Sticking fighting club
JKD Northampton Club has international medallists on its squad yet still struggles with funding. We found out more about the unusual sport...
It is not often that a sports team which boasts World, European and
British championship titles is still in the position of funding its own
equipment.
But, when members of the Jeet Kune Do-Kali (JKD) Northampton Club turned up in The Philippines to attend this year's World Stick Fighting Championships, along with the rest of the Great Britain squad, they did so without Government funding or sponsorship.
Luckily the lack of money did not affect their performance as the
Northampton stick fighters alone came away with 11 medals, amounting
to more than a quarter of the British total.
But the team is now desperate to attract sponsorship to ensure members
can carry on representing their country abroad.
Team member Damien Mills said: "It is disheartening that Great Britain
do so well but get no support from local authorities or the Government. If it was rowing, rugby or judo they would have some form of government
support."
He added: "We are in danger of not being able to represent our
country again without sponsorship.
"It is amazing. The Americans turn up with their sponsored gear and we turn up with stuff we have printed on ourselves."
World, European and British stick fighting title holder Roger Barnes said he was given money to attend the world championships by his own instructor.
He said: "I was sponsored by my instructor, otherwise I could not have gone. At the last minute he asked me if I had found anyone to sponsor me and then he volunteered to do it, so that was a life saver."
Jeet Kune Do is a martial arts combat system developed by famous martial
arts exponent and actor Bruce Lee and it translates as 'way of the intercepting fist.' The Filipino side of the art is known as kali – a form of stick fighting – which was created by one of Bruce Lee's students.
Although the JKD Northampton club practises four ranges of combat, including kicking, punching, trapping and grappling, they specialise in kali.
In stick fighting, team members wear body armour and protective head
gear and are armed with bamboo sticks. The object is to strike an opponent with the stick during one-minute rounds to earn points.
The art form is fast and furious, with one member even recorded as
making 53 strikes in only 14 seconds.
Mr Barnes said the foundations of this discipline were practised in the
Philippines 500 years ago, but originally bladed weapons, such as machetes, would have been used.
He added: "Earliest reports of it date back to the 1500s, but it could have been longer than that. I believe it was practised by the nobility and passed on. It is a true martial art in that it was used to
defend the country when they were being invaded by the Spanish."
Although not an Olympic sport, stick fighting has been put forward as a 'demonstration' activity for the 2012 Olympic games and the JKD Northampton members are hoping to be included in this.
The group now has 15 members from many different backgrounds and fighters meet several times a week to train. They first started competing in 2005 and have since racked up an impressive array of trophies including World, European and British titles.
Mr Barnes said stick fighting is becoming more popular as its profile
is raised.
He said: "It has appeared in a few films, such as Mission Impossible and
Bourne Identity. The art has been around but people did not know what
it was, but it is getting there."
Anyone who would like to sponsor the JKD Northampton club can email
Mr Barnes on roger.barnes@sbjbc.co.uk
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