My week in Martial Arts:May 15th till May 19th

This week I been training for my run, on the Sunday I ran a good 6.4 miles well walked some of the way back as it was a round trip to Manchester city centre and back to my house? All those years when I used to take a bus to my old college when I could have walked! I then did some light eskrima drills with Lun.

Monday, Lun and I went to the gym and did a heavy set of weights and went through some Eskrima stuff.


I couldn't really do any high impact stuff this week, so the only MA I went to was Capoeira. It was mostly hand stands and cartwheels so it was fun but I couldn't go full pelt when playing the game in fear of causing an injury to myself. Danny also told me of a future stage show that feature a load of contemporary dance and capoeira, I volunteered to be assistant capoeira choreographer (basically being the demo boy) But it would be a dream come true to choreograph a fight in a show or movie.

As that’s my other big passion, the latest craze in movies seems to be Keysi fighting method, as seen in Mission Impossible 3 and as seen or unseen(as the fight editing was silly) in the otherwise excellent Batman Begins. What do I think of Keysi? I really don't know as I have not practiced it and only seen snippets of it but its not overly exciting to watch on film (upward elbows, elbows and even more elbows so far) give me proper film martial arts (cool to watch even though it may not work) instead and leave the realistic stuff for us to practice outside! Plus I prefer a Thai elbow on film those are cool to watch. So I was not slating Keysi there I was just voicing an opinion of how it looks and portrayed so far on film.

Keysi is a relatively new Martial Art, which leads me to my next point..Tradition vs Evolution.
I am lucky to have trained in both traditional and modern martial arts

I know traditional Martial Artists who probably think the evolutionary side from what they read(as in stuff like MMA, JKD etc) doesn't embody what Martial Arts was all about. Check what I just said in my last sentence "WAS all about". We were once taught to do a crazy high kick in a TKD class to "kick someone off a horse". This was because Korean soldiers were once taught to this in ancient wars. When was the last time you went into the city centre and saw a group of hood rats or an unruly gang ride around on horses? In my opinion Martial Artists should always look to evolve themselves and learn new things and relate this with today’s environment, for we are not soldiers fighting an ancient war.

But before you say “Kit doesn’t respect the traditional arts” think again as I think they are great! Traditional arts formed the basis of the modern martial arts and were formed out of fighting necessity and many fighting arts are part of one country’s culture.

So what am I talking about, first I criticise a traditional art and then I praise it. That’s because I am an open minded person enjoys both sides and not prejudice against any of them. I can see what works and doesn’t work so I have arts to practice what works in self defence ( Eskrima,Steve Powell’s JKD Class and MMA) and arts that are more geared for cardio vascular stuff (Capoeira). I am criticising people who criticise Martial Arts that they have not actually tried, hence my reasoning for not criticising Keysi.

Sorry huge diversion!
Wednesday I did a quick run at the gym and then went to see my mate Gareth and taught him really basic punching drills to get him ready for the run. It was interesting to teach Gareth as he was very much a beginner although he did have a few lessons at Steve Powell’s JKD Class. He also saw a quick demo of my Eskrima and now thinks I am some kind of trained assassin. His girlfriend Gemma and himself said they would be interested in one day coming to our class.

Friday was Warriors Eskrima day. Lun and I taught again, Gaz was back after a 2 week hiatus. The guy was working late the last couple of Fridays therefore couldn’t make it. However he hasn’t lost it, he practiced at home with amazingly no sticks just the movements with his hands and got a perfect double stick heaven six drill going. I taught him the 2nd half of the drill. I then did some syllabus stuff with him. Lun was teaching a new guy called William who was really experienced in different Martial Arts. Lun taught him some strikes and locks. We then did some higher level stick and dagger drills which they both seem to enjoy.

Anyway my run is around the corner. Other than that be sure to make Chris’s demo at Holmes Place Disbury if you live in the Manchester as you will see both Chris and LGM.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pics




Kit

Quick Update

A quick update
Hi everyone I though I do a quick update of things that have happened this week, will write up my week on Friday.I have been practicing for my run on Sunday mostly this week. I like to thank all those who have donated online and offline. I have had an awesome response. You can still donate as it's all going to Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Check Lun's blog who just tell's readers to be happy ,check it out!

Chris Sibbald who regularly comments on my blog, has a Demo to promote new Martial Arts Class coming up on Saturday at Holmes Palace Disbury for those in the Manchester area. He is graded at instructor level in Steve Powell's JKD and is a damn good Martial Artist. Unfortunatley I won't be able to make it but I wish Chris the best of luck. LGM Chris will be his demo partner check his blog too, very philosphical.

I cam across this awesome blog called Manchizzle which has a positive review.
This blog is about Manchester but written by an American freelance writer living over here. If you wondered what Manchester UK is like and want to read a bunch of other Manchester based blogs Manchizzle isn't a bad place to start!

Anyway I shall leave you with a number stick disarm picture showcase!
Thanks for reading!
Kit

My week in Martial Arts:May 8th till May 12th

Hi All

Another great week of exercise and martial arts. My initial plan of getting up early on Monday for a run was thwarted as I was feeling very lethargic. Add to the ingredients that I had a full day of Monday work ahead of me and then you get one Extra Lethargic Kit. However when I went to the gym with Lun I decided to run round the Salford campus before we hit the weights. It was a good session and we also went through a load of stuff that we plan to teach on Friday.

Tuesday I got up in time for a morning run. I went round the block twice at a moderate pace. Later I did Capoeira, I wanted to play the game but the class ran over so we didn't get the opportunity too. Great class though.

Wednesday I did a run but not in the morning, I plan to alternate my morning runs, this time I went round Salford Campus in the afternoon twice a good solid 25 minute run. Why just 25 minutes? Because I wanted to get to Straight Blast Gym class. Take one hot day, add a 25 minute run and then throw in one hour of Straight Blast stand up fighting training and you have one sweaty Kit Lok (Ok I will stop the cooking references now). The SBG training was cool we practiced single leg to double leg take downs. A lot of the lads here were at Seni and I was talking to one of them about the event.

Thursday my brother and I went to Steve Powell’s JKD Class. It was a cool class we learnt a load of filipino destruction techniques and did a lot of focus mitt work. We saw Chris and LGM and Paul B( the new guy in our class). Steve Powell spoke a load of Cantonese to Lun like "I like nice weather" and said in Cantonese “where are you going?" and then he answered in Cantonese "I am going out to the cinema!". Those were the tame words of course, all the rest were funny rude ones (which are the most fun words to learn in all languages)

Friday we went Warriors Eskrima.We did some cool Sayoc stuff with the knife this was an actually more of a preview of the stuff Simon, Paul H and Ray picked up from the Krishna Godhania seminars, if I wanted to learn more I will have to go to the Sayoc classes Krishna Godhaniaholds but it was cool nonetheless. We taught Paul B some of the Warriors Eskrima syllabus stuff. It was a good lesson as well I teaching we also learnt some new things but I guess teaching is a learning experience within itself.

Hopefully some of the original beginners will return and we will build up the beginner class, its actually ideal as if it is my brother and I teaching the beginners than if we have some on a higher skill level we can easily split the class.







Anyway going for a run in the morning to train for the run. Enjoy the pictures and thanks for reading.
Kit

Seni 06

Seni 06

“Go on Timmins!” I shouted as he competed against his opponent in the Seni 06 Light weight competition. He put on a tremendous fight but ultimately lost.

That was the start of Seni 06. I must admit I didn’t enjoy it overall as much as the first time, but my brother and Paul Ratcliffe met and saw several big celebrities from the World of martial arts and got our photos taken with some of them.

But what I didn’t enjoy about it was the fact that my brother and I were late for the Krishna Godhania seminar and we couldn’t find where to register or sign up to do the seminar (doh!) but we said hello to Krishna Godhania and walked around instead. However it was cool my instructor Simon and Paul Hinds got in and it was good to see the 2 Jimmy's,a father and son combination of Martial Artists who train under Rob Campion in Warriors Eskrima.

Seni 06 seemed to be much smaller than last year. Up to now the highlight was seeing my mate Andrew Timmins in the BJJ tournament. I bought some new Eskrima sticks and shared the costs of some training DVD’s with my brother. We also got some new stick bags so we carried them around on our shoulders (not to look hard..honest). We walked past John Saxon of Enter the Dragon fame. Yes the guy who played Roper. He was signing autographs with a promotion called Red Lizard. Everyone on that stand was wearing bad guy Enter the dragon uniforms and even one dressed up like O’Hara (the guy Bruce Lee annihilates for killing his sister in the film). We didn’t ask John Saxon for an autograph however.

As we brushed or walked past a celebrity we thought we wouldn’t see another. But then as we walked past the Cage Rage stall, a little old man in a blue jacket and a walkie talkie was asking everyone to make way. The thoughts “What was his problem” and “Hey??” went through my mind then I saw an entourage and right in the middle was a big brute of a man with a Mohawk and a goatee. It was UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell! Man he was huge, like a hybrid wolf man (I meant that in a nice way) and it would have been cool to get his autograph as I am a big fan, however the line of the queue stretched almost half the arena so we did the next best thing.

Dana White was also there and I recognised him from the Ultimate Fighter. He is the president of the UFC and he was very friendly and posed for photos with people. In fact so many people got his photo I think he should charge next year. But joking aside he was a great guy and said he appreciated I watched his show. Lun introduced himself and also got his picture with as did Paul. Hmm does Lun want to fight in the UFC for introducing himself???

We walked around again and I must admit I didn’t search for the things I wanted to for some reason maybe I was tired from the driving.
However as we walked past the Combat Magazine stand, Lau Gar Fei or Gordon Lau/Liu from Kill Bill 1 and 2 and 36th Chamber of Shaolin was sat on some comfy seats signing autographs and getting photos with fans taken! Holy Crap!!!!! Return to the 36th Chamber was one of my favourites and this guy also stared in such cool films as Shaolin vs. Ninja, Legendary Weapons of China(when Kung fu films were Kung Fu films) and Tiger on the Beat. We got his photo taken with us and he signed our free copies of combat (Lun asked him to sign his copy in Chinese) it was really cool!!!


Walking around and totally star struck we then bumped into yet ANOTHER celebrity in Danny John Jules. Cat from Red Dwarf and was also in Blade 2. He was at his own stand with a few others promoting and independent Martial Arts film: Sucker Punch. As I just seen Gordon Liu there was no way I was going to be fazed by Danny John Jules, so I asked for his autographs and engaged in conversation with him. Well he began with me, as Lun was taking my photo with him he spotted Lun’s stick bag on the shoulder and he asked “What’s in the bag? what’s in the bag!” I explained to them they were sticks and he said that it must be dangerous for the hands. So I showed him my knuckles to which he replied “ooh!” and then I asked him if he did Martial Arts and he said “Yeah I did a bit for this film” and turned after a second he said “Wu Shu” I replied: “ahh Wu Shu”. Paul asked if a Red Dwarf movie was coming out anytime soon “Nah they keep pulling my plonkers on that one!” was the somewhat funny reply!

Anyway enjoy the pictures, my only regret is that we came home late on the way home so I missed my mate Paul Hinds’ birthday night out and by the time I got home I was knackered but I hope you had a good one Paul.

Seni 06 great exhibition but I not as good as the first time however the highlight was definitely Gordon Liu. Check out Lun's blog for some different pictures and perspective!
Thanks
Kit

My week in Martial Arts:May 1st till May 5th

Hey All!

No, I didn’t train in the mountains of China, but the scenery shown in the picture is the cheddar gorge a beautiful place in Somerset England. I was there Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday visiting my girlfriend Elaine. So did I take a break from training? well yes and no, we walked up the famous Glastonbury Tor and Jacob’s ladder in Cheddar which are two great walks. So I did inadvertently get some exercise. Although in almost every city in the UK you are guaranteed the generic stores and places such as Starbucks, McDonalds, Pizza Huts etc thus making every city virtually the same, Glastonbury was different. Leisurely walks, beautiful scenery this is the kind of jolly old England I have not seen much of growing up in a city. I had a really great time there with Elaine it was a great weekend!

Tuesday back to the training, I was at Capoeria and it was great! What started off as a humble little class of 2 to 3 people has now grown to around 12 to 13. We practiced kicks into cartwheels and lots and lots of kicks. We all played the game first slowly then quickly it was awesome to see Chris and LGM Chris from Steve Powell’s JKD there. As they treat it as an extended warm up to JKD. That’s not an insult by the way; it is because our style of Capoeira is very non contact therefore I think it’s a good martial art to compliment more physical ones.

Thursday I went for a run and did some knife stuff with my Eskrima instructor Simon. The stuff was cool as we learnt some strikes and disarms.

Friday was Warriors day. It was cool although Lun could not make it as he just got home from working in Belfast. But then again I only had one beginner (well not a beginner in Martial Arts) Paul who trained really well today. We did all the basic strikes, numerous stick drills, knife drills. Baz from the old days (as in when Warriors Eskrima was still being taught by Bob Melia ) was there and is an exceptional boxer and wrestler. He showed Ray and Paul Hinds some wrestling techniques as pictured demonstrating on Simon. A fellow level 6 guy Mike was also there and because I didn’t train with him and was too busy teaching the beginner Paul, I forgot he was actually there and questioned why he wasn’t there in the car park later!...I think I need more sleep!

Ok today I am keeping my weekly report short as I am going to the NEC Arena tomorrow for Seni 06. My friend Andrew Timmins is competing for Karl Tanswell’s Straight Blast Gym and I am going to be attending Pangulong Guro’s Krishna Godhania seminar while I am there and buying loads of stuff. It’s going to be awesome and yes I will do a write up with photos! (to make up for the lack of photos in this blog!)

Kit

My week in Martial Arts: April 22nd till April 29th

Ouch
Hi all my week started Saturday, I went to Chosin Kai Karate at Steve Powells Chinatown Martial Arts Academy. We basically did a lot of punching and pad work and it was a great. I really love the reverse punch but there is so much to it, I know a punch is a punch but the mechanics to really get the power is very important.

So much so I was really trying hard to get it right but punching the pad really hard has nothing to do with it as you need your bodyweight behind the power and get the WHOLE technique. Due to the crazy intensity of the punching the skin surrounding three of my knuckles began peeling off. I thought nothing of them at the time.

Sunday

I trained for my run to train for the Great Manchester Run. My good friend Andy Timmins ran with me, as well as running we discussed Martial Arts. We ran in this park called Brookdale in Manchester. We did 0.75 miles circuit about 5 times or so. We also attempted to do the 1 mile circuit but the explanation on the map led us to a track that suddenly disappeared onto a football field so we ran the 0.75 mile circuit some more. It was a good run work out. The skin on my knuckles was now flesh red.

Monday

On this morning when I went to work I noticed my knuckles were scarred. Ouch! I tried to hide them at work somehow but that was pretty hard working on PC’s. I explained to people I was punching a pad. “A pad?” was the usual reply. My response was “Yes”. It’s very interesting that there is such a large pool of Martial Artists at my work place we have one Aikido instructor, a TKD instructor and several TKD guys under him. Would I want to start a work Eskrima class? No not at the moment, my brother and I teach beginners in the Warriors Eskrima Salford branch under Simon Campion and if people are interested they can come to that one. Plus I like to separate my outside activities from my work activities. Later I went to the gym with Lun for a big heavy workout in the gym. Lun decided I should rest my hands (as in punching) and I agreed.

Tuesday

I went to Capoeira, it was extra cool as Chris and LGM Chris also attended and did quite well in their first lesson. (well LGM Chris did a bit before in the past). It’s great that the class has expanded from three regulars to around ten or eleven. Ken was also there and a one or two others who had Capoeira experience else where made it a great varied class.



Wednesday

I punched the pad to test my crazy scared knuckles “Oww” was my reply. Yup my fist was badly stinging so I had to give Steve Powell’s JKD class and Karl Tanswell’s a miss.
So my brother and I went to the gym and went through what we were going to teach on Friday and I did some running.

Thursday rest day,

Friday Warriors Eskrima day.

This time I took the warm up bit and my brother and I taught the beginners. We had a new guy called Paul who trains at Steve’s. It was cool he came as was enthusiastic to learn something different and it was cool he knew variations on things we were doing in class and he had a powerful jab (naturally being from Steve’s).

Gaz was there too and made good progress I partnered him so I could drill the siniwali/heaven six drills with him. There are 8 different combinations in this drill. Last week I taught him the first, today I taught him 3 more, which means he is picking up the art very quickly. Next week I am confident he will get the next 4 to complete the next 8 variations. We also got the guys doing the double handed kob-kob drills and some light stick sparring. John, Ray and Paul were also there. Simon taught me some advanced knife which was cool.

Teaching is fun, the coolest thing is seeing the improvement of people(I know I only been teaching 2 weeks and Gaz has had a few lessons prior) but knowing that you are teaching and seeing how well a student is listening and picking it up (which is totally due to the student’s dedication) is a great feeling.

Anyway thanks for reading and keep training!
Kit!

My week in Martial Arts: April 17th till April 21st

Friday 21st April: Lun and I are waiting patiently in the refreshments room of the Salford university gym along with our senior instructor Simon and fellow instructor Paul (pictured in a goofy action pose further down this post) and regular Ray. We had to wait there as the squash court we booked for our regular slot was double booked. Today was a different Warriors Eskrima lesson as my brother and I were going to teach the beginners. Only one problem no beginners seem to be coming through that door! We were all veterans!

As we were almost giving up hope a beginner called Gaz walks through the door! Whoohoo let the first Lok brother’s lesson begin…………..

But before I get to that I like to say what a great week I had on my return to Martial Arts.
Monday:
It was bank holiday here in the UK…so I didn’t do any training, but I watched some Krishna Godhania DVD’s for reference in regards to teaching on Friday,

Tuesday:
Capoeira. What can I say? Awesome! 8 people in the class and always growing. It marked the return of Ken Pudsey who is a capoeira veteran. It was awesome as we did some cartwheel kicking combos and several other kicking sequences. Everyone did really well which shows how well Danny Henry can teach.

Wednesday:
Straight Blast Gym and Steve Powell’s JKD Class
Lun and I went to the Stand Up fighting class. It was a brilliant workout. Karl Tanswell explained the aliveness training that we were doing as there were a lot of new beginners. My good friend Andy Timmins was there too.
Later on that night….

“There are a lot of beginners tonight so keeping it a bit basic tonight…” Steve explained to Lun and I. Yes it was packed over 20 people there, but it was still a great work out and it’s great to do focus mitt drills we haven't done in a while. Simon and Paul from Eskrima were there, as was Chris and LGM. Some the focus mitt drills are derived or based on panuntukan (Filipino boxing) drills. A great lesson and workout! Had some great talks with Chris over the MSN Messenger as well this week.


Thursday
I went to the gym, did some weights and ran on the treadmill. The run is looming now and I need to practice.


Friday
Lun did the warm up’s in the beginning. Simon than asked me to teach Gaz while the others went to drill over advanced stuff. So begins a new journey for me. The way I always wanted to teach beginners is instantly concentrate on the footwork and posture. Without a strong base or foundation a building will fall.

So I trained Gaz to have a good front stance position first and asked him to throw a jab and a cross. I talked to him about the mechanics of the jab and cross and the importance of retracting your hands back to a guard position protecting your face straight after the punch. Again we did this on the focus mitts, I asked him to find his form by doing 5 slow ones and then 10 power ones. After that we practiced the push forward and push backward steps, and incorporated boxing drills into this footwork. I then practiced focus y dagger drills with him this involved him punching the focus mitt and retracting back to guard before I can catch him with my training knife. After that I taught him the hook after the jab and cross. So we covered his basic punching quite extensively.

We then switched to sticks and I taught him the heaven six drill. Basically the heaven six is a series of double stick strikes performed six times (but there are six variants). Gaz picked it up very quickly. In fact his enthusiasm was great and helped ease my nerves of first time teaching. We then did stick disarms and then Lun went through some more pad work with Gaz. Lun’s drills were quite innovative.

I did a stick spar with Simon. The sparring was good as we did it slowly and crashing in when there was an opening. Afterwards I gave Gaz a list of things we covered in class, so he could take it home and practice. If we get 5-6 people with the same approach mindset like Gaz has, then it would be much easier and enjoyable to teach. When everyone was gone Lun went through the advanced stuff with me.

A great week!
Anyway thanks for reading and enjoy the pics.

Kit

Thanks Part 3: Family and Friends

This entry thanks is devoted to family and friends (who trained with or alongside me). Please read part 1 and 2 if you haven’t already.

Family
My parents
They have always supported me in everything I do. I love my parents and cannot thank them enough.

Lun
My brother is one of my biggest influences not only in Martial Arts but in life. Always there for me and encouraged me to keep on going when I wanted to give up. Lun is the best big brother anyone could have. He has practiced many arts over the years and a true inspiration, always pushing me to train more when I didn’t feel like it. I am very lucky to have a brother like Lun.

Sue
My sis in law because without her understanding and love for Lun then maybe we wouldn't train as much!

Friends (Martial Arts). These are friends that have trained with or alongside me and are in order of knowing them.

Paul Hinds
Paul is simply crazy (and he knows I call him this) but I admire that fact that he has always maintained an interest in Martial Arts since our college days.

Andrew Timmins
From the re-start he was there,introducing me to Capoeira, being part of the Warriors Eskrima group, went to JKD and finally settled at Karl Tanswell’s. Still keep in touch today which is cool

Paul Ratcliffe
Again someone there at my martial art re-start did capoeira for a while. Very good person and always interested in the martial artists and hope to see him back soon in the marital arts arena. Another I still keep in touch with.

Ken Pudsey
Capoeira player but very interesting of Martial Arts.

Chris Chris is an accomplished Martial Artist at such a young age. He trains in multiple arts but primarily a JKD man and qualified JKD instructor. His comments are one of the main reasons why this blog keeps going and has a great blog of his own.

LGM
Another great JKD Man. I have benefited from his posts. LGM Chris also has a great blog and I have been inspired by some of his posts on his blog as some entries are very philosophical. Again his comments help the blog going.

Warriors Eskrima

Johnny Cowan
Inspirational Eskrimidor. One of the first level 6 instructors to be graded after Rob and Simon in Manchester.
I also like to give thanks to
Mike, Ray, John, Kinder and everyone currently training or used to train at Warriors Eskrima Salford branch.


That’s all I like to thank at the moment I apologise if I left anybody out
Thanks
Kit

Thanks Part 2: Martial Artists.

This is dedicated thanks to the Martial Artists that I have met and influenced me during the course of my journey. Please read part 1: Instructors if you haven’t already. Most of the following are from seminars, some are from classes and one is from my former works place. Don’t worry Chris and LGM Chris you are in the Family and Friends dedication that I will post! Please check out Lun's blog as he has updated it!

Rick Young-JKD
I have had only a couple of seminars with him but the experiences were awesome and his stories are great.

Carlson Gracie Senior-BJJ
Another one who opened our eyes, although promoting BJJ through the seminar we attended, the late Carlson Gracie Senior told the attendees through his translator that “he loved all martial arts”.


Samuel Kwok-Wing Chun
Again only one seminar, but a big impact.

Greg Hall-JKD
Although he is currently inactive, when he took a class he was awesome. Always humble and kind every time we saw him on the door or in the gym.

Rick Lawrie-JKD
Again only had one class under him which was cool, but when we see him training alongside us in the JKD gym, he REALLY hits the pad.

Diana Rathbone-MKG
Very kindly gave my brother and I, a place to stay in Minnesota and living there gave us an insight of a 24/7 Martial Artist.

Mike Beckwith-Karate
This is a former work colleague who had a very humble attitude. I can’t remember his karate style but he was an instructor. He seemed to carry his Martial Art ethos into his work as he was dedicated to his role and always asked me on my progress.

Larry Hartsell-JKD
We attended a seminar of his once another big impression on my journey. It was amazing to train under such a renowned Martial Artist.

Wisconsin Summer Camp 2002-MKG
Everyone who attended!

Everyone who has ever partnered me in
JKD, Warriors Eskrima, Capoeira and the Straight Blast Gym, I have learnt something from you all.

Part 3 to follow tomorrow thanks for reading!
Kit

My Week in Martial Arts: April 10 to April 14th-Thanks Part 1: Instructors

Well I rested this week apart from Capoeira as I let my body heal. As I rested I decided to write a three part thank you to those have helped me in my journey to becoming an apprentice instructor in Warriors Eskrima.

Thanks Part 1: Instructors


This is to say thank you to all the people who have helped me on my journey of the martial arts so far. This is more about how they inspired and motivated me. This post can also be viewed as a follow up to this post I did in August. I have so many to thank. The first part is devoted to instructors. The second part tomorrow is devoted to Martial Artists and the third to family, friends and external inspirations.

In chronological order of being taught by them:

Steve Powell JKD/CHOSIN KAI instructor-1984
If my brother and I didn’t find Steve Powell we may have never been exposed to so many different arts. We were lucky; the Chosin Kai Karate club was based in the upstairs of a pub literally 2 minutes away from our takeaway/takeout. This wasn’t your ordinary karate club as well as the traditional stuff, there were elements of Wing Chun and Thai Boxing that were thrown in or at least acknowledged. This was way back in 1983/84 before Mixed Martial Arts were popularised in the media and practiced in gyms as MMA.
Although we can argue it wasn’t true MMA in the sense that there was no BJJ it was definitely the first steps in my experience of using what was useful.

After the local club closed down, we attended the main gym based in George Street Chinatown was used and lesson were taught by the chief instructor himself Steve Powell. Steve Powell has a wealth of experiences in different arts and all to a high level as well as real life experiences bouncing on the door. Steve knows what works and doesn’t work in Martial Arts, that’s the bottom line. His class later evolved into a JKD class (I guess it was inevitable with so many different arts involved). Although I literally attended a handful of lessons at the Portland Street gym and filmed a video there for a college project in 1994/95, my brother Lun however attended quite a few lessons. There were so many elements of different systems being used. It was here that Lun was first taught Eskrima and thus exposed to the art. The exposure of so many arts such Muay Thai, Silat, Eskrima and Wing Chun has taught me to appreciate and respect all Martial Arts. We restarted at Steve Powell’s in 2002 and still train there on a semi regular basis.

Steve Powell is and still remains a big inspiration.

It was in 1995 my journey stopped for my studies, I attended a handful of WTF Tae Kwon Do lessons and a jiu jitsu lesson but other than that it was quiet….

Khalid Iqbal ITF Tae Kwon Do-2001

Little do I mention my ITF Tae Kwon Do days in my blog but I learnt a valuable lesson at Mr Khalid Iqbal’s TKD class. Mr Iqbal is of average height but his TKD skills are awesome and he is very friendly and humble. The classes were and still held at Salford University ironically I joined the classes with Lun after I left University. In one session I was sparring with one of Lun’s work colleague’s who previously studied in a style of Kung Fu.

Letting my ego take over I just threw out the TKD stuff I had just learnt and proceeded to use “everything” I know against him as used his Kung Fu. We totally disbanded and disrespected TKD by using different arts in the Do-Jang (training hall). Mr Iqbal took us aside and told us to empty our cups (as in our existing knowledge) and learn what was being taught in the class.

From then on I had no problems in the class and had learnt that you need to be humble and respectful if you are new to a class, no matter what other skills other have learnt in the past. I trained there for 6 months and used it to keep me flexible and my fitness up.

Bob Melia Warriors Eskrima 2002
Maybe I should have put Bob earlier in my list because I recognised him when I was a kid as every year we would watch the Lion Dance to celebrate Chinese New Year and he was one of the drummers.

However it was in 2002 that we got to really know Bob. Assisting him was Simon and Rob Campion like Lun and I are brothers who with Bob all used to train under Master Chu in Chu Gar Kung Fu. I shall write a section on them. Bob used to tell Lun and I some great stories about his days in Kung Fu but most importantly he is a good teacher and our first teacher in the Warriors Eskrima system.

Again Bob has tons of experience and was quite inspirational during his teachings. He moves fast for his size and is very powerful. He puts his quickness and skill all down to training and drilling his techniques as I remember him telling us that once. As the class averaged 6 to 7 students I guess it was easier to communicate with Bob although he was always approachable. Bob is not involved in the Warriors Eskrima system now he is now following the path of Sun Shi Martial Arts and is very much there for any mentoring advice. His latest blog gives a great account of his recent trip to Beijing.

Danny Henry 2002 Capoeira

He is my Capoeira teacher and his endless devotion and passion to his art is a big inspiration. He is truly a politics free Martial Artist. No association governs what he does and I know he has been subject to criticism by a known “official” Capoeira group. I know this because former students of the other Capoeria group have told me that the instructor/mestre always discourages students to go to Danny (which doesn’t make sense since they are not training at Danny’s in the first place). But Danny persevered by improving his art and has his own group which is expanding. This is why I respect Danny so much because he puts up with the crap from the other group (who are making far more money than Danny) by showing his students what he can do.

Rick Faye 2002 (MKG Kali Group, Wisconsin Summer Camp and Various Seminars)

Training with Rick Faye in the states for a couple of weeks was very inspiring. There was huge emphasis on footwork and because at that time brother and I restarted the stick drills (combined with the footwork) were hard to follow. However these drills helped us on coordination. Rick is very inspirational with his words I remember one seminar that he said something on the lines of this: “Why live just for 2 days of your life when you can find what you want to do and live for 7?” He meant about people just looking forward to weekends because they didn’t enjoy what they did weekdays.

Rob Campion 2002 Warriors Eskrima
Rob is the older brother of Simon. His power and Eskrima skills are awesome. He helped assist Bob during our early days of Warriors Eskrima. He is one of two representatives of Warriors Eskrima in Manchester the other being Simon.

Simon Campion 2002 Warriors Eskrima
When Bob left the classes to Rob and Simon, Rob taught a class in Wythenshawe and Simon carried on at Salford. During the first few months we could see Simon’s teaching method gradually evolve. As this was the first time he was teaching on his own with no real support it was initially difficult. Then over the months his confidence grew and after passing us on a grading the class became more structured and fun.

Simon like his brother never gave up his quest to study other Martial Arts, he even did Capoeira with me for a while. Simon’s skill also improved although there was nothing wrong with it in the first place, he seems more powerful and quicker than before. It’s such an inspiration to train under a first time instructor who is also evolving. He has coped well especially as he helped pass 4 apprentice instructors in the Warriors Eskrima system.

Pangulong Guro Krishna Godhania 2003 Warriors Eskrima

I have done seminars under Krishna and he has given us lessons at the end of gradings, however it was awe inspiring when Simon and I did a private lesson with him last year. Due to his extensive knowledge and experiences of Eskrima he showed us some great techniques with deadly precision. Along with his extensive background and having further read his book contributions and magazine articles, I feel very lucky to be graded under such a leading authority in Eskrima.

Karl Tanswell 2005 Straight Blast Gym.

A truly inspirational coach training us in the alive training concept (moving constantly), we joined the gym to learn stand up and BJJ. Although I have yet to formally begin BJJ training yet, I found his stand up lessons very useful to my own personal progress. I also find his style of teaching inspirational.

These are the instructors that I find most motivational and inspirational.
Thanks for reading and I shall post the 2nd part tomorrow!
Kit

Grading:PASSED!

There were 8 of us who just finished our various gradings (tests). We were asked to stand in two lines of four. I was listening to Pangulong Guro Krishna Godhania’s words but not looking up as I anticipated the results. He mentioned that everyone had strengths and weaknesses but then said that we all…passed.

My celebration was not the one I envisioned in my head as I was way too knackered after a very long grading (3 hours). But I smiled and was really happy, hugged Lun and congratulated everyone. Everyone walked around shaking each others hands and it was extra special for the level 6 guys.

We meet up at our instructors Simon Campion’s house and 8.10AM. Simon’s brother Rob has his own class of students and they were going to come along with us. We took 3 cars on a perilous trip to Warwick (actually it wasn’t perilous but because nothing much happened on the way there I thought I make it sound special!)


We got to the sports hall that the grading was held at 10.45am. After we paid our respective instructors are grading fee, we waited for Pangulong Guro Krishna. We didn’t wait too long as was on time, as we entered the sports hall I thought to myself “This is it!”

Ray was going for his level 1 and level 2 grading and Mark and Andy from Rob Campion’s class was doing level 2 and 4 respectively. I partnered Ray for his level 1 and 2 as we are a similar size and Simon thought it would be a good idea to pair us up. Later we had to mover rooms and into a squash court! Although the floor was newer in this court but it’s such a familiar surrounding as my current Eskrima and Capoeira class held in squash courts!

Ray did very well, as did Rob’s group, but when that was over it was time for Lun, Paul, Mike, Kinder (from Rob’s group) and myself to do our grading. Simon didn’t want to pair me and Lun in the sparring as we were brothers I think he might have thought we wouldn’t turn up the intensity (yes as Rick Faye once said we were the only brothers in the World that he knew that didn’t fight with each other and for the record we have never fought!). Rob however insisted we did spar as he planned for Kinder (my original opponent) to pair up with someone else first. When it was time, we did tear into each other and really smacked the crap out of each other with the sticks and I was taken down a couple of times! It’s the closest we ever got to a physical fight with my brother but obviously no tempers flared as it was the grading and we still remain as probably the 1% of brothers in the World who have never fought each other!

It was a very tiring grading as we sparred several times but we all made sure that rather than hitting each other with the sticks we showed techniques. Not only there was stick sparring but there was knife sparring and empty hand (which I really enjoyed). I did my empty hand sparring with Kinder from Rob’s group. It was pretty cool to spar with someone different as Kinder is a very skilled fighter.

Yes we were all knackered in the end but I thought the whole experience was fun and intense at the same time. I thought Lun did well despite his asthma and that he was away this week, Ray did well for his 2 levels, Paul also did well with two levels that he was graded on, Mike did well too in the sparring as did everyone else. My own assessment of my performance is that I thought I did some stuff well but others not as well as I wanted.

However Krishna told us that for all those who just finished level 6 apprentice instructor level…the “real” training begins!..........

I will be sent more pictures very soon(I didn't get chance to film/photograph anything today!) but in the meantime enjoy the current batch!

My next post will be a “thank you post” naming all those who have motivated, inspired and trained me and trained along side me leading up to the grading. This will be a long list!

Thanks for reading
Really Happy!
Kit!

Countdown to the Warriors Eskrima grading:Today!

Well I had a good night's sleep and now I am about to embark on the 2 hour or so journey to the grading picking up and meeting everyone on the way.
I am looking forward to it and have got my stuff packed. The stuff comprising of my Warriors Eskrima T shirt, jogging pants and all my sticks,knives, swords. I am bringing my DV camera as well to film everyones reaction.
This is it, whatever the outcome I shall write about it all tonight.
Thanks
Kit!

Countdown to the Warriors Eskrima grading:Entry 2

Another countdown no photos....

Apologies for spelling Choshin Kai wrong in my last entry, it’s a class that we should have gone to today. Lun really needed to go though some grading stuff for tomorrow to refine his techniques as he has been away so we decided to go and practice for a few hours.

Feeling tired today as I had to do all the usual Saturday stuff as well as training. I have multiple bruises on my arms and my body as a result of this week’s training. I know where they were caused but not know how, when and who.

Tomorrow I get up 6am to go and pick up my brother and Paul. We are going to Simon’s house and meet up with the rest of the lot and from there will travel down to Warwick in 2 or 3 cars. It will be good to meet members of Rob’s class again.

I am glad we trained today. Simon also happened to be in the gym so he came in and helped us out. We went through several of our past gradings and worked on sparring strategies.

Later we went home and watched a stick sparring video and practiced more techniques. I am feeling fine today and can’t wait for tomorrow. 4 years coming to a head. I like to say thanks to Lun, Chris, LGM Chris and instructor Simon for their comments and the luck.

Depending on what time I get up I might write a quick post tomorrow morning.

Thanks for reading
Kit

My Week in Martial Arts: April 1st to April 7th

Hi All!

This week has been all Warriors Eskrima. Trained Sunday, Tuesday ,Thursday and Friday. I was knackered all week but I needed to train and felt better for it. My brother Lun was working in Belfast this week but I am sure he is ready for the grading.

Although I am in preparation for the grading, my week in the Martial Arts actually started last Saturday as my brother and I attended Steve Powell’s Cho Sin Kai class which consisted of big pad punching. It was great fun and a great work out. Chris and LGM were also there and it was great to see them as well as Rick Lawrie who told me that was his favourite kind of training. The class was amazing full of "boom" techniques(boom as in punching the pad to make the boom sound!) and I got a few flashbacks from the old days regarding the exercises and techniques, although Lun remembered a whole lot more.

Later that day Steve Powell emailed us with some mind jazz as he called it, some very interesting Zen quotes such as “Fudoshin” and “Zanshin” reading up on the spiritual side of Martial Arts is something I like to do more of. The meanings behind them are very potent and inspirational and definitely relates to my preparation of the grading and all the Martial Arts that I practice. “Zanshin” is defined as “A state of complete, balanced, continuous and relaxed readiness, awareness and alertness, where you are "present in the moment."”. This relates to what I am trying to achieve in my mental state and what it needs to be at all times, rather than just for the grading.

Sunday we did some extra training in Warriors Eskrima, my arm and shoulder was knackered from the day before (due to the punching of the pad).


Monday I rested.

Tuesday it was more Warriors Eskrima but more on technique rather than sparring. As we train in the same building as my Capoeira class, I popped in and had a quick capoeira game after the Eskrima training finished.

Wednesday I rested.

Thursday I came late to Warriors Eskrima as I had to do something for my Dad but did managed to do some grappling moves. I also trained my fitness by doing a run on the treadmill and some shadow boxing.

Friday it was Warriors again and we did stick disarms and knife disarms. We also did free style stick sparring palakaw. In addition, I also went through level 1 and level 2 techniques with Ray in which he will be graded in on Sunday(even though he is grading for level 1 or 2 he can match us in sparring!). We also did some stick sparring and rather than a big crazy stick strike fest, we put a lot of techniques in the sparring influenced by our instructor Simon. I noticed the atmosphere was different as it seemed to have a serious aura to it. This meant we all seemed to be focused for Sunday which is a good thing.

I have to keep this week’s entry relatively short as I am going to get some sleep. I am going to do another Warriors Eskrima grading countdown tomorrow. In addition I am going to write about the grading on Sunday night.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pics (although I did not catch much as I was training for the grading!)

Kit

Countdown to the Warriors Eskrima grading:Entry 1

A break from the usual format…..no pictures... just words..

Come April 9th 2006, our Level 6 Warriors Eskrima grading (test) will take place in Warwick and we will be graded by Pangulong Guro Krishna Godhania. Usually countdown articles for some writers would normally be much earlier like weeks or even months before the event occurs, but I chose to write my countdown much closer to my event.

Why did I do this? Well I kind of mentioned the grading in previous posts but not one post is dedicated solely on the grading and I think it might interest the reader on what the hell is exactly going through my mind so close to the grading. Well the answer is that I am excited and nervous at the same time and I felt that I needed to write about it.

This combination of nerves and excitement can be compared to when you are cut off at the gate in a queue separating you from a bunch of people who are allowed onto a rollercoaster. This would leave you watching with great fear and anticipation waiting at the gate and up close you can see how huge the rollercoaster really is rising so many feet in the air and going so many miles per hour, you are nervous maybe scared but you really want to be on it and want to be on it fast.


This week (apart from a quick session of the Capoeira game) I have dedicated my Martial Arts to the grading. Not only am I trying to be physically focused but also mentally focused. My mind is on the grading constantly because I feel it is so important I get it right as does Lun and all our great fellow students taking the grading. The grading will contain a lot of sparring and some free style stick sparring. So physically as well as mentally I have to be aggressive, but careful and skilful enough to show techniques and not just smack the living crap out of the other guy.


I hope we call all step it up on that day.

Thanks
Kit!