Sifu Paul Burkinshaw 25th Anniversary 1986 - 2011

 
As we begin the year 2012, the Chinese year of the Dragon, the Sil Lum Kune Organisation celebrated a milestone of its own.  Sil Lum Kune’s head and chief instructor Paul Burkinshaw has reached his 25th year in Traditional Martial Arts. Sifu Paul began his Kung Fu training in June 1986, but had already had three years of boxing behind him before this. To celebrate a quarter of a century of his dedication and achievement the students of Sil Lum Kune / Sil Lum Hark Fu  had prepared a surprise.

Senior Instructor Charlotte Burkinshaw and other students began to organise a trophy for this occasion.  Over the past 25 years Sifu Paul has won numerous titles, trophys and medals at both National and International Kung Fu events.  Many of these trophies are on display at the organisation’s academy building in Bedworth.   Some of these trophies are quite large however it was common knowledge amongst many students that Sifu Paul had never been awarded a really large example of a trophy.  With the larger trophy in mind two senior students Darren and Lee Lynam began designing and building from scratch a suitable example for Sifu Paul’s 25th Anniversary.

During the evenings Darren and Lee Lynam both practice hard in Sil Lum Hark Fu at both Bedworth and Bulkington clubs but by day they keep busy working in their engineering firm.  Darren and Lee began gathering materials for the trophy including polished granite,metal plaques and various types of hardwood.  Charlotte Burkinshaw and others began searching for various elements that could be added to such a large trophy.  Club badges, Chinese Fu-dogs and ceramic martial arts characters were all gathered from various sources (including kind donations from ex-instructor David Forsyth).  Following weeks of work the trophy was finally finished in time for a presentation in late December 2011.  Another of Sifu's students, Bev Coulson, designed a suitable card with various photos from down the years which was signed by many students and other well wishers.

The final class of Sil Lum Kune before the Christmas break is always marked by a fun competition where students gather together in teams to compete in a light-hearted competition.  Various fun events are competed over before a winning team is declared.  Events include stamina events where students have to battle against each other to prove who is able to hold a stance for the longest amount of time amongst many others that concentrate on other disciplines such as punching power and accuracy.  

Following the end-of-year competition Sifu Paul Burkinshaw awarded the years club trophies, which are trophies awarded for students who have excelled in various endeavors during the year or perhaps have helped with the organisation of the club in some way.  Unbeknown to Sifu Paul was that waiting downstairs was the trophy to beat all others, a magnificent black and red pillared trophy standing at over six feet tall.  Just as Sifu Paul was bringing the events to a close it was announced by Charlotte Burkinshaw that there was one last trophy to be handed out.  Students and parents made their way to the ground floor training room where Sifu Paul was presented with his 25th Anniversary trophy.  As a martial arts instructor Sifu Paul Burkinshaw is never short of words of encouragement and advice.  For one of the first times upon witnessing his trophy Sifu Paul was actually lost for words.  Many were worried that he might have guessed his surprise but this was obviously not the case.  Suffice to say Sifu Paul was very happy with his 25th Anniversary Trophy and gave a little speech thanking all those in attendance.  It seems quite rare in this day and age for a sports person to dedicate so much time to their field but all in attendance were confident that the club can look forward to the next 25 years under Sifu Paul's leadership.

Written by
R Buckler
(Student of Sil Lum Hark Fu Mun)

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