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| Image by Groume via Flickr |
The Gate House
I could hardly say anything about achievements in 2011
without mentioning the completion of our house. January 2011 saw my immediate
family and I huddled in a stationary caravan (wagon to us show folk). Outside the
snow had been relentless. We were stranded on my parents’ exposed hilltop due
to our local lanes
being very difficult to pass (we don’t get gritted). We
struggled with frozen water and diminishing gas bottles as we trudged through
snow that came up to our waists. That’s where you last left me when I
self-indulged in my annual reflection of the previous year’s events. Outside
our window and cardboard thin walls a cleared site was the only thing that
resembled the promise of our new home, the one we had invested hard work and
all our saving in. A reconstructed but totally out of use well was the only
feature that greeted us on the approved site. I was late the last time I wrote
my review, by over a week. I type this on my brand new ThinkPad laptop in my
newly built house on the final day of 2011. I now live in a different world.
The main praise for the house has to go to my wonderful
mother who gave us the land in the first place. My appreciation for the area
that I was largely brought up in after my family parked the circus for the
final time has continued to increase. The English Cotswolds are a wonderland of
beauty and inspiration. No clichés intended. You can see how this type of
environment breeds writers, poets and artists. Even a lengthy trip to our
nearest recycling centre is a joy thanks to the dry stone walls and preserved
rural villages. The woodlands and open fields are teeming with wildlife, and
the skies are clear. It’s escapism at its most romantic.
The house would not have existed if it weren’t for many
individuals in my life and I will never forget them. Once all available funds had been spent on
the foundations we were delayed before my parents kindly provided us with a
loan from the business in order to get the house finished by December and we
could get onto an affordable mortgage. I won’t bore you with the details or ask
you to break out violins for the hardships we endured. We aren’t exactly
wealthy, but we are very aware of how lucky we have been. Not only did we amaze
just about everyone by getting outline planning permission first time around,
but our willingness to collaborate rather than fight the local council meant a
relatively painless transition to full planning permission for a building I am
quite happy to live in for the rest of my life. Our house went through four
designers and I am hugely grateful for the main input by my wife’s
sister-in-law, who came up with the shape we wanted during a crucial year in
university studying architecture. I also
have the extra good fortune of not only having some wonderfully supportive
family members, but also the best wife a man could ask for. She took the burden
of the project on her own shoulders and without her it simply wouldn’t have
happened. She sought out the wonderful stone that really makes the house, dealt
with all the building headaches, researched everything relevant about
homebuilding she could find and when it came to picking up a brush it was me
minding the toddler whilst her far superior painting skills ensured everything
looked wonderful. This is not to say we didn’t have a first class builder who
did the project managing from start to finish with an eye for detail and a
desire for perfection that means he is still visiting here to finish minor
jobs. I just think he likes our coffee!
The house is now habitable and I write this from the study I
have always dreamed about, surrounded by my large book collection – all
together in one place at last! However, the story is far from over. There is
much that needs completing and maintaining and that is why 2012 is the year I
push myself to greater heights than ever before. You will have to excuse my
corny romancing again, but there is yet another reason the house’s title is
appropriate (we have at least three official interpretations): It is the physical representation of a gate
house to our future.
Mo Teague’s Hard Target System
2011 saw Mo Teague’s Hard Target System shift up a gear.
Saudi Aramco, the world’s most valuable company, booked the services of my
coach Mo Teague and senior Hard Target instructor Al Cain to teach their
security units in Saudi Arabia “Mo Teague’s Hard Target System”. I was
scheduled to teach later in the year, but unfortunately our later contracts
haven’t materialized yet. I ended up covering five months of Hard Target
weekend seminars at Response Security Systems’ offices in London for the first
half of the year. The majority of these sessions were attended by students
training for their Close Protection (body-guarding) qualifications and were
often ex-military, ex-law enforcement and regular door supervisors. I am happy
to say that I received 100 per cent positive feedback from all attendees and
the experiences really helped me improve my teaching standards.
Later in the year I met up with those who attended Mo’s
instructor programme – an intensive five week programme of training at the
World Combat Arts main gym. Aside from putting me through my paces it is always
a joy to see Mo train advanced students. As I said in my interview with Michael Rosenbaum
this year, Mo is a criminally under-rated coach. I am very proud to teach for
him and to train under him. The man is miles ahead of the vast majority of
coaches. His 2011 joint seminar with his US counterpart, W. Hock Hocheim was
probably the greatest event for self-defence purists of the year. I sadly
missed it due to house-moving commitments.
Regular Classes
My regular junior classes in 2011 saw several changes. We
not only got our first brown sash in CCMA history, but also had more regular
workshops. Training has included more emphasis on grappling, weapons defence
and agility training.
BTEC Advanced Award in Self-Defence Instruction
This year saw the launch of a brand new qualification. If
there was one qualification I was going to achieve in 2011 it was this one; at
last accredited certificates for teaching self-defence. This is the future. I
saw it a long time ago. We live in an age where black belts are two to a penny
and instructorships in combative-based systems are being milled out faster all
the time. The value of being a martial arts instructor or even a martial arts
instructor with an advanced grade is diminishing all the time. By having a BTEC
approved qualification you have something that makes you and the standards of
your qualification stand outside the world of martial arts, aligning yourself
with other respected professions. The experience also brought me into contact
with Keith Buchard who I look forward to assisting more in 2012 with this
qualification.
KEWAP
Steve TImperley is another individual who has greatly
impressed me. He invited me to join his Martial Arts Alliance, an apolitical
martial arts groups dedicated in providing support and setting standards in the
martial arts community. I was granted the status of national tutor due to my
accredited qualifications. Steve’s Knife and Edged Weapon Programme is a very
professional service and I was very impressed both with Steve’s overall approach
and his delivery of the course. The soft skills content and presentation is
excellent, as is the support offered. I didn’t take much convincing to go first
for his regular instructor qualification and then his senior one, both of which
I passed. I also got to meet some remarkable fellow instructors during these
experiences and sadly was also exposed to a lot of the fear and bad teaching
practices I have seen infect the world of reality-based self-defence.
Perhaps my most exciting experiences outside my house is the
continued development of my Vagabond Warriors courses. 2012 is the year that
they should really take off at Telford’s Kyushinkai Martial Arts Centre. The
seminars are designed to take martial arts cross-training into a new area. Rather teaching people new techniques or
systems, Vagabond Warriors aims to develop the individual promoting
clarification, scepticism and individuality.
Children’s Basic Self-Defence Course
I provided a six-part self-defence course for juniors at
Kyushinkai Martial Arts Centre in Telford. The course was met with enthusiasm
and the venue is brilliant. I am also grateful for the friendship I have
developed with the club’s owner, Sam Stewart. We have some great plans for
2012.
Other memorable martial moments for 2011 included more
workshops for Witney Boys’ Brigade, which is always an interesting challenge. I
also did a very lengthy interview for the new martial arts podcast, The Den Show,
which was divided up into instalments over four shows. As I have said before, I
am big podcast fan and it was great fun being part of such a professionally
produced show. I give full respect to Chris Denwood who does an excellent job
presenting and creating the episodes.
Personal Training
Matters seemed to improve with my personal training when I
joined a local club for the first time in 18 months. For a few months I got
back into the formal training routine and caught up with my Brazilian jiu
jitsu, boxing and muay Thai. I even tried my hand at the fearsome art of
freestyle wrestling. Unfortunately commitments with the house cut all of this
short and I hope to re-join in the New Year once matters have settled down.
Back home I experimented with a lot of high intensity training – sets of five
minute rounds, the Tabata method, 300 reps and specific weight training
routines.
As we had our own personal and rather minor struggles out in
rural Oxfordshire, our friends in the nation’s capital as well as other cities
were experiencing a far more immediate threat to their lives. I was not directly
affected by the riots, but I knew people serving in the police that had to deal
with them. My views and opinions on the whole sad episode are detailed in an
essay I started writing a week or so afterwards and recently completed. Like all national tragedies – and I include
the terrible mass killings in July 2011 in Norway – we often reinforce our
personal prejudices, ideals and fears by such dramatic instances as we seek
meanings. I am not interesting in meanings and I see less in the way of a societal
cause. This has more to do with the actions of a minority of individuals and
their own personal disorders.
Understanding that is more in our society’s interests than in pandering
to the simplistic political ideas that come out as knee-jerk reactions to such
tragedies.
Books
“The Science of Fear” (AKA “Risk: The Science and Politics
of Fear”) by Dan Gardner
Gardner is a sceptic without knowing it. Recommended by
combatives expert W. Hock Hocheim, this excellent study into society’s growing
sensitivity to fear, especially irrational fear is an excellent counterweight
to that long-serving bible of self-defence soft skills, Gavin de Becker’s “The
Gift of Fear”. Gardner is a journalist by trade, but is a thorough researcher
and backs his work up with hard scientific evidence. He reveals the dangers of
intuition and the reality behind some of societies greatest fears. An essential
read. (full review)
“The Survivor’s Club” by Ben Sherwood
Sherwood’s book also came from Hock’s excellent book club
and is recommended for the same reasons as Gardner’s work. In many ways it is
more relevant, as it deals with life or death survival situations and dissects
the science behind why certain individuals defied the odds. The book is cites
some excellent research and, again, is an essential read for today’s
self-defence defence coach and student. It is marred a little by the importance
it places on faith in a supernatural being. (full review)
"The Tao of Muhammad Ali" by Davis Miller
Miller's highly original and incredibly frank biography on Ali, written as part of his own autobiography, is a thoroughly entertaining read. Some might find Miller's own story a little distracting from the usual straightforward biography, but there are few authors who really explore the true identity of this most beloved of sports and fighting icons. (full review)
"The Tao of Bruce Lee" by Davis Miller
The same can be said about his companion book on Bruce Lee. Although, unlike Ali, Miller never knew Lee, the author arguably penetrates deeper and strips away even more of this particular icon's mythology. Lain bare showing all his flaws Lee is no less than impressive as a human being as he was as a legend. (full review)
“The Godless Boys” by Naomi Woods
Woods’ debut novel is the first modern novel I have read in
a while. I received it as an Amazon Vine customer, so it was a pre-edited
release that I got for free on the condition I review it. I found the concept
of an alternative UK in the 1980s, where unbelievers were banished to an island
to be an interesting diversion. (full review)
“The Caged Virgin” by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Ali’s remarkably brave critique of the religion she was
brought up in is a powerful read. The Somalia-born and now resident of Holland,
has had to endure a life of hardship relatively unknown outside of the
developed world. Her argument for reason against even the more moderate end of
her former faith is compelling and very interesting. (full review)
“The Invisible Man” by H.G. Wells
Low on characterization and international adventure when one
compares it “Dracula” and “Frankenstein”, Wells’s story of a man driven to
insanity through his invisible power is still an exciting read. What I found particularly refreshing was the
author’s straightforward style, which is pretty rare in the Victorian novel. (full review)
“Bad Science” by Ben Goldacre
It has been brought to my attention that pretty much all
that is contained in Ben Goldacre’s book can be downloaded for free off his
website, but nonetheless I enjoyed reading the book on the train as I attended
another Hard Target seminar in London. Goldacre’s book should be a part of
anyone’s book collection. It provides fantastically accessible information on
the nonsense being peddled by quack doctors, nutritionists, pharmaceutical
companies and the alternative medicine crowd. (full review)
“Tiger, Tiger: A Memoir” by Margaux Fragaso
This is perhaps the most candid, personal and honest account
of a victim of paedophilia that has ever been written. It distances itself from
the almost pornographic tragic bios that take up whole sections of airport
newsagents and book shops by its style and realism. Fragaso has shocked many a
reader by trying hard to relay the genuine complexities of these types of
relationships, shaping her abuser as a real human being rather than as a
shadowy demon. She reveals the way families, often with their own problems, and
local communities are often complicit through their denial of this type of
abuse.
Despite there being a fair bit of artistic licence – Fragaso tries to
tell us word-for-word conversations we have no proof of ever occurring – there
is an overall feeling of honesty. Fragaso is a talented writer and it will be
interesting to read her future work. (full review)
“The Art of Possibility” by Benjamin Zander
After reading Steve Salerno’s scathing and unforgiving
dismantling of the self-help movement in 2010, I was a little ponderous about
reading another book in this particular genre. The person recommended me this
particular book insisted it wasn’t self-help and it certainly doesn’t seem to
go down the route of most in the genre. Counsellor and concern conductor married
couple the Zanders provide us with the lessons they learned about creating new
possibilities with their clients and students. It provides some sound
professional advice, often born out of the virtue of hard work and practice, as
well as prompts for creativity.(full review)
“God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything” by
Christopher Hitchens
We lost an intellectual giant in December 2011. Christopher
Hitchens was an expert and feared debater. This particular book shows us just
how persuasive he could be in dismantling the philosophy of religion. (my article on Hitchens and full review of this book)
"50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology" by Scott O. Lilienfeld, Steven Jay Lynn, John Ruscio and Barry L. Beyerstein
Quite simply the most important book published on psychology in recent times. Not only is it wonderfully accessible and easy to reference, but it's meticulously documented with very thorough academic notes. If you are involved in anything that touches upon psychology - from counseling to criminology to self-help to self-protection this is a must-read. (full review)
“Freakonomics” by Steven D. Levitt
Some have argued that this isn’t really a book on economics.
However, it provides some fascinating insights into the way people function and
has the backing of some hard-to-argue-against numbers. There is the odd
exaggerated story that Levitt has admitted to being too credulous on in a later
edition, but on the whole the theories are pretty sound and very
interesting. I read it to get the dirt on
sumo wrestling, which seems to be inherently fixed to some degree. However, I
quickly became fascinated at the insight into the low returns on drug-dealing,
the cheating practices of teachers in response to the “No Child Left Behind”
initiative and the way baby names slide up and down the classes.(full review)
“Bad History: How We Got the Past Wrong” by Emma Marriott
This is a wonderful little reference book on a much-needed
subject. Just as science has been working hard to debunk nonsense, history has
been left to hang out to dry in postmodern eras. The book gives you short
chapters on a wide range of popular myths about history and helps explain why
these misunderstandings about the past occur. (full review)
“Columbine” by Dave Cullen
There is quite simply no other book that comes close to Dave
Cullen’s thorough analysis of all the available material on the Columbine High
School shooting in 1999. Cullen has been interviewed by such a wide range of
people that our hope is that the false narratives attached to this tragedy are
being purged from our collective consciousness. (full review)
“The Masters of Sit-Com: From Hancock to Steptoe” by
Christopher Stevens (with Alan Simpson and Ray Galton)
I just began reading this book at the end of 2011, so it
will probably go on my 2012 list too. So far, I find it as comforting and witty
as my usual experiences with Galton and Simpson’s work. The book is part
biographical and part compilation of excerpts of the comedy duos best and
rarest scripts.
Conclusion
2011 was a very full year for me and it is small wonder why
it seems to have passed in a blink of an eye. I have learnt a lot from a lot of
people online and face-to-face. I have watched how the field outside my caravan
window has changed to foundations and then eventually a fully operational
house. I have a profound love for my surroundings now. I can also see a
tremendous scope for change and progress in the martial arts world.
Don't forget to check out Jamie Clubb's main blog www.jamieclubb.blogspot.com
