As you may be aware we are being moved from SPACe for about six months so that the Olympics can train ambassadors (whatever they are)  and thus ensure an Olympic legacy. That they’ve closed down most of the clubs that use SPACe and thus are destroying any legacy seems to have missed their attention. However we have secured a very close venue in St Monica’s School in Hoxton square. For those of you who went there before you know it’s an even better space than we have at the moment. No venue makes a club it’s what happens there; the strength of the training and the fighting spirit so that’s what we’ll be concentrating on. I guarantee some of the best training in the World over the next six months. We will be moving from the end of February and will let you know exact dates once we’ve finalised with the college and they in turn with the Olympics.

There’s lots happening other than the Olympics. We’ve organised a Sparring seminar on Sunday 4th March at the Masters academy in Loughton. This will be a great chance to train with people who aren’t from the club but come from the same JKD family. I’ll be teaching alongside Matt Chapman who was at one time an Academy member. He’s been training since about the age of ten and is CFC welterweight champion and good at thai and mma and much more. We’ll give you sparring tips, exercises, training methods, alongside strategy, tactics and techniques to fix your sparring difficulties. Whether it’s getting in on tall opponents or how to handle a strong opponent we’ll give you helpful tips and video your progress. A fun day with no one getting bashed but all growing. Limited space and numbers so apply early. Full details on events page.

If you’d like to become or are an instructor then we’ve finally got dates for the Breen Instructor Group/ JKD-Kali International. Instructor camp. The first this year will be 24th and 25th March and the next the 26th and 27th of May. As usual time are 11.00 until 4.00.  We’ll be working out of the new City of London Academy Islington in Prebend st. Nearest tube Angel. It’s a fabulous venue and of course the training is top rate. In hard economic times supplementing your income by teaching martial arts is the way to go. Get training, get authorised, and get going. see you there. Full details on the events page.

As the new year has finally kicked in we’re looking at seeing lots of new people and old friends alike. We’re starting a beginners class on Tuesday the 31st of January. This will be taken by Paul Clark though on some weeks I may take the class. Follow this up by coming to either the Monday 7.30 or the Thursday 7.20 class both cover fundamentals though we do sometimes go a bit further than that. For old members who haven’t trained in a while now is a great time to come back and get fighting fit for the coming year. It’s going to be a great year and we have lots planned, competitions in both empty hands and stick plus incredible seminars. For those who dream of being a JKD instructor one day we also have the JKD/Kali international / Breen instructor Group seminars to teach you how. Come and do a FREE trial class whether beginner or old hand. Lets be great in 2012 together.

We wish all of you a happy new year for the year ahead. It’s going to be a great year for the Academy. We start back on 3rd of January with a single sweat and bash class from 7.00 taken by Bob then it’s onto normal timetable times for following days. If you’ve dropped off lately now is a great time to come back as we’re all starting from zero fitness again after the long break. Come along and lets climb the hill together. Note the changes in the timetable. We’ve introduced a short stick fighting class first thing on a Thursday thus allowing us to train up a team for competition (why not jump in maybe you’ll end up one of the Academy’s legendary World Champions ). This allows for  a longer class straight after at about 7.15 so that we get more done and raise people to a higher level. If you’ve got friends who’d like to come now is the time to introduce them and get a special Academy gift too. See you Tuesday.

I hope you all can come and celebrate what has been a great year for the club this Thursday. Many thanks to all of you for your hard work and sweat throughout the year and for being fun to teach.  This Thursday we have our last bash for the year. Class starts at 6.45 until about 8.00.  This will be a hard and sweat;y class just the thing to leave you sore but feeling strong for the Christmas cheer. After the class it’s wine and mince pies until we close. All welcome whether a current member or not. See you there.

Congratulations to Carl Jackson who got Gold in Lightweight Double stick, Silver in Welterweight Single stick at the recent British Championships. It’s his  5th British title and qualifies for the British Team going to Cebu for the World championships next summer. After Christmas Carl will be coaching people to go forwards to padded stick competition with other clubs in our network of schools. We may also do some armour training too. If you’re interested now’s the time to get in and learn the basics. Maybe the British Team beckons?

To help people prepare for the coming grading I’ll be in every night for the next few weeks. Timetable will focus on hard training with lots of sweat but also we’ll be covering grading techniques and hopefully getting time to use them in sparring and combat games.

Monday at 7.30 will cover hard basics and the techniques up to green belt.

Tuesday I’ll be teaching grading techniques for all grades from 6.30 and then with a more basic focus at 7.30 whilst I take over Carl’s class whilst he’s on holiday.

Thursday: First class up to green belt / hard basics and sparring. Second class Green belt plus techniques but open to all grades. Stick class as normal

Saturday: For those who really want to make sure they’ve got it down. The class at Peter May sports centre in chingford is also open. 11.00-1.00. This class is £10 but small numbers.

I hope this all helps you with your preparation. Grading is important. It tests what you know and also lets me see what your basics are like under pressure. See you there.

We’ve put back the date of the grading so that it will be on the 8th December. We’ll have seniors to mentor you through the grade so that you know all the techniques and also know how to use them. I’ll update the link on the site so that you can download the relevant gradings syllabus for your grade. I think it’s in pages format at the moment so will sort it as a pdf. See you in the classes. bob

Now that the black belt grading is over I’m restarting the Saturday class at Peter May Sports Centre in Chingford. This will be an elite group researching and training the whole gamut of JKD and Kali techniques. Once numbers have stabilised I will make this a closed group with a limited number of students. This way the level will soar and they in turn can pass on their skills to others. If you are a serious student of the arts and want to improve then come along and join in. Please note there’s no class on the 8th as that is the weekend of the B.I.G.instructor group. First class is this Saturday 1st October from 11.00-1.00. See you there.

When teaching drills and sparring techniques I try to convey how to move well and how to excel. Making you a great fighter is hard work for both of us. It’s a long road but well worth travelling. Along the path it helps to have some sort of aim point. What does mastery look like?  Over the months I’ll post up some clips of people i think you should watch and emulate as much as possible. You’re unlikely to achieve their physical level but you need to know what it that level of mastery looks like. Lets start with boxing. This should be a core of your martial arts and JKD personal system. Your first step would be to watch Roberto Duran one of the best boxers of all time.  Here’s a clip of his highlights but the fight with Esteban de jesus is the best apart from the two with Sugar Ray Leonard. Check them out if you have time.  What else is there to  do but copy this master boxer. Not in your personal life but aim at copying his boxing. His skill is phenomenal and his close quarter boxing and evasion is wonderful.http://youtu.be/6zKtj1o41nQ

Next check out Ramon Dekker he’s a wonderful Thai boxer totally fearless and like the Micky Rourke character in ‘ The Wrestler’ he’s not bothered what happens to him. Check out his fights on: http://youtu.be/iPYil5rfO4A His fight with Fenachio is wonderful. Like beauty and the beast with Ramon the beast. Watch how he hunts in all his fights and his body inclination. He’s coming to get you.. I watched the Fenachio fight live in the company of Dan Inosanto and talked to Ramon afterwards. Cut around both eyes he was quite unconcerned and focusing on his next fight a month ahead. He’s got a wonderful front foot jab, teep, and good evasion whilst unloading. Finally on the grappling front there’s few as good as Marcello Garcia a king of the choke. Check him out. http://youtu.be/dlpjKabazSA . Note how all these masters are soft and fluid in their movement yet powerful too. Now you know where the level is you just need to put in the training. See you on the path.