Masters Seminar 2005
MAAS Masters Seminar 2005
On Sunday, 13th February at Bishop David Brown School in Sheerwater, Surrey a unique Seminar took place. Martial artists from all over the world gathered to take part in the MAAS and Spirit Combat Gathering of the Masters.
Top Masters from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern & Southern Ireland were joined by others from New York, Jordan, India, Canada, Malta.
The previous night had seen a hugely successful Dinner take place, to celebrate the 65th Birthday and official Retirement Party for Soke Brian Dossett, 10th Dan and Founder of Spirit Combat International.
Soke Dossett had used the two events to see how his organisation would cope once he begins to let go of the reins. His Officers didn’t let him down, and he certainly wasn’t disappointed. Many previous students from the 60’s and 70’s were amongst over 300 guests present, to celebrate the ocassion. The venue was large, the logistics were tricky and it all went like a dream!
The partying went on well into the night and there was some concern that there might be a few sore heads and funny tummies, not quite ready for the following day’s activities. But there was no need for concern, because by 10 o’clock on the Sunday morning, the hall was buzzing and filled with over 110 martial artists, raring to go and excited at the prospect of training under their International Kanchos and visiting Masters
The event started with young Andrew Hawkins, a Spirit Combat Junior Coach, warming up the room full of eager martial artists, representing students, instructors and Masters from all over the world, of all age groups and of all styles. This truly was a Martial Arts All Styles event!
Kancho Garry Wilson from Scotland was first up. As a multiple time
kick boxing champion it was only natural for him to demonstrate some
kick boxing techniques. He started of by taking us through a simple
jab, cross , block and parry drill to get us in the mood. He added
to this with an uppercut then a hook.
Once we had got the hang of this Garry added a few takedowns for the Jujitsu men among us. He ended the session by allowing one of his assistants, Raymond McAloon, to take charge of the mat and Raymond taught us to combine the kick boxing with some other Combat Jitsu techniques.
Kancho Mike Caffrey of Vancouver, Canada was next on the mat. This time we were all treated to a lesson in the use of pressure points. This was a straightforward technical breakdown of how pressure points affect the body and how to use some simple techniques to enhance what we already know and use all the time in our martial arts. Mike demonstrated set-up techniques and the use of multiple-point manipulation to increase the effectiveness of pressure point hits. He showed us how we overlook simple things in our training, such as using the nose to control an attacker from behind and the use of pressure points to drain the energy from parts of the body rather than having to use excessive force.
Kancho Bill Cox, the England Kancho was next on the mat, and he had
a point to make. That point - “consequence”. He started
his demonstration of self defence with a poignant look at the consequences
of our actions. He reminded us all that just because we are martial
artists does not mean we are above the law and that the use of martial
arts on the street in a self defence situation could still land us
in jail. All our actions have a consequence and we should be prepared
for it.
Point made, he began by demonstrating the use of some of the basic
Spirit Combat forms in self defence. He moved these onto the mat for
a look at an interesting technique to deal with prospective rapists.
This one had the men wincing a little, but proved just how simple
self defence can be. With a no-nonsense approach to assessing the
situation and dealing with an attacker this was a raw look at the
reality of street defence.
Kancho Bill handed over to Soke Brian Dossett to exercise our minds rather than our bodies. He showed us a simple “dialogue of movement” involving one handed blocking of multiple punches. As the session progressed the movements became more and more complicated, including headlock escapes and counters. For a recently-retired 65 year old, his footwork was truly outstanding and took some following! He broke each of the dialogues down to their basics and then once we had got the hang of them, incorporated them into practical self defence methods.
Kancho Nikhil Trevedi of India cooled us all down with some yoga. It became evident from the start that cool-down was maybe a bit of an exaggeration. When the first demonstration involves the splits and nearly putting your foot behind your head, cool-down takes on a new meaning! After a few minutes of entertaining us with the more advanced yoga forms, he had us all stretching and relaxing happily for about 20 minutes. He finished the cool-down with a little bit of relaxation hypnosis. This was a great introduction to how yoga can benefit us in martial arts and in everyday health.
Finally we were all honoured to be given a demonstration of aikido from father and daughter duo, eight-year-old Amy and Jim Cockram. No one could fail to be impressed by the superb skill of Amy, who at such a young age put many of us oldies to shame! She went through a whole range of graceful (and technically very precise) moves, throwing her father around all over the place. Their harmony was an example to all and then Dad decided to get “aggressive” with young Ami. She was having none of it! If he wanted to play rough, then she was going to show that Aikido is not only a graceful martial art “partnership” between two martial artists - it is a superbly effective martial art. The way she bounced her father off the mat again and again was a delight to behold. Her style and pure “focus” on the mat was wonderful. If she is that good at eight, I shudder to think what she could be like as an adult martial artist.
Throughout the event there were several presentations, to the UK and overseas Kanchos and representatives as a gesture of thanks from the organisation for all of their hard work for the Association. Kancho Bill Cox was awarded his 8th Dan. Special guest Martin Rogers was honoured with his 9th Dan and made a heartfelt speech thanking Soke Brian Dossett for his support and friendship over the years and acknowledging the contribution that Soke has made to martial arts in this country and indeed around the world.
The event finally came to a close with everyone taking part in group photos with the Kanchos and Soke and vowing that this was such a success we should make sure we repeat it as soon as possible.
Our guests from India and Canada were lucky enough to have been able to train in private sessions with Soke in the weeks preceding the event and they had much to take away with them. They left behind an open invite for us to repeat the event in their country. All our International guests are keen for a MAAS, Spirit Combat International Masters event to take place in different countries in the coming years and the planning has already started!
Soke Brian Dossett may have retired from most of the day-to-day administration of MAAS and Spirit Combat, but it was very obvious on the day, by his demeanour and by his exuberance on the mat that he is going to be around for a long, long time, but in a changed capacity.
He continues as our Soke, as the head of house. He advises and leads by example. He continues to point us in the direction that he originally conceived back in the late 50’s. We might be the “wizz kids” with the computer, admin and office skills, but when we see a long shadow creeping over our computer keyboards we needn’t bother looking back over our shoulder. We know it’s our Soke, keeping us on track. We can now relax, knowing that our Soke can at last slow down and do what he has always wanted to do - to learn from those that he taught.
Click the image below to see the full group!!
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