International Budo Federation

British CombatSombo Association

Summer Camp August 2002

St Mary’s Bay, Dymchurch, Kent

Over the last few years the Summer Camp has not been the success it used to be, in its hey day Nobby Clarke who started the Camp in 1967 would have 4 weeks with a 150 on each week Times and fashion have changed since then, foreign holiday’s have become cheaper, other Martial Arts organisation’s have copied the same formulae, Martial Arts players are a lot softer today and they like their creature comforts. Dormitory accommodations are no longer very appealing yet this is the major thing that helps the bonding process and makes the course such a unique experience. In the past most IBF Dan grades would not consider themselves a full member of the IBF College of Black Belts until they had spent a week at St Mary’s Bay.

This year we tried a long weekend Friday till Monday for seniors and a separate weekend for Junior, we also cut the senior hours down to 10am till 1pm & 4pm till 7pm but making them very intense, in the old day we would run one and half hour lessons starting at 7am finishing at 9pm, all those preferred the more intense programme allowing them some time midday to sight see. The interesting thing was that all of them said a weekend was not enough. The atmosphere this year was really good with everyone wanting to come back next year.

Instructors on the Senior week were Martin Clarke 8^th Dan, Trevor Davies 6^th Dan, Dave Boulding 6^th Dan, John Clarke 4^th Dan and Alan Cain 3^rd Dan. Martin was not at his best and for the first time could not take part in the Annual Bash an hour of non stop wrestling/Judo contest, he is waiting to have a knee and hip replacement, one of the rewards for being a world class athlete. Trevor Davies is one of the UK’s leading experts on Ne-Waza his unique ways of controlling and gaining submissions on the ground amazed all those present, little Dave Boulding concentrated on throwing skills proving that with good technique a small man can throw a big one, John Clarke (Martin’s son) has taken over his mantle of being the expert on competition techniques, Alan Cain taught CombatSombo and Defendo (he had to travel to Canada to learn this art). Also on the course was Robert Agar-Hutton (Protectics) who gave a lecture on CONFLICT MANAGEMENT this proved to be a very interesting and thought provoking lecture?

Junior weekend was over the Bank Holiday Weekend once again the numbers were down but the atmosphere was great. Instructors were Dave Boulding 6^th Dan, Keith Costa 3^rd Dan and Miles Brown 1^st Dan. Keith was the main organiser of the weekend and he worked extremely hard keeping the youngsters active.

Since September 11^th (Twin Tower Terrorist Attack) insurance and air flights have raised massively, the introduction of the Euro on mainland Europe and more and more bureaucratic nonsense from the EU has made holiday’s abroad expensive. There will be a lot of people who will be looking for holidays in the UK and we expect some will want something a little different. At £150 for week at IBF Summer Camp there cannot be better value especially as the price includes dormitory accommodation, 3 meals and all tuition fees. This Summer Camp is certainly an adventure for both adults and juniors alike, in a time where we Europeans are getting soft and expect all the creature comforts i.e. individual rooms, luxury showers, TV in each room etc. You will not get this at Summer Camp, Dorms, Bunk Beds, Communal Showers, No TV and lots of hard work is the order of the day. Yet all of those who have attended will tell you they came away with a deep sense of satisfaction and achievement.

Next year we will return to a Full week with seniors and juniors working together, so if you want get a place book early as we have spaces for 30 juniors and 30 adults only. Coaches at next years event will be Martin Clarke 8^th Dan Judo/Sombo/CombatSombo/Jiu Jitsu, Dave Boulding 6^th Dan Judo/Kano Jiu Jitsu, Trevor Davies 6^th Dan Judo/Atemi Jutsu, John Clarke 4^th Dan Judo/Sombo, Keith Costa 3^rd Dan Judo/Kano Jiu Jitsu, Alan Cain 3^rd Dan Karate/Defendo/CombatSombo, Paul Sergeant 3^rdDan Karate, Professor Richard Bailey (Canterbury College) 3^rd Dan Kickboxing/Karate, certainly a quality week. Also next year we hope to have a 4-day training camp for Sombo Wrestlers it is hoped that we will get a grant for this venture, this will help fund the event as we wish to make the event free of charge to selected players, National Coach Tim Thomas will be in charge of training.

Summer Camp next year will be Sunday August 17^th – 24^th. For more information contact IBF/BCSA HQ, EastLeigh House, 118 East Street, Sittingbourne, Kent. ME10 4RX. Fax 01795 437124. E.Mail: Martin@Combatsombo.co.uk. www.martinclarkenews.co.uk

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