Confidence. The new ride coming soon to all beginners!

Now, what you’re thinking is -
‘Adam, what on Earth are you going on about?’
Well, let me explain.
For most people, you join a self-defence system to gain confidence.
You join the British Free Fighting Academy to gain confidence.
And you’d expect that as you progress through the BFFA system,
your confidence will equally progress at the same rate.
Well, again, for most, this is not the case.
You see - confidence is a thing of balance.
And to achieve this balance, you have to first experience the ups and downs.
To begin with, as mentioned earlier, your confidence will be low.
But don’t fear.
Given a few British Free Fighting lessons.
A few BFFA techniques.
A couple of spars.
And a few demonstrations on those at home, and gullible friends of course.
You’ll believe you could take on the world.
But the ride is far from finished at this point.
Which is good news, for you’re far from ready at this stage to take on your own grandmother – let alone, an attacker in the street.
Now, this newfound over-confidence will linger for a while.
But soon it’ll make way for the next instalment.
Self-doubt.
Certain questions will arise.
‘Would I really be able to cope if attacked?’
‘Would I remember what I’ve been taught?’
‘Would the technique used even work?!!’
Of course, all these are valid and sensible questions.
And it’s completely natural to ask yourself these questions.
(The next blog will go into more detail on this point – so watch this space)
So, now for the steady incline of this confidence ride.
This is the bit where you start to find the balance.
You begin to realise that, you indeed, can’t destroy the world with a basic wristlock.
But that you could actually save your life by using it in the correct situation.
You begin to realise that, you indeed, don’t have to palm-heel strike someone in the face after a simple push in the street.
But that, by creating some personal space and using your brain, you can talk and walk away from the situation.
To me, confidence – and by this, I mean ‘a balanced confidence’ is key to staying safe and successful.
And although the ride of ups and downs will continue throughout the rest of your life, it’s essential to maintain that correct balance.
I’ll leave you with this.
You vary rarely see a lion single out a healthy looking, confident looking antelope from a herd.
But equally, when do you ever see the antelope turn and square up to the lion?
Give it some thought.
Till next time.
Laters
Mr Bodfish.
Official Blogger for the British Free Fighting Academy

Mr Bodfish!

Welcome home Mr Bodfish the BFFA have missed you ......I see you managed to find your missing fingers then......x

Is the grass greener?

Is the grass greener?

Or, for those that haven’t quite grasped the concept of analogies - is there a better system out there for me?
Well, no.
I don’t believe there is.
Now, I don’t want you to see this as glorious self-promotion.
Or, an egotistical BFFA martial arts instructor on a soapbox.
It’s merely my opinion.
But perhaps a valid one…
Before joining the BFFA (British Free Fighting Academy) many years ago, I had tried a number of different systems.
Aikido, Judo, Jujitsu, Karate, and even Bromsgrove on a Friday night.
But, with each one, I found there was something missing.
Never the same thing.
But still, something missing.
And then I came across the British Free Fighting Academy.
For the first time I had myself ‘a full tick list’.
Basic techniques – Tick
Flexibility – Tick
Grappling – Tick
Control and restraint – Tick
Forms – Tick
Fitness – Tick
Realistic self defence – Tick
Etc etc - Tick
…I think you get the idea.
So when it came to me moving away and finding another martial arts system, I had my work cut out.
With a better understanding I began my search, but soon realised that although there are systems out there claiming to offer the same thing – when it came down to it, they were falling short.
I found myself faced by arrogant instructors.
Faulty techniques.
Lack of discipline.
Lack of fun.
Lack of fitness.
And an almost chic approach to real-life self defence.
Like it was some sort of latest fashion accessory.
For me, the BFFA offers everything I look for from a self defence system.
And that’s why I won’t be settling for second best.
As for training?
I suppose I’ll be checking the train timetable…again.
But then this is just my opinion.
And this is a blog.
So, till next time
Arrivederci
Mr Bodfish

Private Tuition Frenzy!

Well, as you can see, you've got me again! Mr Bodfish has disappeared off the radar again and therefore no new bloggs have materialised......so you're stuck with me for a wee while. Although I have got somebody else ear-marked to take over the gruesome role of blogging.

His tag team partner is called Rhino ...... he's Scottish ...... nah, best ask him first before I get too personal eh!

So, why haven't I got too much time to blog I hear you cry. The answer is private tuition! We are fantastically crazy busy with personal sessions. We start these sessions at 7am in the morning and continue until late afternoon - just in time for the classes. Tess from Ochre and Ocre started a private training course with me yesterday - she did really well and I do believe that she has 'bigged me up' on her blogg. How you feeling today Tess? Find out more by clicking here.

Also a big 'hello' to young Bertie who's on his school holidays and who had a great training session with me yesterday - in between telling me all about the goings on at the WWE ..... we agreed that our favourite is Jeff Hardy. Well done Bertie you worked really hard!

Hopefully you'll have a far more entertaining blog post next time ..... especially if the person I have in mind takes over!!

Bye for now...I have to find Andy.....left him teaching somewhere????

Dan Grading Success!

What a super result from the British Free Fighting Academy's Dan Grading exams held on Sunday 5th July!

A huge 'well done' to Matt Neal, Martin Scambler, Paul Heslop and Peter Dawson who not only survived the gruelling ordeal - they passed with flying colours!

Their lovely smiley faces have now made it onto the infamous wall of fame at the BFFA HQ.

Congratulations guys.

Picture (from left to right) Peter Dawson, Martin Scambler, Chief Instructor Andy Hopwood, Paul Heslop

Well, the grading also saw the return of our very own Mr Adam Bodfish, who, I believe is still nursing his bruises after getting back into the swing of things with a few free fights! You'll be hearing a lot from Adam over the next few months as I have just successfully bullied him into updating the blog for the BFFA every month. Apologies in advance - but it should be entertaining! Thank you Ad.

Good luck to Jack Simpson who is off Sky diving on Saturday. Hope you are wearing your BFFA t-shirt??

Guess Who's Cooking.....

Can you guess which student this is........

Whilst on her travels, one of her initiation tests whilst working on a ranch was to castrate a bullock and then pop the removed 'sweetbreads' on to the nearby barbecue and (once cooked medium-rare) eat the offending articles!!!

Little wonder that all the guys in the BFFA get nervous when they are training with her...
must be a built in sixth sense or something eh?

answers on a postcard please - try not to worry too much; she tells us that she has now given up the habit!

Off we go....blogging time!

This is the first blog ever for the British Free Fighting Academy, so it's quite a momentus moment for us!

It's all down to my good friend, Tess Heslop, who is determined to educate me in the ways of the wonderful world wide web.

Tess took a day out of her hectic schedule, running Ochre & Ocre, to come into the office here at the BFFA and tell us what was good and what was bad about our current web presence. It was mostly bad......but in my defence I do believe that I am the wrong age for computer technology and I never seem to have much time........honest!

Anyway, I picked up some great tips, so it's time to put at least one of them into practise and start a regular blog! But what do I blog about? Can you have writer's block whilst blogging?

I'll start off with the easy stuff - the day job. The BFFA (British Free Fighting Academy) is a street self defence organisation. We train anyone and everyone who is interested in learning about protecting themselves in today's society. The Academy's been going for 15 years or so now, with full time premises for the last seven years, and I am extremely proud to announce that we now have a large percentage of females training with us - both in classes and privately. I am on a personal mission to get as many females as I possibly can training at the Academy!

Actress Lucy Speed, ex-Eastender and star on The Bill, presented our most recent DVD, Stay Safe with Lucy Speed, www.staysafedvd.com, which was fabulous fun producing and filming. Lucy did a quick interview on GMTV this week and gave Andy Hopwood and the DVD a plug. Click here if you'd like to view the interview.

So, what to blog about? Well apart from writing about the trials and tribulations of a female martial artist (yes I am writing a book based loosely on the subject!) we are constantly meeting lots of interesting, weird and wonderful people and I thought that we could share some of the more amusing stories on our blog. There's the man who turned up to class wearing wellington boots and swimming googles and refused to take them off ( I kid you not) and then there's the private client who claims that she can see dead people whilst she is training......

There's a whole host of stories to share and obviously although all are true, names and identities will be withheld for obvious reasons.

That's it, the first blog. How did I do?

Sharon