Thursday, February 23, 2012

John Clarke & Colin Carrott pass Exam


John Clarke and Colin Carrott

Pass IBF Level 3 Coaching Award

Only one person to pass this before them was 66-year-old Dave Boulding 6th Dan

28 years ago the Judo thinker Geoff Gleeson 9th Dan developed the IBF Coaching Effective Programme at the bequest of the International Budo Federation he was assisted by Martin Clarke 8th Dan.
The Programme was much more then just another Coaching Award Scheme, the programme is very comprehensive as is shown by its philosophy, the philosophy of the programme is laid out under 3 headings :
1)   Self Development
2)   Benefitting Others
3)   Social Obligation
The programme goes on to explain what is required for the 5 different level. The fifth being equivalent to a Degree.

This award was there to produce better coaches and better human beings and had no other value then to gain knowledge but as time went by complete courses like this became unpopular because of the time required for the course and people were saying it was old fashioned. Yet just because something is old doesn’t make it a bad thing.
The IBF had to move with what people wanted and that was gaining qualification by taking certificates in different parts i.e. First Aid, Child Protection, Safety etc. also many organisations were moving to practical exams and this what the IBF followed and they developed the IBF Proficiency Award Scheme which was a system based on Practical application participants developing different Instructor Level. The IBF still distinguished a difference between a Coach and Instructor.

The exam is very difficult there is the obvious things like being a certain standard in your Martial Art or equivalent hours of training, if a competive Martial arts must have a Referees award and Competition Controllers award, First Aid Certificate, etc. but was the hardest part was to give a written answer to some academic questions e.g.:
1)   If illusion is the source of creativity, what is the value of rote learning?
2)   Is Kata necessary, or is repetition the bolthole of the quack?
3)   Is Morality a camouflage for the cynic, or the powerhouse of progress?
There are total of 9 questions, which have to be answered like this.

So you can understand why most coaches did not want to do the Coach Effective Programme because it takes you beyond just teaching a movement. Interesting enough I said early that this type of course was old fashioned by I notice that the relative new UKCC United Kingdom Coaching Certificate now takes several days of tution  and they have followed very much what Geoff Gleeson first suggested 30 years ago. UKCC has government funding so should be more detailed then the IBF Coaching Effective System Geoff helped a little by me all those years ago.

Will the UKCC, along side Club Mark be successful in a limited -but the majority of Sports people will not give up several weekends and at the cost of hundred of pounds just to Coach others especially if they are doing the coaching voluntarily the same will apply to Club Mark. Both these schemes are very laudable but are only suitable for Professional Clubs/Coaches or very big amateur clubs who can afford the expense

Anyone interested in learning to Coach Combat Arts should contact Martin Clarke ibfbcsa@gmail.com or come to the Swale Martial Arts Club 127 East Street Sittingbourne Kent ME10 4BL


Monday, February 20, 2012

Belsey Brothers Success


Casey and Bradley Belsey from the Isle of Sheppy joined the Warriors Grappling Academy last year to try out MMA, Sombo, Kurash and Judo. The Academy is based at the Swale Martial Arts Club East Street Sittingbourne. Both men are accomplished Judo Players representing GB both have been trained by their father 3rd Dan Rob Belsey

On Sunday 12th February 2012 they took part in the Northern Home Counties Open, this was a Senior and Masters Ranking event. British ranking are now done on various competitions so this was an important event for those wishing to compete for GB and eventually go to the Olympics.

Bradley is the oldest of the brothers and fought in the Men’s u60 kilo class winning Bronze putting him amongst the top 3 in the country
Younger brother Casey fought in the men’s u66 kilo class on his way to the final he Scottish and Senior Squad players he lost to the Senior Welsh Champion
These two men along with their Coach/Father have travelled the length and breadth of the UK to compete they train 5 days a week and some weekends and that is the only way if you want to make it to the top in any grappling sport

Both have become excellent MMA and Sombo fighters, we expect to see a lot of MMA titles under their belt in the future and already British Sombo Federation National Coach John Clarke who is based at the Warriors has put their names forward to represent GB in the European Sombo Championships to be during May in Moscow.

Those who are interested in MMA, Judo, Sombo, Kurash should contact us on ibfbcsa@gmail.com or visit www.warriorsgrapplingacademy.co.uk

MMA, Sombo Instructor Michael Hutchinson will be attending a Full Contact Sombo Course in Burnley Lancashire in April. The course is being run by BSF Full Contact Sombo National Coach Allen Clarkin and is designed to get people to instructor level. If Michael succeeds he will be the only qualified Coach in Kent. Full Contact Sombo is an extension of Sombo Wrestling where players can kick and punch I is sometimes called MMA with Jackets. Michael already coaches Combat Grappling on a Wednesday this wrestling without jackets which allows striking