Rayners Lane Taekwon-do Academy

Colin Wee (IAOMAS Australia) traveled to England & met up with Stuart Anslow
(England IAOMAS) in person in August. They chilled a bit on Tuesday & had a late
lunch, and of course talked martial arts, then on the following day, Colin came &
took Stuarts class.

Stuart said "It was a great meeting & very nice to meet someone of such a high
calibre, from so far away, without the formation of the IAOMAS this meeting
would never have happened.

The class he took was well recieved by Stuarts students (and Stuart himself as he
actually got to train for the whole time). Colin had some great concepts on
targetting & movement which he put across within the class, plus he got to beat
up some of stuarts students later on, which is something Stuart knows he enjoys!! :-)

Colin followed the session by presenting Stuart with a certificate for work in
diplomacy on an international level with the IAOMAS, which he says he was
humbled by.

Finally, he has set up 2 dedicated IAOMAS sites. IAOMAS.com & IAOMAS.net. Which will be used as a central site to link everything togethor, Colin, a staunch supporter & active IAOMAS member is going to set them up using his web expertise, which will be excellent & great for all members.

Stuart & colin have chatted on the IAOMAS forum,
via email, on the phone & via web chat & Stuart says
he felt extremely honoured that he visited him & my
dojang whilst in Europe. It flet as though we were
great friends, certainly not that we had never met
before now.

Stuarts wife to be Julie said "The Alliance is truly a
great thing. It has the ability to bring so many people
togethor,not just in person, but also via the forum etc...

Stuart says he felt humbled by the certificate Colin gave him, well I am very proud of it.
I know how much the IAOMAS concept means to Stuart,and am very proud of the achievements it is having.

A big thankyou to Colin,who took the time and trouble from a family holiday to reach out to the IAOMAS, and a big thankyou to his wife for allowing him to! I for one will no longer moan about taking a couple of hours out of a holiday to spread the IAOMAS word. Martial Arts the world over should be proud to be a part of such a great concept."

Finally, Instructor Colin Wee said "It was a great honour for me, and I thank Stuart again for giving me to opportunity to share some of my ideas, train with his class, and meet his team.

I was frankly quite tentative and worried about the session. What value was one session from me? What should I discuss? How would students respond? Would I contradict any particular ideas? And so forth. My concerns reached and all time high on the tube ride to Rayner's Lane (which I found out happens to be a station north of London, not the name of the founder of Stuart's school).

My concerns were compounded by the fact that I couldn't understand Stuart's accent when he spoke too fast (or when he talked about his time in Malta). Did everyone understand what *I* was saying? I'm still wondering about that one.

I've got to say though, Rayner's Lane TKD school is a bunch of very enthusiastic and very serious martial artists. I was very impressed with their focus and the overall attitude. Some of my observations:

1. Saw a beautiful kick done by Justin Goh

2. We did a short but intensive warm up and most kept up without so
much as a gripe about my bizarre exercises.

3. Most learned fairly quickly even though I only provided visual and
auditory instructions (the class was too big to go around and
manipulate limbs individually).

4. I got a ridge hand to my mouth from one of the green belt females
in the class!!!

5. None of the upper belts complained about my groin level
roundhouse kicks. I made no contact, but they took it in their stride.

All in all, it was a leap of faith on Stuart's part. One certainly cannot
tell how a lesson is going to be like from this online forum/email chat etc. And in fact "High Calibre" is being a bit too generous.

I was happy with the overall experience. I enjoyed the beer and ice cream I had with Stuart, meeting Julie, talking shop, looking at the 'hood, and watching MA videos with noneother than the founder of IAOMAS.

I would recommend the experience to all members of the IAOMAS. Go on and take a chance. Take that leap of faith.

Colin

In November more IAOMAS UK members are going to meet at the 1st IAOMAS UK Seminar, and all going well Dave Melton (IAOMAS USA) is visiting our shores during his trip to the Olympics next year, which will be brilliant as well.

The saying 'From little acorns grow might oaks' certainly springs to mind when we think of the International Alliance Of Martial Arts!

When thinks like this happen, it makes me feel privilaged that I am part of this great Alliance & how lucky I am to know & meet sometimes, such great people.

Stuart

For more on the 'International Alliance Of Martial Art Schools' click here