As is our annual tradition here at Kuk Sool Won of Islington, every Christmas we have a fun night in class and a club party at a Korean restaurant and this year was no exception. On the Monday we split the class into two teams and took part in various challenges. This year we also had our first ever jahp ki sparring tournament which was enjoyed by all. The winner was JKN Phil, congratulations! After a valiant effort from Team Strike Force, the eventual winning team was Team Temple...AGAIN! That is three years in a row now. We ended night with a small demo in which Tony and Lori took part for the first time, well done guys.

On the following Thursday evening, we all went to Naru restaurant in the West End which had fantastic food. A good time was had by all. During my speech, I unveiled something new for this year: the student of the year award. This went to Tony Marco for his fantastic efforts throughout the year. Tony excelled in all aspects of the criteria for this award and congratulations to him. Like I said that night though: 'I hope he doesn't win it next year', a little bit of in-house rivalry never hurt anyone!

Thanks very much to JKN Adam for organising the restaurant.  

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It has been quite a while since we last had a club testing and as Chris and Tanya were ready to go for their yellow belts, it was time to have one! As we had the space, they were joined by Adam, Phil, Tony and Lori who decided to come along for the ride. Much needed practice for Adam especially as he is due to start testing for his 2nd degree black belt later this month, it has only taken him around 15 years to decided to start testing ;)

The testing was of a very high standard and I am very pleased to announce that we have two new yellow belts in the form of Chris and Tanya (who both broke their boards first time might I add). Congratulations guys but it doesn't get any easier!

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A few months ago, I received possibly the most exciting email I have ever had: notification that I can begin testing for 5th degree master. This is a position that I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would get to so I am really pleased.

In Kuk Sool, 5th degree is a very important rank and for quite a long time I have been wrestling with the notion of whether I am ready for this. Being a 'master' is quite a statement, do I feel like I am a 'master of martial arts'? I feel I have still have an infinite amount to learn but I think it's probably something that you grow in to and assume the role.

I recently had my first test in Norwich, the first time I have tested in years and I enjoyed it very much (even though it was very tough). JDKJN John Ives and KJN Philip Hinchliffe took a great testing and we only just managed to fit everything in to 4 hours. Now I have started testing, I have to test every 3 months until I promote. The next one will be in November in front of Kuk Sa Nim, that's when it really starts! Better go train...

The climax of the summer visit from Kuk Sa Nim and the visiting masters is always the European Championships which is the biggest event on the Kuk Sool calendar outside of Korea and the U.S. This year it was held at Kings Lynn for the second year in a row and was another success, congratulations to SBN Darren and JKN Elaine for another great job organising.

As far as the club is concerned, it was our biggest success yet with all competitors winning medals. Something I am very proud of as it shows the students are well balanced and strong in all aspects of Kuk Sool. Here is a breakdown of what was won:

JKN Phil: 1 Gold and 1 Copper
Sal: 1 Gold and 2 Silver
Tony: 1 Silver and 2 Copper
Lori: 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze

The evenings Master's Exhibition was fantastic as ever with some different things on display. We also had a rare visit from JDKJN Richard Roper who I had the pleasure of attacking with a sword, I didn't come away too well from the encounter though!

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This year, I was given the honour of being made a member of the seminar team for the European Championships tour in May. I was very flattered to have been asked and jumped at the chance. I normally try to make it to as many seminars as possible and always help out teaching when needed but it was different this time.

The tour started for me at JDKJN John Ives' house in Norwich where we (along with SIKJN Sung Jin Suh) took the minibus on a very long drive up to Livingston in Scotland where we picked up Kuk Sa Nim and JDKJN Alex from Edinburgh airport en route. In Livingston we had a black belt testing and seminar followed by the 3rd Annual Scottish Championships the following day. The tournament ran very well and congratulations to PSBN John Edmiston and his team for organising such a great event. On a side note, my student Scott McLaughlin from Glasgow KSW promoted to Kyo Sa Nim and I was proud to walk him down the aisle to receive his certificate from Kuk Sa Nim, congratulations Kyo Sa Nim.

The following day, we boarded the minibus and drove all the way down to Morecombe Bay where we took a seminar at PSBN John Ward's Lancaster school. We then travelled on to Liverpool for another seminar at my old friend SBN Carl Barrie's brand new full time dojang and what a great training facility that is. From there, we continued the long day with a drive to Boston where we spent the night at PSBN Sonny Boyall's house. The next day was a great day of black belt testing and instructor training from the Masters that we all enjoyed very much. The rest of the week was all in the area of my old home town in East Anglia and we took seminars in Ixworth, Lowestoft and Sudbury.

In reflection, it was a very rewarding experience and I have learnt a lot in all aspects. It has also given me even more respect for Kuk Sa Nim and the Masters. The amount of travelling around they do throughout the year is huge and their commitment to spreading the word of Kuk Sool Won is nothing short of outstanding.

Kuk Sool! 

Another year, another trip to Spain for the annual tournament! This was the 7th time that this event has taken place and myself and SBN Taff (http://www.ksw-bury.co.uk) have been to every one. This year was no exception and we took along KSN Graeme and JKN Phil from our club and KSN Susie and JKN Brad from SBN Taff's school. Every year we first visit PSBN Jackie Barry in Fortuna before taking the long drive up to Barcelona but this year we did it the other way around and flew down to Fortuna after the tournament which was a much better idea, can't believe it took us this many years to figure that out!

A seminar took place the day before the tournament that all the students seemed to enjoy and then it was on to the tournament itself. Quite a few competitors from the UK made the trip over (mainly from Bury, Ixworth and Lancaster) and were very successful. The evening demo was enjoyable as ever with the added bonus of having a Venezuelan demo team this time. I hadn't met any of the Venezuelan KSW contingent before and found them to be very skilled and nice people. It was the first time I had done anything proper for a while as I was recovering from another operation on my foot and it turned out to be a thorough test as I ended up falling for all 3 JDKJN's!

After the demo, we travelled down to Fortuna where we performed another demo for PSBN Jackie to help promote her school opening in a new venue which went really well and gathered a lot of interest. Overall, another fantastic trip. Thanks again to PSBN Jackie and family for being great hosts as ever.

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In February this year, myself, KSN Graeme and JKN Phil flew up to take part in my student JKN Scott McLaughlin's 2nd anniversary demonstration. JKN Scott's club has come on leaps and bounds in the year since we visited last time and he has many new students. I must say that the standard of his school really is first class, we were all very impressed.

The demo went very well with a large group of spectators onlooking. JKN Scott provided his usual stack of boards so there was a lot of fun breaking on show. KSN Graeme and JKN Phil took the opportunity of demoing some new material that they have never performed before which went down very well. The only criticism I received of my demo from the previous year was that I didn't hit JKN Scott hard enough in my techniques routine (they like it rough up in Glasgow!) so I rectified that this time by going a bit too far and leaving JKN Scott wheezing on the floor for quite a while (see the video)!

The next day was spent doing some much needed archery practice in the morning (the highlight being the bow snapping whilst KSN Graeme was drawing back...that was a close one!) and then teaching class in the afternoon.

Overall, a great trip. Roll on next year... 

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After the success of last years Christmas events, we decided to do the same thing again. On the last class of the year, we split the students into 2 teams who competed in an array of silly antics and for the second year running, the out and out winning team was 'Team Temple' captained by KSN Graeme. It has to be a fix! After the fun, the black belts treated the students to a small demo which featured forms, techniques and board breaking (including my first ever attempt at a blindfold jump back kick break...I broke it first time in case you were wondering). Matt's sons Christmas present also got an early outing as we turned the lights off and I did a 'lightsabre form'!

The following Thursday we all went to the lovely Asadal Korean restaurant in Holborn, Central London where a LOT of delicious food was consumed. I was also presented with a matching pair of swords by the members of the club which was a very touching gift, I was extremely surprised by this. Thank you guys, they will get a lot of use!

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The end of November always means one thing in the WKSA calendar: UK Championships! Hosted again in Birmingham it was a great event as ever. This time we were honoured by having visits from Kuk Sa Nim, JDKJN Sung Jin Suh, JIKJN Alex Suh and a rare visit from SIKJN Barry Harmon. The visiting masters held a series of seminars around the country in the preceding week including one at PSBN James Barker's school in Surrey that we took our students to which they enjoyed very much.

The Islington club took a team of 5 students to the tournament who all performed brilliantly. I'm pleased to announce the following medals from the students:

JKN Adam: 1 Gold, 1 Silver, 2 Bronze and 1 Copper
DBN Phil: 2 Golds and 1 Bronze
Sal: ????
Lori: 1 Bronze

The biggest news of the event though was that this was Phil's last tournament as a DBN as he promoted to JKN that night! It has been a long time coming for Phil and I couldn't be happier for him. He started KSW a long time ago under the instruction of JIKJN John Watson in Liverpool and then had a long time out for uni/moving to London where he picked up his KSW career again. Congratulations JKN!

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This year represents the 50th anniversary of the World Kuk Sool Association and in honour of that a huge World Championships and Masters Exhibition took place in Houston, Texas. I decided to go along with my usual cohorts (SBN Richard Jones and SBN Scott Slack) as well as my original instructor KJN Steve Isaacson and KJN John Watson and a great time was had by all.

The tournament was a strange experience for me as they decided to have a 4th dan competition so I had to pull myself out of retirement and compete! This was the first time I had competed in 2 years and I was pleased to get 2 silvers (techniques, weapons) and a bronze (forms). SBN Scott got his usual gold in forms with what I regarded as a flawless performance.

That night was the masters exhibition which was a fantastic display of martial arts from the cream of WKSA Masters. The highlight being a demonstration from Kuk Sa Nim, the first time he has demoed in many, many years. This was the third time that I had visited Houston and until now, I had never managed to get in to the demo but beings that this was a truly 'world event', I managed to get in it quite a bit! I very much enjoyed being in the SBN, breaking, weapons sparring and acrobatics demo teams as well as having the 'honour' of being beaten up by KJN's Nebgen, Watson and the Suh brothers.

Overall, it was a great trip that I will remember for a long time. It was great to see a lot of old friends again and meet some new ones. Also, it was fantastic to witness so many master promotions (including our travel partners of JIKJN's Isaacson and Watson).

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