Lau Gar Kung Fu in Stafford

Staffs. Interclub Tournament 2010

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 15:40:46 +0100

The annual West Midlands Semi-Contact Competition went ahead on Sunday 16th May 2010. There was a fantastic turnout of both competitors and supporters; thanks to all who turned up.

As usual the event was geared towards providing novice fighters some experience of semi-contact & sets competitions although there was also a light continuous competition for some of the more experienced fighters. The results are posted below.

Some of the winners posing with their trophies.

Gil with some of his trophies.

Results

Little Dragons	1^st	Aaron Elphick
	2^nd	Jared Wragg
	3^rd	Michael Adams
Juniors Under 5' Open	1^st	Charlotte Bull
	2^nd	Josh Whittal
	3^rd	Jordan Davis
Juniors 5' - 5'6" Beginners	1^st	Jeevan Bhangu
	2^nd	Ashley Williams
	3^rd	Ellis Burrows
Junior Over 5' Intermediate	1^st	Chloe Bull
	2^nd	Adam Welch
	3^rd	Simon Whittingham
Mens Semi-Contact	1^st	Anthony Balfour
	2^nd	David Coke
	3^rd	Gil Houlston
Ladies Semi-Contact	1^st	Jenny Lees
	2^nd	Samantha Moore
	3^rd	Chloe Bull
Mens Light Continuous	1^st	Gil Houlston
	2^nd	Alistair Thompson
	3^rd	Matt Nicklin
Ladies Light Continuous	1^st	Jenny Lees
Ladies Light Continuous	2^nd	Ayanna Hudson
Junior Light Continuous	1^st	Simon Whittingham
Under 5' Teams	1^st	Charlotte, Josh D, Madeline
	2^nd	Jared, Jay, James
	3^rd	Morgan, Josh A, Mark Woods
Junior Sets - Up to Green Sash	1^st	Charlotte Bull
	2^nd	James Snow
	3^rd	Luke Squires
Junior Sets - Open	1^st	Holly Cook
	2^nd	Joshua Whittall
	3^rd	Adam Welch
Adult Sets - Open Hand	1^st	Amy Roe
	2^nd	Gil Houlston
	3^rd	Jane Gratton
Adult Sets - Weapons	1^st	Gil Houlston
	2^nd	Amy Roe
	3^rd	Jane Gratton

Grandmasters Meet

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 08:46:43 +0100

"It was a real honour and privilege to be present at the first ever meeting of two Grandmasters, Grandmaster Chen Zhenglei and Grandmaster Jeremy Yau. The two met recently when Grandmaster Chen Zhenlei was over in the UK on a teaching visit. The two were introduced over dinner by his senior student Master Liming Yue, who runs the Chen Tai Chi Centre in Manchester and is also a good friend of Grandmaster Jeremy Yau.", writes Lau Gar Guardian Peter Hornby

Read the rest of the article here: GrandMasters_Meet_Article.pdf 115.34 KB
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Word & Photos: Peter Hornby

Ben & Ben in Black Sash Sucess

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:51:08 +0000

Ben Lewis and Ben Farmer receive their Black Sashes from Sifu Pete Hornby (Click to enlarge)

We are pleased to annouce that Ben Lewis and Ben Farmer have achieved 1^st Degree Black Sash. They took the grading on the 4^th of October 2009 and were awarded the sashes by Sifu Peter Hornby.
They now join the ranks of the instructors.

BKFA Nationals 2009

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:44:53 +0000

The Stafford, Cannock and Codsall Squad with Master Yau (Click to enlarge)

Sunday 11^th October 2009 saw the best BKFA Nationals in years. The day ran smoothly and swiftly and was a great success.

Fighters from all around the country fought in the various categories for men, women and children. All fights ran smoothly due to the help from high quality referees and time/ score keepers. The referees were guided by Chief Referee Neville Wray, who made sure the fights were fair and professional. As well as semi-contact fighting, competitors also took part in light continuous fighting and the pushing hands competition.

Daniel & Master Yau (Click to enlarge)

Garry & Master Yau (Click to enlarge)

Stafford and Codsall clubs had much success across the different categories. In the juniors competitions, Joshua Whittall (Codsall) got 3^rd in the under 4�6� category, Daniel Leong-Elphick (Stafford) won 2^nd in the under 5� category and Charlotte Bull (Codsall) achieved 3^rd place in the same category. In the teams, both the junior under 5� and junior over 5� teams won 2^nd places. In the women�s competitions, Jenny Lees (Codsall) gained 3^rd place in the Ladies Semi competition and 2^nd place in Ladies light continuous +62kg. In the pushing hands competition, Paul Sabin (Codsall & Stafford) got 3^rd place and Barry Cain (Stafford & Codsall) won 1^st place. Barry�s success was well earned following a very close contest with Jonathan Tebutt from Narbeth, which went into extra time.

The Stafford, Cannock and Codsall Demo Team (Click to enlarge)

In addition to the exciting fighting, there was a fantastic demonstration too. Stafford Lau Gar club performed a variety of entertaining and skilful sets to a selection of engaging music. The performers all looked impressive in their red and blue mandarin suits. The demonstration team received much applause and praise from spectators who seemed to be very impressed with the forms that were showcased and the martial artists who performed them. Chief instructor, Pete Hornby said, �I�m very pleased with the all effort and hard work that went into the demonstration, and it really showed in the performance. It shows that Stafford is one of the best clubs to train at, with great students and amazing teachers!�.

The programme of the demonstration was as follows:
Tiger Crane � performed to music co-composed by one of the performers, Amy Roe and her music teacher.
Tai Chi Kung Fu fan � as taught by Garry Seghers from the Faye Yip school of Tai Chi.
Lau Gar Luk Hap Kuen � performed to �Eye of the Tiger�.
Pois � created and performed by Rachel Sabin, based on the butterfly knives set.
Praying Mantis � as taught by Guardian Jason Crabtree and performed to �Real wild child�.
Fau Kuen & Breaking � Paul Sabin�s version of Fau Kuen with 3 attackers and breaking of wood with his fists, legs and head!
Ying Yang Boxing � as taught on a previous year�s summer course training camp.
Broad sword � Advanced broad sword set performed to an �A-team� track.
Dual Man � as taught on the 2009 summer course training camp.
Butterfly Knives � performed to the theme music of the film �Kung Fu Hustle�.
Tai Chi Sword � Chen style sword as taught by Master Liming Yue.
Fan & Sword � created and taught by Guardians John Russell & Morag Quirk.
Point seeking fan � created and taught by Guardian Morag Quirk and performed to �No limit�.
Wan Ging Gong � created by Pete Hornby to show a range of techniques for the development of Ging, release of energy / power.

The Full Demo Program (Click to enlarge)

Codsall Junior Team under 5ft & Master Yau (Click to enlarge)

Josh & Master Yau (Click to enlarge)

The sets competition also went extremely well, with a number of sets being performed by both adults and children under the critique of the 3 Guardian judges � Carl Jones, Andrew Nation & Jason Crabtree. Notably, it was a clean sweep for Stafford and Codsall clubs in the junior sets competition. Holly Cook and Amy Roe of the Stafford club won 1^st and 2^nd place respectively and Joshua Whittall from the Codsall club gained 3^rd prize. In the adults sets, Stafford achieved 2^nd and 3^rd places, with Garry Seghers of Stafford and Cannock clubs getting 2^ndwith a tai chi double fan set and Riona Hornby from Stafford club winning 3^rd place with the advanced sword set.

Riona & Master Yau (Click to enlarge)

Paul & Master Yau (Click to enlarge)

To make the day even more enjoyable, 2 seminars were held for the benefit of all those there. Guardians John Russell and Morag Quirk led a workshop on pushing hands and our own Guardian Pete Hornby taught on Qi Gong. Those who attended the seminars found them both informative and valuable.

Charlotte & Master Yau (Click to enlarge)

Amy & Master Yau (Click to enlarge)

The day finished in good time and was rounded off by an inspirational speech by Neville Wray. He called on all Lau Gar members to rally together to ensure that Lau Gar fighters once again become a force on the national fighting scene. It is hoped that if Lau Gar fighters compete and win in a wider variety of tournaments then it will attract more fighters to our Nationals in years to come.

Barry & Master Yau (Click to enlarge)

Codsall Junior Team Over 5ft & Master Yau (Click to enlarge)

All in all, the BKFA Nationals is improving year by year and we look forward to an even more successful tournament on 31^st October 2010!

Holly & Master Yau (Click to enlarge)

Jenny & Master Yau (Click to enlarge)

Full Tournament Results
Category	First	Second	Third
Juniors Under 4' 6"	Ishana Moores Bristol Lau	Kameron Brainsdoyle Bristol Lau	Joshua Whittall Codsall Lau
Juniors Under 5'	Curtis Jones TKA	Daniel Leong-Elphick Stafford Lau	Charlotte Bull Codsall
Juniors Over 5'	Andrew Vasili Martial Lifestyle	Kishare Moores Martial Lifestyle	Aston Cook Martial Lifestyle
Ladies Semi	Jem Campbell Northants Lau	Paige Walker Northants Lau	Jenny Lees Codsall Lau
Mens Novices	Mark Turner Bristol Lau	A. Yearwood SEMA	Ryan Surtees Sunderland Lau
Mens Intermediate	Darrell Merryweather Kingsheath Lau	Martin Francis Gloucester Lau	Phil Mudge Gloucester Lau
Mens Seniors	Neville Palmer Northants Lau	Rash Patel Gloucester Lau	Phil Monks Bristol Lau
Sets Junior	Holly Cook Stafford Lau	Amy Roe Stafford Lau	Joshua Whittall Codsall Lau
Sets Adults	Dave Eccles Accrington Lau	Garry Seghers Stafford & Cannock Lau	Riona Hornby Stafford Lau
Pushing Hands	Barry Cain Stafford Lau	Jonathan Tebbutt Narbeth	Paul Sabin Stafford & Codsall Lau
Ladies Light <62kg	Paige Walker Northants Lau	Kerry Allen Bristol Lau	Kirsty Tait Bristol Lau
Ladies Light >62kg	Jem Campbell Northants Lau	Jenny lees Codsall Lau	Kate Davey Dorset Lau
Mens Light <70kg	Alec Sykes Leek Lau	Mark Turner Bristol Lau	Shane Blackburn Dorset
Mens Light <80kg	Junior Clarke London Lau	Darrel Merryweather Kingsheath Lau	Mahb Rahman Gloucester Lau
Mens Light >80kg	Jason Wright	Martin Pickering	S.Murphy
Junior Team <5'	Bristol Lau A	Codsall Lau A	Bristol Lau B
Junior Team >5'	Bristol Lau Gar	Codsall Lau B	Ice Dragons
Ladies Team	Northants Lau	Bristol Lau
Mens Team	Bristol Lau	Lau Gar Squad	SEMA
Note: Stafford, Cannock and Codsall clubs are highlighted in red.

Words: Riona Hornby
Pictures: Pete Hornby, Alan Smewing & Sam Smewing

BKFA Summer Course 2009

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:03:19 +0100

This year the Summer Course was in Scarborough, from the 26^th July till the 1^st August. It was a very successful course with around 70 people attending in total including 12 from our Stafford, Cannock & Codsall clubs. The Summer Course is a long standing annual event in the Lau-Gar calendar as it has been running for 33 years now. It has been held in many different places across the country including Tenby, Torquay, St. Andrews and Llandudno; however the majority have been in Scarborough.

Tai Chi on the South Beach (click to enlarge)

The weekdays started at 7am with a run which started as a 2 mile run up to the South Bay Car Park on Monday and worked up to a 5 mile run to the top of Oliver's Mount, looping several times and back down to the beach again by Friday (you were encouraged to run at your own level, taking no longer than 58 minutes so some brave souls ran further & some ran less). For those who were unable to run Pete Hornby was teaching Tai Chi on the beach. After the run/Tai Chi session it was back to our hotels for breakfast and to get ready for the main training.

The runners warming up.

The main session was held at the Pindar Leisure Centre and ran from 10am to 2pm. The theme for this year was a new variation of the Lau Gar Two Man Set, incorporating the 8 powers and 18 keywords that were studied on last year's course. Each session featured a warm up and stretch, stance training and advice, practice of the Two Man From, walking techniques, kicking techniques, Chi Gung led by Master Yau, syllabus work, another stretch and, finally, standing meditation. The sessions were chosen to appeal to students of all levels and there were many high level Black Sashes around to help anyone who needed it.

The runners waiting for everyone to get back.

As usual on Wednesday evening there was a barbeque and on Friday evening we all met for some drinks to celebrate the end of the course and to relax and chat (or play pool). We had quite a large group from the Stafford areas clubs this year, including Summer Course beginners Jane and Holly, and we also met up with Gabby again (we 'adopted' her last year as she was the only member of her club on the course).

On the last day it was annouced that next year's Summer Course will be held in Llandudno from the 1^st to the 8^th August 2010 so start looking for a hotel now.

Members of the Stafford, Cannock & Codsall Clubs with Master Yau on the last day (click for larger version)
(left to right - Back row: Garry, Ben F, Jasson, Ben L, Gil, Alan & Pete. Front row: Riona, Master Yau, Jane, Holly & Gabby)

Jane and Holly with Master Yau

Riona and Jason with Master Yau

Words: Alan Smewing
Pictures: Pete Hornby

Gil & Alan Acieve 2nd Degree Success

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:12:11 +0100

Well done to Gil Houlston & Alan Smewing who, on the 14th June 2009, traveled to Birmingham to grade in front of Master Yau. They were both passed and were presented with their certificates a fortnight later.

L-R: Instructor Randall Salmon, Gil Houlston, Alan Smewing and Senior Instructor Pete Hornby

Amy's Black Sash Success

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:47:35 +0100

We are pleased to announce that Amy Roe has achieved her 1st Degree Black Sash at the tender age of 14. Amy took the grading in April 2009 and was awarded her sash by instructors Peter Hornby & Randall Salmon. Amy now joins the ranks of the instructors.

Amy receiving her 1st Degree Black Sash from instructors Peter Hornby and Randall Salmon

BKFA Nationals 2008

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:00:35 +0100

The Stafford Medal Winners

Members of Stafford and Codsall Lau Gar are celebrating after one of our most successful National Championships in the clubs� history, returning with five newly crowned British Champions.

The trophies started arriving early on in the day with sisters Charlotte and Chloe Bull (Codsall) both beating the boys to win their junior titles. It was a tense final for Charlotte who battled to the end in the under four foot six category, to win her fight during �sudden death�. Safe to say, mum Dinah is very proud and she herself will be competing in the upcoming inter-club tournament in Northhampton.

Further success came for Stafford�s Amy Roe, in the junior set competition, beating off fierce competition from fellow member Holly Cook to become national champion. Amy, who has placed in several competitions was delighted at her win, as was Holly who finished second.

Not to be outdone by the youngsters, our �more seasoned� members were out in force. Jane Cook, having seen daughter Holly�s success in the junior category, was determined not to let the side down, and secured third place in the adult non-weapons sets. This category was won by Cannock�s Garry Seghers with a very complex chen style tai chi set.

It really was Garry�s day as he went on to take third place in the adult weapon�s category, before retaining his dual-man form title with partner Steve Lloyd (Stafford). Codsall�s Paul Sabin and Barry Cain were awarded the second place trophy.

A special thank you however must go to all of the South Staffs members who volunteered to help on the day, either time-keeping, scoring, refereeing, or in the case of Chief Instructor Pete Hornby, racing back down the M6 to collect score cards and stopwatches! The organisers were extremely grateful for this and you are all a great asset to our club. THANK YOU!

Some action shots
(photos courtesy of Amiee Hogan, Derby Lau Gar)

The medal winners with Master Yau

Staffs Interclub Tournament 2008

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 19:36:04 +0100

The annual West Midlands Semi-Contact Competition went ahead on Sunday 28th September. There was a fantastic turnout of both competitors and supporters; thanks to all who turned up. The general consensus was that this year's event was the best we've had so far.

The winners and some action shots.

Results

Semi Contact

Juniors - Under 16 yrs, under 5ft, Beginners to 3rd Grade (mixed)
1st Charlotte Bull
2nd Craig Minton
3rd Owen Pryce

Juniors - Under 16yrs, over 5ft
1st Josh Buckley
2nd James Morgan
3rd Forest Sherwin

Girls
1st Chloe Bull
2nd Sarah Rogers
3rd Rebecca Brough

Ladies
1st Jenny Lees
2nd Yvonne Riveiro
3rd Dinah Bull

Mens
1st Chris Jones
2nd Andy Southall
3rd James Riley

Light Continuous

Ladies
1st Jenny Lees
2nd Reidun Skogedal
3rd Kerry Horton

Mens
1st Chris Jones
2nd Jon Page
3rd Gil Houlston

Sets

Juniors
1st Holly Cook
2nd Amy Roe
3rd Joshua Whittall

Seniors
1st Gil Houlston
2nd James Riley

Teams

Juniors - Under 5ft, 3 per team (can be mixed)
1st Dragons
2nd Yodas
3rd Pandas

Juniors - Over 5ft, 3 per team (can be mixed)
1st Grasshoppers
2nd Crouching Tigers
3rd Hidden Dragons

Summer Course 2008

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 22:22:01 +0100

This year the Summer Course was in Scarborough, from the 25^th July till the 2^nd August. It was a very successful course with around 100 people attending in total including 8 from Stafford. The Summer Course is a long standing annual event in the Lau-Gar calendar as it has been running for 32 years now. It has been held in many different places across the country including Tenby, Torquay, St. Andrews and Llandudno; however the majority have been in Scarborough.

The timetable of each day started with a run bright and early at 7.00 a.m. (don�t let that put you off if you haven�t been before). The distance of each run gradually increased each day starting from around 2 miles and increasing to approximately 5. Some of the braver runners did even more if they felt they had the energy. The first day involved running up to the South Cliff car-park which had an extremely steep hill to get up to it. The theme of uphill running continued throughout the week as the route progressed to going up Oliver�s Mount, looping around it and then coming back down. As you can imagine many locals were probably woken up and scared by what would have felt like an eternity of runners going past their doors at seven in the morning! The run was organised by Stafford�s very own Paul Sabin and he created his own marker system to guide people around the run involving happy volunteers wearing stunning, bright yellow t-shirts with a number on their backs. The last run was the biggest and most gruelling of them all and to congratulate and show support to each other every runner was clapped in as they finished.

After a quick breakfast the training started at 10.00 and went on till 2.00. The session started off with warm-up exercises and then was followed by movements lead by Morag Quirk. The first was the 8 brocades, also known as �Bac Durn Gum�, which is a series of eight exercises to improve health and internal strength. The next was a yoga exercise called �Salute to the Sun�. This involves a sequence of movements from different yoga positions; - upwards/downwards facing dog, plank and warrior. Next was stance training, which many of you might recognise some of them from the Lau-Gar sets. The stances included horse riding, hanging and bow and arrow. They are designed to improve balance, posture and strengthen the legs and as many may know they hurt a lot after the morning run! At approximately 11.00 we moved on to learning about the 8 powers and 16 techniques with John Russell. These movements form the basis for the vast majority of everything we do in Lau-Gar and we were learning their applications, variations and their Chinese names. We were also given the freedom to play around with different techniques and by the end of the week pairs of students did demos of at least 5 different movements in front of the whole class. After that was the syllabus hour, which is very similar to what we do on a Wednesday night. Students were separated out into groups of the same grades and taught by a different black sash instructor each day, coming from clubs all across the country. At the end of this hour we did stretches and kicking combinations with Andrew Nation followed by various walking techniques with Keith Thomas. Then we did lots of the world famous Shaolin Temple stamps exercise. Finally we ended the session with Jarm Jong meditation which involved focusing on developing energy/chi circulation in different standing positions.

At the end of all the running and training each day many of us went back to our accommodations for lots of food and sleep. But there were also organised events on some of the evenings. On each Summer Course there is a Wednesday evening barbeque, which is organised by different club representatives every year. This year�s turn was the Irish group who did a very good job in ordering the food, taking the money and cooking the meals. The barbeque was at Seamer Campsite, just outside Scarborough town centre. Everyone who attends always enjoys it and obviously a few beverages are normally consumed!

Speaking of drinking, on the Friday evening of each year there is an end of the week celebration to mark the end of another Summer Course. This time it was at the Villa Esplanade Bar, funnily enough it is situated along the Scarborough Esplanade. Some people stayed out later than others (not naming names!) but some went back to sleep for the last day of training on the Saturday morning. There was no run on the last day and the training is always shorter to give time for packing and the presentations. Everybody who attended received a certificate and students from beginners to orange sash also progressed to the next grade. Everybody claps each other as they go up to collect their certificates from Master Yau to show support for each other for what they have achieved.

Before I finish I have to mention that on the Tuesday night a few people from the Stafford group took part in a pub quiz at a place called The Cask. Surprisingly enough we won, beating the locals and the Scottish posse! We may have been the biggest team by far but who cares!

Seriously though the Summer Course is a brilliant week as you work hard, learn a lot and enjoy yourself. Hopefully next year there will be some new faces attending to join in with the regular die-hards.

Next year's summer course will be based around the Lau Gar Two Man Form, so book your hotel now.

This year Stafford had a good turn out at the summer course and we even adopted a member for the week in the form of Gabby .

The Stafford Lau Gar posse pose with Master Yau
(left to right: Alec, Gil, Gabby, Ben, Master Yau, Jason, Alan, Gary and Pete)

Words: Jason Hornby
Picture: Pete Hornby