Kung Fu
In response to recent local tragic events, Sally Henfield, a journalist from the Richmond & Twickenham Times asked to visit the club for a self-defence lesson.
This was her interpretation...
The article:
FOLLOWING the recent murder of Amelie Delagrange, the French student living in Twickenham, many residents feel a curtain of fear has been drawn around their usual routines.
Amelie had been returning from a night out with friends when she walked across Twickenham Green for a short cut. It was here that she met her killer and received a fatal blow to the head that ended her tragically short life.
Amelie was attacked at around 10pm on a Thursday night, by no means the dark hours when we expect such horrors to occur.
Suddenly waiting at a bus stop or tube station, walking down the alley way alongside your house or even venturing out after dark seems a more frightening prospect. But we cannot cancel our plans and stay in at night, sitting in darkened rooms hiding from the threat of attack.
This begs the question of how a person can venture out of their home and walk the streets with some form of confidence.
While at university I trained in kickboxing, and while I was no Bruce Lee, I was able to pick up some useful tips that could help me get out of some tricky situations. But this was over four years ago and kicking my leg higher than my head is no longer an option, despite only being a sprightly 25 years old.
Hung Leng Kuen Kung Fu is a slightly less gymnastic martial art. It promotes itself as a traditional form, made relevant for today's society, teaching practical, no-nonsense self-defence. This particular form of Kung Fu incorporates Tai Chi into the training and the collective result is that it builds confidence, ability, strength, flexibility, stamina, health and well-being.
I was welcomed to the class by Sifu (teacher) Chris Parker, who is a third duan black sash. He has trained in Kung Fu for 14 years, operating the London branch, in Isleworth, since 1997. His wife is a purple sash and his four-year-old daughter is already being taught basic moves to protect herself.
Chris explained that Kung Fu teaches you to strike vital areas on the body, which can incapacitate by hitting pressure points rather than using the brute force of other martial arts. Chris added: "It is suitable for all ages, all sexes and all abilities. Our style is a traditional martial art which includes weapons and Tai Chi. However, the first priority is self defence. We use a lot of open hand techniques and point striking which makes the art particularly effective."
Chris emphasised that such moves are designed to fight off attackers and are not used in sparring matches: "The self defence moves are about being able to hit someone in a way that will take them out straight away if you want to. Of course these technique cannot be used in tournament, hence we don't emphasise that aspect in training classes."
While the class was attended by a high proportion of females, martial arts can often be dominated by males but Chris says the training and tactics are highly suited to women: "They are more supple, more flexible, they have pointy elbows and knees for giving hard blows and at the end of the day they are the ones who are more likely to need the moves for self defence."
The class began by learning how to release strangle hold grips, a process that must be done quickly as once pressure is applied to the throat there are only a few vital seconds before you lose consciousness. The moves that we were taught would be effective on any sized attacker as even a slight knock to a pressure point causes discomfort.
From here we moved on to avoiding punches, escaping from being pinned to the wall and then some floor exercises. For this section of the class it is advised you take a male friend as being grappled by a stranger can be a bit intimidating. Female members of the class were able to pair up with other women, but as Chris pointed out: "It is unlikely that someone getting you into this position will be female. It's good to know that you can throw an eight-stone girl off you, but it's even better to train with a man and know that you can throw a 14-stone bloke almost as easily."
Around 90 per cent of fights end up with at least one participant on the floor. "The floor is your friend if you know how to use it. It can give you something to push against to increase your own power," said Chris.
He explained that a lot of the moves are based on basic science; if you can displace an attacker's weight it can give you an advantage and you can manoeuvre them more easily to where you want them to be, rather than the other way around.
I was fortunate enough to pair up with Mischa, a male green sash student who has also trained with Shaolin monks, although I did feel a bit sorry for him when I got a bit overzealous with some of the pinching moves! However, with the extra advice from him I found that the techniques were effective and, if full force was applied, could be very painful.
Chris also gave further tips on self defence, starting with one that involves a different sort of physical exertion: "First of all run. If you can, run away rather than fight. If you are attacked hit first and ask questions later. The four main points to go for are the eyes, arm pits, groin or throat."
He added: "There is the obvious - don't go to dangerous places, try to make sure you are not walking alone. Don't wear clothing that is going to restrict your movement - how will you run in a tight short skirt?"
And his final tip was one that differs from normal street safety advice: "Don't wear your bag across your body - it makes it easier for someone to pull you to the floor, and if someone is only after your bag it is better to just give it to them."
If Kung Fu is not for you Chris suggests you try out different styles of martial art to find what suits you: "Martial arts are good for self defence and good for improving your fitness levels, irrespective of style.
"You just need to make sure that what they are teaching makes sense and that it works."
Visit the website www.kungfulondon.com