Ogwen Bank, Wales - 2-5th May 2010
Above - Luton Lunatics
Peter Spanton's Ogwen Bank Course is one of the highlights of the Lunatic's calendar, more so this year as we believed that it would be our final opportunity to experience the wonders of the battlefield and to witness the hardest gradings imaginable. Our very own Enrico "Smack Boy" Puddu was to be considered for his 1 st Dan this year and needed to be on top form for the full 4 days.
Above - Afghan taking on a wookie!
Eleven Lunatics made the trek to North Wales on a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon, eager to get the 4 hour journey out of the way to get to the Clubhouse and meet up with old friends before the early start the next day. Personally, I travelled up with Jeff "The Chef" Archer - we stopped for the obligatory Burger King en route which, after being on an overly healthy diet for 2 months sent me on a bit of an E numbers high. but those moments were for Jeff's eyes and ears only!!
Above - John brushing Lee's teeth. With his shoe.
The first night we made our way to the clubhouse for a meal and to meet and greet the other clubs and old friends. It was great to catch up with everybody and really set a great mood for the next few days training. John ate his weight in steak, Jeff regaled stories of Ogwens past, Phil "The Full" English had his "back" up about something (see what I did there Phil?) and we all called in for an early night. all except Karen "Womble" Tomkins who was making the mission of a trip from Bournemouth to Ogwen - not to arrive until 1am!! Now that's dedication and shows the draw that this course can have.
Above - Karen kicking. A little too high arguably.
The morning battlefield sessions began at 7.30am each day with light stretching and some rather crazy group exercises - including "Club Squats" (each personal back to back in a circle, linked arms, doing full squats.), partner press-ups (pressing up on your partners knees whilst they lay on the floor with their legs outstretched - very painful) and horse stance squats for what seemed like hours. The warm up moved into the obligatory "light spar" which, depending upon your chosen level of difficulty you could choose to stay in with people of your own grade or move across in to, what is essentially a re-enactment of Gladiator. but swapping the tigers for sheep and geese.
Above - drills in the carpark
The Lunatic's carried themselves well every morning and got stuck straight in. My personal experience as a lower grade was to get straight into harm's way and meander into the death pit with the brown belts and Dan grades. Over the course I managed to collect no less than 38 bruises to my abdomen (yes. I was sad enough to count them) and one cracked rib. but that just added to the fun!!
Above - Lunatics Afghan, Ro, Phil "the Full" and Fiona
The first of the dojo sessions began daily at about 10.30am. These involved a short burst of techniques in lines and Kata practice in groups with others of your own grade. The highlight of the week was helping Darren "the Squeaky Marine" Russell, an Ogwen "virgin" pick up the first four Pinan Katas in just 4 days. An amazing effort and clear demonstration of the powers of Ogwen!! The Dan grades practiced Bunkai with Sensei Spanton overseeing us all and on hand to explain any mistakes that we were making.
Above - Jeff striking the HKK Chairman (courageous move)
The second session of the day usually started around 2pm and again covered Kata, but this time Sensei Spanton decided to use these sessions to work our minds by starting Katas in opposite directions, adding alternating level punches and kicks, adding extra movements and handing out the press-ups in high quantity! One of the highlights of Ogwen is watching the high Dan grades doing press-up penalties for Pinan Nidan!!
Above - Jeff slipping and falling. HKK Chairman there to help him back up.
Other personal highlights of the course include having my Gi being hidden and later discovering it attached to a street lamp. together with belt, tied to perfection. not once, not twice. but three times. you'd think I'd have learned. thanks to John. "the Bosh" Hurley for that.
Above - Afghan thinking he's big and clever
Also, watching our resident former Marine squeal like a baby under Sensei Hurley's vice like nipple-grip made the course that extra bit special!!
The course ended, as always with a "Final Blast" - and is one of the best parts of the course. The feeling cannot be described in words, and the description of the actions wouldn't don't do it justice. So let's just say we all left a part of ourselves in the dojo that day.
An hour or so after the course finished the dozen or so grading hopefuls were reduced down to the four that impressed Sensei Spanton and were allowed to have the honor to grade. The grading was the hardest I've witnessed and inspired those on looking in support with their power and passion. Unfortunately Enrico was not amongst the gradees, but can truly hold his head proudly after giving his all throughout the course and only narrowly missing the required standard.
Above - Fiona looking fresh after her bath
In the clubhouse that night Sensei Spanton presented his awards for the course, which included the below promotions for the Lunatics:
Karen Tomkins - 2nd Kyu - 2nd Class
A huge thank you to Sensei Spanton for running the course from all of the Luton Lunatics. We had a fantastic time and learned many new techniques to take back to our dojo. Roll on Ogwen 2011?!
Written By: Marc "Afghan" Lee Smith
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