Kung Fu Kids Tournament Spring 2013

Kung Fu Kids Tournament Spring 2013, a set on Flickr.

More info: www.shikon.com

Shodan!

So I received my 1st dan yesterday. Reeeeally wasn't expecting that! It's an amazing feeling to have made it all the way to black belt. When I think about the person I was 4 years ago starting out at the club, I realise just how much I have grown and changed. So far, I don't think anything I have chosen to do in my life has had quite an impact as training at Shi Kon. Whilst yes, everything shapes the person we become, my time at Shi Kon has taught me so many valuable lessons and helped me to realise that I really can do anything I want to. It's taught me that I am in control of my life and steer it where I want it to go. It's also helped me to realise that there are some things that just aren't worth worrying about. As hard as it can be, you just have to let go. It's shown me the importance of friendship, and that by having a wide variety of people in your life you become a richer person inside. I've learnt patience and understanding; it has given me a confidence that I couldn't have gained anywhere else. Most importantly though, it's taught me that no matter what crap gets thrown at you, no matter how hard or dark things become, never stop trying and never give up; in all things move forward.
It's pretty amazing really the many things I've done and have been a part of since starting at the club. I've met so many talented and amazing people, trained in the beautiful Czech mountains, performed on stage for my town and in London too. It has opened many doors for me and allowed me to try things I would have normally overlooked. I'm no longer the shy, quiet little girl that I once was (well, maybe still little). When I step out of my front door each day, I can do so confidently knowing that whatever unfolds before me, I have the skills and strength to face it.
So I want to say a big thank you to all my friends, teachers and everyone that has offered me support over the last few years. There have been a few difficult times, but all of you have continued to offer your wisdom and guidance in helping me to achieve what I set out to do: learn a little bit more about myself and what I'm capable of. 

.....Look out world! :D

Chinese New Year 恭喜发财!

I know it's perhaps a little late, but, Kung Hei Fat Choy!!!!! :D 
Well, it was that time of year again that our club participates in the annual Chines New Year festivities here in our home town and also in London. Incase some of you are wondering, my town is twinned with Foshan and we have a large Chinese community here. 
First up was some Kung Fu demonstrations in the local shopping centre and high street. I have to say, I always kind of dread doing the demos in town; you never know who will be watching. The amount of students I bump into from the college where I work is unreal. Luckily for me, I seem to have gotten away with it this year and only saw one. *Phew* 

<- What amuses me most in this picture is the kid's faces laughing at what is potentially quite an unpleasant position for my friend to be in. Also highly amusing is the fact that whilst all this is going on, shoppers inside the store continue to go about their daily routine totally oblivious. I've come to realise just how many people take out their brain when shopping. 

*Animals of the Zodiac!*

The following day took us all the way to London for the parade and further demonstrations. We arrived nice and early in the freezing cold damp city and immediately took ourselves to Mc Donalds for both warmth and refreshment. Whilst there I got starred at by some weird drunken guy sat clutching a bottle of wine and licking his lips. *Eww* Eventually the staff asked him to leave, thankfully. Any longer and he may have been wearing that bottle. To cut a very long story short, we proceeded to the parade that started at Trafalgar Square and ended up somewhere else in London that I can't recall. I have to say, it's a really cool experience being part of the parade. You really get into the atmosphere and magic of Chinese New Year with all the dragons and drums etc.

<- As you can see, everyone was overly happy to be out in the freezing cold! ;) No really, we did have a good time and the kids did brilliantly considering it was soooo cold and wet. Despite wearing many many layers underneath our Kung Fu suits, water will seep and seep it did.

Ok, so one week later it was time for the Chatham parade and stage performance.  We arrived in good time and prepared ourselves for the Parade. This included finding where to stand in the line, standing there for ages, beating each other up with kung fu moves and taking pictures, lots of pictures. Most of them were actually of the Chinese ladies in front of us who seemed to want so many pictures of themselves. And then we were off! Along the high street, me trying to hide behind some of the taller members of our group least I be spotted by students and then stopping soooo many times whilst we performed some forms and moves to the crowd. 
The parade wound up at the end of the street where hundreds of people gathered to watch the lion dancers perform. I have to say, the local Chinese lion dancers are perhaps the best around (they have actually won many awards in China for their outstanding displays). They put on a brilliant show, climbing (in full costume) up a very high pole and dancing from the top. Amazing!
We then set about taking more pictures etc. with the mayors of the local towns and all that kind stuff. I think you can just about see my head in the following picture peeking out over the top.

After the parade was over, we grabbed some lunch and then made our way over to the local theatre to get ready for our performance. I've been on stage quite a few times in my life (I did ballet and dancing when I was a kid and was in a few shows for that) Plus this was my 4th year of participating in the festivities. No matter how many times I have been on that stage, it's still really nerve racking and gets you all worked up. We had to wait quite a long time in the dressing room which as you can imagine meant the kids (and some adults) were getting a bit restless. But then we were on. Again, the kids did brilliantly and we put on some good stuff too. All in all it was a pretty good day, but I am sooo very relieved that it is over. I don't know if I will be here for next year's one. If things go to plan then I could possibly be in Japan. I can only hope that there are plenty of parades and festivities in store for me there! :D Anyway, I hope this wasn't too long winded. 


Toodles!

 

Anjin -Sadler's Wells Performance

Anjin. I don't know how many of you are aware of the story of Will Adams, even those here in my own town don't really know his story all that well. And they should. He is perhaps one of history's forgotten figures and it's such a shame because of the impact he had. Baptised in a church not far from where I live, Will Adams has left an imprint of my town that has echoed across many centuries. 
 
It was 1600 that Will Adams arrived on the shores of Japan in a Dutch trading ship. The weather had not been kind to them and many of the crew had perished. Taken captive by the natives, the Portuguese and Spanish priests already residing there tried to convince Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa to kill them, proclaiming that they were northern heretics and pirates. Ieyasu however did not listen to their lies, and instead took a liking to Adams. In time he was given land and promoted to Hatamoto (personal samurai to Ieyasu) and named Anjin (pilot). Over the years that passed, trade was set up between the East India Company and Hirado, Japan. Adams was at the heart of it. The trading post between England and Hirado remained open until 1623, when Iemititsu Tokugawa, third Tokugawa Shoganate decided it should close and nearly all western trade ceased until Commodore Perry landed upon Japan's shores once more in 1853. 
....More history can be found here if anyone is interested.

So, this year Japan and the UK are celebrating 400 years of relations between our countries. There are quite a few events planned over the up coming months, although, if my Japan plans come off will mean I end up missing out on. (Such is life sometimes). One of these events was the Anjin performance put on at Sadler's Wells, and yesterday I had an opportunity to go and see it. 
I really enjoyed the show, it's definitely worth going to see if you are interested in this period of history and Japan. However I highly recommend that you do some reading before hand as there are a lot of characters and it is at times difficult to know who is who. I spoke to one girl after the show and she stated that she had been a bit confused at times. Luckily for me I have been reading some of the Tokugawa history over the past couple of months so I could work out most of the characters. The play did go on for quite a long time, longer than I had expected it to. Most of the story had been told in the first half and it kind of felt at times that they were trying to drag the second half out. I liked that it was spoken in both English and Japanese (with subtitles at the top of the stage) this gave it more of a genuine feel. I didn't like that the seats were rather uncomfortable, sitting for over three hours in them made me rather achey and there was not a lot of leg room either. However, the scenery, music and costumes were beautiful and it has been brought to life really well. I would give it about 7/10 and worth seeing. So, if you're around in London over the next few weeks, go and have a watch. :) 

Au revoir l'Angleterre, bonjour Paris!

Paris! What an amazing and beautiful city. I can totally understand why so many of history's creative minds have found themselves there over the last few centuries. I spent one day within it and immediately knew that this is a place I want to return to in the not to distant future. 

...So, my family and I decided to spend New Year's Eve in France. Having never been to France before, I didn't really know what to expect, only what I had seen in pictures or on TV. In some respects I don't think France is all the different from the UK. I didn't really find the language barrier a huge problem either. Ok, it probably helps that I learnt a few words and phrases when I was a kid at school, but even still, I think quite a lot of things are easy enough to work out and understand.

The first day was spent travelling on the coach; being rather cramped and uncomfortable we were all glad to arrive at our hotel and crash for the night. I didn't bother taking any pictures of the hotel, it wasn't the grandest of places and the lift had a mind of it's own...but it was warm, comfortable and easily accessible for the coach.

*Stain glass windows from within the castle*

Disneyland was our first stop and I have to say, it was an experience I wasn't really expecting. Visually, Disneyland is amazing. The castle is beautiful and the decor and streets are really pretty. There's tons of cute shops selling almost anything and everything Disney related and plenty of rides to go on too. Whilst the parks were greatly enjoyable and most of the rides a lot of fun, there were one or two that really weren't worth the hour wait that we endured for them. Also, being New Year it was pretty busy and I think most of our time was spent actually queueing for toilets haha. We were dropped off early in the morning and picked up again at 1am;15 hours was quite a long time to be in Disneyland in my honest opinion. But I am totally glad that I got to watch the fireworks at midnight and it was lovely to see in the New Year with style. I just wished I had worn a few more layers, it was freeeeezing! 


The following day we were off into Paris itself. As it was New Year's Day everywhere was pretty quiet and the majority of shops closed. The coach took us on tour around the city, passing most of the famous landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre etc. We also went to see Montparnasse Tower, the view from which is absolutely amazing. You can see pretty much the whole of Paris. As you can imagine I went camera crazy and probably took far too many pictures!

The tower itself is 210m high and was the tallest skyscraper in France until 2011. From the top, the building offers a panoramic view of Paris. Whilst it's a relatively expensive place to visit (the food will cost you an arm and a leg), it's definitely worth doing if you're visiting Paris as it gives you an idea of the vast scale and beauty of the city. We were also lucky in the sense that the weather was really good on the day we visited the tower. The day before had been overcast and rainy. Having a nice blue sky and a few impressive clouds makes taking pictures a lot more fun. 

*The street lights make Paris totally beautiful by night*

After Montparnasse Tower we toured more of the city from within our coach. Its quite a nice way to see Paris, however you don't really have a lot of time to take everything in. We then travelled on over to the Seine Rive Cruise. This was amazing and my family and I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to see the city from the water. The only downside was that the boat was rather packed out and we didn't have the best seats to view the sights, but we still managed to see the beauty of the waterways. It's also really interesting as you get to learn a little of Paris' history and when/how some of the monuments and bridges were built. I would highly recommend taking the river cruise, you wont be disappointed.  

All in all, I was quite sad to come home and would have liked to have stayed for a few more days. But as I said earlier, it's definitely made me want to go back, there's so much more to see and experience. It's such a beautiful and romantic city and i highly encourage anyone to take a visit if they can. 

More photos can be viewed here.

........Oh, and Happy New Year everyone! Hope 2013 is an amazing one for you all! :) 

Naginata Demonstration

So, yesterday was once again that annual event known as the Will Adams festival. For those of you who wish to research further into said gentleman's history, more info can be found here. Anyway, every year the Medway council holds a celebration in honour of him and our ties with Japan.  This year I got a chance to play with my camera and get some pictures of my Naginata sensei and fellow students demonstrating some of their katas. Enjoy.....

Click for more pics....

...More info on Medway Naginata club can be found here.