Whats New Total Self Defence?

1st JUNIOR BLACK BELT Date: JULY 07 EXAMINERS PROFESSOR JAMES McDADE 8th DAN PROFESSOR STEVE McDADE 6th DAN Congratulations to Jack Cronin on becoming the 1st junior black belt at Total Self Defence. Jack has been with us for five years and in all that time has been a model student, he has very good mat etiquette and is very keen and always eager to learn, he has been a pleasure to teach and will be a pleasure to train with in the future, I know i speak for all the instructors when i say how pleased we are to see Jack achieve this grade, at just 15 he has great potential and i know he`ll make o good sensei one day, so well done Jack from all of us very well deserved. Jack will now be invited to train with the B.B.C. (the senior black belts) in our black belt only sessions.

Congratulations To Sensei Ioannis Amaslidis Date: 7th July 2007 Ioannis, passed his black belt grading and proved to himself more than anyone else what he is truly capable of. Ioannis was assessed after a years training for his black belt and was told by Prof J McDade that he needed to improve his level of fitness before he could be put up for the 1st Dan black belt. Ioannis was disappointed, but did he give up? 'others have'- no he did not. He came back three months later, but this time he was fitter stronger both physically and mentally and proved both to himself and his fellow black belts what his true character is. WELL DONE IOANNIS. S.McDade Shihan

JULY GRADINGS (juniors) Date: SEPT 07 EXAMINERS PROFESSOR JAMES McDADE 8th DAN PROFESSOR STEVE McDADE 6th DAN RED BELT Akintola, Brandon, Dylan, George, and Peter. Well done on passing your 1st grading. YELLOW STRIPE Sidart. Sidart demonstrated both good skill and mat etiquette, very good grading. YELLOW BELT Anton, Antoin, Ben. and Marc. you must all improve your mat etiquette, however your blocking and kicking katas were well executed. ORANGE BELT David, Daniel, Giacoma, James, and Naail. Well done, a good achievement so far. GREEN STRIPE Jack, and Shane. Very well done both of you, i`ll look forward to your next grading, excellent. GREEN BELT Christofer, Grant, James, Lucy, Rameez, and Rayad. Another good grading keep up the hard work. BLUE STRIPE Gorshane, and Jazmin. Very well done, an excellent grading. BLUE BELT Calum. A good grading, well done. PURPLE STRIPE Harry, Nicole, Tarun, and Tony. These students demonstrated what is expected at this level, very good, keep training. BROWN 2 Serena. Serana proved she has a lot of ability and a fighting spirit, very good. SPECIAL MENTIONS Grant and Tony both double graded. Jazmin, your ability and confidence has really grown, and i`m so pleased to say you really look like you`re enjoying your training, very well done. Serena, as Jacks partner you took some punishment, but never once did you shrink from the challenge, you showed great spirit and set a good example to the lower grades as a good brown belt should, excellent. WELL DONE TO ALL OUR JUNIORS

Gradings Date: July 2007 Picture of some of the black belt club gradings.

New pictures for Archives Date: September 17th 2007 picture of a visit from old friends back in 1991.Left to Right:Sensei's Joe Duran,Terry Finnigan, Red Top James McDade 6th Dan, Roy Finnigan Front kneeling Blue top Steve McDade 3rd Dan and sensei Mick Rothon who sent us the photo, 'thanks Mick'

Congratulations Date: 24th March 2007 CONGRATULATIONS To Sensei Matt Stacey on passing his 3rd dan grading on saturday 24 march 2007. examiners :- Professor James McDade 8th dan Professor Steve McDade 6th dan ukes :- Sensei Pete Maxey 3rd dan Sensei John Michel 2nd dan Sensei Ibush Zanussi 1st dan Sensei Steve Christou 1st dan Sensei Matt had to demonstrate a high level of skill in multiple combinations, various weapons, random attacks, multiple attacks, defence against edged and non edged weapons, the list goes on, i am not going to go into detail about the content as this was a closed door grading. The degree of dedication and commitment to training at this level should not be underestimated and is not for the feint hearted, and with respect is only fully appreciated by those that have been there and done it, remember it`s not months between gradings it`s years, This is best illustrated by the fact that Sensei Matt is only the third person in the clubs history to go from white belt all the way through to sandan under Professor(s) McDade, the other two being the late Sensei Bob Carmicheal R.I.P. and myself Sensei Pete Maxey. Fitness is an important part of any grading, and the higher you go the fitter you need to be, and when it comes to dan grades you have the pressure of being the sole focus of the professor while the punches and kicks are relentlessly raining in at full speed and power, a test for even the fittest individual. When i talk about fitness i don`t mean running marathons etc, i mean mat fitness and having the heart to get in there and say "bring it on" So well done Sensei Matt on gaining the rank of sandan, 3rd dan black belt and senior sensei.

JULY GRADINGS (ADULTS) Date: july EXAMINERS PROF J. McDADE 8th DAN PROF S. McDADE 6th DAN RED BELT Phil, well done on passing your 1st grading, your journey has begun YELLOW Steve, well done enjoy the orange belt. GREEN Jack, now you know why we call this the mini black, i look forward to a good blue belt grading. BLUE Steve, well done keep working. PURPLE Colin, another good grading Colin well done. BROWN 2 Marcia and Pat, very well done both of you, and now you begin training for your black belt, looking forward to it.

Sensei Steve McDade 40th Birthday Date: October 10th 2007 Above the cake that was given to sensei steve mcdade a week after his birthday on his return from Spain. There was a dinner and dance but a little mistake was made on the cake, check out the sensei being spelt sensai, and the number 4 on the left 'oh dear'

Jacks First brazilian Ju-Jitsu tournament. Date: 10th October 2007 Jnr Black Belt jack Cronin entered his first brazilian jiu jitsu tournament. He came 2nd in the 16 year only heavyweight division(under 79 kilos) and he only weighes 64 kilos. he won his first fight by choke in about 2 miniuts but lost the final to a big guy on points. Well done Jack!!!!! Keep us upto date on your Brazilian ju-jitsu tournaments and above all 'be safe' Sensei Steve.

December Gradings Date: December 1st 2007 Congratulations to all who passed their belts in the beginners class above, the standard was excellent.

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