Judo'nt!

A disappointing non-training day today. I had hoped to attend the Leicester Leys Judo Club at the leisure Centre in Beaumont Leys but it wasn't to be. The website of the leisure centre states the class starts at 9.30am for beginners, but having had some interesting experiences with websites in the past, I decided to give them a ring and double check. "Yes" says assistant David, there is a Judo class, it starts at 10am not 9.30am and it's for beginners of all ages.

With my trusty Martial Arts blog-bag packed (wallet, phone, keys, sat nav, bottle of water, knee bandage) I set off for the Leys and arrive in plenty of time.

I speak to Johnny who like everyone else there is not in a Gi, and he informs me that a class starts at 10am, but it's for juniors so could I come back at 11.30am? Er no, (much as I would like to spend 90 minutes staring at a vending machine and not return home until nearly 2pm...). To their credit they do offer to let me me stay and train with the juniors, and there may be a 13 year old turn up who I could partner with. But this looks more and more unlikely as the clock ticks on. As the oldest judo-ka now appears to be about 10 years old I would be so afraid of snapping him that I wouldn't be able to use any real techniques.

So no account of the training quality of this club today. I think the lack of proper uniform put me off instantly but I may go back at some point. I'm still determined to attend a Judo class and have seen another club at Aylestone Leisure centre which I hope to go to in the next few blogs. As it is I have the excitement of Kuk Sool Won and Old Yang Taijiquan to keep me busy over the next few weeks.

Sayonara.

Anything Taekwon-do I can-do better (or The Anti-Karate lesson)

In my younger, fitter and more arrogant days, we used to sing "Anything Taekwon-do I can-do better" at inter-discipline tournaments to taunt our rivals. Because when you're a fourteen year old brown belt, your Martial Art really is *your* Martial Art, and all of the others feel like pale imitations waiting to be shown up for the imposters they are. Basically it all gets a bit 'Cobra Kai'

As you get older you realise you have so much to learn from other arts and that's partly why I'm on a mission to experience as may as I can. So far, all but one of the sessions I've attended have offered an opportunity for me to learn something new, and having only had one hour of Taekwondo instruction so far, James Freer's Taekwondo Club had been on the radar for a while. As usual I was just waiting for a free Thursday to try it out.

With an informative website they offer TKD as a method of self-defence, discipline and fitness much like many other clubs but as Freer is a 6th degree black belt with the TAGB, I am expecting great things from him.

The class runs 7-8pm (for beginners) at the YMCA sports hall. When I arrive I am welcomed and given a starter pack which details plenty of information about TKD and also about Freer and his club. I'm told I have a month of free lessons to look forward to at any of the clubs in the region before deciding if TKD is for me - which is the most generous offer yet.

The class is made up of several black belts, two greens, a bluey, couple of yellow and some ungraded, the weighting was definitely towards the higher grades so James could use some more beginners which is a difficult ask in the warm summer evenings. Seems to be that it's only the most commited practicioners of any Martial Art that willingly turn up when the alternative is a bbq in the park... I particularly liked the placement of the class, with lower grades at the front and seniors at the back (as the trend is usually high grades left, low grades right). This allowed us newbies to be "spotted" by a senior grade which was really helpful and also prevented copying your neighbour so you had to really focus on what was being taught (great for the kids).

The warm up is effective, well-rounded and lasts about 15 to 20 minutes, it's narrated with short explanations about Taekwondo and the body, all very well covered by Master Freer.

When the class proper starts we are worryingly placed into teams... I'm chosen (eventually, must not look my fittest?) by a smiley 1st degree black belt and there follows what amounts to a beep-test relay up and down the hall with punches and kicks at the end. At this stage the focus is on speed (it's a race) rather than technique, and of course my team wins. I must reassure you that there was at no point anyone over-competitively screaming "RUN!" or any football-goal style celebrations *blush*.

It's a good introduction to the main part of the session and completes the warm-up. It gets the group working together and is fun for the kids so a winner all round. For the rest of the class we work in pairs (senior grade to lower grade) to practice kicks and punches. This is where I find Taekwondo really hard, because my Shotokan deep stances and whole body kicks and punches are not what is required. Nathan (whom I'm paired with) is a good teacher, and friendly and enthusiastic with it, as I fail again to complete another hook punch or a top-of-the-foot snap kick.

"Oh God", I think, "it's like someone invented Anti-Karate"!

The hour passes quickly and I enjoy the work-out, I'd certainly recommend this class to younger beginners as it's interesting, fast-paced and fun but I'm not sure that older dedicated students (let's call ourselves the over 25s) would stick at it. Because despite James reassuring us that the path to black belt is paved with good techniques, there was very little focus on the basics (how to make a fist, stance and posture etc). Also the requirement stated in the manual to do 24 classes before a grading would make the road to black belt a very, very long one for those of us with jobs and kids who can only train once a week at most.

As always it's incredibly difficult to make a judgement on one hour in one class but I think if you are a genuine beginner then this would be a fine starting point for you, and certainly one of the best classes for younger students I've seen so far.

toh poepkeseoyo reader.

Tetsu or not tetsu...do

Despite being full of aches and pains from my first session in months, I was determined to keep up the pace of attending new clubs as often as possible. Before last week I had never heard of Tetsudo, a tibetan martial art, but a quick visit to the website confirms that there are about forty clubs in the UK and at least 10 in Leicestershire and the surrounding area.

Tetsudo is an offshoot of Goyararu, itself a very modern combination of several arts that are tibetan, asian and western.

So is tetsudo just another MMA club?

Nope!

Training in a small primary school hall with just four other students I was welcomed by instructor Bill, who had not been expecting me (I did my usual email and text combo but both went unanswered...) he was very gracious in having to abandon his planned session (as his class are all green belts and above) to accommodate this new beginner.

Bill's teaching is outstanding. Every elements from the bow to the warm up was explained and had a purpose and meaning. His technique is pretty much flawless and his application and explanations are clear and effective. He quickly rumbled me as no beginner, but was not afraid to highlight my strengths and weaknesses politely and firmy as he did with the other students. I've always had a problem with rooting my feet on turning kicks and limiting my range, I hide it well and it's rarely picked up on, but Bill saw it instantly (offering me a bit of a shit-sandwich by complimenting my front kick first). Similarly a lazy knee during a roundhouse kick was gently chastised.

Bill allowed me to join in with the basics, asking me to step aside for the sparring and kata or "keds". I was a bit disappointed not to be allowed a go, but he sensibly explained that I was uninsured. As a teacher Bill is self-efacing, good-natured and jolly without losing etiquette and discipline, his students clearly have the utmost respect for him and he in turn for the art and the association to which he belongs. He talks too much, that's my one tiny negative, but only because I'm struggling to find one.

As an art Tetsudo is not massively different from karate, the stances are low and strong for the most part and the elements of kicking and punching are the same but it's the nuances of technique, the precision which is taught from the very beginning which makes this so intriguing. Perfection is key right from the start, so bad habits (even my 20 year old ones) aren't allowed to sneak past. So if you want a black belt in the next couple of years this is not the association for you. There are only five or six belts before Black but the standards and knowledge required at Blue/ Purple/ Brown are extremely high, and there are no "basic" patterns.

I genuinely want to go back to Tetsudo and I'm torn between doing so and continuing to get a wider picture of martial arts in the county. For me basically 5 stars. If you're looking for a club for all the right reasons join now. Join Wigston Tetsudo, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Thumbs down for this club...

This is a quickie. Just pootling around facebook and looking for new Leicester clubs, I find another Gannon Academy: This time led by Paul, and a photo of two young black belts.

What's wrong with this picture? - answers on a postcard please!

Doppelgannon?

Adopt, adapt and improve! Refusing to be wrong-footed by my failed first attempt to reignite the mission, I rip the shiny leaflet from the fridge, scattering magnets assunder.

From 7.15 to 8.15 beginner adults are welcome to a free trial of Karate / Kickboxing to improve discipline, co-ordination and fitness...Right Then! 15 minutes to get to Lancaster boys school, which is fabulously just across the road from my house.

This could really work for me, 10/10 for convenience...

I arrive just as the junior class is finishing, a good turn-out of kids in shiny uniforms and belts of many colours, there don't seem to be too many midget masters so far but then I spot the club tee-shirt: John Gannons Karate School. And I nearly walk away.

The constant reader knows that my last experience of a Gannon was not great, and I've heard rumours that the Gannon schools might all be McDojos. But having already missed out on one chance tonight I'm buggered if I'm going to miss this one, so in I go.

John is finishing up with some juniors, handing out grading invite letters and sorting out paperwork, he doesn't really register my presence above a curt nod and I assume this to mean that I should just join in.

Most surprising is that about 15 seniors turn up to train, on a sunny world cup evening! There must be something about this club and I'm ready to find out what it is. The warm- up is aerobic followed by stretching and then straight into basic technique, blocks and punches, followed by kicks. I'm not given any instruction, just expected to copy what the others do, so I quickly lapse back into my shotokan ways.

This is a very informal gym, it's not a dojo as there is no etiquette to speak of and no japanese or korean to master. Whilst that's not to my taste, it's a valid and modern approach and it attracts the kids. I was mightily unimpressed with some poor practices though, like students wearing outdoor shoes in the training area, not removing watches, rolling up sleeves etc, all of which could cause injury.

When demonstrating techniques John is very accomplished. He has excellent flexibility and style and has a power and precision in his attacking and defensive moves. He can also do a few things that I have never been able to master (flying kicks for one) so I'm very hopeful I could learn something from him. The downside is he doesn't really explain the application of any of the techniques, so many of his students are poor copies, and whilst he occasionally pulls up some the black belts on lazy technique, the lower grades are pretty much left to flounder.

Like any club, the quality of the students varied greatly. I saw three black belts, one of whom was brilliant, one who had great attitude but poor application, and one who was frankly rubbish. As there was no heirarchy on the order of the class I couldn't really work out which stripey belts were high and which were low, certainly there was little to choose between them, but this is not wholly just a criticism of John, but also of the unavoidable lazinees of your average teenage karate-ka.

It does suggest however that the youngsters don't have to work too hard to grade. At the very end of the class the group as a whole went through some patterns. These seemed to be exclusively from Taekwondo and not Karate so I'm not sure why the club calls itself a Karate club. I know I'm old-school and lay a huge importance on patterns, so I may be biased, but there was very little quality there, and some of the younger (14years?) seniors, were had very weak stances and dance-like moves.

Also my personal feeling is that £30 to grade is alot compared to other clubs, what are the belts made of? Platinum?

But John is a really impressive practicioner, just not necessarily an excellent teacher. I didn't get a chance to see if John's school had any genuine afilliations, licensing or insurance though, so I would advise checking that out if you go. Best of all - he doesn't play music whilst you're warming up! All in all you could do worse than attend this club and if informality and self discipline are your thing then gambatte kudasai!

Next in the crosshairs (I hope) will be something shiny and new to play with: Tetsudo.

It's been a long time coming...

Hello you!

After a hiatus caused by not having a free evening for the last 6 months I'm ready to crank it back up.

Basically we had a break, I missed you and now I'm back, we can make it work this time baby!

On the horizon: Master Sahota's Tae Kwon Do - the first report will be published this week.

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 revelation. 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 relieved 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 throughout 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. It seems that most of the taught elements are from Taekwondo rather than karate.

All in all, when Mick asks me at the end whether I will be coming back I am very non-commital. I can't find any evidence that this school is linked to any recognised association for the martial arts, the only affiliations quoted are to marketing and networking groups. In my opinion, the teaching is not up to te standard of te other classes I have attended and any belt earned there may be worthless at another school if the new instructor had 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 (possibly 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 just to protect yourself and you future if you move elsewhere. Next week: Chun seh dau Shaolin Kung Fu in Clarendon Park...

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 hold a black belt in Karate (my first dan was awarded in 1990 with the AKA) and since I started training in 1986 I have been fortunate enough to have trained in Shotokan with Enoeda Sensei (9th dan KUGB) and Leicester's own Sensei Tony Conroy (VII), in Traditional Tsuyoi Karate with Hanshi Gerry Bryan (founder of Tsuyoi) and in Goju Ryu under Higaonna Sensei. 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 experienced 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...