2009 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.
8th annual xmas bash
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| The White Hart Hotel in Hampton Wick was the venue of this years Xmas Bash. Great food, a lovely atmosphere and friends all around. |
On the evening of 12th December the UKKFF hired the restaurant of the White Hart Hotel in Hampton Wick, Surrey for the venue of our 8th annual Xmas Bash. Around 40 of our members, friends and colleagues, including Master Steve Tappin of the WMAA came along for a relaxed, social evening of drinks and a lovely 3-course Christmas dinner to mark the end of a great year of training.
This year we decided not to run entertainment, a quiz, or use the event to confer promotions on people. Instead we just relaxed, ate, drank and talked into the early hours - and it was really good. Big thanks to everyone who came along and shared a table with us, and we'll we running another one next year as usual. It's a wonderful thing to be able to relax with colleagues one minute, then throw punches at each other the next! Happy Christmas.
Autumn term seminars & assessments
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| The participants of our end-of-term training seminars & assessments in December 09. Were you tested? See your name in the examinations archives for either Kung-Fu or Escrima |
On 12th December we ran our big end-of-term seminars & assessments, this time held at our Chessington venue. This was open to all members and featured a whole day of training in three of our disciplines, the idea being that even if you only study one art with us, here you'd have the chance to taste some of the others.
The training began with an hour of Qigong, where we explored one of the sections of our Basic Form and explained the principles behind the movements. This was followed by welcoming Alliance Master Steve Tappin & his son Wayne for a few hours of Escrima Concepts training, which was a real eye-opener for those members who have never trained with weapons, and a chance to impart some more information to those who currently do. Some of our members took the opportunity to take their next assessment in Escrima too, showing an ever-improving standard in our primary armed discipline.
After lunch, Sifu Lee Heron took everyone for a few hours of Kung-Fu, giving more detail and exploring applications of the primary unarmed discipline of the UKKFF, and explaining how the weapons concepts apply & inform all aspects of the unarmed side. Once again many of our members took the opportunity to take assessments, and instructors Andy & Joe were kept busy testing in a separate room.
Although it was a long day, everyone worked extremely hard & stayed focused throughout. Thanks to all those who took part, and we'll see you in March for the next big seminar & assessments.
Siu-nim-tao instructional video
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| The UKKFF releases the first downloadable & web-streamed video clip on the unique Federation Wing Tsun Kung-Fu System. |
At the end of November 09, after months of preparing the necessary web & server infrastructure, the UKKFF released two versions of our first instructional video clip. For years our members had been asking for a complete video of the Siu-Nim-Tao form (the primary 'toolkit' of the Federation Wing Tsun System) and so it was a logical choice for our first release.
Our SNT form is demonstrated in full by Sifu Lee Paul Heron, the UKKFF Head Instructor. The video also features captions showing a section-by-section breakdown of all the techniques for easy reference.
In keeping with our non-profit ethos, a reduced-quality version is available FREE to all members via a streamed video player in our members area. There is also a high-quality version optimized for iPhone, iPod and other mobile devices available to purchase & download via our online shop. Watch this space for further releases which are planned for 2010.
Grappling workshop
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| The participants of our small-group grappling workshop at Kingston in October. |
On 3rd October we ran another small-group workshop on Grappling, one of the supplementary disciplines of the UKKFF. After the unforeseen travel problems of the last event in August, we were overjoyed to see Robert 'Bobby' Sundel himself this time, and as a bonus he brought his training partner Jonas Ericsson along too, in order to demonstrate high-level grappling, to offer a different perspective on the techniques, and to further promote Bobby's unique approach to the art.
After a nice warm-up, the first hour was spent on groundwork, exploring different positions and moving fluidly between them; your opponent's movements are used as a source of input & information, and nothing remains stiff or rigid. The second hour focused upon moving from the floor (either seated or on your back) into control & takedown positions using leg hooks & climbing the body. Finally the third hour put everything together and added basic Kimura locks for submissions. A big thanks to everyone who attended, to Bobby & Jonas from Frontier MMA for their time & instruction, and to Wayne for driving them around for the weekend. See you on the next one in 2010.
New school @ putney
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| The UKKFF expands into Putney with a new martial arts club in the main leisure centre as of October 2009. |
The UK Kung-Fu Federation's newest martial arts school in Putney, South-West London opened it's doors to new students for the first time on 29th September 2009. The school will cater for all grades of Kung-Fu initially, with plans to add an Escrima class in the near furure. Anyone wishing to join this school should contact our HQ directly, or click the link the image on the right.
This is the second school to be opened by our instructor Joe Jackson-Taylor after the continuing success of his initial school in Richmond, and we have no doubt that this venue will be equally popular. Congratulations to him on his growing student base.
Summer term assesssments
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| Some of our Foundation & Basic Stage members after their grading. All the Intermediate & Advanced students were still being tested indoors at this point. Were you tested? See your name in the examinations archives for either Kung-Fu or Escrima |
On 19th September we ran end-of-term assessments in both our primary martial arts. Previously we have tested kung-fu students on one day, then escrima students on another, however we decided to put both events onto the same day from now on. This means a long day for those members who study & then choose to test in BOTH arts, but it saves on travel time, time off work, and gives you back a day in the weekend to spend with your family. None of our members are afraid of hard work anyway, otherwise they wouldn't be with us.
We had a great turn-out this term, with members testing for grades all across the board. It was a beautiful sunny day too, so we spent much time outside at our Chessington venue - there is nothing like training in the sun. Our Kung-Fu exams ran in the morning under Sifu Lee Heron, then our Escrima exams ran in the afternoon under Wayne Tappin of Escrima Concepts. We were all very happy indeed with the standard on display.
Special mention goes to Steve Peters, who began studying Kung-Fu with the UKKFF in 2004, and today completed the 12th Student Grade and thus the Apprentice Level of the system after 5 years of constant effort. Huge congratulations to you, and welcome to the Journeyman Level.
Journeyman kung-fu workshop
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| Five of our Journeymen members caught in a time-warp, back to the days of black & white... |
On 12th September we ran the final small-group Journeyman-Level workshop of the Summer Term. Due to holidays not all of our guys could make it along, however this provided the opportunity to work more closely with individuals on their own understanding & ability.
This month we looked at how the tools of the Biu-Tze form (the third toolkit of Federation Wing Tsun Kung-Fu) can be applied, the strategies & situations where they would become necessary or appropriate, and the responses available should one of these tools be used against you. This was a really excellent day of training, so big thanks to our guys and we'll see you again in October.
Perpetual motion seminar
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| Like life, qigong & the martial arts are all about constant movement. You can stop when you're dead, OK? |
On 5th September our head instructor Sifu Lee Heron ran a specially developed seminar entitled 'Perpetual Motion'. The purpose of this event was to explore the links between Qigong, chi-sao, and their links to real fighting applications, and around 30 of our members came to Chessington Sports Centre to take part. Qi (or Chi) is simply breath, life, movement, and a major error in many Wing Chun systems is thinking that Chi-Sao means 'Sticking-Hands'. Sadly, this misconception has lead to much of the problems within the art today.
The first hour was spent introducing & training our first two Qigong forms, which the UKKFF has been developing for many years now. Those unfamiliar with the discipline were rather surprised at how much effort is required - a lot of sweat started to emerge! The next hour was spent exploring how the whole body should be used during chi-sao training; fluid, relaxed, dynamic, constant movement - no tension or stiffness.
The final hour was putting all the above into some simple fighting drills, and seeing just how a small change in thinking plus a greater awareness of your whole body leads to much better results, with a lot less effort. Thanks to all who attended, and please let us know your thoughts on the event in the members area.
Journeyman kung-fu workshop
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| Training at the Journeyman Level is at a much higher level of intensity! |
On 15th August our members who are studying Kung-Fu at the Journeyman Level of the system arrived at the New Malden HQ for another small-group workshop; a whole day of training dedicated to the more advanced skills of Wing Tsun. In order to train at this level though, all the Apprentice Level material must be well understood and well practiced, so a fair proportion of our time was spent drilling the simpler stuff with a greater degree of intensity & intention.
Having refreshed our foundation knowledge, we proceeded to look at how & where the higher material can & should apply. A common mistake is that more advanced techniques are somehow better, where in reality it's usually the more basic things that come apart under pressure. Well done to you all, thanks to everyone who attended, and we'll see you on the next one in September.
Grappling workshop
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| The participants of our small-group grappling workshop at Chessington in August. |
On 1st August we ran another small-group workshop on Grappling, one of the supplementary disciplines of the UKKFF. Our teacher Bobby was due to fly in from Malmo, Sweden, however due to a car breakdown he sadly ended up stuck on a swedish motorway, missed his flight and was forced to ask Wayne Tappin (one of his UK students) to attend in his place.
Despite this unforeseen problem Wayne was able to take everyone through the material very effectively, and the 3-hour workshop flew by. We looked into shooting-in methods & various single-leg takedowns to reach the ground, then explored methods of passing the guard, retaining the mount, and attaining simple armlock & control positions. A hot & sweaty but excellent time was had by all, thanks to Wayne for stepping in, and to Lee for assisting. We hope to see everyone (including Bobby) for our next grappling workshop at the start of October.
Website version 7.0 goes live
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| Version 7.0 of the UK Kung-Fu Federation website goes live. |
At the end of July, x7 months of behind-the-scenes design work was revealed. We had been hard at work rebuilding the entire infrastructure of our website, plus overhauling the look, feel & functionality in response to the requests & comments of our members. For the last four years the previous version had been constantly improving (and indeed version 6 was only released in Jan 09), but we'd reached the limit of that design.
As of this update, Phase 1 of the relaunch is live, which consists of everything except the new members area & latest forum version. Phase 2 will be live within another month, which will be the members area & forum, and Phase 3 is the upload of all our new support documentation for students & instructors. Comments are welcome and encouraged, as the site exists for the benefit of everyone we teach.
Blade awareness day
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| Master Steve Tappin with assistants Wayne & Albert of Escrima Concepts, and all the participants of our Blade Awareness Day. |
On 25th July we organised another seminar on Blade Awareness, taught by Master Steve Tappin of Escrima Concepts. Our last one was in March 2006, and although many of our students have since trained with weapons on a regular basis, we obviously have a different set of members since then, and we felt it was time to refresh the perception of reality.
The seminar was split into two groups, the first being people new to blade awareness, and the rest those who have already completed a previous course and who regularly train with weapons. Everyone wore old light-coloured t-shirts for this event, as some of the training was done with marker-pens. This meant you could instantly see where you would have been cut, and if you would be able to continue defending yourself had it been a sharp blade.
As always the results were astonishing, proving once again that if you are unable to evade, to move in balance effectively with your own plan of attack, you don't stand much chance. Thanks to Master Steve and his assistants, and to everyone who put so much effort in. If you want peace, prepare for war.
Chessington renovation complete
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| The £23 million-pound renovation of Chessington Community College is complete, meaning we get new training areas, a cafe/bar, and better parking for our martial arts club. |
On 22nd July our martial arts school in Chessington, Surrey was fully reopened after more than 2 years of disruption caused by a £23 million-pound renovation & rebuilding project to the venue. We've run a club at Chessington Community College Sports Centre since 2002, and many hundreds of students have passed through the ranks there, including some of our current instructors & journeymen-level members too. The club had been badly affected due to the lack of parking & temporary training facilities, so a big thank-you to all members who put up with the issues & still managed to train each week. We salute your dedication.
The new venue now boats a fully mirrored & sprung-floor Dance Studio (which we use for Kung-Fu) a redecorated Sports Hall & outdoor areas (which we use for Escrima) plus great parking and a wonderful spacious atrium containing a cafe & bar for pre/post training refreshments. If you've not been down to this school for a while, we look forward to seeing you here again soon.
Journeyman kung-fu workshop
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| Having completed the apprentice level, Mark Williams (front right) attends his first journeymen level workshop in the Federation Wing Tsun System. |
On 18th July we ran another small-group workshop for our journeyman-level students of the Federation Wing Tsun System. We also welcomed a new colleague to this, the second level of kung-fu training. Mark Williams is an assistant at our Wimbledon school and completed the apprentice level recently after 5 years of constant training. He now joins the rest of our journeymen in digging deeper into their own martial art.
This month we blended multiple ranges in striking, dissected movements of the Biu-Tze form with our awareness of weapons, looked at the strategy of Forced Engagement from the point of view of a failed counter-attack, and explored the use of the Kwan-Sao technique through both Evasion and Engagement. Lots to cover in only one day, and lunch tasted doubly good because of all the hard work. Thanks to all who attended, and we'll see you on the next one in August.
Escrima concepts summer camp
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| Master Steve Tappin (centre) with all the participants of the 2009 Escrima Concepts summer camp. We came from all over Europe to represent EC. Click image for full-size picture. |
Between 3rd - 5th July instructors & students from all across Europe met at the UCT Headquarters in Amsterdam for the annual Escrima Concepts Summer Training Camp, run by Master Steve Tappin, Wayne Tappin & 'Big' Paul Leslie. The three days of instruction saw students from beginner up to 3TG practice with all manner of hand weapons, including sticks, knives & machetes, and then apply the same concepts to unarmed grappling, locks & takedowns.
As always the training was intense, fun & detailed, and all of us were nursing muscle aches and a few bruises after the first day. The hot sun played it's part too - the bright red flesh on display was nothing to do with the more common delights of Amsterdam! Big thanks to everyone who attended and helped us to learn, and as always it's great to see, train, eat & drink with our close friends (too many to mention - you know who you are) we'll see you on the next international event very soon.
UKKFF summer camp
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| Eight of us visited the mountains of Malaga for our 7th annual small-group Summer Camp. Did you attend? View all the photo galleries & slideshows of this event |
Between 22nd - 28th June we ran our 7th annual small-group Summer Camp to the Montes De Malaga in southern Spain. This year we welcomed eight of our members along to our family mountaintop retreat for a week of sun, swimming, relaxing, eating, drinking, and hours of daily training in our martial disciplines. Besides the usual kung-fu and escrima sessions, we also managed to get in some grappling practice and some quality qigong training too.
A special guest on this trip was Karl Van Lith, who runs the growing branch of our organisation in South Africa down in Somerset West. Karl was with us for two weeks in Spain & London to get the latest developments for his students, and he plans to have Sifu Lee Heron visit SA this December too.
Huge thanks to Bob & Di for being great hosts once again, Vikki for organising the trip, and to all our guests for a wonderful week of training & social events. Our next one will be at the end of June 2010, and you'll all be most welcome again.
Kung-fu assessments
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| Successful candidates for the Foundation Stage assessments along with their instructors. Were you tested? See your name in the examinations archive |
On 20th June we ran our end-of-term assessments in the Federation Wing Tsun System, which is the primary unarmed discipline of the UKKFF. Our head instructor & school instructors from all local clubs brought their members along to have their knowledge & ability tested. As there were so many people to be observed & assisted, the morning session was reserved for Foundation Stage members only, and the afternoon session was for those working at all higher grades. Everyone worked hard and showed the amount of dedication given to their training during the past term, keeping the instructors busy with questions and requests for more information. We were all very happy with the standard demonstrated, so well done all.
Special mention goes to Mark Williams, who began studying Kung-Fu with the UKKFF in 2004, and today completed the 12th Student Grade and thus the Apprentice Level of the system after 5 years of constant effort. Huge congratulations to you, and welcome to the Journeyman Level.
Escrima assessments
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| EC Instructor Wayne Tappin (in black) testing our members ability to use the Escrima Concepts System. Were you tested? See your name in the examinations archive |
On 14th June we ran our end-of-term assessments in the Escrima Concepts System, which is the primary armed discipline of the UKKFF. Instructor Wayne Tappin (son of Master Steve Tappin, the developer of Escrima Concepts) visited our New Malden HQ, and along with our head instructor, he put those members who felt ready to be assessed through their paces. We took advantage of the beautiful weather to conduct the tests outdoors in our rear car park, where our students were systematically taken through the key elements of their respective training programmes.
After a couple of hours of good work, all were satisfied that the required standard had been surpassed. Well done to you all, and our next scheduled assessments in escrima are in September.
Journeyman kung-fu workshop
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| Correct use of the wooden dummy is an important part of Journeyman-Level training in the Federation Wing Tsun System. |
On 13th June we ran another all-day workshop for our Kung-Fu Journeymen at the New Malden HQ. This month we our time was spent on breaking down & training the different ways of using power in all the main unarmed tools, then applying this knowledge to our very simple, yet very comprehensive Chi-Sao drills and sparring drills. As always we believe that having a full knowledge of our tools is far better than adding more tools to incomplete knowledge, and this concept is the essence of the journeyman stages of our martial arts. This was the final TG workshop of the 2009 Spring Term, and we look forward to seeing everyone again in July.
Summer seminar
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| Participants of the 2009 Summer Seminar. Thanks to everyone who contributed - we had a great time. Did you attend? View all the photo galleries & slideshows of this event |
On 6th June we welcomed lots of UKKFF members to our Kingston-upon-Thames venue for the main unarmed seminar of the 2009 Spring Term. This time we focused upon the importance of having a definite strategic objective when controlling an opponent, or being controlled by them. Everyone started as a big group, whereby our head instructor gave everyone a deceptively simple exercise as a foundation. We then split into small groups, each taken by a different instructor, and the original drill was then expanded upon in different ways using all parts of the body. After everyone had rotated between all instructors, we put all the concepts freely back together, plus added striking back in again. Huge thanks to all members & instructors for a very enjoyable & useful few hours of training, and we'll see you on the next one.
Instructor training
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| Instructor Andy King uses a short break in training to take notes - there's lots of detail to absorb. |
On 16th May our comprehensive instructor training programme continued to pass on lots of detailed information to our ever-developing teaching staff. More importantly though, we spent a whole day each month engaged in proper physical training to ensure that all instructors retain a balance of the five elements. It's no good just having good theoretical & technical detail if you cannot actually DO it (which is the Practical Element), or do it with enough speed, power & intention (which is the Physical Element) to cater for the needs of all different types of students. Plus everything has to be linked back to the all-important Strategic Element, providing a solid foundation upon which to build excellent martial artists.
Spring escrima seminar
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| Master Steve Tappin & Wayne Tappin demonstrate Single-Stick & Live-Hand |
On 2nd May the UKKFF welcomed back Master Steve Tappin & his son Wayne to teach another seminar on their unique Escrima Concepts System. We spent several hours training & fine-tuning the use of single-stick & double-stick techniques, and also how the concepts make the transition to edged weapons too. If anything forces you to move, it's the sight of a bright shiny blade arcing towards you! Sadly this event was not as well attended as previous seminars due to many UKKFF & EC members being away with families on a beautiful sunny bank holiday weekend. For those who did manage to attend, the smaller groups meant lots of close instruction and attention to detail. Big thanks to Master Steve, Wayne & all our students & instructors who were there, and we'll see everyone at the next one in July.
Journeyman kung-fu workshop
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| Sifu Lee Heron & some of his Journeymen-Level students. |
We ran another all-day workshop on 25th April for our Journeymen Level Kung-Fu members. This month was devoted to training the strategies of Engagement and Attack using protective clothing, so everyone could use more power & more intention in their techniques. It makes a real difference when you have enough trust in your training partners (and the padding they are wearing) to be able to throw committed attacks every single time, and the extra threat brings home the importance of strategic thinking. Thanks to everyone for a great session, hope the bruises go down, and we'll see you at the next all-day event in May.
Instructor training
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| Our instructors delve deeper into the theory of martial art. |
The first Instructor Training Programme meeting of the Spring Term took place at our New Malden HQ on 18th April. Current instructors & advanced stage students who are on the ITP met for a whole day of training & education designed to improve their knowledge of our martial art systems & their ability to teach others. The Federation runs two ITP meetings during each & every term, so that all instructors are kept up-to-date with the latest developments, can share best practice, and have some social time to chat about what's happening with their own schools. Thanks to everyone who attended, and we'll see you on the next all-day session in May.
Richmond school relocation
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| A brand-new venue for our growing school in Richmond-Upon-Thames as of April 2009. |
As of 6th April the UK Kung-Fu Federation martial arts school in Richmond-Upon-Thames, Surrey will be relocating to newer, better premises with far better facilities. Our general classes will still be on Wednesdays from 7.30pm, but are now held in the group exercises studio at Cannons Health Club in Richmond Athletic Ground, instead of at the old venue in Richmond Adult Community College, where we first opened in October 2008. The new venue has onsite free car parking, proper changing rooms, a great cafe for meeting in before class, mirrors, a wooden floor, sound-system, air-conditioning and much more space. We look forward to seeing you along in the Spring Term.
Kung-fu assessments
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| The successful Foundation Stage candidates with their instructors in the morning round of assessments. Were you tested? See your name in the examinations archive |
We ran our regular end-of-term assessments in the Federation Wing Tsun System on 28th March, for any of our members who felt ready to move up a grade. This time the assessments were held in Stage groups across an entire day at our new Kingston-Upon-Thames venue. We were starting to outgrow Wimbledon, our regular exam location since 2002. Students from all the local Federation schools turned up to be assessed, with the Foundation Stage occupying our instructors in the morning, then Basic, Intermediate & Advanced Stages in the afternoon. Due to our obsession with quality, we always find less members trying for the next grade within the higher stages - they train until they own the material, and only then come for assessment. It's the only way really.
Escrima assessments
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| Four members who were assessed. Everyone else ran off before we could take a group photo! Were you tested? See your name in the examinations archive |
On 22nd March the Federation ran the first scheduled assessments in the Escrima Concepts System. In previous years any members who wished to have their ability assessed could only do so during seminars or special events, and we're glad to say that a lot of students did just that. However now we have regular assessments scheduled to cater for our growing numbers and a growing interest in escrima, our main armed discipline.
Everyone worked very hard for a couple of hours, proving they knew their syllabus and could apply their knowledge under pressure too. Well done to you all, and our next round of escrima assessments are scheduled for mid-June.
Journeyman kung-fu workshop
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| Some of our 1TG's. L-R Mark Galica, Joe Jackson-Taylor, Matt Slightam, Oliver David, Andrew King |
We ran another all-day workshop for our Journeymen Wing Tsun members on 21st March. Not everyone could make it down to this one, but that just gave us a bit more space to train. This month we spent lots of time on the Technical Element looking at more advanced tools for Chi-Sao and how the Strategic Element can be applied to them all, plus a recap on the more basic ideas from the Apprentice Level but with a lot more speed, power & intention.
Thanks to you all for a great session, and we'll see you at the next one in April.
Tuition gift vouchers launched
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| You can order tuition gift vouchers now via our online shop |
On March 18th the UK Kung-Fu Federation launched a brand-new product - Tuition Gift Vouchers! If you've ever wondered just what to get a martial arts-obsessed partner or colleague, you just can't go wrong with a few of these. The vouchers come in £10 denominations and are redeemable as full or part payment against ALL training & tuition services offered by ANY current Federation Instructor. Use them for classes, private lessons or even seminars & events, with any instructor you like.
Vouchers are always in stock, they can be ordered anytime using our 24-hour online shop, and we can post them directly to your house too.
Spring seminar
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| Did you attend? View all the photo galleries & slideshows of this event |
We ran our first main unarmed seminar of the year on 7th March, which featured five instructors each teaching a related concept. Each instructor took a small group of students for around 40 minutes, then the group had a quick water break and moved onto the next instructor. In this way each group trained five different ideas across the 3-hour event, covering diverse material not only from the Federation Wing Tsun System, but also our supplementary art of Grappling, and also some important core stability & balance concepts from our Functional Fitness programmes.
Thanks to everyone who attended or taught, and we look forward to seeing you on the next unarmed seminar in June (which will follow the same format as the feedback to date has been uniformly excellent.)
Chi-kung workshop
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| Our members Jason & Sasha practice their basic Chi-Kung Form |
We ran another small-group workshop on 28th February focusing on our own approach to the unique wellness discipline known as Chi-Kung (or Qigong). Our training programme is simple, easy to understand and easy to remember, and over the years we have shared it with a great many people. Several more of our members came along this time to go deeper into breathing, relaxation techniques and the many possible emphasis points which can be found within our short forms. Our head instructor has been practicing the discipline for years and is in no doubt that the greater body awareness Chi-Kung brings can only be beneficial to martial arts training. Our next scheduled workshop is in May, so hope to see you along then.
Journeyman kung-fu workshop
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| 1TG's Matthew Slightam & Andy King caught in transition... |
On 21st February the UKKFF ran another all-day workshop for our Journeymen-Level members in the Federation Wing Tsun System, a regular monthly event which we introduced for 2009. All our members who have completed the Apprentice Level came along for a whole day of good training, and also some great social time catching up with each other. When you've known your training partners for 7+ years, shared good times and exchanged many bruises along the way, each training session becomes a really enjoyable affair. See you all in March.
Extreme weather strikes
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| The main road (buried under a foot of snow) in the little Surrey village where our head instructor lives. No training today then. |
On the 2nd & 3rd February The UK was hit by the heaviest snowfall seen for 18 years! In Surrey & SW London ALL public transport shut down, most roads were impassable, all schools closed, crashed lorries & cars littered the highways like discarded tin cans, and the vast majority of the population took a couple of days off work to have fun sledging, build snowmen, throw snowballs and generally lark around. The Federation was only forced to cancel one evening class, but many students missed their regular private lesson slots at the HQ simply because it was impossible to get here for a couple of days. Who cares? We're always here, but snow like this is too good to miss.
Alliance escrima weekend
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| Master Steve Tappin & his son Wayne Tappin of Escrima Concepts Did you attend? View all the photo galleries & slideshows of this event |
Across the 31st Jan & the 1st Feb the UKKFF hosted the World Martial Arts Alliance's first major training seminar of 2009 in our new venue in Kingston-Upon-Thames, Surrey. The event was all about the Escrima Concepts System, which is one of our primary martial arts. We welcomed back Master Steve Tappin, Wayne Tappin, Big Paul Leslie and Arne Holz to teach at this event, and organised accommodation for Alliance members from across the UK and Europe. Besides our own members and those from Escrima Concepts clubs across London, we hosted students from Italy (including Masters Paolo Bonucci & Marco Mattioni), students from Holland, from Germany, and from many UK regions too. In total we ran four training seminars across the two days, working material from right across the EC System encompassing many different weapons & weapon combinations. Huge thanks to everyone who attended, and special thanks to all our members who helped out with transporting guests to & from the hotel and training venue - it was really appreciated.
Journeyman kung-fu workshop
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| 1TG's Joe Jackson-Taylor & Oliver David drilling Chi-Sao |
The UK Kung-Fu Federation began a brand-new monthly event on 24th January - an all-day workshop for our Journeymen-Level members. In previous years we ran a dedicated class every saturday morning, however it became apparent that we needed more time during each meeting to really get our teeth into the material and to develop quality. It is said that less is more, so from 2009 we cancelled the saturday morning class and started a monthly all-day workshop (free-of-charge) so that all our Journeymen could spend a day together training. As Journeymen already have access to the regular Apprentice-Level classes at all schools each week for their regular training, this new session concentrates purely on the high-level training programmes, except during lunch.
New school @ hinchley wood
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| The UKKFF expands into Hinchley Wood with a new martial arts school as of Jan 2009. |
The UK Kung-Fu Federation's newest martial arts school in Hinchley Wood, Surrey opened it's doors to new students for the first time on 7th January 2009. 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 is the second school to be opened by Andrew King, one of our full-time, professional martial arts instructors. Andrew already runs a successful school in West Ewell, and we have no doubt that this school will be equally popular. Congratulations to him on his growing student base.
Kingston school relocation
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| Our Kingston-Upon-Thames martial arts school starts 2009 with a brand-new venue |
The UK Kung-Fu Federation martial arts school in Kingston-Upon-Thames, Surrey will be relocating to newer, better premises with far better facilities as of 5th January 2009. Our general classes will still be on Mondays from 7.30pm, but are now held in the upstairs dance studio at Tiffin Boys School Sports Centre, instead of at the old venue in Kingston United Reformed Church, where we've been since 2003.
The new venue has onsite free car parking, proper changing rooms, refreshments, mirrors, a sprung floor and much more space. We are also running most of our 2009 seminars & events in the Sports Centre too, so we look forward to seeing you along.
Website version 6.0 goes live
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| Version 6.0 of our website went live at the start of 2009. |
On 1st January we began the year by uploading the most comprehensive set of updates to our website so far. This was the 6th version of www.ukkff.org and each time we've listened to our members and improved things so as to be more user-friendly and more useful.
Some major changes include a totally revised site structure, an online shop, dedicated areas for our martial arts & wellness programmes, improved member resources and very easy-to-navigate areas for news reports and forthcoming events. You can even view details for each upcoming seminar, print them with one click, or email the seminar details to a training partner to say you're going! All this plus minor tweaks & improvements to the look & feel of the site. Enjoy.
All done with 2009? Go back to 2008