My week in Martial Arts: February 27th 06 to March 3rd 06

Sorry for the lateness of the Feb 27th till Mar 3rd blog entry due to illness I was unable to post on my regular Friday night slot.

My Mum was feeling better than last week, but my Dad wasn’t feeling great, however for a 70 year old man he is incredibly fit and still very strong. He encouraged me to go and workout though, when I phoned back to see how he was, so I did and by the end of the week he seemed to be better but I still need to keep my eyes open.

“Very impressive Kit, he was trying to take you down and you were not having any of it…” Cool words from Karl Tanswell as I was leaving his gym. That was to top off a really good Monday…inspired by the comments on my blog by Lun, Chris and LGM Chris and keeping my own promises I got up at 6.30 am and went for a jog and then followed a home routine of conditioning exercises while watching a Rick Faye training video.

After work I was choosing some pre-training music to get me fired up for training…I don't always employ the use of pre-training music to get me fired up but sometimes it gives me extra incentive. So I chose Pantera, although I am not a big Pantera fan, I do have a couple of friends who really like them. I did happen to have their live CD in my car so I popped it in and the songs “5 minutes alone” and “Cowboys from Hell” really got me going. I do prefer Rage against the Machine but Pantera did it for me. Although during training time I don’t mind if there is or isn’t any music, as regards to listening to metal during training Matt Furey has other views!

At Karl Tanswell’s Straight Blast Gym, we did shoots and the defence against the shoot, then defence against the shoot with a sprawl and then a sprawl with a cross face. I partnered up with a guy called Charles who told me he reads the blog which is pretty cool. Charles had pretty good technique on the shoot by the end of the lesson.

Tuesday I went for a run in the morning again. These are very short runs at the moment; the plan was to have short runs on weekdays and long runs on weekends. After work it was Capoeira time, yes again I was used as demo guy. The two girls who have been attending regularly are coming on really well. We did a cartwheel variation on one hand and a whole bunch of other techniques. Danny was excited that he was doing a workshop on Saturday and Sunday with in the Capoeria Mestre Bimba style from Brazil. Mestre Bimba was the creator of the more contemporary martial art style of Capoeira also known as Regional and Mestre Bamba was going to be there representing this school.

Wednesday another run, I was happy I was keeping it up, up to this point. The one thing that makes it great to run early in the morning is that there is no one around. Went to Karl’s later that evening and had another cool class. This time we did some basic punching and kicking techniques and then onto some stand up grappling escaping from a front face headlock and then escaping a waist lock. Another great workout and I also put my name down for Karl’s STAB seminar on Sunday March 5th. STAB stands for Survival Tactics Against the Blade and is based on Karl’s experiences against knife attacks.

Thursday I gave myself a rest.

Friday got up feeling not so great so I didn’t go for a run. I felt slightly queasy at work and didn’t feel 100%. I had a feeling I was coming down with something, by the end of work I was coughing. I thought about not going to the Warriors Eskrima class. But then again I thought about sweating it out and if I stay at home I wouldn’t be much better off.


We did some footwork and some power strikes and some crashing in, it seemed to be working as I was feeling better. However near the end of the lesson I felt very weak and I didn’t participate in the sparring as my energy level was very low. I filmed Ray and Paul spar though and it’s great to make an observation…which was the fact that we needed groin guards as the guys were hitting pretty hard! I asked our instructor Simon if we could have more lessons leading up to the grading as well.

After I got home, now I was coming down with something. I couldn’t write my blog as I was so weak from whatever got me, so I more or less went straight to bed. On Saturday I wrote to Karl to tell him I wouldn’t be able to make his seminar on the Sunday. It was a real bummer as I also wanted to go to the Capoeira workshop on Saturday.

Today I am taking a day off work and I booked to see a doctor in 2 days (yes it’s a 2 day waiting process where I live) hopefully I will be better tomorrow and then I shall be able to cancel the doctor and get back to work In addition I shall be get back to sticking to my new training schedule. On a positive note my brother is back! So that means we will be going to Steve Powell’s JKD class again very soon!

Thanks and enjoy the pics
Kit.

My week in Martial Arts: February 20th 06 to February 24th 06

"The goal of the martial arts is not for the destruction of an opponent, but to be used as a tool for self-growth and self perfection. The practice of a martial art is the practice of love-the love for the preservation of life, the love for the preservation of your body, the love and preservation of your family and friends."

By Dan Inosanto from the book, Absorb What is Useful, Know Now Publishing Co., U.S. (1982)

Those words are very true and it's the kind of path that I hope I am following now.

Indeed this week I have been home in the evenings looking after my Mum. My Mum's health is on the mend but its still inconsistent. Hopefully it will be better this week and I have to be alert and assertive to anything she may need. Lun, thanks for the encouraging words you made in the comments of my last post. Chris and LGM Chris thanks very much for your words too. Hope to see you guys at Steve Powell’s JKD class soon.

I didn't train this week. I read the "Absorb What is Useful" by Dan Inosanto though. It's a very insightful and brilliant book. Within this book you find a reprint of Bruce Lee's 19 page term paper when he was at the University of Washington, theatrical martial arts illustrations,illustrations of classical and non classical techniques and some brilliantly written insight into Jeet Kune Do. I am not sure if this book is in print anymore but this particular copy is very special as it was signed by Dan Inosanto himself to my brother Lun when he went to a seminar in Edinburghburugh almost ten years ago.

After reading about Dan Inosanto and hearing stories from great instructors who trained under him such as Rick Faye and Rick Young, as well as how my brother mentioned how great the seminar was,I would very much like to attend a seminar when he comes to England this year.

I have been lucky enough to attend seminars(in order of meeting them) by Rick Faye, Krishna Godhania ,Samuel Kwok and Carlson Gracie Snr, Larry Hartsell and Rick Young. All have been amazing experiences. My brother has been to more seminars including the one by Dan Inosanto and one by Dan Lee. I will write more in depth about these seminars another time.

It is the love of the art that brought me to these seminars and the amount of Martial Arts I do. I don't do it because "I think wanna crack a few heads" (well living in Manchester UK you need to know to do that anyway!) I do it because of the love of the art as would people would do with their own hobbies and favourite sports.

It was the comments and blogs made by Lun, Chris and Chris LGM that made me think twice as to why I do Martial Arts,it's not the amount of classes I attend, martial arts is a whole way of life and how you can apply it in your daily living.

The grading for Warriors Eskrima is looming. I am going to manage my time next week and train at home and if I can, get some classes in. The picture is the insignia of Warriors Eskrima that I also have as my computer wallpaper at work to keep me motivated!

Thanks for reading
Kit

A lull

Hi All

As this blog is about Martial Arts life and the life of someone who happens to do Martial Arts I thought I write this piece.

Yes I hit a lull, I have not trained in any Martial Arts since Saturday morning(attending the excellent Rick Young seminar at Steve Powell's JKD Chinatown Martial Arts Academy)(Thanks for the additional photo's Steve!) and not exercised since Monday(it was only 25 minutes or so in the gym too). My Mum isn't feeling well, so I have been home most evenings starting from last Friday.

I am taking a day off work tomorrow to take my Mum to see a doctor, family and health is so much more important than work in my opinion. Family first,always first...

Work itself? Demotivating at the moment. Hopefully it will get better and these times of negativity will probably make me a stronger person mentally, so I have heard and read of people in similar situations. But work is also how I make it,so I need to keep fighting my corner and not switch off mentally.

I need to pick myself again,I know some people reading this think "but it was only last Saturday I trained" Well I should be training every day to be honest. My morning routine has stopped. I have broken my own self promise/goal of training every day which is pretty crappy really. I have missed about 5 lessons(potentially 6) in the last 5 days.

But dammit I got a grading in April 9th, I got a charity run in May and I have a new goal which is to attend a Guro Dan Inosanto seminar hopefully this year. Yes I got to train like a maniac for all these things. I need to re-start my own training routine and practice what I know at home. If I am not fit enough to look after my Mum and my Dad for that matter I won't be much use. Time management is key. I shall try and attend Warriors Eskrima on Friday if my Mum is feeling better but as I said family always first.

Lun is working in Canada at the moment please read his blog!

I leave you with a picture of me(pretending to be a tough guy..:)) at Rick Faye's Lake Owen Wisconsin Summer camp almost 4 years ago,one of the catalyst's that began my re-entry into Martial Arts and something to remind myself of a good time in my life.

Keep training all,I am going to restart at home tomorrow!

Feeling motivated after writing
Kit.

Rick Young Seminar

Lun and I attended a Rick Young seminar held at Steve Powell’s today. It was a great seminar! We did knife work, groundwork, dumog (Filipino wrestling and focus mitt drills. Please click here to read more about Rick Young.

Martial Art seminars are a totally different animal to a regular lesson. During the seminar the instructor will ask the audience what they want to do or it might be a totally specific seminar. Afterwards the instructor will cram the desired subject matters into four hours.
Other than the instruction, the instructor (in seminars that I have attended) is much more personable as he would also maybe relate past experiences to the techniques we were doing and have a Q & A session at the end.

My brother and I have been lucky enough to attend seminars by instructors who are amazingly skilled but matching their skill is their humbleness. I believe being humble and kind is an amazing attribute that these instructors have and something I aspire to. Its not all about how good you are and what you are graded at a high level, it’s about what kind of person you are as well.

Again this kindness can be mistaken for weakness and right now I may have painted a soft picture of Rick Young. There is another side though he mentioned the street fights he had relating to the technique we were doing (and not because he was showing off) and how that we need to turn into animals if people try to harm your family. But above all he was a very humble man and thanked us all for coming and seemed genuinely sincere when shaking everyone’s hand at the end.

As a student of Guro Dan Inosanto, he was asked what it was like. Rick told us all about how sincere and humble Dan Inosanto is. He mentioned how amazingly skilled Dan Inosanto and he is a great inspiration. He also mentioned Roger Gracie and how he would ask about his wife and kids even though he had a big fight the following night. This shows that they have such a strong character where they can be powerful yet humble.

There were over 30 people in the club today an awesome turnout. There were some people I didn’t recognise but most of the advanced class people attended. As I mentioned seminars are different animals to lessons, as there is so much information to take in. The best way to remember is to practice straight away and write it down, however we purchased 2 DVD’s of Rick Young’s (which will also help!). Steve Powell also kindly took some pictures for my brother and I to use on our blogs. Thanks Steve! A great day of Martial Arts!

My week in Martial Arts: February 13th 06 to February 17th 06

Hey all

Another busy week of Martial Arts and busy week for me at work…Shall I break the mould and talk about my week at work…Nah!I’ll talk about the Martial Arts! Let’s forward my week to Wednesday, Lun and I just finished Karl’s and we went to Steve Powell’s. We first had to get money from an ATM machine and we bumped into LGM Chris who also needed some money. As we walked down the busy streets of Manchester Piccadilly towards the ATM machine, I noticed this youth begging for money on the streets. The youth however was being very abusive to people as they were walking past and clearly looked like someone who was off his head on drugs.

As the three of us walked past, he shouted “You f**king chin*s” and some other abuse towards us. We just laughed; it was funnier because LGM Chris was with us and as far as I know doesn’t look Chinese. Plus Lun and I have heard that expression used against us so many times before. When we got our money we came back past the abusive begging youth, who did not give us abuse but still begged. We didn’t give him money and didn’t think anything of it during the lesson. If I were younger I would imagine the abusive youth as one of the focus mitts I was hitting, but I didn’t.

There are 2 sides to this coin, one side are people who genuinely need help and the other side are crazy smack head youths who just use the money to fund their own addictions. That day was the bad side of the coin and reminded me a lot of the Chinese take-away/chippy my parent’s owned and where my brother and I helped out in after college or work. We used to get crazy youths all the time and louts my Dad and brother mainly kicked out.

Eventually to quote Bruce Lee's character in Enter the Dragon my brother employed more of the art of fighting without fighting. I remember once how Lun calmly told this asshole who was making trouble that “Its nice to be nice isn’t it?”. This calmed the asshole down in such a state he was feeling sorry for himself. I remember when I was about 22 or something and some kid came in smacking shop door wide open, swearing and shouting. I instantly asked how old he was and he shouted “19 HOW OLD ARE YOU?” I told him 22 and said “It’s good to act your age sometimes isn’t it?” and he quietly agreed and calmed down after that. There are many more stories from the chippy, My brother and I could write a whole book on the Golden Star (the name of our takeaway).

Monday my brother and I went to Karl Tanswell’s Straight Blast Gym. We did all kinds of stand up boxing and all kinds of clinch wrestling moves. Wrestling truly uses up a lot of energy, as you are grappling to get into a more dominant position. Karl taught everyone several techniques so that we could start on them straight away in a class. It was a very good class. At the end of the lesson Karl couldn’t stress enough how important these basics were and it was important for us to know.

Tuesday I did Capoeira. The beginners came in again and I was asked to oversee some of them which was cool. Kim and Pat who have been coming for over a month now are coming along fine. The other beginners Maria and Charles have just started and because Maria wasn’t getting a move right I had her practice the Ginga step which is the basic Capoeira stance/movement. Not as punishment but so she could get the basics first.

Wednesday was a cool day, although I was knackered from the night before and really doubted if I can do a lesson at Karl’s let alone Steve’s afterwards. Karl’s class was again taken by a guy called Glynn and Tom who assisted. They were very good instructors, again we did some boxing techniques and some grappling. My energy was slowly coming back but I was still knackered.

After the lesson I was knackered (again). Lun suggested that we could do Steve’s the following day but I couldn’t because I was helping out my mate Paul with some database work.

Steve Powell’s JKD class was packed around 24-25 people maybe more. We did focus mitt work and some trapping techniques. Focus mitt work is so good for fitness and co-ordination. We did several focus mitt combinations, a typical one would be a right round house kick, right cross and left hook and another right round house kick what we might call a four count. Then we would do a left round house kick left hook right cross and then add the previous drill to make a 7 count. We then build from there and add different combo’s its a lot of fun.

I was still tired out though but in the middle of the drills I felt totally comfortable and relaxed but I was training harder. It’s a very strange feeling to describe but the training made me feel good. I think people who do Martial Arts or any exhaustive exercise will understand that there is a “feel good factor” at the end. I have read that these could be endorphins but I think that is still being debated.

Steve Powell showed Lun and I a trapping trick that Bruce Lee used to do to Larry Hartsell. It was very fast and cool. It was overall a great lesson at Steve’s. We also saw Chris , LGM (also called Chris), Greg Hall. and Rick there.

Sorry there are not many pictures for this week (the picture of the eskrima lesson in this post is from a couple of weeks ago), as I couldn’t make Warriors Eskrima on Friday as I had to see my Mum. I shall make it next week as I really need to step my training in Warriors Eskrima and for my run (which I really need to start training for!) Tomorrow though I shall do another update as I am going to a Rick Young seminar with Lun!

Thanks
Kit!

My week in Martial Arts: February 6th 06 to February 10th 06

Hi All

Another week of Martial Arts and another target to work to. The date April 9th, the grading; level 6 Warriors Eskrima which is equivalent to a black belt. Simon has now booked this with our head instructor Pangulong Guro Krishna Godhania If we pass this Lun, Mike and I can become apprentice instructors in this art. So if I pass this, does this mean the journey is over and I can go off and ride into the sunset? Nah, it begins then and to be honest I would like it to be endless.

“How’s your asthma, are going to Karl’s tonight?” I texted my brother on Monday afternoon. “Its not that good but we can do it” Lun wrote back. “Lets go gym instead” I suggested. As the Straight Blast Gym requires constant movement it wasn’t wise for my brother to go if his asthma wasn’t great. So we went to the gym instead and did some weights.

As the gym we use is within Salford University, the gym was packed with students. Unusually busy… probably because the winter exams are over, give it a few weeks and most of them will probably “too busy” to train. Being packed we had to make do with what was available to use, however we did practice our Eskrima which was cool. I also did some running to prepare for the great run

Speaking of my brother check out his blog. Lun wrote about when my parents owned a Chinese Chippy (which is to readers that are not from the UK is a Chinese take out that also sells Fish and Chips). We had our fair share of troublemakers there as our Chippy was in the middle of a bunch of pubs. There were occasions when they come out drunk cause trouble and we used to chuck them out (more so my Dad and brother!).

Tuesday I was the main demo guy for my Capoeira Instructor as we had two new beginners. We did an exercise where Danny and I had to kick at the students and they had to dodge or the term in Capoeira is to escape. The defence portion of Capoeira is a very integral part and it’s important for the new people to learn. The lesson was basic because of the new people but as always the game was intense.

Wednesday we went to the Karl Tanswell’s Straight Blast Gym. Karl wasn’t there today. A guy called Glynn (apologies if the name is spelt incorrectly) took the class. I have partnered up with Glynn on several occasions during training when Karl was there and he is a very good Martial Artist. The class was great as we did some boxing sparring and some stand up wrestling techniques.

Later Lun and I took the 5 minute or so walk down to Steve Powell’s JKD class. Before the lesson Lun asked Steve if it was alright to take some pictures, Chris kindly took one of Steve, Lun and I. Unfortunately the camera that my brother recently purchased had a bad habit of blurring a picture even though you know you took a perfectly fine one! Doh !better luck next time!

It was an awesome lesson; we did focus mitt work and hubud. You can literally spend hours on focus mitt drills as there are so many variations. It was great to see Chris , LGM (also called Chris) and Greg Hall. It was jammed packed and Steve Powell was again really funny. He is also very knowledgeable regarding the old school kung fu movies and its stars he mentioned Hwang Jan Lee (the bad guy from Jackie Chan’s Snake in the Eagle Shadow and Drunken Master). Lun asked when Greg’s next DVD was coming out as we thought the first one was cool. We spoke to Chris who is enjoying his freedom (from his job he quit) and LGM who along with Chris recommended me to watch Bill Hicks.

Thursday I had a rest.

Friday was Warriors Eskrima day. Simon purchased some cool fencing masks. The wire mesh of the mask was really hard and if you press down on the mesh it would probably cut you. We used them however for soft stick sparring. Before that though we did some hubud, palakaw and palakaw free style stick sparring and I had to teach a beginner the roof block drill.

The sparring was awesome as we had the added option of bashing each other over the head. As we used soft sticks the masks offered a lot of protection so we can go full force with the sticks. It also gave us a new dimension to our sparring. As Simon pointed out that they were some strikes that we wouldn’t have used if we didn’t have the masks on.






All in all another good week, the only thing I let myself down was the running in the mornings which I will do this coming week.
Enjoy the pictures and thanks for reading.
Kit!!!!!

My week in Martial Arts: January 30th 06 to February 3rd 06

Hi All

Although we had good week in Martial Arts training, my brother and I were sad to hear the passing of Carlson Gracie Sr who was one of the most prominent figures in Jiu Jitsu and the Martial Arts World. My brother Lun and I were lucky enough to attend a joint seminar with Samuel Kwok that he held in Manchester England 2 years ago.

Ironically I recently mentioned in this entry that we purchased the DVD of the seminar. It was a great experience for my brother and I in our first every BJJ class/seminar to be taught by such a prominent figure. He was very enthusiastic about Martial Arts and although he had limited English he was very friendly and funny. With a couple of assistants and a translator he took the time to oversee and give advice to everyone at the seminar while we were practising including my brother and I. The picture above is from my Carlson Gracie Sr T-shirt that I purchased from the seminar. The Jiu Jitsu and the Martial Arts world has lost another great.

This week my brother and I returned to Karl Tanswell’s Straight Blast Gym. We did a lot of clinch work and defences against the clinch. The defence was when someone was trying to grab your neck but you shrug them off with your shoulder and swat their arm away. There was more to the clinch work as we worked various entries and used the whizzer, which is a defence arm lock\take down type manoeuvre. It was a very good lesson.(The picture shown is clinch work sparring being used in Warriors Eskrima by our instructor Simon and Ray)

Tuesday was Capoeira day. It was cool, we did cartwheel’s over each other and played the game as well as learning kick sequences. We had a small class again Ken was there and a beginner called Pat who usually trains with Kim who couldn't make it.

I suggested to our instructor we print off some leaflets for the beginners. Like a glossary for some of the Capoeira terms as sometimes it’s difficult to pick up the names of the moves. Well I am going to write it out as he asked me to do it. Me and my big mouth….but I shall enjoy writing it and probably have to do some illustrations for the moves.

Again the conversation of Martial Arts popped up at work. I was explaining why I did Eskrima to my most senior manager. “But why Filipino style?” he asked. I told him it was very effective but I also told him that it the Filipino arts are also used in Jeet Kune Do. It’s very interesting when explaining different Martial Arts to the laymen.

Wednesday we were back at Karl Tanswell’s Straight Blast Gym. It was another great lesson as we did some jab, cross and hook combinations and then some stand up wrestling work. It was great workout again.

Again we couldn’t make it to Steve Powell’s JKD class, I have to redouble my efforts to try and get there next week. I feel disappointed that I couldn’t make it this week. I really to practice my punching and start their Eskrima system but the timing has not been good this past week.

Before I forget as I didn’t mention this last week my work colleague Wellington is part of this club and asked me to plug this British stick fighting club. Both are very interesting sites.

Thursday went to the gym did some benching and worked on upper body, we saw Simon Campion and bench pressed with him. My brother and I also practiced some knife work and did some of the stuff from Karl’s. We also spoke to a Chinese guy called Simon who trains there regularly, he was telling us some cool stories of Masters Chu’s lion dance club and the fact that he and two others including his brother were at one time the only 3 Chinese practicing the Chinese art of Lion dancing at that club. In retrospect I wish my brother and I gave that class a try. I do find it sad that there are not a whole lot of British Born Chinese like me are not into Martial Arts these days, considering we all watched a load of cool Hong Kong actions films as kids. There are a few of them like my brother and I, Ray who goes to Eskrima, Wellington and one of the instructors at Karl Tanswell who my brother and I have yet to talk to but I am sure we will one day. Maybe I am wrong but I don’t see other guys carry on like you see some kids who turn into adults still playing five a side football/soccer.




Friday was Warriors Eskrima day. We did a 15 minute warm up work out and Simon wrote a list of exercises for me to practice so I could do it in the morning. During the work out we did press ups, squats and various other warm ups.
My sit ups were pathetic though as I wasn’t doing them fast enough so I need to work on them. We did some stick disarms, locks roof block drills and then we did some single stick sparring techniques. We also did some clinch work and my brother and I knife sparred.

All in all a varied week of training, next week will be one heck of a training week for me as I prepare for the Manchester great run in May I am going to incorporate running training into my work out. Again enjoy the pictures.
Thanks
Kit

Chinese New Year

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Hi All

Happy New Year!
Went to Manchester Chinatown today trying to catch the Year of the Dog celebrations, Lun and I however arrived late so we managed to only get a handful of pictures. We just caught one Lion dance and there was as usual a Chinese variety show featuring traditional singing, comedy and magic acts(I am sure there was more but we missed the Martial Arts portion in today’s festivities..:( ). As Manchester's Chinatown is the second biggest after London it was very crowded and atmospheric.

In one of my previouse posts I mentioned that I will include a set Chinese New Year goals for myself.
Well they are pretty much the same as my New Year goals.
However I like to add.
(Starting from goal 6 continued from these goals)

6) Helping others as much as I can:
When I say help others as much as I can it means helping somebody that I know I am capable of helping. For example if someone asks me a question on something I know or ask me to do something I have done before I will try and help that person out. I guess you can say that this is similar to a previous goal but this more like being helpful to people in general as well as family and friends.

7) Doing something positive and new.
Be it Martial Arts or something else I will want to participate in something I haven’t done before. Having said that I have entered the Great Manchester Run to be held in May. I am not a runner and don’t particularly enjoy it but if I take up running it gives me another avenue to keep fit and healthy. In addition the run is for a good cause.

I am sure I will have more to add as the year progresses/

I wish all a safe and happy Chinese New year.



Thanks for reading

My week in Martial Arts: January 23rd 06 to January 27th 06

"Adversity is Beneficial to us- Prosperity is apt to prevent us from examining our conduct: but adversity leads us to think properly of our state, and so is beneficial to us"-Bruce Lee From the book Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee’s Wisdom for Daily Living Tuttle Publishing.

I started with that quote as an inspiration for some people going through tough times. I know some people reading this blog are going through tough times professionally and I would like to address them, as I too can identify with them. I go through peaks and troughs at work (last year was mostly troughs). That’s when I had to do something about it.

I had to do something because my confidence was waning. I was beginning not to believe in myself because I was feeling down in my job. So one of the things I did was write this blog, I wrote it as a release and to maybe inspire people and give similar people something to read. This is one of the best things I have ever done so far. I have encouraged people who were thinking about joining a club to actually attend a Martial Arts lesson, I have had emails from all over the World and the biggest accolade is that several of my instructors and family and friends read my blog. In fact for the first time in my life I found that what I did outside of work was more mentally fulfilling. People who have known me a long time knew that I used to stay behind at my (old) work place until late and commit myself to the job. But now I am committing myself to practicing the various Martial Arts and writing my blog after work. I only commit myself to my job in the workplace and that’s it.

I would like to write that “and since then my job improved and I got promoted” but no since then it’s been only slightly different in work. Peaks and troughs, like before but it’s different now because probably I am maturing into the role. Today is mostly peaks and troughs, but now more peaks then usual. But I am not going to rest until I successfully fight out of my corner. By doing more positive things outside work is helping my performance in work… a lot.

To all those facing adversity now, it’s all happening for a reason. It’s happening because adversity is asking you to look in the mirror and ask a bunch of questions. It’s happening because your heart is telling you something else. It’s happening because you don’t belong where you are and it’s up to you to break out or fight for your place. Everything is happening for a reason, think about what’s going on now and think about the future and where you really want to be. But at the same time don’t dwell on adversity, harness and channel it and turn it into something positive.

If you take Bruce Lee for example, the adversity he must have taken from TV executives who didn't beleive a chinese actor could make it, the adversity from the old school Gung Fu master who opposed his ideas of teaching westerners his art. He overcame all that because the above quote was one of his wisdoms. Find out what you really want to do in life and be truly, something absolutely you are truly happy doing so much that you wish you did what you did 7 days a week rather than hating 5. That’s my ultimate ideal and I hope to all those feeling down ,you will find yours.

I had to deviate from the usual weekly blog format because this week I couldn’t get to Steve Powell’s JKD class or Karl Tanswell’s Straight Blast Gym and I needed to write that for my own release and some of the readers of my blog. However read on for this week’s adventures!


This week I only had two lessons; Tuesday I had Capoeira class with Danny Henry, yes I was used as “demo boy” again, demonstrating various moves with Danny. But luck would have it that Ken also showed up who has been practicing longer than me. So we shared demo duties although Danny split the class up so Ken and I did some advanced stuff, while the beginners did the basics. While playing the game I noticed two new girls have vastly improved. It’s cool when people can pick up an art fast.

Wednesday I couldn’t make it to Karl’s due to the fact I needed to be at home, so I updated my blog and yes I did feel that horrible empty feeling you get when you don’t train. Thursday, Lun was unfortunately out with a bad back and I couldn’t get to Steve Powell’s due to the fact that I had to be home earlier so I went to the gym. I bumped into my Eskrima instructor Simon, I sneaked up on him, well stood right behind him when he was talking to the gym receptionist.

After some what surprising him (and it’s a good thing he hasn’t got a bad temper) Simon asked “Wanna do some gym with me”. I eventually agreed and being the fitness fanatic he has become (working on campus enables him to go gym twice a day) he put me through some rigorous gym work topped off by a run (which completely knackered me). “That will teach ya to sneak up on me”, it certainly did.

Friday was Warriors Eskrima day, we did hubud, single stick drills and I was going through the sumbrada drill with Ray-who is technically a beginner but fights like an advance guy, we also did 2 on 1 disarms and locks. It was a great lesson. Lun also attended but his back still gave him slight problems. Get better soon Lun!



So only two lessons and a crazy gym day this week, hopefully next week is going to be better. I left my DV camera at home this morning so the action pictures today were taken by my mobile. The first picture is of me filming a class (which I didn’t do today!) but I do almost every week.

Keep training and enjoy the pictures!
Kit!

A Mini Update: Goals and Resolutions followed up!

If you read at the beginning of the year you will see a bunch of goals and resolutions I have made for myself.

Well I am almost month in and thought I let you know on my progress, plus it's to remind myself.

1-GET FIT!
Positives:
In terms of exercise, so far so good, I have cut down almost all sugary drinks from my diet and moved around better in my classes. I have exercised almost every morning primarily with squats. So far I have managed to squeeze 3 to 4 classes a week and get to the gym almost every week (although I might only get two classes this week-more on this on Friday.)

Each of my classes, Steve Powell’s JKD class , Warriors Eskrima, Karl Tanswell’s Straight Blast Gym and Danny Henry’s Capoeira class : have all seemed to have cranked up the intensity a notch which is great for fitness! My brother and I also train at home when we get the chance (as you see from the pictures some of which are from last year, the one with me hitting the tyres with my sticks is from Rick Faye’s gym.)However my weight is still the same not put on any or lost any. My diet not really changed apart from cutting out sugary drinks and cut down on little snacks and replacing them with fruit.


2-LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY!
I have learnt mostly home improvement stuff and DIY things for future projects on the house. Most of these projects however are in the summer. I found Wikipedia a good source to learn something new each day.

3-TRY AND MAKE LIFE BETTER FOR OTHERS
I try and do this every day I try to be aware of what’s going on. So far so good, I have helped out my family with a few things. I don’t keep a list of what I have done because its second nature for me to treat my family well, so it comes naturally. I just got to be more aware and conscious of the people I care about and not switch off and also not switch off on my friends either.

4)-READ MORE BOOKS
Well I am reading all about Filipino Martial Art history at the moment. I need to as there are so many different styles! The book is called “Filipino Martial Arts” by Dan Inosanto, we have had that book for a long time and I have only read parts of it but I am now reading it properly. I am also reading “Filipino Martial Culture” by Mark V Wiley which is very well researched.

5)- DO MORE FILMING
I am currently editing a special 2005 Eskrima class DVD, eventually I am going to put some copyright free music on the final version but so far I have Rage Against the Machine and Wu Tang Clan on the soundtrack to some Eskrima action for my rough copy. I think it suits it.

So that’s it so far. It will be Chinese New Year on the 29th of January; does this give me an advantage to set new goals for the Chinese New Year? It sure does! I am going to plan another set of goals for Chinese New Year!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures!
Kit

My Week in Martial Arts continued....Saturday 21st Jan 06

Maybe I should hold out writing my blog till Saturday, as today I went to Steve Powell’s Weapons lesson with my brother Lun who was itching to get back. Saw Greg Hall there who gave my Hong Kong Phooey T shirt I was wearing for training a thumbs up! Chris was there as well as LGM (who in reality is also called Chris but he uses that name to avoid confusing with him with his friend).
During the lesson, my brother and I picked up the things similar to our own system but the system here has different drills. In the Warriors Eskrima we do variations of heaven six but at Steve’s we did variations of the heaven six into other combinations, for example thrusting, umbrella and double wrapping. We also did other double stick drills that were all fun but for my brother and I we will have to work on them. Heaven Six is a stick drill comprising of six strikes using two sticks. Click on this link to Steve Powell’s JKD site to read more about the heaven six drill.

I will practice these drills as much as possible with my brother as its good to widen your knowledge of different arts. The stuff that was new to me I couldn’t pick up straight away so it’s just a matter of lots of practice but it was another great work out and I am glad I went.

Steve was really funny today; he knows all the best Cantonese words (the rude ones). It’s good to train hard in a fun atmosphere!
Thanks for reading!
Keep Training
Kit

My week in Martial Arts: January 13th 06 to January 20th 06

Hi All

Friday: 6.50 pm the car clock glared, this was the time I was on the motorway on the way to Warriors Eskrima …. “I am going to miss it.” I thought to myself “Damn it” I had just been in a meeting with my most senior manager which made me late for the class but it was a necessary meeting.

I walked onto the viewing area above the court and started filming the lesson for screenshots in my work clothes, I didn’t feel like it drained from my meeting and the frustration of being late sapped my enthusiasm….Simon shouted “You not coming down Kit?” I replied “Nah, we only got ten minutes or so”
I then went downstairs and filmed about 5 minutes before my urges took over so I went got changed…….


Well what a week as reported earlier I went to the gym, Karl Tanswell’s class and Capoeira this week before getting the old leg pull. On Sunday I went to the gym with Lun and we did bench press and worked biceps and shoulders. We also did some stick sparring techniques that we learnt the previous Friday. In fact we made sure we had a good work out as Lun had to travel out for work again but only for a week.

Monday, I went to a Karl Tanswell’s Straight Blast Gym which was great. I trained with this guy called Carl, who helped me out a lot on technique we did punching combinations and guards into a
clinch entry. Again it was very good how Karl built up the lesson slowly from the first part of which would lead up to the final technique.

“How’s your fitness Kit?” Karl asked, as he might have noticed I was out of breath on one or two occasions but not more so than I used to. “Its OK its good to train with different partners to keep up the fitness” Karl coolly replied “Yeah, I am with ya, bro”. It’s great to get feedback and talk a bit with your instructors at the end of the lesson.


Tuesday Capoeira!It was great to be back and to be playing the game. I was used as the demo guy as Danny Henry was showing various moves to two new students. We practiced defences and some complex attacks. The two new girls picked a lot of the moves..but I also picked up a leg pull.

I felt it a bit during the lesson but really felt at work the next day towards the end of work. Therefore I took a rest on Wednesday. I spoke to Wellington a colleague who I said practices Aikido in my last blog, correction not only does he practices but he is an actual instructor in Aikido. This means my work place has a TKD instructor and one Aikido instructor; hopefully I can join them as an Eskrima Instructor this year.


Even though I am on the path of becoming an instructor in one style in Warriors Eskrima I must gain more knowledge in other systems of Eskrima. Therefore I am going to go to Steve Powell’s Eskrima class on Saturdays as many times as possible as well as carrying on my regular Eskrima class.


Thursday I decided to rest my leg or I would have gone to Steve Powell’s JKD class. However I spent most of the night trying to dry the carpet floor as my water based punching bag “Everlast Power Tower” sprung a leak…doh!

….7.10pm at the Warriors Eskrima class on Friday, I just got changed and missed the majority of the lesson. However Simon and I did some Palakaw freestyle stick sparring. It was awesome because Simon kind of flew at me with a bunch of moves that made me work harder. We did some empty hand vs. Stick and we also did some empty hand and some focus mitt work. I worked hard for fifty minutes or so (Simon added about half an hour onto the lesson) and had a great work out, one I thing I will say about tonight is that I really need to work on my punches when hitting the focus mitts.. Again I need to practice the power stuff that I learnt at Steve Powell’s .


So what was turning to be a quiet week in Martial Arts turned out to be a good week
“See, you got a good work out it’s a good thing you joined us in the end” Simon told me.
“Yeah it was great” I replied.

Please enjoy pictures all from the Warriors Eskrima class and take care!

Keep Training Kit!

Ouch! Mini Update!

Hi All this is my first mini update of the new year! I was meant to be at Karl Tanswell’s Straight Blast Gym but I am having a rest tonight read on to find out why!

First things first! Please check out my brothers blog which has cool pictures and a new article entry and Chris who has some great new pictures of Steve Powell’s class. Gareth a great friend of mine who is trying to quit smoking and a blog from LGM a friend of Chris who has made some cool comments on my blog.

The lessons have taken their toll on my leg.
It had to happen sooner or later but thankfully not too serious just a slight muscle pull in my left leg that I picked up in Capoeria last night. I am mobile as in I can walk but I decided to have a rest today as I don’t want to aggravate it any further to jeopardise any future lessons. Plus I didn’t feel anything wrong this morning it’s just when I stood up and walked around at work I felt it.

Despite having this muscle pull I do feel emptiness within in me when I miss a lesson. Like when all your friends are playing out when you are young and you can’t for whatever reason..its that same kind of feeling!

All this being said I have so far had a good week in keeping fit and training thus far. I went to the gym with my brother Lun on Sunday and did a heavy set of weights and we practiced our Eskrima. I went to Karl Tanswell’s Straight Blast Gym on Monday and did a great training session. As Lun is abroad working my partner was this guy called Carl who is nearly the same build as Lun. As being more experienced it was good to observe his movements and his technique which were great! More on this lesson on Friday.

Tuesday I went to Capoeira my first in nearly a month or so. It was a great lesson although I did go overboard a bit (as did my instructor) hence the muscle pull…again I will give a better report of this on Friday night/Saturday morning. In the mean time please enjoy the picture of a berimbau one of the main instruments of Capoeira!


Keep training
Kit!