Instructors: in debt to....

Hi All

Since returning to Martial Arts in 2001,I have been lucky enough to have been taught by great instructors...this weeks entry is dedicated to them and how they affected me.

In order of meeting them:

"HING DAI!"is the famliar greeting Steve gives to my brother Lun and I,its cantonese for "brother". Walking around and making sure students are doing the drills, he causually jokes and his lessons are often laced with humour but the content of his lessons are intense. As having a great karate background you can guarantee power punches in his work out and body mechanics on how to throw punches and kicks.He concerntrates on getting technique right, "I'd rather you throw one good punch,then ten crap ones" he would say when we practice punching the pad.

Lun and I's 20 year old on and off training under Steve Powell has benefited us several times outside the gym. As my we used to help out in our old parents' fish and chip shop and more so my brother(being older) used to throw troublemakers out. Some situations could have been much worse without our training with Steve.

Without Steve Powell opening the first JKD School in Central Manchester England, my brother and I would have been exposed and open to so many arts today and probably may have not heard of Eskrima until later on. In fact it was at Steve Powells gym where we had our first introduction to Eskrima. My brother and I are so much in debt to him and find it a great honour to have trained under Steve Powell.

"You don't like being hurt very much do you?" laughed Bob Melia as he put me in stick lock as I winced a bit with pain. I am used to it now but when I was starting Eskrima stick locks were painful. However Bob was trying to show my brother how to apply it properly and did the same to my brother to show me.

Bob Melia was a former Senior Student of Master Chu of Manchester. He participated in many Lion Dances at Chinese New Year. After over 20 years of Chu Gar Kung Fu,he took up Warriors Eskrima with Krishna Godhania. It was a honour to train under someone with so much experience and he had so many life stories. He instructed with confidence and finese and taught us the Warriors Eskrima style up until he passed his legacy on. "It’s a legacy, the whole point of this is to pass it on" I remember him saying this to me once. He passed his legacy on to my current Warriors Eskrima instructor Simon Campion.

Simon is still relatively a young instructor but along with his brother Rob has a wide breadth of Martial Arts experience including Chu Gar Kung Fu, Tae Kwon Do and Ju Jitsu among others, he also cross trains with me in Capoeira. The best thing about Simon being passed the club is that my brother and I were there when he started and watched him gradually build his repertoire as an instructor. It was a honour to be his partner in a sayoc demo/workshop at Seni 05(UK Martial Arts Expo) under our chief instructor Pangulong Guro Krishna Godhania.

"I do this for the art" I can quote thousands of great lines from Rick Faye (above right picture with my brother Lun). It was at the Minnesota Kali Group gym in Minnesota where I first met Sifu Rick Faye, yet my brother met him years ago at a Seminar at Steve Powell’s gym. My brother and I booked a holiday to get to the annual Rick Faye Wisconsin Camp and spent the rest of the days at his Minnesota Gym back in 2002 and mentioned briefly in my first blog. Rick greeted and treated us extremely well. It was this trip that really got us committed back into Martial Arts.

We have been to almost to every one of Rick's annual seminars at Steve Powell’s. His ethos is similar to that of Steve Powell's a great sense of humour but intense work out. His extensive knowledge of Filipino Arts and introduction to Panantukan (Filipino Boxing) was fascinating.

During our stay in Minnesota, we lived at Rick Faye's business partner Diana Rathbornes'(who is also one of his top instructors) house for a few days and it was fun as we experienced a few days being a "full time" Martial Artist as we travelled to work with her in the mornings to his gym. That is what I call a life where you can enjoy every second of what you do as an art and a living.

Now we come to Pangulong Guro Krishna Godhania, my brother and I have had trained under him at seminars and extra lessons after grading. A humble and softly spoken instructor, there is a certain calm about him when he teaches. His gradings are intense and his knowledge of Eskrima is extensive due to his writings and experience. It is a great honour to be graded by such a World renowned Guro.

My brother and I have had many other instructors in which I will write about soon, but those above our the most influential in Eskrima and JKD. These people are the reason we are still practicing today and continue. Next week's article is on cross training,please check back tomorrow for a new feature weekly blog on the classes I took this week.

Here are links to their sites:
Bob Melia
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/sunstyletaichi/index.html
Steve Powell
http://www.jeet-kune-do.info/
Rick Faye
http://www.mnkali.com/
Krishna Godhania and the Warriors Eskrima system
http://www.krishnagodhania.org/

Eskrima:Why I do it and why I carry it on

Hello All

First of all I like to thank all those people who have visited my blog, in the space of five days I have had around 140 first time visits, its inspired me to write more. Please bear in mind when I first set out to write this blog I originally intended to write about all the Martial Arts I practice, one art for each week, but because of the positive feedback from the first Eskrima entry I have made this my second Eskrima entry blog. This one is more of an article then an actual journal entry which I will publish soon.

I have an online comment in reaction to my previous blog:"Warriors Eskrima Blog:Five down,one to go", by Philipp from Germany,one paragraph in particular struck me as you can read below:

"First I would recommend a book: "Living the martial way" this book every warrior should read. It also describes a problem of modern martial arts. Sometimes I have a feeling most people are just chasing for the belts.-"

The rest of his comments were very complimentary and the way Philipp describes one of his lessons was really interesting, you can read his comment at the bottom of my last blog. I have to thank Philipp for his kind recommendation. I will at some point purchase this book and will do book reviews on a number of Martial Ats and Eskrima books in the near future for this blog. I looked at the last line:"Sometimes I have a feeling most people are just chasing for the belts" I thought to myself is that my true motivation as well?

Well I am glad to say its good to get recognition and good to be graded but for my brother and I it is not our motivation to carry it on just to pass gradings. We just want to master and enjoy the art and belts/levels are just part of the curriculum. So while its good to get the levels/belts, its better to practice and master the art. By meaning master the art I mean knowing all that you have learnt and not disregard anything just because it is not in the next grading.

A question I have been asked is why practice Martial Arts?why don't I play "normal" sports like soccer,badminton,squash etc....well the same reason why the people that ask me don't do Martial Arts....they enjoy what they do. To explain why I carry on with Eskrima can be explained very easily, I enjoy it.

The atmosphere of a typical class, the training involved, the drills, the techniques and the sparring are all part of a great workout. There are great stories to be told there as well...as many Martial Artists can tell a great many life experiences that they have had and that they practiced something that most people didn't. I have many sparring and special training days that I like to share with you on this blog in the future. To me that is also special. In addition as detailed in my last blog I hopefully will teach the art I am learning to others.



There are also benefits that come with my enjoyment. Eskrima has improved my dexterity, arm strength and co-ordination and it has opened my eyes to Filipino cultural history.

So why do I carry it on?, the answers are because it offers stress release from work,it offers a great social platform,it offers a different way of keeping fit and it offers you self defence. But the number one reason why I practice it is because it’s positive for me.

Please feel free to write comments about this blog and about why you do Martial Arts and why you carry it on. Please check out my next journal due for next week detailing my Eskrima/JKD Instructors and how they have inspired me.

Thanks
Kit

Warriors Eskrima Blog:Five down,one to go

Kit here, I thought I just write about my Martial Arts training, a journal if you will of significant points of my journey. This is my first about one of the arts I practice Warriors Eskrima. Ironically I am at the last level and almost an apprentice instructor(but not the full art)I felt however, this was the time to write,so here it is......

July 30th was a triumphant day, my brother and I passed the 5th level grading just one grade away from apprentice instructor grading(equivalent blackbelt) in the Warriors Eskrima System. We been practicing Martial Arts since 1983 on and off, but since late 2001 we have been seriously training and in 2002 we found Warriors Eskrima.

The group was using a squash court in our local gym,so we peered over one day and the rest was history. Eskrima, a weapons based martial art from the Philipines, was something that we indulged from time to time in JKD but we didn't embark on a full system...and so it began and to begin my brother and I were just awful. The co-ordination was hard to pick up at first as the first thing we had to learn was double stick. On some occasions my brother and I thought of giving up,as it was just too damn complicated. Luckily we felt like quitting on separate occasions and hence we encouraged each other to come back!

That was 2002...and so we stood in the gym area on July 30th 2005 in a school in Warwickshire ready to be graded, for my brother he had to do two grades as he was away on business at the time of the last grading. However I had to partner him so I had to re-do everything I did previously.

I cannot delve too much into the grading criteria, all I can say is that come grading time you have your game-face on and you do everything you have practiced right. One tip I can give if you are learning eskrima is to practice all drills and strikes with a heavier stick. This so that it looks more effective if you choose a lighter stick in the grading. However this is completely up to you as its up to the individual to devise their own training regime.

We all passed it was 2 and half hours of intensity especially for our friend Johnny who was doing his apprentice instructor level which consisted of several intense sparring contests. He worked like a trooper and it shows in his skill. The apprentice level is next for about four of us(representing Manchester) in this system and my brother and I we can't wait.

It isn't going to be easy we will have to train for it and our conditioning tip top shape. Its one thing saying that you want it,its another thing to work hard at it and this mindset must be kept hand in hand.

I had no real aspirations to be an instructor as I just wanted to get a grade and carry on training,but what is the point? You get so far in something you are just not going to give it up. Its like being really hungry and you are in queue for your favourite fast food only to walk out when you are next to be served....you were hungry for it but you didn't take the opportunity to get served.

I thought about this and it was clear to me that I would like to carry on learning and instructing. As I spoke to Johnny later that night when asking him was he going to teach..."Of course I am man I have been waiting 20 years for this" I didn't know it before but so have I Johnny, So have I.