Old School Kung Fu
FWC Inter-Club Competition, Dulwich (August 2005)
by Pen Rance
It was like a return to the early days of the club when the FWC stylists gathered in Dulwich for the July 2005 competition: with a select group of competitors, all the events squeezed into one day and an Open sparring category added to the usual weight classes, the action was fast, furious and continuous.
In time-honoured fashion, the day began with the patterns competition, the junior forms being judged by Karim Daoud and Stefan Warhaftig, while the senior patterns took place as usual under the critical eye of Tim Stevenson. The black-sashed instructor announced that the general standard had improved, but couldn?t help revealing that several performances had caused him to cringe. Fortunately no names were mentioned. Tim did not, however, spare the stylists from the obvious amusement given him by their mis-pronunciation of their patterns? Chinese names.
The team exhibitions also provided a comic element. In an FWC interpretation of The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy in her ruby knickers taught suang yang to Sleepless Beauty and kung fu to Prince Charmless on their way to the Jade City. In the quest to reclaim the amulet, City and Islington showed that mother knows best when it comes to training, evil henchmen should spend more time practising and less time looking at themselves in the mirror, and you have to be very careful when playing with swords.
As was only fair, Tim then entertained the assembled company with a masterful performance of Tie Niu Ru Chi (that?s Iron Bull Breaks the Stone, otherwise known as sixteenth pattern, to everyone else). Dave Courtney Jones demonstrated tenth pattern, White Crane Flaps its Wings, to the vocal appreciation of the crowd.
Of course, in between the patterns, demos and sparring, there is always time for a spot of lunch, and fine food was laid on throughout the day by Maya?s kitchen. As Karim was determined to ensure that everyone enjoyed a healthy diet, herbal teas, falafel and humous were substituted for the usual chocolate and Redbull, and the consumption of caffeine was declared a disqualification offence. As the London North West instructor?s physiological testing also revealed that nearly everyone was dehydrated, Chief Instructor Ngo?s usual injunction to ?Eat more!? was joined by a new one: ?Drink more!? (electrolytes and green tea, naturally).
Then the event that everyone had been (nervously) waiting for: the sparring competition. Highlights of the day included the incredible acrobatics of the diminutive Matt Mulligan, who cartwheeled his way across the mats and climbed up mighty Magnus? leg to punch the big man in the face, and an epic half hour battle between Ingrid Sundberg and Donna Morrey, exhausting both competitors, and paving the way for Sharmin Ahmed to take gold in the Women?s Semi-Contact competition.
Assistant instructor Adam Horner earned himself an enormous black eye in the Men?s Full-Contact final, going down after a brave battle to gold medallist Ed Harding, and causing his instructor to comment that he now needed to learn to block as well as punch.
Injuries began to occur as the competitors tired, but thanks the circumspection of the referees, these were restricted to a few cracked ribs ? on the part of Shkar Sharif and Eddie Walsh, whose silver medals helped to ease the pain ? and bloodied noses.
The Men?s Lightweight sparring was won in style by Stuart Capel, while the hotly contested Light-Mediumweight title went to Chris Batchelor. Assistant instructor Jesper Arvidsson triumphed in the Mediumweight category with his trademark grappling takedown technique.
The last event of the day was the Iron Bridge competition, in which nearly all the competitors took part, only those with broken ribs being excused. It was eventually won by John Ridler after an incredible, arm-shaking, back-breaking 12 minutes and 50 seconds.
The action was rounded off by a giant game of dodgeball, in which the students took on the instructors, and would have won, if the instructors hadn?t kept coming back to life after they were supposed to have left the field of battle. Shot of the game has to go to Instructor Adam Prout, who managed to silence the hall with a direct hit on Chief Instructor Ngo?s ear.
In the prize giving, the junior patterns were won by Michael Cohen, while the senior title went to Peter (not Petter) Bengtsson. Wing Tse Chan was the victor in the suang yang competition for her poise and elegance. The undisputed champions of the day were the Swedish man of iron, Magnus Johnsson, who took the gold in the Open and Men?s Heavyweight categories, and Ingrid Sundberg who was awarded the prize for best overall martial artist.