Whitehead, Northern Ireland:
Grandmaster Loke's Visit to Whitehead
by Finola Austin (1st Ji)
December 2005
On Saturday 3rd December 2005, Grandmaster Loke, accompanied by Master Adam Blakemore and Miss Tina Matania (3rd Duan), flew from Stanstead to Belfast to visit the only Tang Sou Dao club in the island of Ireland in the small seaside village of Whitehead.
After a two hour flight delay, the party arrived at the house of Kevin Austin (the 3rd Duan instructor of the N.I. club) and only had time to put down their bags and change into their suits before attending the delayed grading.
Left: Whitehead Club Instructor Kevin Austin (3rd Duan) and
Instructor Tina Matania (3rd Duan, Epsom) lead the 2nd Ji's (blue belts):
chorng duan chuen chee (middle punch) on ping ma bu (horse stance)
Sean Austin, Andrew and Luke Herdman, Matthew Maguire, Peter Shannon, Matthew Slaughter and Pierce Woods graded for the first time to be promoted to 9th Ji (yellow tag). They performed Basic Form One and some punches and kicks for Grandmaster Loke.
Connor Mason and Anne Woods also graded - the former to yellow belt (8th Ji) and the latter to orange tag (7th Ji).
Laura, Philip and Stephen Cowan and Edel Stewart (who had all attended to B.T.S.D.F Championships in June, 2005) were promoted to 6th Ji (orange belt) and were instructed on how to improve their techniques as they entered the intermediate stage of their martial arts training.
Instructor Master Adam Blakemore (4th Duan) takes 9th Ji and
2nd Ji students through their formsFinola and Siobhán Austin, Eoghan and Robert Mason and Patrick Stewart completed their final Ji grading (becoming the first red belts in the Whitehead club). In an intensive grading they performed their forms, broke boards with a variety of kicks, sparred with the Duan grades and held horse straddling stance for five minutes.
Grandmaster Loke emphasised the importance of evasion techniques and generating power quickly as the students approached the advanced stages of their training.
Whitehead students performing sia duan tang (low block) at the
beginning of the grading sessionThe grading lasted for over three hours. The visiting party returned to the Austins' house and, an hour later, were joined by many of the students for a celebratory dinner. The next morning another class was held before Grandmaster Loke and his companions were driven to the airport to return home.
All those involved were grateful for the instruction of Grandmaster Loke, Master Blakemore and Tina Matania and the time they gave to visit the club. By watching the visitors perform stretches, kicks, blocks and strikes the students were given something to aspire to and the new members were able to see, first hand, the effectiveness of Ren Yi Wu Kwan Tang Sou Dao.
Finola Austin (1st Ji)
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