Martial Arts - Kelowna

Long Time No Post

2005-01-26T13:07:00.000-08:00

Well I have had a medical lay off and I am now back to serious training in my kenpo.

I have been off for two months and started back last week - I am so sore and it is finaly coming back to me amaizing how rusty one can get without constant training.....

I will begin to journal again every Monday....

Cheers and train hard....

Mike

Kenpo Only

2004-08-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

Well I am writing this post with a heart divided - First off we have been doing TKD for three years now and are about to test for our blue belt. Which is alright however we have been doing a combination of both kickboxing and kenpo for the last 2 years as well - Kenpo for only the last 6 months.

Well there have been a few incidents happen in the last few months that will change our training path and are lives drastically and will do so for the next few months. We are quiting our TKD training and focusing in on our Kenpo Training for the following reasons......

1, My wife and I and my brother and his wife were out one evening playing a friendly game of pool at a local pub - when out of the blue a very large pyshotic ape decides that I have offended someone in the pub and demands that I apologize - the guy he said I offended is trying to tell him I never said anything bad to him. Anyhow long story short - ape takes a fighting stance which at first freaked me out - however everything from kenpo and kickboxing came flooding to mind instantly. I knew what to do and that was to get in as close as possible to avoid the apes meathooks - I was now a few inches away from his face when he muttered the words apoligze to which I said no - he then said it again to which I moved in even closer and said "I Said NO" - here's the life changing point in that instant his eyes averted from me and turned to my brother whom he now wanted a piece of - this guy was pysho and my brother is bigger than I am and much meaner looking - it was the total confidence - this guy and I knew that I was confident I was going to hurt him. Anyhow the bouncers stepped in and he was removed from the pub. He sat outside swearing up and down that he wanted to kill us - the bouncers later said that he has been in out of jail for assults and a lot of them on his wife - a real hero eh and he has been banned several times before and is now banned for life. The part that sticks in my mind is that when the rubber hit the road and I was in a very bad situation my kickboxing and kenpo training was all that came to mind - as we practice these situations in class.

As for TKD I could not even remember a thing except to kick him in the head - however I think a boot to this guys head would have just made him angrier. Not that TKD is bad we just our looking for good practicle self defense for our intire family at this point in our lives.

2, We are a family that goes to church and believes in Jesus and all that goes with this. When we started TKD we did not do a lot of bowing or man worship and at Kenpo we have none of that. However lately we are finding at TKD that we are being asked to do more of this and its beginning to bother us.

3, At kenpo we get up to 5 - 1 hour classes a week and one half hr private lesson for my wife and one half hr family lesson a week. Our TKD fall and winter schedule has changed drastically and we are limited now to only 2 days a week - one of which falls on our all sports night. So we only get 1 class with our rank belts and 1 class with the beginners.

So after 3 years of training we are quiting TKD - we are now focusing strickly on Kenpo - First time ever that we have only one martial art to focus on - which we are looking forward too. Our TKD instructor will be upset I'm sure of it but as the bible says and we are starting to see you can't serve 2 masters - so we have made a choice and now will seel out to this school and this style.

The Paynes

Im Back.....

2004-08-12T12:11:00.000-07:00

Well Im back I had a lite train on Monday at TKD and tonight will be my first full train in over a month.

We are starting in the white to green class so as not to aggrivate the ankle... if that holds I may do one more beginner class then back to regular training then back to regular postings....

Wahoo I have missed it soooo much and I have put on 5lbs which I now have to lose....

I will be attending a seminar by Grandmaster CK Choi in October - November details to follow.

CK Choi is one of the pioneers of taekwondo and the ITF.......

Well still no training

2004-08-04T10:10:00.000-07:00

I went back to one class of TKD and my other ankle swelled so it seems like I may be out for awhile - the Docs think it might be arthritis in my ankles - I hope not I really miss my training and the other students....

Will take it slowly and hopefully someday soon I will be back training in the sport I love so much.....

Take care

MikeP

Long Time No Train

2004-06-30T08:35:00.000-07:00

Well after our Hapkido training week-end we were involved in a 12 relay with Quest Martial Arts for the Okanagan Boys and Girls Club - After running several km in 7 hrs I blew out my calf and tried to run a few more laps ... end result blown calf and sprained ankle.

#1 rule of training I ignored - LISTEN TO YOUR BODY - I guess a few to many trips to beer gardens did not help haha

Anyhow I just came off my crutches and hope to be back doing light training over the next few weeks..... Will listen to my body and build strength in my knee and ankle slowly.... Will post again when I start back....

Enjoy the journey...

Be sure to visit
Quest Message Board

Hapkido - Complete

2004-06-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

Well we just finished up our Hapkido week-end and what a blast I learned so much in 4 hours and I now am aware of how much I have to work on my ground techniques.

We were very fortunate to have Master Jung come to Kelowna to share his knowledge with us. Be sure to visit the
Hapkido site http://www.worldhapkido.com to learn more about Hapkido.

It was great day and I got to meet a few Instructors from other parts of BC and struck up some great conversations and friendships. I look forward to putting a lot of what was shared on Saturday into practice and plan on spending quiet awhile going over each movement.

So thanks Master Jung and we hope to see you back in the Kelowna again soon.

Enjoy the journey....

Mike and Kellie Payne

BC Martial Arts

2004-06-09T09:32:00.000-07:00

Well we half way through our hard week of training - Kellie and I spoke and coming up in the next few months, for our summer holidays we will be going around to various communities in BC and train at different martial art schools for 1 or two classes and then move on.

We are really excited about it and will posting our adventures here.

We are Also in the middle of setting up and launching a website called findmartialarts.com we own the domain and I am just setting it up, hope to launch within the next few weeks.

We hope to use this to barter with the various schools in exchange for waiving the drop in fees, to help subsidise our trip.

Again we will keep you posted on the trip and the website.

Enjoy The Journey.
Mike & Kellie Payne

Exciting Week of Training

2004-06-07T08:53:00.000-07:00

Well today is the start of an exciting week of martial arts training. We have started a new schedule at Quest one that is geared for the summer and its much better for us in that it allows our whole family to train on the same days of the week. So we all train tonight in TKD then Tuesday is our Kenpo class at Avatar .

Wednesday is our off day...... I know slackers......

Thursday is our family all train day and then on Friday Kellie and I have Kenpo lesson - class.

On Saturday we have a 4 hour seminar on Hapkido - Hapkido principles, including Nak-Bup (basic break-falling), Tan-Jon (energy) breathing exercises, joint-lock and deflecting exercises, throwing, knife defences, pressure points, chokes, two-on-one defences and ground-work. A perfect way to round off a fun and exciting week of training.

In the next few weeks Kellie and I will be taking a 1 and a half class in Arnis Karate here in Kelowna I will br writing more on this in the next few days.

Cheers and enjoy the journey.....

Mike and Kellie Payne

Yahoo Yellow Belt in Kenpo

2004-06-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

Well Kellie and I tested on Friday May 28th for our Yellow belt in Kenpo - We are now working on Orange - Both Kellie and I are so thankful to both our Instructors and styles as we are beginning to incorporate more self defense into our TKD and Kenpo has sure given us a head start.

We are now working on a few of the areas that we were told we could improve in and are starting in on the new movements we have been showing in the last week.

Well now we will keep you up to date on our quest to blue we are hoping to test for our blue belt in Taekwondo by the end of July or August depending on how well we stick to our training in the Sunny Okanagan - as we live in the California of Canada and its sooooo hard to train when its hot and sunny and surrounded by lakes... I know none of you have trouble sticking to training hahaha - basic tenant of martial arts "honesty".

Till Next Week

Mike / Kellie Payne

Yahoo Hapkido

2004-05-17T21:16:00.000-07:00

Well we just finished a Monday night train at Quest (TKD ) and we are getting an opportunity to go to a Saturday Seminar taught by a Grand Master visiting the okanagan - So our Instructor is taking 10 of us to Westbank.

This is a day seminar in Hapkido - Hapkido principles, including Nak-Bup (basic break-falling), Tan-Jon (energy) breathing exercises, joint-lock and deflecting exercises, throwing, knife defences, pressure points, chokes, two-on-one defences and ground-work. And as always we will be reporting on the class.....

We are pumped up and are a little bit sad that we have to wait till June 12 to go - but I guess we have enough on our plate to keep us busy till then.

We test this Friday for our Yellow belt in Kenpo and hope to be ready to test for Blue Belt in TKD by late July or early August......

Keeping you up to date as always Mike and Kellie P

Enjoy the Journey

No Pressure

2004-05-17T20:51:00.000-07:00

Well our Saturday Pressure Point class went amazing we are of course very sore especially after having all the moves practiced on us - My wife and I are now pressing each others buttons and not in a good way LOL....

The class was very eye opening - we learned that one has to be extreamly careful and that as with most things in Kenpo - it is only to be used in major cases.

I think that is one of the most important reasons why Kellie and I enjoy the two styles - for if you get into a minor incident you can do extreamly well and get you point across without breaking the pesons limbs but if you need to the opition is available with kenpo.

Cheers take care and keep training.

Mike / Kellie Payne

Kenpo in Kelowna

2004-05-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

Well we were always curious about Kenpo since it was taught at the same school where we take kickboxing. Well after some research we relaized that taken Kickboxing and TKD were not as productive as we thought as both are in nature more or less sport fighting. We needed some full contact self defense under our belts and Kenpo is just the ticket.

After some discussion we started out in January as lowly white belts in Kenpo. Well I guess with 2 1/2 years TKD training and 1 year Kickboxing we were quickly moved to Yellow Belt ( front - side - turning and roundhouse kicks all pretty much the same).

We will be testing for Yellow belt on Friday May 21st - I will post the result here soon after.

We will also be attending a seminar on Saturday May 15th on pressure points and kenpo attacks - I will post some of the info from that as well.

Sometime in June we hope to drop in on a Judo class either here in Kelowna or in Penticton. Strickly for the fun of it as we are getting close to testing for blue in Tae KwonDo and we need to focus.

Here's a pic of our school.......

Kickboxing in Kelowna

2004-05-10T09:04:00.000-07:00

I went in to a self defense studio here in Kelowna called Avatar Self Defense to check out kickboxing that was a year ago - my wife and I have been going now for a year. Avatar offers a no holds barred approach to Kickboxing, kenpo and freestyle. Not a place for the faint of heart - Ian Kralt is a great teacher and forces you to dig deep each and every class.

Below is a picture of my wife and I sparring. Maybe thats why our marriage is doing well...LOL

Check out Avatar at http://www.kelownaselfdefense.com

Quest Martial Arts

2004-05-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

Monday May 10 / 2004

Well I train at Quest Martial Arts Academy for the last year and and a half and before that I trained at Rutland Family Tae-Kwon Do - Once I switched schools I noticed a huge difference in style and teaching as well as in attitude of the other students. This got me to thinking what the teaching and different styles would be like to experiment with - this blog will follow my training and experiences in differnet styles and studios that are located in Kelowna BC.

Here's a pic of our Tae-Kwondo school