Anyway, lets start with my trip to Cuba the other week and see where it leads to. Like my seminars, I’m making this up as I go along. So, how’s this for a challenge…..

You have one week to prepare for a Dan Grading.

If this was sprung out of the blue, how would you get on if I only gave you about a months notice that I was going over and, like me, Chino our instructor in Cuba, doesn’t do emails. Although in my case it’s a choice, I couldn’t be arsed basically.
So when I met with Chino and Antoin it was “How’s it going lads, what day do you want to do your gradings? How about next Saturday? Yeah? Grand!”
The lads were up for it which was handy because they didn’t have a choice anyway!

I had never shown them any of the Doce Pares Eskrima, or at least very little on my last trip over, so we spent about 3 hours every morning doing Doce Pares, particularly Corto as I want to get a couple of them to the WEKAF World Championships next summer in Mexico. After 5 days of Doce Pares I made them take their Kenpo gradings.

I was looking forward to seeing how they had developed their Kenpo as I wanted to make a comparison. I was over In the Gambia earlier in the year helping Samir, our instructor there, teach the Statehouse guards. The first thing the Gambian lads commented on was the difference in our styles. I agreed with them but pointed out that the principles were the same even if the styles were different. This was because before I went to West Africa in 1996 my training partner for the previous couple of years was very experienced in Aikijutsu and some of his style had rubbed off on me. This style suited Samir and he took it on to another level. From West Africa I went to Cuba via – well, that’s another story. Combining the Rapid Arnis with the Kenpo in Cuba formed another style, Kenpo Cubano, more of a multiple striking style. I wanted to see the progression in what I taught from 1996 to now, having now studied Doce Pares for a number of years.

However having been over to Venezuela at the World Championships, the lads had been contaminated – sorry, Influenced by the American slap happy style of Kenpo, not exactly my cup of tea, My ego told me to insist they do the techniques the way I do but then decided to leave them do the Americanised style of Kenpo as the original plan was for the instructors to have recognised grades in either Kenpo or FMA (Filipino Martial Arts)and Kenpo Cubano. It would be our way of combining the two into a package.
Given only 5 days preparation I thought the lads did really well. When I told them this they were quick to point out that we had been doing Doce Pares all week and they had in fact only had one day to prepare!
I gave them their grades anyway, they deserved it.

I have written before about how we started to bring drills from FMA into our Kenpo to make it more realistic back in 1993 when we first started learning FMA. Chino told me that an American instructor was doing some Kenpo and Hubud (and empty hand close quarter drill from FMA) in Venezuela. He must have though it odd that Cubans had been doing this for years with sticks, blades and anything else that came to hand, I mean this was supposed to be part of the secret sub level ultra up to date Kenpo that Mr Parker only showed a few people!

Actually the only secret kept from people is that this drill is simply a basic FMA game.

So to finish, I’d like to congratulate Chino on achieving his 2nd Degree in the Kenpo and I’m proud to have him as our Wild Geese representative in Cuba.

Paul Cox

3 - JUDO COMES TO WILD GEESE

We are extremely pleased to introduce a new instructor teaching out of our Dublin HQ. Mr Donal Tannam 3rd dan will be holding Judo classes every Wed and Fri, read on for more info.

Judo is an International Sport derived by Dr. Jigaro Kano over 125 years ago from the Japanese Samurai Martial Art of Ju Jitsu. It was accepted as an Olympic Sport in the 1964 when Japan was the host nation.
Based on member participation it is actually the second most popular sport in the world; France has over 2 million judoka (judo players).

Irish Association (IJA) was formed in 1963 as the national governing body; it joined the European Judo Federation and International Judo Federation. Judo practitioners pride themselves on the fact that essentially the same style and rules are applied in all clubs worldwide. In recent years judo in Ireland has enjoyed a little crossover activity with the popularity of Mixed Martial Arts. Although judo players are not allowed to kick or punch their basic repertoire of grappling throws, hold downs, arm locks, chokes and strangles can be adapted for MMA without too much difficulty.
Judo can be taken up simply as a fitness and social activity or as an opportunity to compete several times a year in regional or National Competitions. Although it does not always look very gentle, it is relatively low-impact and with a little common sense and good luck can be practised from the age of 6 years up to 80!

Donal Tannam started coaching as a teenager in the Dublin Judo Club in 1977 until the club closed and after a small break (marriage and the like) took over as junior coach with his own children as students in Daigokan Killester in 1990.
Donal is currently a 3rd Dan Black Belt.
Donal is also a Member of the Irish Master Squad since 2003 when the Third Annual World Judo Masters Tournament was held in Derry and still competes regularly.
As an accredited Club Grader he can grade white, yellow, orange and green belts.

Classes are Wednesday 8:00-9:30 pm
And Friday 6:00-7:30 pm

Beginners or other disciplines need not own a judo suit but long sleeved sweatshirts or similar make it easier for everyone else on the class.
Short fingernails, toenails and clean feet are essential.
Jewellery, belts buckles must be removed and long hair must be tied back.
After that: enjoy!

4 - KNIVES DON'T KILL PEOPLE, PEOPLE DO