Excellent grading Saturday (March 6^th), three separate grading slots of one and a half hours for kids, adults and the ladies only programs.  The process is based on ongoing assessment throughout training.  Those that are ready then enter into the final assessment week, those that pass that enter to the final assessment day, which in this case was Saturday.

Assessing the students was Selina Dorn 3^rd Degree Black Belt, Russ Henshaw 2^nd Degree Black Belt and Myself.  Selina also opted to join in part of the grading with her ladies group, an important part of the work towards 4^th Degree Black Belt promotion.

All students showed great Karate & Kickboxing skills and passed the assessments for their new rank.  Well done to all.

The next grading will be Little Ninjas in May, then adults and juniors in June.  Keep an eye on events page for dates.

Fight Event Derby

Today (Sunday 7^th) we had 6 fighters in Light Continuous Kickboxing show in Derby hosted by ACE Fighters.  Our team was made up of Ben Johnson, Dan Wray, Tim Jackson, John Parry, Russ Henshaw and Nicole Straw.

It was first time for Ben, 3 rounds and he did excellent every round followed my instructions to get himself a good win.  Tim was up next although he didn’t perform particularly well managed a draw.  John was up next, typical John toe to toe style in a fight that could have gone either way, unfortunately for John it wasn’t going his way today and he lost.  Another loss followed with Nicole seemingly ignoring instructions in each round.  Russ was up next and had a great fight to take another win.  Dan was last on and had a tough fight which he won.

Not a bad day with 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses.

Another busy full week of martial arts action over, just a few hours rest tonight and then back to in Monday morning!

Jay

On Sunday February 28^th four PKO members from Dragon Freestyle in Nottingham came to Paragon for their Black Belt grading.  Darren Wood, Chris Lamb and Naseem Anwar all tested for 2^nd Degree Black Belt, and Adrian Redgate for 1^st Degree.

As usual the grading was a tough challenge of mind, body and spirit with all four candidates on the actively on the floor for well over four hours.  No waiting their turn, no watching others doing their bit before they do theirs.  All four where on the floor doing their thing in front of myself and four other examiners for the whole time.

The grading went well from start to finish with all candidates putting in 100% from start to finish.  It’s always nice to see people choosing to go through this type of grading instead of being tempted by the many easy option/paper tiger routes available today.

Well done to all four, and to Ian their Instructor who I promoted to 4^th Degree Black Belt on the same day.

The next black belt grading is November

Jay

Been a little busy organising a few things for the tournaments and fight shows.  I have recently taken on the role as president for the International Amateur Kickboxing Sport Association for England/UK and our tournaments will now be run as IAKSA & ASKO (All Styles Kickboxing Organisation) events.

There's way too much going on to write it all here, click the logo below to see what's going on with the tournaments and fight shows and with the IAKSA and ASKO over here.

Jay

Today is the Chinese New Year, the year of the Tiger.  The Tiger is both feared and respected, and their wisdom sought.  This got me thinking about how the majority of martial artists used to be, most where respected, sometimes even feared, they had knowledge and wisdom.  When I look at many of today's sadly all I see are Paper Tigers.

Anyway here's some facts on the Tiger (real not paper) from a Chinese zodiac perspective

2010 - Year of the White Tiger

The Tiger (associated with good fortune, power, and royalty), is viewed with both fear and respect; hence, their protection and wisdom is sought after. Many people believe the tiger, and not the lion, as the true king of beasts.


Chinese Name: Hu

Ruling Hours: 3:00 am - 4:59 am

Season/Month: Winter/February

Similar to Western Horoscope Sun Sign: Aquarius

Lucky Color: Green

Lucky Numbers: 2, 3

Direction of Orientation: East Northeast

Polarity: Yang (Male)

Fixed Element: Wood (But in 2010 - Metal)

Positive Traits: Agile natural leaders, alert, energetic, independent, far-sighted, charming, friendly, well-liked, loyal, intelligent, confident, courageous, powerful, strong, self-reliant, sacrificing, optimistic, relentlessly competitive, good strategists and tacticians

Negative Traits: Unpredictable, vain, distrustful, impatient, impulsive, quick-tempered, quarrelsome, rebellious, tend to risk their luck too often, often disregard others, are sensititive to criticism and have difficulty keeping their restless nature under control

Associated with Food: Bread, poultry

Associated with Human Anatomy: Respiratory system and lungs (Chinese Medicine)

Jay

Today we did the first of the 2010 workshops covering Karate-Kickboxing principles.  The seminar was attended by 23 students from Paragon, and PKO members from Mansfield, Nottingham as well as North East and North West England.

The session was 3 hours of Karate/Kickboxing principles which started working on footwork and movement before moving on to power.  This was a recap of two of last years workshops.  The main focus of today’s session was to get an understanding of technique speed and timing, then link this to movement and power.  What I wanted was everyone to be moving efficiently while hitting faster and harder.

It definitely worked and everyone left with a good understanding of footwork, speed and power and could all certainly hit hard and fast!

At the end of 3 hours a few of the students left, leaving the rest of the group to work on skills and drills from our boxing syllabus.  For this we worked defence skills of parrying and evasion, followed by working the jab with footwork and correct body management principles.

All in all a great day enjoyed by myself and all that attended.  Looking forward to the next one.

Jay

The seminar attendees from the session, thanks all for attending!

Check our www.kickboxing-pko.co.uk for details of our tournaments and fight shows. 

Looking forward to these events.

Jay

Had a great day today at Burns School of Black Belts in Newcastle where I was invited to teach my Pressure Points.  Was a good turn out of friendly hard working students all of which got stuck in and made the points work for them.

Nice to see those that are regulars on the sessions here at Paragon putting the pieces together and making it work.  Also nice to introduce the material to new people and hopefully I’ll get the chance to return to do more sometime in the future.

Thanks for having me up there, can’t believe there was over  four inches of snow when I turned up!

I’ll put a picture of two up here and on facebook when I can.

Jay

The BSBB members that attended my Pressure Point Karate seminar.  Thanks all, and thanks very much for all the kind words and feedback over on facebook. 

Thanks

Jay

Myself and my good friend Ian Harrison have decided the time is right for us to launch our fight events.  I ran my first of many successful events in 1995, and it was through one of these events Ian was introduced to me in 1998 at a very successful and busy tournament of mine (just to remind Ian he received a concussion at this event and I make the effort to remind him whenever possible!!) and has been a student of mine, as well as a colleague and friend since.

It’s not the first time Ian and I have co-promoted an event.  Some of you will remember the event in Nottingham in 2005 we did.  Again this was another great and successful event with fighters travelling from around the UK to take part in points & continuous style kickboxing categories as well as grappling.

This time we have decided to split the events up into separate and what will be annual events.  The first of these is the Kumite Semi Contact Open Championships on Sunday May 16^th.  This obviously focuses on semi contact (points) fighting and is open to any and all clubs, schools, styles and associations.

Then on November 7^th we have Sedition Light Continuous Championships which concentrates on light continuous in the tournament format.

Our last event is December 12^th when we’ll be hosting a fight show with matches over 3 rounds in semi and light contact, as well as full contact matches!

All the events are to be held in Nottingham and full details will be available soon.  As I write this clubs from various parts of the UK have already said they will be attending, and I have only just mentioned it!

We’ll be running some PKO ref and official course soon so anyone wanting to get involved in the official side of things let us know.  And of course if you want to fight let us know!!

Both Ian and Myself are looking forward to these events and making them work.

Jay

Sunday February 7^th is the first of this years special workshops covering important training and fighting principles.  Last year the workshops focussed on movement, balance and power.  This first workshop will be recapping these important principles and expanding on them by looking closely at distance, timing and speed along with more power principles.

The first 3 hours will be working on Modern Karate & Kickboxing elements, after a brief break we’ll then be covering elements of our all new boxing program for the next hour.

The session is looking good already with our friends from Nottingham, Mansfield, Manchester and North East England already booking places, as well as our own students.  These courses are always well received with everyone taking a lot from them regardless of how long they have been training.

If you want a place get your name down quick!

I’m looking forward to it and hope to see you there!

Jay

The new boxing program has been running for 2 weeks now with no promotion (which will start soon) and I have to say I am happy with the way it’s going.  It’s obviously attracted interest from our current Karate-Kickboxing members, and a few that have heard about it by word of mouth or on our website.

The program is designed to both stand alone and to complement our already successful Kickboxing program.  We’ve got a lot going on with the boxing in the coming year with some great innovations and plans.

Anyone interested in Paragon Boxing should see me.

Jay

First Week Back at Paragon Academy!!

We’ve seen the New Year in here at Paragon with some great classes.  The weather may have put a few off over the week, but the majority made it in and made a start on their 2010 training.

The new boxing classes have got off to a great start, and we haven’t even promoted them yet!  Anyone that fancies trying the boxing sessions needs to contact me.  The classes are open to all.

There’s a few changes taking place over the coming year as we try to further improve what we do and how we do it.  2009 was great, but 2010 is going to be even better.  Some dates are on the events page, others are not; see me for full details of what’s what, when and where!

With the weather conditions we really didn’t expect the first pressure points study group of 2010 (Sat Jan 9^th) to go that well.  Snow locally overnight Friday and Saturday morning made it difficult for some to attend, and difficulties with travelling the A1 meant our friends from the North East didn’t make the trip down (can’t blame them, that A1 can be a nightmare!!).  However many did make, more than we thought would, including Michelle making the trip from Manchester (including her really cool hat).  Those attending covered a good mix of material from level one and two.

Overall a good start to what is sure to be a great year!

Jay

2009 has been another great year for Paragon.  I would just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their continued support.

We have some great things planned for 2010.  First of these is the launch of the new boxing program in January which is already getting a fair amount of interest!

There’s loads more for 2010 and into 2011 but I’m not going to cut into my well earned break and write about them here!

Anyway I hope everyone is having a great Christmas and enjoying their break too, and I hope you all have a fun New Years Eve, I know I will….. Best wishes for 2010

Jay

Excellent night last night at the Full Contact show with 3 wins and a draw for us!  Thanks to all the supporters for making the effort and making some noise for the lads.

Tim Jackson followed my instructions well to win a unanimous decision in his first ring fight.  Picking off his opponent with crisp clean hands and landing some well timed kicks.

John Parry was in a toe to toe war for his first full contact fight.  Both lads gave their all and a draw for this one really was the fairest decision.

Russ Henshaw caused his opponent a few problems from the start, following instructions Russ looked good and strong.  His opponent didn’t come out for the 3^rd round giving Russ the win.

Ian Kitchen looked good landing some very good heavy right hands on his opponent in a good fight with both lads going for it.  Ian got a majority decision.

Well done lads, great night, great action and some laughs in the back!  Thanks again to the supporters for getting behind me and the lads.

Already busy next year we’ve got a sport karate & kickboxing tournament in January, full contact shows in February and March.  Any of our students that want to get involved with the fight team should let me know.

Thanks

Jay

I’ve got the tickets for the full contact show on the 28^th.  We have four of our fighters matched on the show so it’s a busy night for me!!

Tickets are £15.00 see me if you want one.

Jay

Excellent session today in the pressure points.  Shame those that travel for these sessions got held up on the M1, and that some couldn't make the session as this was last one of 2009.

Covered some traditional Kata bunkai, Boxing/Kickboxing applications, Self Defence applications, and control and restraint using pressure points.

The session went very well as usual.  I don't usually single anyone out but Michelle Zelazowski stood out today showing very good strong traditional karate skills further enhanced by what she has learned on the Kyusho programme.  I am sure Russ will have several bruises to prove this!!

Looking forward to getting everyone back together for the 2010 events, lots of progress will be made next year and we should see graduations at both level one and some at level two.

Jay

October has been busy as usual and November and December will be the same.

During November we have gradings, first aid training, and the full contact fights at the end of the month, hopefully have some ticket info at that next week.

Plenty of things in December too before we close for Christmas.

Part of why I am so busy, and why I was in London for a week in October is this  www.paragonprotect.co.uk 

Check it out and let me know what you think?  The site pretty much tells you what the project is all about.

Another thing we are busy with is planning 2010, Selina and I have been planning on a few improvements for the new year, so when these plans are ready you'll be hearing all about them!

There are a few other things too but we'll keep those under wraps for a while.

Jay

Starting in 2010 we will be launching ‘Black Belt Development Training’.  The full concept isn’t finalised just yet, but it will obviously involve PKO Black Belts, and may involve Black Belt candidates, i.e. high kyu grades.

The basic idea is that we will hold two of these a year, and all Black Belts (possibly candidates too) will need to attend at least one of these.  The core of the training will be furthering the understanding of Kickboxing and Modern Karate and making sure everyone is heading in the same direction.

Further to this we are considering a ‘New Black Belt Award’ in recognition of those following our cross training options (submission fighting, boxing, pressure points, kali etc).  This will be a higher level award and will challenge candidates physically and mentally.

I’ll have more news on this and the first date for 2010 soon.

Jay

Just run the fight stoppers course this morning, nice turnout with a few faces I haven't seen before and a few old ones.

The session was all about learning to deliver powerful shots to specific targets on the body for maximum effect.   I introduced the group to a variety of tools and tricks to achieve a powerful shot and as we got towards the end of the session everyone was obviously hitting harder, which came as a shock to some!

Nearing the end I then introduced a couple more drills, the first a drill to increase straight punch power, which increased their shots even more.   Then a drill to that took the power into more dynamic situations, training them to hit with movement.   The last drill went down well with those that took part and showed another good increase in power by helping them tap into the primitive instincts, with some excellent results.

To finish off the session and pretty much finish off the group we did some exercises to help with punching and endurance.

All in all an excellent day,   everyone enjoyed it and got what they came   for.

Jay  

Some of our fighters have got matches confirmed for the November full contact show, just waiting for a couple more to be matched up.

Will be a good night out and it's not too far away either.  I'll let everyone know about tickets etc, and as usual any tickets we get will be going to Paragon members first.

I'll sort further details as soon as I can.

Jay

Well it’s been a long time coming but I have finally decided the time is right to go ahead with the Humane Pressure Points Tactics (HPPT) program I am certified and licensed to teach.

I was introduced to the HPPT program in 2005/06 and certified level 1 and 2 in 2007, level 3 in 2008.  I’ve not really done anything with it, except teach snippets of it on the pressure points program.

HPPT was originally devised for Law Enforcement and Security officers in the USA and Canada.  It’s since been adopted in the USA, Canada and Australia by not just law enforcement and security but hotel staff, airline attendants, shop and store workers, pretty much anyone that comes into contact with the public!

My reasoning for not really doing much with it is that I wanted to do something a little more with it.  With a background in specialist security and working the doors etc I can see its value to the security industry.  But I also think it makes an excellent short course of Self Defence for the general public.

So basically what I’ve done is use the original HPPT as the core of our program, and shaped it to suit the areas I want to offer it based on my own experience.

The program will launch in 2010 offering a range of HPPT Self Defence programs.  There’s a page on here offering some basic info.  There will be a new site up and running soon with full details of  HPPT and some other closely related special projects!!

Jay    

Had loads of fun as usual with the pressure points today and really enjoyed working with level one and level two students.

Of course we all know (because those that know it all) tell us that pressure points don’t work!  So we wasted 3 hours today showing exactly how pressure points don’t work in boxing and grappling scenarios!

Excellent session and I am sure everybody got a lot from it.

Thanks to everyone for coming, it’s a real pleasure to work with all of you.  Big thanks to the North East crowd for making the regular trips down here to follow the program.  See you all at the next one in November.

Thanks

Jay

We’ll be back in action Full Contact Kickboxing in November.  We have a choice of events to put fighters forward on, but the later dates suit our schedule better.

I’ve submitted names of five fighters to an event we’ve never supported before to be matched on their event.  If this doesn’t come off we’ll be putting them to another event.

We’ve got Russ Henshaw and Ian Kitchen picking up where they left off last year with Full Contact fights.  John Parry will be having his first Full Contact fight having performed well in Light Contact.  Then we have Nicole Straw trying to get a match to Light Contact rules to pick up her Kickboxing career, and lastly Tim Jackson stepping up to a Light Contact Kickboxing fight as a stepping stone towards a future Full Contact career that will hopefully start for him in 2010.

Anyone wanting to support the fighters need to see me regarding tickets.  I have no details yet regards prices and availability.

Jay

Had some fun and really enjoyed the Pressure Points Therapy session today.  Was good to show the other side of the coin!!

The therapy side alone is a vast subject and always difficult to know how to pitch it, but judging by how the day went I think I got it just about right.  If anything I think an extra hour would be a good thing to allow things to be slowed down a little when using the techniques.

I hope everyone enjoyed the session and got something from it and can see how valuable this sort of thing is!

I know many people where quite upset at not being able to attend, so I’m going to do my best to repeat the session.  Be good for those that came today can come back and we can take the whole thing further!!

A few aches, pains and old war wounds showed up during the session and hopefully responded well to the treatments.

Thanks to those that came along.

Jay

Good day at competition yesterday coming home with a good collection of first and 2nd place trophies.

Russ took first in both points and continuous with Mark taking 2nd in both.

Tim took 2nd in points.

Dave 1st in points.

John 1st in continuous.

Selina nowhere near her best took first in  points.

Jared was unlucky this time and just missed out on 3rd place in the fight off.

The White Tigers performed well coming home with a second place trophy and continuing to improve.  Ric had an excellent fight with John from ours and it could have gone either way.  Ric will be pushing for a a place in the trophies very soon and John and all the others in that section better watch out!!!

Jay

Good comp yesterday, good challeging fights for all.

Russ Henshaw got 1st continuous & 2nd for points.  I think enough was said on the day about a particular ref in the final of the points!!!  But lets remember folks, we've seen a lot worse, and there's only one way to make people see!

John Parry got 2nd in both points and continuous.  John had some great fights to get to the final, and his final fight was probably the best and most exciting of the day with John being unlucky not to get the win!  Same story for the continuous, really could have gone either way.

Jared Hunt took 3rd in points making it two 3rds in two outings, not at all bad for a 16 year old that has made his fighting debut in the mens black belt section!

Was a good comp with great standards of fighting I think everyone will agree.  Well done to the White Tigers, step by step getting better, taking it all in, listening and learning.  At times it seems obvious to me that you are listening more than my own fighters are!  (hint hint to my lot)

Jay

Had fun today teaching the clinch seminar and hope people got what I was trying to put across.

I try to make these seminars interesting and informative with just the right amount of content.  What I’m really after is getting people to understand principles of what we’re doing.

These sessions definitely are not for the technique collectors, although the session contained plenty of technique work.  There are plenty of seminars on for technique collectors if that’s what people want.  These are for people that want to expand their knowledge or perhaps get a deeper understanding of knowledge they already have.

The drills I included will really develop tactile sensitivity and fighting skills of those that took part.  Hope everyone enjoyed it and got plenty from it.  I could have carried on teaching for many more hours, I enjoyed it and really only scratched the surface of material I could have covered on this one subject alone!!

I’m wondering now where we go with the other two scheduled workshops and will be putting a few ideas forward for consideration.

Jay

Just recieved my copy of Frank Shamrocks newly released Mixed Martial Arts book.

Selina and I are listed in the book as the only UK Instructors in Shamrock Submission Fighting (SSF), which is Franks approach to Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).  Selina and I trained for the SSF qualification in 2005 during a two week training trip to the USA.  It was a hard two weeks training MMA, Judo, Grappling and SSF!  We came back with coaching awards in Judo and the SSF Instructor awards.

SSF makes up part of the Submission Fighting/MMA program at Paragon.  Stay tuned for some news on this program in the next month or so!!

Me & Frank during Shamrock Submission Fighting Instructor Training in 2005

Jay

Well done to the team today, took part in a Kickboxing comp fighting points and continuous.  The event was well run with good officials and quality competitors, the whole team really enjoyed the day, as did I.

Selina took 3^rd in points (after a foolish mistake!!) and 1^st in continuous.

Russ took 1^st in both points and continuous.

John Parry took 3^rd in coloured belt points

Jared Hunt took part in his first ever comp at 16 years old in the adult black belt section and did really well to take 3^rd place.

Dave Dawson took 3^rd in  the mens veterans.

Vince Higgins took 3^rd in his points, 1^st in veterans points and 2^nd in continuous.

Well done to everyone.

Well done to Sam Wood and her White Tiger team who all took part in their first event and did very well competing against quality and experienced opponents.  Well done and I look forward to working with you all again soon.

Jay

Not been on here a while, been really busy with a thing or two we have going on at the moment.  Pick up a newsletter to see what's what!  Loads happening around here.

Remember we are closed over the Easter Weekend.

Jay

Did the workshop on fundamental movement on Saturday.  Not sure if it’s what people expected, my guess is it wasn’t quite what they expected.

Rather than covering exactly how to move the aim of the seminar was to train the eye to watch movement, and program the nervous system and muscles to respond.  We worked the key components of response, and how we could speed this up.

Next we looked at a couple of ways to speed up a few common techniques and finished with how to put it all together in sparring.

Hope everyone got what I was trying to get across, this sort of thing goes beyond the punch & kick taught in the majority of Kickboxing establishments.  For that reason people sometimes just don’t get it because on the surface it can appear complicated.  Take time to work in what you learned from the seminar and it will start to work for you.

Looking forward to doing the next workshop in April.

Jay

I turned 40 last week.  Here's a few pictures of the cake Selina got for me.  Complete with boxing gloves, Paragon logo and my dan grade stripes.

One half of the cake was chocolate (obviously Selina ate most of that) the other half was fruit.  It was made by Rachael Dowd, one of our students here at Paragon. 

Jay

Well done to Kirsty Murden who passed her Black Belt test on Sunday February 1^st.

It’s worth mentioning that Kirsty did really well bouncing back like she did after the hiccup at last years test.  Last year Kirsty left me with a difficult decision having completed the test with borderline marks.  After much discussion with examiners and instructors, and based on the fact we knew Kirsty could do better it was decided she would test again this year.

 Very well done Kirsty.

We’ve got another Black Belt grading in March when a number of juniors will be attempting their Junior Black Belt and Selina should be attempting her 3^rd Degree Black Belt.

Jay

Here’s a picture of Russ way back in around 1994 or 95, somewhere around that time.   Back in those days we trained in Ebenezer Church Hall, along with a couple of other venues.   This was before we became Paragon in 2003, back then it was Ilkeston Freestyle.

I opened Ilkeston Freestyle back in October 1993.   First at Ilkeston School, shortly afterwards we moved to Ebenezer Church Hall.   A few local people involved in Martial Arts at the time took delight in telling me it would never last.

They looked at what I was teaching, Sport Karate, Kickboxing & Grappling, and said it would never catch on!

Well we’re still here, including the kid in the picture, and a few others that have been around for a number of years.   And where exactly are those that said we’d never last?   You guessed it, they never lasted!!!!

The point is we're not a one dimensional set up, we have a good strong mixed style background with strong roots and a clear vision.   I've worked hard to develop an ego free atmosphere, and many visitors comment of how friendly the place is because of this.   We have a solid coach/instructor   training structure.   Last   but not least everyone that trains   here actually earns everything they get.  Basically we're built to last!

Russ has done well in competition winning in Points, Continuous & Full Contact Kickboxing as well as Submission Grappling and Amatuer MMA.   He is also coming on well as a coach/instructor at Paragon.

The kid in the background that looks like he's stalking Russ is Saulty (Luke Sault).

Jay

My training trips to the USA have been fun and very productive.  Hard work, but worth it.  Here’s some more from my 2005 trip.

Dan “The Beast” needs no introduction to any followers of early Mixed Martial Arts events, particularly the early UFC events.

Dan was on hand passing on his takedown and ground and pound skills.  This all tied in very nicely with my Kickboxing, Sambo Wrestling & Judo knowledge.

The Beast also offered some great advice as well as giving Selina and I a signed photograph which lists his many years in Wrestling along with his Black Belts in Judo, Ju Jitsu and Combat Sambo and another of him with the Three UFC Belts!

When I was promoted to 5^th Degree Black Belt by the International Modern Martial Arts Federation, Steve Stewart had The Beast as a signatory on the Diploma in recognition of my Grappling, Wrestling & Submission Fighting skills which was pretty cool!

Jay

Back in 2005 Selina and I made a trip to the USA for two weeks of intense Grappling & MMA training.  The training would include Judo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, MMA, Submission Wrestling & Wrestling Takedowns.

Prior to the trip we both had Grappling/Wrestling experience.  I’d been doing some on and off for years, and Selina had done some too.  And for 2½ years prior to the trip we’d been working with our coach Tim Thomas on Sambo Wrestling, Judo & Olympic Freestyle Wrestling and had qualified as Sambo Wrestling Coaches.

One of the people we trained with was Mike Swain.  Mike Swain is a Judo legend in the USA as a former World Champion and 4 times Olympian, taking Bronze at the 1988 Olympics.

Obviously Mike has great Judo and Grappling skills and is equally well versed in the throwing and ground grappling aspects.  He is also a great coach and we where very lucky to not only train with Mike in a group environment but also a semi private session.  Mike presented both Selina and I with Level 2 Judo & Grappling Instructor certificates through his Judo & Grappling Assocoation.

Selina & Me with Judo & Grappling Expert Mike Swain

I've got a few more pics from the trip that I'll put up in the future.

Jay

Thursday Fitness & Conditioning got off to a good New Year last Thursday (Jan 8th).

I always recommend this session for any Black Belt candidates and to anyone wanting to fight Semi, Light or Full Contact.   The sessions vary, we can be using Kettle Bells, Weights, Bags, Resistance Exercises etc.

This particular session was a full hour of bagwork, 2 minutes on the bag with one minute in between doing a variety of press ups or sit ups.   Good session and everyone did well!

Well done to all, and keep it up!

Jay

We got our first real taste of being worried parents over the Christmas Holidays.  On Friday January 2^nd Stan was taken into Queens Medical Center hospital for an emergency operation.  The problem was an abscess which the GP originally treated with antibiotics.  Although this appeared to be doing the trick another GP decided on Friday the 2^nd that a trip to QMC was needed.

Anyway he had the op that night and all is well, just a few more doses of antibiotics, trips to his GP’s to see the nurse and a final check up back at QMC to go!

Here’s a few pics of Stan having a play around in one of the kids ‘Fun’ sessions on December 23^rd the day we broke up for the holidays.

At 18 months old he is having a play around.  He’s been doing his version of Jab, Cross, Front Kick since around 17 months old!!!

His Mum adjusted a kit and white belt so he could look the part.

I'm wondering just how long it will be before Stan wants to join in the Little Ninjas?

Jay

Happy New Year to all regular students, their families and to our growing number of seminar students and their families.

We've got some great stuff lined up for 2009 including more competitions in semi & light contact along with options for those wanting to do full contact including Thai & K1 rules.   We've got regular squad sessions both for kids and adults.   After a long hard look at the Kyusho Jitsu/Body Science program we've decided on a restructure and from this year attendance is only every other month making it far more appealing.   So far I've sceduled four definate special workshops for students to get a deeper understanding of Kickboxing/Fighting principles, and we could well be doing more of these!

As for weekly classes we have re-introduced the Kids Mat Rats Grappling/Wrestling classes as from Monday January 5th 2009.   Soon to follow will be an all new Beginners Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) / Submission Fighting class for adults.   Selina and I have talked about this for a long time and feel that removing these classes during 2008 left a gap in what we had built into an Holistic curriculum.

2009 is set to be a very busy year for us a Paragon, and we look forward to sharing it with our dedicated and loyal students.

Happy New Year

Jay & Selina

Got a few pics of me and/or Selina with some great grappling/mma coaches we have trained with.  Will be putting them up over coming weeks along with some old Kickboxing pics too!!

Grappling has been part of my training for many years and I have trained with some great instructors.  But this guy really is great.

For the past six years now I have been working my grappling/wrestling with Tim Thomas.  Tim is quite possibly the UK’s best kept secret when it comes to wrestling/grappling.  He is like a walking encyclopedia, with a working knowledge of all wrestling/grappling systems.  His specialty being Freestyle Wrestling, Sambo Wrestling & Judo.  People regard him as a groundwork expert, but he is equally well versed in throws and takedowns.

Tim Certified Selina and me first as provisional coaches then as Club Coaches in Sambo Wrestling.  A simple way of describing Sambo Wrestling is that it is made up of the three Olympic Grappling systems, Greco Roman Wrestling, Judo & Freestyle Wrestling.  But in truth there is far more to it than that as it has a great many submissions.  As an actual sport Sambo is jacket wrestling, however it is often practiced no jacket too.

Oddly we never got involved in Sambo Wrestling competitions, no other reason than they usually clashed with other events on our schedule.  However we did get involved in other grappling and submission wrestling events with great success, both Gi and No Gi.

I always consider us lucky to get to work with Tim, he is rather fussy about who he works with, but he does enjoy coming here.  When I work with Tim I am often left reminded of exactly how much I don’t know about wrestling/grappling!

Jay

Here’s a few pictures of Tim & me doing Sambo Wrestling.

Leg Lock Escape

Arm Lock Escape

Clinch Work

Got this old picture from many years ago of me competing.  No idea of the year, but if I remember correctly it was in the coloured belt final of some version of either the English or British Championships.  Not even sure if I won that one or not!!!!

I’m the green belt with the hair!!  The fighting was to continuous rules.

Not sure what’s worse the hair or the white suits.  Also you may notice that I am slightly (ever so) lighter weight back then too!!!

They where the days (I really don't think so).

Got a collection of old photos from years ago, some with Russ & Mark on as youngsters.  If my scanner was working I'd get them up too!  So until I get around to buying a new scanner we'll have to wait, unless of course someone else fancies scanning a few for me?

Jay

After much discussion between Selina and Myself we have decided that from January 5^th 2009 that Kids Wrestling/Grappling will be back on the curriculum.

Wrestling/Grappling has always been a part of our curriculum, even long before we opened Paragon and before it became as popular as it is today grappling was part of our regular training.  Over the last 12 months we dropped much of it to concentrate on other things for a while.  But the kids have continually asked for it, so back it comes.

We’re going to concentrate on NO Gi (non jacket) Submission Wrestling.  Both Selina and I will be teaching the classes together.  We are both qualified coaches is Judo & Grappling, Sambo Wrestling & Submission Fighting.

It will be good to get back into the grappling, in many way it’s a shame we had a break from it.  Those that competed in Grappling/Wrestling events did very well with both junior and adult grapplers winning a number of medals in both Submission Grappling and Strike & Grapple (MMA) type events.

We’re still considering the adult classes.  A few have asked if we would bring them back, so we’ll have to see what happens!

Jay

We held the kids Paragon Games on Saturday December 13^th.  All the usual events took place and this year we had a continuous sparring section alongside the points sparring, this was at the request of many of the kids that attended.

As we discussed the games afterwards all involved in running the event said this was the best yet.  Every child tried their best in every event and earned themselves the Gold Special Award medal.

A special mention the Selina’s Little Ninjas that have only graduated to the junior program this year.  They all behaved very well, tried their best and some placed among the medals too which is a fantastic achievement.

I’m not going to list all the event medal winners, but I will say well done to all those that took part.  Special mentions go to the best boy and best girl of the games.  Best Boy went to Storm Parker, and Best Girl went to Graci Henshaw.

Three Juniors, Curtis, Alice & Joe took part in their last games as they will be moving to the adults in January.  Maybe we'll see them come along and help out and offer their support to the youngsters in future?

Big Thanks to Kirsty, Russ, Elle and The Oaf for helping the day go smoothly.

Lots of Paragon Games regulars asked why we don’t do two a year anymore and if we can do two net year?  It’s simply been down to time, because of our busy calendar we struggle to fit two in.  However if we can fit in two next year we will do!

Jay

I had a really good time yesterday morning teaching a course on ‘Applied Kyusho’ to a group from two clubs based in Nottingham.  Thanks to Ian Harrison of Dragon Freestyle and Sam Wood of White Tiger Kickboxing for having me over and to their students giving up 3 hours of their Sunday morning and taking an interest in what I do!

The course was a mix of Kyusho Jitsu with some principles from our core system at Paragon thrown in.  I tried to get across (and hopefully succeeded) the importance of accurate targeting and correct body mechanics.  I taught alot of material I usually only teach my own regular students.

The group first learned to locate the target areas and get a feeling for the reaction of the body when these targets are struck or manipulated.  Each point was utilised in combination with others for self defence and sport scenarios to give a feel for the all important application.

Everyone seemed to enjoy it, and I enjoyed teaching it.

Special thanks to Ian & Steve for being the crash test dummies for the session, and the guy who I think was named George for keeping me entertained with the ‘sorry bro’ every time he was a little over enthusiastic with his partner!

Jay

Keep an eye on the events page of the website.  There is no reason not to be up to date with what's going on at Paragon, just keep an eye on the regular newsletters and th events page!

Loads of stuff already on there and more dates to be added.  Keep an eye out for Junior & adult squad training dates.

Kyusho dates for 2009 are already on there.  Also dates for some special courses/workshops to help you understand and develop your skills further.  These courses/workshops start in Feb and all will have limited places, so book your place early!

Jay

I've just added a new date to the events page.  On December 7th I'll be teaching a course in Nottingham on Applied Kyusho - Pressure Points.  Anyone from Paragon that wants to come then see me for details.

I've also agreed to put on a few workshops for a couple of other clubs in 2009.  They will be held here at Paragon, the first of these will be Feb/March 2009.  These workshops will be covering techniques, tactics, concepts, drills etc from our Karate-Kickboxing syllabus. 

It's been a while since I have done any of these and they usually go down well, and often shock long term studnets when I teach material even they haven't seen before!  I'll let everyone know when the dates are set, if you are interested let me know ASAP as places will be limited!

Kids Paragon games is set for December 13th, a leaflet will be out soon confirming times etc.  Places are already filling up so don't miss out.

Selina is organising the Christmas night out for adult members between Christmas and New Year.  See Selina for details of this.

Finally, we are starting a new class with it's own distinct syllabus in January 2009.  We've given lots of thought to the changes and been talking about it for a very long time.  For details of this speak to Selina or Me.

Thanks

Jay

Finally got around to making some changes to the website and updating some bits.  Managed to reduce size of almost all of the images, will get the rest done soon!!

Added a mailing list feature, started work on a Pressure Points / Kyusho Jitsu page, but will eventually build a site of it's own for this.  Added an Instructor page, a Karate-Kickboxing page and made some changes to the Self Protection page to inform of the new classes.

Got lots going on at moment too, so I'll get around to finishing site soon and fill everyone in (that needs to know) what's going on!!

Jay

We had Iain Abernethy with us at the weekend.  What can I say that I haven’t said already about Iain.  His Applied Karate is fantastic; his knowledge very extensive, his passion for Kata is quite contagious, the way he teaches is great.  I could go on and on!

On the whole it was a great day, everyone enjoyed it.

Thank to those that made the effort to attend.

Jay

It’s been a while since I’ve been on here.  I’ve been really busy getting on with a few things.  Most know that we had a problem with a lying parasitic scum bag trying it on.  This held up a few things, so I’m now busy playing catch up.

As for the scum bag.  Well we really didn’t have to do too much in the end.  He tripped himself up with his web of lies.  Apparently the family isn’t well liked and have tried similar things before.  The truth always comes out in the end. 

Obviously I can’t come right out and name Daniel Sparrow as the scum bag here on my blog.  So I’ll just leave his name out of it and say bad luck.

Jay

It's been a while since I have been on here.  Been really busy.  I am sitting on a few bits of news that I want to put on here, but it will wait for a while yet!  Anyway last night was a good night for us.

Good night last night at the AFK show in Sheffield.

Ian fought very well in his first outing, pretty much dominating every round.  Forcing his opponent to take 2 standing 8 counts in the last round, he was unlucky not to stop him with his opponent being saved by the bell.  I have had many good comments from people in the crowd and from the promoter regarding his first fight.  All good stuff, and I am sure Ian will do well with future fights.

Russ fought a tough and rated Thai Boxing opponent to professional K1 rules.  Although Russ got the victory on the judges cards, the fight was disappointing for both camps in a way.  By that I mean the rules, because we where under the impression that the clinch was limited, and they seemed to work towards unlimited clinch.  We where under the impression there was no leg catching, it appeared they where under the impression it was allowed as in Thai rules.  This should have been made clear before the fight.  But anyway Russ did well enough to get the win, so well done.

Really good to see and hear the supporters from Paragon, and nice to all get to have a chat and a laugh at the services afterwards.

The only downside to the night for me was the footwear Dan chose to wear!  What on earth was he thinking; surely he must have been wearing them for a bet?

Thanks everyone for the support, well done to Ian and Russ, and please don't wear those boots again Dan, my side hurt me from laughing!!

Jay

We took 9 fighters to the Revolution English Open Championships on Sunday April 27^th.  We came back with Six Gold, Three Silver and 1 Bronze medal from the nine students entering 13 categories.

In the Kids Semi Contact points sparring Jamie Fanning took a Bronze, Joe Murden a Silver and Curtis Gillott a Gold in their individual weight categories.  Sadly Georgia Matthews didn’t place this time.

In the adult Semi Contact points Nicole Straw took Gold, Russ Henshaw took Gold and Vince Higgins a Silver.  Ian Kitchen failed to place.

In the Light Contact Kickboxing (adults) Russ Henshaw took Gold in the mens heavy weights with Vince Higgings taking Silver.  Ian Kitchen took the Gold in the mens light weight, and Selina took the Gold in the Ladies.

Negatives from the day would have to be the Light Continuous sections.  The lack of a strong refereeing in these sections led to yet another ridiculous display of what is supposed to be LIGHT CONTACT!  In particular the fight with Vinnie, with Vinnie going down twice to full contact blows, and him putting his opponent down three times with full contact blows.  This would be enough for any Full Contact ref to have grounds to stop the fight for fighters safety, any one of the knockdowns would be enough for this, but two or three would definitely see the end of a novice level Full Contact bout.  But these where allowed to continue under light rules, rules where this sort of thing should not happen.  The ref actually warned Vinnies opponent after the first knockdown.  But after the 2^nd, when I questioned him he said ‘it was a straight punch, the other was a wild swing'.  So by that we can safely assume that at this particular tournament if the technique is technically correct, then you can deliver it with full power.  In which case then it is not Light Contact, but Full Contact.

I am not having a go at this particular event, as the light contact problem is the plague of many tournaments.  But to be fair many are making an effort to correct this.  Also I don't have a problem with Full Contact, Vinnie is quite happy to fight Full Contact, as are a few others.  But they also try to follow the rules of Light Contact, because that is what I ask of them.

I can’t even begin to put into words the incident regarding the scorekeepers.  Absolutely ridiculous, everyone makes mistakes fair enough.  But to repeatedly make the same mistake and refuse to listen when it’s pointed out rates among some of the worst behaviour of officials I have seen in 25 years in this sport.  And I wont even try to describe how I felt when the female scorekeeper gave me the talk to the hand when I tried to point out the problem.  I think it was obvious to all what/who the problem actually was.

It was nice to have telephone conversations with a couple of instructors today, both offering their support regarding the behaviour of the officials, and further supporting my opinions of the incident and the light contact issue.

I’ll be posting further tournament discussion here very soon, with a few very interesting items of news…….. Watch this space folks!

Jay

Over the last few weeks both Selina and I have taken calls from members of the public regarding the sales teams that knock on the door selling membership to the local karate club.   OBVIOUSLY THEY ARE NOT OUR TEAMS AS WE DON’T SUBSCRIBE TO THIS PRATICE AT ALL!!  But I suppose we have become the central focus for martial arts locally and people want our opinions on this group.

Of course neither Selina or I comment on this group over the phone.  But what I do advise is that you google them and take a look at what people are saying in the UK about this group, their ‘self defence consultants’ and their methods.  Obviously there are a couple of their own ‘ego massaging’ sites around, but you will find the vast majority are the exact opposite.

I’ll talk quite openly to anyone (even their own ‘self defence consultants’ if they fancy popping in to see me) face to face about them.  They are particularly well known, however for all the wrong reasons.

It takes a certain type of person to join a group like that.  The bottom line is that people that are foolish enough to buy into groups (there are others that mirror them) like that are buying into an extremely poor replica of Martial Arts.

What always gets me is why on earth do people part with their money up front on the doorstep and join them without checking them out first.  I think the old saying about a fool and his money just about sums these people up!

Russ will be fighting to the American rules full contact over 3 rounds.

The June show looks like it is changing dates to June 1^st. We have Russ, Vinnie and Ian on this show.

Got loads more full contact shows coming up, so those wanting to take part in Full Contact will be busy for a while!!

We hold sessions for fight training on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.  These sessions are a must for anyone interested in fighting semi, light or full contact kickboxing, or those that just want to give a little boost to their fitness, improve their skills and get involved with our fighters.

Jay

Well I sat on the news about the Spain fight and released it only days ago really, only to be told by email Monday night that the show is off!!

This is pretty typical of the fight game in general.

However on a positive note it means we will have 3 fighters on the Sheffield show in June.  With Russ Henshaw, Vince Higgins and Ian Kitchen all fighting in Full Contact Kickboxing bouts.  With Sheffield being a little closer to home than Spain I hope we can rely on some support!  The show is June 7^th.

I will have some more news on Full Contact Kickboxing in the coming weeks.

Jay

We had a team take part in the Revolution Yorkshire Open Championships on Sunday March 2^nd.  A mixed team of junior and adults took part, some for the first time.  We took a total of 7 Gold, 4 Silver and 5 Bronze medals in points sparring (sport karate) and Continuous (Kickboxing) categories.

I was impressed with everyone, win, lose or draw everyone gave it a good go.  It was nice to have a good crowd of supporters too, big thanks to all those that came along to support.

The next points & continuous comp is April 27^th at the same venue.

We also have some full contact kickboxing bouts comings up.

Feel free to give us some support in any/all of these events!

Jay

The Steve Stewart seminars went really well over the weekend.

Friday Steve went through a taster of some advanced principles and subject matter from Kyusho.  I think much of what was taught Friday perhaps went over the heads of those in the group.  However I could clearly see that on Saturday things where just falling into place for those that attended Friday as he dropped in a few keys to what he was doing on Friday.

Saturday morning was the kids seminar, which went down really well.  The kids learned some basic points and applications and had lots of fun.

The main seminar Saturday afternoon was excellent.  Steve covered basics for those new to Kysuho, along with more advanced stuff for those with a little knowledge.  Those that did the Friday evening seminar got a real treat on Saturday and their Kyusho knowledge was taken to a whole new level.

Five students where awarded Black Belt 1^st Degree in Kyusho Jitsu, Three awarded probationary Black Belts in Kyusho Jitsu which will be upgraded when they achieve their 1^st Degree Black Belts in our Karate-Kickboxing system.  On top of that I was presented with my 3^rd Degree Black Belt in Kyusho Jitsu.

Steve and I went over a great deal while he was here, he is genuinely very impressed with my own work and research in Kyusho and the direction I am trying to take it.  He was very complementary about my own standing in the Kyusho World and supportive of what I am working towards.  We have set out a 3 to 5 year plan for Kyusho Alliance UK and there is a great deal of work to be done!!

Steve, Selina and I have discussed plans for next year which is going to be even better than the last two years.

Big Thanks to everyone that attended, and please leave your comments.

Jay

I have been sitting on this info since January and thought it about time I released it!!

Russ and I will be flying out to Spain during May as Russ is fighting on a show in the Costa Del Sol.  The whole fight card is made up of good English fighters against tough Spanish opponents in their own back yard.  If all goes well for us on this show it is possible that Russ could be working his way towards a shot at the vacant European Title.  The fight is also paving the way for more of our fighters to compete in Europe.

Preparations for the fight will be beginning soon.  As usual everyone plays a part in preparation in normal classes, just mae sure you do your best when sparring with Russ to help bring out the best in him.  Just don't go breaking his nose this time Colin if he is stupid enough to do what he did last time!

As for extra training/sparring sessions if you want to come along and play your part just let me know.

The fight is on Friday May 23rd, which is actually Bank Holiday weekend.  It would be great to have some members travel over to support us, and of course the rest of the English lads.  Flights are pretty cheap, and accomidation isn't a bad price either.  At least one hotel in the area is doing a deal for travelling supporters.  If any students feel like making a weekend of it and giving us some much appreciated support then just ask me for the details.

A couple of weeks later we have Ian and Vinny fighting on a full contact show in Sheffield which is always a great show.  Also Russ has a chance of a shot at a title here in the UK around November time, I'll get more details out on this nearer the time.

I am sitting tight on one more bit of info on the full contact show front.  Hopefully I will be in a position to share this info soon.

Thanks

Jay

It's no secret that with the back problems I have hardly been able to manage a challenging training session for at least 2 years.  When I did it usually meant more time off and under treatment.

Well finally this week I have stepped it up and had the best week of training I've had in ages, all with no back problems!  I've had 3 gym sessions including treadmill and weights.  2 sessions of speed and agility training.  1 session of sparring and a boxing and wrestling session.  Midweek week I also had a great stretching session which really helped.

I am really happy that through all off this I have no twinges in the back or shoulder.  My recovery has been long, but I am very positive about it having paid off.  I'm already looking forward to next weeks training.  And who knows if it continues a comeback may be on the cards, so we'll wait and see?

Jay 

Just to let you all know the nutrition products have been in now for over a week!!  I know a number of people have shown an interest in these, but I haven't really had much of a chance to get the promotional info sheets completed.  I will have a basic info sheet of the products and prices available by the end of today.

Basically what we have at the moment is a range of our own label products for general health and to help with recovery from hard training sessions.  They are quality products and all carry the Paragon Nutrition logo.  We have an excellent Super Foods Vitamin and Mineral formula, L Glutamine, Whey Protein, Nutri Meal, and Hoodia at the moment.  Coming soon is Creatine Monohydrate, along with a herbal fat burner, and a qualty probiotic.

Ask for details

Jay

Well the speed and agility session went down well last night, everyone made huge improvements to their speed, agility & balance.  Except for a couple of hiccups in the sparring everything went well, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. 

Next week I will cover some key points to sparring success and introduce you to more speed, agility and balance training.

Jay

I have been working hard on a project launching our own brand of health and nutrition products for some time.  Finally we are almost there and the first of these products will be launched in the coming weeks.

Amongst the products is an excellent Super Foods vitamin and mineral complex, whey protein, Glutamine, Meal replacement drinks, some excellent diet & slimming products along with a selection of general health supplements.

These are all quality products that the body can absorb easily.  You will definitely find cheaper products, however many of these are not absorbed by the body making them a waste of money.

People associated with Paragon will get a discount on these products.  I will be doing an extra special deal on first purchases allowing you to test the products.

Anyone serious about their health should consider these products.  It should go without saying that anyone in serious training for competition actually needs these very prodcuts to help their body recover between training sessions.

Full details of all available products will be available soon.

Jay

There's been alot of talk about the session we had after class on Monday, everyone that attended really enjoyed the session (add your comments here), and I really enjoyed coaching it, even made me think of making a comeback!!!

The session will be a regular every Monday covering more of the same and from next Monday (Feb 4th) we will be introducing some more cool stuff!!

Jay

I have got the blog back up, still not sure what the problem was, although I suspect it is something to do with the other computer I use which seems to have a few technical problems!

We have a few posts missing too, one of which is the Kudo which I'll try to get back up.  Now the blog is back up and running I have scrapped the news page.

Jay

Happy New Year to everyone, I hope you have all recovered from the party season and ready to get down to training.  Selina and I have been in this morning and given the academy a top to bottom clean.  Selina will begin her 2008 training program tonight, I started my mental aspects (very important) this morning and my own physical will begin first thing Thursday morning and I am really looking forward to it.

Looking forward to this year we have much going on.  Kicking off our 2008 seminars we have Dr Stewart in February.  Very popular last year, and the list is filling up this year.  Get your name down if you want a place.

The first part of the Black Belt grading takes place in January, with the second part on March 1^st.  This is quite special as Dave Dawson is taking his 1^st Degree Black Belt and Dave will be the first Black Belt to have come purely from Paragon since we set up as a professional school.  All the others on the grading have been with us long before we opened the doors of Paragon.

That reminds me that 2008 sees us reach 15 years old!!  It’s 15 years since I opened the doors to my first club which went on to become Paragon.

We also have a Black Belt grading in February for those training in Kyusho Jitsu.  I’ve got to say I have really enjoyed introducing Kyusho to the curriculum and I am really looking forward to taking my students through the advanced levels and launching a new class for level one.

Over to our core Freestyle program you’re going to see a mixture of some old an new drills introduced over the coming months to develop important attributes.  Selina is working hard on improvements to the junior program.  In the Cambo/Judo class we are going to be going right back to the roots with some good old school basics, something else I am really looking forward to.

All in all you can look forward to another year of quality Martial Arts training and I hope you all look forward to taking part in it as I do teaching it to you.

Thanks

Jay

Just to let you all know that we have Iain booked to return in April 2008.  I'm sure we'll be in for another great day.

Nottingham group did module 2 of the Kyusho Jitsu today.  It was great to see them having those 'wow' moments as things started to click into place.  It was good how people spotted how the actual science behind Kyusho proved itself with some of the very basic techniques we covered.

With the eight simple points we covered I could see many of the group seeing how they could fit them into waht they already do, which is great.

As always I really enjoyed teaching the seminar, it was great fun for me, and I hope everyone else enjoyed it.

Remember folks, if you have any questions contact me by any of the methods on the contact details sheet I gave out at module one.

Looking forward to teachning module 3 to you all, and introducing my group to module 8 next week.

Thanks everyone

Jay

Great seminar with Iain on Saturday 22^nd September.  I was looking forward to it, as was Iain, and neither of us where disappointed, neither where those that attended.

I have been thinking about it since the seminar, so a few of my own thoughts follow.

Iain is a great guy, great instructor, really knows his stuff and you can see he is truly passionate about it.  This is what made the seminar so good.

Naihanchi Kata is fantastic; it has a really interesting history, and some great applications.  It’s easy to see why some consider it one of the most/the most important Kata in Karate. 

I found it interesting how many of the applications closely resemble the kind of thing we do anyway.  Many of you will have heard me say before that the way we practice much of our Freestyle Karate is much closer to Traditional Karate than what many of the traditionalists actually practice.  I think Iain’s Applied Karate methods and interpretation of Naihanchi actually support this.

I can even see some of what I taught in the last adult phase 2 class before the Seminar (Thursday 20^th).  Those of you that attended that class and Saturdays seminar give it some thought.  Think about the jamming, crashing, smothering, balance destruction we covered.  Can you see the same principles/concepts and some of the techniques in Naihanchi?

Those of you into the Kyusho, can you see PP’s in there?

We’ve been considering a Kata class for a while now.  Let me know your thoughts on this idea, do you want it or not?

We will definitely be having Iain back again next year, and I am already looking forward to it.

Would really like to hear your thoughts/comments on the seminar and what I’ve said here.  Add a comment on the blog or tell me in person, or both!

Jay

Taught Kyusho Jitsu module 7 to group one today.  They are over halfway towards the 1st Degree grading and exam now.  Today was a big revision day covering previous modules, followed by Kata and applications which seems to be just about sinking in now.

The new material introduced was self defence applying Kyusho.  I introduced 3 seperate applications which resulted in 3 knockouts!  Although knockouts are done with little effort it is important to remember in a 'live go' not to play around with little effort.  Use the points, but hit em bloody hard!!

Like to know what group 1 feel about the Kyusho so far?

Jay

Just finished teaching module 1 of 12 for the Nottingham group from Dragon Freestyle.  Great bunch, nice to see some of the old faces and a few new ones.

Module 1 is always hard to teach, there is so much I want to put in, but only so much people can take in.  The right balance is important.  Hopefully I got the balance right.  I covered just what is needed for module one, and went with the flow taking opportunities to show more advanced techniques and concepts from Kyusho Jitsu.

Really hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I enjoy teaching it.  Looking forward to seeing it all fall into place over the coming modules.

Well done to everyone and thanks for giving me the chance to share my knowledge in the vast subject.

Jay

Remember we have the Iain Abernethy seminar on Saturday 22nd September.

Starts 12.30 for 3 to 4 hours.

Spoke with Iain yesterday and he is looking forward to the seminar himself, as I know some of you are.

Places are filling up so if you want to come you must let me know ASAP!

Jay

At last the website is finally here.

Members check out the events page for all grading dates, seminars, fight nights & comps.

I'll try to post info, dates etc on my blog to keep you informed.

Jay