LYMINGTON
LYMINGTON HEALTH & LEISURE
NORTH STREET
LYMINGTON
SO41 8ZG
WEDNESDAYS AND FRIDAYS AT 7.30 PM
BEGINNERS AND VISITORS WELCOME
Classes are held in a vibrant atmosphere where students benefit from some of the highest quality tuition available in the UK today.
Disciplines
BUDOKAN KARATE - SHUKUKAIRYU
BUDOKAN AIKIDO - TRADITIONAL
BUDOKAN IAIDO - MUSOSHINDENRYU
ZEN - SOTO
Technical Director
DAVID PASSMORE 7 DAN KYOSHI
Chief Instructor
MIKE CLAPHAM 5 DAN SHIHAN
Dojo Leaders
TOBY MELLOWS 4 DAN SHIDOIN
STEVE HEAD 3 DAN SHIDOIN
PAUL FLOYD 3 DAN SHIDOIN
TAKE A LOOK AT SOME OF THESE VIDEO TO GET A GOOD SNAPSHOT OF WHAT BUDOKAN TEACHES AND PRACTICES IN KARATE AIKIDO IAIDO AND THE PRACTICE OF ZEN.
MIKE CLAPHAM
I started my training in karate in 1973 aged sixteen. The Dojo was in the basement of a hotel that overlooked the Southampton water. The style was Kyushindo which is a philosophy developed by budo master Kenshiro Abbe. My teacher was a gentleman by the name of Ray Wood senior coach for the Southampton area. After four years l was graded to black belt by Kyushindo ‘a chief instructor George Mayo. Unlike most systems Kyushindo graded you first to black belt and then shodan nidan and so on. A couple of years after receiving my black belt I was graded to Shodan. In 1982 whilst working at Fawley Power Station l opened a dojo which was well attended by some of my colleagues and their friends and family members. In 1983 l was graded to Nidan. During the next nine years l also opened a dojo in a local sports centre. In 1992 l was made redundant and became a driving instructor, due to the unsociable working hours it forced a break in my training.
In 2004 l was introduced by a good freind to Kyoshi David Passmore who had recently opened a dojo at a hotel in Brockenhurst in the New Forest teaching Budokan. Due to my prolonged absence from training l was happy to don a white belt and start my new martial art journey from scratch, as not only was l re visiting Karate but Sensei was also teaching Aikido and laido, and in a separate class we started the practice of Zazen (seated meditation) which is the cement that binds our martial arts together.
As the class at Brockenhurst started to expand Sensei moved to a larger premises at the Lymington sports centre. It was here that he awarded me my Shodan in 2008. Between 2011 and 2014 l attended four Open Traditional Japanese Budo workshops. Three at the university of Derby Buxton and one at Ardingly West Sussex. In 2017 as a third dan l was awarded the title of Shidoin. In December 2020 l was promoted to Godan and awarded the title of Shihan. I am currently the chief instructor of the Lymington Dojo.
Darren Waghorne with Irimi Nage
TRAINING VIDEOS OCTOBER 2022
Toby and Paull training in Ananko
Toby training in Pinan Godan.
Anyone spot the deliberate error?
Mike showing Pinan Sandan
Group Pinan Sandan
Mike training in Seisan
Paul training in Pinan Sandan
6 RULES FOR OIZUKI CHUDAN FROM SHIZEN DACHI HEIKO
Mike Clapham
5 Dan Karate
The Stance - Dachi
Stand with you feet together.
Keeping heels together open both feet out to 45º
Move both heels out square.
Open both feet out again to 45º
This is the Shizen Dachi Heiko stance.
Starting from the waist down.
First slightly splay the knees to put tension in the upper and lower leg muscles and to push the outer edges of your feet - the sokuto - into the floor using your ankles and also grip the floor with your toes.
This gives your punch a strong base to support it.
A strong punch without a good base will be ineffective.
The Fist - Seiken
You begin to do this by curling your fingers into your palm.
Start with your little finger first and then finally by wrapping your thumb across the index and middle fingers tightly because when you strike you want to be able hit with the first two knuckles of these fingers.
It is the little finger and the thumb that construct an ideal rock like fist that does not collapse upon impact.
(If your wrist is bent slightly upward or downward this will result in a weak punch and on contact, possible damage to your wrist)
The Posture - Shisei
Stand upright with your shoulders relaxed, bring your arms into the ready position at your side so the fists are facing palms up and level with your solar plexus and your arms are tight to the side of your body.
To prepare yourself extend your left arm out straight in front of you as if you've just punched.
Your palm should be facing downward horizontally aligned with your solar plexus and vertically with the midline of your body - your spine.
The Punch - Zuki
This is the form that you want to replicate with every punch you make.
In this position your first punch will be using the right arm positioned against your ribs in line with the solar plexus.
Sightly flick your right hip in an anti-clockwise direction which is the trigger that initiates the punch.
Immediately the hips move the punch follows extending your right arm in relaxed reflex action towards the outstretched left fist.
The palm remains facing upward for most of its projection.
As the punch is in its last 12 to 15cms you start to rotate it through 180 degrees to replace your left first which you now need to be pulling back very quickly so that both fists come to a stop at exactly the same time.
The fast pulling back of the left first gives added impetus and power to the punching right fist.
Breathing - Kokyu
Correct breathing is vital to a strong attack and to its intention.
Take a short breath into your lower abdomen before the punch and then expel the air so that your out breath and punch both stop at the same time. In the final second as your punch hits its target there should be tension from your toes up followed by immediate relaxation of the muscles whilst keeping the form of the movement.
Keep your mind focussed here and get ready for the next punch.
Common mistakes to be avoided:
Make sure you don't rotate your fist too early.
Make sure that the punch moves in a straight line from its start position to its finish position. This is done by making sure that as the arm is moving through its direction of travel it stays in contact and is not allowed to float away from your body distorting its aim.