Members of the Newton Longville and Bletchley clubs participated in a martial arts demonstration at the Hilton Hotel, Milton Keynes.
The event was the annual Get On Your Bike Cancer Research Charity Cycle Ride 2009 and CFTS had been invited to take part and show what we do.
The demonstration was in the Hotel grounds and the weather was fine and sunny; considering it had been raining all week, we expected it to become a mud bath, so we were pleased with dry ground underfoot.
The demonstration opened with some combinations to show basic kicks and punches then moved onto some kihon-ippon style angled line training. This then progressed into more jiyu-ippon style line training with takedowns.
After a few words about the dangers of swords and knives in the wrong hands we demonstrated 5 onto 1 knife defence.
Keeping weapons as the subject, we showed how the Okinawans used farming implements as weapons of attack and defence; this was followed by Sensei Nelson performing the bo kata, Ofugusuku.
Stressing the fact that we perform an empty hand martial art, we then demonstrated some scenarios; the first was how a child can stand up to bullying and defend themselves without having to resort to striking. The second was how karate could help a female alone at night escape the clutches of a predatory male.
To show the sports side of karate, we did some freestyle and the demonstration ended with some wood breaking by Sensei Nelson. Scott Hickery also amazed the crowd by his breaking of three boards (look at the pictures and you’ll see what I mean!)
My thanks go to the team who showed great enthusiasm and spirit and were a credit to CFTS. The team were Simon McMahon, Barry Nelson, Pam Waterhouse, Louise Thomas, David Thomas, Graham Wakley, Alexandra Thomas, Elliot Thomas, Matt Eagles, Carol Quarmby and Scott Hickery.
If you want to look at more pictures, go to www.just-shoot-me.co.uk and click on Get On Your Bike 2009.