I have been up early this morning training and now preparing for the busy day ahead. 

Looking forward to the Gradings today. Its always nice to see so many people being active and bettering their health through the art-form of Jado Kuin Do. All grading examiners are prepped and ready to assess. 

Good luck to all students who are grading this weekend.
Remember: if you were not ready, your instructor would not have entered you for the grading.

Unlock your Potential and Enjoy your Training.
Master Jake Ogden 

Acting

I have been 'on set' since last friday acting in the new Bollywood Blockbuster Yamla Pagla Deewana 2. 

I had only finished acting in Celestial Sisters a week ago on Sunday and then straight into YPD2. 

I am working with Peter Hein the legendary Hollywood and Bollywood fight scene coordinator. Peter has worked with actors such as Jackie Chan, Tony Jaa and many, many more. He is an awesome fight coordinator and a pleasure to work with. I am playing the part of an enforcer along with six other guys who have become good friends of mine. I am enjoying my brief acting role as it is somthing different; the good thing is that when I am waiting to go 'on set' I can do my WJO work on my ipad and iphone. I can work anywhere..... lol. 

Ill try and blog and tweet tomorrow. 

Thanks 

Jake Ogden    

Balance

Welcome to my blog for all new readers and welcome back to my regulars.


 In this post I have decided to give you some hints and tips on balance when kicking. I receive lots of emails and mail asking about how to train certain things within health and fitness and martial arts. Balance is something that comes up on a regular basis, so here it is..... 

Loosing your balance when kicking.

If you find yourself loosing your balance when kicking this could be due to a few factors. Everybody’s physical and physiological make up is different so the factors will vary to a certain degree. However; there are fundamentals that you need to be aware of and understand to improve your balance and consequently your kicking ability. 

Firstly there are two types of balance:

Static Balance : stationary with equilibrium – important whilst kicking, blocking or punching on the spot.

 Dynamic Balance:  movement with equilibrium – important when advancing or retreating and simultaneously performing techniques, and imperative for generating power.

 Both types of balance require the maintenance of the centre of gravity.

1) Maintenance of the center of gravity

Balance requires the maintenance of our centre of gravity over the body’s base of support. The centre of gravity is the centre point of a body’s weight. This is the point of even distribution of bodily weight. The base of support is the area around the body’s contact with the ground i.e. foot. When moving into a certain position or holding a certain position, our center of gravity needs to be inside our base of support. If our center of gravity falls outside our base of support we begin to gain momentum and movement so consequently we loose balance and begin to move in a certain direction or fall.  

When doing martial arts and performing martial arts movements our center of gravity is continually moving thus falling outside of our base of support so consequently we begin to gain  momentum. Our body is continually trying to regain our balance through moving our base of support so the centre of gravity can again begin to run through it (dynamic balance).  This process is exactly what happens when we walk, run, advance and kick, shuffle forward pivot etc. 

Balance requires fine muscular and nervous coordination and control which and respond quickly and efficiently to the continual variation in body positions  of martial arts kicking. The nervous and muscular system must exert the correct amount of force at the right time to control the centre of gravity and keep it over the base of support whether it be on one leg or both. The brain must receive a huge amount of information about where the body is in space to achieve this. 

As human beings we draw on several sources, which we depend on. Through the interpretation of this we can determine where our body is in space at any particular time. 

The sources that we draw upon are as follows:

1) Vestibular feedback

The vestibular system consists of tubes of fluid situated in the inner ear area. This system provide us with information about where the head is and motion in relation to gravity.

2) Visual feedback

This provides us with information in terms of our head and body position and motion in relation to our external environment.

3)Somatosensory feedback

These are receptors found throughout the body that provide mechanical  information and feedback i.e receptors in the skin that monitors touch and feel, muscular tension, receptors that monitor a change in muscle length and muscle contraction.

All of this information is essential to maintain good balance. This can be demonstrated by simple activities like getting students to stand on one leg normally. Then get them to perform the same task but with one eye shut and then with both eyes shut, thus reducing visual feedback. Get them to stand on one foot again but this time ask them to tilt their head to one side. This will unsettle vestibular feedback which again will distort vital feedback needed to maintain balance. These simple tasks become far more difficult when a form of feedback information is impaired. 

All of the above feedback collectively is known as our proprioception or inner sense. To be kinesthetically aware means that we are aware of what our body is doing in-terms of movement at any given time. In light of this, our kinesthetic sense is our ability to determine our body’s position in space using our proprioreceptive information.  

The more often we receive this information doing repetitive actions i.e. practicing kicks, punches, Katas, blocks etc the better we become at interpreting proprioreceptive information. This in turn improves our kinesthetic awareness  and collectively improves our ability to control our body.  Body awareness together with specific control over muscle recruitment determine the quality of our balance and technique.    

The grading season comes to an end

The grading season has now officially finished until September.

I would like to thank all who have been involved in this intense time: participants, instructors, supervisors, grading examiners, parents, administration staff etc.    

Standards across the board have been exceptionally high and we have reached new levels in the number of students actively grading.

I would like to say a huge well done to all WJO instructors as this is a true reflection on their teaching and standards. 

Enjoy the summer and we look forward to seeing you all in September. 

Unlock Your Potential & Enjoy Your Training 

Master Jake Ogden - MscD, Cert.Ed, IBOB.

WJO President   

Jake Ogden at TMAS

Well, what a weekend I have just had...

 Last Saturday and Sunday was the weekend of The Martial Arts Show which took place at Birmingham NEC where I was one of the main presenters. All of the premier martial artists from around the globe were there to sign autographs, conduct workshops and generally enjoy a professional martial arts show.

The weekend began for me on the Thursdsay when I was preparing and getting the WJO stand and promotional material together for the weekend. The set up of the show started on Friday morning at the NEC where all stand holders and perfromers were arriving and preparing for the comming two days. There is always a great vibe as the hall begins to take shape going from an empty shell to a complete show in a matter of hours. As I was one of the main presenters of the show filming started for me on the friday as the hall was being set up. I was filming and interviewing some of the exhibitors and performers. After around an hour and a half of filming it was time to head off and check in to the Hilton Hotel where I was staying for some rest in preparation for a big couple of days.

Saturday came and the show got of to a great start. There were demonstrations on the Lei Tai area and Tatami areas where some of the finest martial artists from Chinese, Japanise and Korean backgrounds showcased there talent. There was also workshops going continually throught the day in designated  workshop areas. I particularly like this feature of the show as the general public can come along and train with their martial arts idols in a relaxed professional environment.

I spent most of the day filming for an up and coming Television programme (which will be aired shortly) in the red carpet section of the show.  In between filming I got lots of opportunity to rome the show with my camera man interviewing martial arts legends like Master Sken, Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace, Kevin pell, Julian Dale and many more alike. I also had the pleasure of filming and and interviewing lots of martial arts enthusiasts on their thoughts on the show and their martial arts heros. This continued all day until the first day of the show came to an end. I then headed back to the Hilton to meet the cast of 'The Law of One' film (due to be released very soon on the big screen) and the Bredrin Filmworks crew. Winston Ellis is the managing director of the Bredrin company and is an absoulte gent; I spent most of the night talking to him and getting to know the cast in preperation for a big interview the next day at TMAS day 2. After a long night it was time for bed for another big day of filming on the sunday.

The sunday at TMAS was another hugely successfull day. I was presenting on the main stage with Julian Dale and Kate Solomons for some of the day and then filming on the red carpet and around the main hall for the rest of the day. At 2.00pm it was my turn to sit in the VIP section where martial arts enthusiasts can come along for a chat and I can sign autographs for them. The feel on Sunday was not as intense as saturday but had a very friendly relaxed type of feel to it.

The whole weekend was a huge success in every area. Paul Clifton, Kwoklyn Wan and the rest of the team did a fantastic job and all that were involved went away happy. I ended up getting back to Northapton early Sunday evening, which gave me plenty of time to spend with my children and my wife.

What a great weekend!

WJO National Championships

Just finished the final part of organising the categories for the WJO National Championships this weekend. Risk assessments next... 
The best part of 1,000 people are expected so should be a good turn out. The excitement begins to build.....

TMAS Live 2

Looking forward to presenting at The Martial Arts Show Live this year. 

I will be organising the Tatami section where some fantastic demonstrations performed by some of the worlds greatest martial artists will be happening. I will also be interviewing some global names in the martial arts world and uncovering a fantastic new media project with my co-presenter Julian Dale.

The show will be held at Birmingham NEC on the 12-13th May.

 It would be great to see you there...

Jake