Trip of a Lifetime – Japan 2007

Chief Instructor  John Idle and Sensei’s Norman and Brenda Hudson have just returned from a tour of Japan with 22 people from the Masters of Martial Arts Clubs from Accrington. The trip was put together by a specialist  travel company, Audley, to the itinery of Sensei Martin Dixon. We flew to Tokyo on the main island of Honchu and spent 3 days visiting various Budhist and Shinto Temples and places of interest including the Imperial Palace Gardens (the actual palace is closed to the public). From there we travelled by coach to Hacone via Mount Fuji, and spent the day  in the area that is one of the most popular destinations in Japan for its beautiful mountain and lakes scenery. We had a cruise on Lake Ashi, a cable car ride, and at a Shinto shrine we visited, where there was a dojo that was used for Kyudo. We stayed overnight at the Kowaki –En hotel in Hacone, which had typical Japanese Hot Baths where the hot water was geothermally heated to a temperature of 40.3 degrees Centigrade, these hot springs are also an attraction of the area.We then flew South to the island of Okinawa  where we had 3 days, during the day we had nothing planned, to give everyone chance to relax and visit the beach to generally chill out. The 2 evenings we  trained under Akamini Sesei and some of his Senior Instructors. The first of which was held at the Budokan Centre where all Martial Arts are practiced, and most tournaments are held. It is a municipal building which has many rooms/dojos which people hire for their respective Martial Arts, and as in our case we shared our room with a Kick Boxing Club, whilst on the same evening other rooms had Sumo and Kendo training taking place, a truly multi style concept that was most impressive. We were instructed in the use of Bo’s, Sai’s, and Nunchaku’s and given demonstrations of these plus Kama and  the short Spear and Shield. After training we retired to a local restaurant with Akamini Sensei and his Instructors for a typical Japanese meal and lots of beer to keep our fluid levels high! The second evening we went to Akamini Sensei’s dojo which is the HQ (Hombu Dojo) is the Hombu for the "Ryukyu Kobudo Hozon Shinko Kai/Shorinryu Kyokai Shinbu Kan and again had instruction in Bo, Sai, and Nunchaku. We then flew back to the main island of Honchu to Osaka where we were taken to our hotel in Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan, for our last 4 days.  The next day we visited the Imperial Palace gardens, the Golden Pavillion, several more temples and a shop that manufactures Kimono’s, where there was a show of silk kimonos. The following day we took the Shinkansen – Bullet Train, to Himeji to visit the Castle and gardens which is famous from the Edo Period when Kyoto was the capital of Japan. The final two days were left for people to decide what else they wanted to see as Osaka and Nara were quite close, or to do their final shopping. We then flew back from Kansai airport in Osaka to London Heathrow and home to finish what was truly ‘the Holiday of a lifetime’.

All three of us would like to thank Sensei Martin Dixon for offering us the chance to join their group, and to Janice Angotti who spent countless hours co-ordinating all the arrangements and relaying all information to everyone.

Academy Annual Course-2006 – Lowestoft


This year the Academy Annual Course and Competitions were held in Lowestoft, organised by the East Anglian Martial Arts Group under Chief Instructor Chris Clutten. Chris and his team did a wonderful job of organising the weekend which started on Friday night at the Hatfield hotel with a meeting of the senior Grades of the Academy for general discussions about Academy business. Saturday saw the Course being officially opened by the Mayor of Lowestoft who stayed to watch various demonstrations given by Senior instructors from various member clubs. Then followed the morning session of training under various Senior Instructors, after a Lunch break the afternoon session continued. Throughout the day there was an option for brown and black belt students to have sword instruction under Senseiis Richard Asbery and John Idle.
After lunch Sensei John Idle and Sensei Norman Hudson were put through a rigorous grading by Sensei James Pape 8th Dans Chief Coach of the BJJA(GB) and Sensei Paul Geohegan 8th Dan, in all aspects ofJujitsu, Katas, and Weapons which included Sword, Bo, Knife, Jo and Hojo Jutsu. At the end of the Course the two Instructors were confirmed as 6th Dans.
The day ended at about 3.30pm for everyone to go and prepare for the Evening Buffet and Disco which was held at the Hatfield Hotel. Presentations were made before the Buffet to Senior Instructors by Chris Clutten, and Senseiis Idle and Hudson were presented with their Grading Certificates. Everyone enjoyed the buffet and disco which rounded off the day perfectly.
Competitons started on Sunday at 10.30 am with the Juniors and after lunch the senior competitions got under way, Medals were presented to winning students throughout the day to mimimise the wait at the end of the day, so as to let competitiors and spectators to leave as early as possible as most faced long journies home.
This was another very successful weekend for the Academy, and much praise is due to Chris Clutten and his students for the way the whole weekend was organised and carried out as we know from last year the effort and commitment required to host this event.
Bushido Jujitsu Barnoldswick had a successful weekend with
Lee Bowers - Gold Medal Winner in Senior Mens Sparring,
Ian Summersgill - Bronze Medal Winner in Senior Mens Ground Fighting,
Rebecca Bowers - Double Gold medal winner in both Sparring and Ground Fighting,
Lee Bowers was awarded the prestigious Charles Almark sheild as Best Overall Male competitor
Rebecca Bowers - awarded the Shield for best junior competitor overall.

Bushido Academy Course-2005 – Barnoldswick

This years Academy Course and Competitions were held at Barnoldswick on the 8th & 9th October. Everyone gathered on Friday evening at the Stone Trough Hotel where most of the guests were staying. A meeting of the Senior Instructors and club Instructors was held to discuss Academy business.

Saturday was Course day and it had been decided to revert to the old format of a full day’s course followed by Competitions on the Sunday. Everyone arrived by 10.30am and assembled on the mats to await the official opening by the Mayor of Pendle, then followed a series of excellent demonstrations by Senior Instructors of the Academy.
The Course then began. There were five mats in total, four of which were attended by an Academy instructor from a selected pool of senior Dan grades; namely:

· Paul Geoghegan – 8th Dan – Liverpool, England.
· Norman Hudson – 5th Dan – Brittany, France.
· Tony Joaquin – 5th Dan – Gibralter.
· Dave Bushell – 5th Dan – Wilmslow, England.
· Chris Clutten – 5th Dan – East Anglia, England.
· Phil Atkinson – 5th Dan – Barnoldswick, England.
· Richard Asbery – 5th Dan – Barnoldswick, England.
· Barry McGinnis – 4th Dan – Halifax, England.
· Trevor Brown – 4th Dan – Halifax, England.
· Phil Rhodes – 4th Dan – Chester, England.
· Andy Walker – 3rd Dan – Poole, England.

The fifth mat was retained as a ‘specialist training’ mat and featured instructors from a diverse range of martial arts related subjects including: Wado Ryu Karate – taught by Barnoldswick’s Billy Clarke; Escrima and Phillipino Knife fighting – taught by Huddersfield man Nigel Brown; and strength training by local Britain & World strongest Man contender Lee Bowers. The day ended with everyone having met and trained under all the Instructors and ready for the following days Competitions.

Congratulations go to the following people who were graded on the day in our dojo at Earby by Sensei James Pape 8th Dan, BJJA(GB) National Coach

· Richard Asbery to 5th dan Master (Bushido Barnoldswick)
· Robert Rebanks to 4th dan (Bushido Barnoldswick)
· Eric Kenyon to 4th Dan (Bushido Barnoldswick)
· Dylan Bocharisa to 2nd dan (Gibralter Bushido)
· Charlene Llewellyn to 2nd Dan (Poole bushido

Richard Asbery and Robert Rebanks were singled out for special praise for the quality of their performance on the day.

Also, congratulations go to Bart O’Mara (a student of Chris Henry) who was graded to Brown Belt by Senseis Norman Hudson 5th Dan and Tony Joaquin 5th Dan.

In the evening a meal was served at the Stone Trough followed by a disco and live music by local man Jason Nichol who entertained everyone with his singing and guitar playing.

Sunday’s competition saw some excellent fights between some very determined participants. Some of the junior contests were particularly good. There was one memorable senior ground fighting contest between the aforementioned local strongman Lee Bowers, and North Wales’ Guy Gartery. Lee won but Guy put up a colossal effort and pushed him all the way – great stuff!

There were some team demonstrations and whilst these were not perhaps Ju- Jitsu in its purest form they were entertaining nonetheless. There were also some fine displays of kata in that particular section.

It was a long day for everyone but it was very successful and ended at 16.15pm. Medals were presented at various times during the day to allow winners to collect their awards and leave if they wished to.

Sensei Idle wishes to thank ALL referees, judges, timekeepers, dressers and scribes for their efforts, with special thanks to referees Rob Rebanks, Andy Walker and Stuart Warburton for their firm and decisive refereeing – a must at any competition! Also worthy of mention was the team of ‘behind the scenes ‘ helpers, all of whom made the day possible.

Our thanks to the St. John Ambulance first-aiders who attended on competition day and did a tremendous job, luckily no serious injuries occurred but cuts, sprains and bruises and some sore limbs were taken care of efficiently. We made a donation to their association from the proceeds of the event.

Finally our thanks to the Manager and his Staff of the West Craven Sports Centre for their preparation of the venue and help in making this a memorable occasion for the Association, our Club and the town of Barnoldswick.

Next years Bushido Academy course is to be hosted by Chris Clutten’s East Anglia Bushido Club, we wish him well and will be there in numbers to support him. We urge all Academy members to do the same!

          click on link below or picture to see medal winners