Karate continued
My brother-in-law Gordon and I both sat our 1st Dan grades at the same time. This involved a lot of hard work and application of technique and power. Part of it was performing Kata which is a series of pre-arranged moves when you are fighting a number of imaginary opponents simultaneously. There were a few of us up performing Kata at he same time, Gordon was on my left hand side performing the same Kata as me, Annanko, a fast dynamic Kata, the judges were in front sitting at a table. I was probably a fraction of a second in front of Gordon when I caught one of the judges eyes causing me to lose my concentration and I found myself stationary for what seemed an eternity but could only have been a fraction of a second as I spotted Gordon out of the corner of my eye, I did the next move he did and finished the Kata without anymore difficulty. My instructor was watching, and he spotted my little pause but no one else did, Gordon passed first and I passed second out of a group of 20 I think.
As a coach I have trained young and not so young, I have to say though that children are the hardest but certainly the most rewarding and funny. I had a group of youngsters, what I called the peewee class, where the children started at around 4 years old. I had them standing in a group as I explained what we had been doing and I had reminded them in a serious tone, “This is what we did before!” then a little voice piped up “I’m four!”, then another voice followed, “I’m four” another followed, “I’m five” then “it was my birthday yesterday” and so on. Coaching children can have some great moments.
My sisters attended my women’s self-defence classes when I started them in Edinburgh. Isabel (my twin sister) even went so far as to come along to some of my Karate classes, I should add that Isabel was and is much tougher and more direct than me. During the Karate class I have light sparring which involves light controlled fighting with no real contact and there are areas which are “out of bounds”. Isabel was sparring with my assistant coach who was taking it easy with her, I turned away to watch the rest of the class when I hear a groan followed by a thud. There was my assistant coach on the floor grasping his “out of bounds” vitals. I said to Isabel about taking care and she replied with a gritty look in her eyes “he was trying to hit me!” end of story…………
I had a martial arts friend, John, who having started in karate and become an instructor, indeed had been one of my instructors for a while before becoming a close personal friend, had become interested in Kobudo, the art of using Okinawan Weapons. He had trained in London with a well-known Martial Arts specialist, Mike. Mike was a qualified instructor in a number of disciplines (not Karate). Anyway, John and I decided to invite Mike up to Scotland to give a course on Kobudo, the first of three as it transpired. I organised press releases and contacted TV too. Scottish Television were interested in doing an interview with Mike when he arrived in Scotland. At that time, I had become unemployed and was driving my Wife’s Car, an old Triumph automatic. On the Friday Mike was due to arrive I collected John and off we went to Edinburgh airport. We collected Mike, his wife and one of his instructors. Everyone got in the car, and we headed for STV in Glasgow. We had plenty of time as the Scotland Today show went out at 6pm, our estimated time of arrival was 5pm at the latest even allowing for Friday night traffic. As we got closer to Glasgow the car started to make a funny crunching noise which seemed to get better when I speeded up (boy did I get that one wrong). I pulled into a lay by and checked the engine, couldn’t see anything wrong, surprise, surprise. With greasy black hands we set off again and by now I am looking at my watch starting to get concerned. As we entered the Glasgow motorway, I sensed the car was not going to make it. I pulled off the Motorway and ended up in a large built-up area, nursing the car as I tried to find a parking space and figure out how we were going to make the STV studios in time. Mike just sat in the back looking quite at ease and relaxed. As I was driving along, I saw an available taxi coming towards us, decision made, I had my dirty hand out the window and managed to flag the taxi from my moving car. I abandoned the car, by this time it was about 5.30pm, the clock was ticking. The taxi driver got us there in good time, we met Paul Murricane who was the producer. We got shown to the Green room where you are supposed to relax and enjoy refreshments before you. This was 5.50 and Paul said, “We didn’t think you were going to make it, I had planned that we would film the demonstration before the show to make sure everything would be okay, now we will have to do it live.” Being the organiser and spokesperson (and not the person doing anything), I told him it would be no problem looking at Mike who appeared completely unflappable. Like the true professionals they were, he and Dave his assistant got changed and organised for their Bo (6 foot staff) and Sai (two long, circula and blunt knife looking weapons) demonstration. The show started, John, Mike’s wife and I stood behind the cameras and watched the show, we could see Mike and Dave warming up in another area, they were introduced and did a magnificent demonstration, which was shot as a shadow fight with their images highlighted by a bright light against a white background. Mike went to sit and be interviewed by Sheena MacDonald one of the presenters. Another friend and martial Artist, Robin, who was also a mechanic came through collected us and towed the car back to West Lothian. The course was a great success. The next time Mike came up he was back on STV again, no mishaps this time, I mention this only because we the onlookers were allowed to stand in the booth with all the TV screens and watch all the split second timing in operation. This was absolutely amazing watching a presenter having a conversation with someone and all the while there is a countdown going on in their ear.
I did some business consultancy for a while for Scottish Itecs and organised a seminar called “Train to Win” which highlighted the benefits of training staff to help increase profits. One of our guest speakers, Iain, became the Open College Manager in Scotland and asked me to help him organise another similar seminar a year or so later. We called this seminar “Training to Win”. I believe that people tend to remember impressions and emotions than words and I tried to come up with something to launch the seminar which would grab people’s attention and make the point about the importance of training.
Mike who I mentioned earlier, had appeared on the Russell Harty show (this was before I met him). On the show Russell Harty had an apple placed on a napkin on the palm of his hand, this was then split in two by Mike with a Japanese katana (sword). Incidentally and I may have this wrong, it had been suggested that Russell have the apple on his head which he declined.
My idea was that the event would start with Japanese flute music with the audience in a semi dark room, Mike, the martial artist would be kneeling on the floor (no one would know who or what he was or going to do). At the appropriate moment the Open College Manager, Iain, would stand up apple in hand and it would be split in two, then the programme co-ordinator would say “training makes all the difference”. The idea being if you don’t train you are not in control. Iain thought this a wonderful idea however after having an initial look at the costs he couldn’t manage it within his budget. Then he had the idea that I could make a similar point with Karate. After some considerable thought I came up with a plan, similar to the original, instead of a sword and apple there would be a piece of wood, a chin and a fist. This seminar, like the first, was being held at the Sheraton Hotel in Edinburgh so I didn’t want to make any mistakes in front of a prestigious audience in a prestigious place. The idea seemed so much better when it was someone else who was under the spotlight.
The plan was simple, the Japanese music would play, I would kneel on the stage with my Karate Gi (suit) on, wearing a tracksuit jacket to cover the Gi. At the appropriate time I would whilst remaining kneeling remove the tracksuit jacket, Iain would walk up on the stage, hold out the piece of wood which I would shatter with a punch whilst Kiaing (pronounced Kee-ai-ing which is a spirit shout from the abdomen). I would then perform a lunge punch (where you lunge\step forward) which would stop on Iain’s chin, kiaing again). It was a great plan. The night before the seminar I was helping Iain check things out on the stage when I realised, we hadn’t practised what we were going to do. I wasn’t concerned about my part and all Iain had to do was hold the wood, however I thought we should run through it once just to be sure, the old adage “never assume” was never more appropriate. Iain held the wood I punched, and my fist bounced of the wood which was rather painful. It was then that I realised that it was always experienced karate people who normally held the wood, there is nothing special about holding the wood, except that the wood must be held still, locked in place, and not move when the punch or whatever technique is performed. Iain had been holding the wood but not so that it wouldn’t move so that when I punched, the wood moved, instead of my fist going through the wood it bounced damaging my knuckle. I immediately realised my mistake and showed Iain how to hold the wood which he did, and I broke it without any difficulty. The damage was done however, as the night progressed one of my knuckles on my right hand became quite painful and swollen. Whilst I was sitting chatting to Iain outwardly calm (I hoped), inwardly I was panicking. I am right-handed, of course I could break the wood with my left fist, however I knew that I would be feeling some pressure when it came to performing in front of the audience and under these circumstances, I felt much more comfortable with my right fist.
The next morning people started arriving for the seminar, I had my business suit on to start with for the morning coffee before the seminar started properly, all the time feeling my hand throb, my knuckle the size of a small egg. The time came to get changed, I stood behind the stage unseen until everyone was seated, then I quickly and quietly entered the stage and kneeled in a meditational pose trying to calm my mind and decide which fist to use. I could hear the people in the darkened auditorium whispering as they waited for the seminar to start, the flute music started adding atmosphere to the proceedings. The time came and I slipped of my tracksuit top, pristine white Karate Gi virtually gleaming in the semi dark. Iain walked on to the stage and as he raised the wood and I bowed, hands on the floor, I stood up thinking, I’m using my right hand, either the wood or my fist will break, one or the other. As I rose from kneeling, in one fluid movement I smashed the wood as I kiaied. Everyone paid close attention once they got over the initial shock of my shout. The next punch landed on Iain’s chin, stopping where it was meant to, the seminar co-ordinator right on time said, “Training makes all the difference!”
About six months later I was visiting a client in West Calder when a person who I didn’t know stopped me and said, “You were that Karate guy at the seminar!”
Years later when I had my Karate Club in East Calder, I was asked by one of the local schools (my old High School) to do a Karate Demonstration at a School sports night, this was a night where pupils could wander round and have a look at stands from different sports, I think the event was organised by the Parents, Teacher association. This was the second year I had been invited, the previous year I couldn’t attend because I was on holiday.
I asked for volunteers, a number of Junior students were happy to come along plus one senior student, Alan, who was probably about 6 foot 3 inches, significantly taller than me at 5 foot 10 and a half inches. The demonstration took place on the school stage, we had to do two short demonstrations, all went well until I asked Alan to stand whilst I demonstrated some techniques against him. You have to understand that with the best will in the world one always likes to look good and impress those watching, BIG MISTAKE! Alan stood still and I demonstrated, it came to the time I was going to demonstrate Round House kick, I admit I am not the most flexible with my legs however the bright lights and the small audience got the better of me. I asked Alan in a stage whisper to cover the side of his face and I then launched my kick, launch being the operative word. I remember kicking and as I swivelled my body, the kick already in motion, my supporting leg left the ground, I went up and then down with an almighty crash causing my audience to pay attention. I got up with a smile on my face and made what I hope was a humorous quip, then performed the kick again properly. I don’t know if I was distracted or whether I slipped on moisture on the stage, what I did know was that I had an almighty bruise both on my knee and my hand where I hit the stage, it was a salutary lesson in being focussed and not showing off. The rest of the demonstration went well.
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