September 20th was an important day in the history of Full Circle Martial Arts as it was their inaugural seminar marking their independence as a group in their own right.
This seminar was certainly packed with ‘names’ from the martial arts world.
Iain Abernethy (Bunkai Jutsu pioneer), Nigel Lee (founder of the MEME system), Grandmaster Paul Bowman (8th Dan pressure points), Martial Arts Master Keith Gray (aka “The Street”) Master Dave Martin (Taekwondo and Tai Chi) and Ustaad Harjinger Singh (GATKA self-defense, and weapons) were all present to give their take on the martial arts.
The day kicked off with Jounier taking the group through a gentle warm-up. This event was so well attended that they were actually pushed for space! That’s not something you see at most seminars and must have been very satisfying for the hosts David Webster and Jounier Taylor.
From there it was straight into the Practical Karate with Iain covering aspects of Kushanku and Naihanchi. As ever Iain’s performance was polished and many people commented that two hours was not enough! Assisted by Nigel Lee, Iain took the attendees through a number of drills working on both the flinch (which he interpreted as the start of Naihanchi), and using knife hand guarding block to bridge the gap and start hurting the opponent.
Iain’s knowledge never ceases to amaze me, nor how much he’s able to pack into a short time. Drill followed drill seamlessly and the sweat started to flow. It was exciting to see people who had initially started off struggling with the techniques start to flow more and more as the seminar progressed, proving that it’s always the simple stuff that works best.
Having been Iain’s assistant, it was Nigel Lee’s turn to demonstrate aspects of his system. Unfortunately his slot was reduced to only 30 minutes. This was a great shame as it was clear that he had put a lot of work into his Minimum Effect Maximum Effort (MEME) system and 30 minutes was just not long enough for him to show case it. The applications that he did demonstrated were clearly effective, with a couple completely disorientating the opponent as they were taken in directions completely unexpected. The disorientation caused would clearly give the defender plenty of time to either deliver a finishing blow or make their escape.
After Nigel’s excellent insight in MEME, Masters Keith Grey and David Martin presented aspects of their martial arts. Keith called host David Webster up to help him demonstrate a knife defence technique. With David coming in full speed, Keith demonstrated a technique that would not work. He then moved on to demonstrate a technique that he knew would work. David came in full speed, full power and walked right on to a shink kick to the stomach. All thought of trying to get Keith with the knife any further went right out of his head as he dropped to the ground.
Dave Martin took us through a Tai Chi form that he used to work on a locking flow drill. Everyone was able to feel the energy as they moved through the form two or three times, feeling their fingers tingle and their palms getting warmer. Once we had gone through the form, we then moved on to the applications, flowing from one lock to another.
The seminar came to an end with Paul Bowman stepping onto the mat. Paul has trained with pressure points expert George Dillman for many years and his knowledge and expertise Dillman’s art of Ryukyu Kempo Tomari-te was clear to all.
One vital aspect of Karate that Paul covered was the correct way to punch. Many karate-ka believe that the correct way to punch is with a palm-down fist. This is the ‘traditional’ method that has been passed on for many years. Using pain as a convincer, Paul clearly demonstrated that the most effective way to punch is with the fist at a 45 degree angle (as if you were holding a car steering wheel correctly).
Paul finished his demonstration with an impressive dispaly of how to steal an attacker’s energy and throw it back at him, knocking him out with laying a finger on him. Many jaws hit the floor at that point.
Gatka has always been a martial art that has fascinated me and it was a highlight of the day to be given the opportunity to get hands on. The fitness required for full-on Gatka become readily apparent as we were taken through a simple four-step drill. Simple at slow speed, however as it sped up what seemed simple seemed to get harder and harder with every beat of the drum.
With students of all ages (the youngest being six!) demonstrating their prowess, the crowd was treated to a martial display of some of the most exotic weapons you can think of. Crowd participation was key with the Gatka troupe often finishing their demonstrations with very near (and loud) misses.
Ustaad Harjinger Singh then took five volunteers and placed various pieces of fruit on their stomachs, necks, hands and legs. Once he had had salt thrown and poured in his eyes, a blindfold placed on him and been spun around the demonstration commenced in full. Despite the fact that he was blind, disorientated and constantly spinning, Ustaad Harjinger Singh was able to locate and chop through the fruit with amazing accuracy, finding the mark first time every time.
To say that Ustaad Harjinger Singh is a master of his art is an understatement and his attempts to take Gatka back to its roots should be both applauded and lauded. To see him be presented with his 1st Dan in Karate capped off what had been an amazing day.
Refreshments were also provided, with a most excellent buffet lunch that was cooked by Nigel’s wife. The amount of variety was amazing and many (including me) took full advantage of the selection at hand. The evening refreshments were also excellent with the hotel providing a range of curry dishes such as Butter Chicken and Mutton Masala. To say that the meat was ‘melt in the mouth’ was an understatement. The free bar capped off what had been an amazing day.