Review of Master Class with Aidan Carroll & Tony Somers: (Day 3 - December 6th 2008)
On a freezing December morning, arriving at Pobalscoil Rosmini, the familiar nerves were in the pit of my stomach. These are always present on the way to class, and I’m sure they will never disappear. On getting into the school I relaxed a great deal, chatting to the other students on the course and Aidan and Tony. Even though it’s only our third session together, everyone seems to be gelling really well together. The energy is fantastic and growing with every session. Everyone is doing this Master Class for different reasons so it’s hugely beneficial that the group is mutually supportive and encouraging.
At the start of the class Aidan and Tony told us that from the January session onwards, we would begin the presentations. Everyone in the group would be required to do a presentation of between 5 – 15 minutes by the final class in March on any topic they so wished, however it was thought that the main area each person would address was their fears and their thoughts on the course. 6 volunteers were sought for the January session; I was feeling brave and so volunteered as one of the six; Albert, Tony, Ger, Ken and Paul were the other valiant volunteers. This Master Class is about moving out of comfort zones. Public speaking is a fear held by many people, and to have a forum such as this to work towards combating this fear is invaluable.
Aidan and Tony spent the morning putting us through drills intended to improve our striking, we warmed up with some pad work, using either punches, slaps, elbows; whatever each person favoured doing. It was emphasized how important it is for us to be as aggressive as possible, and to shout out something as we struck each time; this is an area I still am coming to grips with, but everyone was raising the roof and getting louder as the morning went on.
Working from the Fence again, as this is one of the cornerstones of the course; we worked on developing familiarity and comfort when striking from it. We were encouraged to find our “trigger”; ie the phrase which in our own head we know that we will strike after saying. We should not change it each time, and should use a trigger which will come to mind easily.
Then Aidan and Tony put us through the toughest drill so far on the course, and it was seriously no holds barred! Basically everyone in the group was armed with focus pads and one person went into the middle….two minutes were set on the clock and everyone with the pads were instructed to keep hitting the person in the centre. The primary goal of the drill was not to give up striking at all around us when in the centre irregardless of how tired, winded or sore a person felt. This was an incredibly difficult drill; two minutes felt like an eternity, and with 18 or 19 people continually coming at you from all sides, trying to hit you, restrain your movements, blocking any move towards the outside and a breather from the madness; it was the most physically difficult thing I think I have ever done.
As the main aim was to keep going for the two minutes and not give up hitting in some way shape or form, everyone provided encouragement for each person in the centre. This encouragement and support meant that everyone stepped it up throughout each 2 minute drill and really dug deep. It would be so easy to just give up, but if this happened on the street, it definitely wouldn’t be an option just to take a breather. Everyone kept going, and it was amazing to see the transformation in some of the people when they were in the centre, the adrenalin pumping through and edging them on.
We took it down several notches after that was over, with the battered and bruised class doing cool down exercises and stretches. We had a chat about how we found the day went. Again, it was apparent how well the group had worked together and how Tony and Aidan’s enthusiasm and positivity was echoing through the group.
I left the class feeling, as I always do exhausted yet invigorated and full of positivity, looking forward to the next session on January 10th