Iron Rod Seminar
Sifu Paul Burkinshaw and Sifu Eric Tsai in Australia decided that it would be correct and beneficial to have a common syllabus for all Hark Fu Mun clubs. Therefore changes to our grading syllabus in the UK meant that students now learn weapons at an earlier stage than before.
In order to assist the many students who now need to learn a variety of weapons, Sifu Paul decided to run some specific weapons seminars in order to allow larger numbers of students to concentrate on one specific weapon at a time.
In May, he held an Iron Rod Seminar for all students who needed to learn this weapon in order to progress. The seminar was well attended with students of all different ages and grades from the various clubs around the area. For once it was nice to learn something from scratch the same as everyone else. Almost none of the students had seen the iron rod form before so everyone was starting at the beginning. Once we had run through the form a couple of times, students were split off into smaller groups to run through the form and make corrections. It was nice being able to work with new students that I had not worked with before, and as normal, the atmosphere was good and everyone was supporting one another.
The form was not as complicated as I initially thought, especially once it had been broken down into smaller chunks. Working with a section at a time, some students managed to learn half of the form in the allotted time while others learnt the form in its entirety. It was definitely better having all students learning the same form as we could learn from each others mistakes and support each other.
It was a good form to learn, and one that I will hope to perfect over the next few weeks by attending the weapons classes on a Friday (at Bulkington) and Sunday evening (at the academy). I’m glad the weapons have been introduced at an earlier stage as it gives me the motivation to add another skill as well as concentrating on purely Kung Fu. I have also started learning two others weapons since the changes were introduced and I have found the mixture of students who turn up for the weapons training makes the class even more interesting. As always, the classes are warm and welcoming and you get the opportunity to learn in a fun and friendly environment. I look forward to seeing more and more students there over the coming months take up these weapons classes!
Jos Kemp
In order to assist the many students who now need to learn a variety of weapons, Sifu Paul decided to run some specific weapons seminars in order to allow larger numbers of students to concentrate on one specific weapon at a time.
In May, he held an Iron Rod Seminar for all students who needed to learn this weapon in order to progress. The seminar was well attended with students of all different ages and grades from the various clubs around the area. For once it was nice to learn something from scratch the same as everyone else. Almost none of the students had seen the iron rod form before so everyone was starting at the beginning. Once we had run through the form a couple of times, students were split off into smaller groups to run through the form and make corrections. It was nice being able to work with new students that I had not worked with before, and as normal, the atmosphere was good and everyone was supporting one another.
Jos Kemp