Freestyler?

After my Karate instructor had passed away I was eager to find another club. Unfortunately there wasn't another Karate club in the area. However my parents found a club offering tuition in Freestyle Karate + Kickboxing. This was a fairly modern, revolutionary style that combined the western training methods and punching style of boxing along with the striking from the traditional martial art from Japan. As opposed to the basic white gi (uniform) I arrived at my first lesson to train in; the other students were wearing cool looking red, white and blue uniforms. Another difference was that after years of calling my instructor Sensei, I was shocked to learn that my new instructor’s name was Craig. I began at the Bolsover Branch of the British Martial Arts Academy (colloquially known as Storm Multi Martial Arts or the Storm Dojo) under Renshi Craig Church (now a 5^th Degree Black Belt). During my training here I experienced both the semi-contact (point fighting) and the light-contact (continuous kickboxing) sides of the sport as well as becoming proficient in various weapons such as nuchucks, kama, bo, eskrima sticks, tonfa and the katana. As part of the now defunct competition team (Team Storm) I was exposed to more serious competition than I was accustomed to. I competed primarily in the creative forms + weapons division with sometimes the occasional fight. I was a lot better at forms that fighting so that its where my focus deviated.

At these competitions I met the Master Instructor of the British Martial Arts Academy – Master Brian Beck (7^th Degree Black Belt) and his son Master Ashley Beck (6^th Degree Black Belt) who had just formed the UK’s first major musical forms team; Team Evolution. Musical forms is an eye opening display comprised of the solid stances and punches of traditional karate, the weapon work from oriental martial arts, the advanced kicking techniques from wushu, taekwondo and capoeira as well as gymnastics and break dancing. From the first time I saw Ashley perform I was hooked. After a few months of trying to emulate the techniques (or tricks as they are called in the trade) to little avail, Ashley began to teach an open seminar every couple of months that I was always very keen to attend. I began to improve but nothing too significant. As Team Storm ceased to exist I began to travel alone to competitions. At the WAKO British Championships I place second in my weapons division which qualified me to compete at the first ever WAKO Cadets + Juniors World Championships in Croatia. After the tournament I was invited by Master Beck to train alongside Team Evolution, which was a great honour. Unfortunately there was a mix up by the Croatian Kickboxing Federation which meant that all of the weapons sections were cancelled at the tournament so I did not get chance to represent WAKO Great Britain at the WAKO World Championships that year. One of the high points of that year was when I successfully auditioned to be a member of what was now known as Team Evolution UK.

As a member of Team Evolution UK I was able to compete at an international level all over the world. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my instructors: Master Brian Beck, Master Ashley Beck + Renshi Craig Church.

In the beginning...

As I entered my teenage years as a newly promoted black belt I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to teach younger students. Many parents of the children I taught had asked me "Kirk; why did you start training in the martial arts?" (or words to that effect) but were then shocked at my reply. A typical answer from a martial arts instructor would be "To learn how to defend myself." or "To gain confidence and stay active." but my answer had its roots laid deep in my love for Saturday morning television as a child back in the 90s. Purely and simply; I wanted to be a Power Ranger.

Like a typical four-year old does when they're stuck inside watching television on a rainy day; I began to nag my mother. "Mum, what are they doing?", "Mum, he just kicked that baddie in the head!", "Mum, can I do that?" - So after a few days of nagging I was enrolled in my first Karate class at Mokuteki-Ryu Bushindo-Kai Karate-Do under Sensei Bruce C Burt who was a 3rd Degree Black Belt or Sandan as the Japanese like to call it. I trained here for around 2-3 years, competing at local + regional tournaments in both kata + kumite and achieved the rank of 4th Kyu (Purple Belt). I developed a reputation as fighter at a young age amongst the older students due to precise and rapid mawashi-geri jodan (Roundhouse Kick to the Head) which I could land on kids much taller than myself. After the early death of my instructor the club folded and I was forced to seak training elsewhere.