrimador, was here too. A great instructor and a top fella and always laughing, its always a pleasure. Johnny got his level 6 instructorship before Kit and myself and we sparred with him during that grading. Respect!

What people need at the end of the day is a good spirited class, as its a great way to forget the sh*t of everyday endeavours and rigours of being a slave at work.

Here's Johnny in black vs Gaz: going through the beginnings of a double stick disarm.

Its brillant that we have a dedicated bunch of people. Some people have come and gone, maybe it wasn't for them. They are always welcome back, and at any time.

To those who keep coming back, I hope that Kit and I can deliver, every time. Thanks!

Take care, til next time,

What's up world? Its been a while!

2007-07-21T09:50:00.000Z

How is life? Well look at what we have here on the net, Facebook, Myspace, Blogger....is there no privacy anymore? That aside, I have been so busy at work its affecting my life. To those of you who have told work to f off so you can get on with what you want in life, I tip my hat (if I wore one) to you. You know who you are...lucky sods!!!! So what I have been up to apart from being a desktop tech authoring-type monkey, lately? Apart from sitting on my arse getting fat doing overtime....? Well, not a great deal, to be honest. Not much in terms of training but I aim to begin something again soon. Kit and I still teach our little class which is actually growing in popularity and we are both enjoying it. Teaching takes alot out of your own training schedule....unless you are one of those rare species who can train all frigging day.

I turned 39 at the beginning of the month too, but I still feel the same, and look great(ly rotund)...that's the way the ball rolls so I need to step up into training again. I have picked up on the Sun Style Tai Chi again which I do enjoy, very scientific and in-depth, I must say. It's all about rooting. Bob Melia is my good friend and he is a great instructor in this area as well as in FMA. It's fun and interesting.

I am studying a course in Exercise Science at the moment, a distance training course which was FREE as a result of doing the Great Manchester Run, which I want to do next year too.

Our class on thursday was a tad on the thin side, with 3 people, but it was warm that day and people have commitments outside of playing about with wooden sticks. Still, hope there's more people next time. Kit showed the mohara / ordabis drill, which is an active, flowing, running drill with double sticks. Good for co-ordination and a bit of a blast if done quickly. Just exercise....

Main thing is, is that the people we teach and train with have fun and get a workout, techniques and exercise. They have a laugh and I often tell them that its common sense that counts in a real situation, if you can run, run, if you can pick up a chair or something do so. Martial arts! It's not martial arts, it's martial brain, that's the key.

Anyway...that's my blog for this time around. As always, leave your ego at the door because there's always someone out there you can learn from. Don't let your "art" go to your head and stay out of trouble. Now I need something to eat, I'm starving...

Byebye

Class

2007-06-14T22:55:00.000Z

We had a good class tonight. 6 people! Wow. A nice turnout and teaching was split between Kit and I. It was nice to see a good crowd. A couple of people had no-showed but that's ok, they'll hopefully turn up next week making it eight! A few people from the ninjitsu class walked on by and had a look through, they have their class next door.

Had to say goodbye to one of our students, Richard, he has finished studying for his degree now and goes onto pastures new, although he will be around once a week in Salford. The academic year really does fly by. He was really getting into it as well. Here in the pic, Richard trains with Kit.

Kit and I may have to step it up in class, we rotate around the beginners and the other guys who have been around longer. Not sure how Johnny teaches his class on his own on a monday night....! Anyway, we went through stick and knife locks, double stick block, parry and thrust drills, hubud and applications, some empty hand stuff and more. We will have to structure the class a bit differently next time. Hmmmm maybe some sparring.....!!

I have noticed of late that Kit is suffering from a wheezy chest - I hope it isn't asthma, like me. Stay well Kit and keep training!!

Anyway, short and sweet...see you next time!

Vegas, Baby!

2007-06-09T14:05:00.001Z

Hello all, its been such a long time. Well, my recent blogs have seen less of the martial arts and this one will be no different. Life takes over in its many forms and this time it took over in a positive light. My wife and I spent 5 nights (well 4 nights due to delays) in the sunny and very hot Las Vegas. (Tell you what, my skin looked as dry as the Grand Canyon and its only recovering now.)

So, my seventh time in the USA was spent in this strange, colourful adult Disneyland. Amazing! Not so amazing was that it took 24 hours to get there and it was the first time we flew with US Airways. On arrival I found that even the airport had slot machines!

Every hotel had some sort of shopping mall related to it. In one of them I found this, which is the largest Hawaiian shirt ever and is recorded in the Guiness Book of Records. Wouldn't like to spar with the giant who might wear it would you? Hubud number 12 perhaps? Bit of Chi Sao?? Nah, don't think so.

Every hotel had a theme too, whether it was the Luxor with its Egyptian overtones, or Excalibur, where tee shirts saying "Wanna Joust?" were plentiful.

It wasn't like anywhere else in America that I had been to. See what I mean about adult Disneyland?

Here's the front of the Excalibur. Stuff of fairy tales, innit?

The main highlight was a visit to the Grand Canyon though. We went up in a helicopter and had a very dramatic view. This picture was taken by a fellow passenger. It was our first time up in a helicopter.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

I have quite a few pictures so I won't print them all here, its looking like Lun's holiday snaps isn't it?

Here is a nice shot of another helicopter.

So Sue and I enjoyed our stay in Vegas, albeit short and hot. One thing is that we also visited Las Vegas's Chinatown. Sorry, its not a patch on Manchester, although it was spread over 2 blocks. We had a bit of a clash with some Mainlanders who snatched our taxi there.

Anyhoo, if you have lived in Manchester for over 20 years, and have enjoyed martial arts, particularly Muay Thai, heres an important contact for you should you visit Las Vegas...

Its done!

2007-05-20T17:30:00.000Z

Kit and I have made it! Felt brillant and well happy...what a great event!

Before race time....

Medal at the end! Whoo Hoo!!

And no! I was not last!!!

Great fun and fab organisation! The Great Manchester Run was a brillant and very colourful event. Kit and I really enjoyed doing it...though my legs were killing me afterwards.....

These were taken as we queued up to get to the start line. It was a great atmosphere and showed how a city like Manc can have such great character, unity and just plain ol' happy people!

Wouldn't wear a Chelsea kit round here, would you??

Fantastic stuff!!
Got past here...not far now!
There is a light at the end of the tunnel!

All in all a great day, I remember thinking how positive it all was, people all running together, for their respective charities, and to make a mark in the world, running for friends and relatives, and making "miles into smiles".

Thanks for all who donated!

The Day before the Run

2007-05-19T10:00:00.001Z

Well...the Manc Run is upon us! Kit and I are seen doing some training at Salford Uni Gym, on the treadmill. The girl in the background might not be doing the run, but I have a feeling she is in better shape than I will ever be! I am in the Pink Wave, which apparently is for those who want to walk...hey, thats all my lungs can manage. Its the money raised thats important to me, and thus far I am £25 short of the target which is £250!

Kit has met his target and exceeded it and we are both in it for Marie Curie Cancer Care. Should be good!

Elsewhere in the UK this weekend, well there's the FA Cup at the new Wembley Stadium and Seni 07 at the EXCEL centre in London. Why they moved that down there is beyond me! Funny how big events clash all the time.

Hopefully this week we will get back to training in the martial ways! We did a great class on thursday, with Tom and John, putting them through a circuit like we did in the old days. The circuit helped to break up the class and helped to put techniques to use in real time, with conditioning and elements of sparring. Then we did knife palakaw and palisut and well, time caught up with us again and it was nearing the end. Teaching is great fun!

Kit and I here are pictured with Rick Young, from a JKD seminar about two years ago. He is a great teacher in the martial arts and his seminars are always a pleasure to attend. Speaking of great teachers, I have heard Steve has been ill for quite some time, if you are reading this, Steve, get well soon. You are the greatest!

Steve's Channel M Video appears on You Tube as well as his own website. And if you want to see, Rick Faye has some footage posted there too!

Thanks to all who sponsored me and Kit on our just giving websites:

http://justgiving.com/lun

http://justgiving.com/kitrunsagain

Laters

Getting Slack, Jack

2007-05-17T12:31:00.000Z

Not done much martial training lately. Work is taking its toll. Hence the shortest of short blogs....ever!! Back to work, I suppose......

Going running

2007-05-01T22:58:00.000Z

Kit and I are going for the Great Manchester Run - I at least will be coughing and spluttering before I get anywhere and will no doubt go through a batch of inhalers...! Its going to be tough for me but its for a great cause!

If you wish to sponsor me, please visit: http://www.justgiving.com/lun

Kit will also be building is justgiving website.This is me now, 3 weeks or so away from the run....

Anyway if you sponsor me, or even if you don't and just come and watch, a big thank you goes out to you. CHEERS!

BOOM - doing sticks, the Choshin Kai way!

2007-04-29T00:20:00.000Z

Boom! Choshin Kai...open mind. With sticks, its open season.....

Rick Lawrie took the class as Steve was ill. I hope you get well soon, Steve. I popped into the newsagent around the corner from Steve's and saw Rick buying a drink. We talked about Steve and how he is, talked about what the class was going to be about and about my blog...!

This is the entrance to Van Dangs in Manchester.

Right at the top of these winding stairs you will see a sign for Jeet Kune Do. In fact, this building houses martial arts for all tastes, traditional and modern. Great!!

The technical stuff was definitely out this session. No set ups for disarms, shields or roof block drills. It was to be a much more dynamic lesson and a showcase of one man's intepretation of what stick arts should be. Well...lets say this, it wasn't going to be an art class, more of an agressive intent class.

I have said before in previous blogs not to be too caught up in an art. Too many drills - it just becomes un-real. You have to have a compliant partner to give you that particular energy so that you can go on to do the next part of the drill. I always think that its just a drill, take from what you will but you ain't going to fight like that. Maybe, if you are lucky, you can recognise some movement someone does on you that is, at that particular split second, a motion from a drill. AT THAT SPLIT SECOND.

I am not knocking arty looking drills. People just get too wrapped up in them and forget to see the forest for the trees.

BOOM! Padwork with proper sticks, not safety padded ones.

BOOM! Pocket stick blastin' on the pads.

The art is different from the intent.....and there's nothing wrong with training like that. Good stuff, this open mind. Of course, train for what you want from the art...no guarantee you'd have a stick handy anyway but hey, there you go. Are we in feudal Japan?? No. But these days, its close, especially for certain people more so than others. (Those who have to deal with the public directly, I mean).

Back in the day I always remember the Choshin Kai sign in our chippy K.A.M.A, with the fist in the top centre, and people used to come in and say "thats a warning, that is" and hardly anyone bothered>>us....until we had to take it down as their were no clubs anymore!!

Back to way back when, I remember the classes with Ian, we had a laugh every time he said "...and when you've bonged...", he must be in his fourties now....he was talking about Bong Sau. In the class, there was big Dave, God man, he was tough, built like Dragon Lee...even had the narrow looking (ok, slanted) eyes.....there was Mark who was quick and fast, the opposite of Dave, I think there was another Dave with curly hair and 'tache, there was Lyndsey, a girl from my old high school (horrid place), who kicked crap out of me (hahahha) and her dad used to come in the chippy and gloat and Keith, who eventually thought Ian was immature and left, then me, Kit, Barkery Jamais, some people from another karate system....when the people from the local Muay Thai club came down, I remember Dave sparring with one of their top students, he was very cocky and Dave kicked two bells out of him...great!!!

Ah great memories, have to bring 'em back somehow....gradings at the YMCA, and in Levenshulme in that hut....fantastic stuff!!! Then, for some reason, the club at the pub had to go to Droylsden....and then 'round about the same time, a certain Irishman started teaching near Openshaw Tech, which he called in his "cv", the "Manchester Technical College", no such thing!!! I don't know, JKD these days, eh? Far cry from what it was from Bruce's theories? Too much drill and formula, not enough substance??

And back then, I didn't have a sodding clue about FMA........

Take care all.

First things first

2007-04-14T16:21:00.001Z

First things first....Congratulations to Kit and Elaine on their engagement!! That's fantastic news!! I am very happy for you both. I know you will both have much happiness in the future. Elaine has been to some of our eskrima classes both in Manchester and Warwick to watch, all good fun...hopefully not too boring for her. I know that watching can be boring and even more so if you aren't really into it....have to say sorry to my wife Sue for that!

Second thing....I have a cyst in my left eye. Great! Its going down a little I think but it still hurts - I am on antibiotics now. Ah well.
Third, I miss training proper! Almost nothing is consistent at the moment - either I need to re-organise my life, or accept it as it is, especially now with a stupid cyst!! Hmmm, which one contains the path of least resistance?

The rectangular, wooden sign from the 80's is a true blast from the past. It used to be outside Steve Powell's Studio Of Self Defence on George Street. Brings back memories of going up the 3rd floor for lessons in Nunchaku, and of course, solid training! I remember when Master Sken popped his head around the door and whispered "Steve Powell..?" with his toothy grin. And...I trained on one occassion with Gary Bailey, former Man Utd and England goalie. Can't honestly see Becks doing a maegeri on a strike pad, can you?

Last night, we did well in class, of which we had 5 students. It was nice to teach...thanks to Tom who helped introduce us to 2 new guys. When I say well, I don't mean financially, I mean from a teaching standpoint. I think everyone had fun, which is part and parcel of training in my opinion.

Anyway. Here's the thing....lets bring back CHOSHIN KAI. Open mind.............this was mixed martial arts before mixed martial arts........
Take care,
Lun

Short comments

2007-04-14T16:21:00.000Z

Hello and welcome to my blog, yet again. Its the 14th of April as I write this, and it is a glorious day but I have chose to stay out of the sun, unlike many of the scantily clad peeps out there.
Today, I went to Steve's weapons class and we were doing the 3-5 hit sumbrada and various attacks that you can do within it, as well as disarms and then moving onto double stick methods. Plus a little bit of stick and knife. Certainly, some great stuff for drills and coordination. I need to put more aggression into that kob-kob drill, instead of placing the sticks!
For the time being, I am putting the Salford friday classes on hold, because of work. Yes, that four lettered b'stard has come into the fray yet again, but you have to do it to bring in the readies. But we have begun a wrestling class on weds which is fun, apart from bringing the matts all the way from the sports hall to the squash court....hard work! All good training!

Speaking of wrestling, (not WWE) the UFC is here in Manchester, and both Kit and I wish we had tickets. I remember the first UFC's, where they were unsophisticated affairs where all different styles would enter and fight - not a great format but still a nice little showcase for what works and for what doesn't. I always remember the little karate guy from Minnesota who took on some kickboxer - the karate guy kept going into "kamae" knife hand guard and, though very brave, just couldn't adapt. But nowadays, its all very different and far more sophisticated.

Anyway...keeping it short this time around, take care all.

Self Defence or Common Sense: leave all egos at the door

2007-04-10T07:48:00.000Z

The pub in the picture is where Kit and I used to do ChoshinKai Karate a very long time ago. Means alot to me, but now the pub is actually closed off. Why change a good thing?? People don't like change, unless of course its a change for the better. In situations where you have to defend yourself and your loved ones, changes for the worst can happen in less than five seconds. So....you have all the techniques at your disposal...does that make you overly-confident that your training has made you the perfect weapon?
There are people who will do martial arts to beat up other people, even their friends, and they have this sense of bravado that is neither useful or impressive. Their technique looks ok but it lacks substance and intention. They even try to impress upon their friends what's best for them but fail to lack the understanding that each person has an individual journey. They don't want any of the history, they just want the kicking and punching, some stuff they think they can learn from a DVD, and more than a few swear-words to boost up their image. Their language is brash, sometimes childish, and does not give you an image of what a martial artist should be. The ego is indeed a problem. So in a real situation, faced with real adversity, what would such a guy be like? Indeed, what would the "Bad boy of Karate" be like, how would he fare against a knife?

When I was a teenager, I really thought I had it all. Most teenagers go through the same thing, some unfortunately carry on this false sense of security into their 30's. I challenged someone from a kickboxing class to have a friendly spar with me in the common room at Shena Simon College, and the moment I felt I was doing ok, my ass was whipped. I realised then that there were different arenas of martial art, and kickboxing was much less of an art than it was a sport. I realised then that martial arts are about humility and not showing off.

Showing off though, as a deterent at least, does impact on some people. In our old chippy, people could look through the window and see me with the nunchakus, first the training ones, i.e., the rubber ones covered in foam and then later on, the hardwood octagonal ones (ouch, my fingers). After these broke, I would progress through ones with a chain, I even had a solid steel one for strength training. Yes, going through a routine with figure of 8's and all the flashy stuff was enough to deter any would-be trouble makers. I remember one night when we were packed, and some kids came in, must have been late teens, 17-18 years of age, you know the type. One guy slammed our front door hard against the wall which made a loud bang and made us stand there in shocked surprise. Hey, my mum and I were only serving food, packed busy in the shop with a huge queue, and you can imagine that we weren't looking for trouble, just trying to make a living. Mum was visibly stressed. And you know you only get one mum. I tell you what, though. I bought out the 'chuks and pointed them at the culprit, my left hand forward, holding one end of the chuk towards him, and my right hand back, with the other end back, ready to launch. I told him:
"Do something flash like that again and I will knock your fucking head off."
Who, now, stood in shocked surprise?
He never caused any trouble anymore. I would see him driving sometimes in the street and he would say hello and let me cross. His mates were probably the ones who made him cause trouble.

What would I have done if he said "come on, then"? I probably wouldn't be sat here writing this blog. But going back to ego's....mine was at an all time high.

One night in '94, it all came to a stop.

There was no more bravado, no 'chuks, no nothing.

At 7.05 on the 12th February, we were in combat yet again, but this time, my young brother, Kit sustained 4 stabs wounds, one in his neck, one in his chest, back and stomach. Mum also got wounded. Dad took a hit or two as well. And that was all down to lack of common sense! I am so very sorry it happened. We were very lucky that night. I walked out with a huge "Marlon Brando"like-swelling scar.

Egos!! What use are they?? None at all.
Avoid trouble if you can. That's common sense to me. Leave your ego, your bravado, and any smugness you might have at the door. It doesn't matter what art you do and where you might be with it. Don't let your art control your heart.

Thanks all.

Its Blog time again!

2007-03-19T13:41:00.000Z

Another week has gone by and we ended last week with another challenging stick lesson at Steves. Great stuff again this time with the punyo sumbrada and things we can pull off during that drill - like an uppercut or a double hit or some such! Sounds simple I know but its a little different. Kit and I stood there like a couple of chimps trying to work it all out! Talk about having your brains fried. Its always good to attend weapons class - alot of fun as usual.

The Great Manchester Run looms ever closer, and still I haven't done much in training for it. I won't know how much effort I was supposed to put in until its too late.....Oh well, its for a great charity and I should have all the details soon for sponsorship.
The "wee-mee" of me with the open mouth and green eyes(?!!?!) will no doubt be my expression at the beginning of the run.....

We ran a class on thursday this week at Salford, well, when I say class, only one guy turned up, Richard, who is studying the same degree I did when I was at Salford. Teaching amarra is quite difficult sometimes, but in the end we got through six of them. Richard had trouble with the redondo (circular) strikes. But near the end of the lesson we went through focus mitt drills. Then we discovered that he would get a pain in his knees if he ever had to twist away from a punch!

So we said "try and sidestep when facing an on-coming punch and throw a hook at the same time." We didn't say it at the same time otherwise that would have been totally weird. Anyhow, this seemed to set him up fine. So we learnt for ourselves that when teaching, you have to listen to your students. (You have to listen anyway, especially when you only have one student!) But no sometimes, you need to tailor the lesson to suit the student.

It was good as we found an alternative yet valid way for him to learn something new.

Its fun learning how to teach.

Anyway, short blog again, but thats my tuppence worth for now until next time,

Best

If training is bloodless combat, combat is a bloody drill

2007-03-02T00:17:00.000Z

Hi people. More squash court piccies for you to laugh at and say "whats all that about?" The first one is the most recent one, my bro and I posing for that Kodak moment. That was taken just this monday gone with my little Sony Ericsson.

So, what do you think of the title??

Bloodless combat? Well...I don't expect to shed any blood in training, do you? Sweat and hard work, yes, but blood...? Only by accident.
But...there is a profoundness about that title. Training needs to be as real as can be, with safety in mind, and as real as a squash court (dojo,dojang,gym,kwoon, etc) can allow you to be. Training is only bound by your imagination, and whilst its all a "bloody drill", we just need to make it alive. This is why sometimes its frustrating doing martial arts. It all looks like a drill and the martial bit of it gets sucked into the routine. But you can break the drill down into bits you need, and if you find those bits and can apply them, then perhaps you won't need to shed a drop of blood for real. All idealist, I suppose.
I think the title applies to those who have to fight for real, i.e. the army. Still, training as most non-army people know it to be is great fun and hard work. What was that saying..? Train hard, bleed less...? OOPS...back to bloodless combat again!

This week has been good in terms of doing some exercise and training.
Last sunday began with a weights session in the gym, plus I got to watch the sunday kickboxing lesson at the Salford Uni club.
Monday evening was a blast! I trained with my bro kit doing some hard focus mitt drills and as always we would use our imagination, creating some hard sessions drawing from all our experiences. We also focused on some double stick work, as well as do some light weights. Nice!

Tuesday I was gymming again at the Forum, and did a bit of running/walking on the running machine. Man,I am so UNFIT!!! Weds was a rest day, Thursday I trained a little at home, and Friday was stick class. On this occasion, Tom and Richard were present. Its great to see them pick up stuff.
I still need to get down to Steve's during the week!!! It's getting to be a pain these days, as my self-discipline goes belly-up and my goal seems to dwindle into nothing!!

Oh well. Back to life.
Enjoy the rest of the pics. For those of you who know a bit, feel free to criticise, because I know you will anyway :0

Kit plays capoiera sparring with his instructor Danny Henry in the early days. Danny still teaches today at Salford University on a tueday evening.
Stick sparring - thats me vs Ray.
Ray also practices Wing Tsun and knows loads of techniques!

Kit and I practicing a knife drill. Yes, combat is a bloody drill, ok? But its fun!!

Can't remember what I was doing in this one...but it looks good.

Anyway...see ya later, its 4 am and I am f*&ked. Take care all!

Great things

2007-02-21T17:56:00.000Z

This is me at the Great Wall, 7 years ago. The caption says that "you are not a great man, if you haven't done the Great Wall." Or something like that.
Speaking of great, I had two great weapons classes at Steves these past two saturdays. I really enjoyed whacking the tyres the week before last. At least theres no damage to the sticks (innit, Chris? : D)
Like my bro, I have entered the Great Manchester Run. It will take much "indomitable spirit" and stamina to complete it, and I haven't begun training yet. I hate running anyway! But it will be my challenge this year. And if I complete it, it will be a great thing.

Anyway, (shorter than the shortest update I have written), here's hoping we all have a great and Happy Chinese New Year this 2007. Its the year of the Golden Pig which comes around every 600 years.
Best wishes to one and all

Lun

Mini update 2

2007-02-11T13:43:00.000Z

Friday has been and gone and we welcomed two new enthusiasts, Tom and Jake. Kit and I gave them an overview and no doubt gave them too much information for one lesson. But it all went rather nicely especially when Kit turned up to class. As he has alot of responsibility at work these days, they call upon him alot!! Anyway, Tom and Jake enjoyed the class and it was great to get their commendation afterwards in an email. Cheers guys!

Saturday came and I went to Steve's class...again it was brillant, I really enjoy the stick work he teaches. It may be from a different lineage but its all good stuff! I heard that my friend Chris ran his first class last week too, that's great but come on Chris, I bet you have been showing stuff for ages....!!! Congratulations. The picture with me and Kit is one of my favourites and can also be seen on Chris' website. I hope he doesn't mind....after all it is the Brothers Lok!

I remember in the early eighties I used to watch some great Hong Kong TV serials, starring the great super kicker from Kung Fu Hustle: Bruce Liang.

Here is a shot of him in a tense moment when he portrays Chen Chen in the TV serial of the same name. Their kung fu serials back then were really great and I enjoyed every moment of the action, just as good, if not better, than the movies, I mean the production values were on a par.

Ah the wonders of the net, me, my bro and Bruce Liang all on the same page. Amazing stuff.

You can check out some of Bruce Liangs crazy battles on YouTube. The suprising thing is that these were TV serials, man!

Take care people

The week so far....

2007-02-07T13:03:00.000Z

Martial Arts takes many forms and here our friend Danny does the Ginga with a student from a class last year. One thing I learned from Danny is that no matter what, week in, week out, he laughs and enjoys what he does. I think this is the key and going from what I harped on about in my last post, this has been my week so far.
Saturday:

I enjoyed going to Steve's weapons class on the saturday, just gone. Rick took the class and I was paired up with a newbie (Danielle?) for a short while. We went through some of the angles and I forgot the angles were different to those of Warriors! Doh! Never mind....most probably left her confused.

It was good to train and the one thing that was interesting was the fresh ideas. To replicate a battle zone, we randomly lay the floor with pads, big and small, tyres and what not to make an un-even floor. Then we practiced double stick sumbrada and knife and stick sumbrada across this floor. Very good and certainly different. Use of the kicking shields was next. 3 vs 4, 4 would have the shields and sticks against 3 with focus mitts as small shields and sticks. Lots of stick and knife stuff too. Plenty of fun, and the atmosphere was one of no ego's and just training.

Monday:

On monday, after spending some time watching a solo baston DVD at Johnny's house (Warriors instructor in Wythenshawe), and playing around with a few double stick techniques, Kit and I met at Salford Uni, doing a bit of aerobic training, 3 rounds with the coaching mitts each with running and shadow boxing in between. We did about 20 minutes and it was quite good, devising our own workouts. I threw in a little bit of the padwork training style I do with my wife, Sue. After that, Kit and I went through some level 3-4 stuff and a bit of what I covered on saturday from Steves. Then we hit the fitness room to round off. Every little helps. Getting down to the nitty gritty, my last post depicted me like someone lost and confused. This time around I am thinking, "Just do what makes you feel good." Next week, who knows (or cares)?

Wednesday:

Wednesday has been and gone and here I am at 1.30am thinking that it hasn't started snowing yet, despite the weather reports. In fact, it looks quite clear outside...!! Some hours earlier I went to see our friend in Wythenshawe and we tried working out a particular locking method again from a DVD. I have said in the past that its not easy to learn from a DVD, but we managed it after several minutes of rewinding, slow motion and not forgetting over-rewinding! Anyway, these DVDs are only references. Nothing beats training in real time with real people. Kit and I were supposed to meet up, but due to work circumstances, it didn't happen. Probably its the work aspect that makes me mad, something always gets in the way.

Well...still have the rest of this week to think about and to do something positive...my application forms for the Great Manchester Run have arrived and believe me, I am not a runner at all but its for charity and its a different kind of challenge.

Thanks for reading my mini update!

Why I hate "martial arts"!!

2007-01-22T23:02:00.000Z

It felt more than a little strange to have about 10 people bowing to me monday night at Johnny’s eskrima class in Wythenshawe. I would say it felt a little embarrassing. I was not at my best that night. I was helping this guy named Keith go through his level 3 and 4...something I hadn’t touched upon for ages! But it was nice to re-cap…the memories would trickle back. To me, this highlights the fact that practice and repetition, in any line of work or play, is so important. Johnny is a good instructor. He has built up a certain rapport with his students and I have no doubt he will hit level 7 by the years end.
I on the other hand have to deal with a little disappointment, with students coming and going, and not staying for long. I think I will have to change the pay structure a little bit and perhaps exert a little bit more control. Or..throw in the towel and forget about it all!!
Knowledge:
Its all MINE. Everything I ever learned from anyone.Mine.Why should I teach it to someone who fails to turn up every other week? Why am I so amicable and friendly and feel I have to pass it on to some slacker who will tell me he can’t come this week or next week? What am I doing chasing them…they ought to be respecting me for I was in there before them and…!!!
Before I keep going on and on...I know that it just doesn’t work that way, does it? People all have their own commitments.
I hate “martial arts”. I absolutely, unequivocally, detest , despise and hate to the nth degree, “martial arts”. For all the ups it has given me, I have had to make a good number of sacrifices. And for what?? How come it doesn’t impress anyone outside of martial arts? And, how come, the majority of "martial arts", fail to work in the street, where it matters? How come there are certain people telling me this, that and the other, and its not registering? Because their truth is not mine.Maybe its all gone stale. Maybe I need to find something else to do. Maybe my mission here is done, or I can’t climb any further. As I have matured, I have turned into one moaning git. With good reason though....Dad always says that you can’t learn a little bit here, and a little bit there. You have to have the whole system. He is very old school.Its like anything in life.You have to be sure and you have to know it proper.If theres a missing link, then you get some patchwork framework that will collapse. Its got to be all or nothing.Right now I feel like I have nothing. A certificate, a degree, a diploma, etc etc…does not define who and what you are.

“You can have it all,
My empire of dirt”
There is a reason why I feel like this.When you watch others and see how they do, the crispness in their moves, the knowledge that they have...there are times when I need to aspire to that. I have what I have but I have to maintain it. At Johnny's class...man in my opinion, I was absolutely dire. I'd forgot things I was supposed to remember. I don't like the idea of saying "oh someone else will remember it" because that's the wrong attitude. Even my empire of dirt felt bad.

Lets say you are a Quality Control medicinal lab technician. What happens if you miss a vital step in an important QC procedure, and the batch has gone out for production, having "passed" its tests? Is someone else going to remember for you then, after its too late?
You have to remember, by way of practice and I mean perfect practice.

Yes.Throw in the proverbial towel.Maybe really I ought to move on.Oftentimes, I find myself evaluating, checking, monitoring, because I always seem to hit silly obstacles.

It wouldn’t be a problem for me to turn inward.After all, you shut one door and another one opens.Sometimes, some doors remain open which is a good thing.
“Martial Arts” have a lot to answer for. You can get to black belt and beyond but still have the mind set where its all drills, kata and so on. The practical application is working like a fine-tuned Ferrari in the realms of the gym, but outside of that safe haven, it falls on its arse. I think there is a truth out there that I have always known, and always gone back to. In some places, you get people telling you something like "this is for the street", even if you don't ask! They tell you that they are unbeatable. But there are those who don't have to tell you that, instead, you can see it in their eyes, their methods and the quality of their teachings.
Some people, with no “martial arts” experience at all, know how to fight like as if they were possessed.Perhaps it’s a certain section of their brain that is always switched on.I suppose in that respect, it goes beyond just learning for the art side, or learning for the martial side. Maybe it really is a case of the “haves” and the “have nots”.
I have harped on in the past about what martial arts can do for you. But now I am wondering about what it doesn’t do. Maybe that’s the more important thing. When we measure up against the elements, we become nothing in comparison. But the only thing we can do is to try and become the best that we could be. If my vehicle is the martial arts, then its fast running out of mileage and I won't get to the best that I can be unless I do something drastic.

Maybe I need to exchange this model for a new one, like a jet fighter where I can soar and hit my targets. Sounds like a plan.

Our friend Danny of capoiera, here on the left, peforms on a Saturday in Manchester. He is a very positive, happy guy. Maybe I should re-start capoiera!

Mental note, Homer Simpson style: Plan for 2007:
Get another grading done under Steve! If its only one more grade up, then I will be happier. And lose some weight.
Lessons learnt: to re-focus and re-direct my efforts with more intensity to get to where I need to be. Have something to shoot for, instead of being so wound up with what other people want...just so angry at myself, these days....!!

Sorry to the readers for the tone.....I have to express myself somehow otherwise I'd bottle it up...not good!

Take care, all
L

Smash the Pad

2007-01-09T11:50:00.000Z

Last night Kit and I went to Steve's class. Rick was taking the class on this night. It was great to be back! Greg was also there, as were Eric and Amanda from the Inosanto seminar. We were engaging the animal brain on this class. First we used the big pads. I would stand behind Kit and then wait, then SMACK, I'd shove him forward, fast, shout at him and then he'd react. BOOM! It had to be almost instant. The more we did it, the more aggression flowed around the room! Then Rick would have us do the reverse punches and because we had entered that mind set, alot more intensity became apparent! We hit the mitts too, no technique, just aggression. Great workout, full of intent. Rick really knows his stuff.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
Good way to start the week.....knuckles were a bit sore though!
Trained throughout the week, doing something everyday, weds we did some light weights and tried some Sayoc drills. Then on friday, there was a class. Good stuff, but nothing like a good old boom on the pads to wittle away the days stresses.
'Til next time, be nice
Cheers
Lun

A Technique is not just a Technique

2007-01-06T18:21:00.000Z

Back to work. And its good to be back to work. A break is as good as any, but its good to have some "normality". This week I was back in the gym and enjoyed the exercise. It was good to get back into class again too!
Over the last few weeks I have heard it said that a technique is just a technique. In the past, I would say this myself too.
But looking into it, I think a technique is also something that had to be put in place to perhaps settle a score, or perhaps to cover an eventuality and defend against it. Why would you want to settle a score or cover an eventuality in a self defence situation? Because someone out there has decided that you were the enemy and wanted to make you a victim. So...by some cultural, religous or political higher order, you were made to be the target. Some madman on some political stage has just declared war on you and your country. Some invader from the seas has just set foot on your small island. And you only had sticks and swords against cannons and pistols. Something had to be done.
If indeed a technique is just a technique, I would ask you to define what is technique.

If I asked a jiu jitsu guy to show me ammarra, or an eskrima guy to show me ahp chagi (axe kick) or a wing chun guy to show me a good karate side kick, you might get some variant, but the technique won't quite be the same throughout the arts. If so, why would you have so many styles? Sure enough, you always get people saying "well, we have that in our style, so what' the difference?" To these people, "I say stick to what you know, because your mind has already been saturated with what you call your own truth. Keep your ego to yourself and don't dis-respect me just because I still want to learn." To say "a technique is just a technique" and "its all the same" is a little bit like saying that there's nothing more to learn. They say that once you stop learning you are pretty much dead.
If you have the experience, then I think the different techniques in any given style will be easier to comprehend and pick up. But every style has its own to offer, so you might want to "empty your cup" to have a taste from a different blend. Otherwise, we can all just say "a technique is just a technique" and forget other systems. Of course there are similarities. I had a work colleague once who told me that they have something that looks the same in aikido when I was showing hubud to another colleague. I have a friend in Reading who learns techniques from other systems so he will know how to beat it using wing chun, which is a style he has studied for nearly 10 years. I think that this is a slightly better method of learning than saying a technique is just a technique. This is just an opinion though. I don't know. Maybe I am just having a moan at these people who have blinkered outlooks. Maybe my own outlook is blinkered to those who learn about one system only. Most importantly, at the end of the day its whatever works at the time. Sometimes where it came from is only important from a teachers point of view.
This week then, to try and reduce the speed my body heads south, I hit the weights three times and then did the stick class on friday. It was good to see the guys again. The class was great as we picked up some new training methods for accuracy when hitting a very small target. Also got back into teaching again (I was a bit rusty)...all in all a nice week of training to get back into normality.
Until next time, have a good week, happy training
Lun

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T01:49:00.000Z

Well Xmas is in the past once more, as we welcome in a new beginning yet again. May you all have a safe and prosperous 2007.
I am just including a few random photos here, a few that I took around Manchester last month. Nothing to speak of really...I suppose I was trying to compare some buildings. Like the original Smithfield Market.
This building stands rock solid and has done for over 100 years. Like the foundations in traditional martial arts, if not preserved they are soon forgotten, an unforgiving factor of life. In years to come, this building will still remain, even if unused. No doubt someone will breathe new life into it and thus begin anew.
Manchester now has a new view, high above it, a glass building shoots into the sky. Can you guess where this view is taken from? You can see for miles around. Stretching into the distance, almost knowing no boundaries. Like martial arts, if you can use your imagination, then the number of techniques that can be created may also be boundless. Scenario training is key.

Here's a modern structure quite close to a certain Chinese Supermarket. Nice innit? I can't relate this photo into martial arts, except there are wooden looking surfaces on those apartments. Wood is on the five elements...and...urm...karate people like to break wood...! Sorry, just can't think of a relationship.
In Sept 2006, I was in Milford, and I went straight to the phone book to seek out a class over there. In 2007, I will be back there at some point and no doubt do the same. I might hit the same class. Go on, ring that TaeKwon Do school. All the way from England. I dare ya.

Me, Sue and Kit went to see Tenacious D at the Arena recently. Jack and Kyle were brillant! Tenacious D at the MEN Arena 1.

Tenacious D at the MEN Arena 2.

Heres another view from way up high. You have probably made an easy guess...
No more clues...! The wife and I stayed there for one night (discounted price offer on 'net so why not!) Fantastic...! No holiday last year, but I hope to change that this year...Minneapolis, Minnesota maybe...??? Nah!!!
I got one of these Gripmasters in Dec...quite good to strengthen those digits individually, this red one is medium tension.
Sometimes these little breaks are just no good when it comes to training, but I did get to arrange my stuff to form some sort of emblem. (What d'ya mean "all I need is some flames around it"??

Anyway....see you soon, and have a good 'un!!
Lun

Saturday 16th Dec 2006

2006-12-16T15:32:00.000Z

...Just thought I'd write that I went to Steves today after God knows how long! And it was good, I teamed up with Eric and went through the 5 count, and worked on some variations from there. I enjoyed the class alot and as usual it was a good humoured atmosphere. Great stuff...til the next time, train hard, but eat and be merry!

Lun

No burden too big....

2006-12-04T12:17:00.000Z

Firstly: HAPPY 30TH KIT!!!Roll on the next 30!!! I love you bro!

What do we train for? Some people just exercise, and they have short-term goals. Other people see it a life long endeavour, and a means of having some escape from the rigours of working life. But specifically, do we need a special reason to train, or do we just enjoy it? What about those who have suddenly lost the ability to train?
An old friend of mine has (possibly..lets hope not) been struck down with Multiple Sclerosis, but she keeps her head up above water by saying to herself that there's no burden too big that she can't handle.

To someone who is into physical exercise, someone who enjoys learning and training, just missing a lesson is a heartbreak. What if something stopped you doing any exercise at all? Not easy...how would you prepare for such an issue?

I couldn't sleep the other night, so I came downstairs around about 5.30 am, started a few chores and watched Ali vs Frazier on ESPN tv. Classic battle! Ali's handspeed was amazing,and he was like a cat,feeling out his opponent with his left hand then POW! Frazier certainly wasn't a slouch, he kept moving, bobbing and weaving, his defence seemed solid. Ali's also, Frazier was throwing in the big guns but Ali would just beckon him on with a cheeky "come on" gesture with his right hand. Just realised...this took place in 1975! When I was 7!

This week Kit and I did our bit to help our war effort against age, flab and lack of fitness. I think weights took precedence this week as we trained heavy but we did go through some Sayoc knife angles on weds. I think as the year runs out, so must we be, until the new year rolls in with hopefully a new burst of energy.
All in all a good week of resistance exercise...every little helps. Sometimes its the focus on intensity that makes it all the more worthwhile. We all get tired from work but this goes back to what I was saying before, what if all your musculo-skeletal, neuro and endocrinal functions that you take for granted are suddenly taken away? Work takes it toll, but we must not let work make us tired when we train. Exercise is our time. Can we eliminate the phenomenon known as being mentally drained...or does work get the upper hand each time? I often end up not training because of fatigue and then end up complaining because I didn't train! Thats not good!

To end this maybe my last blog til the new year, if it is, have a safe and Merry Xmas and be happy in 2006!!
Best!
Lun

Crossroads

2006-11-25T00:32:00.000Z

Well, time has flown again and another week has passed us by. Training-wise this week we weight trained a little but not much to speak of, to be honest. But Kit and I discussed the future and where the direction was headed in terms of our martial arts. We talked about Guro Dan's brillant seminar, trying to practice whatever we could remember. I came to the conclusion that it was probably enough to remember one or two things well instead of trying to remember everything. We chatted about Karl's classes, of which we haven't been for 6 weeks at least, and of Steve's as well, of which we both know are a little bit late at night, but, even though they are a little bit late, one day not only will the classes be too late, but, more importantly, it will be too late to catch up, as we get older and other things start taking over. Some things in life you just have to do, otherwise its all work, work, work, and we all know what "no play" means. In recent weeks, attendance has gone to the dogs and its all about me being ill and its all about money as well that we haven't been going. Whilst the rest of the guys have gone off to Warwick, for a special Sayoc weekend, Kit and I had exclusive teaching duties. Only Richard turned up on this occasion, and we all went through alot of techniques and drills. Richard is doing very well. It was good to teach again as I missed last time as I was run down with the flu. However, its very interesting though, Richard is doing the same degree I did 16 years ago. (!!!) We were both asked the same question. What to do in a street fight. I told Richard to be aware of your surroundings and to make use of whatever is there. Kit told Richard to work on his punches. If the shit hits the fan, its at least good to know how to punch. Hopefully, the fan stays pristine and clean, and those little shits will keep on running away, instead of causing trouble. Sometimes its best to walk. But if you can't, pick something up, if there is something, throw something at him and run, distract him somehow, anything, to keep you alive. Protect your head at all costs. Its important, as once that goes, so does the rest of you. It may be a challenging one, to break out of the mould where there are 100's and 100's of drills, when really you may be better off knowing a handful of techniques. I always try and tell people that its not going to happen the way you drill it, and that anything goes. There are no rules out there, no referees, no trophies.
Kit gave Stephen an extra training session on weds, and filmed it too to give to Stephen as a reference. Having viewed the recording, I think its top notch plus its a good idea for purposes of review. Excellent!
Anyway....looking forward to next week, where I wonder if my training steps up a notch...???
Til then, train smart and enjoy the weekend.
Lun

Guru Inosanto.

2006-11-13T21:59:00.000Z

Arrived in Edinburgh late last friday...late being after midnight. Why so late? Because of a bit of rain, and a poor suicidal cow taking on the power of a train between Preston and Leyland. The cow lost its life, but no doubt gained a personal best when the whole train network went down for several hours....Why were we going to bonnie Scotland? To visit Leith Academy to meet and attend a weekend seminar held by none other than Guro Dan Inosanto. I last saw him 10 years ago, and thought I knew what to expect. In 1996, I remember a section of the seminar concentrated on Jun Fan. In 2006, it was a different story. It was all Filipino stuff...the history, the culture, the stories about his father and how his father bought the Filipino community together with the Farmers Union. And Guro Dan also tells us he has some Italian in him. Apparently, back in those early days, if you were Filipino, and if you were a judge, this was only acceptable if you had some European blood in you. I think Guro Dan said one of his relatives was a judge...Anyway! To the seminar! The seminar was splattered with various techniques, pebble-dashed with tons of history and some mitt work thrown in for that all important sweat-factor.

It was a great seminar to be at, and we even stayed at the same hotel that Guro Dan was at! Amazing. My jaw dropped when Kit and I saw him at brekkie, and neither of us knew what to say. Were we dopey or what!
It was a great honour and pleasure to attend the seminar. 10 years down from 1996, I think I appreciated it more. I have written up what I can remember and sent it to Kit and Chris who forwarded it to Eric and Shahid. Its so hard to recall everything, Dan had to teach up to 5 techniques in one go at times, due to the nature of the seminar. Anyway, I have the notes from 1996 as well, so perhaps I should write that one up!

Here is me looking on as someone collects their seminar certificate of acheivement.
10 years ago we never had certificates to pick up, but that was ok. Now with the advent of pc's, the skys the limit with that kind of paperwork. But I am very proud to own a seminar cert from none other than Dan.
My thanks goes to my folks, my bro Kit, Steve Powell and Rick Young for bringing it all together. If I get to 70, I hope to have the speed that Guro Dan has. Its a testament to continous training and expanding, self-discovery and the time taken.

Til next time (?) happy training, all!
Lun

More training, end of October already!

2006-11-01T15:30:00.000Z

Another week has flown by and now its already November. Time really does fly, as I right this, its already half three in the afternoon! Last week was good in terms of training. It began with a little resistance training on the monday, plus attending Johnnys eskrima class in Benchill. It was fun to watch and participate in. I got to teach a little too. Johnny is a great martial artist with alot of enthusiasm and talent. He has got a few good students and it was a nice atmosphere. I told him straight that they would fly past the grading.

The week began with eskrima and ended with eskrima, going to Steve's class on the saturday. We covered stick and dagger and we did a quite a few combinations. In fact I rejoined Steves and it will be a major effort from me this time around to train more diligently (hopefully!)In between I had to miss out on Karl's class again but I emailed him to say why and to tell him I will be back soon. Was getting fitter as well and now will have to begin again but thats no problem...!

Attended Steves on 2nd of November, but he wasn't there, Greg Hall took the class which was alot of fun. We practiced alot of moves that I enjoyed. Also, we were told that there were 4 stages of learning, the top one being subconcious concious. This is the one we should all get to.
We went on with some boxing drills, and Greg highlighted the reason why we bob and weave. If your high guard is already executing a punch, say a cross, the time taken for the fist to return to guard takes too long, hence the bob and weave. The same movement is there for hooks.
And Greg described the theory wrestlers use when they are literally following nose to nose, directly ahead, i.e. if one of them shoots, the head position of the shooter, as he level changes, moves. When the head moves the nose moves position too.
Anyway, no pics this time around, but wait for the Inosanto seminar!

You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.

2006-10-17T18:28:00.000Z

Who said that? Napoleon, apparently. Its quite true though,except when we take it down to club level in the 21st Century where Napoleon has long departed,I suppose we can take it to mean that its good to train with different people from time to time, otherwise it may get stagnant? Maybe, I don't know.

Do martial arts become boring? What do you think? Drills and kata, forms and patterns, focus mitts, Thai pads, big pads, punches, locks, kicks, acrobatic capoiera, sticks, throwing stars and kerambits. There is just no room for boredom!!
The other day I was watching a DVD(see Kits commentary about DVD's)about one other facet of martial arts called the art of ripping. Yes, there is the art of biting (kino mutai) but this is one about ripping. I remember a long time ago in our chippy I was serving one of the local hard nuts and he said to me "Yeah, I was punching this guy, I was all over him...fingers in his mouth and all that..."
I thought..."Fingers in his mouth...?! What's that all about...that's not martial arts...!" Years would pass by when an incident would happen to us in the chippy, where some bastard had his fingers in my mouth and pressed down on my teeth right at the back and then ripped his fingers out. I still have the scars today, albeit they are much faded. After that horrendous incident where our whole family was affected, my face was popping out looking Marlon Brando from the Godfather and two scars down my left cheek. Now I know thats that how people out there fight. This kind of thing is not covered in many martial arts as we know it. It was truly a life or death situation and it happened on a Saturday night in Feb 1994 which I regret. Far as I know, the two bastards were never caught. But I learnt a lesson then. Everything martial arts related works great when, you know, when you have a compliant training partner in the gym, oh yeah, it all works great then. All the drills and patterns and all that stuff that you need for the grades and so on. And when its supposed to work and help you, man...it's a whole different ball game. (So why do we practice it...?!! Why not just stick to dirty fighting?)
Go back to the blog where my comments upset a few people about defending against the knife (Live blades in reality) In my opinion and to emphasise deeper the current trend, its more than "aliveness training", especially when real life is not bound by sporting rules but more about who might be with you at the time, what techniques have you got, is there space to move,does he have a weapon and is he going to use it...etc.

So back to the DVD. Its a DVD about catch as can wrestling with the added unruly element of ripping. Good stuff. There it was, the whole fingers in the mouth method. Even a finger up the nose method. It goes up and presses in to the centre of the nose. Controlling the direction of the head with just one finger. All looked like painful stuff. I should know, I have been there. I remember that night afterwards, I was gargling with TCP for nearly an hour after.
So...what's the underlying message here. Let me see if I can match this up with what Napoleon said. "You must not fight too often with one enemy..." I hope I don't have to fight anyone these days..."or you will teach him all your art of war"...Real combat is unplanned, at least on the streets, maybe what Napoleon meant was to be unpredictable. That night, 12 years ago, no one would have known.

Don't get too caught up in it. Anything can and will happen.
Tommorow I am teaching again with Kit...and William of Peru should be returning. He told us so when we saw So..all things being well we will have 4 students. I am looking forward to it.
Cheers all, enjoy the pics.
L

Its nice to teach

2006-10-11T22:17:00.000Z

Teaching shows you how much you know and how much you don't. It helps to develop alot of things, like mental imagery, vocal delivery and of course, self-education. What do you expect from your teacher? These days,teachers in schools have a very stringent process to go through and are audited with high standards in mind. Can we have the same in martial arts? Can we maintain the same standards as we develop and practice new techniques, whilst leaving basics lagging a little bit? Of course not. We have to review, practice and maintain the basics. Teaching tonight going through the levels 1's was great!
Someone before us had to learn the moves to show us. That goes without saying. Teaching lets us know how much we don't know, how much we can relay to the student, how to gauge exactly what to tell the student, and how far we have to go before we become proficient instructors. Tonight, I think I may have volunteered too much information to a particular student. (My God, we have three now!)Amarra number 2 is particularly hard to master. As can be stated, its all in the wrist.But it took me a long time to learn it way back when. These days, I have got all ten Amarra's in my head somewhere. I mean theres ten Amarra's in our system, but no doubt in other systems there may be more. Teaching-wise,I enjoyed putting in the "flight time" and trying to get my message over. There will be stuff I will be changing next week, i.e. my teaching style. In one of the students he would nod but also look a little bored as he acknowledged what I was trying to say...ha, it was probably my delivery! But the main thing is that he said he would return next week. If he misses it, he will miss the "secret stuff"....!
Sparring will come later. Once all the basics are there and it looks solid, then we can talk about sparring. All good fun in the end and I am looking forward to the day when Kit and I can watch these guys go toe to toe, stick to stick. Kits enjoying his teaching and is very enthusiastic. He suggested we do a special sunday class, perhaps once a month. I think this is a grand idea!
Here, Kit looks on as Ray and Stephen are about to go through the motions of a number one angle disarm. You might say alot of this stuff isn't for the street, and I think you may be right, but in the same vein, it must have been used somewhere, and used effectively. To me personally, I think the trend these days is that people get too wound up in the "90% of fights end up on the floor" attitude. Its all true, but can be taken out of context. I have seen a good few altercations and they didn't end up rolling on the ground. In this case, with the sticks, we have learnt it for the skill and the art. No one carries sticks on the street anyway, last time I looked. But people will say to me things like, "what if I do this..." and "what if this happens?" Truth is, you will never know what is going to happen, so why worry??
Training the basics is key...there is no other way but to build upon the foundation, as they say, a tree is only as strong as its roots. Its always will be. I think more emphasis should be placed on training the basics each time we get together. I think its important to drill those drills, if only from a teaching point of view. Otherwise, everyone and anyone can pick up a stick and wave it around. I think punching and kicking, hubud and all the empty hand stuff, should be learnt and re-learnt, practiced over and over. Without all this, what are you going to teach the student?

Ray and Si are going through some intricate knife drills. They were practicing this weds night just gone.

Kit vs Ray in disarming the stick. All good fun!

Anyway, looking forward to the next lesson, til then, to all teachers and all students,have fun and train smart.
L

Milford Boston Visit

2006-09-29T23:29:00.000Z

A colleague of mine found out I did Martial Arts and he asked me if I could do one of those fancy 180 degree kicks - at least it wasn't the usual question like "how many boards can you break" or something like that. The answer to if I could do one of those kicks is no, lets face it, these days adversaries are no longer on horse back. I do think though its a useful physical attribute so maybe I will train for it....? Speaking of training, ha...theres not much to speak of for me this week.....
I flew out to Milford, Boston on business on monday but at the weekend before I went to stick class at Steve's, although I didn't participate it was good to watch. The drills are so much different to what Kit and I do.
Here is Kit practicing at Salford University. He and I were just doing a little training the week before I travelled to Boston.

The team from Milford and the team from Manchester visited Pinz Bowling Alley in the afternoon for a team building exercise. It was a good exercise although I had a crappy score of 94 which is a little bit piss poor. Funny how the action of bowling can give you an achey wrist all day the next day. Nevertheless it was a fun afternoon and I think everyone enjoyed it.

This is the corporate, team building bowling alley with four lanes at Pinz.

This is the sign for the Milford Studios of Self Defense, in which I attended one lesson on the day I flew in. I thought it might be a good idea to stay up as long as possible. Unfortunately I did not sleep that well that night anyway! Anyway the theme of the class on this night was doing kata, and there were only 5 students in the group, not including me. 3 of them were orange belts, whilst the other 2 were brown and black belts. The studio itself had a lot of room in there, plenty of ventilation, good sized changing rooms and so on. The walls were mirrored, (much like I remember from Steve's gym when it was on George Street and also currently at Karl's.) All in all, the studio was a well facilitated gym, and it was a good one hours training in kempo. As you might recall from my Canadian trip, I will try any martial art if I am in the area, and I know next year I will be returning to Milford in any case.

So short blog this week...see you next time!
L

Good week for training

2006-09-18T12:12:00.000Z

Last week was a nice week of training, two stand-up classes at Karl's,covering the sprawl and choke, friday's stick class, which included double stick parrying drills, and then ending at the weekend with a seminar with Rick Young at Steve's gym.
There, we began doing double stick, single stick and ended with hubud, chi sao and silat. Nice drills all round! Personally, I haven't done chi sao for ages, at least not in a club environment for a few years (and it showed...but there you go.) All good fun. No point living if you can't make life fun.
Here's a nice saying:

The greatest of all faults is to be concious of none, Thomas Carlyle.

So it goes with martial arts and of course life in general. What can you infer from this saying? What is it in your art that you should be concious of? Or is your art that absolute ultimate, in your own mind? Have you let your ego consume you? If we are concious of none, as stated above, then we won't explore, or test and improve upon. So it goes with JKD, surely.

Best thing is to try and do away with ego. No matter who you have trained with, at the end of the day its whether you have good luck in that incident....or not. Keep honing the basics, thats all there is. Otherwise they'll be forgotten! Train with feeling and intent. With no root, there is no growth. If your root is built on ego and if you can't accept that there are faults you alone can iron out, then you need to.
Here are some more pictures from fridays class. Good training!

Enjoy the pictures, train smart and thanks for reading!
L.

A satisfying job...

2006-09-06T15:47:00.000Z

Here's me at work, quite happy and content to be a Technical Writer. I began this job only a few short months back. Its a very satisfying, challenging job. Though I have only been here a few months, I think I have made an impression, and also, I think I have lost some hair too. Its hard work but I work in a great team! There's Dave, my boss, Steve, Anne and Chris. It looks like I will be overseas again in September, going with the team to meet my (new) colleagues in the US. This will mean time away again, but it will only be for 4 days....Hopefully, I will get time to train out there, whether its going to be at the hotel gym or at a local karate school. In fact, I have found one school called Milford Studio of Self Defense

This week just gone, Kit and I managed to get some weight training in, plus one class at Steves, taught by Greg. Good to see him again! He mentioned that these days, most people might think that MMA is the in-thing, but you should add the combative mindset to it.
He's right.
If you were faced with someone wielding a knife, everything becomes much less of a sport and more like life and death. Thats when defence becomes totally different.
I suppose in a sense you can throw out some of the drills and wittle it down to something that works best for you? Or can you? Drill = Kata(?)
Knife defence is hard to train to, due to the blade holders unpredictability. Should you do a high kick a la Korean style or Capoiera style to a skilled knife holder, because you have trained that way? Should you apply a grappling move to defend yourself against the same, with the same mindset? Can you really apply anything at all? If we take the sport out of the art, kick out the rules and apply the killer mindset, then I think anything goes. You fight the way you train and this is so true, so should you show that you can use your mind, step outside the box and also apply unpredictability? How? Everything is taught in a sequence, your mind computes and takes it in. When it comes to real life, can you be sure that in the midst of the fracas your mind can unscramble what move goes where before its too late? Do you get the reference point, i.e. the attackers arm, to apply the move? Do you NEED the reference points? Are you, at that moment in time, tired from work? Is it wet and is the air bad, do you feel a wheezy chest coming along? Are you with your parents / loved ones who will instinctively try and protect you despite having no "training" at all? Will they inadvertently get in your way, and thus in harm's way? Can you take the shock of seeing one of them hurt and go down? Have you, for example, got luggage? Too much to carry? Hands not free? Are you in an airport wheres theres 100s and 100s of people? Or at a busy central London tube station where there are tons of people on the platform? Maybe you are in a lift or even a phone box? Bottom line is ARE THERE MITIGATING FACTORS OR NOT? Difficult questions. Ha...and its probably no easier if the guy wasn't wielding a knife...!!

I will get off my soap box now, as I know that it might go the way of a previous blog. And even upset certain people(??)
I have actually picked up an injured bicep from class last night, and had some shooting pains and now a dull ache. I hate injuries! And they almost always come from over-zealous people...! Ha, sometimes ego takes over and you can even get a self-inflicted injury! Like a long time ago, in a Taekwon-do class, I blocked someones roundhouse kick with my hand. Thats bad in the first place, but when I introduced my fingetips to his shin in that very "block", well...how stupid was I. My ego got in the way.
I attended a Ninjitsu class once and this guy almost broke my elbow when he put this lock on too fast and too hard. That was a free lesson but I never went back to it, I want to keep my limbs and my sanity intact. Again, I suppose it comes down to egos and when these people say something idiotic like "this is the way we train, here" or "this is what I would do in the street". NOT GOOD. If you say something like that, go find someone in the actual street and train with him or them etc. We all should look out for one another when training. It is, after all, training. No point going in to training stressed out from work, and to come out of training stressed out even more from an injury. Realism has its place, but surely safety is just as, if not more so, important. I have trained with that many people at that many clubs without injury - there is no real reason that I should walk out after the friday class(or any class)with any injury at all. Accidents happen, but let's keep it safe. It goes the same for the people who have egos or for those who go in a little bit hard, let's face it, if they get hit and get hurt then there is little point in training technique and we may as well all have a rumble! We all have work in the morning so its best to be sensible in any discipline we train in.

Well, I got home last night and it was a clear night. I stepped out to see the stars. Fantastic, so quiet, and so beautiful. I was trying to find the least brightest star that my eyes could catch. If you focus on that one thing, for example, a star, it helps, your mind becomes bereft of clutter and all the troubles and aggravations seem to diminish.
To end,I don't know if this will mean much to you, but it sounds nice!

"Offer peace first but if the soul is threatened, let the soul become the warrior"

Train hard and above all,train safe.
L

2006-08-29T11:59:00.000Z

Last week beginning the 21st August, my wife and I went to various places as we had a break from work. We went to Chadwell Heath in Essex, a small town between Romford and Ilford, where I originally came from, 23 years back. It was nice to look around and visit my parents old chip shop, where down south they wouldn't have a clue what chips and gravy is, much like in Manchester we don't have saveloys. In this pic, we see Tudor Parade. It was built in the late 30's! It was more or less just as I remembered it, except there wasn't a Ladbrokes when we left for Manchester in 1983. Ladbrokes was actually the old style Post Office, where there were no aluminium door frames or windows in sight, just wood. Woolworths is still there, but again, not as I remembered it. Much, if not all, of the glorious wooden displays had been taken out. We paid a visit to my folks old house. That was definitely different to when we left it. Things change all the time, but we don't always see it until we step away from it.
On this corner we see the Coopers Arms, again it was never ever orange in colour when we left in '83...
We also visited Stratford and London. I had forgotten how busy the tube could get, and Sue and I wondered how unbearable it must have been during that heatwave in July!
We met up with one of Sue's friends, Zabrina, and had a delicious meal at the Crispy Duck restaurant in Chinatown. Nice!

Whilst in London, we took the time to visit Liberty's and later on Harrods.
Harrods has to be seen. I thought I was in Disneyland. See it. If only for the one time, that's all I am going to say about that one.

At the weekend, on the Sunday, Kit, Elaine, myself, Simon, Rob and Johnny ventured yet again to Warwick to have attend a class with Krishna Godhania. Although it was only a two hour session, we covered alot, especially about history which will be useful to impart to the next generation of future eskrimadors. Sometimes its better to learn about history in this martial context, so that we know where it comes from. It was our only foray into any martial arts training for several weeks.

It was quite a good session and after the class, Kit, Elaine, Johnny and I went to a Subway for a bit of lunch.

Anyway, not much more to speak about really, hoping to get back into normality soon!
L.

High Guards, Crazy Monkeys and not losing that left shoulder

2006-08-14T12:49:00.000Z

Its been a long day. A very long day. Kit is saying so, see? Kit and I just finished two sessions, one at Karl's and one at Steve's. Kit even did a little bit of weights at Salford before coming. At Karl's Stand Up class we did defences against jab cross uppercut and hook, a workout for the shoulders and biceps for sure. The crazy monkey or high guard is important to protect the head. Its similar in a way to guntings the way Bob Melia showed us in FMA classes way back when, but I think the crazy monkey is a little bit smoother as the motion follows the shape of your head. As most people have round heads, then this helps the high guard protect against hook punches in one motion. The hand travels up through the hair and round making a shield.

Its always a great training atmosphere at Karl's.

At Steve's, Rick Lawrie was teaching and it was alot like a private seminar, only 7 of us in the class,plus Rick making 8. He taught the body mechanics of the reverse punch and when I say he can punch, he CAN punch! Rick always sent the Pad holder, Ming, flying back. He demonstrated an elbow technique using the same body mechanics as he would do whilst punching,and poor ol' Ming shot backwards,onto the floor. There is a lot to punching in proper powerful way, most trained people can punch fairly strongly on a heavy bag but there the whole methodology is different. Relaxation, double hip, transfer of weight, 90 degree angle, not losing that left shoulder...its all about body structure and is quite difficult to attain. Every time I think I am getting it, there seems always that little bit more to add on. But, I am very happy, as always to attend Steve's class. You learn so much, last night as I say, it was like a seminar and there was a lot to take in. Great stuff!!
Here is my bro and my old friend Suhail (think that is how his name is spelt) practicing on the ol' blue pads.

Sorry for the poor quality picture. Kit is about to try one of the techniques taught last night. It was good to see Suhail again.
This is the big JKD sign in the gym, its the main feature of the gym although there are many, for instance there are two wing chun dummies, plenty of sticks and tyres and lots of pads.
Well to quickly end, we began the week seeing Nacho Libre - a very funny Jack Black film. Nothing to do with martial arts..? Who says so? Ok its a film which features television style wrestling, but wrestling is wrestling.

Nachoooooooooooooooooo!

Happy training!
L.

What we did this week

2006-08-11T22:18:00.000Z

That's a nice simple title. What we did this week. Well, this week we missed out on Karl's and Steve's unfortunately, due to work reasons, overtime and so on. I am now a Technical Writer and sometimes the job can be quite strenous, gathering facts and making sure the software behaves properly. I am often very tired by work's end each evening. Have you noticed...its beginning to get dark earlier! So...pugilism this week around revolved around the stick. Actually on sunday after doing some housework, I trained for about 40 minutes whilst it was still sunny.
On monday, tuesday, wednesday and thursday, I did weights, getting back into that as it were, with monday and thursday at Salford with Kit, and two lunchtime sessions on the other days at the Forum. So its not been a total loss. Did a bit of work on the heavy bag, trying to practice that booming reverse punch!
FRIDAYS HERE!! Whoo hoo!! Here's what happened at class. After a long warm up both with sticks and without, Simon introduced a thorough little conditioning circuit which was great, plenty of hindu squats and press ups. But I found out today that I hate squat thrusts! Anyway, it was a good session.
Stick class was good, in that William of Peru is quite serious about taking gradings, I am hoping we can get him up to a level where he will pass with flying colours. This will be in several months time...Kit and I went through some more disarms and locks, plus labangcon and punyo sumbrada with William.
Not many pics at all this week, but then again, its always the same faces anyway...come september, who knows, we might get some fresh mea...I mean Freshers!
Keep training, check out my bro's blog, he should have alot more pics of all of us immortalised on the net....! And yes. I have had a major haircut.
L

Another Day....

2006-08-03T12:26:00.000Z

Here we go. Another night becomes another day. Off I go to work with great enthusiasm...knowing that I might be training in the evening. Work during the day washes over me. And after that, another day ends and another night begins. Not much in the way of excitement, except for the buzz we get when we train.

In stick class, and all other physical endeavours we expend a huge amount of energy. Here, Kit faces William of Peru who made a return to class following his graduation. (Congratulations William!)

Muscle contraction requires energy in all kinds of movement and muscles have been called "a machine for converting chemical energy into mechanical energy." That "machine" helped me here when I got that stop kick in against Ray's round kick.

Can you imagine the amount of excitement our neural systems undergo when you do palakaw, ammara 1 - 10 or go through a boxing combination? Paul and I freestyle the palakaw drill here.

Ray and I sqaure off again in a little empty hand sparring. Poised and ready for the jab, I can tell that Ray is right about ready to launch a hit!

Did they get that flooring from Ikea?

Stick sparring from above: Simon vs William.

Tense moments: Both combatants search for that opening....

Kit attempts to catch William unaware...he is looking for that BOOM factor...!

The week that was was in fact pretty good training wise. Martial arts-wise, Kit and I went to Karl's class twice and taught and trained at Salford on the friday. Yes I enjoyed that week...I finished it by going to get my haircut at City Barbers. Whilst I waited for the barber I went up to see Steve, only I found out Steve wasn't well. If you are reading this Steve, get well soon!!

Here's to next week, enjoy and happy training!
L.

Training

2006-07-22T21:34:00.000Z

Missed out on last weeks class on friday. However I did attend Steves double lesson on Saturday. That was probably the first time I have done that in a long time. We covered stick disarms and then the much-needed boom class. Nice start to the week. Sunday went, monday arrived. Finally, at Salford Uni, Kit and I got under the bench again for the first time since God knows. Bad thing is Kit suffered from chest pain so I thought it was not such a good idea to go heavy. Kit has precordial catch syndrome, apparently very common. Here is an excerpt from the University of British Columbia:
Precordial catch syndrome is the term used to describe recurrent chest pains, usually on the left side, occurs suddenly and subsides within a few minutes. The pain is described as sharp or knifelike, causing the person to not want to move. This may be the result of a pinched nerve. The precordial catch syndrome is not a serious condition but can be highly distressing, mainly when it is mistaken for a heart attack . Daily stretching exercises may reduce these sudden sharp pains. There seems to be alot of articles about it, all saying more or less the same stuff! Main thing is is that it does no harm.
I was wondering if Kit should continue with Karl's class. We perservered. Good thing too, as we went back to the basics and drilled them. Quite an enjoyable, sweaty Stand-Up Intro class.
Tuesday came and went. And also the yawn-inducing work that came with it! Then weds came, and this time, there was no chest pain, and Kit got a heavier and more intense workout. Coupled with the heat, it was a tough slog. But we sacrificed weds stand up class for more work in the weights room and tried mainly upper body work. You know when you get days when you feel great on the bench press - well, for me this was one of those days. I hadn't done it for ages - well, except for monday - and managed 74kgs on the olympic bar. The heaviest I have ever hit was way back about ten years ago when I had two 40 kgs on either side of the olympic bar, making that 100kgs in total. I did a few of those with assistance. I remember seeing a guy who was shorter than me, not that easily done as I am only 5'5 anyway, and he was doing the same weight - UNASSISTED. I also recall guys lifting a lot heavier than they should, ending up curling their backs so that they could shove up the weight! Totally wrong way of doing it!! Have to keep that back flat, otherwise, there will be damage. You get a bad back and you won't be able to do anything.
In any case, I think I'd be squashed if I tried 100kgs again now! Some people might say whats the point and tell you just do body weight exercises. They may be right but there isn't much that beats that feeling when you can walk away from the bench knowing it was challenging yet you have defeated it.
After we finished that we did about 20 minutes of stick work - again a hard slog but only because it was in a very warm squash court. Then we attended Steves class, plenty of padwork...all I can say is BOOM...! It was a little worrying, every time I thought I was close to getting that reverse punch right, there was always something wrong. HIP...SHOULDER...ELBOW....FIST!!! Don't forget relaxation and grip. I just can't get it spot on! As always though, I thoroughly enjoy Steves class. Lots of laughs and good training.
Friday night came and Simon gave us a new sequence with stick vs stick. We also did a little stick sparring but my mind was a little aloof at the time. I like sparring alot but I am not too good at it! This friday like last, Gaz and William didn't turn up so Kit and I got a little training in. A good workout, methinks. All this training and I still can't stop it all from going south, but hey thats life. Anyway, for some reason, I can't get any pics uploaded, I will try and post them some other time.
Happy training
L

Meet your maker: The EXCUSE

2006-07-19T22:01:00.000Z

Man it is really, really hot!

Global warming and the heat keeps rising. Shouldn't complain, in terms of weather, its been fab...but how does one get the best out of training in blazing temperatures?? Tonight we missed training. There was some kind of smog in the air which didn't help.... Anyway,I reckon this summer so far has been a real scorcher compared to last year. Do you think I am going to do sticks in that stuffy squash court this friday...?? Its going to be boiling in there. I am hoping to resume some sort of training normality soon. Listen to me! If its not because of my job,flying all over the show, its because of the weather! Am I hopeless or what!
Such is the human psyche. How many times have we lost that edge due to bad commitment or our minds are elsewhere, or that thing where we say "its up to you"...hahaha...thats when we really can't make our mind's up....NOT GOOD!! In fact its dangerous. One day I might be playing catch up. I might refuse to believe it, but it will happen if I don't make the right decisions. Sometimes its not my fault, sometimes things happen whilst I am in the gym, for example, the gym might be too busy, or I can't find the little hook to hold the weight in place or some such. Arggh! Too many excuses!
When I was small, about 11 or 12, dad bought me a BULLWORKER. He wanted me to get strong. And he paid a lot of money for it back then. He bought it from a newspaper and I still use it today. Thanks to my dad who bought it (Kit would use it too) and thanks to the man who created it, Gurt Koebel. I remember using Bullworker everyday. Without fail. Wouldn't it be good if the Lun of all that time came back to confront me and tell me off? Do you ever feel that way? Or maybe the Lun of the 1990's. I used to train alot more then too. I am not quite a shadow, not yet, but if excuses can be a living entity, then its probably only because I have fed it a nice diet of the "its too hot today"'s or a nice dish of "we'll do it tommorow"'s, sat on a nice bed of "can't be arsed"'s.....what, you want salt and vinegar as well??
Here's the trick. Attitude is everything. Another "secret": balancing ones life. I suppose its all about good habits. Life takes over sometimes, and the challenges of work,personal things,money etc...all take their toll.
In a sense, I suppose the Korean TKD tenet of Indomitable Spirit (Paekjol Pulgul)will also be a major player here. And also...Self Control (Chaje). The most important one will be Perserverance (Innae) and that's in all paths in life.

Now! I have to go practice what I am on about...or I will be nothing but a bullsh*tter, right?

Keep training. I will too, promise.

L.

That was another week....

2006-07-16T22:37:00.000Z

Well, the week began well. Beginning with a gym session and Karl's stand up class, ending with Fridays Eskrima class. Unfortunately, Kit and I decided against training on weds, as I had a stomach bug and thought it best not to.

However, Kit and I took the Friday class opening with a conditioning circuit. It was a three rounder with a rest in-between. We set up several stations and included both stick and body conditioning. John, Ray, a new guy called Adrian and Peruvian William participated, Paul opted out after the first round, as he wanted to prepare for the knife section of the class. Anyway, the three rounder included stick work, pad work, high reverse and forward blocks, ammara, sit ups, press ups, abanikos and focus mitt work. Not super-strenuous, but hard enough. I am thinking everyone enjoyed it, even John who was suffering from a shoulder injury.
Simon was away on holiday in Bulgaria. Kit and I really enjoyed teaching John and William. We concentrated on high low method mainly.

Here is Paul going through a knife flow drill with Ray as Adrian watches and imitates.

Kit going through a double stick drill with William. Lots of fun!

The guys here are going through their crosses, kob kob and high low method as I look on.

The weekend just gone began really well, Sue and I explored Chester. Sue had been before ages ago, but I had never been before. We went by train and had a great few hours there, looking around and taking pictures, walking along the wall and enjoying Chesters own ice cream. Yes, it is a very historical city as well as a shoppers paradise. Lots to see and do. I do enjoy visiting old places, so much character about the place...! Very picturesque! We ate at the Living Room which wasn't too pricey.
As this blog holds "martial arts" in its title, I did see a poster for Jiu jitsu in Chester, but honest, I wasn't there to look out for this sort of thing on purpose. Next time we visit Chester, we will do more of the touristy thing and go on the guided tours. Looking forward to it!

Enjoy the photos below and have a good week!

Class of 07 07 2006

2006-07-09T22:36:00.000Z

Here we go with some photos from last fridays class.
It was another good session, almost a full class. But please excuse the quality of the pics!

John and Ray in a struggle for martial arts supremacy!

Kit going through the high low method or heaven six double stick drill with William and Gaz.

Pointers on seguida from Simon to Ray.

High Low method between William and Gaz.

Ray putting on safety gear.

More quality coaching from Kit.

Thanks for looking!
L.

The City Where I Live...and what we got up to training-wise!

2006-07-09T07:44:00.000Z

Kit and I are so lucky to live where we do. There are of course several schools of martial arts in the area. Over the years I think it has expanded, I mean, 20 years ago, I don't think there was a capoiera class in the area, or a krav maga class, and there certainly wasn't any MMA as we know it to be today. Nowadays, we are exposed to so many different martial arts so for the beginner it will be like looking at a menu at a restaurant.

The city of Manchester has been through a lot in recent times. Its basically been rebuilt in a lot of areas, the old blending with the new.

That's what I like about it, so much diversity.

Its a great sporting city as well, and for the most part there is a good community spirit, as shown by the number of supporters in the Great Manchester Run recently. Kit, Timmins and Gareth took up the challenge.

Like all cities, there is always something going on. Something "kicks off". I remember in our old chippy there would sometimes be unsavoury characters who, if they didn't cause trouble for us, they'd cause trouble for other customers! There was this one occasion where, we had a huge queue of customers, and there was some idiot kicking off for no reason. I remember him as the guy who always walked round like he was tough, in summer he'd walk round flexing his muscles...you know the type I mean. Anyway. My dad and I used our way of the intercepting loud mouth technique. The trouble-maker said he knew some gypsies who could beat us up... I was behind dad and I always remember him doing some kind of move "he learnt from tv". The idiot was thrown out literally and dad did this move where he spun him and he ended up on the floor. When I say spun him, I mean not just turn him around and face the door, but rather, turn him upside down and face the floor. To this day I have no idea how or what my dad did to do it.
As a back up, I chased the guy down the street, making sure he'd run away. He came back with a plank of wood, for some reason, so I met him head on, with rice-flails. Sorry, yes, I was an idiot too. I demonstrated what I could do, figure of eight or whatever, and he then threw the plank of wood down and promptly told us to "burn it". He wasn't so big and powerful now. He walked off to his home which was only on the next block. He sat on his doorstep with head in hands for ages. After we shut up shop, dad and I went across to him, and asked him if he was ok, he didn't say much. There was no point making trouble or bearing any malice, I think we were all ok about it in the end, as he would come back in from time to time to buy food. After a few years that guy disappeared.
This week, then, Kit and I began with the usual weights, except we trained a bit harder on this occasion. Kit even suggested that we do one week just on weights, which sounds like part of a master plan.
Weds we took it upon ourselves to go to both Karl's and Steve's. In the former, we worked alot on the jab...it was rather hot to be doing much else! Soaked with sweat as usual. In the latter, we practiced hubud drills, and I now know some of them in a mixed up kind of way as my muscle memory has yet to take them on board. It was a great lesson. Friday of course was Warriors, where we began with a bit of conditioning. It marked the return of John,Gaz and William, and Kit and I did alot of coaching that night of which we thoroughly enjoyed.
I will post the pictures from that class soon...
Happy Training!
L.

Proprioceptors - How do we learn?

2006-06-28T20:48:00.000Z

Proprioceptors! What part do they play in one's learned movements?
Proprioception (from Latin proprius, meaning "one's own" and perception) is the sense of the position of parts of the body, relative to other neighbouring parts of the body. They are also called mechanoreceptors.

Muscles are controlled by proprioceptors which are receptors sensitive to the position and movement of the body. These are what work when we drill something enough we know it off my heart and the moves are excuted smoothly. Same in gross movements and fine movements which require precision. Check out the kick by Danny pictured playing the game in Capoiera. You can't just do that move - it takes alot of practice no doubt.

Reference to proprioceptors are evident in sports science, so its an important aspect of training. In fact, Karl at Straight Blast will often talk about proprioceptors.

Basically, they detect the stretch and tension of a muscle and send messages to the spinal cord to enable it to adjust its signals to the muscles. Two main types exist:

1. Muscle spindle: a stretch receptor lying parallel to the muscle. When stretched it sends a message to a motor neuron in the spinal cord which in turn relays a message to the muscle causing a contraction. E.g the knee-jerk reflex.
2. Golgi tendon organ: located in the tendons at both ends of the muscle. It acts as a brake against excessive contractions by inhibiting the motor neurons in the spinal cord.
In fact, I first heard of proprioceptors over 10 years ago on my degree, but it took a session at the Stand Up class to make me go and have a look up on the internet to find out their importance.
Speaking of which, my bro and I didn't make the monday class, but thoroughly enjoyed wednesday's class, where we covered defence against the double leg take down, which included the point where the take down was to occur (cross-face defence) to the point where the opponent has gone for the single leg instead and successfully gets the take down (steps back and pushes),to the next point where the defender stops the take down from happening (pushes the head down). Very hard work indeed, lots of work for the good ol' proprioceptors.
We began last week with a visit to the cinema and watching Fearless, with my wife, bro'Kit and Elaine. Midweek came and went and suddenly we were at the eskrima class on friday. I really enjoyed it...we went through some good reality scenario training and we discussed how it should go as we went along...in fact alot of thought went into the session and it was interesting. It was kind of on the fly, but sometimes that can work out very well. Its something we will build upon.
Then what happens the following day...? I turn 38! I am grateful I have reached it!Wow. So much time has passed! We had a nice meal at the Hong Kong Restaurant.
Nice way to end the week. Love to my brother, mum and dad, and my wife Sue..always.Enjoy the rest of the pics, and good health to one and all.

Group discussion...communication is key, in anything, isn't it?

Scenario training as Si looks on.

Train hard
L.

Are we gifted...or cursed? Just my thoughts....

2006-06-24T23:17:00.000Z

Once in a while I get to a cross-roads in life, and this is one of those moments. Years ago, I would read comics, and some of my favourites included Batman, Justice League of America, Avengers and Defenders. Right now though, my all time favourite mutants are doing the rounds in the cinemas. Like the XMEN from the comics and the movies, we as martial artists have trained and drilled and trained and drilled. So have we become gifted? Have we become equipped with loads and loads of techniques that work? Or are we cursed - have we got loads and loads of techniques that work but only within the confines of the training area? Are we cursed in such a way that we think what we have is the ultimate martial art? Will this in turn stop us from looking at any other martial art? Will we become dependent on what we practice? And is it enough? If you were in the kitchen of your house, and had not even considered a martial art, and someone broke in, and you began throwing the saucepan of hot soup at him, or throwing your best iron skillet at him, and it worked, then is that not a "martial" reaction? Or is an act of desperation? Could it be considered a gift for that person to have reacted quickly?
Unlike the XMEN, we don't have the luxury of a "Danger Room". Before we can test what we know, we only get told from someone else's experience what is and what isn't. Have we become so wound up in our self-belief that we have martial methods that can match up to the un-predictability of a real life confrontation? I don't think so, at least I hope not.

Unpredictable siuations are dangerous for each and every one of us. It doesn't matter what martial art you do. Each of us who has trained for a number of years will have knowledge and will react in the same way as we train. And how we react is determined by the environment at the time of attack.
We all develop attributes of some description. But is there a guarantee of some kind, a guarantee with all the trimmings that you have something that works? There's always headbutts, knees and elbows. This is where common sense is called to play. There will still be those perhaps blinkered people who claim they don't need any other art - if only because they like what they have - but those who will look outside the box will find a whole plethora of moves that will perhaps enhance their knowledge. After all, man is the living creature, the creating individual. I suppose that if you have a belief that your moves will work, then thats good for you. You might be gifted, cursed, blinkered and have common sense all rolled into one. Your reactions will be different to when you first began but they will only be different because of a certain stimulus from a certain drill, be it from focus mitts to knife drills etc. It maybe difficult to train with drills and put in a sense of reality. One might ask "who's reality?" Another person's reality is totally different to someone elses. I might compare my reality with yours and look at yours discompassionately, or sympathetically.

I have always said that you should train an art that will give you the right tools for the job. Thats important. But with so many arts its difficult to choose from isn't it? I'd love to get some more flexibility back so I can kick like Hwang Jan Lee, but would all that kicking prowess be useful to me when I am old?

Maybe I have gone off on a tangent and think too deep. Maybe I should forget about what works and what doesn't and just go back to basics. I suppose when you get to a cross-roads there are many questions that won't be answered until you get to the next cross-roads.

I suppose martial arts and so on are not the be all and end all in terms of self defence - its whatever works at the time and how quickly you can react, what's around you, who you are with, is it snowing, raining, foggy etc. You don't need to be a martial artist to be able to defend yourself well. If a martial art brings out particular responses out of you, then it may be a good thing, or it may be a bad thing. If we react in a certain way, it might be in our heads that we might expect the assailant to react in the same way, just so you can execute the next move. Drilling instills these expectations in us, and that can be problematic. Check out page 210 of Masters of the Blade, there's a short story there. I think to counter the unpredictability of a real life situation, we have to train with aliveness. There! A conclusion...!Let's just say that its a good thing to look outside the box and think about what we do. At the end of the day, survival is key. Hope you enjoy the pics and have fun til next time.
Cheers
L.

Live blades in reality

2006-06-12T22:17:00.000Z

Uh oh. Isn't it funny how sometimes the smallest thing can also be the most debilitating? You can be a professional cage fighter, or a huge bodybuilder, or just about to fly that powerful jet plane, or even worse, trying to revise for that all important exam, when that lousy pollen hits home and gets to your nose, your eyes and so on. Yeah, isn't it funny. Isn't it absolutely shite. This pic is of me in Windsor, Ontario. Detroit is right behind me, across the Detroit river. It was freezing when I was there, but hey there was no pollen! I'd rather be wrapped up warm when its cold then suffer all the allergies in summer.
So how do YOU train in hot weather? If you were in Thailand training you'd probably be subjected to a high heat out there, but its a different kind of heat to here.

Sometimes training in hot weather is not good for you, especially if you train hard and long. Heat stroke, or heat exhaustion may ensue. Thing is, your training partners won't even realise.
Another thing that people won't realise, is what works against a blade. Or a screwdriver. Many years ago, and I won't shy about talking about it, our mum was stabbed in the stomach twice and Kit was stabbed 4 times in our take away. The police were un-helpful to say the least. The thing is, our mum didn't even realise she was wounded until the next day. It was a vicious attack, and it was an attack by two thugs, one with a screwdriver.
I can't stand it when people who have no experience of what a stabbing can be like try to tell me what to do and try to tell me what's reality. Its almost like a doctor prescribing paracetamol for blindness. Thing is I am not blind. My eyes maybe a little weary but no, you try and sell me something that looks a bit dubious and I will ignore you.
You cannot train for this kind of thing. If you could train for all types of adversity, then there would be no fatalities during war because we would all know what to expect and what to do.
Your reality might be something you have learnt from within the safety of your own gym, dojang, dojo etc, but I swear that on that night there was no safety at all.
Martial arts have alot to answer for. Every step of the way, I believe you should be constantly evaluating your martial art as your martial journey proceeds. I personally would urge you to look past all the marketing hype. There are endorsements and there will always be the "ultimate" martial art, but man is, as Bruce Lee pointed out, the one true entity that creates. No single art is more important than the man. Bruce Lee could have been a judo man as opposed to a gung fu man but he would have still been unbeatable...why? Because of his mentality and his vision. Going back to those people in the world who teach martial techniques with no experience in true life confrontations are like what Greg Hall said to Steve, and I hope he doesn't mind me quoting: "its like virgins teaching Sex..."Profound.
A vicious attack happens so quickly. And yes when it happened I experienced that dream effect. Violence and stabbings are horrible crimes and in the news recently has been up on the rise.

Tapi tapi..hubud with blades..great for the art and a nice learning curve. Hubud is just a drill, albeit the various types can be challenging. I was training with Kit and learning Hubud number 11 but its all just a drill. I suppose it can be like a kata. In fact whats the difference? I love learning it but haven't lost sight of what happened back when those bastards made trouble in our shop. When I see people (i.e. these virgins teaching sex types) teaching knife defence from what they picked up from a video tape or attended a workshop I get REALLY MAD. Some of them can't seperate drills or similar from the real thing, because (fortunately) they haven't been there. NO ONE SPARS WITH YOU IN THE STREET. That's a given. When I say street, I really mean absolutely anywhere.
The only people I will listen to about knives, screwdrivers etc will be my brother Kit, Karl Tanswell, Steve and Greg.

That's all this time around.

Keep it up and train HARD!
L.

Some funny things

2006-06-10T00:52:00.000Z

Grappling's all the rage these days. This is a photo of Larry Hartsell, back in 2003. It was at a seminar in the Manchester area,hosted by Greg Hall. It was a great day. For those of you who don't know, Larry trained with Bruce Lee. A long time ago, when I first started, I would never have thought to have trained in a seminar linked to Bruce Lee.
Since grappling is indeed all the rage, Kit and I have become members of Karl Tanswell's Straight Blast Gym in Manchester. This week we have successfully attended two great lessons - the training, it has to be said, is tough. In recent sessions, we worked on high crotch lifts - ok, ok, sounds a bit omnious, maybe, but we worked them, and it goes like this. First you pass the arm over in an arm drag move. You step around to the opponents side as you arm drag, pass your right arm between the opponents legs, and then clamp your left hand up onto your right. Its no good having the arms down near the inner thighs, they have to be higher. Then you kind of jump in and have your feet shoulder width apart, and lift up, either tipping him to the front, or back, with minimal effort (well for those who did it correctly) and no back strain to yourself at all. Hard to describe....At the end of the day, ALIVENESS is key to form and function. And we had some good news in that Matt Thornton is visiting Stockport soon to give a seminar.
In class, we practiced defences to high underhooks and counters too, they were interesting, as it all is....I will let you find out for yourself what they are about. And we covered a submission move using the top of your head, pressing the hard part into the cheekbone of your opponent after crashing in with the elbows. This crashing in move would be following the opponents jab, cross and roundhouse. You have to be there, ok?!! It's all functional stuff!
Steve's JKD class was great. I told you readers that we'd be back there, didn't I? We played with focus mitt drills from the four count, Stop-hit,Jun Fan etc and finished with alot of silat throws. It was good to see the silat stuff.
The funny thing about Steve is that he also has something funny to say. He bought over this wooden carving with the character for dream in it. I told him what it was to dream in Cantonese. Actually, how you pronounce it sounds like Fat Mong. That actually means to have a dream but it was so funny - he said "...so if Martin Luther King says it he says "I have a Fat Mong"....hahahahaha"...ok, ok again, you have to be in the moment.
I have enjoyed this week, training wise. Got in some weights as well at the Forum. Ha, I am still a "fat mong", though! On friday Kit and I were main eventers again, taking centre stage once more. We were doing one on ones again as we had a student each. It's all looking good, methinks so far. Although I sometimes think that I still am a little bit too humble and give people too much respect. I could go on and say "listen, its my class" but I won't. That won't impress anyone at all. Teaching though, is getting better, even if I do say so myself.
Here's me flying off somewhere on business not too long ago. (Well, it may have been last year, I have less hair now).Don't remember where to, but I can remember being thoroughly pissed off at having to go. Just hours before, my wife and I were together. And then I had to be a jet-setter again. Well...no more! This week I have also changed jobs. I am now a Technical Writer. Yayyyyyyy! In life, be married to your loved ones, not your job. How daft is it that someone can throw themselves into their jobs and be like that for years, only to realise that they will soon hit 40 and still have no partner / lover? Two more years and I will have hit 40. Hopefully by then I can still be like Jim Kelly and be "too busy looking good."
It was funny explaining what Dit Dar Jow means to my friend Ian. As far as I know, the word Dit, means to fall, the word Dar, means to hit, and Jow means wine. So I guess too much wine means you have to take a fall and hit the ground. I guess that sounds like the translation some people take as feng shui or "pissing in the wind"...Just joking. I have actually ordered some dit dar jow to have handy around the house and because of my magic ninja induced elbow pain from the week before. Those pesky ninjas. Check out http://www.askaninja.com/ for questions related to life, the universe and shit like that.
Sorry all, only two pics from our friday class.

Your author and Will training curriculum technique.

Paul here is whacking those focus mitts!

All in all a nice week! And I sold my first item on Ebay as well.
And come on, have you seen the weather?! Scorchio!!!
Train hard
Lun

Revisiting The Changes

2006-06-03T00:30:00.000Z

Been a while since I have been here! I will return with Kit to Steve's very soon. I miss training there alot! When I get back there, it'll be a welcome change. From the boom sessions to the Choshin-Kai sessions, I miss it all. That has just GOT to change.
Tonight's Warriors Eskrima class was a good session. My brother and I are developing a teaching style. I am hoping to make it fun for all participants. I can't make you laugh too much like Steve does. So we have transitions from one teaching level to the next. Every week I think I notice a slight change in the way that we teach, we either improve a little, or we don't. Its all about experience. Like the advert, those who can, teach. For me, I think I can...sometimes! But its a challenge, and its one of those challenges that I like and look forward to.
Big change tonight in class was that we had another new student, one of Paul's colleagues from work. Her experience comes from Kickboxing, and she is our first female student. Kit went through alot of stuff with her...her name was Lisa. I think she was satisfied and said she will return next week. As far as teaching went today, I enjoyed showing the locks from angles 1 and 2, and also 3 and 4. The locking technique in angle 4 is great, it is one of my favourites. Simon got involved in showing Paul B. and Gaz some knife work drills also. However, tonight we didn't do any sparring, we instead did some conditioning instead which were pretty tough.

Here, I asked Ray to hold the kicking paddle at station 1, this would be for the entry, the player would execute a round kick, and run to station 2, where the player would perform a low abanico and a high abanico, with Simon holding both sticks in the middle. Then the player would go to the final station, with Paul holding normal focus mitts. The hits would be like amarra 1, with an added overhead backhand strike. What I was trying to simulate was a sparring situation where you chase the opponent. It was tough...as I asked of all the students to put the sticks down after station 3, do ten press ups, run down the court and back again and pick up their sticks. Then they would begin again. I think they enjoyed it. One thing I learnt from this drill was that if the kicking paddle is used, its not meant to be kicked hard. Apologies to Ray who got caught in the hand!!
A major change in my life will be that I won't be doing any travelling from Monday onwards. This means I can spend more time with those loved ones who matter the most. I will miss the money and going to some far off places but there is no substitute for spending time here with the mrs, with my folks and with lil'bro! To be at home is always a definite plus, thats for sure.
My training began this week with a class in Ninjitsu. That was definitely a change. It was great except I came away with an elbow injury due to an over-zealous student. Was he being stupid?? I can't straighten my left elbow without a painful ache! Might have to see a physio, again!
Then on weds I attended Karl's class. Again a great session and I paid my dues for the rest of the month. I am definitely looking forward to the next class at Karls'.
Just going to end it here with a great training tip.
In striking arts such as karate, kickboxing, boxing etc. there tends to be an emphasis on "forward" actions such as punching, pushing, pushups etc.

The muscles involved in pulling movements quickly become much weaker than their forward-facing counterparts. This can lead to health problems.

Make sure to supplement your program with "pulling movements" that will develop a more balanced range of strength. Maybe this is the Yin and Yang mindset...!

Your training method must compensate for all of the forward-directed muscular development that you're striking practice will produce. Otherwise if anything, you won't have as much power as you should. Examples would be rowing actions, chin ups, etc.

Happy training, all!
L

Its Almost June!

2006-05-27T21:55:00.000Z

Time flies. Often we do things in our lives that speed up time, living at 100 mph. And, as we enter that time of year where the sun should be shining, there'll be those people at work making plans already for the Christmas booze fest. Ooh...alcohol. No thanks.
Sometimes I think its better to live for the moment. Every monday we go into work knowing that the only worthwhile thing to look forward to is the weekend, where we can spend time with those people important to us. We live for the weekend chained to our desks and its like the PC owns our very existence. Often we get told that there are deadlines, most of which are un-realistic. How sad it is that many of us have to put up with someone else's sh*t, taking up our short life time on earth. Such is life and I suppose there's little point going on about it.
So speaking of time...!! From what I can remember in my classes of Sun Style Tai Chi, it was a 97 step form. You could perform this as slowly as possible, or keep up with the others, regardless it might take 20 minutes or more to complete but it was highly beneficial. In that particular time window, you were building up your health, at the same time learning valid martial techniques that will work in todays world. If we take the same amount of time and put it in a work environment,I think I can guarantee that you won't get as much work done as you should, which really means no true beneifit at all. But hey, this is the world we tolerate until that day when we can walk out into retirement. Wouldn't you rather spend time doing something more healthy? After all, time is flying. As you age, your workouts get less and less intense as your body starts to say "please slow down", so much so that you end up playing the game of catch up all the time. 9 times out of 10, work requires that you abuse your own health further, and by the time you are ready to retire, time has no time for you. Great, innit! Life is.....Before you think I am advocating a life of "luxury" living off benefits, I am NOT! Sometimes its better to have a happy medium and greater control over ones life and direction, but obviously its not always practical. Since we live in a world where we can't always have what we want, we just plod on and take it on the chin. I suppose what I am trying to say is after work, don't just go home and watch TV. For the people who visit my blog on a regular basis, I know that this won't apply to them at all. But they'll know someone who will do just that. It'll be nice if we could all keep fit whilst slouching on the sofa playing games on the Playstation or watching a TV soap. Yawn!!
When I practiced Taekwon-do, I remember really trying hard to learn all the moves in the patterns I had to know for my grades, all the terminology, etc. It was the little pocket in time where I was learning Korean, if only for the martial art of TKD. Thing is, I enjoyed it.
This friday just gone, Kit and I enjoyed taking Gary and William through amarra and speeding. All of that took time,albeit a very enjoyable time!! Doing things we enjoy should be the key to life. The class was great and it was good to see that William did indeed return for more instruction. His first lesson was last week. As fledgling instructors, if I see a beginner return then I know he is interested and that boosts my confidence. In the Warriors system there is alot to offer...Kit and I will be developing teaching skills as we go along. All in all,it was my only foray into martial arts training / teaching for the week just gone, the other training I did was resistance training. Kit's blog has some great pics on there regarding friday's class.
Here is Danny Henry, Kit's capoiera instructor in the loud trousers, doing what he does best, dancing in front of a nicely sized crowd. I managed to take a few pics of him this weekend. This guy is always in high spirits. Here he is using the time doing what he does best. While to some, he may not be using his time "wisely", to others he is entertaining and you can watch him as he dances. Magic. I like watching him move as he really gets into the music. Although I personally don't go to his capoiera classes anymore, its certainly something I would recommend if you need to lose weight. Great exercise!!

Enjoy the pics and use that time wisely!!

Me watching Gary and William go through a drill.

Disarming skills.

Jumping attack.

Take care
L.

Manchester Run 2006

2006-05-21T17:39:00.000Z

On a sopping wet rainy sunday, x number of passionate, brave runners took over Manchester. Three of these fantastic do-gooders were Kit,Timmons and Gareth. Good for Gareth, all of a sudden he is on a healthy streak, giving up smoking, joining a gym and trying his best to be healthy. Kit of Warriors Eskrima and Mr Timmons of BJJ fame from the Straight Blast gym are dedicated to their martial arts. But man, it rained all day and was pretty cold. Cold in May. Yep no surprises, there. Kit ran all the way, his training no doubt pulled off. I am thinking of trying next year.
It was quite amusing, mum, Sue and I saw Kit and called out to him, he was looking for us but couldn't see us, but, when he saw the finish line, he just went for it and powered away like a Ferrari. I am really proud of Kit, Timmons and Gareth! What a great job they all did. Congratulations on completing the run!!
There was alot of courage, passion and the desire to get to the end in the run. I could see in the efforts people were making. It was interesting and in a way heart-warming seeing people hold hands when they neared the finish line. I saw people of all ages complete it. I even saw one person in a wheelchair. I saw a woman wearing a blue tee shirt running for a cancer charity, on the top of the logo on her tee, it said "For Mum". All of these people, my brother and our two friends included, all wanting and making a positive difference. This is what life is about. Having the attitude to go for it and to try and make a change. Amazing power. Imagine all the power in all of these people participating, all the power channeled into something good. What a great feel good factor. Combined with all those egging them on, man that is a powerful collaboration.I was glad to be there. The whole thing made me even happier. A run like that is what makes for a good sunday day out. All that focus, energy and drive! Superb.
Here are participants who have finished and are walking towards getting their goodie bags which was further up Deansgate.

Here is mum and Kit after Kit made the finish line. Great stuff Kit!!!

Timmons, Gareth and Kit wrapped up nice and "warm", reflecting after their tremendous efforts.

Fantastic stuff.....Congratulations to all!
Happy Training
L.

Short and sweet

2006-05-17T23:46:00.000Z

The week has gone by now. Another whole week. Time really really flies.

What have you done this week to make it something new and different?
Anything special? Met anyone or done anything cool? This pic is from Seni and shows a hard fought BJJ contest.

This week for me anyway, it hasn't been great for training. Next week I hope I can concentrate more and not be so tired after work. I'd like to get back to Karl's.

Tonight we had a new student called William and its good to have him aboard. I hope we can be there to teach him stuff he has yet to see. He holds black belts in karate and TKD. It'll be a challenge but I think it will be an enjoyable challenge. Teaching really can be fun and also, you need to be on your toes and have your guard up. New students always have something to say so I think our teaching style will need re-vamping, especially for me anyway.

Thats all for this week,
Happy training
L.

Fun times?

2006-05-15T12:35:00.000Z

Remember when you was small, and you went to just started out with school? Fun times weren't they. Last week I went to Steve's and as always, he made Kit and I laugh. That's what training is all about. you can train seriously, or seriously train. Which one is more fun? To me, I would seriously train. But then you might ask, what am I training for? In a couple of months I will be 38, so what is all this training? Maybe when you reach a certain level, its time to start something anew. But that's the thing with martial arts...to me, there's always something new to learn. There's always a different interpretation, or a different approach or a slightly different emphasis. I don't think I will ever stop. But then its best not to think too often, or I will "miss all that heavenly glory". Last friday our Eskrima session consisted of some teaching and some learning. We learnt some Sayoc drills (as featured in the film The Hunted) and the Tapi Tapi drills that go with it..very interesting. In fact, it was fun. Just like I had a little bit of fun whilst in Hong Kong with my wife, last year. We only stayed a short time, but we were in a great hotel conveniently located in the Mongkok area. I did do a quick search around for martial arts, as someone like me would do as its not often I find myself in the far east, but to be honest I couldn't find Chinese martial arts, I did however find Korean. Hong Kong is a fantastic place! I want to go back. Soon! Recognise the building in the photo? The one with the curvy looking roof? It was the one featured at the end of A New Police Story which in Cantonese means "Sun Ging Chaat Goo Si".
Speaking of these two films, one features a real martial art, which was given the Hollywood treatment. The other was a great Jackie Chan vehicle, and that features Hong Kong movie / JC style theatrical martial arts. Whilst I enjoyed both films, you can guess which one it was that I reckon was more FUN.
Here's a pic of Eric Yates and myself goofing around at Lake Windermere after seeing Dan Inosanto in Edinburgh. That was a fun seminar. Unfortunately I was a little bit too starry-eyed...

Here's us telling you people out there that life is absolutely far too short. Sit down, smile and have a look around you before its too late. Take pleasure in the small (living) things in life when you feel down.

Or just get the Pads out and go BOOM!!

From the old days - George Campbell vs a young TJ Hooker...I mean, me. With curls.
I still have this pad from the old Oriental World which was once on Tib Street.

Til next time - have FUN!
Lun

The Master Killer comes to Brum

2006-05-07T00:34:00.000Z

Is that Gordon Liu, man? Is it? Holy Seni Batman, it is!!! The Master Killer himself from Kill Bill 1 and 2. It was alot of fun at Seni. And we got Gordon Liu's autograph, spoke to Dana White and saw Chuck Liddell. Starry-eyed aside, we saw Andy Timmons go for it in his first fight representing Karl's Straight Blast Gym in Manchester.

Here is a pic of Timmons just before his contest, he has the white gi on with the sqaure black backing on. On that it says Straight Blast Gym....Timmons had a fantastic skillful match! It was first BJJ competition. BJJ is a great full contact sport that has taken the world by storm in the last ten years or so. Timmons did extremely well.
After the match we met Dana White, the head of the UFC. We were all smiles, as if we had signed million dollar contracts or something...just check out the photos and you will know I mean. Here's Kit with Dana White.
Seni 06 was a great place where people would eyeball each other, but apart from that it was a grand spectacle for the martial arts in general. This year it seemed more Hollywood-ish. But hey...GORDON LIU!!
We never did any training, but sometimes thats ok, you have to take a break. SENI was perfect! So many martial artists under one roof. I just wish that there could be one like it held in Manchester. And why not...here we have got so many instructors and martial arts. Here's Timmons with Dana after agreeing his next fight could be with Tito. BUT NOT REALLY!
There was alot going on, but one thing I didn't like was the cost of the seminars after paying the entrance fee. Its a money spinner, that's for sure.
I bought alot of stuff for FMA (Kamagong stick and other training material) and spoke briefly to the guys who play full contact stick sparring from down south (http://www.call2arms.tv/). Interesting stuff! Who knows, maybe??? It'll be tough...!
In terms of training last week, I spent half the week in Belfast, so again, not much training to speak of. But Seni was a great way to end the week. I never knew Danny John-Jules did Wu Shu...he was there at Seni. Here's "Thunder" Paul pictured with him. This blog doesn't seem to be about Martial Arts at all does it! If anything I bought a T shirt with Bruce Lee's famous quote about telling a friend to be like water. If that ain't martial arts, at least from a philosophical point of view, then I don't know what is. Check out Red Lizard Tee shirts for their great martial arts designs.
All in all a good day out, if you could get passed those macho knob-heads who would give you the eye-ball.

The UFC's CHUCK LIDDELL!!!!! Bigger than he is on the small screen...

That would be me and Dana White.

Kit Dwarf and the Cat.

Karl Tanswell coaching his BJJ fighter in White at Seni 06.

Kit, Timmons and Paul watching the same contest. And YES that is my nose at the side of Kit's head.

Some of us just had to go training...we missed this one, but to me the guy at the door wouldn't let us in without paying and parting with £25. This I do not agree with, especially when the workshops were free last year!!!

Ah well. Til next blog, keep on blastin'!

Lun

Another shortie

2006-04-28T22:40:00.000Z

People have fun doing martial arts. There are several reasons why martial arts people are martial arts people. Some just love to train, some just love to fight. Some want to learn about the cultures, some want to feed their own egos. Some will compare what they know against what you know, some will become bullies and do martial arts for the wrong reasons.

You can leave behind a martial arts legacy or for that matter any kind of legacy. What matters is is that you are passionate about forming and perfecting that what will become your legacy. How many times have I gone through the week when I felt like doing nothing on any given day? It takes time and motivation and any lull can be made into a positive if you can think about it for a minute or two. Now that I am in a position to be able to teach, I realise that its not an easy job. It is in fact quite a difficult role in some respects. But time will be spent on it as a product of motivation. I now look forward to friday classes with a re-newed excitement as I know its my vehicle and Kit's to teach.

Tonight, a guy named Paul joined the group and he was very enthusiastic. I hope that we have made an impact on his martial arts education and that he will return. He is from Steves in Manchester. Paul wants to widen his experiences on the use of the stick. We went through Amarra, some lock techniques off the number 1 and 2 angles, kob kob, disarms and much more. Then later on, we had two other guys who seemed interested and may make a visit one friday. So it seems for now that it all looks quite promising. Si and Paul went through stuff they had covered on the seminar just gone, and Ray and John went through various drills. Looking forward to next friday! Its interesting to give instruction as well as receive it. Yep roll on next friday.

I am going back to Belfast next week.
But I will be here for fridays class.
Til then, short blog once again, people, but keep training!!
Lun

Good start to the week

2006-04-25T20:41:00.000Z

This week began with a bit of housework...hey don't laugh, this can prove to be pretty good for exercise. They say anything that raises your heartbeat even if its a little bit can be construed as EXERCISE. This was Sunday, a very nice day here in Manchester. As well as mowing the lawn (it needed to be done) I asked the wife to do some training with me and...she did!! I taught Sue the male and female triangle and the side step as well, not strenuous at all, and then we did some pad drills. She now has a quick jab. And she held the pads for me too! It was excellent having my wife hold the pads as she has never done much of this before, it was a different kind of energy and I had a nice workout.

Then on Monday, Kit and I hit the weights at Salford Uni, that was a nice workout too as we did some stick work as well as some benching and other exercises. Monday is always busy at Salford Uni Gym. Tuesday came and Kit had special guests LGM and Chris in his Capoiera class...I have no doubt in my mind that they had a good time and enjoyed it. One thing is for sure, through Kit's dedication and Danny's hard work and perseverance, the Capoiera at Salford is getting stronger. This is always good to see.

Another good thing to see is Kit's new poster for Warriors Eskrima and our classes at Salford Uni. Check it out and see what you think. I know Kit's put in alot of effort to design it...

I should be training tonight, whether its gym or JKD I don't know yet.

Anyway, just a short one here, til next time, happy training!
Lun

The Changes

2006-04-23T04:10:00.000Z

Hi y'all. I am calling this post "The Changes" not because of the old 70's programme on what is today Childrens BBC but because of certain changes in my life recently. Firstly, for a change, I installed an instrument at Queens University in Belfast. I haven't installed this particular instrument type for years and it made a change to do so, plus it went well too, which I enjoyed. Here is a pic of one that I was involved with in Germany. I remember my colleague at the time having to climb around it to fit those covers on. I myself assisted in making up the samples for the specifications. And isn't this a change, me talking about the work that I do as opposed to being all huffy about it. (My wife introduced me to the word "huffy").

The most significant change recently of course is when I, along with Kit, passed our 6th level grading and were officially bestowed upon us the title of "Apprentice Instructor". I hope we can become good at instructing, and not become "Asshole Instructor" or some such. Way I see it, the future is bright. Bright like my JKD sweater in the picture.....

I have one more important change. I am changing my job! Ha...what the heck is happening here? The new job will be hard, and is at the same company, but mainly, it means less travel! In turn then, this means I can spend time with the people that matter most, and sleep in my own bed and not some hotel bed. Hey....its all happening. I was about to cancel my subs to Karls club, but now I may not have to. I can train more and not have disruption in my life! Great...!!!!! I will actually miss some travelling though. I would never have visited certain places around the world without being in my current role. When they sent me to California, I tried hard to get a film role in Hollywood but alas, it was not to be...
And I have enjoyed a three week stay in China, but never saw any martial arts until the very last day when I was in a cab on the way back to the airport. I saw this old bearded man, practicing his sword form. Wish I could have taken a picture. Speaking of pictures, the photo here is of a very famous picture house, but not in China...

Whilst in China I visited the Great Wall, and the Forbidden City. There was no Imperial Guard as such to greet me, perhaps except when I first arrived at Beijing Airport, where they weren't really expecting to see a (British born) Chinese in amongst the other Chinese people off the plane.

Through work, for no charge to me except for my time, I have been lucky enough to have travelled to the US, Canada, Israel, Greece (during the Olympics), China, various countries in Europe and to cities and towns around England. I have visited towns where there was nothing to at night, towns where the hotel TV was a little portable one, with several channels being the same one and all in Italian, (and this hotel happened to be a 4 star!!), towns where nobody spoke English at all, eaten snake in Beijing etc etc. Work is work though. One of my colleagues at work, whilst in Israel himself last year, told a woman he was chatting up that he "goes to work on a plane". That was quite funny and its kind of cool to be able to use your job to show off like that.

I suppose I could harp on forever. But I won't.

Looking forward to friday when Kit and I can get further opportunity to have a go teaching again. I for one am in it for the experience.

Smash the pad,

Lun

The Short, The Tall and Pudding Chips and Gravy

2006-04-22T01:14:00.000Z

Not too many pictures this week. But I'd like to begin with a question first. Why is it that adults need alcohol to have fun, and children don't? Children have vivid imaginations, but as adults, that part of the brain seems to be shutdown, mainly due to what other adults want, or what the job dictates. Your powers of creativity are taken away. In martial arts, clearly this does need to be the case. When I was in Belfast, I watched a Karate class at the Uni there, and watched someone do a staff form. Looked very impressive. Someone somewhere, must have used his creativity to formulate that kata. In fact, any physical endeavour, i.e. in your chosen sport, should be a journey where self-discovery and development is key. So, in our competitive society in which we live, where that creativity is suppressed, where we are told to put up or shut up, its no wonder why so many people out there can only escape their depressions via a beer mug. And what happens when people get drunk? They fight and end up in casualty....or collapse after being sick. One guy who would confront with these people every night he worked the doors was a guy called Greg. He'd face adversity every time he'd be on those doors and those characters who were looking to pick a fight would no doubt try it on. Why...? Because to them, Greg and other people who worked on the doors were no doubt a challenge.

Lets turn the clock back to 1989-90. I too have faced adversity. When we had our take-away / chippy not so long ago, it was similar in a way. People who didn't want to pay or people who fought other people in the queue etc. Madness!! Why..? It was the alcohol. There were fights in the chippy for no reason whatsoever.
To paraphrase those famous lines from American Pie, this one time (but not at Band-camp)we had two guys who came in and were very rowdy. One was a shorter guy, with straw coloured hair, and specs too. I would have thought he'd be sensible. Then we had his friend, a 6 footer, and he was mouthing off for no reason, upsetting my mum. Sure they bought food but sometimes, it wasn't worth the abuse. My dad came out. He told these guys to chill out and stop making such a racket. At this time, he was out on the public side of the counter. I came out to back up dad. I didn't know what was going to happen. When the 6 footer guy ignored dad and carried on swearing and eating his pudding chips and gravy, I had to do something. I was so pissed off with his swearing and ranting. With a loud kiai, I startled everyone, including dad. First, I threw a snap round house kick to the shorter guys face, that actually connected. I hit him in the mouth. Then as soon as I put my foot down I attacked the taller man with a "Thai" round kick to his thigh, remembering to kick through. I had read somewhere that the thigh was a knockout point. My "Thai" round kick didn't work, and I remember the mans thigh was built like a tree trunk. It stung him though, (and me) and he shut up. Somewhere around this time, the pudding chips and gravy had met the floor, allowing for a slippery surface. Enter the little guy, who tells me "Now you can't go around doing that..." after I kicked him in the mouth. He was there pointing his finger at me so I grabbed it with my left hand and twisted his wrist, to which his response was "Owwagghhhh", or words to that effect. The big guy went real quiet and was quite the apologetic one, but then my dad said he'd call the police. What happens? The shorter fella panics and tries to run, slips on the chips on the floor and his butt (unfortunately for my dad) goes through the bottom window of our shop front door!!
"You broke my window!" shouted dad.

Later on that year, the short guy would come back in. My mum, dad and Kit would say "Oh its him, that trouble maker" but, he would come in with a bodyguard, someone who did Wing Chun. No fights ensued, but can you imagine it...? Kung fu fighting on the streets of Higher Openshaw.

I have alot of little stories from the chippy. Some confrontations went in our favour, some didn't. Stories for another time...

This night Kit and I were happy apprentice instructors at Salford Uni. It felt good to see what was written on the certificate and in the license itself when Simon got them back from Krishna. Anyway, we had only one student, a guy called Gaz who comes to the class regularly. Kit and I gave him alot of techniques and methods. Check out Kit's blog for his exciting account on the first real Lok Bros eskrima and martial arts class and the week of training that he just went through.
I suppose in a way, Gaz got a mini seminar. I think he enjoyed it and I hope we made a good impression. Kit and I also went through a knife drill after the class. Roll on the next class too. On weds Kit and I went to both Karls and Steves and really enjoyed the training. And guess what, as of today,(who knows what the boss will put on that schedule!) next week I am not flying off anywhere but staying in Manchester instead! Fantastic!!!

Happy training people.

Lun

A challenge in Warwick...

2006-04-15T20:34:00.000Z

Warwick is a lovely place to visit. Truly ancient, and in times gone by, no doubt many warriors passed this way. On 9th April, 8 modern day Eskrimadors traversed across the north west and beyond to be graded by none other than Guro Krishna Godhania in a test that could only be described as rock hard. As Kit will tell you, we had to go through nearly all the previous gradings in that single grading, as well as our own. Exciting stuff, and I was chesty with asthma all the way through it, unfortunately. I had just come back from my first week in Belfast, and caught a chill plus the customers cough. Of course, I could blame my boss for sending me in the first place, though I shouldn't lay blame on anyone but myself. Still the time had come for our test, and my mind was far away from the less-than-exciting rigours of mass spectrometry.
It began with stick sparring. It wasn't tit for tat, it was great fun. Gone had the way we would spar at Salford, instead, it was tough and quick with meaning and intent. Maybe at this stage I can say what Bruce Lee said at the beginning of Enter The Dragon: "Not anger. Feeeeeeeeeeel. It is like a finger pointing away to the moon (or summat like that). Don't concentrate on the finger or you will lose all that heavenly glory". What did he mean? Maybe in our case it was don't concentrate on the sparring, just go for it and get all that heaven;y glory. Maybe. Who knows, I hope you have an angle on it. But yep, there was no anger whatsoever when Kit and I sparred.

For all level 6's, there was knife sparring too, not something we had concentrated on too much in class, but again, good to have a play with. Then there free sparring empty hand, so we put on the boxing gloves and had a go. The only disappointing thing with this was that to me it got a little scrappy, more like a street fight. Again, though, it wasn't something we had concentrated much on in class, but it was really good fun yet again.

One guy during knife sparring, by the name of Paul, introduced his eye to the knife, not a good thing to do. The following photo shows Paul in red just before he would impale himself like so many warriors would before him in days gone past. But no, he was ok, the grading wasn't that tough!!

After all the hard work, we were told we all passed, and everyone was happy. Even Paul's other half (maybe) especially after Paul would text her and tell her that he had been stabbed in the eye, may have to visit Crumpsall Hospital (even though he was in Warwick at the time) but also to re-assure her that it wasn't as bad as it seems. Nice one Paul. Actually I do believe Paul got a good telling off when he got home and I have neither seen him nor heard off him since that day. No doubt, he has had his sticks broke in half....

The thing is though, the future is promising, we can actually go out there and perfect our teaching ways, which will take time. However, I do so believe that
exciting times lie ahead and perhaps one day people will write about us...? Who knows. I am thinking about what we could teach, and Kit already has an idea. It would be great to be able to teach and put back something into which over the years has given us much fun and happy days.

I think that we all went back to Manchester (and me to Belfast the following morning for a second week) as very satisfied Martial Artists. My wife was very happy for me too. Actually our folks were happy too, and now dad can show off that both his sons have attained level 6.

Onward, Warriors.

Enjoy the pics and "Keep on blastin'!"

Members of the Warriors Eskrima groups in Salford and Wythenshawe together.

Sparring practice on a friday night class. Will it all pay off??? You bet!

Kit taking time out as both he and Si watch on during the grading.

Palakaw sparring pitting me versus Kinder as Kinder's instructor, Rob Campion look on.

Kit vs Paul in an epic war of Palakaw for the grading.

...before we came, Warwick was such a peaceful place....

I give thanks with gratitude to those below:

Thanks to my parents for their love, care and discouragement, for without that I wouldn't have had the impetus, Kit for his encouragement,for when I thought of giving up, thanks again to my parents when they understood later, and then back to Kit, for his obvious aptitude for Eskrima. Thanks to Mrs Lok, for her love and understanding as well.

Thanks goes to Simon Campion, who took us on as students and had to work very hard to help get us to this level. Thanks also goes to Rob Campion, his older brother, who adds a sense of reality to training.

Thanks also to Bob Melia who started this class in Manchester for Guro Krishna and to, most importantly in that pugilistic sense, Steve Powell who introduced Kit and myself to martial arts (Choshin-Kai) in the first place.

Cheers!
Lun

CHOSHIN.......

2006-04-01T21:28:00.000Z

The world is full of "if only's" and "what if's?" Here's a pic of Hollywood High School, just around the corner from Sunset Boulevard. And this was in December, it was just like summer, but what if you went to that school, brushing side by side with future personalities and film stars? This brings me to the question...what if, Bruce Lee had come to Manchester to study instead of Seattle? What if his best mate was Steve Powell instead of Dan Inosanto...? That might have been something. (And instead of Green Hornet he may have got a guest spot on "Coronation Street" if they ever had a chippy in the script!

BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Thats the huge blast I got from whacking the pads on saturday 1st April. That was the first class totally devoted to CHOSHIN-KAI and it was all body mechanics and reverse punching. It certainly proved to be a fab workout and no doubt about it at all...this was punching for the real world. There are alot of elements to a good solid punch. They say "A punch is just a punch", but its actually becomes alot more when its applied properly. Kit and I really enjoyed the class and we look forward to the next one soon. For me it bought back memories of the time when Kit and I first started training all those years ago when people wore shoulder pads and were more affluent then they are now, first at the Gransmoor Pub and later when Kit joined in, at the Halfway House "Dojo"....and we still haven't got it right! One day, hopefully. Will probably have to go through a few pads first though...!

Fridays class was great too, plenty of sparring! This was done in 3 x 1 min rounds. I know that the grading will be rock hard and I hope I am going to be ready for it!!
Kit got some great footage on his camcorder. Check out his blog for his latest update.
I showed Chris from JKD my "ActionFlex" sparring stick and he seemed suitably impressed! They are indeed great sparring products! No one gets hurt, except if you get whacked squarely on the hand. Its all about Defanging that snake though!
Well.....I am off to Belfast on Monday, work dictates yet again for no reason other than to make someone else happy, oh and to put money in my pocket of course. This will mean I will miss the vital class on friday before my grading on 9th April and possibly the Choshin-Kai on saturday! Life!!

Happy Training and Keep on shooting from the hip!!

Imagine....

2006-03-25T07:52:00.000Z

...someone who could trash your every move. I had that in a weird dream this morning. In the dream the wife and I has just bought a big house, like the ones you see going up to Fairfield, Audenshaw on Ashton Old Road or maybe the ones on Station Road in Swinton.One day this woman came up to the front door and tried to come in. The front door key was in the keyhole and she tried to take it out and steal it. I noticed this and asked for it back, which she gave me. But as soon as she gave me the key, two other guys tried to come in, but she pushed them away as her mission to get in had failed. I talked to the wife about it. Next "scene" was that these people had moved in anyway without paying! So I went up to the room where they had taken and found that they had begun painting it anyway. I started arguing with my wife in Chinese (sounded like my dad...uh oh!) and told her what was happening and then I felt in the dream that she wasn't too bothered. I then went to confront one of the guys who had moved in and was throwing everything at him but he trashed my every move with some Chin Na type stuff and was grinning evilly. He looked like an evil version of a de-ranged Luke Skywalker!
What a weird dream! Some of you may be dream researchers, I wonder what it means when I have dreams where I always seem to struggle. Interesting! Wonder if Bruce had dreams like that!!
I do have dreams where I am struggling in combat. Very strange. People can have dreams where they are falling, but I get these where I am doing my hardest but getting nowhere. I hit, I punch, I kick....to no avail. Ah the mind, your own little cinema, eh.
Recently I got this DVD called Catch the hold not taken, its about Catch as catch can wrestling. Fantastic DVD, and its all just up the road from me in Wigan! It describes how wrestling isn't always the glitzy American style circus phenomenon, but rather as a legitimate sport and provides for solid training. I haven't seen it fully yet, but I am looking forward to the interviews with Dan Severn and Tatsumi Fujinami. Now to just hide it from the mrs.....oops she's seen it!

Tonights training at Karls SBG was rock hard! Thoroughly enjoyed the "beginners" class. I had missed 5 whole weeks and will no doubt feel it tommorow. Next week I may be off to work at Queens Uni in Belfast. Damn! Going to miss another 2 weeks!

Look out for Kits Charity web page as well! I am very proud of my bro's endeavours to help raise money for the Marie Curie Cancer Care Fund. Kit is aiming for £50, but I am sure we can surpass that easily. Its a worthy cause!

http://www.justgiving.com/kitlokrun

Until next time, check out V for Vendetta and Lucky Number Slevin at the cinema. Both very good! Happy training!

This week..

2006-03-23T12:08:00.000Z

As far as training is going this week, its been a bit of a shambles. Life has taken over yet again. I don't know what it is but I am losing motivation. Weird! Last week I was getting back into a routine, this week I have done almost 'naff all. Its not good when the plans go bang. ANYWAY!!!! Here are some photos of the kind of training we did on sunday just gone. THAT was a good day!

Simon vs Ray 1.

Kit vs Ray

Simon vs Ray 2.

Choker! Fun times!

Happy Training! Congrats this week go to Kit for his running acheivements in his training for the Manchester Run and to Chris and LGM on their salutations!

Cheers
Lun