Wow what a trip! The first few days of heat, sunshine and water parks meant that none of us wanted anything to do with a competition, holiday mode had certainly set in in Villa 1! So it was reluctantly that we swapped swimming gear for team tracksuit and Dobok mid week and headed over to a conference centre for an EMTF team chat and bonding experience. This was just what we needed in fact to get us back into the Tang Soo Do mood. After a couple of hours of meditation, victory visualisation, a quick forms run through with the UK contingent and then a photo shoot (but of course I’ll sign your belt! ), it was back to the pool though this time with heads fully back into the game.

The following day, during which we were treated to three seminars with KJNs Ferraro, Ah-Po and Khalid, exceeded all our expectations. It was very surprising that almost all of the EMTF representatives at the seminars were Cornish as they were of great interest and much of what was taught was a one-off. The Gups, Dans and Masters were all separated and each took a turn with each KJN. KJN Ferraro was easily the most charismatic and worked mainly on the different uses of the hip – defensive, offensive and reactionary, the third of which I’d not hear of before but turned out to be the one used in back stance (defensive and pulled right back). KJN Ah-Ph was as intimidating as all the stories say, demanding absolute attention and proper observation of etiquette. Not someone I’d like to cross! His seminar was based around how we learn and the five steps of learning –

1. Look with the intent to Learn
2. Listen with the intent to Learn
3. Record
4. Imitate
5. Practice Practice Practice!!

I have a horrible feeling I’ve confused the first two but it amounts to the same thing…hopefully! The content of these seminars seems so basic when written down but in their essence worked on exactly the building blocks that needed the most attention. Having a greater understanding of the uses of the hip and what to look for and how to process what your instructor tries to teach you has greatly helped my ability to improve.

The last seminar with KJN Khalid was certainly a rapid departure from the first two! He’s one of those characters who looks slightly crazy but is all the more awesome for it, with a bandana adding to the overall hippy image. His seminar was based around the stance in sparring – the “Lurve” stance as he called it, which was much shorter than the one we use with feet placed just wider than the shoulders with the front foot facing towards the opponent and the back foot at a right angle (forming an “L”). The shorter stance enabled much longer reaching kicks which was demonstrated by KJN Khalid’s son that Sunday during the Master’s sparring. After a very long day it was back to the villa for a relaxing session at the pool.

The tournament itself began at 9am with a two hour line up session with speeches and ceremonies which just never seemed to end! Twelve countries were in attendance including South Africa and Korea with over 400 competitors in total, with over 140 Masters alone! Both days of competition were incredibly long, gup grade forms were on last so I had to wait over 10 hours to compete! Luckily gups were on first with sparring so my part was over by midday. It was a fantastic experience taking part in the team competition which I’d been pretty nervous about beforehand. Sadly both UK Men’s teams got knocked out before the finals, perhaps when we’re on home turf in 2013 we may be slightly luckier. However the women’s first team went through to win the finals against the South Africans with all of us cheering them on – the EMTF raised the roof! The competition was brilliant, it felt so good to part of a worldwide community all fighting for the same thing. The banquet on the Saturday night and the after party with the Germans was just what was needed after a long couple of days. I’m still reeling from all that went on.

Hopefully we’ll be able to take a much larger contingent from Cornwall to the Worlds in 2013 as its never quite the same without our whole family. But thank you to all who made it the special trip it was, and a massive thank you to Master James and Mr Leonard for organising and coaching over the last year and taking the time to make it the incredible experience that it was.

Tang Soo!

A couple of weekends ago saw the ISK martial arts gang heading up to our favourite premier inn for my second experience of the British Nationals, a competition held annually in Master Kumar’s hometown of Bedford. The drive has become quite familiar over the last year so after the customary mahoosive burger at Exeter service station, the quizzes began and didn’t stop until constant radio contact became too much to bear (:P). Thanks to the very welcome Pick n Mix provided by the Right Honourable Mr Richards (you are forever welcome to travel with me from now on you’ll be pleased to know), hunger was staved off till we reached the hotel after a very long day. Exhausted, an early night was called for and I have to say I sparked out pretty much immediately.

The next morning was as bright and cheerful as lots of stomach butterflies can make it, until that is we realised that the satnav wasn’t in fact making it up and yes it would take us the best part of an hour to get to the Sports centre where the competition was to be held. We eventually made it, thankfully not the last to arrive, and after a quick change we soon realised that the wonderful farmyard smell was not going to disappear *disgusted upper class lip curl*. With a scheduled start of 9am the competition began all guns blazing at half ten with the gup grades going first. It’s already been commented on that this was not the usual order of the day but I think we provided a good start, bringing in trophies here there and everywhere. It’s strange to look back and think what it was like at my first tournament (not that long ago I might add, I’m not old yet!) and how nervous I was. Trust me, that feeling doesn’t change! When your name is called, no matter how ready you think you are, your stomach will always feel that it’s just dropped into an Abyss of Terror. Capital letters and all.

So, the gup Hyungs were first up followed by the Dan grades and finally the Masters, which are always a pleasure to watch. The level of technique and pure physical understanding of the forms is just incredible, and competition is really the only time we get to see SBNs demonstrate high level Hyungs. However, by the time these had been performed it was already half three in the afternoon, and with the sparring still to go before the 6 o’clock finish it was a bit of a rush!

The sparring from my point of view was quite possibly the most memorable. Making three girls cry is both a testament to what a bada$$ I am (Xena told me herself that she thought I was one, how awesome is that! That girl kicks butt and she thinks I’m cool!) but also how different it is sparring girls to boys. It’s quite difficult really to judge how hard you should go when you’re used to putting a bit more aggression behind your technique. Nevertheless from what I could see the others did incredibly well in their categories, I believe there’ll be some more awesome pics once Kitty gets a move on and uploads some!

The Masters sparring was brilliant to watch and I have to admit a bit nerve-wracking. I know it’s pathetic but I was squeezing Mr A Richard’s Dobok the entire time Master James was in the ring with Master Cockram, no offence honey but I thought he’d take your head off! So was very pleased that that didn’t happen and in the end it was a brilliant fight. The remainder of the Master’s sparring was fantastic to watch, with the guy who eventually won showing off some outstanding technique and speed.

Overall, an awesome weekend and as always it was a pleasure to share it with such a fantastic group of friends.

Tang Soo!

P.s. No way are we missing out on clubbing next time, no matter how tired we are!

I’m sure most will agree with me when I say that Tang Soo Do is more than just a hobby, even if it starts out that way. It becomes the code by which you try to live your life, and not just for the physical side – cutting down on alcohol and tobacco for instance, are not simply to aid your physical fitness and cardio, but have deeper implications tracing back to wanting to be a ‘purer’ person. Having recently quit smoking, I can tell you that everything feels much clearer and cleaner, like some dirty sheet has been suddenly whipped away. But getting back to the point, Tang Soo Do is more a way of life than an after-work activity.

The people you meet for one thing are not exactly the people you think you’d ordinarily hang out with. Being a university student having been to an all girls secondary school, having guy friends at all, let alone ones who are already married etc came as a pleasant shock. But they become the people you fall back on, the ones you trust more than anyone else, even over the group you meet at university who take you out clubbing every so often. Funnily enough, talking about boys, shoes and…well, boys and shoes, isn’t nearly as entertaining as conversation with your fellow martial artists, even if it is a chat about storm troopers or the difference between rival brands of sparring gear. What I’m trying to say is the people you meet in the Dojang become more than just your friends, they’re family. I’ve said this before although I believe it was whilst hanging onto a bar during one of my first night outs with TSD peeps, but it still rings true.

Aside from the lovey-dovey family aspect, Tang Soo Do gives you a break from your normal routine. When I first started over a year ago, I was up to the neck in university assignments, new people and the stress of trying to come to terms with general university (and Cornish) life. The hour and a half of time spent in the Dojang was like being plugged into a battery charger. All the day to day stresses could be forgotten and set aside, leaving the mind calm enough to let the body take over. As I’ve moved up the ranks and different fears and ‘normal life’ anxieties have materialised, I still find that Tang Soo Do is a time to recharge and reset. I sound like a walking advertisement but I’m in complete earnest when I say that Tang Soo Do is the best thing that’s happened to me so far. I joined for the fitness, the self-defence skills and, if I’m honest, because I had nothing else better to do that Monday night, but what I got was something life-changing. It doesn’t take a lot to turn up to class one day a week, even if you’ve never done martial arts before and aren’t sure it’s for you, but boy is it worth it!