Early on Friday 25th April 2008, we set off on our first trip as a Martial Arts Demo Team. A small detour to pick up a lawn mower from Fairford (Funny how age gets you excited about cylinder mower’s) and we were soon taking in the sights of London.By 2pm we were at the Excel centre and started unloading the van of all the equipment and kit.
A couple of hours later the stand was finished and looking great - time to relax with a few pints and a meal, before heading out to find our luxury 2 Star hotel in Kings Cross. Onto the DLR line and then on the tube, 2 easy stops then Kings Cross said Charlie, used to working and traveling in London. 7 tube changes and about 3 hours later, 7 knackered Martial Artists eventually arrived at the entrance of the Melville Hotel. Ok on the outside, but a little different to the brochure on the inside to say the least, but it was late and we were tired, so onto the rooms or was it cells! Stained carpets, the stench of rising damp, locks on every cupboard – definitely not as the brochure, but at £25 per night in London, what were we expecting, it was going to be the van initially, so a bed was a step up! Stop complaining and get some sleep. 3am and the sirens stopped, 5am all awake and waiting outside to get some breakfast as no one was going to eat in there! Onto the tube and off to Seni
We didn’t have too much time to settle on the stand before we were on, great feeling once the first one was over and a great response form the crowd. We performed 4 displays and a workshop over the 2 days and was particularly well received by the general public and experienced Martial Artists alike. Before the start of our last demo, we were all taken by surprise when Malcolm Martin (Seni Organiser) and a film crew came onto the mat to present us with the
DVD OF THE YEAR AWARD .An example of the reaction we had was that Ronnie Irani, ex-England Cricketer and now co-host of “Talk sport” watched our final display and immediately came over to congratulate us, saying how much he enjoyed it and that he wanted a DVD! 2 days on he mentioned us and the DVD live on national radio to 3 million listeners, a station where companies pay hundreds of thousands of pounds to advertise!! Unbelievably, this was our first Martial Arts show and first ever public demonstration outside of the regular clubs - A fantastic achievement and testament to the level and integrity of our senior instructors and students – This gives so much confidence in knowing we are on course for success and that we are an exciting and progressing organisation, providing a high level of service to the public.
We enjoyed the weekend so much, performing, meeting celebrities etc that we will be looking to take more students with us next year, including Junior and women’s sections. Thanks again to all our sponsors and help - If you would like to help sponsor us next year please let us know – it will be most appreciated.
