On Sunday 6 June 2010 9 members of CARISMA passed successufully their grading and were awarded a higher rank: 1 blue second, 1 green second, 1 green, 2 orange second, one orange and 3 yellow belts were awarded.

Congratulations to the individual members!

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Rebecca Strange, former member and instructor at CARISMA moved to Italy in 2007 after spending five years training and teaching with the club.

Rebecca, 32, managed to continue her training after moving to Milan and kept progressing in her skills until she was recently offered to fight in her first full bout that we won last Saturday 4 June.

Given her high standard of proficiency she was allowed to keep her original grade of 1st Kyu gained from CARISMA in 2006 and she also was offered to grade for her 1st Dan black belt that she completed over the same week end.

Rebecca was very happy for the results and she commented “I am obviously really pleased to have won my first fight here in Milan, particularly since my opponent put up a great fight. The black belt the following day was really the icing on the cake and something I have been looking forward to for a long time. However, the EU championships will be the really big test and I certainly have a lot of training to do before then!”.

Massimo Gaetani, Head Coach and founder of CARISMA added “I am very proud the complete recognition that one of our martial artist managed to receive in a different school and country: Rebecca was a promising student with lots of determination and natural talent when I first saw her in 2002 and I am delighted of her great achievements”.   Rebecca added “although I have been focussing my training more on the full-contact style recently, Massimo Gaetani and Chris Home from CARISMA take a very large part of the credit for having got me this far. No other club I’ve trained at seems to concentrate so much on the essential technical kicking skills.”

The whole of the CARISMA club will be happy to celebrate Rebecca’s achievement the very next time she’ll be visiting Cambridge that we hope will be soon.

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On Sunday 28 February 5 members of CARISMA successfully passed their grading: one orange second, one orange and 3 yellow belts were awarded.

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All fighters did a great job and offered a great show to the 180 spectators we had.  Here are the results:

Total points:
CARISMA: 7 win 1 draw = 7.5;

ARUKBC: 5 win, 1 draw = 5.5;

CUKBS: 1 win, 2 draws = 2;

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The first CARISMA Town vs. Gown that took place yesterday at the Manor Community College in Cambridge was a great success.  It surely exceeded my own expectations as well as the ones of all people that took part to it, among fighters, organisers or spectators.

It all started from a simple idea about offering the possibility for beginners and first timers to experience fighting in the ring while in a friendly environment.  I truly feel it could have not gone much better as we had:

• Over 170 people watching and supporting
• A great team of over a dozen organisers that ensured a smooth running of the event between door access, coaching, photography, presenting, DJ and entertainment and medical assistance that luckily was not needed.
• 29 fighters that delivered 15 top class fights and a great show: please notice that 18 of them were at their first fighting experience and 9 of them started training kickboxing in October 2009 with no previous experience in martial arts!

I did a lot of thinking during the last couple of days, between the amazing rush to get everything done on time and last night when I was as tired as if I took part in every single bout and yet I could not sleep because of the adrenaline released… Here are a few random considerations about the whole event:

• Although each fighter was a student of mine I was surprised about how competitive I felt for the person I was coaching: funny enough several times I found myself giving suggestions to the other fighter as well;
• Many of the spectators were members of the three clubs and several of them pointed out how great the whole thing was and how they could have not never seen themselves in the ring and fighting.  In many cases I replied: “if you want to you can do it, it’s just matter of planning it and training for it”.
• One of the greatest achievements of the whole day was having no accidents, giving no work at all to Soren, the medical officer who managed to even spend some time coaching some of the CUKBS fighters.
• The role of a coach is key for the good result of a fight because it offers an extra pair of eyes with a much broader vision as well as a fairly detached view of the fight, not (too much) affected by adrenaline and other chemicals;
• At the same time the role of the coach is highly facilitated by a fighter that can listen and simply put in practice the strategies suggested by the coach;
• Learning how to fight is part of learning kickboxing.  We usually invite people to sparring classes as soon as they are fit for it simply because techniques must be put in practice in a dynamic environment where your partner/opponent is no longer collaborating and helping you.  The next step is fighting in a competition, even a friendly one like this one brings you to the next level, fighting to win or be beaten and a lot of emotions kick in, some people can manage them well while for other it is just overwhelming.
• Managing energy across the fight is a skill to be learnt and put in practice. Most of yesterday’s fighters are regularly attending to sparring classes where every Monday we run 14-15 rounds of 2 and half minutes: nonetheless we saw energy simply running out for a few people.  Often it’s not due to lack of fitness but the emotional involvement in the fight that is draining up all energies.
• Behind a great organisation there is always a great management team: instructors and committee of CARISMA yesterday demonstrated this by ensuring the whole event running perfectly and covering all roles and tasks that were required.  Ditto for the committees of CUKBS and ARUKBC that offered help in key logistic areas.
• Although I am no stranger to public speaking it was the first time I felt at the centre of the show in the way I was yesterday: standing on a stage with a microphone and talking to so many spectators seems easy but it surely requires a bit of training and practice.  Using a well known slogan from a Mastercard advert: having my 6 years old daughter shouting “I am so proud of my dad: is famous because he is speaking on the stage” was absolutely priceless

I would like to thank, personally and on behalf of a very successful Town vs. Gown 2010, in random order:

• Judging and refereeing: Pete, Luis, Mark Taylor, Jill, James Bush
• Assistance and supervision on lights and audio: Georgios
• DJ and entertainment: Rhemayo
• Photography: Duncan and Mark Nicmanis
• Coaching: Soren, Robin, Heley, James Bush
• Door and security: Andrea, Veronika and Sam
• Medical assistance: Soren
• Speaker and presenter: Wez
• Round boards girl (can’t think of a better definition at the moment): Veronika
• Fighters: Jill Sommerville, Harriet Teare, Heidi Holmes, Helen Porte, Lucy Liu, Jenny Almeida, Ronnit Wilmersdoerffer, Heley Matthews, Marie Fygle, Rosie Snajdr, Amin Abolghasemi, Nasser Salmi, Jeremy Leong, Vassil Richter, Aaron Lewis, Alexandre Larose, Franz Ronay, Andrew Gilham, Phil Mcdiarmid, Jamie Trotman, James Leggett, Richard Blockley, Tom Hennessy, Chris Kelly, Chris Jones, Neil Levesley, James Bush, Georgios Evangelinos

Results, pictures and videos of the show will be available as the various people involved will be in the position to supply them: just keep following the TG2010 tag on this blog for any further development.

If you were there I would like to know your impressions: please leave a comment to this post.

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Here below are the official matches in the same order they will run during the Town Vs. Gown 2010 on 19 February 2010.

Fighter will have to be at the Manor Community College (directions here) not later than 2:15 while spectators should try to make sure to arrive before 3pm. The aim is to start the fights at 3:15pm, don’t be late!

There will be a 15 minute break between fight 7 and 8.

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Here is the definitive list of fighters for TG2010: they all have tickets for sale if you are interested in spectating this unique event:

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The aim for TG2010 is to allow all fighters to enjoy themselves as well as gain realistic fighting experience while being in a friendly environment.  Although none of the clubs’ aim is to make a profit out of this event they need to cover the costs of venues, judges and ring therefore all spectators will be charged a small entry fee.

Tickets for spectators will be avaiable from Weds 27 Jan 2010 from the respective clubs, as well as from each fighter.  Prices for spectators will be as follow:

• Concessions will be all people belonging to the respective clubs: CARISMA, CUKBS and ARUKBC.

We are looking for volunteers that would be interested in helping out before, during and after the event.  They will be granted free entry to the event: if interested and available please Email Massimo (replacing <at> with @ before sending), no later than the 29 January 2010:

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With apologies from our video production company we can finally proudly announce the official video of the Summer Camp 2009 and, in this weather, remember the great time we had last summer in both terms of training and fun.  Looking forward to Summer Camp 2010!

Here is the video:

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Will all fighters please read carefully this post and ensure to understand.  Any question please comment the post so the answer can be seen by everyone.

Weight Categories

Scoring

Scoring Areas

• Side of Head
• Face
• Under Chin
• Front Torso
• Side Torso

Illegal Areas

• Back of Head
• Top of Head
• Neck
• Arm
• Hand
• Back
• Kidney Area
• Below the Belt (other than below the ankle sweeps)

All Sweeps must be boot to boot and no higher than the ankle. For a Sweep to score, the sweep must incur either a complete grounding, or a stumble leading to the fighter touching the ground with any part of the body other than the soles of the feet. Even the slightest of touches to the ground by the fingers for example, will result in the sweep being deemed successful.

Legal Techniques.

• Jab (landing with knuckle part of the glove)
• Reverse Punch (landing with knuckle part of the glove)
• Hook Punch (to the body and head)
• Front Kick (to the body and head)
• Side Kick (to the body and head)
• Hook Kick (to body and head) including Spinning Hook Kick
• Jump Spinning Hook Kick (to the body and head)
• Back Kick (to the body and head)
• Jump Back Kick (to the body and head)
• Roundhouse Kick ((to the body and head) including Jump Round Kick)
• Spinning Back Kick (to the body and head)
• Jump Spinning Back Kick (to the body and head)
• Inside & Outside Crescent Kick ((to the body & head) including Jump)
• Jump Inside & Outside Crescent Kick ((to the body & head) incl Jump)
• Inside & Outside Axe Kick ((to the body & head) including Jump Axe)
• Front Sweep (performed with inside of foot to below ankle), both legs front Sweep can be to the inside and outside of the opponent’s boot
• Uppercut (to the body and head with control)

Illegal Techniques

• Any open handed strike with the inside of the hand (slap)
• Knife Hand (inc Spinning/Turning Knife Hand Strike)
• Ridge Hand
• Drop Sweep
• Reverse Drop Sweep
• Palm Heel Strike
• Strikes with the elbows
• Any Throw
• Any Takedown
• Pushing with arms
• Leg Kicks
• Strikes with the knee
• Strikes with the Head
• Use of the thighs
• Touching the ground with any other part of the body than the soles of the feet.
• Any Blind Technique

Illegal Actions

• Swearing
• Verbal attacks to the Opponent or Officials
• Accusations of cheating to any Official or Competitor
• Uncontrolled Strikes and Kicks
• Any strike or kick to a joint
• Strike to top or back of head or to the back of the body
• Strike or Kick to the groin
• Scratching, biting or spitting
• Punching or Kicking after the Referee calls stop
• Leaving the fighting area
• Falling down
• Running around the area
• Using faulty or ill-fitting safety equipment
• Wasting time in an unsporting fashion
• Talking
• Causing offence by inappropriate apparel, gestures or words
• Excess power
• Refusing to touch gloves or any other unsporting behaviour
• All of the above offences may be punishable by the Referee.  The Referee may decide to verbally warn, officially warn, deduct a point or disqualify the competitor depending upon the severity of the offence.

Fighter’s Equipment

• Headguard Must cover the top of the head. Must be a Martial Arts type Headguard in good condition which fits well. A full-face or semi-face visor may be worn if it can be proven that a medical condition requires it. This must be authorised by the promoter prior to the start of the Tournament.
• Gumshield Martial Arts or Boxing type. No football / rugby type.
• Boxing Gloves Must be 10 ounces for everyone.
• Kick Boots Must cover the Instep and heel. Must be full boots and not shin-guards with instep pads. Must cover the whole foot.
• Groin Guard. Must be worn under clothing, and not on top.
• Shin Guards Must be worn under clothing and not on top. Must not be worn higher than the knee
• Chest Guard Must be worn under clothing and not on top. Essential for female Juniors and Adults.

Clothing

Fighters must be clean and dressed in an appropriate outfit. Toe nails should be clean and cut short. Fighters should wear a clean club’s T-Shirt that ensures that the top half of the arm is covered by a sleeve. A traditional Gi or kickboxing suit is permitted.

Martial Arts style trousers must be worn. The trousers should cover the Velcro fastening on the boots and should be full length. There should be no zips, pockets or buttons on the trousers at all. Track suit style trousers are not allowed. Hand bandages are allowed, maximum length 2.5 meters. Tape on the fist or the knuckles is allowed, but must not be excessive. The Referee can deem any hand-wrapping to be excessive.

Long hair should be tied back. No Metal/Plastic objects to be worn by any competitor, including earrings, eyeglasses, rings, watches, hair grips, chains, piercing jewellery etc. Soft contact lenses are allowed at the Fighter’s risk.

The Coach must wear appropriate clean sports clothing, and sporting shoes.

Equipment Check

Each Fighter is subject to an equipment check prior to the start of the fight. The checks are to be done by the Center Referee. Groin guards and chest guards are not to be touched by the Referee. The Fighter should be asked if they have the relevant equipment on, and they should reply in the affirmative. If injury occurs, and the Fighter has lied about the presence of such safety equipment, the Center Referee must disqualify the Fighter for breaching the safety rules. This is a compulsory disqualification regardless of how the accident happened.

What the Referee can do.

The Referee is the only person who can stop the bout. The Medic must signal to the Referee if he/she wants the fight stopped. The Coach can retire the Fighter.

The Referee may change any or all of the officials in his area if he wishes. This must not happen during a fight unless an Official is ill.

A Referee can deduct a point, or disqualify a Fighter, for any unsporting behaviour or dissent.

A Referee can disqualify a Fighter if he/she fails to be ready to fight after being called. (This includes not having the correct safety equipment, or not turning up at all). One minute should be called, and the Timekeeper should indicate when the minute has expires. The winner will be the Fighter who is ready to fight, and the win shall be recorded as a Walk Over.

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