Bridge to the Past

Another image from my third trip to photograph the Clifton Suspension Bridge. This is of the tower on the north bank of the Avon.

Looking at these images has reminded me of the first time that I saw the bridge. Unusually, I can tell you what date that was – it was in March 1996. And I know this because that’s the date written on my Shodan (1^st degree black belt) certificate.

At the time, I was living in Stoke-on-Trent and training with Steve Hulson at the local karate club. In 1995, I’d graded a couple of times – the first attempt was a complete failure, but the second time I got kata only*. So, in early ’96, I needed to finish the job. The first scheduled grading was at Bath Uni and coincided with my fiancé’s birthday, but it was agreed that she would go to visit her mother in Swansea and that I would join her there after the grading.

It was also arranged that one of the black belts at the club, a Nidan call Pete – I really can’t remember his surname – would drive me down to the venue. My memory is that we didn't plan the route – Pete wasn't that sort of guy – so we followed signs. I any case, we must've driven down the M5 to junction 18 and then got onto the A4, rather than cutting across on the M4 which would have been the sensible option.

We had no idea that the A4 would take us under the bridge. We’d set off before dawn and the sun came up on a misty morning, so we didn't see it until we rounded a bend and there it was, right above us. I have a very strong memory of a “wow” moment, with this structure floating in the air above us, before we were past it and into the centre of Bristol. The next thing that I remember is being in Bath, near the station I think, and having to ask directions to the Uni.

I don’t have strong memories of the grading itself, but I passed. Pete shook my hand. He was a thoroughly nice chap who went well out of his way to help me, and I'm embarrassed that I can’t remember his surname. He dropped me at Bath station and I got the train over to Swansea, which took an age because the Severn tunnel was closed and the train had to go round via Gloucester. I remember that it was very cold on the train despite the fact that I was wearing several layers.

Anyway, this line of thought led me to reflect that at the time, I had no idea that I would one day live in the area and that, nearly twenty years on, these locations would be familiar to me. I don’t know what this proves, apart from the fact that you never really know where life will take you, which isn't a terribly profound observation, but true nonetheless.

*For those who aren't au fait with the structure of a karate grading, there are three elements – kihon (basics), kumite (fighting) and kata (set forms or patterns). So long as you pass kihon, you can fail one of the other two and be called back for that element only.

At the previous grading, which would have been in December ’95, I impressed Sensei Enoeda enough to give me a pass on kumite despite getting my nose broken and bleeding everywhere, but he decided to call me back for kata. This was a bit of surprise because I considered that to be my strong suit. Consequently, I saw the March grading as a bit of a formality, so I was keen to get on with it.

This contrasts with my experience grading for Nidan, were I got kumite only on my second attempt and then spent the next few years repeatedly failing that element, to the point where I gave up grading for a while and finally scraped a pass in March 2008.

My Fifteen Minutes

My profile has recently been added to the JKA Bristol website, along with another selfie, here.

Karate Smarties

I've been promising myself that I'd write a post about karate, so I've decided to hang it round the image above. I am the model for the foreground figure, by the way. It's a heavily processed photograph that I took with my father acting as photographer's assistant. The background was generated from vectors and images of a Shotokan tiger and some Japanese characters that I had lying around. Compositing was performed in GIMP.

And, to be clear, the whole thing was conceived as a joke - Che Guevara meets Bruce Lee.

I joined Speke SKC on the 12th July 1984. This club was run by Jimmy Poynton - Bob's younger brother - and met at the community centre behind the Austin Rawlinson swimming baths. From there I went to Poynton SKC when I started work in Stockport. I'm afraid to say that I can only remember the instructor's first name as being Tim. This was a satellite of the Manchester University club run by Gary Harford.

In 1992 I moved to Stoke-on-Trent and – after a short and best forgotten stint at Staffordshire Uni with Ray Garside - started training at the Newcastle Under Lyme club with Steve Hulson. Whilst I was there, I passed Shodan, which was awarded to me in March 1996 by Sensei Keinosuke Enoeda.

In 1997, I moved to the South West and joined Glastonbury SKC, where I still train. (Despite being one of the longest serving club members you won't find me mentioned on their website for reasons of intra-club politics and my own refusal to engage.)

All of the clubs mentioned above were affiliated to the KUGB. In 2003 Sensei Enoeda, who had led the organisation since 1967, died and the KUGB split. The Glastonbury club went with JKA England, under Sensei Enoida’s assistant Sensei Yoshinobu Ohta.

Unfortunately for me, all of these changes coincided with my attempt to pass Nidan. I can't say that this is the only – or even the main - reason why I struggled to pass. But suffice to say that I finally scraped through in March 2008 after several unsuccessful attempts and a couple of years of sulking during which I refused to attempt the test at all.

Even allowing for this, I was sorry to leave the KUGB. As an organisation which numbered world champions amongst its members, it was remarkably tolerant of those of us who just wanted to potter away at club level. Generally speaking, you could ignore the wider organisation and they would respond by treating you with benign neglect.

Not so JKA England. As a much smaller organisation – at the point of the split around a third of the KUGB’s original membership found themselves in JKA England – money is much more of an issue. This means that members get chivvied into attending courses, taking grades and so on, when some of them would rather be left alone.

This is especially true when you consider that the teaching at some courses – national and international – can be perfunctory or even whimsical. I once spent half an hour watching a senior Japanese instructor organise a class into rows to his own satisfaction, whilst the students all got cold and bored. I don't remember much of the rest of the session, but I have the distinct impression that I didn't learn much.

And there is no room for any martial arts organisation to be complacent. With so many different martial arts to choose from these days, there is strong competition for students. Off the top of my head, I can think of karate, taekwondo, kickboxing, kung fu, judo, jujitsu, and aikido all available in the local area. And that doesn't count the different styles of each art and the various organisations within each style. For instance, there are at least four organisations that I know of representing the Shotokan style of karate in the South West.

I find it very hard to explain to those outside the martial arts community why this is the case – although the underlying causes are those old culprits, money and ego - and how it is that my grade isn't recognised by any of these organisations other than the JKA. Strangely, we don't advertise this balkanisation to new students.

I think that Shotokan – and, by extension, traditional karate in general - is a tough sell these days anyway. Its not hardcore enough for the MMA and full contact nutters but too challenging for the gentrified/hippyish, tai chi types. That doesn't mean to say that it has nothing to offer, I just don't know who it offers it to.

Consequently, I find it hard to feel positive about JKA England, the future of Shotokan or my place in it.

So, If you're considering taking up karate, I would have to say “Don't bother!” If you want to learn to defend yourself, take a self defence class - you'll find it much more directly applicable anyway. If you want to get fit, go to the gym - karate is too anaerobic to burn fat. And I'm sure that there are many other approaches to personal improvement that don't involve pratting about in your pajamas.

Here endeth the rant.

PS: Rob Redmond has a website which offers an alternative perspective to all the hagiographic material on some of the other sites that I've linked to in this post. For example, at the time of the KUGB schism he wrote some very solid analysis of events which is worth reading if you're curious. BUT I would advise against reading any of his posts on other subjects – especially politics – as they're risible in the extreme.