01209dom’s Weblog

It’s been yet another hectic weekend for me. Beer, rock, guns, fighting… the usual actually!

It all started on Friday night, when myself and a few friends attended the first ever ‘rock night’ at the Corn Exchange. The music was surprisingly good (if a little predictable) and we all got involved in some grade A moshing! The only downside was that I had to get up for work in the morning, and I got a little caught up in the moment. I might have had a drink or two too many as I felt a little fragile in the morning. Luckily work wasn’t that bad and I had a nice relaxing evening to follow, which was spent mainly getting my gear sorted for the following day (Sunday).

I felt really bad as Sunday was my mum’s birthday and I was out of the house at 8:30am and didn’t really get home until around 9:00pm. I didn’t get the chance to spend some time with her and felt really selfish after all she has done to help me with my car recently. I want to treat her to a really nice meal out somewhere soon, as a thank you for her help and an after birthday treat.

As I have mentioned before a few of us are into Airsoft and recently attended a local skirmish set up by ‘Team KGB’ who run the site which is held near Wadebridge. They have three main locations on site, a (kind of) mini street setting with numerous buildings from which to shoot from, a Vietnam style fort in the centre of a small woodland area and a section of trenches. Lots of fun to be had!

Sunday was my second visit to Team KGB and it was a pretty good one. Last time round about seven of us attended, with about fifty people there in total. This time it was just myself and Jim, with about 40ish in total. After a couple of rapid fire assaults in the street scenario it was onto the main game they had arranged. This basically involved ten of the best players in the team heading off and digging themselves in anywhere in the entire location, with the rest of us trying to capture them. This was great as we split into small groups and just scoured the whole area until we hit resistance. Myself and Jim were with two ex military guys (who new what they were doing!) and had a few interesting gun battles. Eventually the ‘elite team’ were penned into the trenches and managed to hold their own until time ran out.

After a few more manic rounds it was time to head back home for a very quick shower, as we had a TSD lesson followed by Squad training starting at six. I was absolutely knackered and wondered if would get through it! I do love the Sunday lessons and really enjoyed performing my new form to the group. The amount of things I learnt from my seniors is great, because you think you are doing something right and you clearly aren’t!!! Kicking drills, especially with slap paddles is one of my favourite things in lessons, but tonight as my legs were so sore from all the running around in the afternoon I was very much under par with my kicks and missed the pad completely on a (criminally) high amount of times.

I was also very poor when it came to the Viper Squad session as I lost all my fights and didn’t even look like winning. This was really frustrating as I had a really positive session last time with a win and a couple of draws, so I was a bit disappointed. I also had a moment where I got quite angry as I conceded a backfist to the head which I left completely unguarded. I was angry with myself and still am to be honest but I will have to take it on board and learn from it I suppose.

All being said though, it has been a fantasic weekend and am looking forward to going to bed! Unfortunately I have to work tomorrow and I’m going to be understaffed, so I am not looking forward to that. At least it will officially be April and Seni is only a few weeks away!

It has been a pretty varied last few days. I woke up on Tuesday morning late, as my alarm clock had decided to stop working and subsequently made me run about twenty minutes late. I got to work on time (just) and as soon as I had entered the building I just knew I should have stayed in bed. You know when you have ‘one of those days’, well it certainly turned out that way. I got lumbered with absolute idiots, received numerous complaints and generally had a totally crap day.

By the time I got to training in the evening I was in a right old mood and had been snappy with most of the people who I came into contact with, but as soon as I met up with the rest of the guys and started training I started to feel much better. Every now and then we are given a really hard lesson and this was certainly one of them! It was all out from the word go.

Wednesday was much better as I had the day off, and after heading over to Penzance to put a deposit on my new car, I pretty much did nothing for the rest of the day – including a mid afternoon nap on the couch for an hour! Very lazy I know! At kickboxing in the evening we were again submitted to a right old pasting. It was the last class before the Easter break, so to give us a good send off we were hammered again. I do love a good hard lesson though, makes you feel you have earned your leisure time! Even though the class was a small one, I really enjoyed it and took a lot out of it, especially my sparring.

After a really good Viper Squad session on Sunday, it was nice to take all the positives from that night into the kickboxing class. Usually squad training sessions are quite a serious affair, as there is no messing around – you are there to win, but it was very different at kickboxing as I had a really good laugh and even though I was trying to compete to the best of my ability, I had a lot of fun too.

As a result I was in much higher spirits in work on Thursday and had a really good day. No major hassle and actually managed to make myself some money.

Today saw the final voyage of my Ford Ka with myself captaining the helm (a bit over the top I know!) as I drove down to Penzance to pick up my new car! As soon as I got the keys and shook the guys hand it was time to drive. I didn’t even test drive it as the RAC report basically said that it was an absolute minter and had been really well looked after; it’s only a 2001 car after all. It drives really well and it’s great to be able to push your right foot down slowly and feel yourself sink back into your seat as you are pulled forward. I know I haven’t just bought a Ferrari, but it’s a massive jump up from my previous 1 litre VW polo and 1.3 Ford Ka! It’s a little sad, but it’s really cool to have electric windows, a sunroof, air conditioning and most importantly…. the unlock, lock, set alarm buttons on my key!!! I press a button and my car is unlocked…. sweet!!! I’ve never had that luxury before.

I am looking forward to ‘pimping’ it up with a decent CD player and some little bits and pieces. The only harsh part is I can’t drive it until tomorrow as I have no tax!

It feels strange as I would normally have work today and have training tonight, but I ain’t complaining, will use this weekend to get some rest and relax a bit. I am really enjoying training at the moment and every time I tie on my new green belt, I feel immensely proud to the very core. I can’t wait to get back in the dojang on Tuesday!

Will leave you with some more shredding! Manowar – ‘The god’s made heavy metal’

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As my last guitar related post expressed interest from a few people, i thought i would throw a few more clips on here!

The first 15 seconds of the solo at 2:19 is actually what i am trying to learn at the moment. Its one of the most challenging things i have ever tried to learn and am still way off, but the whole song is great to listen to!

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The next clip is from a very young Richie Kotzen who played lead with Poison in his early years and also replaced Paul Gilbert in Mr Big in 1999. Think “adult video” when you hear the backing music!

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Warning – the next clip contains adult language!

I really wanted to have this as my Viper Squad profile music, but its not really appropriate as we have junior members! Despite the totally unnecessary “American” lyrics, the three solo’s at 2:40, 3:03 and 4:12 are very good.

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This is surely the best rock video of all time!

Its Sunday, it’s almost 9 o’clock, I have just got in and I’m absolutely knackered. Here’s why. The weekend started late for me as I work Saturdays, so when half five came I was out of the door, into my car and straight up to Dartmoor.

This may require explaining as this is the first time I have mentioned it on here. Myself and a few of my friends ritually camp out on Dartmoor (in a wood that we found) normally every two or three months. The main reason is because we love the outdoors and the feeling you get when you are completely isolated from the world and are totally dependant an each other. We do take it quite seriously as we camp in ALL conditions, all year round and prefer to build our own shelters rather than using tents. Basically we use as little technology as possible, which includes the banning of mobile phones. Guitars are permitted!

The other reason we do it is because we love Air soft! This is very similar to paintball, but instead of paint balls (?), air soft guns are loaded with small BB’s and are powered by a battery. The guns are exact replicas of their real life counterpart, which makes it look a lot cooler and opens up a whole new dimension in having to choose your equipment. “Hmm, shall I go for the M16 assault rifle or the MP-5 sub machine gun?” that sort of thing.

I will stress that we only use Bio-degradable BB’s (which are made from corn starch) to protect the natural environment, and do not leave a trace behind when we leave, i.e. disassembling our shelter, removing all rubbish and litter and making the area look like we were never there.

So, as I was saying. I hauled ass up to Dartmoor straight after work and arrived at about eight. As the other guys had been off all day and had travelled up early, I was on my own. After fumbling around in the dark for a while, I eventually met up with the guys. The rest of the evening was spent having a couple of beers around the fire, and playing some guitar, before hitting the sack. The morning was a carbon copy of the last time we camped, as I awoke to find that the wind had blown the rain right onto me during the night and I was absolutely soaked through in my sleeping bag. Like I said, we camp in all conditions! After we were all up we cleared the area and proceeded to sort our equipment for the following air soft skirmish. I was quite pleased as I got a few “kills” as well as a few painful reminders of how good my team mates are!

We then hit the road and (literally) sped back to Camborne for a very long shower. There was no chance to relax though as I had to be at training at six, plus an additional hour at the end for our Viper Squad training. I love Sunday’s class as I usually have all day to be lazy and prepare myself and also it is the perfect way to end a weekend, but after an exhausting excursion on the moors, I am just happy to be relatively injury free. Did however have a couple of perfectly landed blows – one square on the nose, and one to the lower back or (more specifically) the seating area!, both from the same person (oh yes, your card is marked my friend!)

Anyway it’s always a great feeling looking back at a thoroughly enjoyable weekend and as always, will instantly start looking forward to the next one!

For ages i have been meaning to list some of my favourite guitar riffs and solo’s. There are so many to choose from, but here are my current favourites;

Megadeth, My last words – solo time: 3:24

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With the next one you have to listen to the whole song as opposed to a single solo. The level of ability is amazing!

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Last but not least, Black Sabbath – Wheels of Confusion

Again, its pretty much the whole song you need to listen to, but my favourite part of the song starts at around 5:20

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Last week I took my Ford Ka into my local garage for its annual MOT. I’m sure anyone would agree that unless you are an oil tycoon or play for Chelsea, MOT’s can hurt you quite bad financially. I always expect the worst and this time I was thinking; 150 – 200 quid maybe? Wrong. Six hundred and eighty seven English pounds. And that’s only for my ****ed suspension. I also needed loads of other small bits doing, so realistically you’re looking at about 800 quid.

When my mechanic broke the news to me, he might as well have put both hands around my neck and plunged his knee deep into my party zone, cos that’s what it felt like.

I have wanted a new car for ages so rather that getting my current car (which to be honest is a bit of a girl’s car) fixed, I would be a lot better off just getting a new car. But which one…. this is where the fun starts! Straight away I conjured up visions of myself sat behind the wheel of some amazing convertible, with hydraulic suspension, gold alloy “dollar sign” wheels and under lighting. Unfortunately, I needed to be a little more practical.

One of the first things that came to mind was the need for something bigger. The boot on my current car is so small I can only just fit my own training equipment in it let alone anyone else’s, so on TSD/Viper Squad excursions when you effectively have five guys, all with sparring gear, bo staffs, etc, my car is out of the question. I also didn’t want to get anything too flash. I have been driving on my own insurance policy for about eight years and coupled with the fact that I am 27, it’s quite cheap. I would like it to stay that way so I have resisted the temptation to go for something really powerful. For some reason I have completely sold myself on the idea of getting an estate as this will give me ample room, and would mean that I could drive to events like “Seni”, comfortably fitting all my team mates plus equipment.

Right, first off I looked at the Audi A4. Cracking car! Looks pretty swish too and I found loads in my price range. Only trouble is that apparently the parts for them can be a bit expensive. Also I found it quite hard to find a decent one under 2 litre, as this would push my insurance and tax up. So I started looking at the Ford Mondeo estate. You can find nice ones, anywhere from 1.6 and upwards and obviously being Ford, the parts are cheap and easily obtainable. While scouring Cornwall, I suddenly stumbled upon a Ford Focus Estate. I did a bit of research and couldn’t find a single bad review. Even Jeremy Clarkson himself said it was a great car, so I thought that’s the one!

Yesterday on my day off I looked at six Ford Focus’ and found four really nice ones and a couple of crap ones (rust). After a long day I have narrowed it down to one. A Silver Ford Focus 16 valve 1.6 litre Zetec Estate. I successfully converted my retail experience in buying and selling guitars, over to cars and managed to knock the guy down in price, and taking my car in a part exchange. As my knowledge in cars isn’t that great, my mum recommended getting the RAC to give it a once over, which is going ahead on Monday. If the results come back positive….. I have a new car!

The excitement is starting to get to me now; it feels like I’m five years old in the run up to Christmas! My only problem is that technically the car can still be sold over the weekend, which means paying for an unnecessary RAC check.

If the bloke does sell it I have a good mind to summon up all of my team mates (with Bo Staffs) and go and show him why it’s not a good idea to piss off someone from Camborne.

Hopefully my next post will be to brag about my new wheels!

Well that hurt! To say I’m a little sore would be a bit of an understatement.

I managed to haul myself out of my deluxe, king size bed (I like sleeping) at about half six, had a shower and then practiced my two forms, one step and self defence in my living room almost smashing a light in the process. I also had a brief look through the pages of notes I had printed off, in a last gasp effort to prepare myself for the day ahead.

We got to Falmouth at about half eleven and met up with the rest of the guys. I had pretty much guessed that I would be one of the last people to grade, which is harsh because it means watching everyone else having their beasting knowing yours is going to be harder! It was. The two seniors taking us through our physical had also taken their Cho Dan grading the day before, so after apparently being absolutely murdered, both were in the mood for dishing out some punishment.

I’m sure this will please everyone at my club, but I will put my hands up and confess that at one point during my physical I did think I was going to be sick. Luckily I wasn’t but it did get a lot harder. Usually gradings follow a set pattern; physical, line work, forms, one step, self defence, terminology, break. But this time just to mess with our heads they mixed everything around, so after the physical we were asked to perform our forms. This is quite hard when you can hardly stand up but I got through them nevertheless.

This was followed by having the absolute living daylights kicked out of me in three bouts of sparring. I’m sure they were told to “go in hard”, because I was literally kicked around like a rag doll. Next up was one step and self defence. For some reason I knew I would find this hard and to be honest I was absolutely awful. My stances were weak, I made numerous mistakes and even forgot one of my self defences. Very poor performance and I’m bit embarrassed to have performed that to the grading panel be honest.

At least I managed to break my board on the first attempt this time. I couldn’t really fail actually, because an inside to outside kick is my preferred method of breaking down cardboard boxes every day in work, so I get lots of practice at it! Still pleasing to feel your foot cleave it in two though!

I hate to finish on a bit of a downer, but looking back I am a little bit angry with myself for my performance. I can do so much better than that, and as I mentioned before to forget things or to be weak at something I KNOW I can do much better is very poor. I will have to up my efforts in training over the next few weeks to show that I am actually worthy of my grade.

It was really nice to have a couple of beers with my friends afterwards and have a really nice long chat. We weren’t planning on going out after as most of us had work the next day, but it felt a little bit wrong not to go out and celebrate, if only for an hour or so!

Once again the time has come for another night of nerves, sleep loss and self doubt. Yep, it’s grading time again!

This time I’m mainly stressing about my self defence and one step sparring. In the last few weeks I have suffered from a bit of a split personality. At one lesson my one step/self defence will be absolutely fine, the next its absolute balls! WTF???

It even got to the point where in last Friday’s class I actually forgot my self defence number 3!? Not forget how to do it, just simply forget which one came next after number two. My mind went completely blank… weird, maybe its just nerves.

Anyway apart from that it’s just the usual. Have been pacing around work today like a little lost lamb, thinking about pretty much everything I could be asked tomorrow. For the past week I have been carrying around a piece of paper with lots of random pieces of information on it, repeatedly frying my brain on my Korean terminology stuff and generally not doing any work at all.

I suppose the reason I’m stressing so much this time, is because if I pass tomorrow it will feel like I have reached a huge milestone. Up until 1984 there were only four belt colours; white, green, red and midnight blue (yes, I did have to look that up!) so if I was 4 years old, then technically it would be my first grading! Also when I first joined the club I used to watch how the students at 6^th gup and above were instructed to take the warm ups and stretches, take junior members through their forms, demonstrate techniques, and basically have a much more advanced role within the club. I looked up to them so much, and it felt like it would be years before I would hold this grade myself. Now it is staring me right in the face and I am absolutely s******g myself. It’s come so fast.

While I truly believe that I am still nowhere near as good as my friends were, when they took their 6^th gup grading, I do take comfort knowing that they will be there to support me when I take mine tomorrow.

I think I have said my piece. Going to get my head down now and try and get some sleep if possible.

It has been a very special weekend for all of us at ISK Tang Soo Do. We have been honoured hosts to Grandmaster Ashok Kumar and his son Anesh Kumar, who came down to Cornwall to visit us and host two extended classes. Master Kumar Senior is one of the highest ranking practitioners of our art in the EMTF, and has been involved in the martial arts since the age of ten, including Shotokan Karate, Wado Ryu, Wing Chun and Judo. Our own Master Rob James has known both father and son for many years and used to train with Master Kumar Junior earlier in his TSD career (he also beat him in the Masters category at last years UK Championships in London!)

When we first heard that Master Kumar wanted to come and visit us we couldn’t quite believe it and it has been a real honour to have them with us over the last two days. I was lucky enough to have seen both Masters at the EMTF Championships which I attended last year, although I didn’t speak to either of them!

The first class was held on the Friday and was held only by Master Anesh Kumar, as his father was unwell. For the whole two hours we received a really tough warm up and some even tougher drills. The whole class was mainly based around sparring, which didn’t surprise me as Master Anesh is a renowned tournament fighter with Team Storm and loves his sparring! By the end the room was so full of sweat and condensation that the floor was like an ice rink and everyone could hardly stand up!

The second class was held over four hours on the Saturday. The first two hours were 1^st Gups and Dan grades only, then all grades joined in for the next two hours. After another tough warm up from Master James, myself and the rest of the Gup grades were introduced to Master Ashok Kumar. This for me was a real honour, as I can now boast that I have been taught by a Grandmaster! First of all we worked on line work which included lots of high section kicking, and then onto forms. It was quite nerve racking performing Pyung Ahn Cho Dan in front of him, but his advice, help and knowledge was very inspiring. We then joined the 1^st Gup and Dan grades and were taught some self defence including some great locking techniques, followed by some one step sparring.

The two hours literally flew by and I couldn’t believe it when Master Kumar said we were out of time. After a quick shower and a change of clothes we all met up for a well deserved meal at the “Curry Leaf” restaurant in Hayle, where we had a chance to socialise with Master Kumar and family before he travelled back.

It was great to hear that all of us at ISK Cornwall Tang Soo Do had really impressed both Masters and that our etiquette and discipline was one of the best in the country! They also expressed their interest in coming to see us again in the near future too.

Extremely proud to be a member of the EMTF.

In the last academy committee meeting we were told that the next grading would be around early March. Which gives me about one month to learn my new one step and self defence and my forms. Only snag – I double graded last time so I have double the amount of things to learn for my 6^th gup grading! Four sets of one step sparring, four sets of self defence and two forms.

The forms shouldn’t be that bad… I already know both – Chee Cho Sam Bu and Pyung Ahn Cho Dan all the way through, its just making them look really good on the day. This is quite hard as forms (especially the Pyung Ahn forms) take a lifetime to fully master, but I suppose its our own interpretation of the form that we get graded on.

Pyung Ahn Cho Dan, or in fact all of the Pyung Ahn forms have been around for over a hundred years and is my next big step up the ladder with regards to hyungs/forms. The term “Pyung Ahn” translates to “peace and confidence” and means each individual move has to be executed with absolute precision, whilst being totally calm and focused.

The hardest thing will be my one step sparring numbers 7 and 8, mainly because they involve an extremely hard technique. It means I have to perform an outside to inside kick (pakeso ahnuero cha gee) straight into a side kick (yup cha gee) without putting my foot down! Very hard. The first kick deflects an opponents punch and the second quickly strikes to the head. Its all about balance and being able to lock out the side kick… easily said than done.

My self defences are quite tricky too. They involve some very tricky arm/wrist locks and a very strange kick, which I have never really seen before. I suppose it’s a roundhouse kick, but from a bent over kind of position with absolutely no space? very strange.

My next board break should be a spin back kick (dwee cha gee). Ahh getting some very cool kicks for my breaks now! This particular kick is all about positioning and the spin. You need to whip your head around quickly to spot your target before releasing the kick, or you will miss it. Again very hard, but I do love this kick so will give it lots of practice.

I really hope I pass this next grading, I want that green belt so much and it’s on my mind every single day. I know Tang Soo Do isn’t about how good you are and a lot of people would argue that the belt system is pointless, but I just feel that when you achieve 6^th gup status you have reached a big stage. Plus you get to learn some really cool new forms and get to add a green trim to your dobok! Not particularly looking forward to the grading itself as I think this will be the hardest one yet; in fact I know it will be.

Will post soon for more info on my impending doom….

EDIT – just recieved confirmation from Master James. My next grading will be on Sunday 9th March