Joseph gets his black belt

After a lot of uncertainty Joseph managed to get his black belt in karate last weekend.
As you may have read in my previous post he was diagnosed in the summer with JIA (Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis) and spent many weeks unable to walk properly and then when the medication kicked in building up the muscle in his legs again.
In October his joints were in injected with steroids and after only a couple of days he had full mobility again and off medication, this wonderful treatment meant he was fit and able enough to take his black belt grading.
To say i am incredibly proud of him is an understatement, not just because he has achieved so much in his martial arts but because of the obstacles and personal demons he has had to overcome to get there.

A long overdue post

Dear Blog, apologies for taking so long to write a post. A combination of laziness, business and lack of time have all played their part.

Since my last post I have managed to gently persuade and encourage my wife to take up karate not only for the health benefits but all so we have a shared interest and have something we can do together. She began training about 4 months ago and has successfully attained a yellow belt. We took our grading together which was nice and though I struggled with my own grading I managed to get through it and get my purple belt though I suspect I was very close to not passing the grading as I struggled to remember the kata. Julie on the other hand was fantastic and flew through Tokyoko and Pinan Nidan.

We have also been on holiday and went to Cuba for two weeks which was absolutely amazing and by far the most beautiful country I have visited. It was even nicer than the Dominican Republic which we visited last year. The people in cuba are so terribly humble, friendly and bend over backwards to make you feel welcome. We stayed at the hotel Playa Pesquero, a huge complex with its own beach in the Holguin province. The food and drink was fantastic with plenty of variety in the form of both freshly cooked while you wait to buffet style and every cocktail you could expect from a carrbean country was on offer. Also due to Cuban law the hotel also had its own 24 hour doctor and pharmacy which we found useful at the end of our holiday.

We partook in two excursions. The first been a trip on a catamaran to some pristine coral reefs to snorkel for an hour or so before heading back. the coral whilst nice was not really worth the trip or expense as we had seen coral reefs just as nice without need to sail out.

Our second trip out was and excursions called Holguins green trail. this excursion was fundamentally intended to allow visitors to visit local villages, plantations and factories to see how real Cubans lived. This trip was fantastic and made me realise not just how much we take for granted but also how much capitalism and relentless need for the next hot gadget has ruined our society and morals.

If anybody reading this ever gets chance to visit Cuba, do so but do it in the next five years because once America gets its foot in the door this country will not be the same.

Our holiday took a horrible turn on the second to last day when Joseph began complaining of his knee hurting. Naturally we believed he must have hurt is while messing about in the pool so gave him Ibuprofen. however that evening he woke up in bed in agony, more Ibuprofen and painkillers were given and the next day we went to the doctors. The doctor however was out on call and we were told to go back in he afternoon. Joseph seemed better and was limping slightly. He wanted to go to the pool as he had met a girl and thinking that been in water would take pressure off his leg we decided to let him go. He had seemed fine until he told us he wanted to go back to the apartment because he was feeling hot. he got out of the pool barely able to walk and I had to support most of his weight. Whilst walking back to the apartment he said he felt weird and collapsed in my arms.

He had passed out, It was terribly frightening. our first thoughts was he had sun stroke so we got him back as quickly as we could and tried to cool him down and phoned for the doctor. 

We noticed his knee had swollen up and the doctor said he had an infection and gave us antibiotics and paracetamol to give him. We were due to to fly back the next day and had to get a safe to fly certificate from the doctor the following morning which we got.

When we landed in the UK we went straight to our local hospital where Joseph spent 4 days and nights and was diagnosed with reactive Arthritis possibly brought on by a throat infection before we went on on holiday. Joseph still has this form of arthritis which can last up to 6 months, he has good day, bad days and days when he is so fed up of the pain and not been able to walk properly that he burst into tears. I am however incredibly proud of how he has handled his illness and the bravery he showed in hospital. I am incredibly grateful to the doctor in Cuba who put our minds at ease and enabled Joseph to be fit enough to fly home.

Karate Gradings

I would have updated this yesterday but yesterday was a long day and by the time we got home from karate gradings I was far too tired to turn the laptop on let alone turn it on.
My grading took place in the morning and I didn't feel too bad considering how hard I found the kick boxing gradings. However I found the karate gradings more difficult by a long way, both physically and mentally. I managed to make a a few mistakes during the grading but nothing too serious and gained my blue belt.

Josephs grading looked absolutely brutal, 3 hours of kata. combinations and techniques, running and physical exorcise. This was the same grading every black belt has to take including adults and i can genuinely say I felt tired just watching them. Words cannot express how proud I am that he got through the grading, I would still have been proud even if he didn't go up a belt. Hopefully he will have his black belt before Christmas all being well.

The Chuldow Championships 2016

Today can and went much faster than I expected. I didn't sleep too well last night, a mixture of nerves

and anxiousness took a while to abate. The Chuldow Championships was a fantastic event and was extremely well organised. Every instructor and volunteer that made the event happen should be proud of what they have a achieved today, a well organised competition with an amazing atmosphere.

I am pleased to say both my son and I came first place in the karate point stop fights and I even managed to pick up 3rd place in the kick boxing competition. I would like to thank all the instructors at Chuldow Rothwell for all the support and training they have given my son and I. I would also like to thank students from the club that came to show their support even though they were not competing themselves, what a great club!

Anyway, below are some of the fights my son and I took part in. To avoid any confusion I am in the shorts with white shinguards.


This is my first Karate fight, the guy was incredibly strong, one of his kicks winded me, I think will spot the kick as it makes me stumble back slightly.

This was my final fight against a lad I train with every week, Anthony Firth, This fight went well for me gave me 1st place in the championship.

Joseph's Karate final. So proud of my son, He overcame his fear and won every fight with the maximum number of points possible. I look to dominate each of his fights with simple tactics and earned himself a well deserved 1st place.

Okay so the fights that I was most anxious about, kickboxing continuous sparring. This was my first fight which went pretty well. I felt bad for the lad as he seemed nervous and I somehow knocked him down or he tripped.

My second Kick Boxing fight seemed a much better match as the lad seemed much more confident. I actually though at the time that I won this fight but the decision went against me,

Championships tomorrow

Tomorrow is a big day for my Martial Arts club as it will be championships day held at Lightwaves in Wakefield. I have entered myself in for Karate point stop sparring and Kick Boxing continuous sparring. I am not a competitive person however I do enjoy sparring.
My only experience of competition in martial arts is when the club held a mini tournament last year and I managed to come first in the Karate Point stop sparring. This however was just a taster and I am told that the championships is a much larger event with many more competitors.
I am incredibly nervous, not of getting hurt but of my fitness levels and adrenaline getting the better of me, last years mini tournament almost killed me. I struggled for breath after each fight but I am hoping this wont be an issue this year as I should be much fitter than I was back then.
This will however be the first time I have fought competitively in a kick boxing event, I almost didn't sign up to the event due to nerves but deep inside I knew I would regret it tomorrow if I let the opportunity pass me by. I am 39 years old now and I imagine I don't have many more years left whereby I am going to be able to to fight competitively.
My son has also entered the karate point stop event as he too was quiet successful in last years mini and managed to come 3rd.
I will be taking my phone tomorrow with me so my wife can video the fights, I will post again either tomorrow of later on in the week with an update.

Photos are from last years mini tournament.

Karate & Kickboxing Graduations

 I spent this weekend graduating for my martial arts which was a tiring affair to say the least. I got into martial arts 6 months ago, I needed a way to keep fit and going to the gym to work out just isn't my kind of thing. I had been taking my son to karate classes for the last 2 years so it just seemed natural that I join him on the mats and kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. I have been doing karate for 6 months and kick boxing for about 8 weeks.

I am a green belt in karate, working towards my blue. For the graduation I needed to complete my Pinan Yodan kata as well as all my previous katas and various techniques and combinations. Despite being nervous and making a couple of mistakes I still managed to get a blue stripe for my green belt, I just need to learn Pinan Godan now and that should earn me a blue belt next time I graduate.

My kick boxing graduation was far more physically intensive, in fact at one point I thought I was going to collapse. It was my first graduation for kick boxing and have to say as tiring as I found it, it was fun. It was non stop exercise for 30 minutes which included running, push ups, sit ups, skipping, techniques and combinations, bag work and sparring. I cant wait for the next graduation!