National Martial Arts Medal Haul

The Kuk Sool Won Martial Artists from Oxshott, Claygate and New Malden entered the National Championships on November 29th and won a total of 25 medals between them, putting them in the Top 10 performing clubs in the country.

The UK Championships in Birmingham attracted over four hundred competitors from more than sixty Kuk Sool Won clubs and all competitors had the opportunity to win medals in a variety of divisions. In Traditional Forms, the martial artists had to demonstrate memorised sequences of hand strikes, kicks and blocks in front of a panel of judges and in Techniques they demonstrated the effective application of self-defence techniques on a partner. They also competed against other opponents in bouts of sparring. Instructor James Barker also entered the sword, staff and wood breaking categories in the 3rd Dahn Black Belt Competition and officiated at the event.

There were four Gold medals achieved by James Barker, Ben Ingram, Phil Bowden and Rabb Bannister in Techniques and Sparring and a further ten silver, nine bronze and two copper (4th place) medals. Phil was close to winning a second Gold in Sparring but an injury in the final meant he had to settle for a Silver. The other competitors and medal winners were Vicki Gasston, Max Bowden, Stan Bannister, Tallulah Bowden and Alex Bowden.

Instructor James, who is also a qualified secondary school teacher, is amazed at how well all the students have done. He said, “There were a total of 29 medals available for the 9 competitors to win, and to get 25 was outstanding. This is by far the clubs best ever tournament success and a great stepping stone to build and improve upon in the future.”

The UK Championships had topped off a busy few weeks for the martial artists having already completed a Kick-A-Thon of thirty thousand kicks to raise over £450 for Children In Need, a grading for their next belt, a special class lead by the Masters of the art and Junior and Senior success in the Elmbridge Borough Sports Personality Awards.

If you interested in becoming a part of a successful forward looking martial arts club, please contact James on 07973 173893 or take a look at the website (www.kswonm.co.uk).

Love and Honor (Takuya Kimura, Rei Dan)

Date: 12 December 2008 ~15 January 2009
Venue: The Institute of Contemporary Art, The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH
Tel: 020 7930 3647
Web site: http://www.ica.org.uk/

Growing tired of his menial job tasting the Shogun's meals for poison, Shinnojo Mimura (Takuya Kimura) dreams of opening a dojo for children. His hopes are dashed however, after some incorrectly prepared shellfish robs him of his sight. Aghast at becoming an invalid of no use to society, Shinnojo falls into a deep dark depression, straining relations with his loving wife Kayo (Rei Dan). In a misguided attempt to save her husband, Kayo commits the ultimate betrayal – an act that will eventually lead to the blind Shinnojo battling for her honour against a master swordsman. Yamada's two previous samurai movies (The Twilight Samurai and The Hidden Blade) followed a very similar structure, and fans of those two may feel pangs of both nostalgia and repetition on viewing this latest effort. All three have seen down-on-their-luck, low level samurai forced into emotional realisations and deadly life-or-death battles. The two previous pictures, particularly Twilight, spent time expertly building tension towards the inevitable katana showdown. However, for this final effort Yamada has dialled back the focus on steel meeting steel, to concentrate instead on the inner turmoil of the central character.

Fresh faced Takuya Kimura (well known as a pop star in Japan) is the man tasked with conveying this turmoil, and his efforts are mesmerising. When we first meet him, he is a jovial husband; bored with his job, but supremely comfortable with his lot. His disastrous accident sees him transform: a stoic existential funk peppered with episodes of ghoulish rage, eventually galvanizing into a resolute force of furious anger. While the narrative may not be as gripping as previous instalments, Kimura's towering performance will keep you engaged throughout the two-hour running time. Issues of inter-caste relationships and the intricacies of the strict 19th Century feudal system are not explored in as much depth in Love and Honour as they were in its prequels, but the backdrop is still fascinatingly alien, without being inaccessible. Yamada's mastery of his craft is most often on show in the little touches that bring the setting to life. The clink of bowls and kettles, and a healthy dose of reverential bowing help build a tapestry that feels wholly unfamiliar to Western audiences, yet totally complete. Love and Honour might not reach the heights that the fabulous Twilight Samurai scaled, but its absorbing otherworldliness and an excellent central performance are certainly enough to make it a worthy finale to the trilogy.

Written by Joseph Ewens