Happy New Year

Best wishes to all my students for 2011. I hope we can now continue our growth for 2011 and move forward in a progressive and exciting fashion. I want to thank all of you for your support throughout the past year and especially the Directors of the Association Alan, Dan, Tony and Mick who have been a rock for me. I look forward to seeing you all again on 10th Jan and to get back to some serious training again after the winter break. Best wishes and good luck for 2011... Liam

Student of the Month Competition.

New for 2011 we are introducing a "Student of the Month" Competition. Each month a student will win this award. This award will be based on a number of things for example, it may be,dedication to training, or a vast improvement in skills, or the ability to help others develop in class, or by introducing new students to the Art etc.... Each month the winner will be posted on the blog. At end of Jan 2011 we will announce our first winner. Good Luck everyone !

What does it mean to wear a Black Belt by Tony Devey

These are my personal thoughts and I am sure are echoed by many. A Black Belt is not what’s around your waist but

!!!! WHO YOU ARE!!!!

Wearing a Black Belt means only that, it’s something you wear. However if your prepared to accept the responsibilities which comes with wearing one only then do you have the right to call yourself a Black Belt.

Some of the responsibilities are
You treat your teachers with the up most respect
You treat your fellow students with the up most respect
You treat the art you are learning with the up most respect
You treat your own students with the up most respect
You lead by example
You leave any form of ego in the past where it belongs
You create a tolerance and patience for those whom strive to get where you are
You continue to train to keep a standard which allows you to earn continued respect from your pears and students alike,
Remember a Black Belt is someone that should be looked up to by everyone and completely respected. You should also remember you have a great deal of power and authority this is something again you have to completely respect. If you’re this person then you have the right to call yourself a Black Belt.

I started Silat many years ago after some time I set myself a goal to step up and train as hard as I could to earn my belt. Its only when I finally got it makes me realise what it actually means to wear one. It’s the start of a new and exciting line of training most certainly not a time to sit back and relax. There’s a joy and pleasure of passing on your knowledge to others. I have been very fortunate in learning from my teacher not only the skills required to qualify but the etiquette needed to stand firm lead by example and earn not only his respect but that of fellow instructors and students.

Remember your Black Belt is only the start for who and what you are. It’s completely up to you, the effort you put in to reach that initial goal the pride and satisfaction has to be sustained and built upon.

Thank you for taking time to read this and I hope it helps your journey in some way.

A Christmas Message from Guru Liam (click photo below to start)

Bad Weather

ALL REMAINING CLASSES BEFORE XMAS ARE POSTPONE DUE TO THE SEVERE BAD WEATHER CLASSES RESUME AGAIN IN NEW YEAR

FMA - event raises €635.00

A great big thank you to all the students who came along yesterday to help raise €535 and a furthur €100 in late donations for the Alice in Wonderland Foundation. A big thanks to Noel Mc Hugh of Nickelstick Eskrima and John Hoey of Warriors Eskrima who also help by co - instructing at the event. And finally a Big Thanks to Firhouse Community and Sports Center for giving the use of their facilities for free.

Maha Guru Richard Crabbe de Bordes Seminar Report

When I first move down to Dublin, one of the first things I made a promise to do was to bring Guru Richard to Dublin. It took alot longer than I had hope, but after 12 years I finally made it happen. For me Guru Richard is one of a few Gurus who I have been blessed by being able to learn from and give me my love of Silat. Not only is Guru Richard a Warrior but also a teacher and man of great insight and depth both physically and spiritually. He is the essence of Silat!

The first experience my students had with Guru was when he made a guest appearance at the children's grading, where 75 kids performed and tested in silat and self defence techniques, covering harimau aspects. Shortly after the test Guru Baharu Paul and his daughter performed a father and daughter silat demo, which show how the connections that silat can bring when families train together. Guru than made a speech to the kids explaining the benefits of silat training in school and family life and that they were the future of silat in Ireland. Shortly after this Guru Richard did a autograph signing and photograph session. The evening was finish off by a small gathering of Guru's in the club, meeting for dinner in my house and been able to listen to Guru Richard in a informal meeting.

Saturday brought unfortunately bad weather, but despite that still just over 50 students attended the seminar from all over Ireland and even one person from America, and it was great to see old friends again. Guru Richard started the day off by teaching Auto response drills to most common street attacks, learning how to move off the center line, breaking and grappling techniques, harimau Elbow and Knee techniques. Guru Richard went into the deep understanding of how to use and overcome fear, and how harimau is the femine science of combat. Sunday was weapon day and despite all the bruises and sore limbs from the day before

students threw themselves into training, learning harimau knife defences and disarms against striking and retraction slashes, understanding the mentality of a knife attacker and how to deal with a knife if caught in the close range of grappling. At the end of the seminar Guru Richard presented certificates to all who train and completed the two days and was amazed at the strong silat presence in Ireland and said that for him "coming to Ireland was like coming home to silat" and that the students in our clubs could always depend on him for future support and help and he look forward to seeing them again in the near future when he returns to Ireland.

For me this was one of the best silat training weekends, I ever had and I want to thank Guru Richard for helping me not only in silat training, but also personally. The past 6 months have been the most difficult I ever had teaching silat. But people like Guru Richard and Guru Felix along with Dan, Alan, Tony and also my family, between you all you have been a rock for me and I would like to thank you all personally for helping me find the passion again. I'm proud of the way the kids performed and were amazing on Friday night and to see the joy and amazement in the students faces at the seminar, makes it all worthwhile. I hope to continue in my work, to bring to Ireland the best Instructors in the South East Asian Arts so you can experience then directly, and continue in my quest to develop Silat in Ireland.

what some of the students wrote about the seminar....

"Great days training, in bits myself fantastic seminar sweat rolling off everyone"... Alan

" Wow awesome days training I'm black and blue now but well worth it" ... Mick

" Thanks for brining Guru Richard over - what a great weekend !"... Dominic

" What a great weekend.. had such a great time.. many thanks to Guru Richard for sharing his wisdom with us"... Cormac

"I'm sore, bruised and in pain. But i've never felt so good. Thanks Guru Liam, for letting us meet and train with yet another world class instructor".. Mathis

"Excellent weekend seminar by Guru Richard De Bordes, I had an amazing 2 days and I may be sore! but it was worth every bruise. Cheers"... Dan

"Thank you Liam and Guru Richard, my daughter had an amazing night and never stop talking about getting her Yellow belt and meeting Guru Richard" ...Parent