K
aizen Martial Arts Expo returned to Nottingham after a 3 year hiatus due to the global Covid pandemic. It was once again an honour to have been invited to participate at the event in a dual role — teaching and representing the Erle Montaigue System [Old Yang Style Taijiquan Combatives] on the mats, as well as reporting on behalf of the magazine. The event was held at the Clifton Leisure centre and you knew it was a sellout as soon as you arrived at the car park — there was simply no room! I literally had to leave my car in the middle of the car park in a lane blocking 6 other vehicles after having spent 20 minutes trying to find a space! Inside, the hall was already jam packed with people watching the opening demonstrations mixed in with a cacophony of sound. Folk were excitedly looking at the schedules to see who was teaching when on the mats so that they could join in — and once again, as in the previous years, all the zones very fully supported by keen participants packing the mats. I, myself, was the opening act in zone one, followed by the legend that is Simon Oliver, then we had the tag team of Redah Madouri and Peter Mogridge before the Ed Sheeran of martial arts — Tommy Joe Moore hit the mats with a few shopping bags in his own imitable style! Having chosen to go first on the mats was perfect, it meant that I could spend the rest of the day photographing and interviewing folk. As per norm, Kaizen brought the best of the most experienced martial artists in the UK and Europe, as well as becoming the platform for up and coming talent. I had wanted to interview Lucci Del-Gaudio — Mr Kaizen himself — on the day, but it simply became impossible due to the level of activity and noise in the hall… we were literally having to shout to make ourselves heard. In the end, I decided to leave it until after the event and finally I managed to get Lucci down to my place in Leicester and ask him how he had thought the day had gone?
20
