Hapkido Teesside

Why Train?
Unfortunately, the world is not a nice place. Life can be great, time spent can be fantastic, but realistically there are people that can change this in an instant.
You don't want to feel soft and vulnerable; you want to be in a position where if things really came down to it, you feel capable of looking after yourself and your loved ones.

Strength – you need functional strength. This isn’t about just looking good in the mirror, it is about having strength through a full range of motion. Building a structure that gives you more confidence in the way you feel and the way you hold yourself. This creates the environment where you are less likely to fall into the victim mindset.

Conditioning - it doesn’t matter how tough you think you are or what fighting skills you have, if you gas out in 20 seconds you’ll be in survival mode which will quickly change to panic mode. When you are so exhausted you don’t think clearly and everything falls apart. You need to build up your lungs and heart strength. You might need to throw strikes, take a hit, push and pull someone, have weight on top of you…you need to have the confidence that your body is going to keep going through it.

Mindset – getting things done if when you don’t feel like it. To improve the first 2 points it has nothing to do with motivation. Anyone can do anything when they are motivated enough. It is all down to discipline, this is where the real growth comes. Being disciplined enough to train even when all the excuses start creeping in. Having this strong mindset will roll into all other parts of your life. A strong mindset is also required if you do get into a fight and need to handle business. If you find yourself getting attacked it is easy to fall in the trap of asking yourself questions – “why's this happening?”, “Why me?” “What’s happening”. By the time these have gone through your head, it’s too late. Protect yourself, deal with it and ask questions later.

Awareness – the best way of protecting yourself and loved ones is to have situational awareness. Being able to read the room and peoples body language, pick up subtle changes in atmosphere and then remove yourself from the situation. There are no rewards in playing the ‘big I am’, just a lot of risks. Do your best at avoiding potentially bad situations.

Being strong, having a good engine, a strong mindset and the awareness of your surroundings are all things that will come from training with a good martial arts class.
Hopefully you will never have to be put to the test but as the old Chinese proverb says “It is better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war”.

Confirmation of next sparring sessions.
These are open to regular members of the club. Normal class running alongside.

Congratulations to Rob and Steve for achieving their Orange belt tonight.

Hey everyone. Lily's dad, who we all know, has signed himself up for a White Collar Boxing match. His chosen charity is The Teesside Family Foundation which have been great to us over the past couple of years. If anyone has a spare couple of quid and are happy to sponsor, the link is below.

https://givestar.io/gs/ultra-white-collar-boxing-fundraising-29528?fbclid=IwY2xjawS3L1lleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR60DXja6yGSsFV3FOs_OW4mxoKw-P5w3sqq4nOUnNq9X2RnTR3Xo63Vq8TX-A_aem_m3cVhGfKrxF2cy-clEkukQ

Fantastic work and effort put in by David, Kyro and Aiva this morning. The red belt grading is tough physically and mentally and all 3 had the determination and heart to get through not just today but all the lessons leading up to this.
Congratulations you should all be very proud.

No Gi required this week due to the temperature. Wear something else suitable.

https://hapkido-teesside.myspreadshop.co.uk/

There is no class this Sunday so we are training Thursday instead.

Also this Tuesday is the England match and kick off is 9pm. If you want to leave training 10-15mins early to get home in time, this is fine.

Reminder that we have a class tonight as normal but because we cannot use the centre on Sunday we will also train Thursday this week.