Issue 23 - Professional Unification of Martial Arts

The magazine from the Professional Unification of Martial Arts
ISSUE 23, November 2012
In this issue: An in depth interview with Master Black, Musings from Korea,
part III; A Blast From The Past; Camps; The Black Belt Grading Results; and
much more!!
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n this issue………
Editorial……………………………………………………………………………………………..3
Black Belt Presentations June 2012…………………………………………………...4
How Can I Improve My Taekwon-Do Training? - Junior Essay…………….5
How Can I Improve My Taekwon-Do Training? - Adult Essay……………..6
Master Gayle’s 8th Dan Celebration Banquet……………………………………..8
Diary of a Team Tournament Competitor………………………………………...10
Kids Camp 2012………………………………………………………………………………..13
Adults & Family Camp 2012……………………………………………………………...15
Interview With Master John Black 8th Degree - Part 1……………….………19
Musings From Korea - Part 3……………………………………………………………..29
Side-kick Specials……………………………………………………………………………….33
A Blast From The Past………………………………………………………………………..34
The Search………………………………………………………………………………………...35
Little P.U.M.A. Page…………………………………………………………………………...36
P.U.M.A. Calendar 2012……………………………………….…………………………….37
C
ontributors: Mark Adams; Ian Bedborough; Daniel Bromley; Pete Bullough; John Dowding;
Master Ray Gayle; Simon & Alison John; Matthew Lloyd; Andrew Sanderson; Christopher
Ventura; Brandon Yuseri.
Editors: Pete Bullough, Mandy Bullough & Matthew Lloyd; Art & Design: Matthew Lloyd.
Thanks to Tiina Elise and Regina Buechner for an excellent proof
proof--reading job.
Opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author(s) and may not represent the views of
P.U.M.A. as a whole. © P.U.M.A. 2012
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Hi, and welcome to Issue 23 of Planet P.U.M.A.! Lots has been happening since we were last here, and
we have another jam-packed issue for you. The summer started off with one of the most important
events of the P.U.M.A. calendar, the Black Belt presentations. Those of you who have been know that
they celebrate the well-deserved achievements of the new grades and those supporting them. For those
of you contemplating Dan gradings in the near future, we also have a couple of thought-provoking essays
for you to get your teeth into.
The summer then continued with a festival of celebration and training. Most of you will know about the
awesome events at the World Championships earlier in the year, when Master Gayle was awarded his 8 th
Dan. In May we had a banquet to celebrate this event, which provided a fascinating glimpse into the early
years of P.U.M.A. This was followed by the Team Championships, Kids Camp and Summer Camp which
were all superb. Also in this issue we have an in-depth interview with Master Black 8th Degree; we have
all heard bits of his remarkable story, but this really gives an idea of what it was like training in those early days of Taekwon-Do. Finally Mr Sanderson gives us another fascinating glimpse of modern-day Korea
and how it links to the terminology we all know and love. We wrap up the issue with a little fun - look out
for the Blast From The Past, with long forgotten photos of people we know.
Finally do remember that Planet P.U.M.A. is the association magazine, and without contributors it is
nothing. Don’t be shy, if you have a great idea come and talk to us at the next competition or camp. We
will be glad to see you. In the meantime enjoy the rest of 2012 and we look forward to seeing you again
at the beginning of 2013 ~ Mandy, Pete and Matthew
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Black Belt Presentation June 2012
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By Master Ray Gayle
First Dan
First Dan with Credit
Third Dan with Credit
Alexandra Steward
Lewis Hanney
Edward Colman-Roberts
Cameron Webb
Sam Abel
Charlie Whittaker
Jamie Lee Parker
Fourth Dan
Christopher Philips
Erica May Levett
Marc Hollier
David Morris - Kickboxing
Joe Bluff
Daniel Ashmead
Duane Archilletti
Kieren Walsh
Richard Thornton
Enzo Bavetta
Michael Dyer
Steven McCauley - Kickboxing
Samuel Williams
Fourth Dan with Credit
Haris Mahmood
Oliver Cottrell
Gary Foster
Heather Bednall
Second Dan
Fifth Dan
Jack Ely
Medea Creed
Roger Lawrence
Jake Cray
Richard Phillips
Jason Ranger - Kickboxing
Daniel Bromley
Awards
Joanie Webber
Gareth Jones
Heart & Soul - Edward Colman Roberts
Kylie Stevenson
Joseph Wood
Best Adult Black Belt - Lisa Wheatley
Mark Adams
Lewis Webb
Best Junior Black Belt - Jason Bint
Harvey Marfil
Nicola Bond
Best Coloured Belt adult -
Nicola Clennell
Second Dan with Credit
Michael Dyer
Owen Wilson
Liliana Cottrell
Best Coloured Belt junior - Joe Bluff
Peter Li
Lisa Hurndall
Best spirit test - Gareth Jones
Raymond Bolt
Ryan Hanney
Adult Essay - Mark Adams
Roberta McInnes - Kickboxing
Jason Bint
Junior Essay - Daniel Bromley
Shane Jupe - Kickboxing
Shannon Tomlinson
Zach Morton
Third Dan
Kevin Costello
Daniel Tester
Joseph Heath
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Junior Winning Essay (May 2012 grading):
How can I improve my Taekwon-Do training?
By Daniel Bromley
There is really only one common answer to that question and that is to keep practicing and keep on training, but there is more to it than that. The word Taekwon-Do is one word but can be broken down into
three. The most important part of the word Taekwon-Do is ‘Do’ as this translated means the correct way.
Learning to kick and punch are only physical attributes. By practicing Do and the principles of TaekwonDo, students become overall martial artists both physically and mentally. The correct way for Taekwon-Do
is trying to follow the tenets and apply them to your training. For a martial artist to truly practice “the correct way” they must understand and involve Taekwon-Do’s five tenets into their daily life. My essay focuses on perseverance which is one of Taekwon-Do’s five tenets because it has been the most challenging for
me.
Perseverance is the quality of being persistent and of not giving up. I have learned that practicing
Taekwon-Do is very difficult. As a teenager I am learning that there are choices to be made. Frequently
my friends will make arrangements to go out and while sometimes I would like to go with them, I know
that training is more important to me and that I need to persevere with this. Sometimes this is not an
easy decision to make as my friends put pressure on me to do other things.
I feel that, since passing my Black Belt, my Taekwon-Do progress has been very slow. There have been
times when I have compared my progress to that of others and sometimes feel that they are doing better
than me. However, I have come to realise that ‘my Taekwon-Do is not their Taekwon-Do’. This is not a
competition and that people will make progress at different stages. Everybody’s level of Taekwon-Do is
personal to them, and not everybody will reach the same level. Whilst I know that I will not achieve Olympic gold, my targets are much smaller but are still as important. For example, I have always found sparring
very difficult and in fact until recently had not sparred at competition level since I was a green belt. I was
frightened of doing this but recently felt as a Black Belt I needed to set myself a target and decided to
compete. This took a lot of courage for me but I knew I had to persevere with this target in order to make
progress.
Therefore to succeed in Taekwon-Do and life in general we should realise early on that to reach your
goals there will be difficult times. Anything worth achieving takes a lot of hard work. The key to reaching
your goal is to never give up. To overcome any challenge you should meet it with a positive attitude and a
sense of purpose. In other words, the satisfaction you get out of achieving something is your reward.
‘How can I improve my Taekwon-Do training?’ Practice makes perfect and perseverance is the key.
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Adult Winning Essay (May 2012 grading):
How can I improve my Taekwon-Do training?
By Mark Adams
On setting out to write this essay, I did initially think about explaining about how as an individual I should
improve my individual movements and stances. How can I improve my L-stance or foot-sword? I then sat
back and thought a lot deeper and realised as with so many things it is not always the finished product
that requires a few tweaks to make it better, it’s the design and build process that makes the finished
product. If this design and build process has big flaws in it then how can the finished product ever be perfect? So instead of looking at what individual movements I can improve on, I decided to look deeper.
Setting your goals
I feel the level of Taekwon-Do that you can achieve depends on where you set your goal. If you want to
just get by, then that is probably as good as you will ever be. However, if you set your goal higher, to be
as good as you possibly can be, then you have a good chance of getting there as long as you keep your
focus and your goal. Setting yourself the highest goal will naturally lead to you wanting to constantly improve your Taekwon-Do. If you do not want to be the best that you can be, then your mind-set will not
drive you to achieve the highest level of competence that you can. With this in mind, you should always
look to the superior grades both in your school and at other events such as competitions and squad training for levels you could be achieving and always striving to get there.
Be self-critical
One very important way of improving my Taekwon-Do is to be self-critical. If you tend to cruise through
each lesson waiting for the instructor or even other students to pick up on mistakes you are making,
then, bearing in mind that there are very often 35 plus students in a class, it is not realistic to expect the
instructor to identify every individual element that needs improvement. I feel it is very important to think
about each movement and check what you are doing yourself. Is your stance correct, are your hands in
the correct position, was the block formed correctly and is your reaction hand O.K.? All very easy things
to check yourself on and if you do it continually, then gradually, rather than checking and correcting, you
find that, although you are still checking, less correcting is needed.
Understanding the purpose of each movement
Another way of improving one’s Taekwon-Do is to fully understand the purpose of each movement. How
can you expect to execute a move correctly if you do not know what its purpose is or how it is intended
to be executed? Once you know what the move is designed for, it becomes more apparent if you are carrying it out correctly. A good example of this would be Hechyo Makgi in Do-San Tul. Most people have to
be told that it is used to break a double handed grab from the front before they can start to picture it in
their own minds and start to perform it correctly. Prior to this most people simply put their hands up and
bring them down to the finish position without the emphasis on the power of the down and out motion.
Understanding the purpose of each movement then leads to identifying the correct attacking tools for
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different areas of the body and also at what section the attacks within patterns should be. A high section
punch for example, must be aimed at the neck, nose or jaw line, aiming at the forehead is likely to result in
a very sore hand and an opponent who is still on their feet. Equally important in understanding the purpose of each movement is the understanding of using the correct striking tool. A flat fingertip thrust to the
eye or neck would be a devastating attack, whereas using the same attack to the jaw line, although it may
cause a fair amount of damage, would not render the opponent unconscious.
Fitness
Fitness is obviously a major factor in improving all areas of Taekwon-Do. If you are becoming fatigued early
then the movements within patterns will start to lose power very quickly. Power is an important factor
within Taekwon-Do, what attacker would be put off by a weak block or counter attack. Did General Choi
Hong Hi not say that ‘One strike is sufficient’? This theory only works if the one strike has massive power
generated within it. Most people can do a few patterns maintaining this initial power, but to perform all of
your relevant patterns maintaining that initial power requires a very good level of fitness. Once the power
starts to fade then it will follow that other areas such as stances and foot positions on kicks will follow suit
becoming sloppy and lack the technical correctness that you have worked so hard to achieve. In sparring,
fitness plays a much more apparent role as fatigue can set in much more quickly, even after a few minutes
of full speed sparring your fitness levels can make a major difference to whether you are still able to maintain your level of sparring.
Do not confine your Taekwon-Do to the Dojang
Some students regularly train at their schools, but then leave their Taekwon-Do at the door as they leave.
To really succeed you must at least be thinking about your training whilst outside of the Dojang. Whilst it
may not always be possible or feasible to practice patterns at home or at work, you can be thinking about
them. What better way to ensure you are ready for your next lesson than to have run through in your mind
ways to improve your movements and patterns? It does go further, do you take the car everywhere, or do
you try to get that extra bit of exercise? Do you have that extra large portion or do you restrain? Always
thinking about your Taekwon-Do means that a lifestyle change can happen without realising it. Of course
then there is the history of Taekwon-Do, this really is a must to research at home as there really is no time
within lessons to learn all that you should. Increasing your knowledge of the theory and history of Taekwon
-Do is all part of making it a martial art rather than being a sport or a fitness regime.
Always be ready to learn
I think most importantly, however good you are at Taekwon-Do, you should never believe that you know
everything there is to know or are as good as you will ever be. You should be open to allow others to offer
their criticisms, ideas and points of view, but also to listen to them, understanding what they are trying to
say. They may not be right, but they may have a point. After all, unless you train in front of a mirror permanently you cannot see yourself and you should be humble enough to accept criticism. You should always
remain keen to learn and continue your quest for excellence, whilst always striving to be the best you can
be.
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Master Gayle’s 8th Dan Celebration Banquet
By Matthew D. Lloyd
Sunday 13th May, and P.U.M.A. members are arriving at the Devere Hotel
in Swindon for the celebration of Master Gayle’s promotion to 8 th Degree
Black Belt. It is around 1 p.m., and already many P.U.M.A. members are at
the hotel and there is a buzz in the air. More people arrive from far and
wide, all in black tie, until the whole room is filled with people. Some of
the people are fresh from the Black Belt grading the previous day, and although many of them are obviously tired their enthusiasm shines through.
Almost all of the people there are or have been students of Master Gayle,
so this is going to be special moment for all concerned. Then to great applause, Master Gayle arrives.
A demonstration of Taekwon-Do skill by Mr David Pixton, Mr Adam Swain and Ms Jenny Francis kicked off
proceedings. Mr Pixton started off with a hybrid pattern demonstration, incorporating elements of 1st Dan pattern Po-Eun and 4th Dan
patterns Moon-Moo, Yon-Gae and Ul-Ji. This was followed by a sparring demonstration by Mr Swain and Ms Francis, which involved some
moves not normally seen in
competitions! Finally Mr Pixton and Mr
Swain demonstrated some breaking
techniques. This was followed by a slide
show presentation by Master Ogborne,
showing some of the many high points of Master Gayle’s career (too
many to mention) and some of the people who had been instrumental in the careers of Master Gayle and
Master Ogborne. It was clear from this that the decision of Master Gayle and Master Ogborne to split
away from the previous organisation and form P.U.M.A. had been a difficult one, but looking back it had
been the right one. One of the last tributes was from a couple of young
fans who wanted to congratulate ‘Uncle Ray’ on this special day.
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Then the food was served, a
great starter, main course and
dessert combination with some
great company. As coffee was
served we had a question and
answer session with Master
Gayle. Some of the questions
were very light-hearted but most
were serious questions about various aspects of training and the
early days of P.U.M.A. We also had some presentations of gifts including a cake for Master Gayle to mark
his achievement and not forgetting a cake for Master Ogborne whose birthday it had been a few days
previously. Finally it was time to go home. Everyone had a great day, and I was left feeling that it was such
a privilege to be part of it. It just goes to show that the P.U.M.A. organisation is going from strength to
strength.
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Diary of a Team Tournament Competitor
By Christopher Ventura
If you have never competed in tournaments before,
this event is perfect for you to ‘cut your teeth on’.
Like so many people in Taekwondo, I have trained
for many years and only ever entered a few tournaments. This has been mainly due to other commitments like work, having a young family, or generally
feeling you’re just not up to the standard required.
Well let me try and put your mind at rest…….
The Team Tournament does exactly what it says on
the tin. Now I have never been one for ‘team’
sports, or team anything for that matter. It brings
back so many bad memories of being picked last for
school football and generally being called a ‘duffer’ when I could not kick, pass or throw a ball. Being in a
team means responsibility, working as a team, not
being the weakest link! Oh my word... the pressure... So let’s say I just like my own company or as
my family would say ‘miserable and antisocial’! Anyway I digress.....
Recently I have made a concerted effort to try and
participate in more tournaments, not with any illusions of somehow becoming a world-class competitor, but just to develop myself both physically and
spiritually. So when I was visiting Swindon school of
Taekwon-Do and they were one person down for a
five man patterns team, I literally jumped at the
chance. As it turned out I was not the only outsider to join this ragamuffin group. Another chap, who I
now know to be called Jason Bint from Newbury, was coerced into joining the team. Who was doing the
coercing, no other than the legendary Mr Pixton. So there we were, Jason, Catriona Conway, Yoshen
Moodley, Halene Somal and I. All of the others were
considerably younger than my good self, in their
fitness primes should I say, and me, the ‘Old Codger’, under the experienced nurturing tuition of Mr
P. For those of you that have had the pleasure of
training with Mr Pixton, you may well be thinking....
hold on a minute.... this is an unfair advantage. Well
let me tell you, life would be not as much fun if it
did not have a cruel sense of irony. More of which I
will tell you later. Due to logistics, as a group we
could only train for 3-4 sessions before the event.
So training was started in earnest. Now like most,
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I roughly know most of the people I train with, and
we exchange cordial greetings etc., etc. when we
meet. So to actually perform a pattern in unison
was a bit awkward to start off with. We were out
of sync and we all had our little idiosyncrasies of
how the pattern should be performed. But under
the eagle-like watchful eye of Mr P. these imperfections were soon ironed out and we were performing quite a well-polished routine. But what
really ‘floated my boat’ was working as a team.
There was a sense of camaraderie, we started to
become relaxed with each other and were not
afraid to voice our opinion. We exchanged views in order to improve our performance. And every time
we perfected a little part of it, my confidence and sense of well-being grew. So did my admiration for my
fellow team members.
On the day, I was impressed with the number of
participants taking part and the quality and standard of competitors, but more impressive was the
atmosphere. Everyone was competitive but also
respectful to each other. This was evident in the
sparring section. Folk seemed to be more relaxed
and therefore were demonstrating more advanced
technical skills and trying to outwit their adversary
rather than trying to dominate one another with
brute force. As for our patterns team, yep, I made a
few mistakes, but for me at least I did not forget my
pattern (which I did the previous time) so for me it was a great success!! We did not win any medals, but
I did walk away knowing four other human beings more than I did several weeks earlier.
Going back to my previous statement about ‘life having a sense of irony’, guess what happened? Mr P
formed a team of his own on the day from people who wanted to compete but were unable to get a
group together, and yes, you have guessed it already, his team won first place!! Would you Adam
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and Eve it..... So the moral of the story is.....well there is no moral. Next time you hear about the Team
Tournament, just get yourself a team together and enter. If you can’t gather a team just join us on the
day and we will soon have you teamed up. Who knows, you could get first place. But one thing is for
sure, that you will enjoy the experience and make new friends.
From a Middle Age guy who thinks he is 20 years younger.
Some of the competitors collecting their well-deserved
medals.
The author (middle) officiating destruction, while Master
Gayle looks on.
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Kids Camp 2012
By Brandon Yuseri aged 9
Hello to whoever reads this article about Kids Camp 2012. I’m going
to tell you about Kids Camp 2012, it’s funny, fun and anyone who
wants to come is invited! (Age restrictions apply).
On Friday 3rd August mums and dads and children came to put their
tents up ready for the camp and then there was a bit of FREE TIME!
Later on we were sorted into teams and decided a weird-cool name.
There was Skittle Munchers, Team Epic, Soggy Ducks, Team Happy and the Cheesy Death Stink Bombs!
Sooner or later was tea, some children
thought this was like prisoners’ food! After
that some more free time, then it was time
for bed and hot chocolate. People brushed
teeth, got changed, and got things ready
for a midnight feast!
The next day... people
woke up knocking on tents saying, “WAKE
UP! IT’S SEVEN O’CLOCK!” and then everyone woke up after all the shouting about seven o’clock. And
then was breakfast, a range of cereal, yoghurts and drinks. After breakfast Master Ogborne (7 th Degree)
told everyone that the tent inspection was in 20 minutes. The tent inspection was to see whose tent was
the most tidy and the winner received a flag to show the winning tent.
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After this we had training then lunch, sandwiches and crisps. Later on
a football match got going until the bonfire. We sang songs, told
jokes and played guitar until a movie and then bed. Four people
named Brandon, Ben, Jacob and Kai had a sleepover and midnight
feast together!
The next day there was free time, breakfast, more free time until THE
WATER CHASE! The children had their water pistols and squirted the
adults. After the fun it was “P.U.M.A.’s Got Talent”, lots of acts performed to the adults and children.
Guess the host - It was one of the students... Mitchell! He was quite a good host. Then awards were given before it was time to go.
Article written by Brandon (7th Kup Yellow Belt)
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P.U.M.A. Summer Camp, August 2012, Croyde Bay
by Simon & Alison John, Crediton & Copplestone Taekwon-Do
Photos by Ian Bedborough
Summer Camp is one of our favourite events on
the P.U.M.A. calendar. It has become our annual
family holiday. It’s so nice to be able to meet up
with old friends, and to make new friends; all of
whom have a common interest (some may say, obsession) – Taekwon-Do! We started to get excited
about Summer Camp 2012 as soon as we got back
from Summer Camp 2011! Even better (for us at
least) this year’s Summer Camp was to be a family
camp – so the kids could train too!
First stop on our journey to Cherry Tree Farm was
the Williams Arms (on the A361 in Braunton) for a slap-up pre-Summer Camp breakfast. This has become a tradition for us, and marks the official start of Summer Camp for the John and Mullen families.
Then it was straight to the campsite to get settled in for the week ahead. The weather had been a bit unsettled (to say the least) on the lead-up to camp,
but it stopped raining just about long enough for us
to get our tents up. Putting up a tent is an art form
in itself, and it’s surprising how time consuming the
process can be. When we started erecting our tent
there were maybe five other tents already up, by
the time we were finished there were more like
twenty!
In the evening, once everyone had set up their
tents, we all met up for a roll call and welcome to
Summer Camp 2012 by Master Gayle and Master
Ogborne. After this we all lined up in grade order and thus our teams were formed. We were a bit confused at first, as we had not expected the juniors to be included in the teams – we thought there would
simply be extra afternoon sessions specifically for the under-13’s. It was brilliant that they could join in
the morning run and training on the beach! The only thing Cam wasn’t too keen on was getting up at 6
a.m. to get ready for training!
For the benefit of those of you who have yet to make it to Summer Camp, a typical day in the life of a
Summer Camper starts with getting up around 6 a.m. There’s something about the cool morning air, the
sound of various alarms going off followed by tent doors being unzipped - oh and the distant sound of
sheep! Next comes the (seemingly) long, cold walk to the toilet block, which if you can picture a scene
from a zombie movie kind of sums up people’s demeanour at such an early hour. This is followed by a
chat and warm up with your team on the field, before lining up for the warm-up proper with Master
Gayle. After a somewhat hilly run to Puttsborough beach, we then kick off our trainers and embark on a
full-on, sandy (and sometimes wet) training session. This year there were no jellyfish, so some of the
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training involved total immersion in the sea. Situps, press-ups and burpees are surprisingly harder
than you might think when there are waves crashing over you! After a steady trot back to camp it’s
breakfast time; time to chill out and prepare for the
day ahead. Some people did extra training on return from the beach [Messrs Whitlock, Spreadbury
and Powlesland (Jnr) to name but a few] in preparation for forthcoming gradings and championships. We watched them in awe as we ate our
breakfasts, feeling somewhat guilty!
During the week there were a number of field based seminars with some of the senior Dan grades on
subjects such as power with Mr Mike Whitlock, nutrition with Mr Evans, set sparring with Miss Elise, a
technical seminar with Miss Francis and stretching with Mr Hitchcoe. There was also a F.A.S.T. Defence
weapons seminar with Messrs Chance, Walker, Harper and Powlesland (Snr) and Miss Velitchkova
Cottrell. These seminars are a great opportunity to train with different people, try different things and
perhaps look at things from a different perspective.
Training resumes daily at around 4.30 p.m. for a
two hour evening session. On the first evening we
all received our Summer Camp 2012 T-shirts, and
had a full group photo taken with the Masters, followed by many team photos in various poses;
some taking inspiration from the recent Olympics
(the Mo-bot and the Usain Bolt pose to name but
two).
After being dismissed everyone goes back to their
tents for dinner, socialising with friends old and
new. Various games are played on the field each evening (e.g. cricket, vortex, football). This year notably
‘Ninja’ games of various sizes were popping up here and there. Even when you’re tucked up in your
sleeping bag, you can still hear the feint sounds of such games continuing, until the noise curfew at 10.30
p.m. Then it’s off to sleep, ready to start all over again the next morning!
Tuesday in particular was a very busy day – beach training as usual, then a hurried brunch followed by
Mr Evans’ nutrition seminar. Then quite literally
straight down to the village hall for the F.A.S.T. Defence weapons training course. Twenty-eight of us
took part in this session, working on scenarios of
being attacked from various angles with a knife or
gun; culminating in a full on physical confrontation
and attack. For those of you who haven’t taken
part in a F.A.S.T. Defence course before - do it! The
whole process is empowering. Everyone stepped
up to the plate using his or her newly found
knowledge – it was awesome, simply awesome!
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Plus the session helped raise funds for the Ghana
appeal. There was just enough time to get back to
camp and into our doboks, then straight on to the
dojang for afternoon training. Phew! That was a
great day. The weather was still quite good, but
from that point on it started to become a bit more
unsettled.
Wednesday was a day off for the coloured belts,
but the Black Belts still got up early for a walk to
Baggy Point and a philosophical chat with the Masters. We, however, went into Barnstaple for our
(now traditional) shopping trip. We returned to camp just in time for the quiz, which is always a good
laugh. Having been caught out on our first year at Summer Camp, we now have notepads and pencils
stashed away with the camping gear! The Quiz can be quite enlightening, and you get an insight into
your team members’ knowledge and interests outside of Taekwon-Do.
Master Black joined us on the beach on Thursday
morning, which was a lovely surprise. We played
handball and other games on the beach. In the
evening Master Black held a bong (stick) seminar,
which was very interesting, although took some coordination. Mr Powlesland kindly invited the Crediton crew to a barbecue that evening. It was really
nice, and a chance for us all to get together; which
ironically doesn’t happen that often on camp, as
everyone is off doing their own thing. Simon took
the kids body boarding, for example; other people
went cycling, swimming, walking or shopping - but the nice thing is that you don’t have to “go out” and
do things - there’s always something going on in the field you’re living in!
There is a timed run to the beach on the Friday morning. Everyone who takes part (it’s not compulsory)
tries to beat their time from last year. This year’s timed run was won by Mr Evans, and the first lady back
was Miss Deakin. Ollie Cottrell was the first junior to cross the line, despite his on-going knee problems.
It was quite a cold, drizzly morning, but once all the runners had got their breath back, we made our way
on to the beach for the final morning’s training. At
the end of training we are invited to go to the beach
cafe for bacon baps and coffee - it’s a nice place to
unwind and reflect on the week with friends and
family. We got to have a lovely chat with Master
Gayle too. The only downside was, having had a rest
and dried out, we had to walk (or run!) back to
camp!
Several students took their coloured belt gradings
on Friday afternoon, and then, just prior to the final
training session of the week, the heavens opened!
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However, full of indomitable spirit we all braved it
and took part in a fun, fitness-based session, running up and down the grassy slope, and enjoying
every minute. We also had a spur-of-the-moment
team patterns competition, which was won by
Powlesland’s Power Rangers.
Once dismissed we were off to get ready for the
traditional party/presentation evening. Unfortunately, the village hall had been double booked
(ferret racing - can you believe it?), but the Masters
secured an alternative venue for us - a Social Club in nearby Braunton. Awards are given each year for
best team, best team leader, best coloured/black belts and so on. There were, however, a few extraordinary awards this year. For example, Mr Lammin was given a special ‘award’ for having made us all get up
so early for training each morning! Ollie Cottrell was given the ‘Spanner of the Week’ award. Mr Tettmar
won the much coveted ‘stickers’ competition with, quite possibly, the world’s smallest tattoo. Well I say
tattoo…! It was during Mr Tettmar’s (some would say) misguided youth that in an act of rebellion he
attempted to tattoo himself - but after the first few attempts (of what I think was meant to be an anarchy sign) he gave up as it hurt! It was hilarious listening to his story. This must have been back in the
days before perseverance and imperviousness! Medals were given out for those who placed 1 st, 2nd and
3rd in the timed run, and it was announced that all those who had taken their coloured belt gradings earlier that day had passed.
The last morning of Summer Camp is always a bit
sad. Some people have to pack up and go home the
night before (after the party). Tents disappear at
quite a rate, and the field starts to look quite empty. We are just about as slow at packing up the tent
as we are at erecting it in the first place; so we usually get to say goodbye to everyone as they do a
little tour of the field before they depart.
With the car finally loaded we drove out of the field
and slowly through the campsite, and as we said
goodbye to Croyde and started the drive home we
were already talking about what we’ll do when next year’s camp comes around! Can’t wait!
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Interview with Master John Black, 8th Degree - Part 1
By John Dowding
I first met Master John Black when I was a 9th Kup and
he was a 5th Degree, and I was immediately struck by
how friendly, enthusiastic and approachable he was. His
knowledge was apparent and he had time for everyone
and would give it freely. I am now a 4th Degree and Master Black is an 8th Degree and he is still as friendly, enthusiastic and approachable to all as the very first time I
met him. I interviewed Master Black during the
P.U.M.A. British Championships back in October 2011
and it was a genuine pleasure to listen to his experiences and gain his perspective on the Martial Arts. I’m
proud that P.U.M.A. has Masters like John Black, and
I’m proud to call him an inspiration and a friend.
Can you just tell us a bit about your background?
(Master Black) I was born in Glasgow and was the oldest of seven brothers and sisters. My mother was Catholic and my father was Protestant. I was the only
Protestant in a Catholic school and the area was pretty
rough. You had to be in a gang to survive. We eventually
moved to Southampton with my mum and again it was
a rough time and, being the eldest, I was the one who
looked after everyone else. I finally was able to join the Army when my Mum agreed to sign the papers.
When did you join the Army and how old were you at the time, what regiment?
(Master Black) I joined the Army when I was 16 at Wyvern Barracks in Exeter. That was in the 1970’s,
partly junior soldiers and partly a training company where I did my 18 weeks training before joining the
Royal Hampshire Regiment when they were reformed. I eventually joined the regiment at Colchester Barracks.
I believe you first became involved in the world of Self-defence and boxing during your military career,
can you tell us a bit about this.
(Master Black) In my training as a recruit there was a Sergeant, a PTI (physical training instructor) Dickey
Doors who was a Shotokan Black Belt and I used to see him doing training and think “That looks good”.
So I got chatting to him and he did a few lessons with us. We did a bit of self-defence in the army anyway
as a recruit, basic self-defence to look after yourself and I thought I want to do something like this. When
I get to the Regiment I want to carry this on. That’s how it started off.
You must have travelled a bit and had some interesting postings?
(Master Black) Well my first posting was Northern Ireland as a young boy of 17. It was my first tour in
Newry in Ireland and it was a big eye opener. You don’t think you’re going to get into anything like this
and then all of a sudden it’s reality. You know you do the training and yes it is getting to you that it’s
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reality but it’s not reality until you are
on that boat going from Liverpool to
Belfast. They get you up at five
o’clock in the morning and everybody
is upstairs and as we are coming into
Belfast we were getting bricks thrown
at us. We were not even off the ship
and we were getting stoned by the
builders, who were spitting and
shouting at us, you know “Go home
you ********”, you know that sort of
thing. And I thought “We’re not even
off and on the soil!” It was a little bit scary. And then we had the journey to Newry, I was in the four tonner as we called them, the army vehicle that carried all the weapons. We hadn’t slept much on the boat
and we were dropping off and getting bumped about by the road, and then we get to Newry and there is
a welcoming committee with another load of bricks!
Were you involved in training in any other Asian Martial Arts while you were in the U.K. at that time?
(Master Black) I was interested in martial arts long before the Bruce Lee film was launched, but when the
film (Enter the Dragon) was released we all went
down, me and the lads, to the premiere in Colchester,
and thought wow! The guy was awesome! I went to
London to Leus Jacob who was doing a style of Kung
Fu; He was a Mongolian and his Kung Fu style was like
Mixed Martial Arts even then in the 70s. I went to London a couple of times and had a few lessons. There was
also a lad in the Army who was a red belt in TaekwonDo under Master Rhee Ki Ha and I did a bit with him and thought “This is alright”.
You were shortly afterwards posted to Hong Kong. There must have been a huge amount of excitement
at the thought of being posted to the home of Bruce Lee and the Chinese Martial Arts?
(Master Black) After the film we were all thinking
yes! Wing Chun that’s his style and that’s what we
want to do when we are in Hong Kong.
What was the reason for your posting to Hong
Kong at that time and what role did the British
Army have there?
(Master Black) We were over there to stop the
immigrants coming to Hong Kong from China, but
our other strategy was to show force because of
the balance between China and the Western
World. At the time it felt that they could attack at
any time.
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What was the atmosphere like in Hong Kong at that
time? As the Vietnam War was in full flow, it must
have been a pretty strange and dangerous place
with American Servicemen on R & R and the influx
of Vietnamese boat people.
(Master Black) It was a very dangerous place. We
were also there because the boat people were coming from Vietnam and they were in a terrible state
coming off the boats. Untreated wounds, some of
them were dead, and we had to put the survivors
into refugee camps and these people were on our
side, well you know side of the Americans. What we
didn’t know was that some of the bad guys were on the boats as well and had got in amongst the refugees. They were there to assassinate some of the top political figures who had become refugees or people who had sided or helped the Americans.
Part of my duties was to patrol the camps and I was a green or blue belt at the time. I was walking round
the camp at about 12 o’clock at night and there was a basketball area with a load of guys all in sitting
stance and I thought they were doing Karate. Then as I was watching they started doing Saju Jirugi and
Chon-Ji and I thought “Blimey that’s the same style as I’m doing”. So I got chatting with the chap who
was teaching and he had been a Captain in the Vietnamese ARVN Special Forces who were trained by the
Americans, and he was a 3rd Degree Taekwon-Do Black Belt. He was trained in hand-to-hand combat
which was his Taekwon-Do. I developed a great rapport with him and others and used to take them
clothes and stuff to help them out. He told me he was part of a five man fire team with the American
Rangers and they would go into areas behind the lines taking out Viet Cong sympathisers or other important targets that had to be done silently with no messing, so hand-to-hand [combat] was very important. He told me that Taekwon-Do was an awesome weapon but that during Special Forces training in
Vietnam they lost one person a week who either got killed or badly injured. He said they had loads of other injuries, broken arms, legs, sternums but they actually lost one a week, because they had to train for
real, using real knives and just one mistake with a knife or a fatal blow and that was it. I was laughing
thinking he was joking, then I spoke to my instructor Lee Chong Oh who was also ex-Special Forces and
he just looked at me and said “That would be about right”. That’s all he said!
I know from talking to you that you had a great night out at the Cinema in Hong Kong can you tell us a bit
about that?
(Master Black) Yes, it was after Bruce [Lee] had died and there was a new film out starring Bruce Li, who
was supposed to be the new Chinese Martial Arts Superstar and it was a premiere and I managed to get
a ticket. It was huge and there were loads of people outside who couldn’t get in. So I was sat there with
an Asian lad who spoke English and I was the only Western guy in the cinema, and I was thinking this is
going to be really good. The lights went off and the film started and within a couple of minutes I thought
“This guy is rubbish, nothing like Bruce Lee”. Well that was it, the Chinese were going mental, they were
throwing their ice creams and all shouting in Chinese, and then all of a sudden someone ripped up a chair
and threw it at the screen and they all started joining in throwing chairs. The lad I was sat next to
grabbed me and said “We had better go, they are not happy, they are shouting that it’s not the real
Bruce Lee, it’s false and they are upset” so we left pushing our way through all these rioting Chinese.
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Tell us a bit about your visit to the home of Bruce and your brush with the Hong Kong Police.
(Master Black) When we got there it was not long after
he died, and there were loads of stories going round.
One of them was that he had been threatened by Triads who wanted him to smuggle drugs for them, and so
his death had been faked so his family would be safe.
There were loads of “sightings” of him supposedly practising in the garden of his house, lights in the house being on, that sort of thing. Well the house was about six
miles away from where we lived in married quarters. So
I thought I will take the dog and a camera and have a
look at his house. I had been looking for his house for
about six months and had eventually found it. It had big
golden letters on the front which was his name in Chinese. So I got there and tied the dog up, climbed up
on the wall and it was a beautiful house with lovely Asian formal gardens, and there I was snapping
away, sat on wall with no cares in the world. All of a sudden up come all these Police cars and they all
jump out pointing guns at me and shouting in Chinese. I didn’t have a clue what was going on. I jump
down off the wall and I’m waving the camera at them and trying to explain. So they grabbed me and
handcuffed me and put me in one of the cars. There was an Officer who could speak English and he was
asking me what I was doing. So I said sorry and I explained to him that I was a Bruce Lee fan and was taking some pictures. That changed things and he said “Ah we are all Bruce Lee fans too!” They took the
cuffs off me, and gave me a bit of a talking to and let me go. It could have caused an international incident at the time with me being a soldier and getting arrested, but they let me go. Looking back it was
funny but it wasn’t funny at the time when they came screeching up and started pointing guns at me!
How long after being posted did it take you to find a martial arts school and were you looking for a Kung
Fu school at that time?
(Master Black) When I went to Hong Kong my
mind was made up. My second day there we
took over from the Black Watch. One of the Black
Watch guys was a Taekwon-Do Black Belt and
we got talking and I said “I’m thinking of taking
up Wing Chun” and he said “Look I don’t want to
put you off but we have Taekwon-Do.” He said
“It’s a Korean form of Karate” and I said “I don’t
really want to do Karate I want to do Wing Chun,
Bruce Lee’s style.” He said “Just come along and
watch, there is a big demonstration in the gym”.
So I thought I have nothing to lose so I will go
along. So 500 squaddies packed into this gym
and we watched this demo which absolutely blew me away. From breaking to forms, self-defence, weapons and the kicks! I’m thinking “What?” I had never seen anything like it before, double side-kicks! And
the power of the breaking, sparring with no gear, it was just amazing to watch. So 250 squaddies signed
up to do Taekwon-Do right there and I was just one of them.
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What was the name of your Taekwon-Do instructor and was he an ITF member?
(Master Black) My first Master was Young Son
Sun but he left because the General was spreading Taekwon-Do, and so he was moving the ITF
Masters around all over the world. Master Lee
Chong Oh took over the beginning classes for us.
Tell us about your training at that time and your
experiences as a non-Asian student. Was there
much resentment from the Asian students or
were you just accepted as a fellow student?
(Master Black) My training days were Monday, Wednesday, Friday but I was training on all the other
days because I was really passionate about it, it gets you like a bug. For the first two months all we did
was walking stance, walking up and down. I remember he had the Taekwon-Do “bible” and we had to
read about Moral Culture and what the General said about Moral Culture and about the Hwa Rang youth
group, and I thought when are we learning to fight and kick? All we would do was walking stance and
sitting stance punching up and down the Dojang. He had a cane and if you were not in the right stance he
would hit your hands and legs. He would say “You are soldier, you can take it” then boof! He would
whack you, for anything fist not clenched, whack! If you were doing press ups, if you couldn’t do them he
would hit your hands or sit on your back! “Now! Do it!” He was great, he was ex-Korean Special Forces
and a 6th Degree Black Belt. He was very skilled in Hapkido as well and we did a lot of self-defence from
the first grade. I actually jumped my first grading, I didn’t do a yellow tag and went straight onto yellow
belt because of the time we had trained. I remember he brought in a bag of belts and everyone lined up
and was saying to me “Ask him if we passed”. So I thought I’ll do it and asked “Sir, did we pass?” He
looked at me and said “No you did not Black, but everyone else did” and he gave everyone else’s belt out
except mine. I was there thinking I’m sure I was as good, cos you do don’t you? And everyone was looking at me and I was now lining up at the back behind everyone with a new belt. I’m thinking what’s going
on? Anyway I thought I’m not asking again! Two weeks later he walked in and gave me a yellow belt and
said “Black, you can wear this now”. I said “Thank you Sir!” I learnt my lesson that you never ever ask
about passing a grading. Every time after that I never asked, he would bring the bag in and leave it there
sometimes for two months! Anyone who ever asked about grading results always got the same answer
“You didn’t pass!”
I’m aware you did eventually manage to train in the art of Wing Chun, can you tell us who you trained
with and a bit about your Wing Chun training?
(Master Black) It was just after we had managed to get out of the Cinema and I was still with the lad who
was with me when the Chinese kicked off and who said we should leave. He said to me “Would you like to
come and meet my Master, I’m here to learn Wing Tsun, not Wing Chun.” So I said “Yes, O.K. I would love
to meet him.” He told me that his Masters’ name was Grandmaster Sifu Leung Ting. Anyway we got to a
block of flats and I said to him “Is this his Dojang?” He said “No this is where he lives, we will go and see
him.” Well I thought here we go, he just wants to get me into the elevator and he will pinch my money.
So I get my back against the wall, and in my mind I’m thinking go on just try it! I’m imagining all these
moves in my head and he is just talking away to me and I’m watching him thinking yea, yea in a minute!
So we get to a door and I’m still thinking that it’s going to be full of Triads and drugs.
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An Oriental guy came to the door and said “Come in, come in” and was very welcoming. I was introduced
to him and explained that I was interested in Wing Chun but was doing Taekwon-Do. He had a lot of
magazines that were called Real Kung Fu and he was doing an article on Bruce Lee and he asked me
what the Westerners thought of him. I told him that he was my hero and got talking to him. Sifu said “Ah
yes, he used to train with me and Professor Ip Man who was my instructor.” Well I was like, wow! Anyway, we got talking and before I knew it, it was four o’clock in the morning just talking away about the
martial arts. He told me that Ip Man had fallen out with Bruce Lee because Bruce was taking his Wing
Chun out onto the streets to see if it worked. He said if he hadn’t made it as a film star he probably would
have been a gangster. He wasn’t into robbing people but he would challenge others to fight. He said he
was a man beyond his time, but after they fell out that was when he started to develop his own style.
So I started to train with Sifu Leung Ting after he asked me to. I said that I couldn’t afford to because I
was already training in Taekwon-Do, but he said “No, no free, come and train with me for free.” I went to
his gym and it was a little place, really small but with a wooden dummy, and pads on the wall to punch,
you had to go up stairs in this block to get to it. There was another room that had a bed and there was
stuff all around, and that was where they used to train. So I trained with him there regularly and he was
lovely.
Why did you eventually decide to stop Wing Chun and devote yourself to the art of Taekwon-Do?
(Master Black) Well I was training in Wing
Tsun and I was taking the stuff I was
learning back to Taekwon-Do because I
wasn’t very experienced. I was trying to
use the stuff I was learning with the
Taekwon-Do, you know the straight hands
and techniques. My instructor asked me if
I was training elsewhere, so I told him and
he said that he knew Sifu Leung Ting and
thought he was really good; he never
spoke badly of people. He told me he
thought he was a very good man, but said
that I was confusing both arts and needed
to concentrate on one in order to be good at one. I said “Well, can’t I do both Sir?” He replied with a story
and said to me “If you are hunting animals and the animals split into two directions you must make a
choice and follow one path, and decide which animal you want to track.” He explained that it’s the same
principle with martial arts. You have to become proficient at one art and understand it inside out, and
then you can do other things. It doesn’t influence your style or the way you teach, but you have other
stuff that makes it stronger or better for you. So I said “O.K. Sir” and he said that I had to make up my
mind whether or not I wanted to do Taekwon-Do. He said he would be happy if I did, and would also be
happy if I chose Wing Tsun. Sifu Leung Ting had wanted me to do an apprenticeship with him for five
years, he was going to buy me out of the Army, I would have had to live in that little room where you
couldn’t swing a cat which wouldn’t have gone down too well with Patricia who I am married to! I would
have enough money to live on and food and clothing. I would have to train for five years solid and at the
end he would pay for a flight back to London, England and I would open a Wing Tsun academy, get that
off the ground and up and running and he would then send a Chinese Wing Tsun instructor over who
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would take over running that one and I would go to another
part of the country and open another Academy and so on. I
was going to be the English Ambassador for Wing Tsun who
paved the way for the Chinese instructors. I thanked Sifu
Leung Ting for the opportunity but explained that I had made
my mind up to stay with Taekwon-Do as I was a blue belt and
felt I should stay with it to get my Black Belt. He was very understanding though and told me I had made a wise choice. I
became very good friends with him but eventually lost touch.
How would you describe your first Black Belt grading and
how and when were you presented with your first Black Belt?
(Master Black) I was training every chance I got, every
chance. So three of us from the Army were ready to do our
Black Belt grading. It was me and the others were Barney
Thomson and a guy called Harry Harris from Plymouth. Well,
Barney got sent back on the advance party to Northern Ireland so he couldn’t take it. I didn’t even know I was taking it
until my instructor said “Black, I want you to come to the
school and take your Black Belt.” I said “Sir, I’m not ready. I need to practise more” and he said “You have
practised enough, you are ready.” So me and Harry were going “But Sir?” and he just said “No, you are
ready”. That was on the Monday and the next training session was on the Thursday so he had given us
the two days to prepare! So we turned up and we went through the grading, we did the same as we do
now. Introduced ourselves name and grade, then
we did all the patterns, we did line work, then kicking drills, three-step sparring, two-step sparring.
Then we did self-defence which was the one-step
but it was freestyle and we did breaking which was
knife-hand two house bricks, punching downwards
through eighteen slates, turning kick through four
inches of wood, no focus! Flying side-kick over six
people one board and that was it, but you had to
break, you were allowed one focus apart from the
turning kick. Luckily I went through as the adrenalin was going. We had been training doing loads of
breaking anyway. Then we sparred, first against
our own grades, and you sparred everyone. Then
he lined up all the Black Belts from 1st Degree to 4th
Degree and we had to spar all of them, one on one,
two on one and we had to show control. There
were no pads and you had to spar with power and
focus but you must not hit. You were not allowed
to hit! I’m not exaggerating there must have been
between 10 and 15 Black Belts and you just went
from one to another one and it seemed like that
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by the time you got to the 4th Degrees nothing was left; No
power, slowing down, couldn’t breathe, just battered! I went
home to Patricia and I was just bruised all over, my arms, my
legs, I couldn’t walk for a week after. And you don’t know if you
have passed and I wasn’t going to ask! My posting to Hong
Kong was coming to an end and I was due to fly out in the
afternoon and I got a call from Master Lee Chong Oh asking me
to come down to the Taekwon-Do Dojang. So I went down
there with Patricia and my friend Jimmy Sayssol and I was
wearing jeans and a shirt. We got there and I entered and took
of my shoes and Master Oh said to me “Black, I want you to
spar.” I said “Sir, I haven’t brought my Dobok” and he just
looked at me and said “Do you need your Dobok in the street?”
so I said “No Sir”. Again he had a load of Black Belts lined up
and I had to spar them and I’m thinking what is going on here?
I had really tight jeans on and couldn’t even throw a kick so I
did my best and spent a lot of time trying to dodge them, sweat
was pouring off me! My shirt was soaked. He stopped us and
said “Black, I have something for you” and took out my Black Belt with his and my name and ITF on it and
gave me a Dobok. I hadn’t paid him for the grading and he said “Black, when you get home you send the
money over to me.” Which I did! It was a fantastic moment! General Choi eventually moved him to Ethiopia to teach and there was a war there at the time and I lost contact with him. I would love to find out
where he is because I would like him to know that I never gave up. He said to me “Black, you must promise to me that you will never give up Taekwon-Do, you must keep doing Taekwon-Do and teaching General Choi’s way. Do you understand, you must teach my way but my way is the General’s way.” I would
love him to know that I never gave up but I don’t know if he is still alive.
We have all heard stories of Martial Arts schools in Asia “challenging” each other, did you ever come
across anything like this and were you involved in any “underground” challenges to defend the honour
of your school?
(Master Black) There was a demo with all different martial arts, we were the last ones to go on, you had
all the Chinese Kung Fu styles like Praying Mantis, Five Animals all on and then before us was the Karate
and we were last on. The display blew the public away with all the kicking, breaking and sparring, but the
Japanese group that were there were very disrespectful, laughing during the demo and saying that
Taekwon-Do was flimsy, not strong. I didn’t know what they were actually saying as it wasn’t in English
but it was clear enough. All the Chinese Taekwon-Do lads were getting very uptight and aggressive and I
could feel there was a bad atmosphere. I asked Master Lee Chong Oh about it and he told me that they
were being disrespectful to Taekwon-Do. I was only a blue belt so wasn’t actually in the demo, as it was
just Black Belts and I said “Sir, shall I go over and say something?” He said “Black, Why? We try to live the
tenets of Taekwon-Do and the moral culture General Choi has taught us, so I go over there and I beat the
instructor up badly, where does that get me? Disrespect from other Arts because I lower myself to the
same level.” I said “I understand Sir”. He said to me “What do you think about the demo, Black?” and I
replied that our demonstration had been brilliant. He said “All martial arts are good, all the demonstrations were good.” I said “yes Sir, but Taekwon-Do was better.” He replied “That’s your opinion Black, but
all were good, all were good!”
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Anyway I went to the Dojang later that week and
some of the Chinese students were bruised with fat
lips out and a bit battered. There was a lad there
named Willy Wong who was a Black Belt and he had
adopted me as his brother. I asked him about it and
thought it was because of sparring and he said “No
no! They went and beat the Karate Instructor up and
his student’s”. I couldn’t believe it; it was just like the
film Fist of Fury! I said “What? You went round and
beat up the instructor and his students?” He just
looked at me and went “Yes.” I still couldn’t believe it
and asked him how many went and took part he looked at me and said “only four of us.” I asked him how
many of them and he just replied “A few.” So I said you must have been hurt and he just said “Not as bad
as they were.” I asked him if this went on all the time and he explained that if someone disrespected their
Master they couldn’t lose face so they would arrange to meet secretly and fight. Challenges were common between Chinese Kung Fu styles against the Korean Art. I asked him if we had ever lost and he just
smiled and said “All the time I have been doing it, No!”
During your time in Asia did you come across any tournaments and if so what were they like? Were they
in the style of films such as Bloodsport or more like the tournaments we are used to today?
(Master Black) A lad I knew called Jimmy Sayssol married a Chinese girl and because of that a Kung Fu
Master took him on. It was unusual for a Chinese Master to take on a Westerner. He trained with him for
a year before he died. He then was taken on by another Master who trained him in Hung Gar style. He
was also an Army boxer and we all used to train together and swap techniques. His Kung Fu Master said
he would put him into a tournament because he thought he would do well. So me and my wife Patricia
and Jimmy and his wife were invited to this Kung Fu Open Championship. A big venue, a big arena for the
fights and all different Kung Fu schools. It started at about three o’clock in the afternoon and goes way
into the early hours of the morning. There’s food and everything for the spectators and it is a bit like a
Western boxing match with tables and people are drinking and eating. It started with weapons and Jimmy did a spear form and then Nunchucks and did very well and picked up some points. Then it was onto
the sparring, and it was same as we do now, so he
had about ten fights before he made it to the quarter finals and he was just destroying people! They
were doing all the traditional style with big long
stances and all the five animals hand movements
trying to grab and so on. Jimmy was just moving
round up on his toes and using bits of Kung Fu, bits
of boxing, double jabs and following up with kicking
as well. They just couldn’t handle him as he wasn’t
fighting in the traditional way. He went all the way
through and got to the finals where he was against
the champion who had not been beaten for five
years. He was a Kung Fu Instructor and he was really
good. We had been watching him and he would
adapt his fighting style depending on how his
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opponent fought. I thought Jimmy was going
to meet his match but then the fight started.
This guy started with the traditional long
stance and fancy hand movements, but then
changed his style and tried to copy Jimmy’s
style, but he just wasn’t as fast as Jimmy who
was a vey good boxer. Jimmy just moved
around and then would slip inside and use his
punches then use different range and switch
to kicks like turning kicks and side-kicks. The
lad was bruised and kept getting knocked
down and the fight was five rounds. Every
round Jimmy was winning. Anyway the fight
stopped and the Judges came up and announced “Gwailo win!” They called him that as it was a name for
a foreigner. Well the place just erupted because a white person had won. The lad who he had fought was
battered and bruised and was with his helpers and as Jimmy was walking off towards us, the lad got up
and was shouting and screaming and started to run at Jimmy who had his back to him. I shouted a warning to Jimmy who looked round and saw him coming and just stepped in and side-kicked him, boof! He
went flying into the tables and the crowd and it was chaos. Jimmy was just standing there looking at him.
Now Jimmy was a real fighter and he goes “Who’s next?” and I’m thinking “Oh my god!” He just looked
at me and said “John, you got my back” and my wife Patricia is looking worried and I just didn’t know
what was going to happen next. Jimmy’s wife was crying now, begging us to leave as the Chinese crowd
were very upset. Jimmy casually grabbed his stuff and his Master came over to him and said “Jimmy, I
need you to leave, people are not happy that he has been beaten.” Jimmy offered to go over and apologise for humiliating him, but his Master just said “No, you must leave now”. So as we were going out another Chinese Kung Fu stylist came over and said to Jimmy “You think you are tough?” He then challenged Jimmy to a power blocking contest, just blocking each others arms as hard as they could. So Jimmy accepted that and beat him as well, which didn’t go down well, and I’m still thinking “What is going
on??” So we got into the nearest taxi and got away. It was in the Hong Kong papers next day that a
Gwailo had won this championship. It did get a bit nasty but could have got a lot worse and we were a bit
lucky there!
In the next instalment, Master Black talks about his return from Hong Kong, his tours of duty in Northern
Ireland and his journey since then in Taekwon-Do.
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usings from Korea:
Part 3
y Andrew Sanderson
Previously, I have discussed my time on Jeju Changgyeonggung Palace - Destroyed by the Japanese in 1592
Island, including a conference and my experi- (rebuilt in 1616). During the Japanese Colonial period (1910ences climbing Mt. Halla. This was followed 1945) the Japanese turned it into a zoo.
by a quick hop to the mainland, which included a flying visit to Busan in the south-east of the peninsula, before settling in Gyeongju for a few days,
whilst exploring the relics of the ancient Silla kingdom. The reader left me, having travelled to Seoul where
I did some Taekwon-Do training with the only I.T.F. style dojang I could find and returning from a tense
visit to the North Korean border.
My last day in Seoul was also my busiest. I first visited one of the five grand palaces of the Joseon dynasty,
Changgyeonggung Palace, which is a very beautiful site and well worth a visit. Immediately outside the
palace stands the statues of King Sejong the Great (after which the 5 th Degree pattern Se-Jong is named)
and Admiral Yi Sun-Shin (after which the 1st Kup pattern Choong-Moo is named), as well as their adjacently located museums. Upon visiting these museums, my knowledge and respect for the writing system devised under/by King Sejong (called hangul) increased dramatically, and I bought a small ply-wood model of
Me in front of the statue of King Sejong the Great.
A statue of Admiral Yi Sun-Shin in downtown Seoul,
with a model of the kobukson beneath.
the Kobukson, the famous battleship for which most Taekwon-Do students will know him.
This was then followed by a visit to Tapgol park, which hosts monuments to both the 1 st March (1919) independence movement (after which the 3rd degree pattern Sam-Il is named), and a statue of its leader,
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A climb to the top of Namsan, which is the mountain in the middle of Seoul, punctuated the middle of
the day, which included a visit to the top of Seoul tower for a panoramic view of Seoul. Following a cable
-car descent from the top of the mountain, I located a monument to Ahn Joong-Geun (after which the 4th
Kup pattern Joong-Gun is named), as well as visiting a museum dedicated to him. There were other monuments I had planned to visit which were located inside Namsan national
park, but let’s just say that a map does not do the scale of a mountain justice.
A statue of Son Byong-Hi (Eui-Am) in Tapgol park.
A statue of Ahn Joong-Gun inside the Ahn Joong-Gun
museum.
A monument to the Sam-Il independence movement
in Tapgol park.
Ahn Joong's gun! The gun and bullets used by Ahn
Joong-Gun to assassinate Ito Hirobumi.
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I headed back to my hotel to freshen
up ready for the evening. In the
evening, I headed into downtown
Seoul to see a comedy martial arts
show called “Jump!” This is an internationally acclaimed show which has
theatres in not only Seoul, but New
York as well; in addition, they have
performed at the Edinburgh Fringe
Festival, as well as the Royal Variety
Performance. Should anybody ever
get the chance to see it, I would
highly recommend it. The only problem was, however, that a certain degree of audience participation is required. The fact that I was the only
Westerner in the audience, and that Disappointingly Westernised - Central Seoul.
I was sat on an aisle seat close to the
front, dressed all in white, and the performers had already taken an interest in my hair on their way to
the stage, it seems, in hindsight, somewhat inevitable that they would get me on stage, which they
promptly did. Let me at this point say that anybody who has ever met me, or knows me in the slightest,
will vouch that I am not, by any definition of the word, an extrovert. However, on stage, they simply
tasked me with copying some basic martial art moves. I was acutely aware that I did not wish to appear as
though I had done any martial arts before, so as not to overly prolong my experience. However, when you
are not thinking, your body does what it knows, and I think I may have given the game away when, after
performing an old-school front snap kick, I landed back into a guarding stance. This was identified by the
audience with a rapturous applause, and a smile and a nod from the performers. A few forward and backward roles (a la little PUMAs), I was back in my seat, and much happier for it. The show was enjoyable because it featured obviously very dedicated martial artists who were simply having fun with their skills; it
was refreshing to see, in a pursuit which sometimes takes itself far too seriously. I enjoyed the rest of the
show, and made my way back to my hotel, ready for my flight home in the morning.
Whilst travelling throughout Korea, I noticed a great deal of things, due to either their differences to the
culture and history of the U.K., or because of their similarities. One thing that I noticed very early on is
that South Korea is very clearly influenced by the culture of the U.S.A. I should stress that I have never
been to the U.S.A. However, the culture of the U.S.A. is something that we are also heavily exposed to (if
not as strongly influenced by) here in the U.K. It is perhaps no surprise that South Korea is as heavily influenced as it is by the U.S.A., considering the two countries’ relationship in the last 60 years. However, I was
a little bit saddened that whilst walking around I saw a great deal of American cultural influence, from numerous food outlets and stores, down to the road signs. This is particularly surprising given the Korean
people’s obvious pride in their own country, culture and history. Though I harbour no particular sympathies with North Korea, one of their chief criticisms of the South is their influence by the U.S.A., and it is
difficult to argue with them on this topic. This brings me onto my next point. South Korea appears to be a
nation of obvious contradiction between the attitudes of the government and that of the people, sometimes between the people, and even inside the government itself. This is perhaps not surprising given the
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rapid and substantial flux in the South
Korean political system in the last few
decades; however, the contradictions
were so clear to the eyes of the outsider,
I was genuinely surprised that they have
not been addressed. Some of the things
on the south side of the border have
names like “Freedom Road” and
“Unification Bridge”; in fact, everywhere
you go in the South there are reminders
that the Korean people desperately wish
to be united. However, this appears to be
juxtaposed quite heavily with the fact
that most South Koreans exhibit a strong
dislike of anything even tangentially assoThe Hotel Lexington - a very American hotel where I stayed during ciated with North Korea, which is a submy time in Seoul.
stantial hurdle to reconciliation.
Another observation that I made about Korea was the impact the Japanese had on the country. I had
known that the Japanese had been kicked out as a result of their defeat after World War II, and I knew
they did some damage and were strongly disliked
throughout Korea (even before this). However, I was taken aback by the damage that the historical artefacts and
sites had suffered at their hands. It seems that every ancient temple had been dismantled by Japan, and the cultural relics taken by the Japanese. Almost every cultural
sight has a plaque in front stating that it is however
many hundreds or thousands of years old, then in the
next breath stating that the thing you are actually looking at was rebuilt in the 1970’s. It reminded me somewhat (but on a much larger scale) of the influence Henry
VIII had on the Catholic locations in England during the
reformation, or of Oliver Cromwell’s influence in the
years after the English Civil War.
This concludes the third article about my visit to Korea. I
think that you will be able to appreciate the volume of
things I did and places I visited in the time, which unfortunately means that I cannot go into much detail here. In
the fourth and final instalment, I will talk about the
things that I really enjoyed about the Korean culture that
A South Korean soldier at the border - with a very
I experienced, along with how the culture compares to
American looking appearance, and with a great
the western culture. I will finish by talking about how the
deal of American soldiers in close proximity.
Korea and culture we learn about through Taekwon-Do
differs from reality. Stick around.
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Side-kick Specials
We are always looking for new content and ideas for the magazine, and
again we see some side-kicks in exotic (and not so exotic) locations. This
time round we have several of our senior members in Croatia, with Bosnia in the background in the top photo. Closer to home, we have photos
from Winter Camp 2010 held at Warmwell in Dorset. We have great
weather and an excellent training programme with the top P.U.M.A. instructors - who could ask for more?
Pete Bullough ~ Editorial Team
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A Blast From The Past
How many celebrities can you spot?
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he Search
Devon Little PUMA’s were recently at St
Michaels’ School in Exeter at the Cancer
Research U.K. Race for Life. Stop! Stand
Back!! They are ready for action!!! Can you
help them find their way through the maze?
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he Little P.U.M.A. page
Fill in the missing letters of these words describing student skills or
qualities to spell out a fun and exciting activity (answer at the bottom of the page).
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Answer: TAEKWON-DO
Children’s Corner Jokes
Question: How do you get a squirrels’ attention? Answer: Climb a tree and act like a nut!
Question: What can you hold without ever touching it? Answer: A conversation!
Question: What is round and bad-tempered? Answer: A prickled onion!
Question: What’s green and loud? Answer: A froghorn!!
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P.U.M.A. Calendar 2012
November
Sunday 11th Tang Soo Do Grading
16th 17th 18th Irish Championships Cork
Sunday 18th Exeter Grading
Friday 23rd Yate Grading
Sunday 25th British Championships Oasis Swindon
Friday 30th Southampton Grading
December
Sunday 2nd Berkshire Grading
Monday 3rd Wiltshire Grading
Sunday 9th New Century Grading Leek
Sunday 9th Plymouth & Cornwall
37
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