misogi group photo

42nd birthday

Well i had a great party with family freinds and students. Got to do a Misogi in wales, going to see Ronin tonight and off to Devon tomorro !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sacred Springs Fellowship logo

New logo designed by me!!!!

Shinpi Izumi 25th anniversary

I had the best weekend ever. I slept in the new Dojo, and acted as Uke for Jo Biggs sensei all weekend ie keeping him topped up with coffee and baileys on the evening, collecting Arnela (bjj champ) from the airport, cleaning the dojo, tidying up, selling t shirts, making the list of attendees and having the honour of collecting Fay goodman sensei.

I did manage to train a little, i learned a lion dance did abit of Dacayana eskrima with Marcie and Iaido with Fay goodman Shihan.

I wasnt on the mat as much as i would have normaly but i think i actually learned more talking to Fay goodman sensei, and Arnela. I also got to carry sensei fays 400 year old sword for her even though it was in a sword bag!!!!!!

fellowship

Sacred-Springs Fellowship

The Sacred- Springs is a Fellowship of Master Martial Art Practitioners who have become involved or have grown their martial arts school via the ``Vision`` of Sacred Spring. It comprises the friendship network of the teachers according to the four guiding principles of Sacred Spring.

Autonomy

Justice

Beneficence

Non-Maleficence

It offers via the medium of a yearly course in Lynmouth `` where the water meets the sea`` a vehicle to promote all the master teachers of the fellowship and raises a single amount to provide to free insurance cover on a member to member basis for all students training in it’s member associations. It allows the master teachers to use the designation of F.S.S. NO MEMBERSHIP FEES CHARGED OR REQUIRED and Membership open to all who need assistance. The Lynmouth Festival of Martial Arts should seek to provide the chance for students and Fellows to mix, teach and train according to the above principles.

The logo differs from Sacred Spring/Shinpi Izumi Dojo Kanji/Crest/Emblem and is the Logo that is ratified by the senior masters of the fellowship. The logo is coloured white and is on a Blue Background.

Fellows of the society are entitled to use this logo within their clubs and any use in the form of clothing and manufacture of garments is the sole fundraising responbility of individual groups and Fellows. The only income derived from the school is the monies from the Lynmouth course held in the last weekend of March at Lynton Town Hall, in Lynton and Lynmouth, North Devon.

The profit from this course goes to providing the insurance cover for the associations and the balance of the money is donated to a charity of the fellow’s choice and one of the Mayor’s choices.

The Following Heads of associations or master teachers are Fellows of Sacred-Springs:

The Cumann Ju-Jutsu Scoil na Heireann - Joe Carslake. F.S.S, Martin Carslake F.S.S and Trevor Carslake F.S.S

Ilya Hoffman F.S.S

British Kempo Karate Union - Master Kevin Mills 8^th Degree.

Aka Ryu - Stephen Peil Shihan. F.S.S  & Laura Peil Renshi. F.S.S

Pavel Antonsson Shihan. F.S.S.

Keith Lebehan. 8^th Degree. F.S.S

Kings School of Martial Arts. Paul King Shihan

Welsh Kempo Association - Julie Williams Renshi. F.S.S

Seisen Iaido Dojo governed by the B.K.A

John Hurley Sensei. F.S.S

Maynard Butteriss Shihan. F.S.S

Dacayana UK  - under the supervision of Marcie Harding F.S.S and John Biggs 1^st degree/3^rd degree Escrima National Coach Dacayana UK

Malvern Escrima Group - under the supervision of Marcie Harding. F.S.S

Fudo shin Dojo -  James Price Shihan and Karl Garret Renshi.

Daniel Thompson Renshi  Academy of Martial Arts

Mark Craddock Renshi. School of Martial Arts-Daiwado and Yagyu Shingen Ryu

Kevin Silous Shihan School of Kickboxing/MMA and Namaste Yoga.

Daiwa Ryu UK

Yagyu Shingen Ryu in the U.K

Sosuishi Ryu in the UK.

Gordon Lawson. F.S.S Judo

Jon Riley Shihan. F.S.S

Dacayana France

Dacayana Wales

Dacayana Switzerland

Yonrin Ryu -Nick Martin Shihan.

Junsei ryu -Ash McKee Shihan. F.S.S

Terry Hall Shihan. F.S.S

Master Jhun Dacayana. 8^th degree. F.S.S

The above groups all arrange their own active and complimentary programme. Have there own in house First Aid, Coaching, Child Protection and C.R.B systems in place as well as a yearly calendar of events including summer courses.

Affilliation to BBGB/Junsei Ryu Bujutsu Renmei

Ronin

Sempai Kits Band Ronin- Rocking at the Bunker -Keystones, Worcester

Great seminar with AKR on 30th April

grading

well done!!!

fundraiser

I need to get to work on my painting for the tsunami fundraiser. As well as organise the chalice well seminar.

Bladed weapon course with Jo Biggs Shihan

Red nose day

Lynmouth

Lynmouth was great - hope to get a picture up soon
But its not unusual

Monday night training at the scout hut

Monday night Adult class

All we had was what we were wearing

more SAS

They gave us a kit list, but made us strip and took nearly everything away!

more photos

Stress positions - hurt after a while

SAS course

The photos have just been released from the SAS survival course in 2008 with Ishin Ryu - shame they blurred my face now i am no longer affiliated with them.

Essex TAI KAI

Had a great time training all weekend and being uke for Steve Peil for 10 hours!!!!!!! great friends new and old.

Blue adidas gi

Looks like we are going to have a blue Adidas gi !!!
cant wait for it to come, and my new Dave Lowry book !

Sensei

As of the 23rd of Feb 2011, Jo Biggs Shihan has accepted both me and Stephen as his personal students.

Sweden

Sweden with jo Biggs Shihan was awesome and -21

teacher

I wasnt looking for a teacher but i needed one and have found one.

red/white

In Dave lowrys book "in the Dojo" he mentions that Kano invented it for 6th 7th and 8th Dans and was probably influenced by the Genpai war 1180-1185. Two clans were fighting in red the Tara or Heike clan and in white the minimoto or Genji family. The japanese believe that these two clans are still fighting in the sky in the form of two stars in the Orion constellation, Betelgeuse and Rigel or Genji boshi and Heike boshi as they are known in the East.
Does anyone else have any theories on this?
Dave lowry did however get the stars mixed up as he said Rigel is red and Betelgeuse is white, but we all know that Betelgeuse is a Red dwarf at the end of its life giving off a a red glow and that Rigel is about to go supa nova and gives off a bright white/ blue lMr. Dave Lowry literally grew up in the Japanese cultural arts. As a boy, he commenced a lifelong study of Yagyu Shinkage Ryu swordsmanship under a Japanese teacher who was living in Missouri. In 1985, Mr. Lowry's experiences growing up as a Westerner, who was deeply immersed in Japanese cultural and martial arts, formed the basis for Autumn Lightning (Shambhala), his first book, which was widely acclaimed. His sequel to this book, Persimmon Wind, was recently published by Tuttle.

In addition to Yagyu Shinkage Ryu, Mr. Lowry has trained in karate-do and a variety of modern martial ways. His current and primary martial arts activities are focused on Yagyu Shinkage Ryu, Shindo Muso Ryu (an old combative art utilizing a four-foot staff), and aikido.

He is heavily involved with the Japanese community in the St. Louis area, and he has practiced a wide variety of Japanese arts including go (an ancient Japanese game), shodo (calligraphy), kado (flower arrangement), and chado (tea ceremony). Mr. Lowry is also active in the organization and running of the St. Louis Japanese Festival, the largest such festival in North America. He is on the Executive Board of the St. Louis Japanese Festival.
Mr. Dave Lowry has a degree in English, and works as a professional writer. He has authored numerous books, including Sword and Brush (Shambhala); his monthly columns appear in several martial arts magazines, inc Black Belt magazine.ight- in fact the 6th brightest star right?
chalice well seminar-
i feel another red / white thing going on, chalice well - red, white spring - white!!
There is an ancient legend of the Seven Sacred Springs of Glaston. Starting from the South and moving around the Tor in an anti-clockwise direction, the springs are as follows.
Chalice Well – Wellhouse Lane
White Spring – Wellhouse Lane
Ashwell Spring – Gypsy Lane Spring
Wick Spring - Paradise Lane Spring
Holywell Lane Spring – Holywell Lane
St Edmonds Hill Spring – North end of St Edmunds Hill
Lambrook Spring - Bushey Coombe Spring, Launder Lane

In the past all seven springs were held to be of equal importance and to form some sort of balanced energy system. Today, these springs are far from being equally well known and valued.

Chalice Well and the White Spring are looked after as visitor centres but the other springs have either been capped off to run underground or run dry.
Chalice Well - also known as the Red Spring after the rusty red deposit
White Spring - named after the white deposit left by the calcium bearing water.

stuff about sacred spring

I think i am right about the water as i found this on the Sacred Spring web blog
"The central image, symbol, of Sacred Spring is water. Why? What does this mean? Why is this important to us? Water flows. It can be a strong enough force to knock you over, and yet it is fluid. You may like to contemplate for a moment the notion that the rivers flow into the sea, and that the rain comes from the sea, yet the sea is never full nor empty. Ice, steam, clouds, rain are all just different states of the same element - water. Water can be still and calm, and it can be violent and fearsome. One drip of water can overflow a cup, yet one drop is not enough to satisfy thirst. Ultimately water can, with patience and tenacity, cause a cliff to collapse into the sea, or change the course of a river.

While we pay attention to the other elements: Fire, Earth, Metal, Wood - Water is THE one of the five elements that encapsulates the fluid yet strong principles of Sacred Spring. "
Four Bioethical Principles
The four bioethical principles have been described as:
· Autonomy - respect for the individual and their ability to make decisions with regard to their own health and future. Actions that enhance autonomy are thought of as desirable and actions that 'dwarf' an individual and their autonomy are undesirable.
·
· Beneficence - actions intended to benefit the patient or others
· Non-maleficence - actions intended not to harm or bring harm to the patient and others
· Justice being fair or just to the wider community in terms of the consequences of an action

traditional dojo

Laura Peil

In Dave Lowrys book "In the Dojo" he refers to the five areas of the Dojo as connected to the Taoist five elements. North of the dojo ie Kamiza = water
east - joseki=wood
south -shimoza = fire
west - shimoseki =metal
centre - embu jo =earth
I also found it interesting that the wood asociated with east and joseki (where higher grades sit) symbolises responsibility, virtue and charity. There fore those of us that sit there have a responsibility to teach.
I also found it interesting that the North - Kamiza has the element water- could this be why Sacred Spring uses water as a symbol?
How could anyone ever refer to the symbol of water as wussy, water is powerful and gentle, destructive and life giving.

On the 23rd of Jan 2011 Laura Peil graded to 4th Dan and Stephen Peil graded to 5th Dan by Jo Biggs Shihan and a grading panel from Sacred Spring.

Graded

I am now a 4th Dan and Stephen is a 5th Dan we were graded by Jo Biggs and a panel from sacred spring.

tomorrow is the day

Big thing happening tomorro, I will post again after it happens.
good news i have lost 11 pound in 3 weeks!

Weight loss

Had a great day in Bedford yesterday and got on the scales this morning 15.6.4 !!! 6.6 pound loss this week, good stuff.

weightloss

15.10.4 today

training

Did some Ju-Jitsu today and kettle bell swings, pressing ladders and rows.

weight loss

15.11. 2 today thats almost 2 pound off

Ju-Jitsu history - my version

A Short History of JU-JITSU –

 According to Laura Peil Sensei

As I am an Abstract/ Random Learner I would find it difficult to bore you with dates and timelines, so I wont. Instead I will present a selection of theories based on historical fact.

I cannot profess to know the true origins of Ju-Jitsu, as I was not around at the time. Most of the texts I have read seem to agree that its about 2, 500 years old, originated in India and then passed on to China, Okinawa, and then Japan.

One good hypothesis that I have read is that the take downs and ground work techniques of Ju-Jitsu similar to wrestling could have come from Ancient Greece in the form of Pankrateon. Pankrateon was a sport that involved both boxing and wrestling techniques. It was later overshadowed by the Roman Gladiators, and then banned from the Olympics by Christian leaders of the Roman Empire. Greek customs and ideas spread to India, where Ju-Jitsu's foundation was likely to have been born.

Another theory is that it came from china around the time of the Ming dynasty. The story states that a man named Chen Yuang ping came to live in Tokyo at a Buddhist temple. Here he met three Ronin. Chen Yuang ping told the Ronin about a grappling art he had seen in China. The Ronin were interested and Chen Yuang ping started teaching in Japan, this later became Ju-Jitsu.

A similar story states that Chen Yuang ping introduced an early form of Ju-Jitsu called Kempo that was mainly strikes and this was developed into a more effective art and called Ju-Jitsu.

Another theory is that it came from Chikura Karube a sport wrestling from 200 B.C.

The origins of Ju-Jitsu that I learned while coming up the grades was that Ju-Jitsu could be traced as far back as 712 AD and it was widely practiced by the Samurai warriors. The Ju-Jitsu practiced by the Samurai focused primarily on annihilating the enemy, which led to the development of dangerous and fatal techniques. Of course today the techniques are modified slightly for practice otherwise you wouldn’t have too many people wanting to be your Uke!!! Also we don’t wear armour and as far as I know no one teaches Art, calligraphy, poetry any of the other stuff the Samurai were also masters of in their Dojo today.

My theory is that Ju-Jitsu probably did start in Greece, which spread to India and then China, Okinawa and then Japan. I believe the Samurai used various forms of it on the battlefield and other classes possibly used it to defend themselves too. In fact I think the term Ju-Jitsu was used as a blanket term for martial arts in Japan as the samurai practiced many unarmed arts with emphasis on different aspects of combat.  The various unarmed arts developed into schools (Ryu). One was started by a man called Jigoro Kano. Kano studied two styles of jujitsu Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū and Kitō-ryū. Kano took the bits he liked from these and started Kano Ju-Jitsu which later became Judo.

Another pioneer of Ju-Jitsu was E W Barton Wright he was a railway engineer when Japan was building its railroads in the Meiji era. He was in Japan building railroads and learning Ju Jitsu.  He studied Shinden Fudo-Ryu Ju Jitsu and Kano Ju Jitsu. He returned to London in 1898 and opened his own school (Bartitsu) in 1901. Two instructors that Barton Wright brought over with him were Sadakazu Uyenishi and Yukio Tani; they trained at the Handa School of Ju Jitsu in Osaka.  Once they separated company with Barton Wright they set up their own Ju Jitsu School called The Japanese School of Ju Jitsu, based in London. One of their students was Jack Britten, who went on to set up the Alpha Ju Jitsu Institute in Liverpool.

Since then Ju-Jitsu has spread and there are many different schools. It is difficult to trace particular school lineage, as there are few records. Today some Schools have tried to make Ju-Jitsu a sport, some concentrate more on groundwork, others self defence and a few try to keep the traditional art alive.

Personally I like a mixture, I want to keep the traditional stuff alive but I also believe that Ju-jitsu should keep evolving just as we are evolving.

weight loss

well it starts today!!
got on scales omg 15.13
started low carbs today- not too bad!! serious exercise tomorrow and measurements.