Past Events

China Trip 2006

In October 2006, Chief Instructor Darren Trottman trained with Shaking White Crane master YouXiang Lin in the Fujian Province in China. Click on the image below for more pictures of his trip.

Kungfu Camp Cornwall 2006

A Diary of Our Adventures, by Shane O’Connor

The participants:
Darren, Heather, Matt, Shash, Ed, Mark, Nick, Shane, John, David, Tina, Henry, Jake, Jason, Mike and Elvis.

DAY 1

Got up at 4:30am for the drive to Cornwall with Shash, Henry and John behind the wheel. It was a lot of fun driving down but it took almost nine hours to get to the campsite compared to everyone else’s seven! As I am writing this I have decided to divert the blame onto John, as he suggested taking the ‘shorter’ route to Cornwall through some back roads to avoid the congestion and with the possibility of getting there first. As you can see by my illustration (below) all this did was take us south towards Portsmouth, following signs for the ferry to the Isle of Wight!

When we did eventually get there we were, of course, last. For our slow journey time, we also have to take into consideration the fact that we were driving a very large van packed to the rafters with everyone’s tenting equipment. This meant we never went faster then 70mph, and that was only reached by going downhill!

Once we unloaded our tenting equipment, we tried in vain to put our tents up in the 250mph Cornish winds. These were eventually secured with the addition of as many guy ropes as possible.

When we got settled, Darren and Neil gathered us around (15 students from our group & 25 from Neil’s,) to briefly discuss the coming week’s activities. This was followed by our first class, held by Neil, on Sticking Hands. This is a relatively simple action of using your wrists, arms and hips and literally sticking to your opponent, trying to anticipate their every move. As Neil put it: “To open and close each door, attack and defend.” Neil also stated the importance of constantly changing your routine and not remaining in a fixed position, but to mix it up and put your opponent off guard.

Darren also focused on the same principle of Sticking Hands, but with more emphasis on the importance of grounding and sinking your lower body to give you greater stability and balanced posture. This allowed us to easily absorb the opponent’s energy when they entered and to revert that energy into an opposing strike. Darren also got us to try it with our eyes closed and remarkably this works really well, by just feeling your opponent’s movements. This gave me a real understanding how each part of my body was working together. Sticking Hands to me was about gently sticking to your opponent’s hands, just flowing into each movement, adjusting your body to each attack and striking almost subconsciously. This proved to be a great way of anticipating your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. It was also a way for us to interact with the other club, as we were two different clubs with similar styles. In total this session lasted about two hours and proved to be a great opening to the camp.

That evening we had a BBQ cooked under the watchful eye of Brian the South African (as he was known), all washed down with a few alcoholic beverages and a quick trip to the Stroppy (I’ll only smile if I have to) pub in the campsite. By 11:30pm everyone was exhausted and headed for bed.

DAY 2

Woke up at 9am, went for a swim after a wonderful nights sleep, caught a few rays and had the best breakfast I have ever had….hold on a minute that was just a dream!! It was absolutely freezing last night with the wind howling and the rain coming down like it was from some sort of hydraulic propulsion system hammering the tent with each drop. At one point I thought the tent was going to re-pitch itself in another field with me in it! I must have woken up twenty times during the night, with what must have been an accumulative total of 4 hours sleep.

To begin with, our first Taichi exercises started at 8am sharpish, with Darren in a field close to our tent site. This involved some simple abdominal breathing exercises with our eyes closed, allowing us to completely relax and let our minds drift into a state of comfort in our new surroundings. One of the more impressive exercises for me was the Folding Crane. This involved sitting in low horse stance position, relaxing and allowing your arms (wings) to come out and around your body by bending your knees and spine, then rising puffing your chest out with your wings expanded.

Neil focused on the first six of the fourteen secretive Da Mo exercises. Without divulging their secrets, I can only say that although it was absolutely freezing outside, these exercises gave me an incredible sense of warmth and inner relaxation, ready for the day ahead.

After Da Mo and Taichi we went to the ‘Inbred’ café to be treated to a wonderful cooked breakfast, the only problem was that it took two hours to arrive and when it did, it had BEANS which I hate with a passion. I regard beans the same way most people regard cockroaches.

At midday we went to the beach for a few hours and worked on our patterns under the watchful eyes of Darren and Neil. As everyone was on various levels both instructors gave individual guidance on how to perform each pattern to the best of our abilities. Towards the end Darren asked that we revert to the first pattern to iron out the basic principles like breathing and thrusting before we continue with our own individual patterns. After all, how can you work on your third or fourth pattern when your basic principles are not correct in your first?!

That evening Darren ran a beginners class on Taichi for an hour while Neil took the more advanced class. As I have never had a Taichi class before this proved to be more difficult than I had anticipated, certainly more difficult then Kungfu as the moves are so much slower. We began with the First Salute to the Sun, which is the first move in Shuang Yang. Darren also explained some of the theories behind Shuang Yang, like how the body has three pyramids.

I found these exercises very relaxing yet difficult as they show how flexible you need to be.

After Shuang Yang we had another Brian SA BBQ, followed by another short trip to the pub.

Training on the beach

DAY 3

Woke up at 7am this morning and went for a 30 minute run down some very unsuspecting hills. At 8am we began with some Shuang Yang exercises with Darren. This involved The Sun Salutation with plenty of stretching exercises of the upper and lower body. Again we were focusing on how our diaphragm works, by breathing in through your nose with the tongue on the upper jaw, expanding your stomach and taking the air up to your chest, followed by breathing out through your mouth with the tongue on the lower level of your mouth and you stomach tucked in. This allows your diaphragm to work like a drum and should be used in all patterns and exercises to gain an efficient breathing system. Although I had warmed up after my run, Darren’s exercises made me very relaxed and loose, eagerly anticipating the next exercises.

Neil continued with the Da Mo exercises by channelling our energy though the first seven movements, and although these movements are not strenuous they made me warmer on the inside and more energetic on the outside. It also created strange yet positive static, almost like electric forces that seemed to channel through my body.

Afterwards we had breakfast and made our packed lunches.

In the afternoon we headed to the beach for a two-hour session with Neil on iron palm and iron shirt training. To begin with, Neil got us to prepare our bodies for what was about to come, through a series of exercises. One of these conditioning exercises was called Beating the Heavenly Drum, which was a more vigorous version of what Darren showed us in his Taichi exercises the day before. This time however, we allowed our bodies to completely relax with both arms allowed to hang while turning the waist briskly letting the arms hit the front and back of the body.

After about twenty minutes of these types of exercises we were ready! We paired up with a partner of roughly the same size (Jason in my case,) and basically helped condition each other’s bodies. One of the exercises involved your partner sitting in a low horse-stance with their arms above their heads while the other person firmly slaps the arms followed by a thrust to the abdominal area. Another exercise was alternate upper and lower blocks again with your partner and hitting with reasonable force. After ten minutes of this with Jason and his serrated arms I could not take any more!

Once we had finished the conditioning exercises we put on our wetsuits and headed to the sea for a surfing lesson. This was great fun but very difficult to master; I must have swallowed about five litres of water each time I got shoved under water and the waves were not even that big apparently! But it was worth it to see Darren in a wetsuit, I can tell you! He looked like the caped crusader but without the cape, very funny!

That evening Darren held a one hour class on upper crane blocks, stepping and side blocks. This was a great exercise to use the techniques we have learned through our patterns into an actual fighting situation. We again mixed it up by partnering someone from the other class to feel their strengths and weaknesses. Darren emphasised the importance of continuously remaining grounded by sinking low into your stance.

That evening we had another wonderful Brian SA/Jason BBQ, followed by a few games of pool and the odd beverage.

DAY 4

At 7:20am Darren and few of the boys decided to run with me this morning for twenty minutes. I’m not sure they would have been so keen if they had known how hilly it was! On the way back there was clothes all over the road due to Shash stripping off along various sections of the route (that’s what happens when you wear jeans, jacket and a jumper for running), it was like been followed by the invisible man!

This was followed with a one hour Taichi lesson with Darren, similar to yesterday’s on relaxing and breathing to calm us down. Neil took us afterwards on the first seven Da Mo exercises again but this time allowing them to flow into each other. These exercises really do warm you up and get you energised for the day ahead.

After Taichi we went for breakfast; this time we only had to wait for one hour. Not bad for a coffee and a bacon sandwich considering it probably took three minutes to make!

After breakfast we went to the beach for a few hours and were very fortunate to learn a new pattern called the Eighteen Sections, which was much more advanced than anything I had seen before. This is, I suspect, one of the perks of going on one of Darren’s camps as he shows a lot more than he normally would in a class. What I have learnt already would probably take six months back in Sutton, if you think about the amount of training we are doing. Learning this new pattern has been the highlight of the camp for me so far, and working with students much more advanced than me is a sure fire way for me to improve. Once Darren and Neil had showed us the pattern in various sections, they both showed us how they would perform it. Like Darren said: “Although our patterns may be slightly different the principles are exactly the same,” meaning that basically the fluidity from both instructors was identical.

After the pattern masterclass we went to Newquay for a few drinks and a shop with a few of the boys. Once we got back to base camp we went through our new pattern under the supervision of Darren and Neil. Darren also explained the pattern in more detail to give us a greater understanding of each move and the importance of remaining relaxed yet focused throughout.

That evening we had a Chinese takeaway as it was raining. Yes, that’s right, a Chinese takeaway for forty people. I daren’t think about how much it cost. I think they closed down after they took our order as Christmas must have come early this year! Once the food arrived it was like gannets fighting over the last remaining sprat, within minutes forty metal containers of food were completely empty! After the excitement we went back to the pub for another few beverages.

DAY 5

It rained pretty heavily last night yet my Tesco tent remains intact; although as I write this the front zip has come off but I guess that’s what you get for only £25!

At 8am Darren took us through some Taichi exercises again to warm us up. This time he focused on the importance of breathing and how we can transfer this principle into the Da Mo exercises afterwards. Although Darren had showed us this before I never got the benefits, obviously because I must have been performing it incorrectly! This time around I got the technique to work and got strange yet positive sensations in my abdominal area. After, Neil took us through all fourteen Da Mo exercises and this time I used the learning’s from Darren’s previous class to focus on the breathing and it made the exercises not only easer but also much more relaxing.

After training we went back to the ‘Inbred’ Café for breakfast and although Darren made us very relaxed and energised I felt like killing one of the staff if my breakfast took another hour to cook. I mean how difficult is it? It’s like each time an order comes in for a breakfast they have to think of a contingency plan, bullet pointing each action! I have noticed today that instead of precooking the sausages or bacon, as an example, they precook the toast so by the time we get it it’s suitable for tiling, Christ give me strength!! At least I sleep at night knowing that there is someone of lesser intelligence than myself, and in fact any mammal on the face of this planet.

This afternoon we went to Newquay to train for four hours solid this time. It was raining pretty solidly so Neil found a suitable shelter for us to train in. Neil began with Shuang Yang, mainly focusing on the first few moves of the pattern. What he made look very simple, was very difficult to master (not that I mastered it in any way!). Slowing down movements, as I have mentioned before, makes it very difficult to remain properly balanced and it takes time to get right. Darren followed this with Sticking Hands, again with plenty of stretching exercises.

We mixed it up again today by choosing different partners, punching alternately and using upper and lower crane blocks to attack the Four Points of Gold. Not only was this great fun but it was very beneficial, as Darren again explained in detail the functionality of each move so that we fully understood what it is that we were trying to achieve with each strike or block. One example is with the upper crane block; when deflecting a punch it should be a circular motion to deflect the punching arm away, it’s not ‘block’ like most people think.

Tonight was the big night out and I can tell you it was the best night out I have had in a long time without going into too much detail! I do feel it necessary to point out that Jason did attempt his new pattern on the dance floor with his top off again eh!! There were also the three musketeers (Ed, Mark and Nick) who got themselves intoxicated yet again! As a matter of fact I don’t think Nick ever sobered up from their first night out!

This evening everyone had to drink with their left hand as opposed to the right. That caught John off a few times, and before long he was comatose! It was either stop the game or get him pumped! I was safe as I had written the word ‘STOP!’ on the back of my right hand. There was also a rumour of skinny-dipping and a spoon trick that I just have to mention about as it was one of the highlights of the night. A certain individual decided to wear a t-shirt with a very offensive gesture printed on it, so Darren and Neil decided to play a little game on him. They suggested that they sit down opposite each other with a spoon in each of their mouths. The objective being that they take alternative attempts of trying to hit each other on the head with their spoon. The catch here was that Darren was behind the offender and each time the other player would try and hit him Darren would hit him unsuspectingly with another spoon. After several minutes of being treated like a boiled egg I think he had enough!!

DAY 6

I clearly had too much to drink last night as I woke up fully clothed, on top of my sleeping bag with the tent wide open. I think most people got home around 5am when training started at 9am!

When training did start everyone was in no state to do anything so obviously Darren and Neil took it easy with us. NOT! They made us run and jump all over the place for an hour, even attempting our patterns with someone on our backs until we did eventually wake up, how cruel are they? Once that bout of torture was finished we went to the ‘Inbred’ Café for the last time (thank god!), packed our tents up and headed for home.

This week has taken us on a journey into both Kungfu and Taichi that by far surpassed anything I have learned in a regular class. Both groups of students were great to be around and learned a great deal from each other. It also showed that as we are all different, Kung Fu can be tailored to our own needs so that we get the maximum benefits.

I thoroughly recommend future camps to anyone who wants to take Kung Fu seriously.

Southern Crane Kungfu Runs for Charity

Sunday, 4th September 2005

Members of the Sutton and Kingston Southern Crane Kungfu martial arts club have raised over £1500 for Cancer Research UK. Ten members of the club, including head instructor Darren Trottman, ran 10 kilometres around Hampton Court Palace and Home Park on Sunday 4 September in one of the charity’s yearly series of sponsored events.

Hot conditions on the day saw many runners failing to complete the run with dehydration problems. Yet all the Southern Crane Kungfu runners completed the course with good times, including five that ran last year for the charity around Leeds Castle beating their previous times. Trottman came in first this year at 46 minutes and 22 seconds, closely followed by student Nick Hogg, just 22 seconds later.

Trottman stated after the race: “We’ve done a great thing here today along with the hundreds of other runners that have taken part. We’ve raised money for a worthy cause, and we’ve made ourselves fitter into the bargain. Cancer Research UK is an excellent charity and we’re all proud to be supporting it.”

Next year, Southern Crane Kungfu will run again for Cancer Research UK. The club will also put a team together to take part in the gruelling London Duathlon that consists of a 10 kilometre run, a 20 kilometre bike ride and another five kilometre run. The event is being held for the first time this year on 18 September in Richmond Park, where club member and Hampton Court Palace runner, Luke Genower, will take part.