Escrima Workshop & EMAS Italia Visit, 26th-28th January 2007
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January is traditionally a quiet month in the martial arts. Students are usually tied up with going back to work, having no money after the Xmas break, and generally feeling a bit depressed as the reality of another year begins to sink in. Not so for the UKKFF though, as our policy of fair pricing and many varied training opportunities means that our students can always find something to cheer themselves up with! By the end of January we had already run three special small-group tutorials (on Instructor training, Chi-Kung, and WingTsun Chi-Sao) and now we had a major Escrima seminar imminent. What a great start to welcome 2007!
This workshop was a bit different, as besides the usual Escrima training with Master Steve Tappin, the UKKFF were hosting the Masters & Instructors of our Alliance colleagues from EMAS Italia too. This was a great opportunity to build further friendships & share knowledge within the Alliance, plus this first contact would pave the way for further WingTsun Kung-Fu seminars later in 2007. The UKKFF met our 9 Italian friends at London Gatwick on Friday 26th, and drove them all to our favourite hotel in Kingston-Upon-Thames. There we met up with Master Steve & Wayne Tappin of Escrima Concepts and proceeded to eat, drink, and talk martial arts right into the night. It was my first meeting with Master Paolo Bonnuci, Sifu Marco Mattioni & their students, and I was especially taken with how relaxed, friendly and down-to-earth they all were. Like our other Alliance colleagues they all share our vision of a worldwide martial arts family, instead of a worldwide business organisation, and this focus meant we were on the same page from the first moment.
Saturday 27th: Small-Groups & Main Escrima Workshop
Our day began in a hotel function room, with small-group training in Stick & Knife techniques under the guidance of Master Steve Tappin. Besides our EMAS colleagues we were pleased to welcome other Escrima Concepts members from across the UK, plus a fleeting (and much appreciated) visit from Escrima Master Steven Kinvig too! After a few hours of good training we broke for lunch, showered & prepared for the major group workshop at Chessington in the afternoon, where we met up with many of the UKKFF students who study weapons (if you're not one of them, then I strongly recommend you consider it very soon). As usual this monthly workshop was split into groups, catering for absolute beginners and the differing levels of ability present. We were thankful as always for the presence of Big Paul Leslie & Shaun Bolwell, who each took groups and improved students knowledge. It's great to see the different groups and witness a real progression in ability & understanding! The beginners started with the simple (but not easy) concepts of the Basic Defensive Box, the Five Striking Zones, and simple footwork exercises designed to put it all together in a short space of time, whilst the more advanced groups variously studied multiple strikes, double-sticks, changing range, disarms, and a few different edged weapons too. Great fun, and it certainly makes January a lot more exciting.
Sunday 28th: Small-Groups @ The HQ
After saturdays training, many members of EMAS decided to visit the sights of London whilst Master Bonnuci, Master Steve & I had a meal in the hotel and discussed the finer points of weapons training, plus the major WingTsun seminar for the UKKFF in July 2007. Nobody got an early night, but on Sunday morning everyone was again up & ready to continue their training, this time at the UKKFF New Malden HQ. Master Steve used our small car-park to introduce the combination of long & short edged weapons to everyone, whilst I managed to borrow the EMAS Masters for a few hours of superb WingTsun instruction - thanks a million to both of you! Then after a quick break for coffee & water, Master Steve continued with another few hours of close-range Palm-Stick training - the UKKFF's little HQ was not really designed for 20-odd people bouncing off each other, so the environmental awareness element kept everyone buzzing & on their toes.
All too quickly it was time to get our Italian friends to Heathrow for their flight home, and thanks to Andy King, Karl Van Lith & Mark Williams (who all helped drive everyone around throughout the weekend) we managed to fight through traffic in time for everyone to get checked in. It was a very fond farewell, and we left with the feeling that our meeting was the start of something very special within the Alliance family unit. Big thanks to Master Steve, Master Paolo, Sifu Marco and everyone who helped make our first main event of 2007 such a great success. Bring on the rest of the year...!
- Author: Lee Heron
- Sources: None
