Karasac Kali - Ralph Jones Interview

Newsflash

2005 Was another hectic year with Karasac hosting a number of world class Instructors including Rick Faye, Marc McFann, Ibu Suwanda and Sifu Joseph Lee.

It was a pleasure and priviledge for us to host Ibu Suwanda of mande Muda Penjak Silat in the UK for the 1st time and we hope that Ibu will be back in 2006 for another seminar (for details please check back or contact Paul).

We proudly hosted Marc McFann who taught a Silat seminar concentrating primarily on Mande Muda and which was excellent.

Rick Faye was back in town in November & taught a mixed kali seminar focussing on a both weapons and empty hands (the event took the form of a semi-private and Paul would like to thank the few priviledged students who attended..you know who you are!).

Finally we had the chance to train with Sifu Joseph Lee whose Wing Chun knowledge and ability surely is unsurpassed. We also thank his students for attending and supporting this event and hope we can continue to foster and develop our links with them. Joseph will return in 2006 so watch this space for more details.

December has seen a number of changes and developments including the complete re-vamp and relaunch of the web-site thanks to web Master Duncan Tippins. Many thanks to Duncan for his hard work and continued assistance. We hope that you will like the new look as much as we do.

Classes continued across the x-mas break and Paul would like to thank the handful of ardent students who did make class..well done and keep up the good work!

Finally, several students were promoted at the end of 2005 (and these promotions were overdue) so congratulations to Peter, Fliss, Ben, Michael and Nathan, without whose support we could not continue – we look forward to training with you throughout the new year.

Most Importantly Paul was proud to promote both Angela Goodwin & Duncan Tippins as instructors.

Duncan Tippins is the first person to have been promoted by Paul in both Jun Fan & Kali, we would just like to thank Duncan for his hard work and diligent training over the last 6 years – this truly has been a credit to him and his promotion to Level 2 instructor is long overdue. Congratulations and keep up the hard work! The learning begins here..

Angela Goodwin is the first female instructor to be promoted by Paul Finn in the Art & Science of Jun Fan & JKD Concepts.. a big Congratulations for all your efforts over the years - you are a credit to our organisation.

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Ralph Jones Interview
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In the following pages Ralph Jones outlines his Martial Arts background and training over the 20 plus years.

Q - When did you first become involved in the Martial Arts?

A -I began studying Wado-Ryu Karate with Shiomitsu Sensei in 1968. At that time he was teaching at Blackheath in South East London. My interest in Martial Arts and especially Wado-Ryu resulted in my visiting Japan in 1972. I lived in Tokyo for a year studying Wado-Ryu at Nichi-Dai University for a while before training with Arakawa Sensei and grading to 1st Dan Black belt under the famous Otsuka Sensei. When I returned to the United kingdom I continued teaching traditional karate before returning once more to Japan in 1974.

Q - Can you describe your training whist in Japan?

A - The training concentrated mainly on drilling basic techniques. There was not the creativity that we experience today (especially in the Filipino Martial Arts) however, the training was intense and rigorous. Indeed the Japanese University classes have become somewhat "legendary" for their brutality. Nichi Dai University had a particularly tough reputation at that time. The atmosphere was quite intense and they focussed their energies on sparring for points based competition. However during the afternoons myself and a few other foreigners (Gaijin) were fortunate enough to train in a small private class with Arakawa Sensei at the German Cultural Society and at the American Embassy. At that time Arakawa was one of the senior Wado-Ryu instructors and held the rank of 7th Dan.

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