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TAEKWONDISTS RAISE CASH TO HELP AFRICAN SCHOOL

(Caption): Doctor Ceri Sutherland with Louis' teacher Happiness Khanyile

By Phil Doherty

A TAEKWONDO practitioner is holding a charity auction to raise cash for a school in a poverty-stricken part of South Africa.

Doctor Ceri Sutherland, 42, of Littlehoughton, near Alnwick, Northumberland, is holding the event to raise cash for the school her son Louis, 8, attended while the family worked at the local hospital in KwaZulu-Natal.

With schools in South Africa usually being fee-paying and relying on family, they struggle with basics such as decent classrooms, books and teachers’ wages.

Ceri and her husband Dr Riaan Swanepoel, 42, who also is trained in Taekwondo, moved to the KwaZulu-Natal in 2008 to help at the local Manguzi hospital, near KwaNgwanase, which has huge problems with Aids and HIV among the local population.

Ceri said: "KwaZulu-Natal was one of the so-called black homelands under the apartheid regime and the local people there, the Tonga, live in rural poverty.

"There is a lot of HIV and aids and one in three pregnant women there have the disease and we were helping with the drive to stop this being transferred to their children through what is known medically as vertical transmission. More than 70pc of those who live there are described as economically inactive.

(Caption): Louis with Happiness at the John Wesley Kosi Bay school

"My son Louis went to the local church school called John Wesley Kosi Bay and the children there came from very poor backgrounds. The schools fees are a big dent in the family income.

"I feel very strongly about the school as it is very well run by the head teacher Mrs Tembi and her staff.
The children are taught in old pre-fabs and we are hoping to raise cash to help them build brick classrooms, help them pay better wages for the teachers and also provide small bursaries so some of the brightest children can go on to better senior schools in places like Johannesburg.

(Caption): The cash raised will go towards replacing these porta-cabin classrooms with ones made of brick

"These children have aspirations like anyone else, and they have a high respect education but they need the basic condition to be able to reach their aspirations. The school's has great aspirations to become a leading school in the area with a best facilities for their pupils.

"The area they live in is one the most beautiful places in South Africa and is a world heritage site and hoping that people will back this auction by attending and donating so these kids can have the education they deserve."

(Caption): The children of Kosi Bay school take real pride in their education

Ceri’s husband Riaan is South African born and the family lived there for nearly two years before moving back to the UK. Ceri is an anaesthetist in South Tyneside Hospital and Riaan is a GP who works in different practices across north Northumberland. Riaan trained as a doctor in the South Africa and he wanted to give some thing back.

Kosi Bay, in the Manguzi (KwaNgwanase) area, is in the far north east of South Africa and is only 10-miles from the border with Mozambique. Johannesburg is 370 miles away and Durban is 250 miles away.

The school was established in 2000 and is on land given to it founders by the local chief. Its first classrooms were left over pre-fab buildings left behind by a road building company. The prefabs are old and dilapidated and are very hot in the summer.

The local authority, Umhlabuyalingana Municipality, built one new classroom and a toilet block for the school, and since its foundation , the school itself has managed to build seven more.

Parents take their children's education very seriously in the area and there now 660 learners now on its enrollment. But the school is in desperate need of new buildings to help develop and give the children in the area the best possible start in education they can provide.

John Wesley Kosi Bay School has 24 full-time dedicated teachers, and six assistants - who all take substantially less in salaries than in state schools - and gap year students.

The school has a long term ambition of building 16 more classrooms to cope with the increasing numbers of enrollments, two new toilet blocks, a media centre, sports field, cricket nets, covered area for creche, staff accommodation and a school hall, a tuckshop for the children.

Ceri and Riaan are holding the auction at Rock Hall School, Rock, on Friday 9th July from 6pm. Items up for grabs include a weeks holiday in France; a day’s fishing; a month’s worth of free martial arts training; a round of golf at Dunstanburgh golf course; a day out at The Alnwick Garden; pony rides and a sailing boat trip to the Farne Isles plus much more.

For more information email: ceri.jane@virgin.net

++++CLUB FEATURE++++CLUB FEATURE++++CLUB FEATURE++++CLUB FEATU

DFM REIVERS MMA - NORTHUMBRIA'S FIGHTING TEAM

DFM Reivers MMA is one of the top fighting clubs in the region and is rapidly gaining a reputation for producing quality fighters.

Part of DFM Martial Arts the club is run by DFM head coach Robert Currah, a former Karate England squad member who has trained in Kickboxing, Brazilian Jui-jitsu, Judo and Aikido.

It is based in Alnwick, Northumberland, and is named after the feared border raiders - The Reivers - who were at the forefront of the 300 year border wars between Scotland and England.

Fighters from the club regularly compete in MMA competitions across the region including DFM's Cage Fight Nights, the Northern Fight league, Cage Kombat and Total Combat.

(Caption): DFM Reivers MMA Club is based in Alnwick - the flag is the flag of Northumbria which covers the Scottish Borders, the North East, old Cumberland and Yorkshire

Martial News: Hello Rob, thank you for taking time to do this interview.
Rob Currah: Hello Martial News, it my pleasure.

MN: Can we start by explaining what DFM Reivers MMA Club teaches?
RC: The club teaches kickboxing, a bit of Judo, Brazilian Jui-jitsu, submission wrestling and a mix of Karate and Taekwondo kicking. We train four days a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. All the fighters are dedicated and train between three and four times a week, which is great as we like the fighters to train as much as possible as they are training in more than one art and there is more to learn and to take in.

(Caption): DFM Head Coach Robert Currah teaching a class...

MN: What does a normal session consist of?
RC: A session usually starts with a warm up with 10 to 15 minutes of skipping, a lot of stretching and 20 minutes of conditioning and circuit training. Then afterwards we go through pad work and ground work practice. The we split the class up into two groups; with the pro and semi-pro training on one side and amateur on the other.

MN: Why do you separate the two groups?
RC: The pro and semi-pro do the same routines and drills including stand up and ground work. Because we train them together the semi-pro fighters learn from the more experienced pros. This has a good effect on the club because it provides a learning curve to help the semis and, becsause the pros have to break down techniques for the semis, they themselves get a deeper knowledge of the technique themselves.

(Caption) DFM Reivers Dave "Diddy" Brown, Liam Holborn and Ryan Copland

MN: Does this approach produce a tighter, closely knit team?
RC: Yes it does because because it means that there is an atmosphere of friendliness and helping one another. This creates respect and friendship between the fighters an the team have bonded well and help each other as much as they can.

MN: How old is the club?
RC: The club has been running for around three years. It takes a long time to build up a team from scratch but already we have some very promising fighters coming through. There is usually at least one of our fighters competing somewhere in the region in a month durring the fight season.

(Caption): DFM Reiver Ben Warner in action at the Alnwick Garden Cage Fight Night

MN: So who are up-and-coming fighters from the team?
RC: Ben Warner, Robbie Weir and Callem Bell. They're young and eager to learn. Then there is Shaun Phillips who looking to be a very promising semi-pro, as well as our top fighters such as Ryan Copland, Liam Holborn and Dave Brown. But there are others...

MN: DFM teaches more than just MMA doesn't it?
RC: Yes, we also have a DFM Kickboxing club which has been going for seven years. Some of the top fighters from that club include Chris Faulkner who likes to fight K - 1 and Lisa Williams who is also a DFM instructor...she loves fighting.

(Caption): Lisa Williams, DFM Kickboxing Instructor and fighter

MN: Are finding more females are becoming interested in MMA?
RC: We are getting more females joining the club for fitness but not wanting to compete yet. They might fight in the future, however its up to them. Wherever possible the females partner each other during groundwork so they don't feel uncomfortable.

MN: Where do you see the team in the future?
RC: All the lads put in 100pc and have good prospects if they keep on the pressure and train regularly. I can see at least two of our fighters having a chance to get into the UFC in the future. What we are are after is a good reputation for building up good fighters and excellent competition teams. We have had a lot of success and we compete regularly. Although we are a fighting club we don't push anyone into taking a bout as the fighters always decide what they want to do. The club will hopefully go from strength to strength and gain a good reputation on the fight circuit for producing skillful fighters."

DFM REIVER "SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR"

(Caption): Liam Holborn with his Cage Kombat Cruiserweight belt

DFM Reiver Liam Holborn has been named as sports personality of the year by readers of the Berwick Advertiser.

Liam, who is part of the Alnwick-based DFM Reivers MMA team, but comes from Berwick, won the Cage Kombat Pro Cruiserweight title late last year.

Early in 2009 he held a charity event where he fought for 100-minutes non-stop to raise cash for the haematology and oncology ward 2 at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children - Edinburgh, and the Schiehallion Unit at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children - Yorkhill, Glasgow.

Liam also helps kids with anger management problems with kickboxing sessions and is an assistant DFM instructor with the Reiver team.

He will soon be taking his 1st Dan Black Belt and full-instructors test for MMA.

For more information on DFM Reivers go to: www.dfmmartialarts.co.uk

Email: robert@currah35.wanadoo.co.uk

Phone: 01665 510634

THE BRAZILIAN WORLD KENDO CHAMPIONSHIPS

(Caption): GB team in action at the World Kendo Championship which was held in Brazil

By Sean Starr (GB Kendo Manager) and Alan Thompson (Vice Captain of GB team)

Pics by Kohjiro Kinno

THE World Kendo Championships have been held in Brazil.

Held every three years, the championships were held over three days in the Brazilian cities of Sao Bernado do Campo and Sao Paulo.

This was the 14th championship under the International Kendo Federation (FIK) and were hosted by the Brazilian Kendo Federation.

A total of 149 men and 104 women competed from 39 countries.

The program consisted of the following:

August 28, 2009 (Friday)
Adib Moysés Dib Gym – São Bernardo do Campo
(Av. Kennedy, 1155, Bairro Anchieta, São Bernardo do Campo)
9 AM - Opening Ceremony
9:30 AM - Men’s Individual Championship
5 PM -Commendation Ceremony, Goodwill Keiko

August 29, (Saturday)
Adib Moysés Dib Gym – São Bernardo do Campo
(Av. Kennedy, 1155, Bairro Anchieta, São Bernardo do Campo)
9 AM - Opening Ceremony
9:30 AM - Women’s Individual Championship and Women’s Team Championship
5 PM - Commendation Ceremony, Goodwill Keiko

August 30, 2009 (Sunday)
Adib Moysés Dib Gym – São Bernardo do Campo
(Av. Kennedy, 1155, Bairro Anchieta, São Bernardo do Campo)
9 AM - Opening Ceremony

9:30 AM - Men’s Team Championship
5:30 PM - Commendation and Closing Ceremonies

Sean Starr said: "The majority of GB team arrived on the Monday 24 August, meeting up with Stuart 'Gibbo' Gibson that evening. Having rested Tuesday began at 5am up and ready for breakfast at 6am. We then had a brief meeting and at 10am left for two hours training.

"Friday the 28th had arrived; the entire first day was dedicated to the Men’s Individual Championships.

"There were 149 competitors who had to battled through an initial three-man pool to decide who would enter the formal tournament rounds.

"A random drawing was conducted to decide the three-man pools resulting in many tough head-to-head matches of some of the most highly praised competitors.

"The main draw had resulted in Teramoto of Japan, 2007 All-Japan champion, W. Kim of Korea, also a national champion, and Chris Yang, American national champion and captain of the US team.

"The individuals for the GB team both men and women proved to be challenging and as expected the level of opponents was extremely high with most GB members facing formidable opponents.

"First to fight was Gibbo. He fought a determined I Iassic from the Dominican Republic. It was not until encho did Gibbo dominate and score a men.

"He then met up with R Jastack from Poland. Again the fight went to encho, and in a momentary lapse of concentration from Gibbo, a debana kote was score against him.

"Andrew Fisher, had to beat T Miranda from Chile. This was an intense fight, in which no one particularly dominated, however, Miranda scored an early kote. Andy fought admirably to gain control of the fight, but in the last minute Miranda scored a kaishi do. Unfortunately Andy’s other competitor did not show and therefore Andy’s competition came to an end.

"Max Davies, as with Andy, only had one competitor to beat proceed to the next round. T Vigburg, from Flinland, a very strong Jodan player.

"He unfortunately, scored a men in the dying minutes of the fight, not allowing Max time to get a point back.

"Alan Thompson made it through to the second round having won his pool by defeating the Czech Republic’s M Kovak, with a guyaku dou, during encho. Then New Zealand’s Dong Ho Choo. In fighting to get to the last 16 Thompson met the USA’s Danny Yang a WKC experienced player and the last WKC’s finalist. Yang succeeded 1-0 in a truly entertaining bout."

Saturday the 29th was women’s day, with both the individual championship conducted in the morning and the Women’s Team Championship in the afternoon.

There was 104 women challenging for the top position.

The GB team took two women. Emily Knight and the Captain Geraldina Mattsson.

Emily met C.Kobayashi, from Austrialia and A.Nakamura from France. In both fights Emily fought hard and did not give anything away, easily.

Unfortunately, both players who had significantly more experience prevailed, beating Emily 2-0.

Geraldina, fought A.Kuwabara from the USA. This was quite an evenly balanced fight, and with many occasions Gelaldina coming close to scoring a point and at one point the shinpan twitched and she nearly scored a kote against a very strong player.

Within the dying minute of the fight Kuwabara scored, allowing no time for Geraldina the opportunity to come back. Geraldina’s other opponent did not show and her competition had come to an end.

"This year, as in the past, the Japanese women were favoured for top places and they did not disappoint; their kendo was truly a textbook performance. Hopefully and invitation could be sent out to see some of them perform in the UK.

"The tournament culminated on Sunday the 30th. Perhaps the most highly anticipated WKCs ever, with the entire kendo community looking at this WKC’s Men’s Team Championships to see the spectacle of Japan fighting for the first time as a challenger, against a Korean team ready to defend their WKC title, and the United States team, last WKC’s finalists working harder than ever.

"Not limited to these teams, the increase in experience and skill in many of the power-house teams, European champions France, Italy, GB, Canada, Brazil, and so forth, made this tournament the toughest ever.

"The WKCs has finally become a true international event in which no country can claim total domination.

"The atmosphere in the arena was electric and the silence before a bout was extraordinary. Within the team the silent contemplations began with individuals touching their wife/girlfriend/friends blessed charms and then the moment of years of training came down to this instant.

"BKA members had contributed to our participation; the GB flag was wafting in the wings, we had to perform.

"At this juncture we truly appreciated the gentle healing/massaging hands of Narendra Arjan the GB osteopath who performed miracles with his bone setting techniques to straighten us out and indeed totally relax all and sundry.

"First up was the Malaysian National team. We had not been able to obtain any information of the standard of Malaysian Kendo; we did however know one thing, they were here and defeating the GB team would be a worthy scalp.

"The match was nervy as expected but we prevailed 5-0.

"Next up was the Nederland’s team. The Dutch were in one sense a simpler proposition we knew most of the team, however in the second instance they were indeed experienced and of a very high standard kendoka. This proved evident when we lost our first two matches, 2-0.

"The team had their back against the wall. The third match was critical, lose and we go home. Mark Halls affectionately christened ‘Scarface’ carried the weight of the BKA on his back.

"Mark lost the first ippon, we were on our way home, then Mark pulled one back it was 1-1, but not enough we were already 2-0 matches down.

"Max Davies and Alex Heyworth screamed instructions; Mark advanced, blocked a sure men and completed the sweetest Kaishi-Do, 2-1. We had won the decisive match.

"Next up was Thompson, one glance at Gibbo who yelled '2-0 and nothing less'. Thompson’s first ippon was less than 30 seconds a perfect Men. The GB teamed screamed instructions to finish the opponent, the bout nearly lasted the full five minutes until Thompson received a Hansoku for time delay.

"Seemingly angered Thompson came straight out with a signature Kote, 2-0.

"Next up was the Taisho-Sen, Gibbo. Who else would you turn too at this moment; two glorious Men later it was 2-0 we had beaten the Dutch.

"Next up was the USA. We lost to the USA 3-0 and apart from their defeat in the final to Japan we had performed the best against the USA with Jon Fitzgerald drawing and Gibbo winning, 2-1, with some awesome kendo.

"He deservedly got the WKC fighting spirit award, for his performance of such a strong player.

"Now on to the European championship... As Kendo World commented ‘The efforts of all the individual competitors, their combined struggle as teams, the combination of both men and women striving to improve themselves, all based on the precepts of traditional Japanese kendo: to respect each other, to seek self-improvement, to become a positive force in the society, these things will surely contribute to a better world’.

"Thank you to Matsumoto Sensei, Honga sensei and all the BKA members. I hope we made you proud."

Written by Sean Starr (GB Kendo Manager) and Alan Thompson (Vice Captain of GB team)

Women’s Individual Championship Results - August 29, 2009

1st Place: JPN 7 - YUKIKO TAKAMI
2nd Place: JPN 5 - SACHIE SHOJIMA
3rd Place : BRA 9 - ELIETE HARUMI TAKASHINA
3rd Place : JPN 6 - CHIKANO SHINZATO

* Fighting Spirit Award

USA 6   - Grace Lee
ITA 1     - Mirial Livolsi
BRA 8   - Aline Lie Kimura
KOR 3 - Yun - Yeong Lee
CAN 8   - Misato Hamanaka
KOR 6 - Ka- Hee Jeon
FIN 2    - Mia Raitanen
KOR 8 - Sun - Young Park

Men’s Individual Championship - August 28, 2009

1st Place: JPN 5 - SHOJI TERAMOTO
2nd Place: KOR 8 - BYONG HOON PARK
3rd Place : KOR 9 - CHUL-KYU CHOI
3rd Place : KOR 2 - KANG-HO LEE

* Fighting Spirit Award

HUN 2  - Norbert Kiraly
JPN 7   - Tsuneomi Furusawa
HUN 4  - Gabor Babos
ITA 2   - Frabizio Mandia
AUS 1  - Kirby Smith
USA 8  - Jason Brown
JPN 10 - Daisuki Wako
USA 2 - Daniel Yang

Women’s Team Championship Results - August 29, 2009

1st Place: JAPAN

(JPN 1 - Shoko Otsuji; JPN 2 - Keiko Kondo; JPN 3 - Yoko Sakuma; JPN 4 - Mika Shimokawa; JPN 8 - Yuka Tsubota; JPN 9 - Shinatsu Murayama; JPN 10 - Mariko Yamamoto)

2nd Place: KOREA

(KOR 1 - Youn-Jung Park; KOR 2 - A-Reum Byeon; KOR 3 - Yun-Yeong Lee; KOR 4 - Hye-Rim Lee; KOR 6 - Ka-Hee Jeon; KOR 8 - Sun-Young Park; KOR 10 - A-Ram Lee)

3rd Place : BRAZIL

(BRA 1 - Elzami Miwa Onaka; BRA 2 - Lilian Natsumi Miyazawa; BRA 3 - Maria Carolina Kyouko Takeuchi; BRA 4 - Cristiane Lie Toida; BRA 5 - Izumi Honda; BRA 6 - Mariana Harumi Cruz Tsukamoto; BRA 7 - Erika Keiko Ashiuchi)

3rd Place : USA

(USA 1 - Shannon Mikuni; USA 2 - Kaori Kikunaga; USA 3 - Mistuyo Sakae; USA 4 - Sachiko Tamura; USA 5 - Michiye Cabral; USA 6 - Grace Lee; USA 7 - Nishiki Sano)

Men’s Team Championship Results - August 30, 2009

1st Place: JAPAN

(JPN 1 - Ryoichi Uchimura; JPN 2 - Daiki Kiwada; JPN 3 - Kenji Shodai; JPN 4 - Sussumu Takanabe; JPN 5 - Shoji Teramoto; JPN 8 - Tadaomi Hojo; JPN 9 - Shinsuke Matsuwaki)

2nd Place: USA

(USA 1 - Christopher Yang; USA 2 - Daniel Yang; USA 3 - Marvin Kawabata; USA 4 - Brandon Harada; USA 5 - Sandy Maruyama; USA 6 - Kevin Huh; USA 7 - Simon Yoo)

3rd Place: BRAZIL

(BRA 1 - Jogi Sato; BRA 2 - Julio Kenji Toida; BRA 3 - Ernesto Eisaku Onaka; BRA 4 - Vitor Zen Moreno Tachibana; BRA 5 - Coichi Urano; BRA 6 - Heiji Kariya; BRA 7 - Alberto Massumi Takayama)

3rd Place: Korea

(KOR 1 - Sung-Hong Jang; KOR 2 - Kang-Ho Lee; KOR 4 - Du-Hwan Baek; KOR 5 - Wan-Soo Kim; KOR 7 - Yong-Chul Kim; KOR 9 - Chul-Kyu Choi; KOR 10 - Jin-Yong Jo)

* Fighting Spirit Award

ROM 1 - Mihai Dutescu
CHN 1 - Ting Yu
FRA 4 - Jean Nicolas Heurtevin
POL 1 - Mariusz Wial
HUN 2 - Norbert Kiraly
GBR 5 - Stewart Gibson
CAN 3 - Shigemitsu Kamata
ITA 2 - Fabrizio Mandia

To learn more about Kendo, Iaido or Jodo visit: www.kendo.org.uk

For more information about the photography work of Kohjiro Kinno visit: www.kohjirokinno.com

Mixed Martial Arts - Kail

Jeet Kune Do - Self-defence

56 Falsgrave Road Scarborough

contact: Barry Moran 07847 963262

Zanshin Aikido
Sunderland University
Sundays 6 to 8pm
andFridays 7 to 9pm The new Cityscape Centre Chester Road Campus Chester Road psethp@yahoo.co.uk
www.zanshinaikido.co.uk0191 5226294

Directional Fighting Method
Every wed
Willowburn Leisure Centre
Alnwick, Northumberland
both 7.30pm
Newcastle College
Ryehill
Newcastle
Every Monday
6.30pm

phil.doherty@hotmail.co.uk

www.dfmmartialarts.co.uk

DFM Self-protection Ltd

Courses for Martial Artists
Conflict Resolution Training
CRT Tutor courses
Student Street Safe Courses
First Aid Courses
Safe Travelling Courses
Self-protection courses
Courses for Business
CRT for Employees
CRT for Healthcare workers
CRT for the Media
CRT for Managers
CRT for Shop Workers
CRT for Lone Workers
CRT for doorstep Sales
CRT Teach the Trainer Courses
Dealing with Difficult Customers
CRT Trainer Packs
Other Products
Slash Resistant Clothing
CRT Booklets
Safe Travelling Booklets
Self-defence and CRT Books
www.dfmselfprotection.co.uk

THE
ALNWICK GARDEN

The home of the world's
largest orchard of its kind of
Japanese Great Cherry Trees

There’s so much more to explore at
The Alnwick Garden

Acres of fascinating plants,

water sculptures and

our infamous Poison Garden

for a start

Not to mention one of the world’s

largest wooden tree houses

It’s a wonderful garden, and an

even better day out

01665 511350

Party Balloons
Fancy Dress
Face Painting
Party Decorations
Tricks and Treats
Wigs
Saucy Fun Oufits
Bouncy Castles
01665 606656
www.onestopfunshop.co.uk

MARTIAL NEWS

The House of
Budo

www.martialnews.co.uk

John Barrass
Founder/Chief instructor
U.K.E.S.D.C.S

ESDCS was founded by John Barrass, and launched on June 2006 after three years of research into self defence and combat systems effectiveness in stressful street combat situations

John holds high grades in Aikido, Wado Ryu Karate and Kenjutsu (Japanese swordsmanship) John is also a highly experienced
practitioner of the Goshinjutsu and unarmed combat systems

www.esdcs.co.uk
john@kurinami.wanadoo.co.uk

Kurai-Nami Kenjutsu Club

The Way of the Sword
George Allison Community Centre
Byker, Newcastle
Saturday 10am to noon.
john@kurinami.wanadoo.co.uk

Zanshin Aikido
Sunderland University
Sundays 6 to 8pm
and
Fridays 7 to 9pm
The new Cityscape Centre
Chester Road Campus
Chester Road
Sunderland
psethp@yahoo.co.uk
www.zanshinaikido.co.uk
0191 5226294

Willowburn Leisure Centre, Alnwick, Northumberland
Fri 7.30pm
phil.dfmselfprotection@hotmail.co.uk

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