Exploring Common Martial Concepts - Seminar, 7th June 2009

Wayne Swietoslawski, 7th Dan Shihan Ju Jitsu - Professor (Waskido Ryu Ju Jitsu)

2007 International Black Belt Hall of Fame Inductee,

4th Dan Kobudo, 3rd Dan Juko Ryu, 2nd Dan Kickboxing,

2nd Dan Aiki Jitsu, 1st Dan Choi Kwang Do, 1st Dan Dynamic Self Defence,

1st Degree Seni Silat Kesatria.

“Exploring Common Martial Concepts”

7th June 2009, 11AM – 4PM 

Covering locks, control and restraining, grabs, releases, takedowns and pressure points from the perspectives of Ju Jitsu, Karate, Kung Fu, Muay Thai, Silat and other arts.  

Featuring guest instructors

Chris Bird - Canemaster

Guru Simon Das - Seni Silat Kesatria

Guru Shaykh Mohammed Zaynal Ariffin –Silat  Chumande 

£25/Seminar – Advance bookings, or £30 on the day.

Wavell-Cody Community Campus, Lynchford Rd. Farnborough, Hants. GU14 6BH. 

If you're interested I'll put you in touch with him, email/comment me.

Martial Arts Festival - Wayne Swietoslawski

I met Wayne at the MAF-UK the other week and I decided to blog about him as he is a genuine guy who is now applying himself to full time martial arts training and teaching.

Wayne has an impressive martial arts CV and as well as holding several black belts has trained throughout the world with outstanding martial artists but what really struck a chord with me was the tagline Wayne uses: Training for Life. Wayne trains all the time. And I mean ALL the time! So the phrase Training for Life covers the way he considers that training in the martial arts is his life but it also makes him (/us?) ready for life. Training helps us deal with life. This can be on a practical, physical level or an emotional or 'spiritual' level: it keeps us fit for life and hones our minds.

As soon as Wayne's site is up and live I'll post it here.

Martial Arts Festival, Leicester

as I pulled up at the Parklands leisure centre, Leicester, I realised the MAF-UK was going to be quite a big festival! There was a shuttle bus laid from the car park (which I had to pay another fiver for!) but it was well organised and ran smoothly so we were at the door soon after. Not sure what to expect I scanned the programme which seemed crammed! Two outdoor demo areas and one inside as well as two indoor seminar rooms meant there was plenty to see (although the indoor demo area was extremely impractical and you didn't get to see much!). 

It seemed a fairly nice atmosphere but there were plenty of guys strutting around looking like they'd had a ramrod inserted up their backs and that they were incapable of walking without swinging their shoulders forward outrageously. Strut, strut, strut. But this was, I'm glad to say, in the minority.

I made my way straight to the main hall and had only had made 5 steps in when I got chatting to a guy who was promoting his sensei and club: Wayne Swietoslawski of Waskido Ryu Ju Jitsu who was eager to tell me about his art. I took to Wayne and we got chatting about canes so he led me off to a seminar by canemasters: a self-defence programme based on walking canes. 

Following this I went straight to a Krav Maga seminar which focused on effective self-defence tools. this system struck me (unsurprisingly) similar to Systema but I guess experienced practitioners of either may disagree. Fundamentally it's quite a flexible and 'free' system with key principles underpinning different scenarios. We worked on stopping the attack early and ground work. As well as scanning for other opponents-very useful I thought.

Back in the main hall I bought my pair of Feivue's which I've been after for some time and saw Iain Abernethy on a stand! After I heard from his accent that he was a Northerner I had to stop and chat. What a friendly guy and although I didn't buy anything from him he still had time to chat with me about what he's up to, his dojo, Harry Cooke and the meaning of life. Great interlude to the day's seminars...

I strolled out into the sun to the outdoor arenas and watched capoeira, iai demo with some tameshigiri and finished the day by watching the krav maga demo.

A full day but I managed to have a cuppa in the sun and take lots of cool photos and meet some good folk. I'll document some of these things in more detail soon once I've downloaded photos and sorted them:

- Wayne Swietoslawski

- Canemasters

- Krav Maga

- Capoeira

- Iai