Jun 03
Tuesday 3rd June
Playing around with a very narrow depth of field on the nifty fifty.
May 17
First demo of the year for the team today at Dursley Primary school. Went pretty well I think, we made a few hiccups along the way but i doubt anyone watching would have noticed. Got a few weeks now until the next one so we need to get our skates on and get some serious training in to get up to speed properly.
Apr 17
This apparently is the modern equivalent of an apple for teacher..
Aww, bless ‘em.. See, days like this make it all worth while.
I thought they’ve got my head spot on, though I’m not entirely sure why we appear to have no trousers on!
Apr 02
I think someone has been secretly filming my classes…
May 07
See here’s the thing..
Yes I know it’s completely impractical, overly flashy and he has a totally compliant partner.
BUT..
I’ve been doing this stuff for years and I know just how hard it would be to pull this stuff off, even in the ‘perfect’ environment of a class or a demo.
Impressed me anyway..
May 30
Nearly midnight on a Sunday and I’m here working on stuff for my school, but thats the joy of working for yourself… Actually, it is a joy - I’m sat her doing this because I wanted to, I felt inspired because what I’m doing is actually interesting.
Obviously sometimes its a double-edged sword, when you work for yourself you are constantly aware that your quality of life is basically one big performance-related pay scheme - but even that is an inspiration 
It’s not always easy, and I know that Kel doesn’t really understand why I need to be working all the time but I’m rather hoping that when she sees the end result she will …
“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both.”
- Zen Maxim
May 20
Some time ago I got a letter to inform me that I had been nominated for the World Martial Arts Hall of Fame as “Master Instructor of the Year”.
The nomination was related to the work I have been doing online for the past couple of years in bringing together a group of high ranking martial arts instructors, initially to investigate the wrongdoings of one particularly unscrupulous instructor from Canada, and later to form a focus group to the study and ressurect some of the more traditional aspects of martial arts training and make them more relevant today.
Well, I got a letter today to confirm that the nomination was accepted and I am to be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. Yay me!
There are of course several of these hall of fame thingies, but this is actually one of the more well known ones and includes many well respected Martial Artists such as Chuck Norris, Cynthia Rothrock, Eric Lee, Don Wilson, George Dillman and others.
Means fuck all in real terms, but it will look good on my CV…
May 19
So many Martial Artists become complacent after reaching their Black Belt. I have seen it hundreds of times. They lose their drive to push themselves forward, they hide behind excuses like “it doesnt matter what belt I wear I am the same inside” etc…
Yeah, fair enough, as a Black Belt we know that the belt around out waist is not necessarily a true reflection on what we know, what we do, who we are….
So then, what can you do to test yourself? Forget what others think, say or do, how about the ultimate personal challenge…?
That is the goal of the test devised by legendary Martial Arts guru Tom Callos and his instructor, the legendary Ernie Reyes.
Take a look at the test requirements on the site: http://www.ultimateblackbelttest.com.
First time I read it I thought it was a wind up, the requirements seemed unsurmountable, then one by one I saw a group of the worlds finest black belts were signing up for it… some of them have been pivotal in my own martial arts career, people I have looked up to in awe on many occasions. These are the type of people who are prepared to push themselves this far, it is that that makes them who they are.
So, what am I going to do about it… given my current state of fitness I am not going to be able to apply for the test this year as it starts in a few weeks time so instead I have set myself the goal that I will do this test next year. In the meantime I am going to define my own mini-version for the 12 months leading up to it.
Need to actually define some goals and some time-scales. As soon as I do, I’ll post them here then I’ll have to stick to them wont I!
Apr 20
Seem to be getting a lot of enquiries at the school recently, which is nice, especially as we havent done anything out of the ordinary with regard to promotional stuff.
I’ve got a target point in mind for when I should be able to consider a full-time centre, which is my ultimate goal. Originally I saw this as quite a long term goal, but as we start to get some more systems in place and as Kel becomes more involved in the day to day admin it looks more likely to happen sooner than expected, which is nice.
Kel is gaining in confidence whish is great, i put her on the spot tonight and got her to start things off for me, which with a full kids class can be quite daunting for her but she handled it really well. When I think back over the past couple of years the improvement she has made, particularly in her confidence has been amazing. Having your boyfriend as your instructor is not really an advantage because it puts her under more pressure to perform, and in class I have to be seen to be totally professional all the time which prolly makes it even harder for her too.
Mar 28
Been a long day today.. up at 9 after a top night catching up with the crew in Frome and then all day officiating at a grading examination at my school.
Pretty important exam too, as in addition to the group of regular students, I was testing two for their first degree Black Belt and three more (including Kelly) for their final coloured belt, which indicates their status as official Black Belt Candidates.
I was sat at the grading table from 10:30 this morning until 6:30 this evening and boy did I know it! Worth it though as all the candidates were up to scratch and hence I now have two more Black Belts in my school, making a total of 10 so far. Not bad for a small school eh…