Friday 27th of April 2012 was a huge day for Instructor Ryan Lawson and his wife Helen as they opened their doors not only to existing students but to new students and parents alike.
The idea was to showcase what they are doing for the local communities around Derby and also to highlight their character development programme.
The venue was the very well kept and very pleasant Spondon Village hall. Well located and with easy off road parking.
It has been met with so much interest that even the Mayor and Mayoress of Derby and teachers from the local schools were in attendance to witness the overall benefits of the system.
A special guest on the day was Kerry-Louise, 7 x World Professional Kickboxing Champion and Pro K1 Rules Intercontinental Champion, which again, highlighted to the children and members the possibilities through dedicated training.
I, myslef (CJP), was invited as president to WAKO Pro GB (WAKO, the official World Governing Body to Kickboxing) and President to BFKKO/WFKKO, the organisation Ryan and his members are now so proud to be a part of. I was really impressed and the photographs and information I have captured in this report show this!
The evening started off with a registration and then the students being strategically placed in the hall with military precision. There was a silence as the Mayor and Mayoress were seen walking towards the building where they were met by Ryan and Helen Lawson and the rest of the instructors present.
Once seated and after a stretch and warm up there was a demonstration of basic technique, showing kicks and punches etc.
Through the class Ryan demonstrated how the system he has introduced manages to capture the attention and interest of even the youngest student for the whole time they are within the class.....truly amazing!
Once the class was over the Mayor of Derby was invited to make comment on what he had seen. He was hugely impressed and talked openly and very nicely to all the children. They responded well on what he turned into a question and answer session which he based around the clubs MONTHLY word being "Legacy".
This was followed by a speech by myself which allowed the BFKKO to be introduced to the children and parents as it is these Initials they will be seeing for a long time now and following the very same high values. (I will be returning to the DMA Senior classes in the very near future where we may even run an introductory seminar for them?).
The school teachers were certainly impressed when it was explained how martial arts can benefit individuals, whether it was in the "DOJO" classroom or everyday life. It was also shown and discussed how martial arts can be used for fitness a fun whilst having massive character development qualities. This was alongside a self defence demonstration and clearly showed how the children are made aware of danger and the all important key words or actions which could help towards their overall safety.
Kerry-Louise started out in her quest at the tender age of 7 year old, so i invited a little 7 year old girl to stand next to her throughout the talk about Kerrry-Louise, her training and her achievements to keep making the children aware of the possibility of them maybe achieving the same goal one day.
A lovely gesture was the Student/Teacher appreciation certificates given to the childrens school teachers from the children themselves which shows the childrens appreciation for the teachers involvement in the martial arts programme as they are involved in supplying regular reports to the Chief Instructor to show the child is keeping to other targets set. (Even the parents play a part in this system by filling in a little report on the childs home activities etc).
The evening was brought to a close with coffee and biscuits where there was an opportunity for everyone to speak to all on a casual basis.
Official photographs were taken and some of the children asked if they could be photographed with Kerry-Louise and her belts, before long she had a stream of youngsters lining up to have their picture taken, so even though this shy professional outside the ring didn't say a lot on the day her achievements had definitely inspired the youngsters.
Whilst the talks finished of, the children were happily tucking into some lovely cup cakes one of the parents had so kindly baked, again showing the spirit of such a club where it is a family affair and all are welcome and urged to be part of.
I was very proud to witness what I saw and lets hope that Ryan, Helen and the instructors and staff carry on the good work and that Ryans "LEGACY" lives on!
Derby Martial Arts truly an "A" star BFKKO Club.
PLEASE NOTE: All the photographs in this article are very low resolution reproductions of some very high quality images produced by www.cjp.moonfruit.com
Story and pictures by Master Cris Janson-Piers
President to WFKKO/BFKKO and WAKO Pro GB.
