Mo ichi do! Mo ichi do! One more time! One more time!

Over the years I have practiced martial arts there have been times in my early years when I have thought to myself "Why are we doing this again?" "Move on, let’s do something more complicated". "I’ve done that a thousand times." "Oh no, not again!" But then as you progress, you realise that whilst you might have been going through the motions, you weren't actually doing the block, the punch, the kata, you looked like you were but you weren't .

Then you start to practice it for real, “ train hard fight easy “ or better still train hard and don’t have to fight at all. As a Police officer for over 28 years I have stood on the front line of riots, arrested violent people, encountered confrontation on a daily basis yet one particular incident remains with me all these years of how “ Mo ichi do “ worked.

We were at a pub with a drunken group of four people when one guy who towered above me suddenly launched into a barrage of swinging punches trying to take my head off. Without thought and just acting under instinct I double blocked throwing up my arms either side of my head, stepped inside his attack and with a quick twist threw him cleanly over my hip, a simple judo throw I had practiced time and time again, over and over. Nothing fancy, just effective. We came crashing to the ground him on his back me sat on top. It was over, the other three stepped back, he had the wind knocked out of him and probably lost a bit of face, but no one was seriously injured. I did’nt think about what I was going to do, my body just did it!

So next time Sensei says "Mo ichi do!" smile to yourself and do it again, there may be a time you need that technique and it'll just "click in" without thought.

Having trained in Aikido and up to 3rd kyu in Kyukoshinkai, Glenn started studying Goju Ryu at Norton Dojo in January 2004. From then until now(Sept 2007) he's trained hard and consistently, being awarded 1st kyu in the I.O.G.K.F./O.T.G.K.A. syllabus in September 2007.