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| Newsletter | August 2009 |
IN THIS ISSUE
1- Why do people call themselves Guru?
2- IKFF Certified kettlebell Trainer – Coming to Dublin
3- Wild Geese MMA Club
4- Ray Allen - You can't stop you won't stop
5- Every Cause But Our Own
6- On the Blog
7- Recommended Products (genuinely recommended, cos we think they’re great)
1 – Why do people call themselves Guru?
So having got me to write a couple of reports on seminars, Dave now tells me I have to start with blogs. So I’m to be a blogger, still it could be worse, I could become a twitterer, and les face it, I have often been called worse. Although I do keep telling drunks when doing doorwork, being called a wanker at my age is more of a compliment than an insult!So why not start with an often asked question, “What’s with the name, Wild Geese?” Dave has covered the historical origins of the Wild Geese in Ireland in past articles.
Having spent a number of years travelling and teaching a number of instructors around the world, some of whom in turn train their respective security forces, we felt the name was appropriate on one level.
For various reasons I have had to be a bit vague about what I was doing for 5 years while I was away. This in turn has lead to the creation of some pretty fanciful rumours. NO, I HAVE NEVER BEEN IN THE ARMY, OR ANYBODY’S ARMY, MIND YOUR OWN DAMNED BUISNESS!
Although this rumour mill also seemed to make the name appropriate on another level.
But it’s just a name, and in a way was a bit of a spur of the moment thing.
The LogoThe logo has been made up of the fist-palm of Kenpo, the dove of Wado Ryu (dove, goose, get it?) and the Kampilan sword of the Filipino Martial Arts which represents our background in martial arts. (The logo illustrated is Dave’s first draft of what was to become the Wild Geese logo)
Some people in England and the Philippines felt that while they could understand “Wild” as in “Crazy Bastards” but they couldn’t get the bit about the Geese.
Now that we are growing as an organisation, I suppose the reputation or image of the Wild Geese is becoming more important. Explaining this may involve getting a bit personal.
Our Image Our Image, whatever image we have is based on not giving a damn about what our image is.
That bit was easy.
Our Reputation
Our reputation is more important. This is something we built up over a few years travelling to Britain and the Philippines and constantly being referred to as “those Crazy Irish Bastards!”
I have always pushed myself to the limit when training, so has Dave, so when we got together that attitude lead to some pretty intense training sessions. The first seminar we went to together was when Grandmaster Dionisio Canete of Doce Pares visited London. We had both been working on the door the previous night and had travelled overnight getting no sleep. We felt that if we stopped moving or took a rest we would fall asleep, so basically, we just beat the crap each other up the whole day.
Two things resulted from that, we laid down a marker we would have to live up to and Grandmaster Danny Guba poached me bringing me into the Doce Pares organisation.
We then took this same attitude with us when we went to the Philippines for training. I have photo’s of Dave literally bruised from head to toe, it was weird, have you eve had a bruise that didn’t hurt?
Then, the last time I was in the Philippines my hip was so bad it was agony walking up the stairs in the HQ, but once I start, I kept telling them, “I’m ok so long as I don’t stop”. At the end of each day, I couldn’t walk back to the hotel, I had to get a taxi. “Rest when your dead” became the catchphrase for the Filipino's.
The Hawaiian I was to fight at the World Championships laughed when he saw me limping up, so I just charged in and beat the crap out of him in true “Crazy Irish” fashion. I remember Richard Hudson from England, who volunteered to be my corner man, trying to discuss tactics at the end of the first round, all I could say was “tactics my arse, I’m going to beat the shit out of him”
“It’s a blog, Paul, keep it short and simple, just like yourself”, Thanks Dave, I'm nearly finished.
What we are NOT • We are not interested in belts and gradings, but between us we hold Dan grades in Kempo, Kenpo, Wado Ryu and Doce pares (we’ve so far been successful in dodging gradings in Rapid Arnis, I’ve managed it for 13 years now!) These arts make up our background. Other arts that we have dabbled in, we say we have dabbled in, attending one of Ed Parker’s weekend seminars does not mean that Mr Parker taught you. • We don’t use titles like Sensei, Sifu or Guru, though we are entitled to all of them (why do people cal themselves Guru? Because charlatan is too long to spell!) and if anyone dares to use the term “Sir” in my class they will get 100 push ups. • We are not interested in competition, just watch the footage of Dave taking the piss out of his opponent in Manilla, yet we have both been successful in the World Championships. • We don’t make claims to have trained with this master or that master, we don’t need to, we’ve got the memories, the scars and the photo’s. • We’re not the biggest, or the best, whatever that is. That’s a lot of what we’re not and what we don’t, so what are we?
We are the Wild Geese.
I hope these ramblings have cleared up a few things, if they haven’t, tough, Dave won’t give me another month to finish it!
Regards
Paul Cox
Chief Instructor and Founder of Wild Geese Martial Arts
2 - IKFF CKT - Coming to Ireland
Host: IKFF--International Kettlebell and Fitness FederationType: Education - Workshop
Network: Global
Start Time: Saturday, 12 September 2009 at 09:30
End Time: Sunday, 13 September 2009 at 17:00
Location: Wild Geese Martial Arts
Street: 14-16 Magennis Place, Pearse Street Dublin
Town/City: Dublin, Ireland
Phone: 001888897IKFF
Email: kathy.martinez@ikff.net
Hosted By Wild Geese Martial Arts - Dublin - Ireland
For more info and registration details please visit: http://ikff.net/ckt-00068.php
Level 1 - There are no prerequisites for this course, so attendance is open to anyone interested in learning Steve’s unique and multi-modal approach to kettlebell lifting. Regardless of your fitness goal, Steve will cover how kettlebell training can best fit your needs – general fitness, competitive sport, sports specific conditioning and more.
As a certification, we have 3 high level goals:
Mastery of the basics – You will learn all the fundamental kettlebell exercises, several variations and most importantly, the key physical training principles underlying and associated with each movement.
Coaching skills – In addition to learning how to take your own fitness to higher levels, you will learn how to coach others safely and effectively utilizing a process Steve has refined over several years and thousands of clients. We realize that a successful coach is more than just understanding fitness, it’s knowing how to teach it as well.
Business/Marketing skills – Although this certification is primarily about improving physical performance and coaching skills, it would not be complete without a module on how to effectively market yourself and grow your fitness based business.
Benefits:
Professionally Organized – Upon registering through our website, (www.ikff.net) all registrants will receive a pre-certification e-manual. This will review the content of the course, timeline for the weekend (which modules are taught and at what time), preparation tips and more. We ensure our events are scheduled and organized in a manner that gives you the best return on your investment.
Learn By Doing format - Repetition is often said to be the mother of skill. Therefore, registrants will not only learn the mechanics and principles behind each exercise, they will also have an abundance of time to practice these movements and receive customized feedback from Steve and the IKFF team.
Post Certification Support - Our primary core value at the IKFF is member support. Thus, you will always have access to Steve and his team of advisors going forward in regard to any questions you may have. In addition, you will be listed on our website as an IKFF Certified Coach. This will include name, e-mail, website, picture and bio. If a prospective client is interested in finding a coach in your area, they will find you!
Continued Education - We will continue to offer advanced level courses for our members. With the IKFF, you have an organization that will stay on the cutting edge and act as a consistently evolving resource for you and your clients.
09.30 til 17.00 hrs both days.
We have confirmation that Kettlebell master, Mr Steve Cotter, is definitely coming over sept 12th & 13th this year for a IKFF certification course. I’m still awaiting final confirmation of the price for the weekend, but please feel free to contact us (info@wildgeesema.com) or get in touch with Steve (www.ikff.net) to register or to get more info.
This will be a weekend NOT to be missed!
3- Wild Geese MMA Club
We just can’t deny it, MMA is the most popular form of martial arts available today. And like most things that get a surge of interest it is in danger of becoming a victim of it’s own success.
Everywhere you look there are MMA gyms and MMA instructors popping up out of nowhere. You local karate instructor suddenly starts teaching ground work, your self defence coach is teaching ground and pound. But where did they learn?
We have top Brazilian JuJitsu coach, Mariousz Domast, the only man in Europe to represent legendary BJJ coach Marcello C Monteiro (www.bjjcoach.com), former Polish national Judo team member and creator of too many champions to count both back home in Poland and here in Ireland.
We have Phil Whyte & Ronan McSweeney both well known and respected in the Irish and European kickboxing circles.
We have Dave Hedges who is one of the few to hold an instructor certification from World kettlebell lifting champion Vasilly Gincko and has a long history of training Martial Artists and athletes with a variety of methods.
The three instructors ware available through the week to train you to become a highly conditioned and effective mixed martial artist.
On Mondays, Mariousz will be teaching the finer points of the ground game, how to perform escapes and submissions and find advantage in any position from the floor. Brazilian JuJitsu is the foundation of MMA, without adequate grappling skills, you will never realise you full potential.
Tuesdays & Thursdays are your opportunity to train with fitness coach and martial artist, Dave Hedges. The tues (beginner) and Thurs (advanced) Kettlebell class will beef up your strength, explosiveness and cardio while stripping away unwanted extra weight. Many top names in the MMA scene have turned to kettlebells, now it’s your turn. Wednesdays and Saturdays are the MMA days. You will work your stand up, cardio and groundwork on these days. Putting together the skills from Mondays, the strength & stamina from Tues/thurs and adding to it the Kickboxing and striking drills, ultimately putting it all together.
The MMA club will be priced differently to regular classes at the Wild Geese House of Strength, reflecting the dedication required to become a combat athlete.
4 days/week (eg 2x MMA, 1xBJJ, 1xKBFitness) €80/month
3 days/week (eg 1xMMA, 1x BJJ, 1x KBfitness) €70/month
2 days/week (eg 1x BJJ, 1xMMA) €60/month
The class breakdowns are examples only, you may choose any combination from the MMA package. We suggest that you choose classes that will bring up your weaknesses, for example if you can box but keep getting choked out, emphasis the BJJ. If you are gassed after the first 10 minutes, emphasise the kettlebell. You have the opportunity to make informed decisions.
Should this pricing scheme proves popular we may change our whole pricing structure to match.
4- You can't stop you won't stop
From Kettlebell enthusiast, Ray Allen who recently completed the Gealforce Adventure Challenge.The challenge consists of 6 stages totalling 20km running, 1.6lm Kayaking and 45km cycling over mixed terrain, including Irelands Croagh Patrick.
Hi Dave, Paul and Nicola,
If ever I needed a mantra then today was that day and "you can't stop you won't stop" was it! That was without doubt mentally and physically the toughest thing that I have ever done!
It was much f**king harder than I thought it was going to be! Every stage was hard. The first stage, 12k run was mostly off-road. Bitch in road runners. My friend left me behind on that stage! Damn!! Anyway after that it was all about finishing and defeating the mental demons.
The third stage a 3.5k run killed me. I felt really strong up until that point. I just couldn't push it as much as I wanted to on the 32k cycle...the numerous hills didn't help me either! But still I stayed on the bike the whole time unlike many that were getting off the bikes and walking! That must have been the kettlebell training! ;)
Onto Croagh Patrick...a f**king gigantic monstrosity! It is steep as hell and the last couple of hundred metres is covered in loose scree.
I never want to see it again. Joints, muscles, everything was aching coming down it. I was delirious when I got down off it. Might have been dehydration, dunno but I was certainly light headed.
So the last stage, a 12k cycle into Westport. Here my choice of bike, cyclocross; proved to be a shrewd decision. First 2k or so was off road. Mucky, rocky, wet; no way could you cycle it on a racer. I had a wry smile on my face as I whizzed past people carrying their bikes!
Then it was onto some hair raising downhill on back roads, followed by about 8k into Westport on the main road.
Finally I made it into Westport House and the finish line. The avenue was thronged with people. It was a good buzz. Dumped the bike and then sprinted across the finish line! Talk about a mixture of emotions!
Quite possibly the best and worst day of my life.
Thanks to both of you and Paul for your help, encouragement and the training inflicted upon me over the past few months! Without a doubt it would have been so much tougher if I wasn't as well prepared. Even though the legs were screaming on occasion, they always recovered and allowed me to push it at times during each stage.
Oh yeah my finish time...I clocked it at about 5hrs 55mins but there was one timeout so my official time might be a bit faster. I was hoping for between 5 and 5.5 hours but given how tough it was I'm happy with it. The course record is 3hrs 27mins...the person who did that can't be human!
I'm off for a much needed shower. Talk to you both next week.
Ray
5- Every cause But Our Own
If you follow our blogs (here & here) or are a facebook friend of Dave Hedges, you will have noticed a “Just Giving” box in the side bar.This was because Dave’s sister has finally gotten of her backside and decided to get fit. To help her motivate herself she chose to raise cash for charity. As we often cite the line “every cause but our own” taken from “With the Wild Geese” by Lucy Lawless, we felt we had to help.
Now the event has passed, Kez managed to complete the 5k circuit in 39 minutes. Not bad considering the most she’d done previously is walk to the train station! In doing so she has raised money for Cancer Research. While the event has passed I’m going to leave the box up on the blogs just in case anybody is feeling generous.
If your not how about this, she is now planning a 50mile cycle, for the blind.
You can follow her progress as she prepares for the biggest physical challenge she’s ever faced by visiting her new blog aptly titled Spokes And Strings
6 - On The Blogs
8 - RECOMMENDED LINKS & PRODUCTS
All Proceeds go to the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Society
This CD contains articles from the leading fitness specialists of our day including:
Adam Campbell; Alan Aragon; Bill Hartman; Bob Youngs; Brian Grasso; Chad Waterbury; Charles Staley; Chris Mohr; Chris Shugart; Craig Ballantyne; Dan John; Dave Tate; Dax Moy; The Doorman; Eric Cressey; Gray Cook; Brett Jones; Harry Selkow; Jack Reape; James Smith; Jason C Brown; Jim "Smitty" Smith; Jason Ferruggia; Jimmy Smith; Joe DeFranco; Joe Dowdell; Joe Stankowski; John Alvino; John Berardi; Julia Ladewski; Keith Scott; Lee Taft; Lori Incledon; Lou Schuler; Lyle McDonald; Mark Philippi; Michael Stare; Mike Boyle; Mike Mahler; Mike Mejia; Mike Robertson; Mike Rousell; Nick Grantham; Pat Beith; Pavel Tsatsouline; Rachel Cosgrove; Robert Dos Remedios; Ryan Lee; Steve Shafley; Susan Hill; TC Luoma; Todd Hamer; Tony Gentilcore; Tony Reynolds and Zach Even-Esh
We originally intended to publish this collection as a book. However - at over 800 pages - costs were prohibitive and we went with the CD option to maximize our contribution.
Minimalist Strength Training without bulk or fancy equipment
Power To The People, Russian Strength Training Secrets for Every American
A pretentious title but a truly fantastic book. Goes into great detail on how to perform the Deadlift safely and how to progress to massive amounts of strength without bulking up or wasting hours in the gym. I personally put 20kg’s onto my deadlift in only a few months of using the programme.
Check it out for your self Here: http://tinyurl.com/deadlift
All the best
The Wild Geese
Doce Pares Ireland / Kenpo Karate / Self Protection / Security Training
www.wildgeesema.com / wildgeesema.blogspot.com
+353 87 672 6090
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