My week in Martial Arts: Sept 26th to Sept 30th

Hi All

The tapping of 20 to 30 keyboards on my office floor, the human silence that further amplifies the sound of tapping and the clock telling you there are ten minutes left till work is over on a Monday morning.

Will there be another problem ten minutes before end of work like as they have been so many times before? Fortunately no, Monday went without a hitch. So after work I was off to the gym.

I did a lot of cardio and conditioning in the gym and felt much better afterwards. Although training was good last week I was having lethargic and tired days in between training due to lack of sleep. However starting the week off with some gym work and sleeping at reasonable times made my week less lethargic and more alert.


Tuesday we were back in Capoeria ,yes! It was my first in about three weeks and was great fun. Our Capoeira class recently moved from a local community centre to the University of Salford and therefore we actually train as the same place as I do Eskrima. What I love about Capoeria is that the instructor Danny Henry encourages you to practice moves that you have never done or appear difficult.

For example I wasn’t a big fan of handstands but with Danny’s help I can now do them.Handstands are great to strengthen the back, arms and shoulders. Danny also taught as a few other techniques and then we played the game,the non contact sparring we do at the end. I always try to incorporate what I have learned in the lesson in the game.

Wednesday I went to Karl Tanwell’s straight blast gym and it was another great training session. Unfortunately Lun was in London, so I did not have a partner. In the past I used to be apprehensive about training without my brother. This is because I know 100% I can trust my brother as a training partner and its fun training with him. However over the years I learned to be more reciprocal which means if I am more relaxed about training and train/spar with someone the way I would like to then nine times out of ten your new partner will return the same mentality. This is not to say they have the train the way I have to train but more to do with the safety aspects and to ensure we are not kicking the crap out of each other and forgetting all about technique.

My training partner was this new guy called Charlie, he was a good partner very relaxed and controlled in his punching. However he was a big guy and when it came to takedowns he was quite hard to take down but I eventually took him down. I really enjoyed the session and there was a good atmosphere in the place. Karl likes to concentrate on form and what is refreshing is that the class I took which was called Stand Up Fighting 101, had several people from the more advanced classes there mixing it with the newer guys. I felt really good after that lesson; sometimes lessons do that to me. I felt more energetic and alert after the lesson. The feeling is as if its kick starting your whole body and mind.



Having rested on Thursday, I went to Eskrima on Friday. This lesson was not a heavy sparring session like the previous weeks, but rather technique based. As our instructor Simon is heavily into conditioning we did several conditioning exercises at the beginning of the lesson.

The lesson was a break down of techniques involving stick and some knife work. As I mentioned before Simon is a relatively new instructor compared to the ones I trained with but his lessons are becoming more and more fun and varied. Also Lun was back for this lesson.

I hope one day I can write about all four lessons in a week. This week wasn’t bad though as it has been a very energetic few days.


So that ends another week, I posted photos from my latest Eskrima lesson and photos of an Danny Henry my Capoeria instructor and myself(in black) practicing capoeira with Danny Henry.

An article will follow shortly!

Thanks For reading!
Kit!

P.S My Eskrima instructor and Eskrima friends and I have set up a Martial Arts forum...please visit
http://www.flowdrills.com/forum/

My week in Martial Arts: Sept 19th to Sept 24th

"If we don't go tonight then I won't get to train for at least two weeks"Lun explained when we just finished a session in the gym.
Mondays is usually our heavy set in the gym day but as my brother had to go London with work this week we went to Karl Tanswell gym on Monday.
"Lead with your hip" we were practicing punching combinations and I wasn't leading with my hip while throwing my punches. Jab,hook,cross in different variations moving dynamically around the gym.

We ended the night with sparring, this was of course is a beginners class at Karl’s as my brother and I only recently started. "Switch bodies!” is the command whereby we have to change partners to spar. This was sparring punches towards the head with gloves and head guards. I haven't sparred like that in a while (only sparring with soft sticks and only the occasional head guard was required) My opponent could have taken my head off several times during the sparring but pulled his crosses and had great control, when I had him in the same predicament I did the same, as Rage Against The Machine's "Killing in the name" blazed through the background you think that the both of us would go all out guns a blazing but while we were intense in movement we were relaxed in control. In fact the whole use of music at Karl’s is great, a few jazzy numbers while doing our drills and then when it got more intense the music was cranked up to Rage Against the Machine. One of my favourite bands

"Tell Danny I can't book the court because its freshers week" said Simon my Eskrima instructor and fellow Capoeira player. Freshers week is the first week of University in the UK and therefore all of the squash courts have been booked by students. We practice Capoeira in these squash courts every Tuesday with our instructor Danny Henry. That’s the third week in a row that I have missed it

Wednesday I went to Karl Tanswell's without my brother who was in London. I saw a good friend of mine, Andrew Timmins (better known as Timmins) participate the Vale Tudo class before my class, it looked intense and very athletic.

It was mainly Thai pad drills tonight jab, hook, knee we then did a take down I haven't done before. I had a good partner who was guiding me how to to do it right.
The one thing I got to learn when sparring/partnering with someone new is to learn to relax sometimes I can be to tense/stiff and on more than one occasion I have been told to relax by training partners. I found relaxing the muscles benefited me more as it helps me with my form.)

Friday was Eskrima day. It was a jam packed lesson. In the early days Eskrima for us was based more on technique but now its all out sparring and very aerobic which is great. We did four on one disarms where one of us had to go in the middle while the others attacked.


Stick sparring into stick grappling and what I call the stick assault course where three to four of us are lined up with sticks while the remaining students had to get pass us.
As regards to stick grappling again when I feel relaxed I find I can get out of moves when I am in trouble,when I am tense I struggle against myself.
I filmed the whole thing and will compile another VCD for them.



Please check my new blog links below, in particular my brother’s great Blog which contains a history of what he practiced and A Martial Adventure in Suburbia a really good blog about a Martial Artist trying to balance between the training and home life!



I shall be writing another article soon but please check the blogsite next week for the regular journal. Oh and enjoy the pictures! I shall be posting more pictures soon and hopefully some classy black and white shots my sister in law was taking of us today!

Thanks again for reading Kit

My week in Martial Arts: Sept 12th to Sept 16th

I managed to do three classes with my brother this week.
Due to work commitments I couldn't make Capoeira which was a shame. I made up for it the next night though starting at 7pm at the Straight Blast Gym with Karl Tanswell.

"No,now you're fighting yourself" explained Karl Tanswell as I was trying to counter the neck tie clinch position. For people not familiar with the clinch it is when your opponent holds you tight in to the body with both of their hands tight round the neck. All I had to do was adjust my body to dropping my shoulder and so I can counter the position but I was too stiff and couldn't adjust my body properly which is why Karl told me I was "fighting" myself.

I found that when relaxed the body responds better than being tense in Martial Arts and because clinch fighting is new to me I didn't realise my body was tense. I finally got the counter though and the rest of the session was stand up sparring techniques consisting of several drills at Karl Tanswell's gym. These drills included intense punching and defending with gloves between sparring partners. It was a great workout and I learnt that I need to relax the body a bit more. It was an hour long workout and the constant movement really works you.

Later that night we went to Steve Powells Jeet Kune Do gym,its a different kind of training to Karl’s. A lot of pad work is involved in Steve Powel’s,we were practicing punching techniques on pads and then practicing them in application. Again a high intensity work out from 8.30 to 10pm

The next day at work I felt great, I feel more energetic after a good workout and feel somewhat lethargic if I don't work out the night before.

Friday is Eskrima day, we did practiced sparring techniques with the stick and did some 4 on 1 disarm training, whereby one person would be in the middle four attackers would attack the person. The person in the middle must disarm each of the attackers. We also did some sparring techniques and sparring itself.


I gave a VCD I compiled of last weeks class(as I was filming last week) to each of the students,the instructor had already seen it and enjoyed it. The VCD was called class review and it had techniques and sparring.


Video analysis of your own techniques is great, I recommend anyone who does Martial Arts to film themselves as sometimes you need to see where you may have gone wrong or what you might improve upon.

Thanks Kit

My week in Martial Arts: Sept 5th to Sept 9th

Ironically this week I wrote an article on cross training and I only get to go to one class! I had a week off work this week dominated by weddings and relatives,I could not go to all my lessons.
This week I managed to get to the Warriors Eskrima class. We practiced various strikes,we did 2 on 1 scenarios(where the defender had to disarm opponents)we did some stick grappling,empty hand and finally some sparring.
I was filming the lesson and managed to get some screenshots!
More pictures below!

Me(grey) vs Lun my brother(red)

Lun blocking Simons attack during a 2 on 1 sparring session
Simon Campion showing us some empty hand take downs
Simon vs Ray

Cross Training

We never thought of cross training, we just wanted to do as much as possible.
This article is about our experience in cross training.
The main reason why my brother Lun and I cross train in different arts is because the fact that we could be repressive martial artists!

We started Martial Arts in 1983,it was a style called Choshin Kai Karate at the local pub across from our parents' fish and chip shop. It was the upstairs of that pub I can always remember the smell of beer and cigarettes as we made our way up the stairs.

Choshin Kai Karate, as well as having elements of traditional karate was very free as in had elements of many styles such as Wing Chun and on occasions invited Thai boxers to spar. Our instructor was a guy called Ian Hansen,who I think became a policeman. Choshin Kai however was graded by none other than Steve Powell,who runs the JKD in Manchester today!It was this grounding in our first experiences that led us to be exposed to different arts and therefore respecting all arts.

In a way we were lucky that this karate school happened to be across the road from us. From an early age we realised that there was a lot to explore. However the club closed after a couple of years or so after we started(but we carried on elsewhere) and my brother was studying and helping out more and more in our busy chip shop. We did dabble in Chinese Kick boxing but it didn't give the same vibe as our previous class. My brother when he went to University did several styles on and off however it was not as consistent as we do now.

It was when I finished my degree that I seriously took up Martial Arts again with my brother. Eskrima,JKD,Capoeira,Brazillian Jiu Jitsu and stand up fighting are our current arts. However in the past four years we dipped into ITF Tae Kwon Do,WTF Tae Kwon Do,Wing Chun and Goju Ryu Karate.

However some people have asked why do so many when you can just concerntrate on one.
Well the answer to that is that we find it fun!The classes I go to our relatively cheap and they are convenient for me. To me some classes offer more than others in fact they all do.

Capoeria offers aerobic exercises and keeps you generally flexible. It works a lot on strengthening on all parts of the body, such as arms and shoulders for acrobatic purposes. It also helps with awareness and alertness in sparring. It can also improve footwork as the whole point of sparring (or playing the game as it is known in Capoeira) is to evade and attack. It is truly an "art" in a literal sense as we practice to perform and we don't really concentrate on the martial applications.

Eskrima offers me more of a Martial application. Warriors Eskrima covers stick, double stick, knife, sword and empty hand. Therefore offers good grounding in weaponry. It is very much more technique based, but the instructor is putting a lot more conditioning into it as a build up to our next grading.

JKD offers more emphasis on self defence techniques and focus mitt drills. Again very condition based training and as it is based on concepts they are many different elements of various martial arts are picked up including Silat, Thai Boxing etc. We also do a lot of pad-work in JKD.

Standup fighting/Brazillian Jiu Jitsu. I banded these together as it is taught by the same instructor. Stand up fighting offers great drills on attacking and defence elements derived from kick boxing and boxing and from the clinch. BJJ offers a great work out and helps us with our groundwork.

So the importance of cross training is to have a knowledge of several arts, my original plan was to eventually concentrate on one. As my plan was to pick one art from several like someone goes to University picking their favourite subject to study and stay in that field. However instead of having one I now want to learn several, money and time permitting! But in all seriousness I believe each of the arts I do has something benifical and different to offer.


Please comment on your thoughts on cross training.
Thanks
Kit

My week in Martial Arts: 29th Aug-2nd Sept

Hi All
This is a new feature where I talk about my weekly lessons. Over time I shall try and write about the lessons in more depth but right now I am still experimenting with the format. Please feel free to make comments below!

A typical week would be at least one or more lessons of four disciplines per week.
This week I did Capoeira,Stand Up fighting at Karl Tanswell Defence Unlimited gym and Warriors Eskrima.

Following a mundane day at work, Tuesday was capoeira day,the instructor is called Danny Henry and is not affiliated with any Capoeria associations therefore free of politics. We practice the Regional (Martial Arts high flasy kicks) and Angolan style(slower more traditional ground based). There is a lot of conditioning in Capoeria and we work thoroughly on warm ups in the beginning of the lesson as there are lots of different moves that we do throughout. At the end of each capoeira lesson we play the "game" which is non contact Capoeria sparring. This is really the icing on the cake in Capoeira and what makes it a lot of fun. A new guy joined today and seemed to enjoy and pick it up very quickly.

Wednesday, my brother Lun and I took a trip to Karl Tanswell gym. We are currently studying stand up fighting and Brazilian jiu jitsu there. The stands up fighting class concentrates on stand up striking with elements of boxing and kickboxing and also clinch fighting. Stand up fighting 101(the beginner classes) was the class Lun and I took this past Wednesday and it was high energy workout. As it’s only an hour long class, there were a lot of drills but of three or four techniques so the beginner can remember what he/she has learnt on that day. The drills are constant movement rather remaining stationary we are required to move around for example, ducking jabs but moving your feet at the same time while your partner tries to catch you out. The philosophy of the gym is about physical movement and sweating. It’s a tiring and satisfying experience. We asked some of the guys there where we could get wrestling shoes, as they are not so easy to purchase here in the UK, although I could go online I prefer to try them on at a shop. There was one shop in Manchester that does them, if anyone else knows where we can get some please feel free to leave a comment below.

Friday was Eskrima day. Lun purchased some handguards, so we used them in training. We were practicing striking the stick and then the hand in several drills. The hand guards, designed by the late Punong Guro (Head Instructor) Edgar G. Sulite of Lameco Eskrima International work really well for our drills. Warriors Eskrima is typically more about the technique but since out last grading will consist of grappling and sparring it has concentrated more on conditioning.

We practiced some stick grappling and at the end of the lesson did some combat conditioning from Matt Furey's program, 100 Hindu squats, Hindu press ups and 30 minutes plus of various other conditioning exercises. I took our digital camera in to take photos but I forgot to charge the battery, luckily Simon Campion, our instructor had his camera phone and took some photos that I will publish on this site as soon as I get them.

So all in all it was a exhausting but fun week in my Martial Arts schedule.
Please check back next week for an article on cross training and another weekly martial arts journal entry.


Related Links:
Karl Tanswell
www.karltanswell.co.uk
Lameco Eskrima
http://www.lamecoeskrima.com
Hand guards
http://www.lamecoeskrima.com/armor.asp
Matt Furey
http://www.mattfurey.com/