The B.I.G Instructor camp is coming up soon on the 24th and 25th of March. This is a great opportunity for those who want to become teachers or just improve their level. Instructors come from all over Europe and the UK so you get the opportunity to train, spar and learn from your both your peers and from Guro Bob. This is a fabulous weekend of rigorous training in a friendly and cooperative environment with lots and lots of technical input, plus the essential nuances that mean the difference between whether a technique works or not. We concentrate on teaching you both the classical techniques and then showing you various ways to train and teach them, and then different ways of sparring them; so that not only do you know of them, but you own them. The Breen Instructor Group is open to all who wish to learn. Ideally you need to be of at least an intermediate / Brown / Black belt level in a previous art or in JKD or Kali. If you are from a different art like Karate, Kung Fu or Boxing then this is fine. Venue is City of London Academy Islington, Prebend Street, Islington, London. N1 8PQ 11.00 until 4.00 both days. See you there.. It’s on facebook events as JKD Kali International instructor camp.

I’m back teaching after having a bit of a tussle with a couple of virus’s.  I will be in on Thursday and teach all the classes and guarantee a hard workout. Wonderful being active again so see you all this Thursday and classes going forwards. Thanks to all the seniors who covered classes whilst I was off.

We have changed venue by about two hundred yards. We are back in Hoxton Square from tonight the 30th January in St Monica’s school. It’s a great space and much better than the area we use in SPACe. The Olympics have taken over SPACe ahead of the schedule we had agreed. However, it’s great to be back in the Square whilst we look at possible full time venues. See you there. Great training as usual.

ST MONICA’S PRIMARY SCHOOL. HOXTON SQUARE . N.1.

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.