Ninjutsu Uncovered

This statement sounds good if you look at it one way (think about it) But once you have removed your head from the gutter I will continue. Suffering from a bad back for many years due to millions of bad falls and kicks and groundwork, getting squashed on a regular basis tends to hurt after awhile, I have come to the decision that I need to stretch more often. I have not taken this decision lightly I have skirted around it and ignored it and even blatantly denied it! I have done all of the ‘special core training’ that people with no bad backs have recommended, not taking out of turn (and I don’t get out very much) BUT SOME OF THESE ROUTINES I COULD NOT EVEN GET INTO THE STARTING POSITION DUE TO MY BACK, LET ALONE DO THE ROUTINE. So I have made the decision to listen to my body and not my mind because your mind messes with you, I will try to explain; You have spent years training hard and mentally and physically conditioned until you become one stubborn bastard, you develop yo...

“Grow up!” is a thing you will hear a lot as a child and “act your age” among other classic sayings; But why should I grow up to be Normal! Sometimes you have to think like a child and be childlike in your views rather than the beige type people society wants you to be. When I teach my children’s classes you have to become a child (no great leap!) communicating with them at their level so that they understand you. Make things fun in your teaching and reward them for good behavior but also teach right from wrong. We have rules like an adult class but a treat for the children for example we have foam pirate sword to fight with when they have been good but we also have a sin bin guarded by bob our grappling dummy and I get the children to recite the rules i.e., 2 minutes for roughing it/ being naughty If you are in twice you leave the class for the day If you are sin binned every week for 3 weeks we will no longer let you train at the club. These rules and solve the attitude...

No I am not quoting Star Wars but everyone has a dark side to their character and I am no exception. Most people think I am quite a laid back character and that nothing bothers me but sometimes the whole world bothers me and I transform into my Dark self. On the outside looking in I always seem up beat and happy but this is not so, I paint a smile on my face and perform to the crowds like a clown does at the Circus. When I was young I developed a stutter I knew what I wanted to say but had a hard time speaking and the harder I tried the more I would stutter leading to developing a lifelong problem, this had a knock on effect to my reading, every reading test I did at school showed I was below average for my age. The problem was I loved reading but every time I got asked to read in the class my nerves would bring out my stutter leading to terrible reading marks and this cycle remained for many years. I love reading, it is one of my great passions, I love reading about real people and re...

Sometimes people say that my techniques are good, smooth and flow (just sometimes ) the response I always say “ I have done this before!” the truth is I do basics in all the arts I teach and train in most days and for many hours. People always want to do the ‘good stuff’ basics are just that basics, but they are missing the point of the whole thing the key to learning the arts are the basics. When you start your path in martial arts, you dream of becoming a ninja master or world champion kickboxer or mma superstar and you hit the ground with a bump when you find that you seem to be doing the same basic moves over and over again and not a glimpse of the amazing moves you have in your head. The basics moves build up like a jigsaw and create a big collection of techniques that make up the art. The odd thing that happens is that as you practise and practise you forget that you struggled with a stance or technique you gradually get better and better at adding the basics together forming a s...

I have been told I use strange quotes or sayings to help me illustrate my teachings so I have decided to explain myself. So sit down belt up and let’s take an amazing tour of my mind and the way it works! Over the many years of teaching I always joke around and make the classes light hearted but always get the point of my class over in very strange ways. This strange wording came to light when I was going to grade a group from York where one of my black belts teaches and as Julie started the warm up she shouted “find a plot of land” so they could do shadow work as part of their grading, when I pulled her about stealing my lines she said she uses it all of the time … what a cheek get your own lines. It just shows how much things stick in your head and eventually you use them as an everyday term. So here are a few of my quotes and their descriptions. Tips for Kickboxing Knee point/nee point- taking the Geordie term meaning there is no point in doing something but in this context it mea...

In my last blog I talked about the people that drain you of energy and things you can do to avoid them, but you could be the person holding yourself back. You could be part of the one day gang, that sit and tell everyone that will listen their story about when they find the time or the money or when they are fitter etc. They will do X, Y and Z were in actual fact they will do fuck all but moan on and on about it for years to come! They now fall in the gang you would like to avoid …. How do you avoid yourself…..? I am sitting at my desk at the AFC writing from the notes I jot down when they spring to mind and this forms my blog, it is funny how my brain works. I have a rare hour off from training due to a cancellation so instead of messing around on Facebook or YouTube (I know you all do it) I am spending quiet time writing so I can get on with the important things that need to be done. It would be so easy to become distracted and waste the time I have doing things that are unimportant ...

Have you every left someone after talking to them and feel that they have DRAINED YOU OF ENERGY? They may not be a bad person but the negative energy they could produce bottle and sell could run an evil empire for months. I have come across many such characters in my life and they tire you out with their negativity. I try to be upbeat about life but when life throws things at you like the barrels on Donkey Kong it is sometimes hard to keep your chin up (or down if you are sparring). When I started training in martial arts you would come across these characters lot; I was a young skinny lad so they thought they could take their negativity out on me ( Bully ) and make me listen to their ‘war stories’ during value training time telling me about their failed marriages and their bosses and co-workers that don’t work as hard as them and get promoted, all during the training class with not a hint of me having a go at the technique and when I did start to have a go of the technique I was quic...