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Leicester Jiu Jitsu Club

This week: Seishin Mizu Ryu Tatakai Jutsu.

Leicester Jiu Jitsui Club train at the YMCA in Leicester at 7.30 on Thursdays. [http://leicesterjj.co.uk/?page=about_us ] After my exciting and exhausting session of Kung Fu (and my barely fading new "Kung Fruises") last week I wasn't sure what to expect from Jiu Jitsu, I confess to being pretty ignorant about this martial art, believing it to be a bit like Judo and Aikido combined. When I arrive I'm warmly welcomed by Nish, the senpei, who, like most instructors I have met so far, assures me that his style is the one that "draws the best from all of the Martial Arts". We are joined soon after by two chaps, a yellow and a green belt and after the obligatory form-filling, we get out the mats to cover the dance floor and the class begins. Nish, our instructor, doesn't seem too put-out, or surprised that he has only three jitsu-ka in his session.

The warm up is hard and fast, press ups, sits ups, burpees, star jumps and stretching, with lots of running around the mats. This progresses to a few rounds of a warm up sparring game, where we try to tap our opponents without being caught ourselves, this is a free-for-all, one versus many game which gets us thinking about attack and defence before the class-proper begins.

Half of the regular class (the yellow belt) has a grading due on Tuesday so Nish works with me demonstrating basic locks and defences, whilst these are made more complex with finishes and throws for the others. In the 90 minutes that follow I learn effective escapes and defences from wrist and head grabs, some I'm familiar with, and some that are completely new, but they all work and are demonstrated with a good balance of explanation and support. Towards the end of the class I begin to run through some simple break-falls from kneeling. Whilst I'm no stranger to falling over (and have done so quite spectacularly on several occasions) there is something really difficult about falling over on a prescribed side, at a prescribed time. Unfortunately I am still incapable of falling over on request, and completely fail to land as required, although near the end I do manage some quite funky cage rolls.

There was something very comforting about the use of Japanese in the class and being a step ahead in understanding the Dachis, Ukes and Tsukis but the almost exclusive focus on defence is quite a change if you're used to Karate. It was a shame that the class was so small but Nish is a very confident and accomplished teacher, and as a 1st Ryu, more so than many black belts I've seen. From a brief chat about grading syllabus, and from watching what's expected of the yellow and green belts it's obvious that the knowledge and skill required to grade is in excess of that for some Martial Arts clubs, and Nish spoke about a wide range of local and national events for the estyle leaving me with a very positive feeling about the quality of this club, which also trains with the universiaty during term time.

Personally, I don't think Jiu Jitsu is for me; the up close and personal style is great for self-defence but I feel I want more than just throwing and grappling. I would recommend Leicester Jiu Jitsu to anyone looking for self defence or confidence as their motivators for joining a Martial Art, or if they want to avoid training with youngsters, as Leicester JJ has an over 16s only policy. Plus, if Nish is an example of a brown belt, the instruction of the seniors must be excellent.

Next week, I go home to Karate, but not to Shotokan, to Kyokushinkai. Watch this space...

Chun Seh Dau Shaolin Kung Fu (and the skinny chinese horse)

I was born on October 2nd 1974... the number one single of the day? Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas. Clearly this was meant to be!

I have mixed feelings about the website for the Shaolin Kung Fu school, [http://www.chun-seh-dau-school-of-shaolin-kung-fu.co.uk/] it seems to protest a little too heavily that it is not a Shaolin Temple, and sat as it is in the centre of Clarendon Park, I'm not too shocked by this revalation. There is plenty of information on the site though, and it's photos and biogs of the Grandmaster, Master and Sifu instructors looks very promising.

I arrive as instructed (by a swift reply to my email) at 6.30pm at the Geeta Bhavan Hindu Temple and follow a lady with a likely looking sword bag up the stairs to a slightly unkempt bare room. I'm given a quick overview of the school by a jean-clad Sifu and quite quickly I'm filling in forms and being relived of my £8 introductory lesson fee (no freebies here!).

When Grandmaster Dhiman arrives, I'm expecting something quite special, everyone in the room is highly deferential and refers to him only as Grandmaster thoughout but I'm still undecided about the huge but softly spoken man, who took no part in the sesssion that night other than to collect money. It would have been nice to see what he was capable of, however I understand he had recently had an operation so I was not able to witness any skills on Thursday.

On to the class itself which started eventually at around ten past seven. At this point I admit to being thoroughly unimpressed with the lack of punctuality and discipline and looking forward to my scheduled 9pm beer.

The warm up was led by a competent green belt (sash?) who spent 45 minutes going through some gruelling but effective stretching and fitness exercises, including push ups, sit ups, squats, star-jumps, crunches and stretches. I felt suitably loosened up (and not a little knackered) when the grade work commenced at around 8pm.

Myself and another novice were taken to one side to work on two basic techniques, the whipping branch block and snapping punch. Both almost polar opposites to my own style of low and hard, these were relaxed but close contact moves for maximum impact. I found the punch easier to master than the blocking but was chided for using my hip and legs to give the punch more power - "stand still!". Hmm, time to admit to that several years of punching very differently is hard to shake?

The block - a low pressing and high sweeping windmill combo - is very Bruce Lee but looks less effective than a good old solid gidan barai. Stances are hard for me too; when asked to sit in horse stance my version is too wide and impractical for the Sifu - chinese horses must be a lot skinnier than Japanese ones...

The class closes with about 30 minutes of sparring. I expect to be left to watch so am delighted to be allowed to have a go with my new found Kung Fu mastery. I'm immediately battered by a stocky green-belt as I try to evade his snaky punches and peevishly resort to a bit of big fisted Karate to even things out.

We end, exhausted, bruised and sweaty, at 9pm. This was easily the most enjoyable session I've attended. Well structured and with a lot of genuine skill and passion in the room. If I stopped my mission now, and Chun Seh Dau became my new home I wouldn't be disappointed, but perhaps, given the implied level of commitment Grandmaster intimated he expected from his disciples (twice a week training, home practice, regular training weekends etc) they might be disappointed in me.

I'll be checking to see there are any other Kung Fu classes in the area for comparison but for now, with only three schools visited, Chun Seh Dau comes top of the pile.

Until next week, Zái jián!

Michael Gannon’s Black Belt Academy

You can't live in Leicester without seeing the Gannon name. There is Paul, Michael and a couple of other brothers (Frank, John?) too, who all seem to be masters of martial arts. I have to pick one, and the winner, by virtue of training at a reasonable time on a Thursday is Michael.

Michael's website: http://www.mg-bba.co.uk/ tells me some interesting things: Master Gannon has "studied the Martial Arts for 30 years and has been teaching Adults & Children for over 20 years. Among his many qualifications, Master Gannon is a qualified P.E Teacher"! For adults it promises to "Make Massive Changes Almost Overnight!". Right then!

I fill in the online web form and am almost instantly texted back about my free tester session booked for the 10th. Before the session I get two further texts and a phone call from Michael. This, in comparison to the lack of contact from the last class seems to be a big bonus - they want me!!

It's quite a schlep from my home in Knighton to Bradgate Street near Blackbird Road but I arrive as agreed at 6.50pm and watch the end of the previous session. A group of student are in a circle defending themselves from a rubber knife. The venue is an industrial unit which has been well adapted to a dojo, with matted floor and a good sized space.

Michael greets me warmly and asks me the same medical questions and what I'm looking to get out of the class. I say I have done some karate as a child and I'm looking to get fit. The other participants seem friendly and range from un-uniformed newbies like myself to two gentlemen weaning 2nd dan black belts and a couple of ladies in 1st dan belts.

The class starts with a slightly cheesy reading of the tenets of tae kwon do (relabelled the tenets of Martial Arts) and then straight into some punching, blocking and kicking combo's. I'm quite pleased at first that Master Gannon doesn't feel the need to correct any of my techniques despite this being my first lesson, when I look around several of the students are making a pigs ear of the techniques (bent wrists, sticking out thumbs etc) and he isn't correcting them either... Sadly, a teenage girl, sporting a shiny black belt is one of them.

The rest of the class appears quite unstructured and focussed around techniques into a bag / circuit training and fitness. Whilst these are fine and enjoyable, again Master Gannon neither joins in nor corrects any of the techniques and, personally, I can't stand that he plays music during the session.

All in all, when Mick asks me at the end whether I will be coming back I am very non-commital. I cannot find any evidence that his schools are linked to any recognised association for the martial arts, the only affiliations he can quote are to marketing and networking groups. In my opinion, his teaching is poor and any belt earned there would be worthless at another school as the new instructor would have to correct the bad habits these students are being allowed to pick up.

On a positive note, one of the second dans had good technique (far better than Gannon himself) so good luck to him and apologies to anyone who attends Mick's classes who is offended by this, it's not a rant, it's an opinion but my advice would be to see if your grade is accredited anywhere - if not, what are you paying for?

Next week: Chun seh dau Shaolin Kung Fu in Clarendon Park...

Krystyna Sargent's Tae Kwon Do Oadby

First thing to mention is that Krystyna advertised a beginners class on her website: http://www.ksi-taekwondo.com/ and although I tried to ring the mobile number provided twice there was no answer. I turned up anyway but I wan't that surprised to see that I was alone - a little more investment in newbies may be required.

Based at Parklands Leisure Centre, KSI Taekwondo is affiliated with the International Tae Kwon Do Federation, one of the bigger associations and Krystyna is a Fifth Degree Black Belt. I arrived as the junior class was wrapping up, lots of kids but no gangly useless 10 year olds wearing black belts their Mummies had paid for so an excellent start. The kids seems well versed in the basics and etiquette and best of all tired and happy at the end of their class.

Despite being the only beginner for her class Krystyna was happy to provide a free 1 on 1 session and sensibly asked some medical questions to start before beginning a good series of warm up exercises. We went through basic kicks, punches and blocks at which point Krystyna asked how far I had got with Karate, I confessed that I had first dan but had not studied for years. She proceeded to work thorugh the patterns/ forms of tae kwon do from white belt: Chon-Ji to the black belt pattern Kwang Gae for the rest of the session explaining the differences between Karate and TKD and giving meaning to the movements.

Overall the session was a good balance of instruction, tailored to my ability and with a friendly and knowledgeable instructor. The venue was noisy (a quartered off section of a sports hall in the leisure centre in which trampolining and badminton were also taking place) and the costs of the lessons (around £35 per month) seems steep.

Personally I would be more than happy to attend this class again, although I would struggle with the start time of 6pm on a Thursday.

If this is the quality of Martial Arts instruction in Leicester generally I think we're okay.

Next week: Mick Gannon's Black Belt Academy

Starting out: On a mission to find a decent Martial Arts Club in Leicester

So, my motive is twofold and I confess one is more worthy than the other. Firstly I will visit a different Martial Arts club in Leicester weekly and review it, in the interests of sorting the wheat from the chaff and attempt to find my new Martial Arts home. Secondly I will hopefully get a free taster session with as many of these clubs as possible and get several months of free work outs!

A few things to bare in mind: I already have a black belt, in Shotokan Karate awarded in 1990 with the Amateur Martial Association (as an under 16) and regraded as an adult 1st Dan with Leicester Karate School under NAKMAS in 2004. BUT I am very unfit, slightly overweight for my height and about as flexible as a stick of Brighton Rock so I need a class where some ability but beginner's fitness can be taken into account.

I'm not too bothered about the style of Martial Art just whether is is well taught and enjoyable and I've set a few ground rules to start off with: I won't mention that I am a 1st Dan unless specifically challenged, but I won't lie if asked, similiarly I won't mention that I'm visiting alot of clubs unless asked. I'll be commenting on the quality of teaching, venue, style, structure of the class, quality of the senior grades, etiquette and anything else I feel like mentioning. Sometimes I might not be very nice but I will be honest, and sadly, if the club doesn't run a class on a Thursday it probably won't be included as that's the only evening I have free.

See the first two blogs: Krystina Sargent's Tae Kwon Do in Oadby and Mick Gannon's Black Belt Academy, Blackbird Road...