"During my training I have only ever been interested in pure un-armed combat training and although astute enough to know that other sound self defence systems exist, offering their own individual techniques and philosophy, I have yet to be tempted to study any other form than that of Goshinkwai Yawara"CTION
Born in Abergavenny in April 1967, I was raised in Brynmawr, South Wales, with my older brother, Russ.
My training started early in 1985, aged 18 after being persuaded by Russ to have a look at a "Ju-jitsu" club in Blaenafon that he had been attending for approx 6 months.
My first impression of seeing this system has stayed with me to this present day: As I entered the dojo (training hall) for the first time, I watched two mature 3rd kyu green belt students perform a series of fast, aggressive and flowing defences from attacks that seemed almost certain to cause injury. It was like watching a full-blown, violent street fight, but amazingly, neither student was injured. The experience of watching this controlled ferocity at close quarters was all that was required to give me the training bug, that remains with me to this day!
The club was run by Sensei's Rob Barber, Dai House and Paul Davies (all shodan). Also, Paul's uncle Dai Weeks (3rd Dan) and Rob Taylor (Yodan), would also instruct visit regularly, with Dai usually conducting the gradings.
We were awarded our first grade "6th kyu white belt" on 28th November 1985 and 5th kyu yellow belt on 25th January 1986.
My first certificate - White belt 6th kyu 1985
By the end of 1985, we were training at our regular class twice a week and visiting other Goshinkwai clubs in between, including the Ebbw Vale dojo, run by Gordon Warfield. We also had the benefit of having weekly private tuition sessions with Paul in the old scout hut in Brynmawr, to which I will always be very appreciative of his time and patience. Paul was an excellent instructor, with great focus and agression, a true dan grade. To return the favour to Paul, Russ and I educated him, by getting to grips with more important training - Socialising at the weekends in Brynmawr and Newport - A tough job, but someone had to do it!
Picture taken at the old scout hut Brynmawr 1987 - graded 4th Kyu
My brother Russell (left)1987 Me and first instructor: Paul Davies (Shodan)
Following approx 2 years of training we were graded 3rd Kyu (Green Belt) by Dai weeks and our 2nd kyu (Blue belt) shortly followed. At this time, our passion for the training had grew and we requested to Gordon Warfield if we would be able to run our own club, as we felt that this would help us progress higher and also that we both enjoyed instructing so much. By running our own club, we hoped to develop stronger technique, having to adapt our normal training to compensate for every build of person.Gordon kindly granted us special dispensation to start our own club at Nantyglo comprehensive school, with Rob Taylor (4th Dan) overseeing us as our senior instructor. Rob graded Russ and I Brown Belt 1st Kyu during 1988.
During a kyu grading session on 16th April 1989 at our club, Gordon turned up with two 3rd dan's, who were down visiting from up country. Following the grading, Gordon requested that Russ and I present ourselves on the mat and perform several techniques. This was by no means a prepared presentation, by just some coarse "off-the-cuff" techniques and being brothers, tended to be a bit over the top for aggression. Following our display, we were both elated when Gordon announced that we had just attained our Shodan (1st Dan Black Belt).We were thrilled that our dedicated training over the 4 years had paid off.
My shodan Certificate 16.04.89. (Note Kenshiro Abbes crest bottom left)
Members of our my first club at Nantyglo Dojo - 1990
A couple of years further on, Russ started to take on new career opportunities, starting his post grad degree in Teaching, after spending several years working as a chemist and so started to ease off his training. I continued to train and instruct and following marrying my beautiful wife, Lisa, moved from my home town of Brynmawr to Risca, near Newport. Fortunately, we lived about five minutes walk from the leisure centre and I soon started a new Goshinkwai class there. Over the next several months, the club grew in size and I now had the oportunity to train children as well and seniors. One of the first senior members at Risca, was to become my greatest exponent of student dedication and friend "Oliver (Olly) Pritchard", who was my second student to attain dan grade. In several years of training, I could count the No of sessions he missed with me on one hand - some achievement! His hard efforts have certainly paid dividends, as he now holds the grade of 3rd Dan and is still developing, by running his own club with friend and former student of mine, Roysten Jones, another of my dan grades.On 13th December 1993 I was awarded my 2nd Dan by John and Sian Warfield. During 1994, I was invited to train under John, with a small number of senior dan grades including Shihan Jeff Keen, who has been within the association since 1973. This is where my real training started to develop. John offered so many new avenues for me, introducing superior footwork systems, intense grappling technique and overall style
.
2nd Dan Certificate 1993 / 3rd Dan Certificate 1995
John awarded me with my Sandan 3rd Dan on 7th October 1995 and Yodan 4th Dan on 30th November 1996.
It was with extreme shock and sadness that I heard the news that John had passed away on 29th July 2003, almost 10 years to the date that his brother Gordon had died.
4th Dan certificate with comment from John Warfield 30th Nov 1996
I had trained under John for almost 10 years and this personally depicted the end of an era. In my eyes no one could replace John. It was with mixed emotions that I received my 5th Dan on 18th October 2003 at the annual warfield memorial course by Sian Warfield and Jeff keen.
5th Dan Certificate 18th October 2003
Soke-Dai
Jeff Keen (then Shian 7th Dan) with me, after performing
a seminar at the Gordon Warfield Memorial Course - Oct 2001
With
guest TaeKwonDo Instructors: Richard Burton 2nd Degree
and Tony
Wilcox 4th Degree, at a friendly club swap during 2001
NEW PROSPECTS
During 2001, I discussed making a short video of technique for my classes with my friend and student Charlie Rawlins, himself an accomplished Professional animator, artist, film graduate and firearms expert amongst others. This concept
VIDEO FOOTAGE
 |
 |
| Action | Instructional Dialalogue |
Clips taken in 2001 at my Risca Dojo, where we first experimented with the concept of making an instructional video
one of My training carrer within the Goshinkwai Yawara Ryu reached an all time high during the summer of 2004, when the long
awaited "TOTAL BODY DEFENCE" DVD was filmed over 10 days at the Chapter Arts studio's in Cardiff. A trailer for the DVD was first filmed
over 3 days at the Newport centre, the success of which allowed us funds to progress to full scale production.
:
My instructor, John Warfield making me feel uncomfortable during filming for the Total Body Defence trailer at the Newport centre in 2002
ITV Wales and s4c camera crews also attended the media days and footage was shown both on the ITV news (June 15th) and
on top welsh day-time show "Prenawn 'Da" (July 5th), the latter programme started with a history of the Goshinkwai, including photos of John
and Gordon Warfield with Kenshiro Abbe.
ITV Wales crew film at the Chapter Art Studio's (June 15th 2004)
VIDEO FOOTAGE
 |
 |
| Action | Instructional Dialalogue |
Footage taken from welsh daytime TV show "Prenawn 'Da" July 5th 2004
The DVD is due for release during 2006.
COMBAT INTERVIEW'S
Combat Magazine also attended a media day during the filming to interview myself and the camera crew, as well as taking many stills of the days filming. There were 3 articles published in COMBAT, containing the making of the DVD, an interview with myself including the history of the Goshinkwai. The first article was published in the September 2004 issue. Read the full interview below:
COMBAT: Goshinkwai Yawara little known except in a small area in Wales, why is this?
As the co-founders of the system, Gordon and John Warfield lived in the Gwent area of South Wales, running up to 14 classes per week at one stage, then its no surprise that this is where their main clubs first become established and have remained to this day. However, during the years, as their reputation grew as exponents of combatative training, so other Martial Artists became attracted to their system, with some students traveling extensive distances several times a year to study under them. Both John and Gordon would also write regularly for Martial Arts magazines and would receive letters from all around Britain. A couple of these students eventually gained their Dan grades and represented the Goshinkwai Yawara for a period of time; even as far a field as Ireland at one stage.
However, as in many other organizations that start to expand and involve committees, personal differences crept in and eventually resulted in many of these instructors leaving, with the stronghold remaining in its current state, in South Wales.
COMBAT: Were there any issues which caused problems?
Another main factor is that, as all of the instructors are Part-Time, not relying on the classes as income, there has been little drive to promote the system to any degree. The local classes are full and basically that is all that matters to the instructors, I was personally running 3 different clubs at one stage and I believe that should an instructor want to pursue a full-time career, then this would be a very plausible venture, as the system has everything to offer.
At higher student levels, the style is particularly aggressive, concentrating on fast multiple atemi (Striking) and ferocious grappling technique, which many students find difficult to endure and tend to drop-out of training before reaching Dan grade, hence loosing the opportunity to open their own club and potential to stretch the system further a field, also as the system is purely combatative, theres no traveling around the country to tournaments and hence none of the magazine/local paper exposure that goes with this.
Finally, as John and Gordon were quite private men, who had seen all the pretentious political issues within large MA organisations, they purposely choose to keep the organisation low-key, John has stated to me that although the membership was small in comparison to other arts, they had produced quality students, which meant more to him than the accolade of world-wide status.
COMBAT: The Warfield brothers story is a remarkable one, can you explain their influence?
Born in 1934 and 1932 respectively, Gordon and John Warfield lived at No12, Panteg, Ebbw Vale, Gwent with younger brother Colin. During the Christmas of 1944, the Gordon and John Warfield were presented with books on Judo and boxing respectively. Gordon at this time was aged 12 and John 10. Gordon in particular became fascinated with the concept of being able to throw an opponent by just subtle movement of techn i que, the interest remaining with him through his teens and in 1952, he found that there was a judo club in the neighboring town of Merthyr Tydfil, a rarity in this time , as most martial arts clubs were only based in large towns or cities. After a couple of weeks attending this class, he persuaded John to attend also.
Gordon soon wanted to train more and so rented an old ambulance hall near their home and between them bought a 24ft square mat, equivalent to a huge mattress in modern terms. It was around this time that they started to read more about the Arts in a new magazine, called JUDO, which was run by the British Judo Association (BJA) Sometime after another association was established, The Amateur Judo Association and the brothers read of a Kenshiro Abbe, who was classed as a BUDO Master. John began corresponding to his secretary, Bill Reeve, himself a highly skilled 4th Dan, Judoka. Bill offered to visit the Warfields and did so on many occasions to offer tuition and advice.
At this time they heard of a prison Warden, who worked in Usk, by the name of James Langford and a one-time student of the legendary Ju-Jitsu Master Yokio Tani. They started receiving tuition from Jim who had showed them Judo and Ju-Jitsu, but it was the latter training that the brothers most preferred. They continued receiving tuition from both Jim and Bill for a couple of years and later Bill eventually arranged for the brothers to meet with Master Kenshiro Abbe. Abbe had arrived in the country after touring Spain and in the summer of 1955, he was instructing at a Judo seminar in Porthcawl.
Gordon and John had tried to enroll on the course, but were barred, due to their training style, so they waited outside of the venue on a rainy night at a round 10:00pm. As John and Gordon waited in anticipation outside, Abbe approached and John introduced himself. Abbe spoke very little English, but recognised the Warfield name, following their correspondence through Bill over the months.
They talked for a while, before offering Abbe to visit their home in Ebbw Vale. Abbe cordially accepted this, especially due to the fact that he had washed his Gi in the hotel room and hung it up to dry, he was told to leave! Abbe ended up staying a week, although his intended visit was for 2 days. The relationship between the brothers and Abbe grew over the next several months and he recognised their training as being of lineage to the Yawara arts (ancient fighting) and so told them that this is what he would teach them. They would receive personal tuition from him in London as regularly as they could afford, paying him £5 per lesson. John was only earning £5 per week at the time, with the train fare alone costing £2.50 and Abbe would also visit Wales periodically. Gordon and John trained in many different styles, including Aikido and Karate, but always focused their attention again to the combat element.
COMBAT: Did anyone else play a part in the development process?
During their training in London, they visited the home of Master Masurato O'Tani, a highly ranked Japanese Master, whom John has quoted as being the nicest man he had ever met in the Martial Arts forum.
They received tuition from many influential Masters, including: Michigami, Nakazono, Norro, Yamada, Matsushita, amongst others. It was some years later that Abbe was performing a similar course again in Porthcawl in 1963 and the Brothers went down to visit him. In the foyer of the Hotel and much to the staffs amusement, Abbe requested that John and Gordon performed a presentation of their skills there and then, following which he awarded them their Shodan (1st Dan Black Belt).
At one time they were running up to 14 classes per week and became so proficient at un-armed combat, that there came a point in time that they were encouraged to develop their own system. They took this upon themselves and applied all their experience into forming their own, unique system. John in particular was a keen dancer and realised that several dance patterns of footwork could be employed to aid their defence techniques.
They developed the style over the next several years, continuing to attend classes with Abbe periodically and eventually presented their development to him, to which he was amazed with their achievements and made them present the demonstration over and over to various Japanese masters. Around this time John was also invited to perform a demonstration with Kenshiro Abbe at a charity event, in aid of Hunger.
In 1989 John choose to cease training, but Gordon continued and was invited to apply for Sokeship, which is the highest honor attainable within the martial arts field and is extremely prestigious. A Sokeship is offered to individuals who have been recognised as founding a unique system. Gordon received this accolade and coaxed John out of retirement to help him. Sadly during the summer of 1993, Gordon passed away and John organised within the governing body for Gordon's daughter, Sian, to take over as Soke. John took on the role of Soke-Dai (acting advisor and elder).
This passing down of a Sokehip to bloodline is in keeping with ancient Japanese tradition. To date there are few Sokes outside of the orient (western world), with only a couple in Great Britain. It is believed that Sian Warfield is the only registered female Soke outside of the orient. The new association was named Goshinkwai Ryu Yawara Renmei, loosely translated as follows:
Goshinkwai - By way of body Defence (Self Defence)
Yawara - Ancient form
Ryu - Family
Renmei - Association
In simple terms, this translates as an association employing an ancient system of Self-defence.
John sadly passed away on July 29 2004 aged 71, almost 10 years to the date of his brother Gordon. In order to continue the Sokeship, a new Soke-Dai had to be appointed, which came in the form of John longest serving student, Shihan Jeff keen, with Sian remaining as Soke. The organisation remains in this line of management to this day.
I remember many quotes over the years regarding how skilled and ferocious the brothers were , one includes them being barred from a certain leisure centre, who described them as barbarians! They would practice their techniques on the biggest, strongest men they could find, to ensure the effectiveness and principles worked on everyone. To indicate the level they attained, John once described how 4 men could attack him simultaneously with real intent on causing injury, with him being able to defend himself.
COMBAT: Tell us about your initial involvement-why started Goshinkwai
My introduction into the Goshinkwai Yawara Ryu came early in 1985, aged 18, after being talked into watching a class at Blaenafon that my elder brother Russell had been attending for a few months previous. My first impression of this system has stayed wi th me to this present day: As I entered dojo (training hall), I watched two 3rd kyu green belt students, in their thirties, perform a series of fast, aggressive and flowing defences from attacks that seemed almost certain to cause injury. It was like watc hing a full-blown, violent street fight, but amazingly, neither student was injured.
The experience of watching this ferocity at close quarters was all I needed to get the training bug and I started the class, initially practicing twice a week, under the influence of my first main influential instructor Paul Davies (Shodan), who he had great patience and did an excellent job of ingraining the fundamentals. I received my first grade, 6th kyu white belt on 28th November 1985
Combat's Malcolm Martin taking some stills for the magazine
We stepped up the training by having regular personal tuition from Paul for a period of about 18 months and I shall always be grateful for his time, which certainly went a long way to accelerate our studies. During 1987 and at the grade blue belt, 2nd kyu, we felt that we had reached a point where we were not developing greatly within the routine club anymore and requested to Gordon if we could run our dojo, where we would be free to experiment more and develop through instructing others. Gordon was happy to grant this special dispen sation, provided that we had a senior instructor to oversee the running of the club. This person came in the form of Rob Taylor , a 4th Dan student of Gordon and John - He came along on a few occasions and shortly graded us to 1st Kyu (Brown Belt) in 1998.
By instructing others and having to adapt the techniques to various sized and capable opponents, our confidence and aptitude developed as we had hoped and our membership started to grow. At this stage we received almost no tuition ourselves, but con tinued to practice on our own, learning through trial and error much of the time. Something I now consider as an important part of anyone\rquote s personal development. During a club grading in June 1989, Gordon and two senior Dan grades, who were down for 3rd Dan grading, visited us.
Following our own student grading, Gordon requested that my brother and I perform a series of technique for the two visitors. When we started, Gordon disappeared over the far end of the hall for a cigarette, leaving them to watch . This presentation was literally an off-the cuff display and looking back would have been a particularly un-polished and aggressive display (mainly due to the fact that brothers will always push themselves more than two friends or regular training partn ers would and the adrenaline was pumping! Following the display, Gordon told us to have a break and proceeded to chat to the visitors. A few minutes later, my brother and I were both taken back, as well as elated; when Gordon announced that we had been promoted to Shodan (1st Dan, Black belt). All the effort over the past 4 years had been worthwhile and we felt a great sense of achievement.
A couple of years later, my brother started to take his work career more seriously and chose to lessen his training while studying for his post Grad Teaching degree. I continued to run classes at Brynmawr and was awarded my 2nd Dan on 13th December 1993, by a grading panel including John Warfield. Shortly following this grading, I was personally invited by John to train at his class in Abersychan, this really made my day, as I always longed to train under John, having been attracted to his particular style of training.
COMBAT: When did you start training and how old were you?
I started training at his 2hr Saturday class in 1993, together with a couple of his senior Instructors. I was 26 year old and was both the youngest and most junior grade in the class, the training was very fast, hard and focused and it took me several weeks to adjust to such a way of training. I was training with some of Johns most senior students, whom I had admired and emulated after seeing them perform at various courses over the years, including the current Soke-Dai, Jeff Keen, who was 5th Dan at the time.
If I could compare the training to what I had been accustomed to, it was like moving to National level compared to County level \endash some change! Although the training was intense, It was just what I needed in order to progress and I had the good sense to write most of the technique and principles down, being able then to study them in detail at my own classes, passing on the teachings to my senior students, in order to expand the knowledge and fine-tune their application.
COMBAT: What did the training consist of?
The training would concentrate on various principles, starting initially with footwork, something that John had quoted, as bei ng the most important part of his tuition. I had never really studied footwork patterns and body movement in any detail before and remember finding the patterns difficult to master, something I now dont even think about during training! The footwork would almost always be followed up with aggressive low kicks to kneecaps, shins, groin etc to disable or offset the opponent\rquote s balance, before moving into the next category, Atemi or striking. John held a 4th Dan grade in Atemi and this is the area of his training that always impressed me the most. I remember him demonstrating multiple strikes on me one morning, performing an extremely fast attack and catching my eye-lid with a painful fingertip strike. My opponent asked if he could see the technique agai n (which was very good of him!), to which John agreed, hitting me in the exactly same spot with the same force! This type of accuracy only comes with intense training and focus.
I had performed atemi in my earlier training, mainly punches, chops, palm heels etc, but now I was being made to practice far more complex strikes, having to change hand positions continuously during multiple strikes, and using what seemed unorthodox knuckle, wrist, edge of hand strikes etc at the time, something again that comes natural with time and practice. I hardly ever use punches now, concentrating more on palm heel, knuckle, forearm and elbow strikes, which to me are far more versatile and destructive. Following the atemi, we moved on to grappling or Kumi-Uchi to give it its formal Japanese name. I had previously been taught to just sweep or throw the opponent to the floor to finish or maybe use some very basic grappling, pull downs, pushes etc. Again, more comprehensive technique was introduced, concentrating on focused aggression and power, whilst simultaneously causing pain and injury. At this stage I could see just how important the previous footwork and atemi study had been, as I was now able to move much more fluently whilst grappling, which made manipulation of the opponents far easier, together with causing pain and injury from rapid atemi and strong holds etc.
The atemi would concentrate primarily on the head, as this is where the opponents balance and senses can be most effectively be broken down. I tell my students that the feeling of having someone bombard you with fast, ferocious atemi and then painful grappling is something I compare as to being on a roller-coaster ride, you simply want to close your eyes and pray for it to be over! We would spend several sessions attacking purely with our forearms, or knuckles to strengthen the techniques. Next, we moved onto Focused training, concentrating extensively on the opponent initial body movements and posture. This type of training again was difficult at first, but as with the multiple atemi, the benefits of being able to quickly adapt your technique according to varying individuals came with time.
I was running 3 clubs at this stage, whilst continuing training with John each week and on 7th October 1995 I was awarded my 3rd Dan; something I had worked for with my training partner, Oliver (Olly) Pritchard for several months previously . This grading in particular sticks in my mind, mainly due to the fact that I had put so much effort into it and had actually written a detailed 26-technique presentation, splitting the grading into:
1) Close contact
2) Footwork
3) Defence from weapons
I only got through half the presentation, before I was stopped, I mentioned that I hadnt finished the presentation, to which I was allowed to continue for a few more techniques - I didn't want to get off the mat! I particularly feel that preparation is key and the previous seven months was a perfect example of how to be ready. My 4th Dan came only a year later on 30th November 1996 and shortly following John's sad death it was with mixed emotions that I received my current grade, 5th Dan on 18th October 2003 from Jeff and Sian.
I still have that passion (if not more) for the training as when I first started and have enough material and ideas to see me easily through my training career. I'm also keen to develop the junior training, especially as both my children; Amara and Lloyd are now keen students. During my 18 years instructing, I've trained hundreds of students, helping many attain their Dan Grade (Black belt), several of who now run their own successful clubs. I have also provided seminars for other Martial Arts organisations, as well as corporate programs, all of which I will continue to do.
COMBAT: Why you feel the art is unique
If I can quote John Mac (ex-SAS veteran), here "After just a couple of lesson\rquote s you can come away with some means of defence you can use right away"
It must be among the most versatile systems in the world and for this reason it has had a dramatic impact on other MA students from more traditional systems who have found that it can extend and deepen their understanding particularly in the self-defence aspects of their training.
It is one of only a couple of Sokehip organisations (as described previously) within the UK and being a relatively small organisation, no political hierarchy exists, being run in an informal environment, where instructors are free to run their classes in their own way.
The organisation system encourages students to self-develop after attaining a good understanding of the fundamental principles, enforcing the concept that all students are different and should develop the principles to best suit their individual requirements and hence there is no set Kata or formal Grading syllabus, only guidelines.
As well as being extremely aggressive and powerful, the system has unique footwork principles, which allowing the student very fluent movement.
Being unable to go back into history, it would be wrong to say that we practice Yawara exactly as did the warrior. Our system combines traditional Yawara but with added interpretation. Nevertheless, our system is recognised and accepted as a valid system by several major Asian organisations. It is affiliated with and sponsored by JUKO-KAI KOKUSEI REMMEI, one of the largest and most recognised martial arts associations in the world.
The Goshinkwai Ryu Yawara Renmei is not associated with any other organisation bearing the title of Goshinkwai.
COMBAT: How you have evolved the art?
I have introduced basic ground fighting, defence from weapons and pad-work into my classes, something that I was never taught previously and these just help build on an already comprehensive combat system, aligning with modern all-round fighting methods.
My main achievement to date has been to film a comprehensive Instructional DVD, with a crew of several of my most commendable students, all proficient instructors
I put a lot of effort into keeping the style updated with modern concepts, for example, I am one of only a couple of instructors within the organisation who teach children, who I believe need something solid in principle at an early age, to allow them to withstand today's challenging and competitive lifestyle
Obviously the teaching is greatly watered down for them, but I teach the principle footwork and movement, with simple atemi, locks, takedowns and pad work, no injurious techniques and above all I make the classes enjoyable and fun. I believe that if they get good flowing movement and co-ordination early, then this will put them in good stead for later on, when they can p rogress senior training and I can introduce the meatier stuff. I have my first junior student (Rhys Davies) going for his Dan grade this October at the annual Warfield Memorial Course, with another four more scheduled in 2005.
COMBAT: Why do students seem to stay so loyal.
This is a question best directed at some long-time students, but I would like to think that they have remained so long due to several factors:
I keep the classes varied and informal. I believe one of my strongest attributes is my enthusiasm to instruct and patients in listening to students queries. I also strongly encourage student s to challenge all my techniques and principles until they are satisfied with the outcome
I will regularly change my stance on a technique if a certain student proves me wrong and shows any weakness in its effectiveness, that way I learn and develop also. I think it' s a very unwise instructor who thinks they have all the answers and can act as a guru. I remember a couple of my earlier in structors arguing with each other over techniques that failed to work on me, ending up with them just trying to make the techniques work by applying more physical force, instead of just accepting that the technique was in-effective and trying an alternative.
I go out of my way not to cause students any undue pain or injury when I demo or instruct \endash Its obvious as students progress, then so does the pain and discomfort factor, as you have to train with realism, but I\rquote ve seen so many kyu grade students be put off by instructors over the years, who insist on applying full contact blows etc just to prove they work! I've never had any respect for people who do this and I put this down to a lack of competence, nerves and ego amongst other things. My students are allowed freedom of speech and more importantly, allowed to develop the techniques to suit them.
I have little time for instructors who make students mimic their every movement, all people are different in size and shape and as long as the principle is being applied then students should be encouraged to experiment to find their best fit .
COMBAT: Goshinkwai is a self defence art-is there any room for competition - what are your thoughts on competitive martial arts?
Your're right, of the two divisions within modern day martial arts, Shin Budo (competitive arts) and SHIN BUJUTSU (self defence arts), the Goshinkwai system belongs to the latter division, and therefore the Goshinkwai principle is non-competitive and designed purely as a system of self defence only. Because the system is primarily focused on footwork, striking (Atemi) and grappling (Kumi-Uchi), with little of the throwing techniques, locks and strangulations found in traditional Ju-Jitsu, I don\rquote t see any scope to introduce a competition, as other arts have been able to do. The style is too destructive in nature for this and would go against all its primary principles to try to tame it down.
If you have had a few street fights you will realize that when the adrenaline is running high, the human body will withstand many knocks and pain is almost unnoticed (until the next day!). I believe that the only way to succeed is to stop the attacker not just cause some temporary pain or d iscomfort - Be it dislodging a joint, knocking them out etc
I personally have no objection to competitive martial arts and feel that it is an excellent forum as a confidence builder, sparring really gets you into fight mode, and is far better than just pr acticing defences from a participating partner who just throws non-real punches from 5ft away! When a student gets to a decent standard, they must train hard and aggressively to attune themselves as closely as possible to a real fight situation. It\rquote s amazing how many techniques don\rquote t work under intense pressure of a real attack. This should be your litmus test on all techniques, but only when you reach a level capable of control also.
COMBAT: I See you striking with certain knuckles in precision punching - is this really viable in a hectic street situation ?
I can see your take on this and I found these strikes quite difficult to grasp when I was first shown them, even at 2nd Dan level, but a couple of months in I was able to quickly manipulate my hands during multiple atemi strikes and grappling, which greatly increased my adaptability. It is something I automatically do now as a result of continuous practice.
John Warfield studied this to such a degree over the years that it seemed all his fingers had become double jointed. If these strikes don\rquote t hit the exact spot, then they will still cause severe pain and discomfort and I fully believe that these strikes are more damaging than using just a fist (something I rarely use now), particularly the centre knuckle strikes, which act to cut as well as impact. It's a simple case of physics at the end of the day; the knuckle acts as a smaller point of impact versus the wider fist - Stiletto heel vs the snowshoe!
I routinely now use a flurry of knuckle, palm heel and thumb strikes to the face, neck and throat areas, allowing me time to move into a kicking or strong grappling position.
Another important note is that in this way, the knuckle cannot be broken during impact, which is nice!
COMBAT: There's little of the locks and throws associated with traditional - why is this?
When I first started training, it was still an aggressive, fast style, but the techniques were much more traditional ju-jitsu based, with a lot of arm and wristlocks, simple step-out footwork, chokes, 1-2 combination strikes and judo-style takedowns. I still believe many of these are strong t echniques and continue to instruct them as very good fundamentals, in particular to junior students, who obviously can be shown the more injurious techniques. As detailed previously, my training moved me into many new concepts, particularly fast footwork , body movement, multiple atemi and grappling. Movement is so important in defence, with the old adage "You cant hit someone if they're not there"
Backed up with continuous striking and finally the grapple to control if required. I have tried working fast wrist and arm locks in under pressure of fast attack, with only a couple ever being effective, however, following the grapple, should the attacker's hand or arm be available, then the locks can work well, I also find locks work well on the ground, so they are worth learning. I feel that by using the traditional throws as takedowns etc, there is a far more increased chance of you both ending up on the floor, from holding onto each over, loosing balance, slipping etc, this may suit the ground fighter, but the aim of this system is to do as much damage as possible to the attacker whilst still on his feet and then grapple to the floor only if required. If you should go to the ground, then the atemi and grappling techniques and principles can also be applied successfully, however, I would always recommend a basic knowledge of groundfighting for overall strength.
COMBAT: How important is the original Kenjiro Abbe influence to modern Goshinkwai yawara-do we still need to look to the Japanese
As you have read previously, Kenshiro Abbe was obviously an exceptionally talented and influential character, playing a significant role in the Warfields lives and consequently the foundation of the Goshinkwai organisation. His input being especially apt during the early years, teaching the Yawara principles, which at the end of the day is what the organisation is based on. Although I personally like the old stories and the kudos that goes with having a Japanese Master lineage, in todays organisation, there is virtually no traditional Japanese regimes, such as Kata or terminology and I feel that this now has little direct influence on the new members, who just want to study a good system of self-defence.
COMBAT: When moving the art forward where do you get your inspiration etc for new innovation techniques etc.
I think that to be innovative, you must firstly have real passion for what you do and secondly you need good students to push and challenge you, i n order to explore grater opportunities and fix the flaws with your own systems, making you develop yourself in the process.
I could quite easily pop along to the classes each week and regurgitate the same techniques, making the students repeat them time and time again, and although this, in principle would create strong technique, the student would soon be bored and probably drop out after a few months.
I believe that instructors should strive to keep the student enthused to keep up their passion for the system. I left my initial club, because I felt stagnant and wasn\rquote t developing to a degree I wanted, it took me to open my own class to get the enthusiasm and ideas going again.
I get most of my inspiration from trying to best interpret what has been passed down to me, trying to make my own system work best, together with working with my students, many of who have studied other arts and bring their concepts and principles into Goshinkwai. I recently started to include ground fighting in my classes, more to expand student's knowledge and ability than to get into it heavily. I think that this training could soon take you away from the self defence and into competitive ground fighting etc, so its something I won't instruct too heavily as I believe that t he techniques adopted standing up, also hold their own on the floor. I also incorporate Boxing/pad training, to develop fitness, speed, power and timing
Finally, I get the greatest satisfaction from seeing the development of my students, particularly th e ones who really need to learn self-defence and not the 17 stone doormen! This to me is what self-defence is all about, learning the to protect yourself and your family!
COMBAT: How did total body defence dvd etc come about-what are your hopes for it?
The DVD has actually been in pre-production for the last three years, with the initial concept first being started during a conversation with my good friend and student Charlie Rawlins, regarding the making of a simple instructional video. Charlie is a professional animator and studied at film school for 4 years previously, so this would be a small project for him in comparison to his previous work, involving short films produced for TV, animations, etc
Charlie and I started to talk about the project and he brought his video camera along to the class one evening to shoot some techniques. The following week he produced footage of the technique cut together from various angles, it look superb to see the technique form a 3-d perspective. More ideas started to roll in regarding special features, formats etc and it wasnt long before we realised that the best format to capture the varying angles, special features would be DVD. In reality we talked about and tested material at quite a length and we could have easily gone out with a video on day one, which would have held its on in the MA marketplace, but it was always the intent to provide something which we felt was like the art itself - a bit special.
We had to prepare a trailer for the project and so arrange d 2 days filming at the Newport Centre in 2002. This went well and we learned much from the lighting and sound attributes, producing around 2 hrs of edited material. Charlie could see potential for a new technology i.e a total interactive menu, with the student being able to select their own sequences of techniques. Charlie took this idea further and sent a 28-page proposal to the Welsh Development Agency for a research and development grant, together with a copy of the trailer. 3 years on and following exhaustive camera and filming set ups and concept work, such was the level of teaching development within a new interactive format that funding was given to the project as a whole through technical research funding.
Much camera work and technique work have been done in unison to form a phalanx of teaching which combines both the best of instruction and visual illustration. Also many sound systems where tested, radio mic's, boom mic\rquote s etc, until a combination of rifle and zoom gun mics were developed to give a personal touch to the tutorials. The set and concept design was developed from information gained in the study of 3D computer animation and movement, this was then realised in 3D.
On Disc 1, working with many other instructors, I have put together sixteen definitive combination techniques and have put much effort into capturing the basic, intermediate and advanced Goshinkwai techniques and principles, with the intention of making the DVD a tutorial for all levels. Beginner to advanced. The viewer will be able to choose to see each technique from 5 different camera angles, as well as controlling the speed from slow-motion through to full speed, seeing exactly how the techniques are broken down and also offering them the chance to see full blown aggressive Goshinkwai Techniques, as they would be conducted in a real situation, something very few tutorials offer, or even many instructors to come to that.
Disc 2, will contain a fully interactive menu, allowing the viewers to individually select various co mbinations of step outs, kicks, strikes and takedowns, encompassing over 200 combinations of techniques, in total! Something believed to be a first in Martial Arts Tutoring.
Disc 3, contains footage of many other expert instructors who worked at length on their own primary combinations for display and teaching, together with a narrated documentary on the history of the Goshinkwai, including footage of John Warfield demonstrating with me, Dan grade gradings, web-sites, plus much more.
The principle of the DVD finding new ways to see and develop the martial artist, is the same principle on which the Goshinkwai Yawara was developed and we hope will make a significant contribution to the teaching of combatative martial arts worldwide
I would like to formally thank all who participated in the making of the DVD, in particular to the following extremely dedicated students for their outstanding contribution: Charlie Rawlins, Rob Pascoe, Matt Hall, Ryan Owen, Carl Grant, Olly Pritchard, Marco Guy and Royston Jones.
COMBAT: What are your Future plans?
I'm sure that by now you gather how much passion and pride I have for the Goshinkwai Yawara system and with the enthusiasm of the current heads i.e Soke Sian Warfield and Soke-Dai Jeff Keen, the organisation is sure to move forward, especially by taking on board new ideas and concepts of training, which is vital to advance any system.
There are also many, exciting Dan grades rising up the ranks, who are keen to open their own clubs or expand existing ones. I myself, with a team of instructors will also extend the teaching further a field in 2005/6, by providing "open" seminars and weekend courses, hopefully including a display and stand at Seni.
A key area also will be in promoting the forthcoming Total Body Defence DVD, after having such good TV coverage and the articles within your publication.
Finally
I am proud of both my and my students achievement's, having been fortunate enough to have received many years training with John and his senior instructors, I will strive to continue to pass down my interpretation of the teachings and principles and play a part in the development of a strong, quality organisation.
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