2008 News Archives
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- We love to hear about the activities of any of our members past or present, and not necessarily martial arts-related stuff either. So if you've done something recently that you'd like to share, send us a photo and some details to admin@ukkff.org and we'll post the item here.
Kung-fu assessments
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| Our successful Foundation Stage members at the Sunday assessment. Were you tested? See your name in the examinations archive |
At the end of our Autumn Term on the 13th-14th December there was the final opportunity of the year for Apprentice-Level members to attempt an examination in Kung-Fu. Despite horrible weather with flooding in many areas and Christmas just around the corner (not much shopping time left) still around 30 of our members turned up to be assessed and demonstrated some real improvement. Well done to everyone who was successful, and apologies to those who tested on Saturday for not taking photos. For anyone that missed out or wasn't ready this time, the next scheduled Kung-Fu examinations for this year are at the end of March 2009.
Instructor promotions
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| Mark Williams (left) receives his trainee instructor qualification from Sifu Lee Heron. |
On the 6th December, Mark Williams was awarded his Trainee Instructor qualification by the UK Kung-Fu Federation. This entitles him to teach & test the 1SG Kung-Fu programme in general classes or private lessons without supervision. Mark has worked very hard since completing his instructorship probation earlier in the year, and this award marks the first real step up the instructors ladder for him. Very well done to you! The award took place at our 7th Annual Xmas Bash in front of many appreciative members & colleagues, plus Master Steve Tappin, the head of the WMAA in England.
Journeyman promotions
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| Well done to Mark Galica (left), Matt Slightam (3rd from left) and Oliver David (right) on their promotion. |
On the 6th December, Oliver David, Mark Galica, Jonathan Holford & Matthew Slightam were each awarded their 1st Technician Grades (1TG) in the Federation Wing Tsun System by Sifu Lee Paul Heron, after more than 6 years of training apiece for Oliver, Jonathan & Matt, and more than 7 years for Mark. The promotion took place during our 7th Annual Xmas Bash in front of many members & colleagues, whereby they were each presented with the unique certification of a Federation Journeyman (except Jonathan who sadly wasn't able to attend. His certificate was subsequently presented in person at the HQ.)
1TG is also known as the Water Stage of the Federation Wing Tsun System. Having completed this stage, Oliver, Matt, Jonathan & Mark now begin studying the Earth Stage which focuses on the strategy of Constant Attack. On behalf of everyone at the Federation, congratulations to the guys on their well-deserved promotion.
7th annual xmas bash
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| Guests at our 2008 Xmas Bash. Did you attend? View all the photo galleries & slideshows of this event |
On the evening of 6th December we welcomed over 40 of our members, friends & colleagues to the White Hart Hotel in Hampton Wick for the Federation's 7th Annual Xmas Bash. After a few drinks there followed a really good 3-course Christmas Dinner, then our traditional Xmas Quiz about martial arts trivia (it was a close contest this year, but the eventual winners on tie-break were Team Escrimadors - well done), then a few more drinks, and finally some long-overdue promotions for some of our senior members and instructors (see the news items above). Big thanks to everyone who attended, and our 8th annual event will happen around the same time in 2009.
Escrima concepts workshop
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| Oliver David & Ronnie Wendlant training single-stick box concepts. |
On 29th November we had plans for Master Steve Tappin, Wayne Tappin & Shaun Bolwell to visit our members for the last small-group Escrima workshop of the year. However Master Steve got stuck in a 6-hour traffic jam on the A12 in Essex (these things happen no matter what your grade) and so the workshop was taken by EC Instructor Shaun Bolwell and our own Head Instructor Lee Heron. Each took a group of students and worked them hard for a few hours, concentrating on the importance of movement, balance and positioning when using the Basic & Aggressive Box Concepts, plus some simple but extremely painful & effective disarms too. Thanks also to Ronnie & Chris who made the trip down from Trowbridge to be with us too. Our next workshop is at the end of January 09, hopefully in conjunction with another visit from EMAS Italia too.
Kung-fu panda competitions
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| Jack Black voices Po, the fat lazy noodle waiter with hidden talents. Visit the official Kung-Fu Panda website for more. |
During the month of November it was pandamonium at the UK Kung-Fu Federation. We ran an online competition to win DVD copies of the excellent DreamWorks film Kung-Fu Panda starring the superb Jack Black. Earlier in the year we were approached by Paramount Home Entertainment who wanted to team up with us in promoting the DVD & Blu-Ray release, and we were happy to be of service. We also coordinated local promotions across eighteen UK regions to win a month of free training in Chinese Kung-Fu, using our network of friends & colleagues within the World Martial Arts Alliance.
See some examples of the media promotions and competition promotions we ran.
New school @ richmond-upon-thames
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| View full details of our Richmond-Upon-Thames Martial Arts School |
On 1st October the UK Kung-Fu Federation's newest martial arts school in Richmond-Upon-Thames, Surrey opened it's doors to new students for the first time. The school will be offering Kung-Fu initially, with plans to add an Escrima class as soon as possible. Anyone wishing to join this school should contact our HQ directly, or click the link below. This was the first school to be opened by Joe Jackson-Taylor, who has been a very popular assistant instructor at our Kingston school for the past 18 months. In addition to his many years of training in Kung-Fu & Escrima with the Federation, Joe also received his 1TG in Federation Wing Tsun last month, so huge congratulations to him on this exciting new step.
Journeyman promotion
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| Joe Jackson-Taylor (right) training with Jonathan Holford prior to receiving his 1TG award. |
On the 21st September, Joe Jackson-Taylor was awarded the 1st Technician Grade (1TG) in the Federation Wing Tsun System by Sifu Lee Paul Heron. The surprise promotion took place at our New Malden HQ just prior to the Apprentice Level examinations, whereby Joe was presented with the distinguished Black & Red uniform of a Federation Journeyman.
1TG is also known as the Water Stage of the Federation Wing Tsun System. Having completed this stage, Joe now begins studying the Earth Stage which focuses on the strategy of Constant Attack. On behalf of everyone at the Federation, congratulations to Joe on his well-deserved promotion.
Kung-fu assessments
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| Our Head Instructor conducting an advanced-stage assessment. Were you tested? See your name in the examinations archive |
At the end of our Summer Term on the 20th-21st September, there was another opportunity for some of our Apprentice-Level members to attempt an examination in the Federation Wing Tsun System. Over 30 of our students chose to test this time around, and we were happy to see serious improvements at all stages of the system. Well done to everyone who was successful, and apologies for not getting any group photos this time around - our cameras were in use at another event. For anyone that missed out or wasn't ready this time, our last scheduled Kung-Fu examinations for 2008 are on the 13th & 14th of December.
Grappling workshop
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| Wayne Tappin (left) and his grappling instructor Robert 'Bobby' Sundel (right) |
On the 6th of September we were due to welcome back Bobby Sundel to the UK for another grappling workshop, however due to his competition training he was unable to attend. Happily though, our Alliance colleague Wayne Tappin is a long-term student of Bobby's and so agreed to take this workshop in his place. We managed to spend a few hours training simple drills, working up to single-leg takedowns & throws. Huge thanks to Wayne for stepping in at the last minute (and managing to get here despite a puncture on the M25), thanks to our guys who took the time out to get sweaty on the mat, and we look forward to seeing Bobby again in 2009.
EMAS italia kung-fu workshops
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| EMAS Italia small-group workshop. Did you attend? Check out all the photo galleries & slideshows from this event. |
Our Alliance colleagues from Italy were already in the UK as our guests to study Escrima with Master Steve Tappin (see below) and so, on the 3rd of August we invited Master Paolo & Master Marco to spend the day sharing their own approach to kung-fu with our members, plus a few hours with our Head Instructor in private too. In the morning we had a small-group workshop with some of our Journeymen, and in the afternoon another small-group workshop with some of our Apprentices. We also went out for a lovely meal on the river Thames, building friendships and discussing martial arts all evening. It's always a pleasure to see our Italian friends, not only for their excellent knowledge, but because they are so friendly & relaxed and share our vision of the growing World Martial Arts Alliance. Our members have also been invited to their own training camp in Riccione for 2009 - hope to see some of our people there.
Escrima concepts seminar + guests
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| The UKKFF welcomes colleagues from across Europe to study Master Steve Tappin's Escrima Concepts. |
On the 2nd of August the UK Kung-Fu Federation was host to people from across the Alliance, as members came to study the Escrima Concepts System with Master Steve Tappin and some of his instructor team. Besides our own people, we welcomed students and two Masters from Italy, plus students from Germany, Holland, and other parts of the UK too. The whole day was spent training with different weapons and applying the concepts to various scenarios, and thank goodness for a lovely autumn day which allowed much of the training to take place outside too. Thanks to Master Steve, Wayne, Shaun Bolwell, Paul Leslie and everyone else who helped make the day such a great event, including our guests from Europe.
Escrima concepts summer camp
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| Participants at the 2008 Escrima Concepts Summer Camp in Amsterdam. |
From the 4th-6th July our Head Instructor and many other Escrima Concepts students & instructors from across Europe travelled to Amsterdam for 3 days of training with Master Steve Tappin, Wayne Tappin & 'Big' Paul Leslie at the UCT International HQ. Students at all levels met and trained hard in good weather and a focused atmosphere, then met up in the evenings for a few drinks and a particularly wonderful oriental buffet meal, cooked directly in front of us by traditional chefs. Congratulations to our German colleagues Arnie, Robert, Jorg & Thomas who all received their 2nd Technician Grades (2TG) in the EC system at the end of the weekend, and thanks also to our hosts Master Benno Westra & Pele Nguyen for their hospitality. We will certainly be attending the 2009 event, so see you there.
Journeyman promotion
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| Karl Van Lith is awarded 1TG rank in the Federation Wing Tsun System. |
On the 1st July, Karl Van Lith was awarded the 1st Technician Grade (1TG) in the Federation Wing Tsun System by Sifu Lee Paul Heron. The surprise promotion took place during class at our Wimbledon school in front of many students & colleagues, whereby Karl was presented with the distinguished Black & Red uniform of a Federation Journeyman.
1TG is also known as the Water Stage of the Federation Wing Tsun System. Having completed this stage, Karl now begins studying the Earth Stage which focuses on the strategy of Constant Attack. On behalf of everyone at the Federation, congratulations to Karl on his well-deserved promotion.
UKKFF summer camp
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| Participants at our 2008 Summer Camp. Did you attend? Check out the photo galleries & slideshows from this years event. |
From the 23rd-29th June we ran our 6th annual Summer Camp. Each year we take a small group of our members to the Montes De Malaga (mountains of Malaga) in southern Spain for a week of training in Federation Wing Tsun, Escrima Concepts and Chi-Kung, plus a fair bit of relaxing, swimming, sunbathing and good eating too. This year we welcomed Barry Beckett, Justin Sandercoe, Dave Marks, Michael Hickey, Jamie Baglietto, Michael O'Donnell and Fariha Hayat up to Lagar Ruvira (our mountaintop location), and everyone had a spectacular time. Besides the martial arts training, some high points included two evening BBQ's where we were treated to live music by Dave & Justin, a day down at the beach with a big Chinese lunch, and seeing Lee & Vikki's 4-month old baby daughter (Kizi-May Heron) learning to swim in the private pool. Bless! Our next Summer Camp will be in June 2009, and members can reserve places now.
Kung-fu assessments
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| Some of our successful candidates. Were you tested? See your name in our examinations archive |
At the end of our Spring Term on the 21st-22nd June, there was another opportunity for some of our Apprentice-Level members to attempt an examination in the Federation Wing Tsun System. Nearly 40 of our students chose to test this time around, and all examiners were impressed with the growing ability of our members.
Well done to everyone who was successful, and apologies to anyone we didn't manage to get a photo of. For anyone that missed out or wasn't ready this time, our next scheduled Kung-Fu examinations are on the 20th & 21st of September 2008.
Karl's grand day out
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| Left-to-right: Jonathan Holford, Andy King, Karl Van Lith, Mark Galica, Lee Heron at CWOA's Sea Life Centre. |
On the 19th June a few of our senior instructors & journeymen met up at Chessington World Of Adventures to wish our long-term colleague & instructor Karl Van Lith a fond farewell from the UK. Born in South Africa, Karl joined the Federation in 2003, completed the Apprentice Level in 2007 and began teaching the art to new students at our HQ. Now due to the expiration of his UK Work Permit he is returning to SA to set up the first international branch of our organisation. We had a great day playing on the rides at CWOA, then a few drinks, a quick meal and finally some training in the evening. So it's not really goodbye to our good friend & valued instructor, but instead see you soon, when we visit SA in 2009 to support his growing clubs. Good luck mate, and best wishes for the future!
Escrima concepts workshop
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| Karl (right) about to defend Mark's No.2 Strike using the left-side of his Basic Box. |
On 31st May Master Steve Tappin & Wayne Tappin made another trip to South-West London to visit our members for a small-group Escrima workshop. It was an opportunity to go a lot deeper into the mechanics, technical details & theory of weapons work, plus a fair bit about applying those concepts to unarmed combat too. This is the concept of Transition; applying the knowledge & movement of any given weapon to many other areas, and very interesting it was too. Our next workshop on the Escrima Concepts System is in October, so hope to see more of our members along then.
Alliance grappling workshop
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| Participants at the open afternoon Grappling Workshop with instructor Robert Sundel (front row, right). |
In the afternoon of 10th May we ran a larger grappling workshop with Robert Sundel at our Chessington venue. Our members and also some Alliance colleagues spent a couple of hours on the mat learning a bit more about body mechanics and the intricacies of passing the Guard position on the ground. We were also treated to the sight of Bobby in action during a short free session with our friend Ronnie Wendlant, and were amazed at not only the speed & fluidity of Bobby's movement, but also the non-stop stream of instructions and details about each change of position. Bobby is due back later in the year, and we hope that more of our members take advantage of his skill & knowledge.
Closed-group grappling
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| Our senior members after a really enjoyable, detailed training session. Thanks Bobby (front row, second from left) |
On 10th May we were proud to welcome Robert 'Bobby' Sundel back to the Federation to continue sharing his excellent grappling syllabus. This small-group session took place at our HQ with our Journeyman-Level members who have lots of experience in Kung-Fu & Escrima, however many of them have very little time on the mat. Bobby was able to clearly explain the similarities & differences between the two arts, and it became clear that correct body mechanics were the key, no matter which discipline people chose to study. This is exactly in line with our own thinking, and we look forward to working more with Bobby in the future to develop our knowledge of the grappling arts. Also thanks to Wayne Tappin (himself a long-term student of grappling) for bringing Bobby down, offering his body for demonstrations, and for taking this photo too.
Escrima concepts workshop
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| Our senior members after a really enjoyable, detailed training session. Thanks Bobby (front row, second from left) |
On 19th April we welcomed back Master Steve Tappin, Wayne Tappin & Shaun Bolwell for another small-group workshop in the Escrima Concepts System. This time around we worked hard fine-tuning the basics with single-stick & live-hand, then looked at the changes in body positioning & awareness required when facing an opponent armed with both a stick & a knife. In a nutshell, if you cannot move your feet & remain in balance, you're going to have serious problems. Many thanks to Master Steve, Wayne & Shaun for more good information, and to all our members who attended. Our next scheduled Escrima workshop is at the end of May.
Kung-fu assessments
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| Well done to everyone. Were you tested? See your name in the examinations archive |
At the end of our Winter Term on the 29th-30th March, there was another opportunity for some of our Apprentice-Level members to attempt an examination in the Federation Wing Tsun System. Over 30 of our students chose to test, and the standard was again very high.
Well done to everyone who was successful, and apologies to anyone we didn't manage to get a photo of. For anyone that missed out or wasn't ready this time, our next scheduled Kung-Fu examinations are on the 21st & 22nd of June 2008.
New arrival
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| Welcome to the world, our beautiful little Kizi-May. |
Lee Heron writes...On 2nd March 2008, after a truly mammoth four-day labour, my wonderful wife Vikki gave birth to a beautiful, healthy daughter at East Surrey Hospital. Our tiny little Kizi-May Heron came into the world weighing in at an excellent 7lbs 2oz, and I am overjoyed to report that mother & baby are doing very well indeed.
Massive thanks to all members, friends & colleagues who got in touch via post, email, text or in person, and also thanks for all the flowers, cards & gifts we've received. It meant so much to Vikki after all her incredibly hard work. We'll thank you all individually as soon as we can.
Escrima concepts workshop
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| Caught in motion. The weapon is coming, so MOVE! |
1st March saw the first small-group Escrima Concepts workshop of the year, after our very successful big seminar at the end of January. Well done to all who attended, as Master Steve made everyone work extremely hard, providing a million ways to improve what everyone thought was just the simple things. It just goes to show that you can look deeper & deeper - a strike is not just a strike, even when it is. Remember that the system starts & finishes with a No.1 Strike, so you'll eventually come full circle. Our next workshop is in April, so hope to see our members along then.
Organisation development meeting
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| Those responsible for the future of our organisation. L-R: Steve, Joe, Stuart, Karl, Lee, Andy, Mark. |
On the 9th Feb we had a really nice informal meeting with all the London Area staff members of the Federation in our favourite cafe opposite the HQ. The purpose of the meeting was to give all current instructors & those responsible for the future development of the Federation a chance to share opinion and put forward plans for the coming year. We are now in our third year of independence and growing steadily as more & more people begin to appreciate our structured, well-researched approach to training realistic martial arts, and also recognise the value of a non-profit organisation set up for the benefit of all members. We have always said that we intend to grow slowly & steadily, not putting financial motives above those of quality, knowledge & ability. It's working.
Alliance weekend of weapons
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| Participants on the Sunday seminar after two days of training with all manner of weapons. |
From the 25th to 27th January we started the training year in the best possible way. The Federation hosted a two-day seminar with Master Steve Tappin, Wayne Tappin & 'Big' Paul Leslie teaching all manner of weapons knowledge to Alliance students from across the UK & Europe. Only the Sunday group is pictured, so apologies to all those who trained on Saturday!
The Federation were proud to host & organise this event which brought together colleagues from many parts of the World Martial Arts Alliance. Master Marco Mattioni & students from Italy, students from UCT International in Holland, Escrima students from many UK clubs plus of course many of our own members too.
All done with 2008? Go back to 2007