What could be better in the run-up to Christmas than to meet up in a cosy atmosphere and to slap each other’s arms blue, maltreat joints or let yourself be peppered by the countryside 
in harmonious harmony? Exactly this was on the agenda of the second seminar “Silat meets Kempo” by Nikolas Sandrock and Marcus Brehm. The two of them disguise such activities under the name Silat Suffian Bela Diri. And about 25 martial artists from all over East Westphalia joined in the festive event during the Advent season.
The transition from realistic martial arts to Kempo and Karate was like opening all the doors of a Christmas calendar at once. And so swelling forearms, spilled sweat and a few drops of fresh blood were easily overcome. For me as the initiator of this event, the Christmas message was: Kempo is cool! Kempo is hard! And Kempo is enormously multifaceted and does not have to hide from any other martial art! Of course, the boys and girls from the Silat and the fist-workshop are a great troupe, who casually withstand even harder strains, who prefer to wear baggy clothes and t-shirts instead of scratchy gi, and last but not least, who often make it clear with large tattoos that they are a little out of the ordinary.
But with Niki Sandrock I have the ideal lecturer on the hook, who once again took up the cudgels for “his” Kempo in front of the 25 participants. The Silat teacher with the Lung Chuan Fa Kempo roots made it clear that he considers his Kempo training to be the “hardest martial arts period of his life”. Properly taught and executed, there are hammer-hard hardening trainings, rough condition drills and extremely effective techniques. Nothing against Krav Maga, Takewondo or other trendy Martial Arts. But Kempo with its enormous possibilities does not have to be shy of any alternative. It depends on the teachers, the training and above all on the active people.
Silat meets Kempo 2.0
This and the similarities with Silat were on the agenda for the new edition of “Silat meets Kempo 2.0”. Marcus initially let us participate “a little more intensively” in his concept of ground work and “light warming up”. But the young man from Detmold looks so nice! ? After he had mixed up the gang of Kempoka, Silat and Bagua people, it was Niki’s turn.
The training with the guy from Asendorf is just awesome every time. The precision of his movements, the understanding of techniques and their backgrounds, the didactic feeling and the methodology inspire me again and again. In any case, the five hours in which Niki and Marcus turned us through the wringer passed by in no time. Which, last but not least, I can’t get tired of emphasizing, is also due to the special spirit that the two of them and the Faust workshop group in general spread. Here are a few super good moving pictures.
The participants, especially the higher graduates of Kempo, received plenty of gifts from the two experts. Because unravelling the applications in their own martial arts will still take months and years. Structure, body rotation, distance feeling – super clear in Silat, but just as important in Kempo. Because this is exactly what makes the essence of a martial art. Suggestions from outside are super. But it is important to reflect and work on the newly learned. Always changing the style is like learning languages. If you only practice in one language for half a year, you can organize your breakfast everywhere. But it is not enough for a real conversation. So get to the basics and improve your Kempo …
Impressions of the seminar
