Women in The Martial ArtsWritten by Anita Wilson
Women In The Martial Artsby Anita Wilson 1st Lady Assistant to Sensei Henry Ellis Ellis Schools of Traditional Aikido I was born in West London in 1963, my father was very involved in martial arts and a dan grade in Karate he was also a dealer in ancient Japanese arms and armour, although my father has an antiques shop in London's Bond Street, my home was more like a samurai warriors dressing room, with original suits of Japanese armour complete with very frighting face masks that would frighten life out of my friends when ever they came to visit, there were also very many valuable swords yari and naginata spears. The Masters My father would travel around world searching for best quality weapons, what intrigued me most as a child was all these strange visitors that would come to my home, famous Otani family were regular visitors with Sensei Matsuro Otani 7th dan Judo UK National Coach, Kenshiro Abbe Sensei, Tomio Otani Sensei UK National Coach for Kendo, his visitors were like who's who of martial arts, as recently as two weeks ago I was pleased to meet with Sensei Kazuo Chiba 8th dan when he came to see my father. Introduction to Aikido As a child I did a little Karate with my father but nothing serious until 1992 when I went to local Aikido dojo in Bracknell, Berkshire, UK. All those years with my father and his Japanese weapons must have had a latent but profound effect on me, as I watched Sensei Ellis teaching his Positive Style of Traditional Aikido I knew there and then that this was martial art for me. The Hard Training Begins When I started Aikido I made a point of training with men and they treated me as one of them. With regular practice I progressed. I had now developed hard training bug and started courses in physical training and amateur weight lifting, after a few years of hard work I became a fully qualified fitness instructor-personal trainer and amateur weight lifting coach, high light of all this effort was when Sensei Ellis promoted me to assistant coach of Ellis Schools of Traditional Aikido (ESTA) two years later he promoted me to first lady assistant to himself, there had never ever been a lady assistant in all long history of ESTA, Sensei put me on a three month trial and 8 year on I am still here. In 1994 I received my coaching certificate from British Aikido Board (BAB) which is governing body for Aikido in UK. Once I became assistant to Sensei Ellis I became involved in assisting in teaching both men and women and also helping with children's classes. The First Seminar Sensei Ellis asked if I would like to take part in a very large and important seminar in Liverpool in North of England, Sensei Ellis is not one of those teachers who has a pet uke follow him around to fly all over mat at a touch or a glance, he prefers to try to involve all students who attend his seminars if possible, knowing this I felt very privileged but nervous when Sensei told me there would be about 700 students from various martial arts, I think phrase "Being thrown in at deep end" is applicable here. On arrival at venue I was amazed to see so many students from so many countries, UK-France-Germany-Italy-India-Austria are just some that I can recall. Sensei Ellis was asked to take first class of approximately 50 dan grades from various martial arts. Sensei had me demonstrate 100 press-ups on backs of my wrists with fingers pointing both inwards and outwards. When I had finished and was in raised position Sensei sat on my back (he did not warn me of this) and carried on with his lecture. Sensei suggested that those who wanted to should try this exercise. It was amazing to see all these black belts struggling. Later I had a little crowd around me wanting to inspect my wrists, I explained that this exercise is standard for both seniors and juniors in our schools.
| | HAIR, SEX AND BILLIARDSWritten by Jackie "The Angel" Broadhurst
Imagine you’re in another world…You are a pool player with red hair. You walk into biggest pool hall in town where they are holding a national tournament. You think, “great, I’ll sign up.” When you go to pay your entry fee, they say you have to choose between The Red-Head Open (only red-heads allowed) and The Open (open to players of any hair color). “The Red-Head Open” is a race to 5, with only 100 participants, and has a $75.00 entrance fee. “The Open” is a race to 7, has 200 participants and a $150.00 entry fee. Curiously, first prize for both divisions paid about same. You ask, “Why don’t red-heads allow blonds and brunettes play with them?” The tournament director looks at you like you are from another planet and says, “everybody knows that red-heads don’t have a chance against blondes.” You don’t understand because you don’t see how color of someone’s hair could make a difference in their pool game. You just want to beat all competition, so you decide to enter The Open Division. You’re practicing and someone walks by and says, “Hey you should take lessons from Chris, who taught #1 red head player in town.” That seems like a strange comment because you don’t know what that has to do with anything. You think a good instructor or coach should be measured by their ability to take any player and help them be best they can be no matter if they are short, tall, fat, skinny, black, brown, have red-hair or not. Your name is called to play your first match and you shake hands with your first opponent, who asks, “why are you playing in open division against all of these blondes and brunettes?” Is it to see how good you can do against them? Dumbfounded once again, you say, “No, I’m just here to win like any other tournament.” Surprisingly, you look around and see that you are only red head playing in The Open Division. Another person walks by, genuinely confused, and asks “Is this a real match going on, or are you two just practicing?” It’s a tuff match, but you manage to win 9-6. Spectators look to you with huge eyes and say, “If you could beat that brunette, you probably could have easily won red-headed tournament.” Then, a reporter walks by and says, “You’ve got a lot of guts playing with those blondes!” QUESTION #1) If you lived in this world which division would you play in? #2) Why? Before you continue reading, please email your response to me at theangelofbilliards@yahoo.com.
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