After a gruelling 2 weeks of assessments, we can give a massive congratulations to the following students for absolutely smashing their gradings! Well done gang!
James Dismore – Brown II
Sam Booth – Green
Kaveh Goodarzay – Green
Asten Regis – Green
Leena Ksaifi – White
Alyssia Vazquez – White
This term will officially finish on Thursday December 15th (where the grading results will be announced). Classes will resume from Monday January 9th. Private classes will continue as normal through the holiday period.
Thanks to fellow Rapid Arnis buddy Dave Wheeler, we now have the full syllabus in electronic form. If any RA students need it, please email or text me with which grade you require, and i'll send it to you ASAP.
Several junior grades have requested that i list the things they'll need to know for the upcoming gradings this December. This list will be confirmed as soon as i'm within reach of a syllabus (i'm doing this list from memory). Without further ado:-
YELLOW BELT (all singlestick)
Male triangle (solo and in pairs)
Female triangle (solo and in pairs)
Crossleg footwork (solo and in pairs)
12 angles of attack (solo and in pairs)
Anyo Isa (basic)
Armara Isa
Heaven blocks (1-12)
Piyung blocks (1-5)
Hubud ver 1
GREEN BELT (all of the above, plus…)
Anyo Isa (full)
Armara Dalawa
6-count arco
Piyung blocks (1-12)
Hubud ver 2
Box drill
Basic punches and kicks
Lockflow (1-5)
If there are any questions, please contact me ASAP.
Just a quick heads up regarding class content…
As mentioned on Monday, we are hoping to develop more than just the technical ability of our students: We want to increase the speed, power, and overall fitness of our students as well. With this in mind, Mondays will focus mainly on conditioning, impact training, and combatives. Thursdays will focus mainly on syllabus, weapons, and technical work. There will be plenty of overlap between the two though, so students who are only able to attend one class per week won't end up missing out on 50% of what we teach. However, we do recommend training twice a week to get the most out of the system (which is quite vast).
Full-contact sparring will be held at the end of the month as usual. Some classes may include light sparring in their content though, so gumshields, cups (for the men) and chest protectors (for the women) are wise investments for those who wish to participate.
If there are any questions or concerns regarding this new format, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.
Monday and Thursday classes (7pm-9pm) will be resuming at SOAS Vernon Square from Monday October 3rd onwards. Please click on "Classes" for more information.
Described as "The hardest Rapid Arnis grading ever" by Chief Instructor Pat O'Malley, Rapid Arnis practitioners from all over the UK braved three gruelling days of non-stop testing, fighting, and conditioning to achieve their respective grades. Congratulations are in order for the following individuals, not just for the excellent level of ability they showed, but for surviving the various cuts, bruises, broken noses, and stab wounds, to come out smiling on the other side. Well done chaps!
James Janson – Blue 2
Carl Rein – Brown 1
James Dismore – Brown 1
Ed Quartey – Black
Paul Murray – Black
Andrew Janson – 1st Degree Black
A big congratulations to the Rapid Arnis London team for their performance in this year's Arnis Alliance tournament at The Martial Arts Show. Birmingham NEC played host to some of the best fighters and instructors in the country, as they competed in a wide range of fighting formats. Sadly, the doublestick section of the tournament had to be cancelled due to time constraints, but the singlestick was immensely exciting. A massive thanks to Kwoklyn Wan for hosting the tournament, Jon Broster for organising it, and Pat and Lucy O'Malley for sponsoring/supplying it. We are already looking forward to next year!
The results:
Andrew Janson – men's heavyweight division – BRONZE
Carl Rein – men's middleweight division – SILVER
James Janson – men's middleweight division – BRONZE
Andres Olivares – men's lightweight division – BRONZE
James Dismore – men's lightweight division – RAL MAN OF THE MATCH (unanimously voted best strike of the day)
Excellent work lads – we are all very proud of you!
Pictures and videos coming soon…
Our regular classes at SOAS are closed for the summer holidays, and will resume in October.
In the meantime, we will be running various workshops, seminars, and intensive courses. Please check the website regularly for details on these as they become available.
Personal classes will continue as normal.
Nigel Herterich will be coming over to pay us a visit on March 13th for Specialist Workshop. There are only 12 places available for this workshop, and they are available to everyone, regardless of experience level.
Here are the details:
Date: Sunday March 13th
Time: 2pm-6pm
Venue: Fit Rooms, 254-258 North End Road, SW6 1NJ
Content: Bone breaking and dislocation; Takedowns and finishes; 3rd party intervention
Cost: £30 in advance; £35 on the door
I will be collecting money for this event over the next week. You can either drop it to me at class (SOAS, Monday and Thursday) or transfer it to me via Paypal or bank transfer.
This is an excellent opportunity to train with one of the top guys in Rapid Arnis, and is certainly not to be missed.
