CUKC CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY 

KARATE CLUB–– www.cukc.org ––

29 July 2008 –– Issue 2

Varsity Match,  page 2In depth report of this year’s trouncing of the Dark Blues, plus classic soundbites.

Competitions,  pages 3­5Centrals, BUSA, Kyu Grades, Nationals, Club comp – all the latest reports and pictures.

Gradings,  pages 7­8Results of the Lent and Easter kyu gradings, and tales from recent Dan gradings.

MEDAL

Presidential AddressCUKC members have lived an action

packed 6 months since the last instalment of the University’s best written and most entertaining sports club newsletter*. This edition will be no exception**, with exciting accounts of our adventures, competition successes and even some creativity from our more enthusiastic contributors.

Both Lent and Easter term saw large numbers grading, with a high proportion of

white belts jumping straight to 8th kyu. Congratulations to everyone who earned a new belt - all our members gave an exceptional performance, both in terms of their technique and their attitude in the dojo. These gradings really highlight the quality of those who train at CUKC, and the skill and dedication of our instructors.

The club is also making a formidable impression outside of Cambridge, with record numbers attending competitions throughout England (and, somewhat inconveniently, Wales). In all cases we have brought back large quantities of shininess, most importantly in our victory over our arch-enemy Oxford in the Varsity match. Well done to everyone who’s represented CUKC!

There are a few members who deserve a special mention for their achievements since our last publication. Notably, Libby Boyd and Rich Morrisby both graded to Shodan, and Katerina, Madeleine and Paul all made it into the England squad. Rich Morrisby also brought home gold in intermediate kata at BUSA and Roman Sztyler became the KUGB British kata champion. These are all phenomenal achievements and my congratulations go to them all!

In addition to polishing their oi tsukis and mae geris, the CUKC socials have seen karateka working on other aspects of life. For example, they have been improving (debatably) their vocals, through regular and rowdy karaoke sessions - held both at the much loved Aki Teri’s and Maddy’s room (to the despair of her neighbours). We have also spied club members toning their biceps during what has been rumoured as one of the most exciting, challenging, daring and sensational socials to date: night punting. If you missed it then keep an eye out for our next exhilarating outing.

Alongside the return of regular socials and training sessions, October will welcome new life to the club. I’m looking forward to seeing all our old members back in the dojo, as well as getting to know all the new ones. I hope everyone is having an excellent summer and, of course, training relentlessly. See you all soon!

* probably** hopefully

Tegwen EcclestoneCUKC President

Upcoming in CUKC...3 - 8 August Lancaster

KUGB Summer Karate Camp – a week of non-stop karate, beach kata, and karaoke. Seriously useful start to the new year.

Saturday 30 August Chesterfield

KUGB Grand Slam – biannual competition between the squads of England, Wales and Scotland.

Saturday 20 September Chesterfield

KUGB Shotokan Cup – more-or-less a second national championships (open to black and brown belts only).

Sunday 12 October Fenner’s

Club demonstration – hugely important recruitment drive, the whole club will be in action for this.

Saturday 25 October Kelsey KerridgeFrank Brennan – unmissable chance to train with one of the greatest fighters of all time; essential for all squad members.

Saturday 15 November Chesterfield

KUGB Student Nationals Championships – biggest competition of the term, with all the country’s top Shotokan universities taking part.

22 - 23 November K2 Centre, Crawley

ESKA European Championships – the European Shotokan championships come to the UK and we’ll be travelling down to Crawley en masse to spectate (see page 10).

Thursday 4 December Fenner’s

Bob Poynton – the termly guest instructor session with Sensei Bob Poynton 7th Dan.

Thursday 4 December Fenner’s

Michaelmas Grading – with Sensei Bob Poynton.

Thursday 4 December

End-of-term social – celebrate grading success and the onset of the festive season at the end-of-term social. Details to be announced nearer the time.

More details on all of these events can be found on the website, www.cukc.org.

2 ––  VARSITY  –– July 2008 –– Issue 2www.cukc.org

CUKC out­punch Oxford to Varsity victoryDark Blues much-improved since the 2007 whitewash, but Cambridge prove too strongBy Madeleine Wood

Seen by many as the most important competition of the year, the Varsity Match occurs annually in February and is always a highlight of the karate calendar. On the back of a spectacular whitewash last year, the squad was keen to prove that it was no fluke and that CUKC were still ippons above the Dark Blues. With Ian MacLeod competing in his 6th Varsity Match, Roman Sztyler his first, and Irina her first ever competition, the squad was a mix of freshers and graduates, experienced and first time competitors, but they all shared a preparation of dedicated training and and hunger to win.

After a sleepy coach ride to Iffley Road Sports Centre in Oxford, competitors and supporters were ready to show what Cambridge was made of. Donning Cambridge Blue war paint, which was rumoured to match underwear in many cases, the Cambridge supporters dominated the crowd in both numbers and voice, despite a home venue for the Oxford team. With an array of unpredictable scores for kata, Cambridge topped both men’s A and B individual kata categories, with Roman performing Unsu and Nicholas Edwards’s display of Gojushiho Sho respectively. Charlie put in an impressive Gojushiho Sho, but sadly failed to trump her second place record and her ambition of topping the category will surely leave her with no choice but to come back next year and compete in her 6th and final Varsity Match! Beaten only by his own team mate, Simon’s demonstration of Gankaku symbolised the end of a 3 year conversion from Kyokushinkai to Shotokan karate. He will be greatly missed next year until his potential re-appearance on the other side at Varsity. Knowing of certain mandibular metacarpal weaknesses may give our A team a sneaky advantage in the kumite next year but we will no doubt have to work hard to overcome his fantastic kata performances!

Taking a slender lead by the end of individual kata Cambridge still had a lot to play for. On the back of international

success in the summer, the men’s A kata team of Ian, Paul and Tom, easily beat Oxford’s A team, despite Paul’s attempt to level the playing field by falling over mid-way though Kanku Sho. Roman led what some may describe as an under-rehearsed B team of Roman, Nicholas and Nick to another clear victory with their performance of Jion. Lured away from choirs and shows back to dedicated karate training by the promise of a Gojushiho Sho team kata, Charlie led the women’s team to victory despite 2/3 of the team not previously knowing the kata. The points were very much needed however as the win evened the women’s scores exactly, going into kumite neck and neck.

With the crowd now in full spirits, fuelled by Steph’s not-quite-home-made cakes, the kumite rounds began. Continuing with their success in the kata the men’s A team dominated their fights, losing just 2 out of 10 matches. Ian’s trademark gyaku-zukis won him both of his fights and Paul set a great example of martial attitude by continuing his second fight despite a tough hit to his left eye, going on to win both of his

ROAR!!!

Classic Varsity soundbites

Kill (text message received on the coach journey)

Caaammbriiii-iiiiidge

Ippon ippon ippon – oh boring!

...One helluva black-eye...

She knows what she wants (Sensei Richard, on his daughter asking for champagne)

Of course it’s an ippon – he’s ****ing dead (Ok so we made that one up)

fights also. (Although it has since been noted that Paul has a bizarre love of black eyes!) The men’s B team fought well to meet Oxford’s high standard with two wins and a draw out of the five fights. Despite recovery from a fractured tibia hindering recent training, Andrew Routh showed he learned more from his trip to Japan than just that vodka + training + jet-lag isn’t a good combination, and wowed the crowd with a MacLeod-style gyaku-zuki performance. Against a much taller opponent Roman’s fighting style may later have been described by one of the referees as ‘a little bit crazy’, but no one could accuse him of ignoring Sensei Richard as he uttered the immortal advice ‘fortune favours the brave’. Roman was clearly selective in the advice he followed, however, and when told by one of the first-aiders, ‘I advise you to stop fighting’, following a hit to the head, he responded, ‘I advise me not to stop fighting!’ The women also drew exactly with the more experienced and higher graded, but ultimately shorter, Oxford team, taking the result to an exact draw for the ladies at 75 points a piece.

Overall wins for both men’s teams won Cambridge the Enoeda Cup, and while Oxford babysit the lonely women’s trophy we begin planning its return to Cambridge with the two men’s trophies next year.

July 2008 –– Issue 2www.cukc.org ––  COMPETITIONS  –– 3

Why I like competingBy Ian MacLeod

I’m leaving Cambridge this year after 6 years with CUKC and the squad – 6 years I’ve really enjoyed and that I’ll miss when I’ve gone. Although I’m sure I will keep training, I don’t think I’ll find a club with such a busy competitive season and a squad with such enthusiasm for enjoying competing and succeeding at the same time. It’s competitive karate that I enjoy the most and, for me, there’s nothing else like it. Once you get over the initial feelings of trepidation it’s just so exciting and exhilarating. I remember the first medal I won for CUKC, at the KUGB Student Nationals. I had just scraped through the first round and was up to fight a huge guy from the National Squad. I felt pleased enough to have made it that far and was pretty sure this fight would be over quickly. But just as I walked onto the mat Sensei Richard said to me, ‘There’s no reason you can’t beat him.’ There were, of course, hundreds of reasons, but it was too late and I was already fighting. Without time to think of anything else I had in my mind only what Richard said and I went for it,

being a split second faster with my punches to take the fight. I carried on through the competition and took silver.It is that feeling of focus, to the exclusion of everything else, that I get from competing. Unlike other sports, there are no balls or rackets, there is no half time, no one to pass to, it’s just you and the other guy. It’s a question of who can move faster and more strongly and with the clearest focus. I really enjoy that feeling of the simplicity of the challenge.

Although initially I found the whole idea terrifying, as I imagine everyone does, I have come to really enjoy competing and everything that comes with it. Once you fight or perform kata without being concerned about the people watching, about what people might think, or about the possibility of being hit, and just focus on doing what you do and enjoying it, it feels liberating and energising. All those things that people worry about whilst they’re at university, giving presentations or interviews, seem trivial and easy compared to performing kata in front of hundreds of people or standing on a mat to fight someone. Whether you might stumble over your words or fail to

Ian on form at his sixth Varsity Match

answer a question, if you’ve already stumbled over a kata and failed to block a kick, it doesn’t seem anywhere near so intimidating. Add on top of all that being part of a committed team, training before and celebrating afterwards, it’s fantastic fun and I’ll miss it.

Centrals & Kyu Grades Round­upKUGB Central Regions Championships (8 March, Chesterfield)

Chris Andrews Men’s Senior Kyu Grade Kumite =3rdLibby Boyd Women’s Kyu Grade Kata 1stMatthew Cowie Men’s Senior Dan Grade Kumite =3rdTegwen Ecclestone Women’s Kyu Grade Kata 2ndCharlie Gray Women’s Dan Grade Kata 3rdIan MacLeod Men’s Senior Dan Grade Kumite 1stRichard Morrisby Men’s Kyu Grade Kata 4thAndrew Routh Men’s Kyu Grade Kata 2ndPaul Smith Men’s Dan Grade Kata 3rdRoman Sztyler Men’s Dan Grade Kata 1st

Matthew Cowie, Ian MacLeod, Paul Smith

Men’s Team Kumite

1st

Gemma Coughlin, Katerina Pateraki, Madeleine Wood (Cambridge A)

Women’s Team Kumite

2nd

Libby Boyd, Charlie Gray, Melissa Ruseler (Cambridge B)

Women’s Team Kumite

=3rd

Tom Johnson, Ian MacLeod, Paul Smith

Team Kata 1st

KUGB Kyu Grades Championships (27 April, Prestatyn)

Tegwen Ecclestone Women’s Senior Ippon Kumite 1stThibault Flinois Men’s Senior Ippon Kumite =3rdAdam Tun Men’s Senior Kumite 1st

Adam Tun, Chris Andrews, Thibault Flinois

Men’s Team Kumite

1st

4 ––  COMPETITIONS  –– July 2008 –– Issue 2www.cukc.org

Roman wins gold at the NationalsBy Paul Smith

For the most part of the last ten years or so the club hasn’t played a very big part in the Nationals. Donatas Jurkevicius won gold in cadet kumite two years ago, but he wasn’t a student – in fact, the last individual student medal winner was Steve Mannion back in the ’80s. So it was a huge day for CUKC on 18 May, when not only did the club take the largest squad to the Nationals in living memory, but fresher King’s mathematician Roman Sztyler (already an established kata god) won men’s kata in awesome style.

Roman’s route to the final was not without incident. His most wobbly round was the first, unbelievably, where

the judges spent an age deliberating over a technicality in Roman’s Heian Yondan, while the Cambridge team looked on in horror. Fortunately common sense prevailed, and the final decision was unanimously his, but this shaky start set the tone for a tough competition. The final elimination round turned out to be the only one where the decision wasn’t unanimous, and prompted Ian to ask of the rebel judge, ‘Was he watching the same kata?’ By that stage the other big players in the kata event (none of whom had seen Roman in action before) had begun to take note, and Roman had truly found form as he breezed through the to the last four. His commanding rendition of Unsu in the final easily won all of the judges’ top scores, including 5.9 from Terry O’Neill (who later asked to have

his photo taken with Roman). This achievement cements Roman’s position as the best kata exponent in the club’s history, and having also won the German Nationals earlier in the year he now couldn’t be in a better position in the run-up to the ESKA championships in Crawley later this year.

In men’s team kumite Ian and Paul made light work of the opposition in the first two rounds, despite being a man down. That brought them face-to-face with a pair from the world-championship-winning England team in the quarter final, J.J. Bruce and Michael Davison. Ian was up first, and although he didn’t score, his strong defensive style proved frustrating for Bruce, who was also unable to score. That tie meant Cambridge were left needing a win by ippon in the remaining fight, and despite a spirited attempt by Paul, the fight went Davison’s way. His team won the match, and went on to win the championships.

Roman’s may have been the only medal for CUKC on the day, but all five members of the team (Roman, Ian, Paul, Madeleine and Gemma) fought with exemplary spirit and determination, and showed that Cambridge really can compete with the best in the country.

Incidentally, one of the highlights of the day, and well worth YouTubing, was Matt Price’s mixed martial arts self-defence demonstration – judge for yourself, but we, at least, were amazed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FL30j7ERkM

Left: Roman with the other medallists and chief referee Sensei Terry O’Neill.

Fancy a pint? Of course you do. OK, next question...For many years the Avery (then the Hogs Head) was the designated Club Pub, until its change of name and dubious change of ownership forced our relocation next door to the Prince Regent. All was going well until the Regent had its very own dubious change of ownership, leaving us feeling unloved and Abbotless (or should that be Albertless?). We’ve since experimented with the Live and Let Live (near Mill Road) and the Elm Tree (behind the police station), and have found both to be excellent, but now we need to make a decision: what should be the new Club Pub? The candidates are...

Prince Regent Live and Let Live The Cricketers

Avery The Elm Tree The Loco

Spoons Downing Bar Somewhere else: ___________________

Email your opinions to pub@cukc.org, or send by snail mail to S. McTighe, Pembroke College, Cambridge, CB2 1RF.

July 2008 –– Issue 2www.cukc.org ––  COMPETITIONS  –– 5

More drama at BUSABy Stephanie McTighe

On a cold morning in March, 11 intrepid competitors (and two very keen spectators) set out from Cambridge for the frozen north that is Sheffield. Our spirits weren’t dampened at all by the horrible weather that greeted us there, nor by the fact that the entire Bath team had arrived at check-in just before us, so it was going to take a while...

Once we had successfully checked in, and both Matt and I had become coaches to avoid paying the entrance fee, we established a camp around the mats and waited for things to kick off... and waited... and waited a bit more (and in fact I had some lunch but everyone else was too scared). The event finally kicked off with kata. Everyone stood mouths agape as Richard Morrisby started in his first round of intermediate kata with Tekki Shodan, which amazingly got him through to the next round! Andy was narrowly defeated by the rare sight of Wankan, Maddy had a bit of a senior moment during Kanku Dai (well you are over 21 now, so technically senior), Tom reached the repechage final, and Roman stormed all the way through the rounds to the final with some characteristically spellbinding kata. The kata team also did fantastically, getting to the final where they later beat Brunel.

The stage was set for kata finals. However there was a problem – there was some question as to whether Roman was in fact a Dan grade and should be allowed to compete in kumite! Roman quickly telephoned his Mum in Germany to get a fax (which interestingly in German is also ‘fax’) of his Dan grading certificate, but then had to rush off to do his kata final. Members of the squad hurried to help, with Matt trying to remember how to speak German and realising that ‘can I have a ticket to Berlin please’ was not going to help on this occasion. Eventually we had to fall back on the sure-fire way to solve problems – whining to Sensei

Richard. Sensei produced a letter in the nick of time to allow Roman to compete. Oh and Roman won silver and Richard won gold in their kata categories.

The day ended with team kumite. Both men’s and women’s teams faced some very strong teams, and Roman got a tasty black eye and sent to the medics early on (I bet he was dead glad he was allowed to compete now!). It seemed that the men’s and women’s teams weren’t just fighting in their categories, they were also fighting each other for mitts, belts and shinpads! Our teams weren’t placed but we were all very impressed with Herriot Watt University who won the men’s team kumite with only 3 people. We rounded up the day as the highly tuned athletic machines we are with as much pizza from the local kebab shop as we could fit into a van, and orgasmic showers at the hotel.

The next morning for breakfast we discovered how it had been possible to get 24 croissants for £3 (bad), and then it was on to the weigh ins. Abi arrived that day, and was concerned about the weigh in: ‘Do I have to take my clothes off?’, to which I replied ‘of course not!’ – but was later proved wrong by Tom, who discovered that boxer shorts are worth about 100g of fighting weight. The day got off to a great start – with no kata to forget, Maddy did fantastically in the open weight to get a hard earned 3rd. Melissa also fought hard to take 3rd in the novice middleweight. Roman was doing very well until he knocked someone out, which unfortunately got him disqualified (I swear I could have heard Paul somewhere shouting ‘Ippon!’). Ian took 3rd place in the U70kg category as well.

Well done everyone, all of the fighting was very exciting to watch! After collecting our medals and rounding up errant shinpads, the tired squad headed home for a well deserved dinner. We’ll do it all again next year!

Club CompetitionResults of the Club Competition held on 8 June.

Junior kata

1st2nd3rd

Jonathan Fairless (John’s)Victoria Turner (Emma)Jess Marvin (Emma)

Intermediate kata

1st=2nd

Chris Andrews (Downing)Andrew Routh (King’s)Tegwen Ecclestone (Queens’)

Dan grade kata

1st2nd3rd

Petre NicolescuPaul Smith (Trinity)Madeleine Wood (Emma)

Gohon kumite

1st2nd

Alex Holyoake (Trinity)Henrik Bringmann

Ippon kumite

1st2nd

Tegwen Ecclestone (Queens’)Jonathan Fairless (John’s)

Women’s freestyle kumite

1st=2nd

Katerina PaterakiMadeleine Wood (Emma)Gemma Coughlin (Darwin)

Men’s freestyle kumite

1st2nd

Ian MacLeod (John’s)Paul Smith (Trinity)

6 –– SENSEIS  –– July 2008 –– Issue 2www.cukc.org

In defence of bunny hopsWith one of

our most successful competitive years over, it is appropriate to reflect on some fundamental

aspects of karate which are less well publicised.

Just as most students need to organise and prioritise their academic studies, karate students need to adopt much the same approach to training in order fulfil their potential.Kihon (basic training) is the bedrock of developing effective kata and kumite. Through endless practise and much repetition students learn kime, i.e. the ability to focus an explosive attack or block using the maximum possible power in the shortest possible time. If this vital step is overlooked or missed out deliberately, then the standard of karate of the individual is inevitably poorer.

On occasion some students have considered (very diplomatically in the case of CUKC students!) that adherence to the practice of kihon masks a lack of imagination on the part of an instructor. Indeed kihon without understanding and correction is counter-productive and only serves to ingrain bad habits and poor technique. The proper mastery of kihon is as fundamental to karate as progression through puberty is to a normal life.

Self knowledge and self belief characterise some of the benefits derived from hard physical training. In much the same way that a child develops an understanding of how to mobilise its limbs and co ordinate movement, then a karate student seeks to understand and develop kicking, punching and blocking techniques which to most of us don’t come naturally. With this training comes a deeper understanding of how your body can work to your advantage.

With endless practise students develop the ability to react to an attack

effectively almost as an automatic response. In order to be productive, practice requires an understanding of how the mechanics of body movement can achieve the desired effect. It needs physical development of the cardiovascular system, and appropriate muscle, tendon, skin and bone. Most of all, the primary benefits of hard physical training within the codes of the dojo kun are the self-belief, self-confidence and mental toughness which comes from regular training that extends students both mentally and physically.

So there you have it: my justification for bunny hops, sit ups, press ups, shuttle runs, shoulder rides and wheel barrow races.

For those of you whom I haven’t had the pleasure of teaching during the summer holidays I look forward to seeing you at the beginning of a new academic year. For new comers thinking of joining us, you have the opportunity to join arguably the best university karate club in Great Britain. We look forward to welcoming you.

Sensei Richard PooleCUKC Chief Instructor

What is the aim of CUKC?Malcolm Howlett asks that most eternal of questions: What are we doing here?

In a possible moment of desperation, our editor Mr Smith has asked me to write a piece for the next CUKC newsletter (but he

added ‘But no poetry – PLEASE!’). So not wanting to start with anything too controversial, I thought I’d ask the question ‘CUKC: what is it for?’

Let me first set some background that should be borne in mind when reading this set of thoughts: a) Whilst I have now been a member of CUKC for 20 years (eeek!), I am not a product of the Oxbridge system. b) I accept that some might view me as a maverick when it comes to karate and have some unusual views.

By many criteria CUKC is a great success, as it has both an enviable competition record, be it at BUSA,

KUGB, or Varsity, and people really can progress through the grades here, with a quality rarely seen at outside clubs. There aren’t many clubs where you can genuinely get to Shodan within three years (it took me five by the way).

The club’s also very inclusive, in that you don’t have to have much natural talent to be a member. If you’re willing to put a bit of work in, and drop a bit of sweat on the floor then you’re welcome, whether you’re a gold medal winner or someone who scrapes through their 9th kyu.

But this all leads to my big question – what happens next?When you’ve got the anodised plastic on the wall, the fancy bit of black cloth round your waist, and have earned the Blue, will you be happy? I do hope not. But will you be inspired to learn more and use that enquiring mind that has been sharpened to razor sharp edge (Stop it you’re starting to sound

sarcastic - ed)? Or will you in 20 years be a fat lump who can barely remember how to tie the belt around your stomach, even if it could reach? There are many reasons that life throws at you to give up karate, remembering Chojun Miyagi (the founder of Goju-ryu)’s ordering – ‘Family, work, then karate’, and there will be a time when you stop, even if it happens to be when you’re being carried out of your house in a wooden overcoat.But what I hope your time at CUKC will give you is a real enthusiasm for the activity (I never know what to call it – sport, hobby, ‘way of life’ – none seem appropriate), so that you will stop with a sense of regret.

You see, it’s great having a black belt and all those dust traps on the shelf, but if your time at CUKC amounts to a bunch of CV points to show what an achiever you are over E.L. Wisty from Oxford, then I can’t help feeling we’ve failed a bit.

July 2008 –– Issue 2www.cukc.org ––  KYU GRADINGS  –– 7

Kyu grading successes

The Lent Term gradees, together with Sensei Bob, Sensei Richard, and some randomers...

Congratulations to the following:

Lent 2008

Jenny Bates (Trinity)Moira Johns (ARU)Maria Millan (Fitz)

9th kyu

Ahmed Al-Shabab (Christ’s)Ed Boardman (Emma)Kelsey BrindedMaciej Cabaj (Fitz)Rittik Chaudhuri (Magdalene)Hugh Cowley (Magdalene)Daniel CullinghamJonathan Pemberthy (Jesus)Alina Porter (Emma)Sarah Samuel (Emma)Antony Tran (Jesus)Matthew Ward (John’s)Billy Wheeler (King’s)

8th kyu

Guy BrandonDaniel Diggins (Emma)Jonathan Fairless (John’s)Victoria Turner (Emma)

7th kyu

Jess Marvin (Emma) 6th kyu

Tegwen Ecclestone (Queens’)Andreas Pick (New Hall)

5th kyu

Thibault Flinois (Churchill) 4th kyu

Christian Noack 3rd kyu

Andrew Routh (King’s)Adam Tun (Jesus)

2nd kyu

Chris Andrews (Downing) 1st kyu

Easter 2008

Henrik BringmannAlex Holyoake (Trinity)Maria MillanSandy Scott (Jesus)

8th kyu

Ahmed Al-Shabab (Christ’s)Maciej Cabaj (Fitz)Hugh Cowley (Magdalene)Alina Porter (Emma)Sarah Samuel (Emma)Antony Tran (Jesus)Billy Wheeler (King’s)Martin Worthington (John’s)

7th kyu

Daniel Diggins (Emma)Jonathan Fairless (John’s)Victoria Turner (Emma)

6th kyu

Alvaro AngerizTegwen Ecclestone (Queens’)

4th kyu

A great way to end any term is with a karate grading. Just when you think the stress and learning is over for a while, you realise you don’t know your kata, your stances aren’t low enough and the grading is tomorrow. Yes, just what you need to start relaxing into the holiday...

Both the Lent and Easter gradings had a good turn out of karate-ka, and while the captains are better suited to comment on the technical side of things, what I saw was good quality and enthusiastic karate. On top of how well everybody did, at the Lent grading seven beginner karate-ka double graded and at Easter both CUKC white belts were impressive enough to go straight to red belt.

If I hadn’t graded myself I’m sure I’d be able to point out particularly fine katas or well timed sparring counters. However, most of what I do remember is sitting next to Sensei Poynton going through my kata and one step at a time in my head. (I do remember one person forgetting to kiai during their kihon ippon kumite though, poor show who ever it was.)

Daniel DigginsCUKC Vice-President

8 –– DAN GRADINGS  –– July 2008 –– Issue 2www.cukc.org

So, what’s a Dan grading all about?Dan gradings can sound like epic blood-splattered crusades, clouded in secrecy. We asked recent Dan-graders Libby Boyd and Richard Morrisby to dispel the myths.

The dojo smells of sweat and tears, and the floor is spattered with bloodstains that only a half-hearted attempt has been made to conceal. Around the room people are practising their techniques, moving at lightning speed and with a level of accuracy you’d never imagined possible: even their ushiro geris are perfect. You eye up your prospective kumite opponents and your heart sinks: they’re all huge, and there’s a bloodthirsty glint in their eyes…

Ok, ok, so maybe that’s not quite how you’d imagine your First Dan grading to be, but for most of us it’s still a pretty scary prospect. However, there are two things that are worth bearing in mind when the big day finally arrives: 1) You will never feel as though you have prepared enough. 2) You wouldn’t have been put in for the grading if you weren’t ready.

I went for my First Dan grading on 3 February 2008 up in Chesterfield. Stepping into the dojo for the initial training session was less daunting than I’d expected, even given the presence of both Andy Sherry and Frank Brennan. The training was pretty intense: we were all eager to impress, and Senseis Sherry and Brennan worked us hard, but looking around I was quite reassured to see people working at about the same standard – and making the same mistakes – as I was.

The grading itself wasn’t nearly as nerve-racking, or as formal, as I’d thought it would be. They called all of the juniors up before any of the adults, so we got a chance to see what format the grading would take and do a bit of mental preparation (as well as watching the ever-amusing spectacle of seven-year-old kids trying to beat the hell out of each other). By the time my name was called I was more than ready to get it all over with. Nerves spiked a bit as I stood up, but once I was up there (and just one person away from the examiners’ table, I might add) I just gave it everything I had, and was pretty happy with the way things went overall: my basics and kata hadn’t let me down at least.

Kumite was the section of the grading that I’d been most worried about, though by the time it came around I had enough adrenaline to be reasonably confident that if I just showed enough spirit the examiners would be willing to overlook my not being the best fighter in the world. The woman I was paired with was a bit bigger than me, but I’d noticed during basics that she moved quite slowly, so I felt fairly confident that I could put up a respectable fight. Jiyu ippon kumite went pretty smoothly, and when we were called up for jiyu kumite again I just put everything I could into it, guessing that my opponent was just as tired as I was by that point.

I’d say the grading was a pretty positive experience (one week of hobbling around like a granny notwithstanding). Yes it was nerve-racking, but not nearly as much as you might think: in fact it was more of a relief, enabling me to prove to myself that I can perform under pressure, and that maybe I’m not so bad at this karate lark after all. Oh yes, and finally, finally, after about two years of waiting, to learn a new kata or two. Bassai Dai, I am not going to miss you...

Libby Boyd

One goal that all karate-ka should aspire to is becoming a Dan-grade (a black-belt). At a university club where many beginners will leave three years later once their undergraduate courses finish, not many get the chance to go for a black-belt grading. This is inevitable as three years is the absolute minimum time you need to spend training with the club (from joining as a white-belt) – often more is needed. Nevertheless this Lent term two CUKC members, Libby Boyd and the author, had that chance and successfully graded to Shodan (1st Dan).

As with all the kyu-gradings it took two parts: the grading itself, and the pre-grading session taken by the grading examiners. And just as before, you should treat the pre-grading session as if it were also part of the grading; they’re instructing and watching you, and if there’s anything wrong with your technique in the pre-grading sessions they’ll be sure to remember it in the grading itself! But there is one quality that separates the Shodan grading from all those before it: there is a much larger chance of failure. So when you go to take it, you need to be very confident of yourself and your abilities.

Think of it as the main exam at the end of your school career. You’ve gone through school, doing well and passing all the little intermediary tests – sometimes with flying colours, sometimes not. Everything you’ve done at that school, tests included, was to prepare you for this last challenge, the one exam that really matters. And if you pass, you graduate. Of course, a great many keep on learning and become more and more qualified – and that’s were higher Dan gradings come in!

Attitude is just as important. Speed and power and precision demonstrate your physical strength and your attitude demonstrates your mental strength and fortitude – your strength of character – which is just as important in anything to which you apply yourself, martial arts included.

The grading itself follows the familiar format: kihon, followed by kata and then jiyu-ippon kumite. Then there is jiyu kumite (or actual fighting, as you would see in a competition). The fight is refereed, but only to the extent that you are told to start and stop – no scoring is involved, although I am sure the examiners are keeping track of such things. In general it is very rare to see someone who demonstrably lost during the jiyu kumite to pass, although it is possible.

The last part of the grading is another kata. This time they will ask for one kata out of any of the Heians or Tekki Shodan, chosen at their whim. This is to make sure that you still can do those kata, and that you can do them better than you used to, which is one reason why we continually practise them. Only those who have passed everything up to that point will be called up for this final kata; those who failed any of the parts before that will not be called up.

Once this last stage is over there is much waiting, and then more waiting for your own name as they announce all those who have passed. And believe me, hearing your name called out and hearing that you’ve passed is worth all the effort that you’ve put into it. Now if only my belt would tie properly...

Richard Morrisby

July 2008 –– Issue 2www.cukc.org ––  NEWS  –– 9

Beyond the bubblePaul Smith rounds up the news from the world of karate beyond the walls of Fenner’s.

1. KUGB England team World and European ChampionsYou’d have to have been in a coma (or chronic Cambridge hermitry, which is more or less the same) not to have noticed, but last September the England men’s team became World Champions at WSKA (World Shotokan Karate-do Association), and two months later retained their European team title at ESKA. Chris Cray also won the individual title at ESKA, taking the title from team-mate Matt Price who won in 2006. There are some fantastic clips of the England team at ESKA on geoffkamae’s YouTube channel. Speaking of ESKA...

2. ESKA comes to CrawleyFor the uninitiated, ESKA stands for the European Shotokan Karate-do Association, of which the KUGB is a member. Its championships are held each year in November, and this year they’re going to be at the K2 Centre in Crawley, Surrey. We’ll be travelling down to watch and cheer on the England team (and we might even cheer for Roman, even though he’ll be representing Germany...). IP-PON IP-PON IP-PON!!!

3. Warrior Class - Matt Price’s websiteYep karate legend Matt Price has turned his hand to HTML and the like, and created this new karate training website. The blood-splattered logo sets the tone – this is a website serious about its karate. Still quite new, it already offers many videos of kihon, kata and kumite, at both ‘technical speed’ and full speed, and a smattering of videos of ippons from Matt Price’s (hugely successful) competitive career. There’s also an article in defence of jiyu kumite (free sparring), which is well worth a look [hint hint]. www.warrior-class.co.uk.

4. FISU World StudentsThe 2008 FISU World Students championships recently took place in Wroclaw, Poland. EUSA gold medalist Alton Brown took equal 3rd in the men’s U75kg category, making him the most

successful British competitor. Brown is among the most dynamic competitors on the British sport karate circuit, and reached the final of the legendary ‘10k Karate Clash’ back in 2006 (www.10kkarateclash.com). Perhaps strangely for the twenty first century the championships were dominated by the Japanese, who won seven out of 17 events in total. Full results can be found at www.fisu.net/site/page_1472.php.

5. Karate at the Olympics?

Once again karate has been short-listed

for inclusion as an Olympic sport from London 2012 onwards. Don’t get too excited though: the IOC is probably just teasing us. Since the decision to remove baseball and softball from the Olympic program in 2005, the IOC has already drawn up a short-list once (the same one as this time: karate, squash, golf, rugby sevens, and roller sports), selected karate and squash, and then rejected the proposals, leaving the number of sports at the Games at two fewer. You can follow all the riveting action on the Karate Underground forums (linked to from cukc.org).

An article from a 1988 edition of Varsity, courtesy of Ken Hori.

10 ––  SOCIALS  –– July 2008 –– Issue 2www.cukc.org

A very social signing­offCasting her mind back into the mists of time, Libby Boyd conjures up hazy images of bygone socials and struggles to bring them into focus…

A brief history of CUKC socials*

• Jun 06 – spotlight on Charlie and Steve (literally) at the dinner

• Feb 07 – Paul gets thrown out of Tit Hall ent for tripping up the Ents Officer

• Aug 07 – Matt Price compliments the club’s karaoke skills at Lancaster (no mention of our karate skills was made)...

• ...and later that night, Libby attempts to kill Geoff

• http://tinyurl.com/5qy29n

• Jan 08 – Maddy pulls Libby as morning training bribery commences (and Feb 08 – the bribery continues as Maddy pulls everyone else)

• Jun 08 – Maddy falls flat on her face in the street on two separate occasions

• Jun 08 – Rich voms all over the Cam while night punting

• Jun 08 – Libby brushes aside her principles (and her Doc Martins) and dons a dress for the dinner

• Jun 08 – Sarah Owen and Andy Hicks announce their engagement. Karate wedding!

• (Plus the many, many, many things we couldn’t publish.)

* since as far back as we can remember, which isn’t very far

This year’s social calendar began on Friday 11 January, when a few bold adventurers braved the cold and set off on part one of the epic Mill Road pub crawl. We met in the Live and Let Live for a warm-up pint, before heading on to the Six Bells, where we gathered more reinforcements and started drinking in earnest. During the course of the evening we managed to visit the Salisbury, the Kingston Arms (their homemade pork scratchings definitely lived up to our expectations), the Cambridge Blue, and finally the Locomotive, where we – or at least those of us who hadn’t left a significant chunk of our brain somewhere in the Blue – witnessed yet another classic Loco pub fight. All in all it was a good night out, and for one of us in particular, just the start of a very surreal but thoroughly enjoyable weekend…

Next up, after the very successful and well-attended Lent term demo, was an equally well-attended pub trip, where older members rubbed shoulders with new and prospective karateka and did their best not to scare them away. Judging by current club membership it would seem we succeeded, which makes a nice change.

Round two of the Mill Road pub crawl took place on 29 February, and involved venturing beyond the bridge to such exotic locations as the Earl of Beaconsfield, the Jubilee (an offensively brightly-lit place that looks worryingly like a youth club) and the Empress, before reaching the conclusion that no, it really wasn’t worth staggering the publess yards to the Brook, and that Mill road could therefore be considered done and dusted.

Numerous guest instructors also provided excellent excuses for socials throughout Lent – including curry with Matt Price, Aki-Teri with Chris Luecke, and a well-earned pint with Lia Howlett after a particularly energetic kyukushinkai-style session – and we rounded off the term with a surprisingly civilised trip to Eraina (perhaps not so surprising given that BUSA was just two days away).

Easter term began with a trip to the Live and Let Live to sample some of their St George’s day ales, and continued on fine form with regular pub trips, post-competition celebrations, dinner with Billy Higgins, and of course karate punting (see cukc.org for incriminating photographic evidence).

The main event of the term, however, was the Annual Dinner, held on Saturday 14 June at the University Centre. This was a great opportunity to see how everyone scrubs up when not in their pyjamas (honourable mention to Roman for sporting the bow-tie, jeans and t-shirt look), and to witness the never-before-seen spectacle of Libby in a dress (courtesy of Tegwen). There was good food, fine wine (in the sense that it was drinkable, which is fine by me), a speech or two (or five or six), and of course the ever-popular Annual Dinner play, which was about as dramatic, and certainly as amateur, as amateur dramatics tends to be.

So this is me signing off as your social secretary after two years in the job. It’s been a lot of fun, and I have every confidence that Steph and Jess will continue to ensure that the club has a healthy social life and a respectable blood-alcohol level during the coming year. I’ll be thinking of you all as I sip my sake in distant Shizuoka and struggle to make sense of all things Japanese. Kampai!

[We’d like to thank Libby for all her unrelenting enthusiasm for beer (and for people called Geoff) over the years, and wish her all the best in Japan. Kampai!!]

July 2008 –– Issue 2www.cukc.org ––  FUN!  –– 11

Gotcha!You may have noticed a strange air of celebrity about the club recently. We uncover one or two famous faces lurking among our ranks...

Daniel Diggins Weird Al

Singer, musician, actor, satirist, parodist, songwriter, music producer, accordionist, television producer, natural scientist, AND Vice-President of CUKC? Mr Diggins is a man of many talents (and very big eyeballs).

Tom Johnson Tintin

Great snakes! You were hiding it oh so well Tom until this momentary lapse of concentration revealed your secret quiff, and thusly a penchant for journalism and misadventure. Crumbs!

Stephanie McTighe reveals

what’s hot...1. Training with exciting new clubs over the holidays (hint hint) and trying out fun new drills. If you can’t find a club in your area or want a recommendation, then you can always email the Captains and they’ll be more than happy to help. Or, if you really can’t find a club, make sure you keep fit and keep stretching.

2. Maddy. (Well she does have a trophy for snogging, how many people can say that? AND she won the trophy only on the basis of the people Sensei Richard knew about. What about all the rest?!)

3. Knees – knees are good, you need them to do karate – look after them.

4. Lancaster. Training at 8am, beach parties, trashing other clubs at karaoke – how will we fit it all in? And, ehh hem, it’s the best

way to kick off the new year of training.

5. Summer holidays. Beaches, tans, hot sunny evenings, crystal clear oceans, Daniel Craig in speedos, partying all night, sleeping all day... and especially beach kata.

...and what’s not1. Forgetting how to tie your belt over a long summer of no training. People, it’s not hard.

2. Sweaty yellow gis in the summer heat – euw! And we’re not thinking of any Chris Andrews in particular here. One word. Daz.

3. Gum shields with questionable levels of hygiene. Ian didn’t think the camera would focus on a patch of mould this ‘small’. Judge for yourselves. We know that £2 is a bit expensive for

a replacement, so we’ll be doing a whip around to help out.

4. Flab from no training and lots of BBQs. Not good. Go on a run. Do it. NOW.

5. Going on holiday. Yes that’s right, going on holiday is definitely NOT hip. OK so you may get round to doing a kata or two on the beach, you may even try and start a fight with your siblings/parents/partner, but probably not if we’re honest, and it doesn’t really count anyway. Going on holiday means not training, and that’s seriously uncool.

By Tepee

to be continued...

12 ––  BACK PAGE  –– July 2008 –– Issue 2www.cukc.org

1 2 3 4 5

6 7

8 9

10 11 12 13

14 15 16

17 18

19 20

21 22

23

Set by Get The Chimps

Easy? Try www.cukc.org/cw.pdf. The first correct solution received by the editor wins a mystery prize.

Across1 Looks like it takes an aeon

and a lot of puke to block (3,3)

3 First medic blackbelt (6)6 There’s a dull cost to this

instructor (4,5)8 Teacher made to feel the start

of illness (6)10 A pound for this grading

examiner (3)13 Great, sounds like kicking the

bucket! (3)14 My instructor’s wealthy, but

with a broken pale door (7,5)16 You’ll get stick for smelling

bad (2)17 Not Susan’s kata (4)19 This kata confuses an auk

with an SI unit (7)21 Right, I heard that’s my kit!

(4)23 Kata starts and you could hear

a chance of getting 11 (6)

Down1 Ask about hair

transformation, time’s running out! (12)

2 Reverse our Japanese friend to strike (6)

3 Os! Back up and change part of your face to perform this kata (6)

4 Broken and raged, but you’ll get a blackbelt (3,5)

5 20 Japanese confuse his ho and create a kata (9)

7 It’s a mark of respect to hear a sunbeam (3)

9 A block from Bassai Dai confused Sue and Rik and was the end of Luke (6,3)

11 Devastating technique is worth it, like most of Japan (5)

12 Sounds like calm was destroyed for this instructor! (4)

15 From below I and an alien toss up two elements for a choice (6)

16 Sounds like an insect is mostly short of a belt colour (5)

18 Silver in endless keen - keep it snappy (5)

20 I hear neck reversed for this instructor (3)

22 American army soldier outfit (2)

8 5 98 2 4 93 2 7 1

4 5 9 1 7 29 87 8 3 4 1 9

5 1 8 27 4 3 8

4 3 2

7 8 22 5 10 22 165 7 17

4 16 1119 15

14 65

10 119 16

23 726 23

11 1224 23

7 285 4

6 16 17

4 11 16

Su doku & Kakuro

Rules can be found by recourse to Google.

Set by Chuckles

And finally...Don’t forget the website, www.cukc.org – one of the most comprehensive sports websites in Cambridge, with news and events, training times, the grading syllabus, who’s who, results as far back as 1988, and hundreds of photos and videos. Plus there’s the group on Facebook – just search for ‘CU Karate Club’ – and the YouTube channel, cukarate. Videos of this year’s and last year’s Varsity matches will be up shortly, as will videos of the match against Keio University in Japan (did we mention that we won?).

If you have an opinion on what should be the new Club Pub (see page 4), please let us know by email to pub@cukc.org. You can send just the name of the pub or several paragraphs on what you think of all of them if you want. We are going to make a decision on what will be the new Club Pub before the end of the holidays.

This newsletter was brought to you by Paul Smith, Chris Andrews, Libby Boyd, Daniel Diggins, Tegwen Ecclestone, Ken Hori, Malcolm Howlett, Ian MacLeod, Stephanie McTighe, Richard Morrisby, Richard Poole, Jacob Shepherd, and Madeleine Wood.