My week in Martial Arts: Sept 18th to Sept 22nd

Hey All

Another good week in training! Monday my brother and I worked out a schedule for our gym work out. This is because we usually get to the gym around 5.45 or 6 depending on what time we finish work and then have to make the Karl Tanswell’s Straight Blast Gym class at 7 which is a good 10-12 minutes drive. So we worked out we are going to do 3 different exercises for each body part which consist of 3 sets of 10. This was perfect as it lasted 45 minutes approx. After the workout we went through some drills that we were taught at the Rick Young seminar held at Steve Powell’s JKD class. We also went through drills that were taught at the Krishna Godhania seminar and drilled our Eskrima stuff and what we were taught at Karl Tanswell’s the week earlier

Wednesday we went to Karl Tanswell’s class, for the past few Wednesday’s the class has been taken by an Estonian instructor called Jorgen. We did some interesting takedowns from the clinch. As Jorgen is about my size(i.e. not very tall) he told us what clinch control point(as in under hook or grabbing the head) would work best depending on what size you were, which put an interesting perspective on things.

Friday we went to Warriors Eskrima. Back to teaching! A new student Stephen showed up and it was cool to teach again. As this was the intro class I went through a variety of things including footwork, single stick, double stick and empty hand stuff. The interesting thing was that Stephen has Filipino heritage and this he told me, was one of the reasons why he wanted to learn. He told me that he enjoyed the lesson and I emailed him the list of what we did. I think I will save this list as the intro class template. It was good as he picked up the lesson pretty well.

As I was teaching and Lun was too busy training with the other guys, we couldn’t take any pictures! So I included a picture of the old “classic” pad we use to use at Steve Powell’s. The pad has “Smash the Pad!” written on it which I guess Lun put to motivate us when we were training.

I also included our Martial Arts book collection (part of it) which is a crazy mix of things. These books are there for reference really. I must admit I always found it hard to follow instructional books unless the moves presented were very basic. 2D photos never could catch the full motion of the more advanced moves unless they were really good photos coupled with good explanations. Plus nothing really beats being taught at an actual class where you can experience everything first hand (although DVD’s, videos and good books are excellent references).


At the weekend I went to Wookie Hole caves in Somerset with Elaine. It was fascinating to walk around, especially the inside of the caves as pictured. Elaine also showed me how to play the piano too, so the deal is that if she teaches me to play the piano I will teach her what I know in Martial Arts!

A special mention to James who writes this blog which is a cool blog all about swords. He asked me for a link exchange via my email at kiteskrima@yahoo.co.uk and if anyone else would like one please don’t hesitate to drop me a mail.

Thanks for reading and I promise more action pictures next time!
Kit!

My week in Martial Arts: Sept 11th to Sept 16th

That’s more like it! 3 lessons and a seminar for Lun and I this week. So we trained 4 times and good session in the gym. On Monday my brother, Lun and I went to Karl Tanswell Straight Blast Gym and were taught some great stand up skills and takedowns. It was a great work out and we swapped training partners several times while sparring. It was cool to get a different feel of energy. Lun and I have trained these stand up skills in previous classes as it was a stand up intro class. It was basic but training basic manoeuvres is very beneficial as I will discuss below.


Wednesday Lun and I had a great workout at the gym as we lifted heavy for a good 40 minutes and then went to Karl’s again and worked some techniques from some close up stand up wrestling. Basically escaping or avoiding counters from body locks. It was fun stuff.

Friday we went to Warriors Eskrima. We had a great work out there drilling roof blocks and reverse roof blocks. Sparring with sticks and going up and down striking and blocking each others sticks. We also did some double stick drills as well which we haven’t done in a while. It’s good to train with the lads again as I mentioned in my last blog and take a break from the teaching. My brother and I however have been practicing Level 1 stuff in the event of some students joining. Again refining the basics…..


Saturday was seminar day with Rick Young(the second time this year, as the first time was in February) at Steve Powell’s JKD gym . It was a great seminar and great to see the regulars such as Chris, LGM, Greg and Rick. It was also the first time we seen Steve for a while who kindly provided us with the photo. Thanks Steve!

The seminar was cool. We did some single sticks and double sticks and some panuntukan (Filipino Boxing) and some Chi Sau (sticky hands) to incorporate into hubud drills. It was a varied and interesting seminar. Rick Young also mentioned the importance of training the basics. He stated that the basic are all part of a good foundation. This was something I strongly agree with because my brother and I still attend the stand up intro class at Karl Tanswell’s and always drill the earlier levels of the Warriors Eskrima class.


I reckon as well as progressing and drilling your skills in Martial Arts, re-visiting past skills is also very important.

Special shout out to my old mate Paul Thunder(not his real surname) who reads this blog on a regular basis and of course my girlfriend Elaine who always asks when am I next posting it!.:). Enjoy the pictures and thanks for reading.

My week in Martial Arts: Sept 4th to Sept 8th

This week I was almost back to normal.
We did a good session at the gym and at Steve Powell’s JKD Class and also had a lesson at Warriors Eskrima

My digital video camera is still without a power supply and therefore I haven’t got any shots of the class, so here are some shots of Stourhead and Dunham Massey where I went with Elaine this weekend. We had a great time! I like to go these kinds of places with Elaine away from the corporate and commercial hustle and bustle of the city and the hypnotism of television. Places like these which are relatively inexpensive and for Elaine and I this is where it’s at, just awesome scenery and wildlife.

Anyways my brother and I did a really half ass session in the gym but on Monday but that was due to a killer headache. Wednesday my brother and I went to the gym and this time had a good session with lots of work on the upper body and then later went to Steve Powell’s. Greg took the class and we had a really great varied class, from the focus mitt work to combat training to hubud very varied and very good.

Friday I did Warriors Eskrima with Lun. There was no one there to teach so Lun and I trained with the rest of them. It was cool to train with those guys again and I forgotten how fun it was as Ray and I drilled stick sparring techniques. We also went through the lesson we had with Krishna Godhania


We did some knife defence where I got unintentionally kicked right in the knee cap by one of my fellow Eskrimidor, who will remain unnamed here. It hurt and instead of my usual charging into the guy like a footballer who gets up from a bad foul from another player I said he hit my funny bone and carried on. I emailed him about the matter and explained to him what he did in private.

Should I publish this? Yes, it’s my blog and it’s what happened, as I said it’s unintentional and I harbour no bad feelings. So they should be no problem. I have also known the guy longer than anyone else in that squash court. In general, I think that if someone goes in a bit hard in Martial Arts you have to tell them or they will carry on doing it or worse still you will react and a brawl will happen. If people don’t have an understanding with each other in training then accidents will happen. I am talking in general here over the last 5 years I had constantly training in these various Arts.


I once trained with this guy about 4 years ago in one of my classes who was a bit over zealous and had an ego problem, I can’t honestly remember his name but once we had to do knees on each other and he made some standard breathing noises like “ossh ossh” or something like that. When it was my turn to knee, my breathing noises were slightly different and for some reason he didn’t like it and said something like “That’s not very nice” and he went in a bit harder on his next go. To this day I don’t why he did that but he only had one lesson and I never saw him again. In fact maybe I dreamt it because no one else remembers this guy! But that is a great example of miscommunication between training partners.

As always you drop as an email at kiteskrima@yahoo.co.uk about this blog or any of the lessons mentioned as I can give you further information about them. Well I probably will tell you to refer to the links to the left of the page but I can give you information about the Warriors Class on Fridays.

Anyways that’s my 2 cents or pence as it were.
Thanks for visiting and enjoy the pictures.

Kit

I'm back!

3 weeks worth of blogs that what I owe my blog viewing public, I didn’t do many lessons over these past 2 weeks. So here is an overview of what we did the past three weeks

Aug 14th to 18th
This week Lun and I went to Karl Tanswell’s Straight Blast gym, Steve Powell’s JKD Classand Warriors Eskrima ..
Monday: At Karl’s we did some jab and crosses and footwork. It was a great work out and what was interesting was that it was one of Karl’s students taking the class. The interesting thing was that the student was able to take the class in an effective manner.

Wednesday I hit the gym and then Karl’s and Steve’s. I worked on bicep and shoulders and then my brother and I hit Karl’s. It was a great workout as we seemed to be work harder than usual. We then went to Steve Powell’s which was taken by Rick. We smashing the pads to hell with some reverse punches (well I was more liking smashing my fist to hell until I get the punch right).

Friday my brother and I went to Warriors Eskrima, again another great intense lesson with a load of stick sparring techniques.

August 21st to 25th-I had a rest as I took a week off work and spent time with Elaine who came up for a week. We had a great time going to my cousins wedding, Tatton Park and Stapley water gardens.

August 27th to September 1st
We had an awesome instructor’s lesson in Warwick on Sunday with Krishna Godhania . This was attended by Rob and Simon Campion, Johnny and Lun and I. We did some knife to empty hand translations.

Basically this is learning how to use knives in one situation and then empty hand in the same situation. Krishna also went through some history about how Filipino infantry men travelled in a triangular 3 shape with swords with the front man striking their Japanese nemesis with bolo machete's while the remaining two finish their enemy off. We also were taught some new sword techniques, thanks to Elaine who was travelled all that way with us!


I promise things will get back on track by next week. I didn’t do any lessons this week because I need to sort out some stuff that I hope to get resolved soon and therefore the blogs might not be as frequent or depending how I feel I might be compelled to write about what I am feeling. However I leave you a plethora of pictures to enjoy from the Warwick lesson, thanks for reading and visiting
Thanks
Kit

My week in Martial Arts: August 7th to Aug 11th

This week we managed just one lesson due to work commitments, as Lun explains in his blog. We made only the Warriors Eskrima class where we did some cool circuit training and some stick sparring techniques. Simon then split the class as he went through stuff with Paul and Ray.

Lun and I went through some techniques with William, who we are going to try and get to a grading at some point. For any South American or Spanish readers please check out William’s site. Elaine came again to watch us and filmed us as well! Thanks for the great shots again Elaine!



As I didn’t do many Martial Arts I don’t have many words for this week. On Saturday though, we did see a parkour exhibition in Manchester by a group called Team Sinister. Parkour is free running and consists of crazy acrobatic flips off walls and things. It’s a great spectacle but even though it looks like they look like they are all “messing around” I am sure these guys actually trained for these kind of stunts using safety mats etc in a safe environment( well the PA guy said that as well) . I found the Team Sinister page while surfing.

Anyways till next week (in which I will try and make a longer post).

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.

P.S Any comments about the website, the lessons I attend or life itself or if you want a link exchange you can either post a comment and no spam please…or email me directly with any query about anything at kiteskrima@yahoo.co.uk I cannot promise I will reply to every email but will try my damn best.

My week in Martial Arts: July 31st to Aug 4th

This week Lun and I started Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at Karl Tanswell’s Straight Blast gym

We practiced a counter against a guard position and it was quite an interesting lesson. At the end of it Karl got his most senior guys to see if we can counter their guards and also there was a sparring exhibition in the end where Karl would call out 2 people to roll and see who would win via submission. It was good to experience another Martial Art and to finally start.


As my brother and I walked out of the gym we noticed a very tall guy walking into the gym area in his street clothes. The man looked so familiar yet I couldn’t place his face initially. I had a think about who he was “Damn I am sure I have seen him before” Then it hit me! Matt Thornton! My brother who didn’t recognise him until I told him told me he was watching the whole time too…pity we didn’t look great because it was only our second lesson in just under a year. It was also a shame we couldn’t make his seminar.

Wednesday Lun and I returned to Karl Tanswell’s Straight Blast gym and we did stand up fighting, jab crosses and knees, it was a great lesson very energetic and lots of focus on technique.


Friday we did Warriors Eskrima class. William came down as well and rather than splitting the class we decided to let him join in the rest of the guys so Simon took the full reign of the class that included Paul and Ray. It was a great lesson; we did some hubud drills, stick sparring and circuit training that was devised by Lun.

Hopefully we will make the Steve Powell’s JKD Class next week.


I am enjoying my hours outside of work more than ever now spending time with my family, friends and last but not least my Girlfriend! Going to different places each week, practicing Martial Arts etc, I live for the weekends and what happens after work…..but one thing I will always remember is what Rick Faye once said about trying to live for more than 2 days a week and try and do something you can enjoy so you can live for 7. In that I still strive for….
Enjoy the great pics from footage filmed by Elaine(thank you!!!)and thanks for reading
Kit

My week in Martial Arts: July 24th to July 28th

This week was a return to an almost normal routine with some extra gym work. The last few weeks my schedule has been quite inconsistent in terms of what I train in and sometimes (in fact a lot) I have neglected a proper gym work out so this week Lun and I decided to devote a bit more time in the gym and hopefully I will also devise a better training schedule.

Monday, Lun and I went to gym and did a quick but heavy and intense weights session. Afterwards we went to Karl Tanswell,Karl wasn’t there that day but Hywel Teague took the class who is one of Karl’s senior guys and also a freelance reporter and photographer for MMA events. I don’t know him personally but I seen his name as a reporter on several magazine and web site articles. He is also a good instructor as we learnt some escapes from clinch work. It was a very hot and humid day and the mats were soaked with sweat.

Wednesday Lun and I stayed had a good weights work out and it wasn’t as rushed as Mondays. As the gym work out was extended we couldn’t make it to Karl Tanswell’s but we did go to Steve Powell’s JKD Class. We worked on the reverse punch or the “BOOM” as it is known to some of the more senior guys. The variables for this punch are hard to get when you haven’t practiced for a while. It’s not your straight forward punch there is a lot of skill and technique involved but at the end of it all and if you can get it right, there lays a devastating punch. As usual it was a great lesson and a great laugh. Chris was there and if you still haven’t read please read his lineage of the boom on his blog and also check out LGM too.

Friday we went to Warriors Eskrima class no beginners this week so we trained with the rest of the guys. Simon and Paul devised a footwork drill which was quite interesting and we did some light contact hard stick sparring. As it was very hot and humid that day we didn’t do anything too strenuous but still got a very good work out. I must admit during my light stick sparring, I did lose my temper a bit against Paul but I think it was more of the heat that made me lose it a bit but in the end we sparred again after the lesson and everything went fine.

Saturday Lun and I went to my cousin’s stag do in Leeds (no disrespect to Leeds but it isn’t Chester or Somerset in terms of scenic views). However I write about this as its Lun and mine first time we been out for a while at night time and we went to the more commercial night time places where you would expect to find trouble. When I say this, I mean that if I went out in Manchester it’s usually in the student areas or a place called Rock World which plays rock/alternative and sometimes hip hop stuff and it’s relatively very safe.

Although we all had a good time Lun and I were cautious. We went to this huge club in the centre of Leeds which comprised of 3 or 4 floors. It was interesting as there was a mezzanine style area overlooking over the main dance floor, it was heaving and jam packed and while looking at the uninhibited party goers from above we could see easily how it could all kick off. Luckily it didn’t. However as you made my away across the place some guys probably acting hard to impress ladies, didn’t move as you tried to walk past them or when they were walking they didn’t angle off to avoid you, so they tried to shoulder barge you.


We then went to a casino where Lun and I didn’t have a clue how to play any of the games, so we left early to get back to our hotel while the others stayed till 5am or something ridiculous (it was already about 3.30am at this point). Walking back to the hotel Lun and I were alert being aware of our surroundings and making sure we didn’t accidentally bump into people or people bumping into us. We might be sounding paranoid but we think its better safe than sorry in a different city as you never know what areas are safe or not. Martial Arts does teach you to be more aware but I think its also to do with the fact we could identify some potential troublemakers from our chip shop days.

Anyways next week should be interesting as Elaine will be watching the Warriors class next week as she is coming up to Manchester. Thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.
Kit

My week in Martial Arts: July 17th to July 21st

Only one lesson this week it’s been damn hot, is that a legitimate excuse though? Read Lun's blog and decide for yourself.
My brother and I went to Karl Tanswell’s Straight Blast Gym. We did a load of boxing and foot jabs it was fun. However I was average in sparring as I was tired and it was hot. I also did not get to Eskrima as I attended a function with Elaine so I travelled down on a Friday. We also visited Stone Henge on the way back which explains my picture, sorry Martial Arts pictures will resume normal service next week!

So as I did not attend many lessons I reminisce.......................

My first ever fight. It wasn't even a fight and it’s not something I talk about a lot but in a way it was funny and there was a sense of justice in the following...............

Summer 1992; I was 15 years old, it was the Summer Holidays. As my parents worked in a Chinese takeaway Lun and I would help them out and even more so in the summertime. In fact a typical day in the Summer time would consists of helping out around the lunch hour then when we closed for the afternoon, my brother and I would go out into town and go to HMV and buy some comics from Odyssey 7(now Forbidden Planet) have a something to eat and go back to help out in the evening.

That particular day I felt a strange sensation in my stomach. It just felt weird and at first I thought it was a stomach ache but it turned out to be butterflies for something I have yet to encounter. Anyway I remember trying to keep my mind off it by reading a Batman comic upstairs which could have been either Legends of the Dark Knight or Shadow of the Bat.

I went down again when my Mum called me to help out. We used to get busy around 11ish after people have all had a drink from the selection of the “nice” pubs that surrounded our chip shop. As we didn't know some of the customers names my parents always named them by the food they ordered or what they looked like in Cantonese. To them it was much easier to do this rather than by name. So customers; Special fried rice and Curry King Prawn were waiting for their food and a few others. I was serving a guy with an Elvis style quiff but he wasn't eccentric he was elderly and probably had his hair combed like that since his teens(and if he was more of a regular I guess my parents would have nicknamed him “Elvis” which I shall do so now).

Enter the troublemaker. My brother had warned me about him earlier as he came in a week ago asking for free food(yes that’s what happened these people use to come in and say "pay you back tomorrow" and we never saw them again or they "forgot", I hope they understand that is one of the most shameful things in life to do). Anyway back to the story....

So I was serving the Elvis guy and asking if he wanted salt or vinegar on his chips. Lun was asking the troublemaker to leave as he was sneering and refusing to pay while swearing at us. Lun asked him one more time, the troublemaker said no. Lun then went round the counter area to remove him, but before he opened the door...the sneering troublemaking asshole's face was getting closer to mine as he was leaning his head over the counter...it was like the bit when that Alien corners Ripley in Aliens or Alien 3
His eyes were all messed up he was drunk or drugged up or something,his face was getting closer,the stench of his breath was unbearable, then suddenly.."BOOM!"

He staggered back, his nose was bleeding, he was suddenly sober and in a pathetic way whimpered quietly.."Why ...why did you hit me?" Curry Chicken and Special Fried Rice looked on in a amazement, my Mum who was shocked said in Cantonese “Why did you hit him?”, Dad was in the back cooking meals as he didn't realise there was any thing was wrong and sensing trouble Elvis hurriedly left the building. Unknown to my big brother Lun who opened the door and only heard the smack and Mum saying “Why did you hit him?”, Lun thought the asshole hit me and not the other way round, plus because of the thug’s 6ft frame against my considerably shorter self the odds were well stacked against him ….so my brother promptly dived on him and dragged him out shouting “Why did you hit my brother!!!!” Lun put him into an arm bar style hold while I ran outside and for good measure literally kicked the guy in the ass….before a big hand dropped on my shoulder. It was Curry King Prawn who told me to get inside. My Dad then came out and with Lun told the troublemaker never to come back to the premises again.

Afterwards Curry King Prawn and Special Fried Rice congratulated me on what I did. I was still in a daze as I had never hit anybody properly before that day and it was strange that I had pre-emptive butterflies to accompany it! I still don’t know how. I would like to say after that I went on and pulverised half the town I lived in with my iron fist, like many of today’s yobbish young brag about but no I didn’t go on a crazy fighting expedition. I will just save it for the “only if I really have to” file, like all respectful Martial Artists do.

Thanks for reading
Kit

My week in Martial Arts: July 10th to July 14th

Hi All
This week with Lun and I only got lesson in and supervised another. We will try and get back to
Steve Powell’s JKD Class this week. Speaking of Steve Powell’s please check out Chris Sibbald’s blog on his picture linage of the “BOOM”. If you are wondering “BOOM” is just what we nickname the Chosin Kai Karate punching.

Again I am sorry for the lateness of this edition’s post, this weekend I was in Chester with Elaine, a very old and nice city in North-West England. I think I will start a blog on places the visit in England as I seem to be somewhere else in the UK almost every other week!

Anyway back to the Martial Arts. My brother and I went to Karl Tanswell’s Straight Blast gym on Monday after a session in the gym. It was awesome we did some defences into chokes. I got choked out a bit by accident when one of the guys was showing Lun how to apply it with more force. If only I had longer arms…..

Warriors Eskrima was interesting as Simon was on holiday and asked Lun and I to look after the class. As we were waiting for students to come in, we spotted a guy with a Sayoc T-Shirt that we haven’t seen before walking around the gym. It turned out he was a friendly guy called Adrian who has been training with Krishna for the last 12 months in Sayoc and knew Paul and Ray. So the joined the lesson. Eventually when the lesson started we got them to do 3 rounds of circuits. A minute of sit-ups and press-ups, a minute of stepping, a minute of stick repetitions, focus mitts and Thai pads!


We then split the class up, we had Paul teaching Ray and Adrian and Lun and I taught John and William. There was a slight problem John was level 3 and William had only begun. However we did some heaven six drills and variations and a load of double stick stuff that John had never done that Lun and I had picked up over the years. Paul also seemed to be doing well with Adrian and Ray.

It was a great lesson and experience to be in (co) in charge of the majority of the lesson! Anyway thanks for reading and enjoy the pictures.
Kit!