Taking the Step From Student to Disciple
Paul Evans, Dan Amphlett, Sifu Paul Burkinshaw Nicky Troth & David Richardson
Unlike the majority of my fellow students, Sil Lum Kune has been my first and only experience of training in martial arts.
In many ways I feel this has been to my advantage as I arrived before my Sifu as a ‘blank canvas’. I had no bad habits picked up from previous styles and presented a blank canvas for my Sifu to mould into a martial arts student.
Throughout my past 6 years of training my Sifu has taught me everything I know about martial arts, aside from small amount of info I'd picked up from 'Enter the dragon' and other such fims!
I was soon shown by my Sifu how vast the subject of martial arts really is. I never imagined there would be so much to learn. It seemed insurmountable, goals that couldn’t be reached. The only way forward was to take everything one small step at a time.
The term ‘black sash’ or ‘black belt’ was ‘invented’ by Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo. Many modern students believe the ‘black sash’ to be an acient aspect of traditional martial arts: however, this appears to be un-true.
Jigoro Kano
Many ancient masters would award certificates to high ranking students to signify their authority to pass on knowledge of particular styles. One school of thought suggests that a students white belt would become tarnished with years of dirt, sweat and blood from brutal training and therefore become black.
Within the Sil Lum Kune system arriving at the ‘kwoon’ (training hall) with a dirty uniform might actually exclude the student from taking part in the day’s class.
The days prior to my Black Sash grading seemed to go by so slowly. I was feeling apprehensive and just wanted to get it over and done with.
When I arrived at the Club at 9am in the morning, ready for my 6 mile endurance run, I was itching to begin the days grading tasks. I was grading for my black sash alongside another student, Alex, who was also attempting to achieve her black sash grade. I had spent the previous 4 months doing extra jogging on top of my martial arts training to ensure I would have the stamina to complete such an exhausting run. As it turned out I’m sure I could have done fourteen months of training and still not had the stamina to complete the run easily.
David Richardson was tasked with taking the two of us on the endurance run. The initial stages of the run involved a jog across various fields, stopping frequently for drills of short sprints, sets of numerous press ups and sit-ups. My stamina during this phase seemed to be holding up quite well, yes I was tired but at least I wasn’t in too much pain. As the endurance run developed, I found the second half infinitely more challenging. We now found ourselves running, sprinting and climbing through various types of harsh woodland. Coupled with the endless press ups and sit-ups I really did find myself starting to struggle. No sooner had I finished an exhausting set off drills I was then off and running again. The battle seemed to be focused on my intake of oxygen. I just couldn’t seem to manage to get enough air in my lungs!
Over two hours later I thought David was leading us both back to the club to finish, but as an extra twist, we arrived opposite the road leading to the club only for David to change direction and take us on an additional half a mile! At this stage I was worried that I might not complete the run never mind the actual grading itself. Finally I staggered back to the Club drenched with sweat and bleeding from all the cuts the brambles in the woodland had kindly donated to my legs!
Rest was obviously not on today’s agenda. No sooner had I got my breath back from the run I had to change into my kung fu uniform and begin the task of completing every form that I had previously studied.
I performed all of the forms I had already been graded on, I then had to complete the three new forms that I had been taught in preparation for my black sash. I felt that I had performed my forms well. Although it was a challenging I found that I was remembering all the little details that I had been taught to improve the standard of my forms. I was focussing on all the little nuances which made my forms look smoother and more acomplished. By the time I'd completed all of my forms I was feeling very tired indeed.
The next stage of my Black Sash grading was to demonstrate all of the kicks and strikes that I had learn't. I don't think I struggled to much at this point. I was quite confident and assured that I knew what strikes I would be asked to demonstrate, I just made sure that I was focussing on targeting my strikes correctly and performing with full movement.
As the afternoon progressed I was thankful for the quick sips of drink I had to try and repair my battered stamina as I knew the grading was only getting tougher as I continued.
Late afternoon brought the part of the grading that I thought I might struggle with. The task? to complete over 100 self-defence techniques!
Each technique would have to be different to the last, must be performed on the left and the right sides against a real life opponent. A queue of students formed a line in front of me and took it in turns to deliver a variety of attacks against me. Initially a lot of the attacks were straight punches but as the time went by I had to deal with an all manner of strikes, kicks, choke holds and grabs. Finally when I had completed over a 100 unique defence techniques Sifu told one of the higher grades to go the kitchen and find a knife. The student returned with a gleeming carving knife with a 6 inch blade on it. I felt suddenly very nervous, I knew I would have to deal with some 'live' knife attacks but I didn't realise that the blade would be so large and so sharp! Thankfully I completed three defences against knife attacks without getting stabbed, although I was marked down for being overly nervous about the size of the knife.
Once the self defence was complete I moved into the final stage of the grading, which was where I would do all of my fighting.
My first part of the sparring section was to fight the following rounds:
1 v 1 - 4 Rounds
1 v 2 - 3 Rounds
1 v 3 - 2 Rounds
1 v 5 - Knock Out Basis Round
By this stage I don't mind admitting that I was completely exhausted. During the first few rounds I tried to stay away from the oncoming fighters but it was very difficult indeed. My opponents seemed so fresh and I was struggling to stay on my feet. A number of times I was knocked, fell or stumbled to the ground, each time determined to get up and keep going. One such punch was swung into my ribs, I've never felt such a hard blow and before I knew it I was trying to pick myself off the floor again.
The hardest point of the sparring and in fact the whole day was the 'knock out basis' sparring. This sparring meant that the five people attacking me would stay in the fight until I took each one to the ground one by one. It seemed an age before I got the first one of the 5 to the ground and it felt even longer when I only had one fighter left to deal with, as hard as I tried he kept staying on his feet. Eventually though I managed to use my weight to force him to the floor, not a recomended technique but at this stage anything that worked would do for me.
The final element of my grading was various grappling and ground work tests. I really can't describe how exhausted and completely empty of energy I now felt. I felt that my gappling and groundwork let me down a little for my grading, but I managed to keep safe and protected on the floor. This area is obviously one with room for improvement.
At the end of the day I had a long discussion with my Sifu. He told me that I had passed, he also told me what areas I needed to improve on and that he would ensure that for my next grade he would check to see improvement in the areas he had identified.
My sifu had told me that I was now a black sash grade, one of only 15 (to achieve this grade under Sifu Paul Burkinshaw) in the entire association of over 600 students. My Sifu explained to me that I was now ready to begin my journey in Kung Fu. He said that I now knew the 'basics' and that over the next few years I'd begin to really learn Kung Fu.
It has taken several weeks for my grading to really sink in. Only now am I starting to realise that I have much work in front of me and that I really am begining a long journey of which I know I will always be on.
written by Paul Evans