I've just returned home after spending a weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland, with my wife Alison. It wasn't a vacation as such, more of a working holiday, if you can call practising Kuk Sool work.
The thing that I've always loved about the 'Scottish' is that have a natural fighting spirit, probably gained through all of the years fighting against (us) the English. The other thing that I most like about visiting Scotland is they seem to be the most friendliest and hospitable people on the planet.
My first visit to teach martial arts in Scotland started near-on twenty years ago (this April). Before that time I had only visited Scotland once as a tourist in my late teens.
My intial impression of a 'true-Scot' came about when I literally met a young hot-headed, fiesty nineteen year old lad who began practising at my martial art school in my home town in Suffolk.
The guy's name was Donald and I recognised the fact that he had great potential to become an outstanding martial art practitioner, however I just needed to help him through a difficult stage in his life by supporting him with Kuk Sool training.
At this time Donald had a major problem.... he became homesick and deeply missed the Scottish Highlands and needed to return home to his native town of Thurso, Caithness.
To cut a long story short, Donald invited me to visit him in the North of Scotland to help him continue with his practice, which I must add I was rather reluctant to do so to start with. Eventually his persistence wore me down and I took him up on his offer to visit.
Thurso just happens to be the most northerly town on the British mainland, however after that first initial visit, despite the length of the 700 mile journey I knew that I just had to return.
I kept my promise to Donald by returning more than thirty times to Caithness to help him progress to gain his black belt and beyond. Together Donald and I established the first Kuk Sool School in Scotland, which incidentally is still in existence today and now run by SBN Cathy Smith.The thing that I've always loved about the 'Scottish' is that have a natural fighting spirit, probably gained through all of the years fighting against (us) the English. The other thing that I most like about visiting Scotland is they seem to be the most friendliest and hospitable people on the planet.
My first visit to teach martial arts in Scotland started near-on twenty years ago (this April). Before that time I had only visited Scotland once as a tourist in my late teens.
My intial impression of a 'true-Scot' came about when I literally met a young hot-headed, fiesty nineteen year old lad who began practising at my martial art school in my home town in Suffolk.
The guy's name was Donald and I recognised the fact that he had great potential to become an outstanding martial art practitioner, however I just needed to help him through a difficult stage in his life by supporting him with Kuk Sool training.
At this time Donald had a major problem.... he became homesick and deeply missed the Scottish Highlands and needed to return home to his native town of Thurso, Caithness.
To cut a long story short, Donald invited me to visit him in the North of Scotland to help him continue with his practice, which I must add I was rather reluctant to do so to start with. Eventually his persistence wore me down and I took him up on his offer to visit.
Thurso just happens to be the most northerly town on the British mainland, however after that first initial visit, despite the length of the 700 mile journey I knew that I just had to return.
To bring this story up to date, Donald moved to Edinburgh in 1996 to teach Kuk Sool professionally. He is currently preparing for his final test toward 5th Degree Black Belt in May/June 2010.
Alison's and my job this weekend in Edinburgh was to add the final touches to Donald's preparation for Master level. We gave him a small test to see how he was progressing, which I'm pleased to say he breezed through.
In April, Donald and ourselves are returning to the birthplace of Scottish Kuk Sool - Thurso, to celebrate twenty years of training and I know for all of us it should bring back plenty of good memories.
The best thing about the whole situation over the last twenty years has been watching Donald mature from a hot-headed teenager - into an outstanding, responsible Instructor of the martial arts.
I'm proud of his achievement.
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