Merdeka Carnival
1st September 2007

by Tina Matania (3rd Duan)

Upon the invitation from Datuk Abdul Aziz Mohammed, the High Commissioner of Malaysia to Great Britain, Grandmaster Loke and his demonstration team attended the Malaysia Merdeka 50th Year Independence Carnival held at the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre in Brickendonbury, Hertford on 1st September.

Selected members of the demo team perform slow front thrust kick
as part of the advanced basics section of the demonstration

It was a beautiful sunny day and the carnival was a great success.

There were a variety of delicious, tasty and spicy authentic Malaysian home cooked dishes available. Music was provided during the day by Malaysian artist Sharizan Borhan (from Kuala Lumpur), a jazz band, sitar player and of course the karaoke competition!

William Parsons (2nd Duan) smashes through
breeze blocks with vertical punch

We were able to see Malaysian F1 driver Fairuz Fauzy. There were bouncy castles and face painting for the kids, and a most entertaining Lion dance with accompanying authentic music.

Waiting and chatting before the demo begins

Grandmaster Loke and our Ren Yi Wu Kwan demo team took the centre stage at approximately 1:30pm and performed a full demonstration of Tang Sou Dao lasting approximately 40 minutes.

The demonstration team consisted of: Master Siew Ying Loke, Master Adam Blakemore, Master Colin Underwood, Tina Underwood, Tina Matania, Chris Wright, Nick Evagorou, Robert Little, Danielle Young, Brett Sydney-Smith, James Slade, William Parsons, Shaun Feltham, Simon King, Alex O'Neill, Barry Fisher, Victoria Wilson, Danny Hodgson, Bayleigh Mason, John White, Ryan Young, Jessica Tuttle, Sahapahp Sae-Phu, Devante-Lemar Ewenkhare, Daniel and Harry Parsons.

The team began with a short exercise routine, followed by advanced basics performed by instructors and Duan holders.

Selected instructors then sparred with the children to allow the children to demonstrate their sparring skills.

The children showed great spirit in attacking the instructors who had to employ a high level of evasion 'sun pee' techniques around the demo area!

Juniors sparring with Duan grades

This was followed by Luohan Er Duan (luohan form two) performed by seven team members, then Luohan San Suan (luohan form three) by Nick Evagorou, William Parsons and Robert Little.

The first breaking section by the junior members of the team followed involving jump side kicks over three team members bending down to make a 'wall'; twist kick, spin back kick and jump front kick.

Jump Side Kick over 'the wall'

The team then moved onto the self-defence and sparring demonstrations. Up first was Tina Matania with Simon King and Shaun Feltham to demonstrate ladies self-defence against an attacker approaching from behind and from the front, including an example with hands tied against an attacker with a large stick.

Simon King (2nd Duan) with Instructor Tina Matania (3rd Duan):
Ladies Self-Defence, hands tied against attacker with stick

This was followed by Chris Wright and Robert Little's sequence of advanced one step sparring including take-downs, head lock with feet and ground prone defence and attack. (Robert, we hope those grass stains come out of your training suit!)

Chris Wright (3rd Duan) and Robert Little (3rd Duan):
Advanced one-step sparring

Nick Evagorou and Barry Fisher then performed a display of semi-free sparring including, sweeps, take downs, recovery from ground prone positions and a variety of kicking techniques. A good example of instructor and pupil putting in much work to achieve this high level of timing and skill!

This section of the display was concluded by Master Siew Ying Loke performing the advanced kicking form, made even more difficult by an uneven grass surface underfoot but performed to perfection as always.

A first public display of this form which requires both techniques and muscle control/flexibility.

 

 

 

Master Siew Ying Loke: advanced slow kicking form

The final section of the display was the senior members performing one-step sparring to show the application of techniques and then breaking tiles and breeze blocks with these techniques.

First up was Shaun Feltham breaking a three inch breeze block with palm heel strike; followed by James Slade back kick through a three inch breeze block.

James Slade (2nd Duan) kicks through a three inch block

Then followed the ladies breaking. Tina Underwood performed reverse knife hand strike and knife hand strike through tile stacks followed by Tina Matania side thrust kick and elbow strike through tile stacks.

Tina Underwood (3rd Duan) about to smash her
way through two stacks of tiles

William Parsons then demonstrated left and right hand short range punches on two 3 inch breeze blocks.

William Parsons (2nd Duan) vertical punch

This was followed by Master Adam Blakemore's 'anti smoking' demo which involved a roundhouse kick to strike away the cigarette held in Will's mouth followed by a spin back kick on a tile over his head.

Master Adam Blakemore spin back kick
thorough tile above-head height

The breaking section and demonstration was concluded by Master Siew Ying Loke performing two roundhouse kicks (left and right legs) to break tiles above head height.

Grandmaster Loke commended all the demo' team instructors and students for the success of the demo. The spectators (approximately 1,000 people) showed their appreication with loud applause throughout the demonstration.

We extend our thanks to the organizing team of the Merdeka Carnival and TANG SOU!