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| Student
Interview with Scott Clark |
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MI
Magazine this month talks
with Scott Clark of Camberley,
England. Scott is a student
of Kancho Bill Cox of
Spirit Combat International
and we find out about
Scott's seven and a half
years in Jujitsu…read
more
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| MI:
Your age and rank? |
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| Scott:
I am 30 years old and am currently ranked
as a Shodan or black belt, and have been training
at my current club for around 7 1/2 years.
From
blue belt onwards we spend a minimum of
a year at each belt
(increasing in years with each dan grade),
taking our first black belt
grading twice to retain it, ensuring the
required standard has been kept up.
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| MI:
The style you study? |
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Scott:
My style is Small Circle Aki Jujitsu, this
is a well rounded discipline that covers
kicks, punches, throws, joint locks, ground
work, pressure points, harmony or blending
moves with some weapons for the higher grades.
I also have some experience in Karate and
Kickboxing. We are fortunate
enough to have an open-minded instructor
that encourages students to share any experience
gained in other styles. Many of the students
and Instructors have experience in door
work (Bouncers) so there is a clear distinction
between the training in the Dojo and street
self-defence.
We are encouraged to incorporate what we
already know into the formwork we practice,
the formwork is practiced with a partner,
and are grouped in to 10 sets of moves to
each form. These have key elements, which
must be adhered to, but can be combined
with moves personal of preference or ability.
This allows for adaptation when accounting
for training partners of varying weights
and heights.
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| MI:
Your Sensei and club? |
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Scott:
My instructor is Kancho Bill Cox (8th dan)
of Spirit Combat International based in
Brentford, London, UK.
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| MI:
Do you have a good relationship with your
Sensei? |
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Scott:
I have a great friendship with my
Instructor who, for a period of a
couple of years, was my Boss at work
- needless to say I worked hard and
there was no backchat! |
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| MI:
Why did you get involved in MA? |
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| Scott:
Like many people I found classic martial
art films inspiring, the Masters showed speed,
skill and control - but above all - I thought
I would enjoy the training. |
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| MI:
How often do you train? |
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Scott:
I train in the Dojo twice a week, the gym
2-3 times with a swim and run once a week
time permitting.
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| MI:
Do
you ever take classes? |
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Scott:
I have taken a few
classes to date when the more senior
grades are absent, however I regularly
take the warm up period of the classes.
I
have also been fortunate enough to take
part in the grading of
other students at my club. |
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| MI:
What do you most remember about your Shodan
test? |
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| Scott:
The memories of my Shodan test are a lot of
hard work in the summer heat (around 5 hour's
in total), A shift from previous gradings
with some verbal debating relevant subjects.
Written tests are not uncommon in past gradings
and I think there are good grounds for incorporating
these as it develops other abilities in addition
to the physical side of Martial arts. I do
however still consider myself a beginner,
as there is always so much more to learn. |
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| MI:
Apart from learning to defend yourself and
become fitter how has Martial arts changed
your life? |
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Scott:
Martial arts
training has brought me in to contact
with so many
interesting people who I would not have
had the opportunity to meet
otherwise. Training has improved my
confidence, discipline and general
well being - there's nothing like a
hard training session to get rid of
any work-related stress!! |
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| MI:
What personal goals do you set yourself
in training? |
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Scott:
I have always
worked towards my next grade but the
goals I set myself recently have been
to become more fluid with weapons. My
last goal was to master my potential
- this I think will take a lifetime,
so after
some thought; I will be happy with being
master of myself for now. |
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