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Shaolin Kickboxing Club
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Shaolin Kickboxing Club is a community sports club based in the South East of England. It was founded in 2004 by Kingsley Morgan with the aim of bringing the skills and methods found in the ancient martial arts into the 21st Century. In addition to helping each of its students realise their potential Shaolin Kickboxing actively supports local communities by providing martial arts classes and demonstrations at a number of schools, youth clubs and community projects. History Legend has it that an Indian monk Bodhidharma (known as Da-mo in Chinese) came to a monastery called Shao Lin - which means 'little forest' around AD 500 where he noticed that the Shaolin monks were in poor physical health and became breathless very quickly when practicing or training. He took it upon himself to teach the monks exercises and breathing techniques to help them promote strength, fitness and well-being. These techniques were subsequently developed over the generations in the Shaolin Temple by the monks as a means of survival and by the Chinese military, and serve as the forerunner to all other forms of martial arts. The modern style of Shaolin Kickboxing is proud of its tradition, which in addition to its Chinese Kung Fu and Wu Shu roots contains perfected elements of Tae Kwon Do and Muay Thai, (themselves influenced by their predecessors) and Grappling/Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and Western Boxing. As a result practitioners believe that Shaolin Kickboxing contains the most effective mix of self defence, fighting and physical fitness techniques available today. Training Training is mainly concerned with punching, kicking, kneeing and elbowing techniques, but also includes joint locks, blocking and throws. It also includes shadow boxing forms known as Paau Ch’ang Ch’eun which (roughly translated) means Panther’s long fist. While several instructors are skilled at ground fighting, the Club offers the option of taking either a traditional or a kickboxing syllabus root, both very practical for self defence and full contact competitions run by the Chief Instructor and Deputy Gerry Abram. Morgan has trained several of his students to fight in the ring. Two of these became British kickboxing middle weight and heavyweight champions respectively. Shaolin does not expect all of its students to want to fight in full contact competitions, but the option is there if they choose to, and if they have the skill and temperament to satisfy the Chief Instructor. Black belt holders also learn how to use traditional weapons, such as the broadsword, long staff, 3 Sectional Staff, Knife and Eskrima Sticks. All Instructors are approved by the Club’s Technical Committee and have received first aid training. Gradings Shaolin Kickboxing Club gradings consist of a shadow boxing form, compulsory movements, fixed sparring (blocks, locks, strikes and throws) and timed fitness test. After reaching 6th grade, candidates are also be tested on their free sparring (wearing gloves, shin pads and gum shield, along with a groin guard for men or a chest guard for women). The contact level increases until eventually full contact after 2nd grade (though contact up to that point is often dependent on the particular candidate; they may well reach heavy contact at earlier grading). To obtain a black belt, there is a destruction section (breaking bricks, tiles and wooden boards with punches, chops and kicks) with compulsory movements, multiple forms and considerably more free sparring, including a two-on-one. From 1st degree onwards, weapons become part of the syllabus. The main centre for grading is normally held in Elstree, Hertfordshire. The kickboxing syllabus does not include training in forms or fixed sparring, concentrating instead purely on bag work, skipping, conditioning, circuit training, fighting techniques, grappling, ring work and sparring. Ranks *8th Grade - Junior White Belt *7th Grade - Senior White Belt *6th Grade - Junior Blue Belt *5th Grade - Senior Blue Belt *4th Grade - Junior Red Belt *3rd Grade - Senior Red Belt *2nd Grade - Junior Brown Belt *1st Grade - Senior Brown Belt (black stripe) *First Degree (or higher) - Black Belt Status *Senior Master Status - 4th - 5th Degree Black Belt *Chief Instructor & Chief Examiner - Kingsley Morgan Classes Among others: *Edgware, Middlesex *Kenton, Middlesex *St Albans, Hertfordshire *Elstree, Hertfordshire *London *Hemel, Hertfordshire *Watford, Hertfordshire See Also *Chinese martial arts 
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