Black Sash Class

Black Sash Class

Every Thursday at the Bedworth academy there is a class held which is exclusive to Black Sashes. This class is designed to cover aspects of the Black Tiger syllabus and other militaristic techniques for Black Sashes which may not be covered in other normal classes. This includes self defence and forms for grading and lots of high level drills which cannot be done in other classes due to the mix of lower grade students.
Weapon forms make up a big part of the Black Sash syllabus, and there are many weapons which are learnt. These weapons include the Broadsword, Straight Sword, Butterfly Knives, Spear, Double Axes, Fan, Cymbols, Kwan Dao and many more. However it is possible for other students to learn some of these weapons on special weapon training days.

The training done in this class also focuses on helping Black Sash students by correcting any differences which they may make when practicing their forms. This ensures that everyone is performing the same moves, so when the Black Sash students teach other students, they are all teaching it the same way and correctly.

This is also the case with self defence. Because there is not enough time in normal classes, the highest White Tiger self defence set we do is set 4. In the Black Sash class we cover self defence from set 5 upwards, including Muka Basi (set 7) and Tiger Ripping techniques (set 8). Also at this level we not only run through the moves of the self defence techniques, we try to make them more realistic by ensuring the attacker is aiming to hit their opponent, and the defender blocks the attacks strong and counters with power and speed but with control.
The benefit from making it realistic is that the defender can get used to reacting to being attacked and when blocks are done properly they can act as conditioning for stronger blocks. The class also covers other aspects of self defence such as knife self defence, unplanned response self defence which is when the attacker throws a random attack and the defender has to deal with the attack and counter. We then perform these techniques at full power on the punch bags to get realism .

These skills are further improved by students attending White Tiger training days.
In other classes, conditioning drills normally consist of press ups, sit ups and punches to the stomach, these drills are designed to strengthen muscles. Higher level conditioning drills are designed to strengthen bones. These drills are often done against a partner by sticking each other’s arms and legs with moves mostly taken out of the forms we do at every level. Different equipment is also used to condition different parts of the body. (ie Stone Lock & Spring Wheel for the fore-arms, strike pads & maze bags for the hands etc)

Another activity which is exclusive to this class is Dummy Training. These are forms which can be preformed on certain training dummies like the Wooden Dummy, the Single Dummy and the 9 Pin Grinder Dummy. Dummy training is very beneficial for students as it is a good way to condition the arms. As the student becomes more conditioned and resistant to pain they can start to hit harder and make it more realistic. The Wooden Dummy has three wooden arms and one leg. The form consists of 117 moves, these moves are all moving around and hitting the dummy with offensive and defensive moves. Many different Kung Fu styles use this dummy form but there are many moves which are in the Black Tiger system so it is beneficial and quite easy to relate to.

Kian Shakoui & Callum Burkinshaw working on the (Mok Chong) Wooden Dummy

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Cameron Burkinshaw, Ian Harrison & myself (Kian) on the Wooden Dummies

The Single Dummy (Dan Chong) is a long thick wooden pole. The form which is performed on it has many more moves than the Wooden Dummy form and is more involved, this is because there is a lot more movement needed as there are parts where you need to walk round the pole and drop down onto the floor.

Charlotte Burkinshaw & Andy Shenton working on the Dan Chong (Single Dummy)

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The 9 Pin Grinder Dummy is a very high level from, this is because not only is there more arms and legs to strike, but there are mechanisms on the dummy which make it spin, which means it can hit back. The arms of this dummy are made from steel and the head and body sections are made out of stone or concrete. This is a very rare form and possibly unique to Black Tiger style.

Sifu Paul Burkinshaw & Andy Shenton on the (Gau Chi Mo Pun) 9 Pin Grinder Dummy
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As a student of Sil Lum Hark Fu Mun I find these classes very helpful. My skill, knowledge and understanding of Kung Fu has broadened thanks to the other Black Sashes in the class and training from Sifu Paul Burkinshaw.

Written by Kian Shakouri