Duan Grading at HQ (Grays)
17 July 2005
At 3pm the lesson before the grading began. It's was a very hot summer's day and all the hall doors and windows were open for maximum ventillation! Some parents chose to watch their children in the hall from the car park rather than sit indoors on such a hot day.
Candidates for Duan and 1st Duan Senior grading with Grandmaster Loke, Masters and senior grades.The ji grading was well attended with many young students taking their 10th, 9th and 8th ji examinations. It was expecially nice to see some of the senior grades (who would be taking grading examinations themselves later on that day) helping the juniors with their forms in the ten minute break between the lesson and the grading. The ji grading was presided over by Grandmaster Loke and Master Chris Cook (5th Duan), with Master Siew Ying Loke (4th Duan) and Master Angie Thomas (4th Duan) conducting.
Elbow strike (sou chuor kong chee) half position -
Grandmaster Loke demonstrates completed movement
(back right of picture).There was an air of nervous excitement in the air. Three Duan grades were in attendance to take their 1st Duan Senior examinations, namely: Graham Towl (Tunbridge Wells), Dave Bray (Grays) and Arun Arivalogan (Grays). In addition, there were nine 1st jis (four adults and five children) taking their 1st Duan examinations - a big milestone in their training.
Graham Towl (Tunbridge Wells) and David Bray (Grays),
knife hand strike with cover (tau sou kong chee).
The Duan grading was presided over by Grandmaster Loke with Master Adam Goward (5th Duan), Regional Director for Surrey, Sussex and Kent. Master Angie Thomas conducted. Also in attendance were Jeff Thomas (3rd Duan), Tony Sellen (3rd Duan), Keith Dell (3rd Duan), Tina Matania (3rd Duan) and James Slade (1st Duan).
As the grading began, a breeze blew through the window blinds - causing them to flutter with the wind - rather like a banner on an ancient battlefield! The red belts achieved their ten minutes of horse stance (ping ma bu), and the duan grades sustained twelve minutes.
The horse stance is indeed a test of leg strength, however Grandmaster Loke pointed out to the students that it's primarily a test of the strength of the mind - to sit lower when we wish to stand up, to persevere in order to improve our capabilities, to never give up, and to maintain a serene exterior (even if our legs are shaking!).
1st Ji students were required to spar with more senior grades.Grandmaster Loke took the opportunity to have an in-depth technical discussion with the candidates regarding several selected techniques including the open hand single block, the back fist strike and the sidestep block and punch as a concurrent movement.
Dave Bray with Grandmaster Loke: demonstrating the sidestep and open hand block.
Arun Arivalogan with
Grandmaster Loke: demonstrating backfist strike - arm positioning.Following the required syllabus components and the technical workshop, each candidate completed their breaking requirements, firstly with the required kicks on the breakboards.
Stuart Amoore (Rochford) roundhouse kick (chuan ti).
Trevor Bardouille (Epsom) side thrust kick (cher chuai ti).
David Smilgaitis (Wapping) roundhouse kick (chuan ti)
followed by jump roundhouse kick (thiau chuan ti).
.The three candidates for 1st Duan Senior upgradings then each had to perform a kick on the harder black breakboard. First was Arun Arivalogan with front thrust kick, then Dave Bray with roundhouse kick, and finally Graham Towl with front thrust kick. All candidates broke through the full board on their first attempt.
Arun Arivalogan front thrust kick.The final requirement of the grading consisted of each of the adult 1st ji candidates smashing through a stack of eight roof tiles (with one teatowel on the top to prevent any grazing!). First was Chris Knight (Grays) with a punch, then David Smilgaitis (Wapping) palm heel, followed by Trevor Bardouille (Epsom) and Stuart Amoore (Rochford) who both chose to punch through their tile stacks. All candidates broke through all tiles on their first attempt. Well done!
Tang Sou!
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