S.M.A.R.T. 2006 Report
(School of Martial Arts Recreational Training Weekend)

SMART this year proved once again to be not only an excellent training weekend and opportunity to socialise with the SMA students, but also a relaxing break in a woodland setting. The event is held at Pauline's Lodge in the beautiful Manor Farm Country Park near the Hamble, just off the M27 (junction 8). The lodge is predominantly used by Scouts on activity weekends, but this certainly doesn't mean it is a 'spit and sawdust' affair as some might imagine. The lodge is a two story building set deep in the woods with good access by road and offers plenty of parking for visitors. The setting is very private, peaceful and safe. SMA occupies the whole top level of the lodge during the weekend which has it's own private entrance over an ornate wooden bridge. A very large hall makes up the most part of the lodge, which is ideal for training with its clean good conditioned floor. This is then later used for socialising as there is a large seating area to one side. Also a table tennis table is available for those who aren't quite tired enough from the training sessions. There is also a very impressive industrial style kitchen (see picture below) with all the facilities required for a comfortable stay: including industrial oven, microwave, double height fridge, double height freezer, double sink, large hot drinking water boiler and countless items of cookware. The sleeping arrangements are very good, with a choice of six dormitory style rooms made up in a variety of styles to suit groups and families alike. The beds are good conditioned wooden bunks throughout with nicer metal framed beds in the family rooms. Family rooms are also carpeted for added comfort.		(Paulines Lodge)   (side bridge entrance)
(the main hall)     (the kitchen)
Within the lodge, on the top floor, there are separate male and female toilet and wash rooms which are general found and kept clean by visitors. The showers however are unfortunately situated on the ground floor of the lodge at the back with outside access only. This is because the lodge is also used on occasion by campers in one of the joining fields. A back door within the lodge provides easy and again private access.
(dormitory bedroom)     (family bedroom)
The lodge backs onto a large area of woodland that is fenced off from the main woods providing a safe enclosed environment for all. This for use by the lodge guests and those camping in the adjacent fields. A generous bonfire clearing with amphitheatre style seating is available with a good stock of wood ready for use, even though this may need moving from the car park wood pile. This is always popular on the Saturday night (pictures below).

The Training Schedule

Friday Night: Jeet Kune Do
The Friday night class started with the usual call of "Follow me" from Sensei, at which the class feared the worst given previous years cross country run and heavy exercise. This year there was a pleasant surprise as the cross country run was brief and served as a cracking introduction to the JKD class. Which included drills that focused on:

• Attack By Combination (ABC)
• Trappping
• Sensitivity

Saturday Morning: Karate Advanced Kata
The arrival of the senior grade junior SMA students signalled the start of the Saturday morning class in Karate Advanced Kata. There was a good turn out of junior and senior students. Sensei Boh led the class for a 2 hour session on:

• The Shotokan Karate Kata Hangetsu
• Bunkai: applications of the Hangetsu Kata

Sunday Morning: Fillipino Martial Arts
The sun was out and it was time to take advantage of the great woodland surroundings by moving the class from the lodge out into a woodland clearing. The class was great mix of familiar and new weapons techniques from Kali encompassing:

• Double stick, emphasis on follow ups
• Single stick, focussing on disarming
• Knife, disarming and follow ups
• Double knife

Sunday Afternoon: Body Balance
We were lucky enough to be visited by an instructor external to SMA who gave a introduction to Body Balance class for SMART students and other halves. This was a great opportunity to try something new. The class took elements from:

• Yoga
• Tai Chi

Monday Morning: Jun Fan Martial Arts
The last morning session was a great opportunity to hit the pads! Jun Fan Martial Arts was the order of the day and the 2 hour session ended with a high impact circuit.

Social Events

The Saturday BBQ
After the Saturday morning class (Advanced Kata) all students and families including a number of senior grade junior students who were visiting for the day with their parents / guardians all headed up to the BBQ site at the top of the main hill of the Manor Farm Country Park.

The weather was looking as though it could turn against us as is traditional for all English BBQ's, but luck was on our side. After a large quantity of food and a few drinks everyone settled down for a relaxing non competitive game of Rounders.

Around 5pm we packed up and headed back to the lodge. Just enough time for a quick snooze for some before evening bonfire.

Sempai Paul's Bonfire
It has become tradition that Saturday night is bonfire night and Sempai Paul always takes on the job of organisation. This year was no exception but was hindered by a shortage of wood available at the site for burning. This was swiftly resolved by a few of the seniors. A reserve of wood was located in the car park five minutes walk away from the bonfire site, but was in the form of large logs and would need splitting. Always prepared Sempai Paul had the essential equipment on hand for a healthy round of log splitting. Then just came the interesting exercise of moving all the wood up hill to the bonfire site. More exercise, perfect.

Always prepared Sempai Paul had the essential equipment on hand for a healthy round of log splitting. Then just came the interesting exercise of moving all the wood up hill to the bonfire site. More exercise, perfect.

The fire was built and lit, all that was left was to sit back with a few drinks and enjoy.

Storm The Castle - Water Bombs and Eggs!
Late on Sunday afternoon the students were told to gather in the Lodge hall in 'old clothes'. This had been alluded to prior to SMART and the group were very suspicious of Sensei's intentions. Students, other halves and children alike assembled ready for instruction. Each person was handed a piece of paper with a team name and instructions. The instruction to all was "Go into the woods, camo up and return in 40 minutes".

Split into teams A and B, all ventured out into the woods to find Camouflage. On returning students were covered in a variety of plant life, blackened in charcoal from the camp fire and ready for action!

Sensei relayed the next set of instructions. Storm the Castle was the game in question consisting of a capture the flag mission (well grab the tennis ball), with the defending team armed with water bombs and eggs. The attacking team armed only with their cunning, which proved sadly lacking for some.

Bowls of water were filled and carried out to the camp fire. Two rounds of the game followed with hilarious results leaving all involved wet or covered in eggs and minor bruises!

Those who managed to avoid an egging and soaking were later hunted down (literally) and revenge was dished out. It's fair to say that a great time was had by all who took part.

And Finally ...

Many thanks to Sensei and all involved in the organisation of this years SMART. The weekend was amazing and we were very fortunate to get another year with great weather. If you missed the weekend this year, hopefully you can see the kind of training, socialising and fun that makes SMART so popular and so very special.