Having already submitted my essay about my life in Tang Soo Do, the dreaded day of my physical test arrived on the 4th of December, a day which will be ingrained in my memory for the rest of my days. It was an extremely long and hard day, and I won’t go into detail in case I spoil it for those who have this pleasure to look forward to, but by the end I was a very broken man. And for the record yes, I was sick. The written test was equally as challenging and I was just as nervous for that as I was the physical, but (via some sort of miracle) I was told on Christmas day that all had gone well. It is easily the biggest achievement of my life, although I did had lots of help and support throughout of which I am very grateful for. It’s nice to know that I wont have to face a test of that magnitude for a while, but now my training has shifted up a gear and I have some extremely difficult things to work towards.

I have just about got Jin Do (Chinto) into my head and although it’s not a very long form, it is execptionally tricky and requires a ridiculous amount of balance. I have also been working through Jun Jol which is the second of the Yuk Ro Hyung series and is already one of my favourites. It has a really nice feel to it and blends the soft with fast, explosive movements and is very satisfying to perform. This will hopefully be one of (or possibly my only) tournament form for this year, although it is going to take considerable work to get it up to tournament level. I think my biggest challenge of all though will be Chil Sung Sa Ro. It is the fourth form out of seven and is the longest that I have had to learn so far. Just getting the sequence of moves in my head from start to finish will be challenging enough, let alone the fact that it constantly keeps changing direction throughout and there are two very hard 180 degree jump, spinning, crescent kicks towards the end, and all recent attempts have failed miserabley. So far I can get about half way through the form before I start losing it, so definitley a work in progress!

Next on the calendar is ‘the Martial Arts show’ at the Birminham NEC, but hopes of me attending this are gradually dwindling, so sights are firmly set on our Summer Camp which is due at the end of the month. This will be three very hard days of training hosted mainly on Gwithian beach, covering all aspects of our art with some very sebnior members from the EMTF joining us, and will hopefully include some coverage of the first sword form as I have missed out on this in past events. After that it will be the British Championships in June, which I am looking forward to but a little apprehensive about. It feels like an age since I last competed in a big tournament and I am feeling a little rusty if truth be told. It’s also where I step up into the Dan category so I can expect a very tough time from here on, competing as a red belt was hard enough! As mentioned I am hoping to use Jun Jol as my tournament form here and I believe we have to pick between traditional and Chil Sung/Yuk Ro forms which is a bit gutting, but may allow me to enter a weapons category which I haven’t done before. Out of three categories we can enter I always go for two forms and sparring, so if the forms are condensed into one then I would love to have a go at either of the two dagger forms. We are also working on a ‘Team Hyung’ comprised of myself and three other Dan members, which will merge Chil Sung Sam Ro and Sa Ro together with choreographed fight scenes in between, more on this to come…

Lastly, my flights and accommodation to the World Championships in Florida have all been paid for now, so it’s just a case of earning enough pounds to convert into dollars as I can before August. As we couldn’t get booked with the rest of the team it will just be myself and Tim travelling together, and we are all set to fly from Heathrow on Monday 8th of August at 9:40am, transferring in Miami and then flying on to Orlando, eventually arriving at 17:50pm. As most people will know I have a massive fear of flying (one of my only fears I’ll have you know) so even with a few months to go I am already starting to dread it. I actually had a nightmare about it last night, so you can see how much it affects me! This is going to be a huge test for me and I am under no illusion that taking something from this tournament is highly unlikely, but either way it is something that I must do. This may be my grand finale’ on the tournament scene, which has been discussed at much length but we will see. At the moment the prospect of my £820 seat attached to 85 tonnes of metal being propelled into the air at 30,000 feet is enough for me to deal with right now, so one step at a time. 

That’s about it for now I think. I am in fairly good health and my long list of injuries are gradually starting to fade, apart from a split and swollen lip via a full power kick in the mouth during Kickboxing last week (I guess some things will never change). As this is, and always has been a training blog, I have purposely left out everything else, although having a few weeks of well needed sunshine has been an absolute blessing. There is no better way to relax and de-stress than sat on the beach with sand between your toes.

Ahh… Summer

Every year I let Christmas bring me down due to the stresses of work and the lighting fast two day break we get over Christmas Day and Boxing Day. As per usual I managed to catch the bug which all of my family, friends and work colleagues have had last Monday which has meant I have spent the festive week with a sore throat, runny nose and all manner of man flu like symptoms, which I have made dramatically clear to anyone in my immediate vicinity. Having said that as soon as Christmas eve came around on Friday I got completely soaked up in the festive spirit and had a drink with my work friends and then met up with my girlfriend, her sister and boyfriend and after a last minute stocking filler mission around Truro (where I somehow managed to spend £55 on Shotokan Karate books in Waterstones for myself) we continued the ‘refreshments’. Unfortunately my years of afternoon drinking have long since left me and it was a very early night for Mr and Mrs Dom.

I was very fortunate to have spent Christmas Day in three different house’s this year starting with my Girlfriends, then onto her sisters at half eight in the morning (did I mention it was an early night!), back to Lee’s and then onto to my house for the mother of all Christmas dinners. The one day a year where my mum actually gets to feed me can be a daunting experience, and she takes this responsibility extremely seriously to the point where even lying down hurt! It has been an awesome day which was enhanced by some extremely exciting news which I am unfortunately not able to elaborate on further at this point, but will get plenty of coverage in the upcoming weeks.

I am very much enthused at this point to look towards the New Year and the fresh challenges that it will bring. In a more urgent matter, what the hell I am going to wear on New Years Eve! I’m sure I will be able to rustle up a fancy dress outfit of some description although for some reason I get an inkling that there may be a slight leaning towards a Star Wars theme? It has become very apparent that I am going to need a lot of money for America next year and my fitness will have to dramatically improve, so as soon as the festivities are over the serious work will ensue again harder than it has ever done before, and the pennies will have to be carefully monitored. It has been years since I last went over seas for a holiday and the initial travel and accommodation arrangements on our club forum has made me very excited. The thought of travelling abroad with ISK Cornwall and part of the British EMTF contingent is a daunting thought and possibly our biggest challenge yet, but I guarantee we will be ready when the time comes.

Apologies to all for the lack of posts here, just needed to keep myself to myself for a while. Will be a more regular poster from now on I promise! Many thanks to all of my friends and family who have helped and supported me through some tough times and occasionally having to beat the happiness out of me, it all counts in the end.

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2011

Tang Soo

This could (and probably should) be a bit of a sombre post but I will try to keep things cheery, after all Christmas is coming and all that. This Summer has passed far too quickly for my liking and over the last few days the mornings and evenings have started becoming very cold, culminating in having to scrape ice off my windscreen for the first time this morning. I’m quite glad to see the back of Summer to be honest as I have been through a bit of a rough patch with illness and a combination of other things, so a change in season and a very challenging period coming up is a welcome relief.

My training has taken a bit of a step backwards over the last few months where I have missed important events with the club and have struggled with fitness and form. This all culminated this weekend as, due to work, I was unable to attend the annual EMTF British Championships hosted in Rusden. On initial contact with the group it appears we did exceptionally well again with an estimated 37 medals, so I would like to say a huge congratulations to all who attended and represented ISK Cornwall. We are always a dominant force when we attend these events and I knew that we were sure to do well again this time due to the countless hours of preparation we put in in the build up to the tournament, so it does not surprise me in the slightest to hear the news. Personally it was a massive disappointment for me to not be able to attend, and it has left a bitter taste in my mouth by being refused the time away (one day), but it is done now and I am already looking forward to the next couple of events which I’m determined not to miss. Grandmaster Ah Po is making his way to the UK for a seminar at the end of the month which I am really looking forward to, and Grandmaster Giacobbe is also hosting a seminar in November which I am going to try my hardest to attend also.

As the year draws nearer to a close the importance of my training has become very apparent to me and its time to put aside my recent problems, roll my sleeves up and concentrate on my next challenge. I haven’t spoken much about my grading here, mainly as it frightens me just thinking about it, but now it is staring me in the face I cant really hide from it much more. A few months ago I was finding it hard to enthuse myself to get ready for even an evenings training, let alone work, etc, but after a lot of help and support I am actually starting to look forward to December and taking the next step in my training. I am under no illusion that it will be the hardest thing that I have ever done and after watching my instructor prepare for his own test and a senior member pass his Dan Grade, I can see what is required of me; lots of hard work, sweat and pain. The most important thing for me right now is that I feel I am mentally ready, if not physically ready… yet.

I find it hard to express myself at times, and I think that people often get the wrong impression of me which has left me feeling a little excluded from things, but to be honest I really don’t care what people think of me. Sorry, but that is how I feel sometimes and I know half of it is my own insecurities so i apologise if I have neglected people. I just want to move forwards and do what I love and have always loved doing over the last four or so years whether I do it alone or not. A big thank you to those that have been there for me over a hard time though, you know who you are. Its much appreciated and I’m sorry if I wasn’t there to help when the roles were reversed.

Well that’s enough of a heavy one for now, especially on a Sunday of all days! Time to leave the past in the past and move forwards. I turn 30 in just under two weeks and I am looking forward to spending it with family and friends.

Things to do before your 30 (in under twelve days)? Answers on a postcard please

The weekend just gone was a Masters and Dan Grade Seminar hosted by the EMTF in Rushden. Myself, my instructor and two of my seniors met up just after ten o clock on Saturday and headed up to the midlands, unfortunately luck wasn’t on our side as it took us almost two hours to get out of Cornwall due to some very excessive traffic. When we finally arrived we managed to locate a Chinese take away and headed back to the hotel to watch Cameroon vs Denmark followed by some fighty stuff before retiring to our beds (I say bed, but I actually mean pull-out slab of concrete. It wouldn’t be a blog update without a bit of a moan now would it!). The difference between Travelodge and Premier Inn (for anyone who cares) is that when you book a twin room at Premier Inn you actually get two beds! Gasp!! At Travelodge you get a double bed and either a pull out bed – which will give you the worst back pain you will ever experience, or a sofa which is about a foot wide (an area of bed space I am actually quite used to these days).

We got up reasonably early in the morning and had a good breakfast in the adjacent Little Chef before heading off to the seminar hosted at the Pemberton Centre. We managed to get there before anyone else which is quite common for us and as the hall started filling up it appeared it was going to be pretty cramped with around fifty martial artists from all over the country.

It was a huge experience for me and an honour to be permitted to take part, seeing as it was a Dan and Masters seminar and for that I would like to say a big thank you to my instructor who somehow managed to blag me in! I was very grateful to see another red belt there to be honest and I don’t know how he felt but for me it was like I was attending my first ever martial arts lesson being stood right at the back, very nerve racking! I was determined to give a good account of myself though and tried my hardest to impress although my energy levels did deteriorate rapidly in the heat of the hall.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect really but I knew that we were probably good for a beasting at some point so it was no surprise when we were put through our paces at the start. To be honest I was glad to have a bit of a sweat session to start as I don’t know if I could keep going for a whole five hours without being properly warmed up and stretched (weird how they always seem to stretch before the warm up?). I threw myself into it quite literally and when turning a sharp corner, jogging round the hall I fell flat on my ass, very embarrassing.

I found the basics very challenging especially when we turned and faced the entrance because a) I was then at the front and had all the Masters and Dan grades watching me from behind and b) I was watched by one of the EMTF’s most senior members, talk about pressure! It was good to start with the basic techniques and work our way up to the harder stuff, and it was pretty cramped in there with so many people. There were a few times when I felt a foot breeze past my nose and I had to apologise to a second Dan who I almost nailed when attempting an Edan Dwe Huri Cha Gee who promptly told me to move back from him.

I was looking forward to the Hyung section most and it was great to have a go at Rohai and Jinto which I won’t need for a good few years yet but awesome forms to practice. It was a great experience to train under Master Mantle, who I have been lucky enough to train with before at the mixed styles seminar last year. He is quiet but has a very good style of teaching and if someone had told me I would be able to go through both forms (albeit very badly) without count at the end I wouldn’t have believed it. As a friend and colleague mentioned, his knowledge of the forms and his applications are superb and you can tell he comes from a very hard training background by just looking at his hands.

From a personal point of view it was great to go through the second Dan Gum Hyung as I had practically forgotten it. After doing it over ten times in a row (and coupled with the notes and stick men drawings I lashed together in work yesterday) I am hoping it will stick this time. That was just about the end of me and like everyone else the bottom of my feet were absolutely killing me by that point. I was gutted to not get a chance to join in with the sword Hyung but it looked like a really complex form and was great to watch, so hopefully we will get a chance to go through it in the Dojang soon! The journey back was virtually flawless and as myself and others had work the next day we drove without stopping and got home at just after eleven.

We are a massive part of the EMTF now and every time we attend an event we get a very warm welcome. I found it amazing that two or three people actually new my name too! It’s good to see the EMTF expanding too and there were lots of new faces there, and was great to meet and talk to some very senior Masters at the end who we will hopefully get a chance to train with further at some point.

A big thank you to everyone for an amazing trip, it was a pleasure driving you all and I look forward to attending the next seminar with you whenever it may be. Also a huge congratulations to my instructor on hearing your next grading has been moved forward. If it is to be held at the British Championships later this year as expected, I’m sure you will have a very large team cheering you on!

Tang Soo!

It seems the World Cup has reached fever pitch in this country and you cant bloody move without seeing the St Georges cross emblazoned over every sodding thing you look at. Don’t get me wrong, I do love a bit of football now and then but come on. What really gets to me is that on match days it brings out every type of scum possible who think that just because their country is about to play it gives them the right to act like a complete t**t in public as seen on my way home from work on Saturday evening. I watched the game at home with my better half who unfortunately had to witness my frequent verbal outbursts, but it really bothered me and I am just tired of seeing the same mistakes being made over and over again. Frank Lampard is probably the most over rated player in the world right now and I hate him almost as much as John Terry. He’s more likely to hit a low flying plane than put the ball anywhere near the goal so for Christ’s sake stop letting him take free kicks!

Emile Heskey?

Yes, he does play well for the team but as a striker would it be too much to ask of him to actually score a goal every now and then? He wasted our best chance to score our second goal last night which Crouch or Defoe would have easily taken, it’s not rocket science Fabio, get him out of the team. As much as I want to hate Joe Cole I just cant understand why he didn’t play yesterday especially when James Milner was replaced by Shaun Wright-Phillips who is… uhh… a right winger!? I would feel sorry for Robert Green too if he didn’t earn more money in one week than I will ever see in my lifetime. I almost cant bear to watch, if we cant beat a team who are supposedly far weaker than us then how are we supposed to beat one of the many teams who are better than us? Rant over.

Training has been going well over the last couple of months although I have picked up another niggling little injury to my left knee which has limited me a bit this week. I’ve been a bit old and boring recently and have spent most of my free time expanding my collection of Martial Arts literature and I also got my hands on a copy of the Moo Duk Kwan dvd’s (courtesy of my instructor) which accompany the White Belt to Red Belt series of books which I will hopefully pick up too at some point. It’s worth it just to see the Grandmasters son HC Hwang performing forms himself. His movements are so relaxed and calm but the amount of ‘snap’ and power he gets is insane! There are loads of differences which we are currently experimenting with in our Wednesday senior class, especially regarding the Chil Sung Hyung. Some I disliked at first but I am really coming around to them now although I’m not quite sure why. I have been practicing my three traditional forms; Bassai, Naihanchi Cho Dan and Sip Soo a lot on my days off and have managed to find a few things which I was doing wrong in all three, but I corrected them. Naihanchi is a deceptively tricky form and I still struggle to get all the way through it without making a mistake somewhere along the line!

We have also had some great squad training sessions too and I have felt a steady improvement over the last month or so, especially with regards to my footwork. I sometimes have a very bad habit of not varying my movement and being far to one-dimensional, so I have been working hard on staying out of range, not shipping unnecessary points and trying to become a lot more unpredictable. I have found it has worked quite well although only from a defensive point of view. I still need to incorporate more techniques into my sparring as I tend to stick to what works best for me, so I have been experimenting as much as I can. The problem is that no matter how much you practice a technique in training and perfect it in various drills etc, it is never the same as using it in a ‘live’ situation where you have to throw it instinctively. When I’m refereeing I see so many flashy techniques thrown that never even look close to scoring so why bother if it isn’t going to score? There is a grading at the end of the month which I am looking forward to although I’m unsure as to the extent of my involvement yet, I’m usually good for a round or two of sparring at least! I also have the privilege of attending a Dan/Master’s seminar in Rushton next weekend which will be covering some of the higher Chil Sung Hyung, the second and third Yuk Ro Hyung (hopefully), plus Knife and Sword Hyung if I’m permitted. It should be extremely beneficial to me personally and I do love a good road trip.

Outside the Dojang I have been keeping myself relatively busy, and my girlfriend and I had a great trip to the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth a couple of weeks ago. I have always had a fascination with the sea and sea life since moving to Cornwall as a young lad (many years ago) and I used to make frequent trips to Camborne library to fuel my obsession with sharks. It was a bit of a nightmare to find, especially if you drive like me (Exeter services roundabout) but well worth the trip, it’s apparently Europe’s deepest marine aquarium don’t you know! One of the main areas was similar to a cinema but the whole ‘screen’ being a tank full of different types of fish, rays, sharks, and numerous other aquatic stuff. It’s not often you get to see a six foot reef shark swim over your head, so needless to say I was a very happy man. We took a stack of photos which I will try to upload here if I can work out how to do it!? We headed into Plymouth city centre afterwards for a bit of a ramble around but unfortunately the weather decided to turn a wee bit nasty and we got absolutely soaked, although we did stumble across a milkshake bar and I experienced the best drink of my entire life.

This is my family. I found it, all on my own. Is little, and broken, but still good. Yeah, still good.

안녕히 가세요

Day One – Hyungs

I didn’t sleep very well and subsequently woke up on the first day of the tournament feeling very tired and groggy. I had been lying in bed going through my forms over and over in my head which also meant that I was suitably nervous about the day ahead and wasn’t really in the correct frame of mind. Up until the Friday I thought that the competition was being held in the private school where the British championships were hosted last year, so I must have missed the venue change somewhere along the line and had to adapt to a completely new venue. It was quite a big hall and had a large tier for spectators, which obviously adds to the pressure and as the various teams entered the building the place really started to fill up.

The line up at the start was amazing and it is a humbling experience being stood beside martial artists from all over Europe. There were speeches from Kwan Jang Nim Salm, Sa Bam Nim Kumar and also a representative of the mayor of Bedford who seemed to struggle quite a bit with the pronunciation of our art! We were then treated to a display from an Indian martial art called ‘Gatka’ including various weapon displays, open hand self defence techniques, a rather disturbing ‘knife in the eye’ demonstration, and their Master (?) pouring salt into his open eyes, blindfolding himself and then cutting various fruits and vegetables off five of our volunteer Sa Bom Nim’s body parts with a large sword. All accompanied by a drum beat performed on what appeared to be a double skinned djembe or darbouka and hit with about a ten inch thin beater, similar to a bodhran beater.

The day followed the same format as normal which means the Masters perform their Hyungs to everyone on one mat, followed by the dan grades on all of the various other mats which then frees them up to referee for the rest of the day. The highlight of all tournaments is watching your own instructor performing on the biggest stage, and as expected he secured our first medals of the day, albeit with a torn chest muscle against the advice of his doctor, very naughty. We also managed to claim medals from our dan grades and then my category was called a little earlier than I had expected. As I have mentioned before in my last two updates I have been apprehensive about performing my two hyungs as they are the most challenging forms I have learnt yet. The one I was most concerned with though was Bassai as there are so many mistakes that you have to watch out for when performing it and I have only been practicing it for the last six months which might seem like a long time but is absolutely nothing when it comes to martial art forms! It was certainly not my best performance of the form and I know I can do it so much better, but this is generally the case at big tournaments so I was more than happy to claim a bronze afterwards. Bassai is a really nice form and I think it will be my chosen tournament form for a while but it definitely needs a lot more work yet!

My second category was called about an hour later and I was a little more relaxed having already been on the mat in front of the judges and knew what to expect. Chil Sung Sam Ro is one of my favourite forms at the moment and I was looking forward to performing it although I have a sneaky suspicion that I would have been preferred to do a form down, which is probably right from what actually transpired. Chil Sung Sam Ro’s movements cover an imaginary ‘T’ shape which means that you have to start the form at the front of the mat otherwise you will end up walking off the mat if you start from the normal central position. To begin the form I walked to the normal place I would start from which was at the front, but was told to move back to the centre. I looked nervously at my team mate and gingerly took about two steps backwards but was told to move further back again. It was at this point that the judges started to debate between themselves (obviously spotting the problem) and we were eventually told to stand where we would normally stand when performing the form.

The problem was that the centre judge doesn’t teach Chil Sung Sam Ro at his school so obviously didn’t spot the issue with the positioning, secondly he also queried that the form might be a little high for a first gup grade (something I thought might happen) but eventually we were allowed to perform it. I wont go into to much detail as it is done now but the scoring was in my opinion a bit muddled and on another day I might have scored a little higher but again, I was extremely happy to claim my second bronze medal and ultimately another for the Cornish team. That meant I was then free to watch the lower grades perform their forms and offer any help or advice if needed. I was very impressed with our team and our technical ability was clear to see. We were definitely the best team there from a Tang Soo Do view point and this was also mentioned by a number of senior grades throughout the day which was a testament to all of our hard work and effort in the months leading up to the event. That evening we had a drink or two at the bar and headed out for some food before again retiring back to the hotel rooms.

Day Two – Sparring

I woke up on Sunday feeling considerably better than the morning before and was nowhere near as nervous as the previous day. I think this is mainly down to the fact you realistically only have a couple of rounds of sparring and that’s it which means it’s not as hard as one of our Viper Squad sessions by a west country mile. That said, I knew that I would probably be up against some very tough opposition and I have an uncanny ability to predict who I will have in my first fight, which I managed to do again this time round. The day started in the same way as before with the Masters showing us all how it should be done and then filtering down through the various ranks. As before we had already harvested a lot more silverware before it came to my category with my instructor and seniors all claiming medals.

Somehow I always seem to be up first in my sparring category and this was the case again. As mentioned I had already predicted who my fighter was going to be and have trained with him before at a mixed styles seminar last year. The overall team instructions were to immediately score the first point within seconds using a blitz combination to instantly put yourself in the lead and to unnerve your opponent. This worked perfectly for me and I scored literally within seconds. My mistake was that I went for exactly the same technique again and took an extremely hard kick to my weak left side ribcage. I was told that the kick was thrown blind and with far too much force, but I didn’t see it and was foolish to use the same combination twice. I knew it was pretty bad as I have broken ribs in the same place before and couldn’t breathe properly and was in lots of pain. The people from the St Johns Ambulance were amazing and I am very thankful for all their help but at the time all I wanted to do was finish the fight as I was in the lead. Unfortunately I was told I was not permitted to continue and that was my tournament over.

I was extremely disappointed as looking back I think I would have done quite well, and it took me a long time to bring myself up again and join the rest of the group. It’s just one of those things I guess and I am now gunning for the British Championships later in the year to put it right. After the final line up and bow out we rushed back to the hotel for a very quick shower and then back out again for the banquet and after party. As soon as we got there the drinks were flowing and before any food was even served people were on the dance floor and partying hard. It was very bizarre but we all had a fantastic night and everyone all through the ranks let their hair down in style. The party continued long into the night culminating in the entire Cornish team back in our hotel room. Awesome!

It was an amazing weekend and has completely inspired me to improve myself and work towards the British Championships and then the World Championships in Florida which were announced to take place on the 15th August 2011. I always dread tournaments, but nothing else fills you with such pride afterwards and the feeling of being part of such an amazing team is an honour. I would like to thank my instructor and all of my team mates for being extremely awesome people, I admire each and everyone of you.

Tang Soo!!

Isn’t it funny that all everyone seems to do in this country is moan about the sodding weather all the time, but what an influence it has on our lives. Yesterday was one of the nicest days we have seen since waaay before Christmas and even though it wasn’t entirely warm the sun was out, the sky was virtually cloudless and it just had that hint of summer that has been missing for what seems like an age. The best part was I had the day off and took great pleasure winging my way down to the beach with the windows open and the best of ACDC blaring out, only to be greeted with appalling surf but hey ho, nothing could change the fact that summer is rapidly approaching and soon I will be clad in shorts, feeling hot sand between my toes and eating ketchup drenched charcoal in a roll, get in!!

I think I have already been in the sea more times this year than I did for the whole of 2009 and as result I have had a huge resurgence with my surfing. It has been inspired by my girlfriends, sisters, boyfriend who is obsessed with keg farming and has led to several days off driving all over Cornwall searching for the absolute best surf location possible for the sea and wind conditions. Unfortunately it’s not really something I can dedicate huge amount of time to at the moment with my already busy schedule, but its great to have that part of me back again and hopefully now the evenings are starting to get lighter I will be able to go in after work soon.

I am also very aware that my guitar playing has virtually come to a complete stand still outside of work which is something I have been meaning to rectify. I know this must sound daft as I specialise in this instrument for my work and am generally good to be holding a guitar for most of my working day, but I cant remember the last time I actually sat down and tried to learn something new or just spent time trying to improve my technique. I had an hour or so to kill the other day when my boss had gone home and the shop was completely dead, so I thought I would go onto the guitar floor and have a good play but I was amazed at how bad I have got and how much better I used to be a year or two ago, so I am now very enthusiastic to get back to where I was and hopefully move forwards.

In general I have been going through some very bizarre musical phases over the past few months or so. Last year I came out of my massive Black Sabbath phase, replaced it with about half a year solely dedicated to Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, only to change literally over night and go through a Hip hop phase mainly listening to Mobb Deep (hence the recent Facebook profile picture) and then onto Johnny Cash… which I feel requires special mention. I had a Johnny Cash phase a year or so ago but never to the extent I have this time. I mainly refer to his last collection of studio albums commonly known as ‘The American Recordings’, the first of which was released in April 1994 and the sixth and final instalment came to me on the day of its release, 23rd February 2010. I don’t think I have ever taken so much interest in an artist and his life, and the impact it has had on me has been incredible. As the albums progress his life and health suffer dramatically, culminating with the loss of his wife and soul mate which led to his own death under four months later. It can be quite hard listening, is very sad and often morbid, and contains lots of references to death and religion but it is absolutely superb and well worth checking out. In fairness it is pretty much all covers of his own favourite songs, but he completely makes them his own. The best two albums in my opinion are ‘American IV’ and ‘American VI’ (his last ever studio album before his death). My other most played album at the moment is ‘Devils and Dust’ by Bruce Springsteen. Epic.

I was going to write a post purposely leaving out Tang Soo Do for a change but I couldn’t do it! The European Championships are now only 22 days away as I type this and I am starting to get very excited. I’m not quite sure why though as I think that this is the least likely of all the tournaments I have competed in so far that I will actually come away with anything other than bruises. It’s not a lack of confidence on my part, it’s just that at my current level the competition is going to be really, really hard this time and I can’t see myself getting an easier draw as I have done at previous competitions. Even so it feels like ages since we had a club outing and I cant wait to load up the cars and get the hell out of Cornwall for a few days. I have worked hard on my sparring over the last couple of months in the build up to the tournament and apart from the odd bout of injury and illness it has been quite steady going. It is the forms that are causing me the biggest headache at the moment as I am learning subtle, but dramatically important differences with my chosen forms at every senior class and it makes me wonder if I will ever get it sorted before the tournament. Very worrying, especially as I have had a couple of mind blanks when performing in front of the rest of the group recently, so I am praying I will be able to pull it together when it matters and it will be alright on the day.

It also wouldn’t be right if I didn’t completely cock up my application form, which I managed to do again this time. I sent off the form somehow forgetting to pay for and tick the banquet section, so I had to send a very late and grovelling letter to Master Kumar in the hope he would add me to the guest list. Fortunately for me he sent a really nice e-mail back and I am glad to say I will be dining with the rest of the British team afterwards! There is a grading this weekend which I have been told I will feature in, despite not being immediately involved, and it looks like myself and a fellow first gup will be demonstrating for the day which is a pretty nerve racking thought but I am relishing the challenge. It does feel like I have been shying away from my responsibilities at times, especially if I look at what my immediate seniors were doing when they were the same grade I am now so I guess it is about time I did something meaningful at a major club event. The trouble I have is that I get extremely nervous when put in the spotlight, so god knows how I will cope at the grading but we shall see. At least I wont be alone.

Well that’s about all for now. For some reason I can never get the whole embed/website-link thing to work on here so if you get a minute copy and paste this: Bruce Springsteen – Reno into a Youtube search browser and select the third entry down (should be a picture of the album cover) and enjoy… pay special attention to the lyrics

More sun now please.

A couple of weeks ago we had a bit of a hectic Seminar in preparation for the upcoming European Championships in April which left me battered and bruised, but very happy. I actually wrote my review the day after but have been a bit slack and am only now posting it along with a general update.

The two days prior to the seminar were long and mind numbingly boring shifts in work and I also picked up a spot of the old man-flu which did not help matters. This made me feel a bit low and tired, so it was a welcome relief to have a nice chilled evening on the Saturday night although I did stay up quite late to my downfall. Sunday is generally a slow day for me and I found it very hard dragging myself out of bed, which meant it was a mad rush to get out of the house and over to Falmouth in time. The Europeans will be my next tournament and I am really looking forward to it, but it has thrown up a bit of a dilemma. I can only enter three categories this time and I really wanted to compete in the Chang Bong (long stick) category, but that would mean either dropping a forms category (which is where I think I stand the most realistic chance of getting a medal) or drop sparring. Sparring in my opinion is luck of the draw on the day as you can train as hard as you want but as my instructor always says, if you get the eventual winner in your first fight then you are screwed and you might get people who are bigger, faster and just plain better than you, so it is hit or miss for me which is why I toyed with the idea of entering staff forms instead. But…. I just don’t think I could go to a competition and not fight, so unfortunately I don’t think I will be testing my Chang Bong prowess this time round. It’s a shame but I think that it would be a very tough category anyway, especially as some of my Cornish comrades are entering and are so much better at stick wielding than I am so its probably for the best.

Now comes my second problem. What forms shall I compete with? I know the two that I want to compete with, but this is not really up to me as I am not the best judge of my own ability, so I will be using the upcoming senior classes to determine what my best looking forms are. I want to do Bassai for traditional forms and Chil Sung Sam Ro for the Chil Sung Category, but I have a sneaky suspicion that my instructor wants me to drop a form in both categories. I won a silver for Chil Sung Il Ro at the British Championships but I was a third Gup then so I don’t want to be doing that form if all the other first gups are performing the form above (Sam Ro), will it make a huge difference in the judges eyes and will they score higher if the form is higher? We have spent a lot of time on Pyung Ahn Oh Dan at Wednesday’s senior class recently and I have performed that form at my last two competitions so I really want to step it up now and perform Bassai at the Europeans, but again, this isn’t down to me. I will go with whatever is recommended for me and ultimately what is best for the Cornish team.

So the Falmouth Seminar then… After turning up at the last minute and feeing very embarrassed at trying to enter the wrong door and having to get changed ultra quick and rush onto the mat, things eventually got going with a warm up and stretch and then straight into forms. We were told that we would be performing our two chosen forms in groups according to grade in front of the class to discuss the finer points and subtle differences, and also that there was going to be a mini tournament where you would perform both forms in front of a judging panel, and the entire room. I am still not very confident with Bassai yet as there are loads of fine points which I need to query and correct before the tournament and was a little nervous about performing it in front of the entire class. I don’t think it went too bad but I definitely recall performing it at light speed as you often tend to do when the spotlight is on you! I did the same with Chil Sung Sam Ro but as I had already experienced the pressure I was a little more relaxed. It was the mini forms competition where I made a few errors but on the whole I was pleased.

After a quick break we had a quick warm up and stretch (tournament style) and moved onto sparring. We split into two groups with one group relaxing while the other was fighting, continuously switching to a different partner every time. It was great as I got to fight some of the up and coming green belts who are about my size and are getting pretty damn good now, but also there were lots of younger white and yellow belts I got to fight/coach too which was very pleasing. After the various drills and free practice we had another mini sparring competition where the whole group were split into two teams and had one fight each (winning team choosing fighter and opponent each time) with one team victorious at the end. It was very close and there were some epic rounds and the atmosphere was intense, more than some competitions I have been to thinking about it! I fought second to last and was up against one of our young orange belts who loves his sparring and is never afraid of getting stuck in. He caught me with some very good techniques including a sweet Peet Ch Gee which I bowed to him for, very impressive. I think he probably should have won it but the round did go in my favour.

At the end it was time for a big announcement and presentation (which I was made aware of before hand, being part time cameraman for the day) and one of my seniors was called to the front of the class. I can’t think of anyone who deserves their Dan Grade more so a huge congratulations is in order, you know who you are!! As a self confessed lightweight to hot, spicy foods I genuinely felt for you during ‘the final test’, hope you have grown your face back now!

Since the seminar, training has been very hard and I finally think I have got my fitness back up to a level I am happy with. We have started the new Viper Squad league after a couple of false starts and I have now been taught my two new forms; Sip Soo and Naihanchi Cho Dan, both of which I absolutely love. I have been dying to learn them and have been practicing both constantly in the little spare time I have to myself and both are proving quite tricky. Naihanchi Cho Dan is a lot harder than I thought it would be and I have been struggling with it quite a lot. It has some new techniques which I have not come across before like a certain move which resembles a Joong Dan Sang Soo Do Mahk Kee but turned sideways to 45 degrees and with the front hand facing palm down instead of palm up. Would love to know the Korean and the (various) application(s) of this move so will do some digging and see what I can find.

Just trying to save for the Europeans now and have a couple of seminars to keep me going in between, plus a grading in March. I cant wait to be rid of winter now and am looking forward to spring/summer.

I seem to do battle with Christmas every year in a quest to not get run down with work and keep my morale up, and on the whole it has been pretty enjoyable. I worked right up until Christmas eve where we closed the shop at one and then headed off for a quick pint with the rest of the guys from work before heading off to friends and family. Christmas day was a very lazy affair and I didn’t really do more than eat an extremely large meal (the only day of the year my Mum has the chance to completely over feed me), drink a moderate amount of alcohol and play my x-box in my PJ’s. Boxing day was spent at my other half’s house and the following day was a return to the x-box again, damn you Assassins Creed!!!

After going back to work for a duration of three days it was onto the new year celebrations. New years eve didn’t exactly start off well as I was already suffering from a hangover and was extremely tired. Fortunately after a couple of beers I was ok again and myself and my fighting comrades proceeded to the Corn Exchange possibly for the last time (under that name at least) where we enjoyed lots of dancing and booze, plus destroying my hand on a punch bag game. I went to hit it as hard as I could and went through the bag and beyond, slamming my fist into the back of the machine which means most of my right hand went very blue and swollen.

It has been nice to have a little break from training (albeit a relatively short one) to recover from the niggling little injuries (and gain a couple more), but I am absolutely fired up to get going again. It feels like I have been away for months and I feel very lethargic and weak and cant wait to be kicked back into shape. I did manage to get an hour of training in before the normal classes started up again which was nice as I can never normally attend due to work. It was the annual ‘Blow out the Cobwebs’ beach training hosted by a friendly Taekwondo club. It involves a very cold hour training on the beach in full uniform before a dip in the sea (still in uniform), usually involving press-ups below sea level which we all did. It was absolutely freezing and I lost all feeling in my feet and was very relieved to get back in the warm car afterwards! I did feel very out of practice all being said, and have been going through my relevant forms, etc so I am not completely out of practice. We did manage to start training again last Wednesday but then the snow hit.

It has really come in strong this year and cost me a day off work which was nice but since I have been commuting via train which is a massive hassle as I cant stand public transport and I just want it to go now. My car has been parked on my drive since today and the only three people who I have witnessed trying to get their car down our hill, round the corner and back up the other side have failed miserably, so mine has been left firmly on the driveway until today when I successfully piloted a voyage to Tesco. My mum also suffered on the first day of the snow as she got about a minute up the road when the blizzards came and she slid her car into a hedge which was where it resided for about four days. The snow wasn’t all bad though as I built a very large snowman which unfortunately collapsed right at the end and I had to re-build it due to my stubbornness and reluctance to lose to someone made of snow. The same evening a couple of us decided to hit the icy slopes of Camborne skate park for some snow-body boarding where I was very pleased to nail a drop knee spin and also suffer a very bruised ankle. It does actually have to be done though unfortunately.

It wasn’t the best end to 2009 and to be honest I am glad to see the back of it, but this year is already looking action packed with the return of Seni, plus another Martial Arts expo on the same week, the European Championships, and lots more surprises I’m sure. After what seemed like a harmless bit of fun I have now been with my current girlfriend for almost two months now and we are becoming very close. I have made it my new year resolution to make a lot more effort with my friends by spending more time being sociable rather than being sat at home on my own. I feel some people just deserve a little more from me so I will try and be a lot more committed with my training and give back to the people who give me so much of their time. Hopefully I have started to make progress here already.

Here’s to a great new year!

My 29th birthday actually managed to span an entire week and I received some really nice messages from people who I haven’t spoken to for ages which was unexpected but very welcome. I obviously had my ass well and truly kicked at training too, but that is how it works these days and I wouldn’t change it for anything. On the day of my birthday I hit an all time low though, thinking about how much my life has changed in the last couple of years and the realisation that my youth is now officially over hit me like a train. I’m sure it is something we all face at some point in our lives but I can be a bit of a sensitive soul underneath my ripped, rock solid exterior you know! To make matters worse my birthday excesses also came at a price and the successive late nights, alcohol and sleep deprivation caught up with me one Monday morning when I woke up feeling like absolute death. I managed about an hour in work before being driven home. I spent the next three days in bed with the worst bout of illness I have had for years. Not cool. Luckily it only lasted for about a week or so unlike some of my more unfortunate friends and I didn’t miss out on too much training.

Training has been extremely cool recently and is always the best way to take your mind off the stresses of day to day life! I feel a bit under par fitness wise but we have all been a bit under the weather recently so the lessons have sometimes needed to be a little slower than normal, but this has been made up by the intricacy of the technical side of Tang Soo Do especially in our senior class, we could easily spend four or five hours training on Wednesday night and still not scratch the surface with some of the higher forms. My main aim at the moment is getting Bassai into my head which I have requested at the last two sessions and with the right guidance is starting to come along now (my favourite form is still Chil Sung Sam Ro though!) and had a good question and answer style, form based senior class yesterday which helped iron out some of the differences and stumbling blocks we all pick up along the way.

It was followed by a really different Sport Tang Soo Do class which I thoroughly enjoyed. It started off with boxing style drills using various partner assisted combinations against focus mitts which absolutely killed me, I couldn’t catch my breath at all. I have been really into boxing at the moment probably due to the recent Haye – Valuev fight but am also becoming a very big fan of Manny Pacquiao too who is just unstoppable at the moment, so it was great to work on some hand techniques in light of that. Very tiring though. We then moved onto some takedown stuff and luckily I managed to perk up a bit as it would seem that I enjoy being thrown around almost as much as I do dropping people, which is a little worrying! It is something I have always thought about trying again, although I would probably veer more towards Jujitsu than Judo now especially as there is a club we are quite friendly with a stones through away. My friend has been asking me to come along to his old boxing club with him so I am not really sure what to do (if anything). Maybe one day. The best part of the lesson was the one on one groundwork and submission fighting with my instructor at the end which completely drained the rest of my days energy from me. I haven’t done anything like that for a very long time and it was great to try some locks, chokes, arm bars, etc. The most fun I have had lying down for a long time, which definitely isn’t a good thing!!!

It is apparent that the whole Christmas thing is beginning to creep in again and even though I always end up moaning about how much I hate the festive period, I am determined to have a good one this year! After days of negotiations the work rota for December has finally been agreed and for once I am actually ok with it. The only harsh thing I can see is that I might have to miss one or two training sessions on Wednesday due to the Truro late night shopping and am going to have to set a new Guinness world record by getting from City Music to the Dojang in under half an hour for the kids class on Sunday, but apart from that it is all good.

It would also appear that I have gained an unexpected birthday present too, which I might be allowed to keep…