Town vs. Gown 2014 – Massimo’s summary

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The fourth CARISMA Town vs. Gown that took place yesterday at the North Cambridge Academy Sports Centre and it was, once more, a great success. It surely exceeded my own expectations as well as the ones of the people that took part to it, among fighters, organisers or spectators.

Once more the simple idea of offering the possibility for beginners and first timers to experience fighting in the ring while in a friendly environment proved to be a winning one. Numbers speak by themselves:

  • Over 80 people watching and supporting
  • A great team of organisers and helpers that ensured a smooth running of the event
  • 28 athletes that delivered 14 top great fights (one demo between my 10 years old daughter and myself) and a surely entertaining show: please notice that 15 of them were at their first fighting experience and 9 of them started training kickboxing less than 6 months ago, with no previous experience in martial arts!

I did a lot of thinking during the last 24 hours, 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;
  • One of the greatest achievements of the whole day was having no accidents;
  • 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.  Techniques must be applied 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; lots of emotions get involved, 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. Many of yesterday’s fighters are regularly attending to sparring classes where every Monday or Saturday we run 12-15 rounds of 2 minutes: nonetheless we saw energy simply running out for a few people. This was definitely 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: all instructors of CARISMA yesterday demonstrated this by ensuring the whole event running perfectly and covering all roles and tasks that were required.

I would like to thank, personally and on behalf of a very successful Town vs. Gown 2014, in random order:

  • Judging and refereeing: Luca, Jarek, James
  • Assistance and supervision on filming and audio: Georgios
  • Photography: Duncan
  • Coaching: Phil, Georgios
  • Door: Trixi and Mila
  • Round boards girl (can’t think of a better definition at the moment): Ekaterina
  • Fighters: Wu, Cindy, Kaya, Beth, Rachel, Alexey, Felix, Ryan, Lirane, Max, Cenan, Mark, Jethro, Anna G., Theo, Chris, Dominik, Tim, Hugo, Matt, Anna L., Navy, Francesca, Giulia, Konstantin, Ollie

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 TG2014 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.

Town vs. Gown 2014 – rules and equipment

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Scoring

Punch to Head 1 point
Punch to Body 1 point
Front Foot Sweep 1 point
Kick to Body 2 points
Kick to Head 3 points
Jump Kick to Body 3 points
Any Jump Kick to Head 5 points

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 and Cross Punch (landing with knuckle part of the glove)
  • Reverse Punch or Back Fist (landing with knuckle part of the glove)
  • Hook Punch (to the body and head)
  • Uppercut (to the body and head with control)
  • 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)
  • 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

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.

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.

Town vs. Gown 2014 – The fights

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Will all fighters be at the venue on Saturday 22 February at 12:30 for a prompt 1pm start.  All fighters will be checked for weight before the fight; there will be one referee and two judges and their score will be final.  All fighters must have full kit (e.g. head guard, mouth guard, hand wraps, 10oz gloves, groin guard (males), shin guard and separate foot guard.

Uniform must be a club t-shirt (or black in the worse case) and long lose trousers.  No belt should be worn and all pads must be worn under the uniform (e.g. no visible shin or groin guards).  The order of fights is indicated in the table below; please bear in mind that such order can vary depending or a number of circumstances, including some of the fighters not turning up.

Club Full Name Club Full Name
AR Wu Oimolade vs. CU Leland Hui
AR Cindy Ogidi vs. CA Kaya Jabar
CA Beth Colman vs. CU Rachel Tulley
CA Alexey Kravets vs. CA Felix Schmitten
AR Ryan Marcano vs. CU Chris Silvester
CU Lirane Boumard vs. CA Max Larkinson
CU Cenan Djenan vs. CA Mark Robinson
CA Jethro Akroyd vs. CU Toby Norman
CA Massimo Gaetani vs. CA Anna Gaetani
CA Theo Morton vs. AR Chris Jones
CU Dominik Lentrolt vs. CU Tim Williamson
AR Hugo Kingsley vs. CU Matt Clarkson
CU Anna Lappala vs. AR Navy Varatharaja
CU Francesca Benzi vs. AR Giulia Pilleri
CU Konstantin Semeniuk vs. CA Ollie Osunkunle
CU Francesca Benzi vs. CA Iva Lazarova

Beginners Course March 2014

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busyclassThe next CARISMA beginners course will start on Thutrday 13 March 2014, to run for 4 consecutive Thursday and Tuesday classes (e.g. 13, 18, 20, 25). In January we had a very succesful beginners course with over 10 new people joining us so we are very close to saturation.  If you would like to join us please do it in March as we might not run another course the following month.

Please notice: you must join the beginners’ course just if you are a total beginner. Any previous experience in striking martial arts (kickboxing, muai thai, karate, tae kwon do, kung fu, etc…) is appreciated and will allow you to join without going through the beginners’ course. Please get in touch with us if in doubt.

If you’d like to check our prices please look at this page. Please notice that Kelsey Kerridge charges a day entry to every non member entering their premises.

We would like to gather numbers to be prepared so it would be great if you leave, confidentially, your name in this Doddle poll. Please make sure to turn up before 6:15pm at Kelsey Kerridge as there might be a long queue.

A dignified approach to sparring beginners

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Image Copyright and courtesy of Duncan Grisby

Image Copyright and courtesy of Duncan Grisby

A couple of weeks ago I was having a chat with a friend who started white collar boxing in a local Cambridge club late last year.  He described his first day in that club in a way that many would depict as a horrifying experience. He was asked to enter the ring to spar with 5 established, fit and trained athletes from that gym, just to see “what he’s got”.  Result was, unsurprisingly, that he had a black eye and bruised nose.  In my opinion the above described event could indeed be a good approach to check who really has the guts to step into a ring without necessarily being prepared for that kind of confrontation; it’s also a great way of losing, by the dozens, potentially good students and future promising fighters, by discouraging them to continue training.

As a martial artist and a coach I find this kind of attitude very much old school and outdated; I like to teach, instil and apply what we could define as a dignified approach to sparring beginners, a methodology that encourages a novice student to starts her first steps into sparring without unnecessary risks of getting hurt.

Sparring is about putting in practice what technical lessons are teaching: techniques, combinations, foot work, attacking, defending and blocking; it all gets mixed together at fast pace and without precise order.  At first this is all very confusing and often overwhelming; for some people sparring triggers nearly irrational violent instincts while others simply freeze and get frustrated, feeling incapable of delivering decent performance.

We must assume that any decent martial arts club will have a bunch of senior students and members who are skilled in sparring and fit for fighting.  Some of them are perhaps competing at local, regional or national level.  These people have both the skill and the fitness to potentially hurt, seriously hurt, a beginner if just they wanted to.  However it makes very little sense to do that; I educate all of my students to avoid exploiting the advantage they have on beginners.

A dignified approach to sparring beginners is simply about setting your skills at a level that is slightly better than the beginner you are training with and showing her how you can score on them starting from a fairly soft level of contact.  Pressure of contact can and should be increased as and when applicable.  This methodology ensures that the advanced student is winning the round and maintains its technical superiority while it offers a list of advantages to both people sparring:

  • Better control of the fight
  • Reduced risk of injuries from both sides
  • Fostering an increasing self confidence for the beginners that ultimately helps to improve her technique and sparring skills

In some cases the dignified approach to sparring beginners becomes difficult to maintain because:

  • The beginner is learning and progressing a lot faster than expected and her techniques from one session to the other improves to a much better point
  • The beginner builds up a false illusion that her sparring skills are now sufficient to put in difficulty the advance student
  • The beginner gets enraged and starts hitting without any control

In the above cases we usually approach the problem with a few words of advice; if the beginners still misbehaves out of logical control we suggest increasing the pressure until it is enough to win the round and educate her.

So if you are a beginner you can be assured that your first sparring sessions will not be traumatic and testing what “you have got” but be aware that there are usually many people in the club that can potentially harm you so respect for your opponent is always a must.