Martial Arts

So, what have I been doing for the last few years in MA terms. I’ve already mentioned my rare appearances at Romsey and at James’s dojo. Most evenings I manage to go through a Hsing-I warm up (called the 16 Nei-Gung Exercises) and the Bagua Form. Occasionally a Kata will be done. I also had the opportunity to view some instructional DVD’s that came my way. One was by a guy named Dave Turton and another by Kevin O’Hagan. Both were very much street combat orientated so most of the techniques were done from a confrontational standpoint – so definitely not for children’s ears. The Dave Turton one was interesting in emphasising that training should be ‘experimental’ once the basics were learnt.

This is the sort of thing that James and I have been doing for the last couple of years; we just attack each other and see what happens. Sometimes it’s a total disaster but now and again it all comes together and it just feels right. Usually the other one has a ‘Stargate-SG1 moment’ and exclaims “what just happened?” as they pick themselves up off the floor or the other side of the room. I do get some surprised looks from students when I show them a technique but then tell them to also ‘go and play with it to see if it works for you’. I’m a bit mean really as I still found this difficult to do as a 2nd Dan.

Next time its going to be a bit more controversial after finding some interesting stuff about Kyushindo on another website….

After 2 new-borns and a house move I can now turn thoughts back to MA. All I have been doing in MA terms is having an occasional visit to Romsey Kyushindo. I have also been training with James Allenby and some of his students, though when I mean training I mean inflicting and receiving continuous random attacks and defences for an hour!!. The hard part is trying not to do the same thing time after time. Those beginners are tricky, it’s real easy to manipulate their body movement and balance but sheesh - are their attacks unpredictable. I always find it more difficult sparring with beginners than black belts due to the unpredictability – which is good.

Last time I was there, James told me that one of his private students – Alan – has now decided to give up MA completely due to a recurring shoulder injury that hasn’t improved, even after surgery. Alan was a 1st Dan at Romsey Kyushindo after joining the club as a brown belt from Shotokai many years ago. I remember comparing the Katas with him so I was able to see where the ‘5 main’ Kyushindo katas came from. He also learnt half the Bagua form and once had a Kyushindo ‘history lesson’ with me regarding techniques. Shame really – he was just starting to flow and didn’t look like a Shotokai practitioner any more.

Luckily my new patio is large enough to do the Kata’s and the Bagua Form.
Last time I had a period off from Kyushindo, 1994-1997, it didn’t take long for it all to come back. What I have noticed is that those striking bags in James’s Dojo seem a little harder as the alignment of bones, tendons and muscles is not correct due to lack of muscle and tendon conditioning.