THIS MONTH IN COMBAT
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SAM DYSON - Kung Fu, Karate, Ninjas and Me! |
 My earliest memories of martial arts were from growing up in Japan. I was too young to practice martial arts but I was inspired by the myths and the manga, where ninjas ran across rooftops and bamboo forests and the samurais have unwavering honour and mystical blades.
I was a fairly late starter to the martial arts, first starting at the age of 18. I went to Bristol University and at Freshers fair, joined every MA club available, hoping to find the one that would turn me into a flying ninja or Bruce Lee. I tried every class and was left with the feeling that the classes were lacking a certain magic. When would I be taught haduken?
If I'm honest the only reason I began Karate was to get into University Security work. This was run by Dan Lewis, a 5th Dan GoJu Ryu Karateka. I worked out fairly early on, that unless you knew the boss you wouldn't be working on the doors any time soon. So I began training with him. GoJu Ryu, (meaning Hard Soft School), is a traditional Okinawan Karate System more focused on circular as opposed to linear movements unlike other karate systems of Japan. This is based on Okinawan Te, this particular system originates from the SE of China.
I absolutely loved my early karate years but have always been a nonconformist never do quite what I was supposed to and approached training with a slightly unorthadox attitude.
For example, I avoided buying a gi for around four months whereas everyone else got theirs in the first week or two of training. Another example was that I generally refused to turn up to gradings, this meant that I was still a white belt after a year or so training when everyone else I started with had their orange belts.
Most instructors wouldn't have appreciated this approach but Dan didn't have major issues with it because we got on well, however Dan was a lot younger then and anyone reading from Bristol Combat Karate Club - I imagine that this attitude would not be appreciated nowadays...
Read more in Combat magazine available from WH Smith, Borders and all good newsagents and don't forget to look out for the Digital Edition
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TRAIN 2 GAIN - No Excuses! |
 Last month I spoke about balance and how you should adjust your physical training to fit in with your lifestyle. I spoke about how pre-planned routines often have very little consideration to, what can be, very influential aspects of your life, stresses that we all have. The second part of this message is "no excuses".
Once you attain the vast amount of years I have managed to dodge the grim reaper then you will realise that things like the birth of children, house moves, divorces, family deaths, new jobs and a hundred other things will make your physical training all seem a little pointless at times. It's at times like this that it should be more relevant, as the ultimate stress relief. I've spoken before about it being a great opponent, never flinching or failing always faithful but it has other qualities - life improving qualities. This is one of the reasons why I constantly promote the use of basic equipment - there is little reason not to move a weighted barbell, you might not be able to get to the gym, or to find your favourite exercise machine but you can certainly lift a dumbbell or a barbell - you could do some dips between chairs or chin ups through your loft hatch.
When stresses and strains start to mount up then my recommendations to stick to basic movements are even more relevant - get the most out of your training in whatever spare time you have - then leave the weights and get back to the real world. As practising martial artists you might have a demonstration, a fight or a grading looming - this is not the time to test your maximum deadlift poundage. It is also not the time to decide to ignore weights (or stretching, or conditioning for that matter) and loose a good chunk of what you have worked hard to attain...
Read more in Combat magazine available from WH Smith, Borders and all good newsagents and don't forget to look out for the Digital Edition
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SPIRIT WARRIORS - CBBC's New Action-Packed Show |
 Prepare to step into a mystical realm where dragons talk, shadows come to life and the fate of the world lies in the hands of a teenager and her friends, when the new action-packed, martial arts, fantasy drama series Spirit Warriors hits CBBC from mid January. Inspired by ancient Chinese myths and legends the show follows Bo (Jessica Henwick), her sister Jen (Alicia Lai) and fellow school kids, Vicky (Lil' Simz), Trix (Gilles Geary) and Martin (Karl Rogers) who, during a trip to a museum, are transported to a parallel Spirit World.
Once there, they find themselves transformed into Spirit Warriors, each with their own special spirit power. With the help of their mentor Shen, a Chinese dragon, they have to use their new found skills to navigate the realms of Wood, Water, Earth and Fire and find twelve legendary spirit pieces before the evil warlord Li (Benedict Wong) and his henchman Hwang (Tom Wu) can get their hands on them. If our heroes succeed they'll save the universe - and Bo's mum. If they fail both the Spirit World and our own will fall under Li's power. There's just one problem: they're 21st century British kids who don't have much experience of making polite conversation with an ancient dragon!
In this high-action series the new Spirit Warriors face the biggest challenges of their lives as they have to battle Monkey people, come face to face with giant snakes, deal with devious fortune-tellers and even confront their own worst nightmares in the Temple Of The Four Winds.
Mixing live-action martial arts fantasy with CGI characters and the latest digital technology, Spirit Warriors promises to deliver a visual spectacle the whole family can enjoy...
Read more in Combat magazine available from WH Smith, Borders and all good newsagents and don't forget to look out for the Digital Edition
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WHAT TO EXPECT FROM A GOOD INSTRUCTOR - By Jaimie Lee-Baron |
Teaching and Learning Methods in the Martial Arts
 Teaching anyone anything is a tremendous responsibility. As martial arts instructors what we do and the way we do it can have a very profound impact upon our students. Added to this is the fact that many of the arts we practice are centuries old, being literally pieces of living history. It is obvious that we need to not only be good at what we do, but also strive to become better at what we do, in order to preserve these fascinating arts for future generations.
There are quite a few different teaching and learning methods. However, and for the purpose of this article we shall concentrate upon those that are most often utilised by instructors in the Dojo; Lecture, Demonstration, Participation, Discussion, Problem Solving, Group Work and Questions & Answers
The above will, if implemented correctly, greatly enhance the teaching ability of the martial arts instructor, by encouraging and reinforcing the learning process.
A good lesson is interesting, enjoyable and informative. If a students interest and enthusiasm can be maintained, then their desire to learn more about the martial arts will, in turn, help facilitate learning.
Two of the most important keys to effective learning are 'motivation' and 'memory', so our lessons need to be both stimulating and memorable. We shall now take a look at each of the methods mentioned...
Read more in Combat magazine available from WH Smith, Borders and all good newsagents and don't forget to look out for the Digital Edition
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MAS OYAMA - Taking the Bull by the Horns |
 On July 27, 1923, one of Martial Arts greatest legends was born in South Korea. Masutatsu Oyama began his training in Chinese Kempo at the age of nine. It was clear from his youth that Mas Oyama was intrigued by athletics and sought to participate in whatever was available. When he was 13 he studied an art called Chabee in the city of Seoul and in 1938, at 15, he decided to emigrate to Japan to pursue his childhood dream of becoming an aviator. At about the time young Oyama started to wane in his pursuit of his pilot's certification, he noticed students practicing Okinawan Karate. It was not long until he devoted himself to relentless training under Giko Funakoshi, son of Shotokan legend, Gichin Funakoshi. Eventually, Sosai Oyama moved to Tokyo to train directly with Sensei Funakoshi, and at 20 years of age he received his 4th Dan. Sosai Oyama also studied Judo as well as Goju Ryu Karate.
Japan's unconditional surrender caused a great unrest and understandable level of shame throughout the nation. Mas Oyama, in particular, was stressed by this turn of events as an end to the war meant an end to his military career and a chance to prove his military skill in defending his adopted homeland. It was about this time that he happened upon one of the top students of Gochin Yamaguchi ('the Cat'), So Nei Chu who was also a Korean reputed to be a man of great strength and power. Sosai Oyama was immediately drawn to him. It was So who first tried to convince the 23 year old Oyama to dedicate his life to Karate in order to gain control; he also advised him to retreat to the mountains for three years in solitude to train his body, mind, and soul. Mas Oyama at that point was introduced to the code of Bushido and went to Mt. Minobu, where legendary Samurai Miyamoto Musashi developed his famous 'Two-Sword' method. His training was intense, as was the isolation and loneliness. Unfortunately Sosa Oyama's sponsor could not continue to support him and his mountain retreat was ended prematurely after about 14 months. Shortly after returning, Mas Oyama entered and won the Japanese National Martial Arts championships. That win acted as a catalyst and provided the motivation he needed to dedicate his life to the study and instruction of Karate-do...
Read more in Combat magazine available from WH Smith, Borders and all good newsagents and don't forget to look out for the Digital Edition
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THE 2009 WKA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS |
 The WKA held their 2009 World Kickboxing Championships in beautiful Andalusia, Spain in the Barceló Beach Resort, Punta Umbria, Huelva which is located along the Gulf of Cádiz. Expecting a turn down in numbers due to the world recession they were pleasantly surprised with the turn out of 29 countries and over 1000 competitors.
The opening ceremony was spectacular with the mayor of the city present to welcome the athletes, trainer's coaches and officials that filed past with their flags flying, into the giant auditorium.
WKA president, Klaus Nonnemacher welcomed everyone and invited the staff, country presidents, referees and officials to the podium for an ovation.
This year more disciplines were welcomed into the WKA world championships, including Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Junior Ring Sports. The other disciplines were Points Fighting, Light Contact, Traditional Karate, Knock-Down Karate, Forms and Extreme & Team Forms. For the first time (but not the last) the WKA hosted a Points Fighting prize competition with a purse of €4000 for the winner, €3000 for the Men and €1000 for the Women.
34 competitors were whittled down to the finals, Ben Stewart (9 times world champion) from Canada and Michael Page from England. This truly epic fight has to be ranked the finest contest seen, with both competitors impressing the roaring crowd with jump spinning kicks and turns that a Bolshoi ballet choreographer would have been proud to have created, which seemed so natural to these protagonists...
Read more in Combat magazine available from WH Smith, Borders and all good newsagents and don't forget to look out for the Digital Edition
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