For those interested, we train on a Thursday night 6.30-7.30 at Penryn College. Ages 6-10.

Just need to remember all their names now…

First up was the second Dan grading of the year, seeing one candidate testing for Second Dan, one for Senior First Dan and a third attempting to make the big leap to First Dan. As always, the grading took place behind closed doors, and what happened behind those doors remains secret for just those in attendance, but suffice to say that these senior grades are most definitely earned and not given or paid-for. End the end of four or five hours of mental and physical battle against themselves and those helping with the grading, they hauled their bodies off home for soak, ready to get up the next day and head to Falmouth for the second of the weekend’s gradings.

The new Performance Centre at Tremough Campus played host to one of the largest gradings ISK have ever seen, and for the first time saw both the Tang Soo Do  and the Doksa Kickboxing students being tested for their new grades. Many TSD students hadn’t seen a Doksa lesson, and to demonstrate just how hard the kickboxers work in their sessions, they graded first. It’s fair to say that after their test I think most people in the hall had a new respect for the programme.

Next up were the Tang Soo Do students, including a large new batch from the Falmouth University club, the new students from the Centre Of Excellence in Redruth and students from Mevagissey too. The testing was very tough and it only got tougher as the grades went up. We’ve been pushing high standards for a long time, and over the last year the testing has become more rigorous and the expectations higher, but despite these demands everyone excelled themselves and we ended the year with a 100% pass rate. This isn’t something we’ve been able to say of every grading in the last year, it just goes to show how much everyone has upped their game.

A very proud group of instructors want to thank everyone for their continued efforts and enthusiasm, and for their help in keeping this club at the very top.

After a phenomenally busy and rewarding year, ISK Martial Arts has opened its doors for the first time in the new year.

If, like us, you’ve had a lazy break, eating and drinking too much and piling on the Christmas pounds, come and see us. Many people turn straight to the gym in the new year with all the good intentions in the world, but unfortunately there’s one inescapable fact: the gym is boring!

Come and try Tang Soo Do or Kickboxing with us and you’ll soon learn that exercise can be varied, sociable, stimulating and inspiring. Having goals and grades to work toward rather than grinding out mile after mile on the treadmill or exercise bike makes an enormous difference, and you’ll soon find yourself looking forward to getting out of the house on these dark evenings and working up a sweat.

Your first two lessons this January are FREE, so what have you got to lose?? Class times and locations can be found on the site, or drop us a line and ask any questions you might have.

I used to love teaching these sessions, but as our numbers dropped some years ago my enthusiasm drained, this was our fault, we stopped advertising, stopped pushing for more students and in doing so became unorganised. Now things couldn’t be more different. Starting small we have a regular class of youngsters who have just gained their first Tags in our Karate Kids program, the tag was for pad drills and throughout the class I was surprised at how eager they were to impress the Black Belts and how each one had taken the drills home with them to practice.

It was a different kind of enthusiasm than you see in normal Adult classes, and for those that don’t want to teach children, or in fact don’t like teaching them, I would beg you to reconsider. I felt a great amount of pride swelling when we dismissed them and the father of one of the sons approached me to say that he thought it was great what we were doing, he wanted to thank me personally.

You often don’t get thanked in your role as Instructor, this sometimes leaves you feeling a little taken for granted, but its part of the job, however its times like this that makes the headaches, late nights, hours ploughed into coaching etc.. all worthwhile.

So I’m sat in the dreaded chair, lamp shining in my face, dentist above me sticking needles into my gums thinking ‘I’d rather not be here actually’ when I decide to practise what I preach, and try some visualisation.

Visualisation is a really important tool in sports psychology and a lot of other areas nowadays, and there are studies that show visualising something enough before doing it can actually train muscle memory without actually using those muscles. That wasn’t my goal in this instance though, I just wanted to put my mind somewhere else, and so I decided to step through my latest traditional form – Jinto – in my mind’s eye, in as much detail as humanly possible. At first it was a really difficult task, trying to keep concentrated on that and not the noise of someone drilling a hole in my face, but I got there eventually and I have to say it worked really well. I was able to examine really small, seemingly inconsequential details that I might not otherwise look at, and I caught myself at one point trying to work out application for the moves in the form.

In the end, I didn’t even make it to the end of my form, and given the fact that I was in the chair for half an hour and that the form is only around 38 moves in length, I was surprised. More importantly though, the appointment and dental work weren’t even in the front of my thoughts, and it was over before I knew it. Dentist appointments are always the same for me, I’m much more anxious before than when I’m actually in the chair. Once the injections are in it’s really not a big deal, but despite that, it was still a much more pleasant – and productive – way to spend the time.

Mu Shin (no mind) is an important thing in martial arts traininig, to be able to separate the conscious and subconscious and just let your body get on with what it knows, but equally important is the ability to be able to concentrate so much on one thing that you shut everything else out. This visualisation or concentration can help you get through some tough times, whether it’s sitting in the dentist’s chair, or struggling to get that hundredth push-up out in your grading, so the next time you’re in a situation where your brain would rather not be (and it’s safe – no zoning out at the traffic lights!) try visualising an aspect of your training.

As ever, the standard was impressively high, with everyone from 10th gup up to 3rd gup passing without referral!

A fantastic effort and Moo Do spirit shown by all, making for one very proud grading panel made up of some of ISK’s Dan grades. Click on the thumbnails below for a full gallery from the day.

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Aside from waxing lyrical about the changing of the seasons, what I love most about October is the promise of new students! The Falmouth branch of ISK Tang Soo Do operates out of the University one night a week, and this time of the month brings all the new Fresher students. We recently spent a Sunday at the Freshers fair, trying our best to smile and entice people to give Tang Soo Do a try. We must have done something right as we signed up over 130 people that afternoon! The number is impressive, however I know full well that the Freshers fair brings with it a peculiar sense of fevered enthusiasm for any club or society. I remember my Freshers Fair (At the very same university), I was caught up a frenzy of sign-up forms. I think I signed up to the Gardening club, the Expedition Society, expressed an interest in learning Tai Chi and doing environmental management volunteering, despite my only goal of the fair being to sign up to the hockey team, which I also did.

Point being, that when offered a pen, some paper to sign and the chance to help themselves to a bowl of sweets, students will go crazy.

Come the class the following day I think we were quite relieved when 130 people failed to show up. Still, we had around 30 rock up to give it a go, which was fantastic. There was the normal mix of people wanting to get fit, people wanting to learn self defence, people with experience in other arts not practiced down here and people who just wanted to punch things. All were welcome, and all were given a good work out, taught some ho sin sool (self defence) and given a chance to have a punch and a kick of some pads. On the whole I think everyone enjoyed it, and it was such a rewarding feeling to look around the class and see smiling faces.

From past experience we know other people will drift along in the coming weeks as they get settled into university life, and we welcome them wholeheartedly. It can be a great experience learning a martial art at university – a fantastic social life and a crew of interesting and enthusiastic people to hang out with. Looking forward to next Monday’s lesson and to seeing who else will be coming along to have a go!

It’s hard to explain what it is that makes having new people in a class so much fun, but I think it’s partially down to the fact that they remind us of ourselves starting out, and we remember how much fun those first few months are. Getting bitten by ‘the bug’ is such a great feeling, and everything is new and different. That’s not to say that we’re all bitter, wisened old hands who’ve seen it all before, far from it, but starting out in Tang Soo Do is like the start of a big road trip – exciting!

I think a long road trip is quite a good analogy for a student’s journey in TSD. At the outset there’s that massive blast of excitement; you’re keen, eager and if anything like me, won’t shut up about it. You get the odd spells where it seems like it’s all a bit too much, and all you want to do is lean your head against the window and take five minutes out, but those soon wear off and leave you refreshed and chomping at the bit. It’s the journey, not the destination.

Anyway, I’m digressing here, the point of this quick update was just to express how good it is to have fresh blood in the dojang, and how much fun it is to live through those first few months vicariously. They’ve got a lot of learning, a lot of hard work, and a massive amount of fun to look forward to. I hope that comes across when we work with them in the classes.

Welcome aboard guys, enjoy the ride!

Despite the horrible weather outside, people still came to have a look at the newly refurbished academy as the students and instructors put each other through their paces with demonstrations of sparring, kicking, board breaking, forms, self-defence and everything in-between. Plenty of hot tea and coffee helped keep spirits high and hands warm.

The amount of interest from the local people surpassed even our own high expectations, and parents especially were glad to see the emphasis of our teaching on the traditional aspects of our martial arts; respect and discipline.

We love the new T-shirts!

We were lucky enough to have the mayor in attendance to come and see the results of our hard work and long hours spent getting the building ready, and after some kind words (not to mention a few punches thrown by the mayor himself!) we now feel firmly a part of the town and local community.

New students are already coming through the door, with more set to join them in the very near future. If you want to see what the fuss is about, get fit, and learn some valuable life skills, why not come and give it a go yourself? Your first time is free so you’ve got nothing to lose, why not head over to our contact page and take that first step?

The day is going to be an Open Day, starting with the official opening by the Mayor of Redruth at 11am, and offering demonstrations, meet and greet sessions and a chance for anyone who wants to get on the mats to give it a go!

Located in the town centre, next to a large car-park, it’s the ideal place for anyone looking to get into martial arts or trying to find something different to keep fit. We’ve got two custom-fitted studios with safe, matted floors, qualified instructors and loads of padded training equipment. Come along and try traditional Korean karate (Tang Soo Do), modern freestyle kickboxing, and soon many other classes too.

We’ll be around until about 5pm on Saturday, so if you’re curious and want to see what all the fuss is about, ask some questions, or just have a cup of tea and a chat, feel free to come and meet us. We’re located directly above Wilkinsons in the middle of Fore Street in Reduth, right next to the large council car park. We hope to see you all there!