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MARFEST 10 - A GREAT SUCCESS By Phil Doherty phil.doherty@martialnews.co.uk (Ed's note - at last I've managed to get some vids up of the event. Unfortunately I've being having software problems and have only to salvage some of vids. Also - they are unedited and raw... So, apologies to those clubs not on video...its beyond our control...) MARTIAL artists from across the region banded together to make the Great Northern International Festival of Martial Arts a success. Great displays from teams such as Christine Pullan's Shotokan club, the Chungdokwan Taekwondo squad and Paul Tennent's Moifa Kung Fu squad, amongst many others, made the tenth anniversary event a special celebration. The day kicked off the Moifa Lion dancing team who brought good luck to the show with their spectacular routines of the art form. Moi Fa Kung Fu lion dance Although numbers were slightly down on last year, the event raised much needed cash for Cancer Research UK. Organiser Peter Seth said: "First of all may I sincerely thank everyone who took part or helped in any way towards Great Northern International Festival of Martial Arts for Cancer Research UK.
"Extra thanks to Sensei Christine Pullan and her squad, and also to Sensei Tommy Foster who both kindly stepped in at nearly the last minute to help out...great stuff. "
Peter himself had a surprise at the interval when he received dinner from the crew for himself and his wife Dorothy. Peter added: "It was brilliant to see old and new friends - even the ones who totally embarrassed me with your wonderful gesture - and see us all come together for such a worthy cause." The festival was held at the Seaburn Leisure Centre on Saturday, May 8th.This year - its 10th anniversary year - the event changed its name to the Great Northern International Festival of Martial Arts. This year also saw the introduction of "Come and Try It" mats where members of the audience, or students from other clubs could have a taster session of the system just displayed. And next year could see much bigger change as Peter is looking to revamp the event. He is looking for suggestions that may help push the event to greater heights. The money raised from the event goes to help fund CRUK's laboratories in Newcastle, one of the top research facilities in the world, providing new and improved cures and treatments. The festival has raised thousands upon thousands for the charity since 2000 and has sends thousands of spectators and hundreds of participants graces the Marfest mats. Some of the clubs who gave displays at the Marfest included Marfest veteran Sensei Peter Stewart 4th Dan, Wado Ryu karate, Peter Grufferty's Senzala Capoeira school, Sifu Steve Youngman's Lau Kung Fu-kickboxing team, and Joe Harte, Senior Instructor in traditional Taiji. Peter Seth added: "It was great to see such breadth of martial arts at the event and the mini-taster sessions were well received. "I'd
just like to thank everyone who helped me, big or small, to make the
day a success. And also all the participants who give up their time to
put on the displays."
To find out
more about the Marfest
email: psethp@yahoo Aikido.
Zanshin Aikido (Sunderland
University) www.zanshinaikido.co.uk
Kogusoku Aikido
Assn. www.kogusoku.org.uk Peter Seth 4th Dan. Festival Founder/Organiser). TEL:
0191 5226294 or 07734 678992 Karate (Wadoryu). Sensei Peter Stewart 4th Dan. Directional Fighting Method. Senior Instructor. Sensei Phil Doherty, 4th Dan. TEL:
0191 410368 Email: phil.doherty@hotmail.co.uk Hotspur (Historical European
Martial Arts). Bob Brooks. www.hotspur
school@aol.com Judo.
Sensei :
Tommy Foster, 5th Dan. Jujitsu. Bushido Jujitsu Academy (NE). Sensei Christine Poole, 5th Dan. TEL:
07884 424363 Karate.
(Shotokan).
Sensei: Christine Pullan, 6th Dan Lion Dancers/Kung Fu/Chinese Weapons. North
East Moi Fa Martial Arts Academy. Sifu Paul Tennet www.moifa.co.uk Tae Kwon Do.
Chungdokwan
Taekwondo. Mike Campos, 3rd Dan. www.djchungdokwan.com Capoeira.
Peter Grufferty TEL: 0191 5861955 Kobudo. Sensei: Brian
Ford, 7th Dan. Lau Kung Fu/Kickboxing. Steve Youngman 3rd degree Black Sash Kong Sai Martial Arts Tel: 07905 397856 www.kongsaimartialarts.co.uk Taiji. Joe Harte. Senior Instructor Traditional Taiji. www.communigate.co.uk/ne/taijiquan Japanese Sword. Bill Patterson, 3rd Dan Battojutsu. 2nd Dan Ninjutsu.
1st Dan Nito Ken. Tel: 07979598048 I FU SHOU - T'AI CHI's STICKING HANDS 
By Howard Gibbon (Sticky hand/Adhering hand) The object of the I Fu Shou exercise is to upset your partner's balance. This is not because it is a competition with a winner and a loser. Although sadly I see that 'pushing Hands competitions' are starting to appear, with some T'ai Chi Organisations subsequently advertising that one of their students won this or that section, presumably in the belief that this will attract more students to their organisation.
The types of students that this attracts are the ones who want to win competitions and show off in front of a crowd. I feel this is a retrograde step that moves away from the true spirit of T'ai Chi. I do not consider that I Fu Shou should be presented as a form of competition which inevitably breeds a winner and a loser. I consider it to be a voyage of self-discovery. The practice of which will enable the practitioner to develop a heightened state of awareness, firstly of themselves, then others they come into contact with. There is nothing to lose but your ego. And the prize to be won is humility.
Perhaps by looking at the names given to this exercise we can understand the different philosophy behind them. Firstly, to push, this word is defined as meaning: to exert force on a thing, to move away from oneself or from the origin of the force. This in essence seems rather an aggressive attitude. This type of philosophy leads to ambition, desire, and glorification of the self and the wish to make oneself superior. This inevitably leads to separation from the Tao (way). There is no harmony here; only conflict. 'Sticky' is defined as tending or intended to stick or adhere. Adhere is defined as: stick fast to a surface, another substance, etc.
Also, to behave according to, follow in detail or give support or allegiance. These words explain the essence of the instruction I received from my master. He always taught me that once contact has been made it must be maintained, and that this contact should be light, so light in fact, that if a feather where to fall upon your arm it would sink under the weight of the feather. He also taught me that the object of the exercise was to follow the movements of your partner, not to force them to change the direction but to allow them to move their hand and arm in whatever way they wish. Learning to work within this framework whilst maintaining your own balance, giving in to their force which completely negates their strength and allows you to gently guide them in the direction they wish to go. Gently, helping them on their way.
If you offer no resistance, then no matter how much force is used against you, it cannot restrict your freedom. By giving in to that force and offering no resistance your partner sacrifices their balance when they exert force against your arm. By this action they create a weakness within their posture that can be exploited allowing you to maintain your balance whilst upsetting theirs. The object of this is not to gain power over your partner, but to learn to remain in control of your own balance whilst being put under pressure by your partner.
This helps us to deal with the problems we encounter in everyday life without losing control and resorting to violence. And by violence I do not necessarily mean physical violence but also mental violence, which is the modern way to bully and make people fear you. Power hungry people weave their webs of mental manipulation, praying on the weak within our society - we are all weak at some time or another as we fall into our yin periods during our journey through life. There are no laws, that can be enforced effectively, that will eradicate this kind of mental violence that we all have to suffer at some time or other at work, from parents, teachers and countless enthusiastic exponents of officialdom. We just have to learn to deal with it. We have to learn to take responsibility for ourselves. Instead of becoming physically or verbally violent which can only escalate the conflict, we have to learn to absorb the energy thrown our way. In doing so we strengthen ourselves and weaken the perpetrator, but more importantly we remain entire. I wish you all I wish for myself. howard@ewta.co.uk NOVEMBER EDITION- SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE +++COMPETITION FEATURE+++COMPETITION FEATURE+++COMPETITION NORTH TEAMS IN REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
By Phil Doherty THE region's Shotokan clubs gathered together for a day of kumite and kata at the Karate Union of Great Britain's Northern Regionals. The competition was hosted by Sendai Kushiro base at Sunderland University, Sunderland, on Sunday, October 11th. Martial News has focussed on five of the region's clubs that took part in the competition: Ashington, York and Leeds Shotokan, Leeds Karate Academy and Sendai Kushiro, Sunderland. LEEDS KARATE ACADEMY SWEEP 24 MEDALS... Sensei Nick Heald, Instructor of the LKA, said: "We had an excellent day winning five Golds, Silver,12 Bronze and two 4th places. "The Best all-round performance of the day went to Ashley Scott who took Silver in both Kata and Kumite and also Gold in Team Kumite.
"Ryan Tucker and David Wright, fresh from their Mexico excursions, took Gold in Male Kata and Junior Kumite respectively. "We had an excellent showing in the Junior Female Kumite event where we had 3 of the top four places. Mel Finlay fought very well to take Gold with Zoe Starr and Josie Fishkin each coming 3rd.
James Brown won the Boys Kumite 5'-5'5'' whilst LKA newcomer, Sam Goulden, fought very well to take Silver in the Senior Male Kumite event. Nick added: "Well done to all that took part."
To visit the LKA do to: www.lka.org.uk or phone: 07747 607283 or email: n_heald@hotmail.com ASHINGTON WIN GOLD
ASHINGTON GAIN THE GOLD, SILVER
AND THE BRONZE... Ashington
club instructor Jill Kelly, 5th Dan, said: "Ashington
Karate club had a good day at the Northern Region championships on
Sunday! "Our congratulations to them and their coach Sensei Trish Bruce, who has given a lot of her personal time to develop the team to their current standard.
"Personally I was very pleased that they were able to overcome their inexperience and put in a great performance on the Finals night." Ashington Shotokan Karate Club's Results: Tanya Hopper - senior ladies kata 4th Daniel Smart - under 16 black belt kata 2nd Danile Lumb - under 16 black belt kata 3rd Kyle Duddridge - Kyu grade 12 -15 kata 3rd Maya Burns - girls kumite 3rd Ashington A Kata Team: Gold To visit Ashington Karate Club: www.ashingtonshotokankarate.co.uk Or phone: 01670 523219 or email: jillfkelly@googlemail.com
SENDAI KUSHIRO SUNDERLAND WIN 12 MEDALS SENDAI came away from the tournament with a 12 medals including golds. Holly Sterling won both the ladies kumite and kata sections for a double gold win. While Chris Hamilton won gold in the children's under 16 kata took a silver in the boy's kumite as well. Megan Dent powered through to take gold in the under 16 - girls kumite, and Martin Fraser took silver in the senior low grade kata section. Instructor John James Bruce, 4th Dan, said: "Toby and his brother James Tubman also took home medals as did others in the team. "They all did very well and and put in a fantastic performance and we are proud of them all. "There is a lot of potential coming through and its all very promising for the club. "Holly was fantastic in winning both the kata and the kumite, but all the team did very well and we are pleased with their performance." YORK KARATE CLUB WIN EIGHT MEDALS  (Caption): York Karate Club medal winners YORK KARATE CLUB WIN EIGHT MEDALS YORK Karate Club won eight medals including gold, silver and bronze in the same event. The club's Aimee Reeson, Sam Wallace and Connor Dunckley all qualified for the semi-finals stage of the under ten Ippon Kumite section. Wallace beat Dunckley to face Reeson in the final. Reeson took the gold, Wallace the silver and Dunckley won bronze. Sensei O'Grady said: "Overall, this is the finest results as a group we have had at York Karate. "I am so proud of what we have achieved, not just at this competition, but at every competition this year." Jake Anderson and Matthew Beilby progressed to the semi finals of the boys kumite, 10 to 11-year-olds but drew each other for the final decider spot. After a high standard fight between the two best friends, Beilby won through to the final. Taking it to extra time, Beilby's tough opponent took the gold medal, and he had to settle for silver. Anderson got bronze. Alice Atkinson continued her winning streak this year with another gold medal for the girls 10 to 11-years old event. Ryan Stead got bronze after fighting through to the semi-finals of the boys 12 to 15-year-old (over 5ft 5in section). In the Junior Team Kata, York progressed through the rounds but relegated from the final to third place after the referee deducted a penalty of 0.1 from each score card. York Karate Club Results: Alice Atkinson - Girls 10-11 years Kumite 1stAimee Reeson - Ippon Kumite 1st Sam Wallace - Ippon Kumite 2nd Sammi King - Girls 12-15 years U5ft 3" Kumite 2nd Matty Beilby - Boys 10-11 years Kumite 2nd Ryan Stead - Boys 12-15 years Over 5ft 5" Kumite 3rd Jake Atkinson - Boys 10-11 years Kumite 3rd Connor Dunckley - Ippon Kumite 3rd Fraser Grice, Jason Crowther, Ryan Stead - Team Kata 3rd
Phone: 07835 787030. LEEDS SHOTOKAN CLUB WIN GOLD AND BRONZE LEEDS Shotokan Club took gold and bronze at the competition. The club, which trains at Roundhegians Rugby Club, Chelwood Drive, off Street Lane, Leeds, had 11 competitors taking part. Sensei Randy Williams, 6th Dan, said: "Ethan who has had very good year in competition karate, once again fought his way to the finals of the Northern Regional Karate Championships. "The finals was close fought contest with
neither fighter wanting to make any mistakes, but with Ethan putting
constant pressure on his opponent, it deemed enough to get the decision
therefore winning the match and the competition. "Mathew Humphries also finished in third place after been beaten in his semi-final. "Harry Cuddy who was fighting very well in his first round match was in the end disqualified after unleashing a tremendous front foot Jodan Mawashi Geri (roundhouse kick) to the head and knocking his opponent off his feet. "The rest of the 11 man squad did really well in there events and hopefully will do better next time. "Well done everyone." Visit: www.leedsshotokankarate.co.uk Email: info@leedsshotokankarate.co.uk For information on the Karate Union of Great Britain Visit: www.kugb.org |
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