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Martial Arts in Aberdeen


WoodyRATM

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Okay, thanks for the advice. Sounds a bit cryptic, but I guess it's the kind of thing that all becomes apparant once you attend..?

I actually went to Kafdo Karate classes when I was a nipper (not that I expect that to have prepared me for these classes).

Things have moved on a lot. There's very little in common with a traditional martial arts class.

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Personally, my take on it is that there's a lot of jealousy involved. I previously trained in Shotokan Karate at Scottish Shotokan centers (Ronnie) and before that when I was a youngster in Wado Ru. The instruction I received from Karl was superior in every way.

Out of interest, how long ago were you training with Ronnie Watt?

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You can just show up. It's an 8 week course. This week, next week, and the week after are good times to start, but people can and do start any time, it's just a little but more confusing.

The current structure of the course is:

Week 1) How to avoid confrontations and ambushes. How to run away. Desensitization to threats and violence. Anticipation. Overview of set piece preemptive and retaliatory strikes to gain quick KO. What to do afterwards.

Week 2) Footwork, mobility, balance, and evasion. How to get back on your feet quickly, get out of a chair quickly. Use of footwork as an offensive weapon. This lesson is important as it provides the footwork that underpins pretty much every technique.

Week 3) Defensive weaponry. How to breakdown an attack and destroy a persons striking capability.

Week 4) In depth training on the mechanics of non-telegraphic striking. What hits where, when, how, and why. How to use a combination of strikes leading into a cycle of destruction.

Week 5) Deception. Use of fakes to create openings.

Week 6) Clinching including head control and head rips. Ground escapes. Many of these techniques are illegal in MMA type sports.

Week 7) Locking, throwing, and restraining. Some basic knife defense techniques. Use of the magazine as a legal weapon, effective against knife and needle.

Week 8) Tactical awareness. How to actually win a fight. What not to do in a fight.

This course is continually being refined, so the contents and arrangement is liable to change from time to time.

This Thursday is week 8). Next Thursday rolls around to week 1). Weeks 1), 2), and 8) are good places to start.

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I last trained under Ronnie in the summer of 1989.

Ah right - I was training under him from 1994-2003, and while it was mainly enjoyable, I did have a bit of skepticism as to how effective the training would be out with the dojo and kumite, and it was something I frequently heard from other martial arts teachers and students throughout those 9 years.

I wouldn't mind picking something up again, albeit definitely something different from Shotokan. Would you recommend the SCS as a gateway to getting back into martial arts?

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Ah right - I was training under him from 1994-2003, and while it was mainly enjoyable, I did have a bit of skepticism as to how effective the training would be out with the dojo and kumite, and it was something I frequently heard from other martial arts teachers and students throughout those 9 years.

I wouldn't mind picking something up again, albeit definitely something different from Shotokan. Would you recommend the SCS as a gateway to getting back into martial arts?

What we do is neither a martial art nor a sport. It's a mix of self defense, self protection, unarmed combat, and armed combat. But it's constantly evolving and very interesting. There are no instructors as such, everyone is a student, and those that have fully grasped the syllabus take turns to teach it.

There's no scraping, bowing, or calling anyone sensi or master. There's no belts. We train in joggers, t-shirts, and trainers. We use the bare minimum of protective clothing, gum shields and gloves for beginners, and just gum shields for the really advanced. We also build up to using full force once a persons defensive skills have evolved to the necessary level.

It's more for truth seekers than sports people or martial artists. You gain an understanding of what is and is not effective in real life where there are kerbs, broken glass, dog shit, traffic, cell phones, CCTV, packs of chavs, no time keeping, no count, no gi, no gloves, no rules, no ref, no paramedics on standby, no towel, and no bell.

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Ah right - I was training under him from 1994-2003, and while it was mainly enjoyable, I did have a bit of skepticism as to how effective the training would be out with the dojo and kumite, and it was something I frequently heard from other martial arts teachers and students throughout those 9 years.

The big problem I found with karate was that it made me very tense and immobile. Also taught telegraphic strikes, bad practice like low hands and blocking kicks with hands, was a one size fits all cookie cutter approach, you only sparred karate against karate, the mechanics would leave you with a broken wrist, the stance should be renamed "the sitting duck"... I could go on. It took me a while to eradicate all that from my muscle memory. Looks brilliant when you see rows of people in white pyjamas going through their katas though! I tried to use it a couple of times for real. Found a huge problem with range as I was used to pulling my shots short LOL - because that's how we trained. Mobility was bad too, the person could just back peddle away, you really needed to pin them to a wall then unleash a bunch of screw punches. But like most MA, provided you struck first and kept hitting then under favorable circumstances it was possible to beat the shit out of someone clueless. Just. Also chipped my knuckle hitting the top of a guys head. To practice hitting someone's head you really need a bowling ball in a sack not a punch bag ;)

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There are a huge number of martial arts on offer in Aberdeen, there's bound to be something that suits your goals and your schedule.

The taekwon-do place I go to has just finished building a new purpose built permanent gym in Aberdeen and they offer classes on Mondays and Wednesdays for white to green belts. Unlike the karate Flash mentioned before we do contact sparring and have a wide curriculum. It will definitely get you fit, but will be more formal than the SCS stuff.

The best advice for choosing a martial art (or self defence system, whatever) is have a look around and see what matches your own goals. What do you want to get out of it? What do you want to be able to do? Then get in touch with the schools and ask to view a class. After that most places should offer you one or two introductory lessons before asking you to buy a suit or make any further commitment.

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We're not in Charles Street. Don't know what that is...

Afro Droid Chris - yes we're still on Thursday's, that's the only day that we can get access to the training hall at the moment.

Amy didn't train SCS with us as such, but she did train during the experimental crossover stage between KAFDO and SCS.

You can also train with us on Friday evenings if you want to, although that's not strictly SCS it is a lot of fun.

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We're not in Charles Street. Don't know what that is...

Whoops, that'll teach me to read google results more closely.

Anyway, charles street is actually Yee's Hung Ga. Which is a southern kung fu style.

I trained there for a while a few years ago. It's really good and something a bit different from the more mainstream Japanese and Korean arts. Lots of holding very painful kung fu stances for as long as you can and then forcing you to hold it for a bit longer after that. Builds strong legs and a strong base, but it's not much fun to start with and is very formal at times so might not be for everyone. I really enjoyed it, only stopped going because I moved flat and had a lot of other things going on at the time.

Yee's Hung Ga International kung Fu Association Scotland UK branch aberdeen

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Whoops, that'll teach me to read google results more closely.

Anyway, charles street is actually Yee's Hung Ga. Which is a southern kung fu style.

I trained there for a while a few years ago. It's really good and something a bit different from the more mainstream Japanese and Korean arts. Lots of holding very painful kung fu stances for as long as you can and then forcing you to hold it for a bit longer after that. Builds strong legs and a strong base, but it's not much fun to start with and is very formal at times so might not be for everyone. I really enjoyed it, only stopped going because I moved flat and had a lot of other things going on at the time.

Yee's Hung Ga International kung Fu Association Scotland UK branch aberdeen

I was up Berryden way yesterday and noticed the school was gone from where it used to be. Good to hear it's still on the go, I thought it might have closed :up:

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  • 13 years later...
On 6/7/2009 at 3:03 PM, Flash@TMB said:

Hah - there's been a lot of rumours spread about Master Felber and he won a case of defamation over this a few years back. Here's the full story:

Master Felber's experience started in the late 50s when his father sent him to boxing lessons. He boxed throughout the 60s and fought bare knuckle for money on a few occasions. He started training in karate when it first came to Aberdeen (I think in 1962), and gained his 1st dan in 1967 aged 20, about a year after Ronnie gained his black belt.

From the late 60s to present he's devoted pretty much his entire life to studying martial arts, traveling to train intensively with the best instructors that he could find. I know that he trained in aikido and jujitsu during the 1970s and then aikijitsu and weapons during the 1980s.

He developed Kafdo between 1980 (around the time he left tae kwon do) and 1984 when he registered it with the Okinawan Martial Arts Union (this is easily verifiable). It's a mixture of techniques from everything he's studied including boxing - hence the name (which I agree is misleading). Bear in mind that this was before MMA emerged, and at the time it was considered by many in the MA community to be heresy, hence much of the bad feeling. He's qualified to award dan grades in karate, aikijitsu, and trad weapons. I have a video of him cutting through a fence post with my L7 katana in one fell swoop. his sword work is amazing. There's also videos of him slicing a watermelon in half while it's balanced on someone's stomach, and I witnessed this live back in December.

He was one of the founders of the World and British Martial Arts Federation but resigned in support of James Monclair.

He has always graded outside of his own art, and he gifted me a full duplicate (not a copy) of his DAI-SHIHAN (Great Master) certificate of appointment. This was in Juko-Kai Kokuasi Renmai. It's signed (clearly in hand) by both Dr Rod Sacharnoski, soke and also Shian Toma, soke and President of the All Okinawan Seidokan Motobu-ryu Association. His registration number is 1195. The certificate is clearly genuine.

I've spent a lot of time with Karl, and so I know about a lot of the history and politics. Personally, my take on it is that there's a lot of jealousy involved. I previously trained in Shotokan Karate at Scottish Shotokan centers (Ronnie) and before that when I was a youngster in Wado Ru. The instruction I received from Karl was superior in every way.

Karl keeps a folder with all his grading certificates, plus letters, press clippings, and photos. I've seen both of his commendations from the police, in each instance there are photos of him receiving a medal, one of those was 2 years ago, and I've subsequently met and trained with the police officer that he rescued from 5 attackers! I've also seen letter of thanks from The Royal Marines for unarmed combat training courses that Karl ran for them, and I believe he is actually running a course for them at present, even though he's 62 years old. If you'd like to see his scrap book then I can probably arrange that... if you've got a couple of hours to spare :) MTA can also vouch for all this.

Sorry for the lengthy reply, but although I no longer train in Kafdo I do feel that Karl's reputation is worth defending!

Thanks for the kind words about SCS :)

The guy is a fraud,I was one of his "black belts" 4th dan once I started training in boxing and then joined the army he took the hump with me, he was abusive to all his kids, Karl jnr Suzie and Mark, he done the same to his wife Adrian who for some crazy reason stays with him, I could write a book about this clown...

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