The weather was glorious. We had two days of sunshine and it was relatively warm (even hot as we were training). We were training in beautiful countryside against the backdrop of the College. The whole scene was inspiring and pushed us all to greater efforts. We all met at our dorms, which we had all to ourselves with a kitchen (even though we didn’t need one) and a mini lounge. We collected all our weapons and then made our way to where we thought was 9 Acre Fields, but happened to be the Deputy Head’s back garden! They were happy to leave us there for the day and we provided some entertainment. Our Chief Instructor, Mr Russell Suthern, after a warm up started teaching everyone the Drunken Sword Pattern. This high energy, intricate pattern was taught in half a day and everyone on the Camp jumped to it and approached this form with great enthusiasm. There was much laughing and grunting, but they all got there.

We then went off to lunch in the huge College dining room, where other groups were also gathered. There was much excitement as the great weather had obviously added to everyone’s enjoyment of all the different activities going on. It was great to be part of it all. When you train very hard, food is always a welcome sight. After lunch it was back to the field or the Deputy Head’s back garden for more practice and also the ability to work on other weapons forms learnt in the past. This is a very useful part of training and not many of us have the space to practice some of these weapons at home. Also it was invaluable to show the Chief Instructor all our different forms in order to get corrections.

We finished at 5pm (6 hours training not counting the break for lunch) and went back to our dorms for tea/coffee and a chat. The evening meal was very filling after which we gathered in our mini lounge for drinks and nibbles. We talked about weapons all evening and went through all the different weapons which can be studied with White Crane Martial Arts. This conversation added to our enthusiasm and excitement.

Sleep was welcome after such an amazing day.

Sunday morning began with a fried breakfast. The College also provided croissants, fruit, cereals and yogurt. This was exactly what was needed for the Sword and Shield Pattern. Wow!  This form is even more energetic and if you didn’t know how to do a front roll, you would be an expert by the end. The whole morning was spent working on this form in 9 Acres Fields. We had use of the Pavilion with all the mod cons.

We all crawled to lunch and were welcomed with a roast dinner, very traditional, and rice pudding to die for. Everyone tucked in. After lunch we had a photo session with the main College building as a backdrop. In the afternoon there was time to practice the Drunken Sword, Sword and Shield and any other weapons we had brought with us. We finished at 5pm (another 6 hours training) and I for one was very sad to leave and would have loved to stay longer. I am sure this feeling was shared by everyone. We all had a wonderful time and enjoyed each other’s company.

Thank you to everyone who made this the best Weapon’s Camp so far. A Big thank you to our Chief Instructor, Mr Russell Suthern, whose amount of knowledge, enthusiasm and expertise is bewildering. I am very inspired and can’t wait for the next training camp, the Tai Chi training camp.

Shafagh Amiraftabi

Instructor WCMA

Worthing, Shoreham

How better to improve than a couple of hours of expert tuition.

You need to have a reasonable degree of flexibility to be able to kick in an easy relaxed manner without fighting your body every step of the way and telegraphing your moves with the sheer effort involved. Flexibility in itself is not the goal, but to be flexible enough to be able to move your body the way you want it to. It would also be nice to be able to drop into the splits on demand and throw casual head kicks in sparring.

After a hearty lunch at the all-you-can-eat Chinese place in town, to accumulate some extra weight with which to increase my standing split stretch,  it was off to a packed training hall to begin the afternoons session.

We started off with a good warm-up to loosen up the joints and make the muscles and tendons more ameanable to change, whilst listening to tales of the consequences of trying to stretch without the correct preparation. This really encourages you to get the most out of the warm up time!

Then it was on to the main event.

Repetition of a variety of different kicks to practice the technique and then moving on to the stretch best suited to improve it. Front kicks, crane kicks, round houses, hook kicks interspersed with front stretches, butterfly stretches and others relevant to the muscles and joints involved. Then it was taken up a level with assisted stretching with 1 or more partners.

The solo stretching on its own can be very effective. With the assistance of another person you can be held in the correct stretch position with a controlled amount of pressure being applied.  What’s more a 2^nd person is less likely to slacken off if for some reason you happen to change your mind about how good an idea this was.  This does require a certain amount of trust in your partner so that you can still relax into the stretch, otherwise you will just tighten up leaving you with all of the pain but none of the benefit.  Then you get to do it to them!

Please note this should really not be tried at home or without suitable expert supervision as a muscle tear of tendon injury can put you out for months! Adding a 3rd person gives you all the benefits of a two person stretch but with a little extra muscle power to take it that little bit further.

As well as the physical side the session was interspersed with useful information about how to use your breath to aid your stretching and a variety of other recommendations on how to get the best out of it. The effectiveness of which were clearly demonstrated by Shaf showing what is possible, with a full box split.

The takeaway messages?

We are fortunate to have Instructors with the knowledge and experience to teach this in a safe and controlled manner.

If you’re serious about getting flexible you need to stretch every day.

Warm up first, then ditch your comfy chair in front of the tv and stretch as you watch.

If you are willing to put the time in then who knows what you can accomplish! But it

all comes down to you.

Robert Martin

Brighton WCMA

I am extremely pleased to be able to reveal my all female Lion Dance Team. I believe this team is unique in the UK, so you can imagine I am very proud that these students are embracing Chinese culture in this way. They do a great job, are extremely skilful & professional, as well as looking great!

Lion Dance is really good fun, it is a powerful workout & it is a fantastic way to embrace Chinese history & culture.

We practice every Friday evening, so if you want to join us & give it a try come along!

(We even let males in the team, too!)

Mr Russell Suthern

Chief Instructor

WCMA

We were joined by seasoned archers & several new students eager to learn a new skill.

The new guys soon picked up the skills needed & were racking up some impressive scores.

The Viking warriors we were firing at were much more exciting than the usual circles people use for targets. It is much more fun shooting at a target that looks like a person!

The new guys were quite surprised at how sharp the arrows were, how powerfully they leapt from the bows & how deeply they embedded themselves into the targets. I constantly reminded them that although archery is now seen as a sport, it was originally a very powerful battlefield weapon. These things are dangerous!

Of course, safety is always of paramount importance & everyone was very well controlled, ensuring that there were no injuries.

Our youngest student, Charlie came along to test his skills & ended up hitting the target with all three shots! (See photo gallery.) A great achievement as he is only five years old!

There is nothing quite like hearing the snap of the bow, the whir of the arrow through the air & the powerful THUNK! of the arrow hitting the target. It feels very primal! We hold archery lessons every Thursday evening, so if you want to get in on the fun, come along & give it a try!

Mr Russell Suthern

Chief Instructor

WCMA