#kentunion

Sooo here we go. It's a little overdue, I do apologise, but enjoy!

A couple of weeks ago I ventured a little out of my comfort zone in aid of Give it a Go. When I signed up for such a feature, I knew I’d have to challenge myself, I knew I’d be expected to do things that I wasn’t particularly good at, but in saying this, I could have never imagined that I’d be asked to have a go at, cough* belly dancing.

Yes, you heard me right, belly dancing. I stupidly agreed to give it a go, and I can tell you now, I had no clue what I was getting myself into.

For the remainder of this blog I’ll be cussing Sean (Mackey), Amy Gilchrist and Lauren Vaux, but I must also thank them at the very same time for making me do something that I never thought in a million years I’d do!

So the story goes something like this…

Sean: ‘Chris, I’ve secured us belly dancing’

Chris: ‘You what?’

Sean: ‘Belly dancing!’

Chris: ‘Ermmm… No’

Sean: ‘Yes’

Chris: ‘No’

Sean: ‘Yes’

Chris: ‘No’

Sean: ‘Oooh and I’ve got a surprise for you...’

Chris: ‘No!’

So Sean went away and schemed our little outing with UKC Belly Dance. His scheming sidekick was Lauren, the current Vice-President for the club. From the outset I’d be first to admit, I was very reluctant to take part. Being honest, I’m not the most confident person in certain situations and this potentially was one of those! I have no rhythm, no co-ordination and no flexibility, I was in trouble.

I was in denial and deep down I was trying not to think about the session that eventually took place one Wednesday evening a few weeks back. All of a sudden, it was Wednesday afternoon, its an hour until the session was due to commence, and at this point I’ve made up my mind, I’m not going and would refuse to do so. Sean calls to inform me that he’s walking up Eliot footpath to meet me outside the office. I told him I didn’t want to go and well that didn’t go down particularly well and somehow he got his way! I meet him outside the office and my face dropped, I was so nervous. Then Sean revealed his so called surprise, and it was as I’d expected, we were going to be dressing up in traditional belly dancing attire. I seriously wasn’t happy, and then all of a sudden we arrived at the Peter Brown room in the Missing Link, somehow Sean got me there! As we walked in, Lauren who was beaming from ear to ear greeted us, I mustered some sort of nervous smile, before she pulled out our outfits from her bag and I don’t know how best to describe them and I will now apologise for my ignorance towards items of belly dancing clothing. There were 2 ankle length skirts which had a number of coins attached to them, I had to fight Sean for the bright orange one, I prevailed, though still to this day I can’t believe I fought over a belly dancing skirt! To accompany this skirt was a fetching bra-like top and once again, still to this day, I can’t believe I agreed to wear what I did.

Then the fun and games began and if I’m honest, it was all a bit of a blur, I genuinely couldn’t get my head around what we were being asked to do, and I physically couldn’t do any of what was asked of us. The art of belly dancing to my limited knowledge is focused upon the ability to move various areas of the body in isolation. I’ll be the first to admit that I had a fundamental issue with this and as a result I looked particularly amusing, especially to all those that had the opportunity to witness my antics. All of a sudden Sam (Allard) our fantastic photographer, who I must take this opportunity to thank for all his time and help, decided to move us slap bang in the middle of the group and right at the very front, I weren’t happy, though I couldn’t stop laughing the entire time. We were moving hips, arms, shoulders, the lot and I also attempted to shimmy, and I’m surprised I didn’t injure myself and/or anyone else in the process. I was that good, that since the session, I have been described as a plank… a plank of wood!

If I’m honest, I thought Amy and Sean were pretty good! I on the other hand was horrendous and on that note we’ll leave it there, as its safe to say, I won’t be playing the staring role in one of their showcases anytime soon!

I must take this opportunity to thank Lauren and the rest of the UKC Belly Dancing for allowing Sean, Amy and myself to pop along to make a fool of ourselves. I was also in awe, seeing what all the dancers were capable of doing and I thoroughly recommend popping along to give it a go!

Here’s a little appetiser for you from last years Worldfest Performance, please do check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3Z8cPalVfQ

If you’d like to pop along here’s all the relevant details:

Beginners: Wednesday (6-7pm)

Intermediate: Monday (7-8pm)

Performance:  Wednesday (7-8pm)

(Peter Brown, Missing Link, near Darwin)

Also for any further information please visit their Facebook page via the subsequent link: https://www.facebook.com/ukcbellydance

UKC Belly Dance will next we performing at The Ballroom in Canterbury on the Tuesday 19th November in association with The Pilgrims Hospice, why not pop along to check it out and show your support!

So this week, 'Give it a Go' commenced. A feature which includes Sean Mackey of CSR, and myself, as we endeavour to try our hand at as many sports as we possibly can. The feature came about in somewhat what of an uncanny fashion, as we all came up the with the idea at the very same time, so it was a no brainer to work with one another to do all we can to promote and enhance the profile of our Team Kent sports clubs.

First on the cards was Lacrosse, a team sport of Native American origin featuring sticks, balls and helmets. I was a little nervous, due to the sports physically and the fact that you can ‘hit’ someone with a metal pole in order to gain to possession of the ball. Sunday mornings play host to the clubs development sessions between 10-12pm on the 3G up in Parkwood. Sean its safe to say isn’t the most sportiest of people and he would be first to admit, hence why a feature of this nature would provide entertainment for those who have the pleasure to witness his antics, whilst on a serious note, showing that our clubs are inclusive to all, regardless of their ability.

Sunday morning, and you never guess what, it was raining; in fact it was pouring. We arrived at the Pavilion just gone 10am and the weather wasn’t easing up, Sean’s there in his brand new trainers, brought specially for Give it a Go, and a pair of shorts he’d borrowed from a housemate, he looked the part, but that was going to be as close as we were going to get to playing Lacrosse that day, as our hopes were dashed by the rain and a subsequent waterlogged pitch, much to Sean’s delight, he’d got away with it, but just this once!

I went away in the hope of finding our next activity, one that would ultimately kick-start the project after the disappointment of Lacrosse and we were so very fortunate to have something lined up for the following day, we were off to Kendo.

Kendo meaning the ‘way of the sword’ is a modern Japanese martial art, which descends from traditional swordsmanship. I couldn’t wait, I’ll be the first admit I didn’t particularly know what the sport entails though before I knew it, I was in the sports centre getting changed into what is known a ‘Gi’, a traditional item of clothing worn to practise Kendo.

We were asked in advance for our height and chest dimensions, and yes, Sean is considerably taller than me. I quickly came to realise that there was an art to Kendo, not just in the physical aspect of the sport but more so the preparation, after taking a good ten minutes to get dressed. The way in which one presents themselves is extremely important and I have never tied such a precise bow when fastening my Gi. I already had established huge respect for the sport and those that practise it after seeing how much they value and personally respect their equipment and how much it meant to them.

We soon made our way to the Small Hall, in waiting to enter, we were asked if we’d practised before and when we revealed that it was our very first time a few were surprised, due to the way we prepared and in particular the way we were dressed, Sean and I couldn’t help but laugh! We definitely looked the part!

After bowing before we entered the hall, it was time to warm up. We ran around in circles, oh Sean loved that, not! We soon followed it up with a series of stretches, in doing so we were taught to count to ten in Japanese.

We then all knelt down to listen to the instructions for our sensei, oh my, I’m not made to kneel, and how everyone else does it with such ease, I do not know. Our teacher or sensei as its known in Japanese, Utaka Jz, was absolutely fantastic, she along with all those that are a part of the University of Kent Kendo Club welcomed us both with open arms and I cannot thank them enough for the incredible opportunity.

We started with the basics and learnt how to ‘cut’, which entailed taking the sword from above our left shoulder to our opponents opposing hip. We practised by attempting to hit a piece of cloth, dropped from a height, before it reached the ground. We then had the opportunity to practise with a budding volunteer in armour.

The time then came to divide the group, the experienced Seniors went one way and us Juniors went the other. We were then taught the traditional elements of Kendo, in particular the pre-fight routine/ritual, which entailed bowing and looking your opponent in the eye, stepping 5 paces forward, engaging swords, swatting, and the retracting your sword before rising and arriving back at your original position.

Whilst all of this was going on, the seniors were making a lot of noise next door as they practised in full armour. It was an impressive sight, a little overwhelming, the noise, the power and the precision was incredible and I will have to definitely pop along to a fight or two over the next year.

We then rounded off the session with some birthday beats, one of the Seniors celebrated their birthday a few days before and we all had the opportunity to strike him around the head, shouting ‘men’.

We then came together, and knelt to the ground to listen to Utaka, her closes remarks made me release once again how very fortunate we were to be given this opportunity, with the University of Kent Kendo Club (UKKC) being the only club in Kent.

I must take this opportunity once again to thank the University of Kent Kendo Club (UKKC) and all those involved for having Sean and myself, especially at such late notice, in particular I must send my appreciation to Him Wai for making this all possible, we had a blast and just you wait to see what else we’ve been up to!

I can safety say that the activities that I have took part in this week, I could never have imagined I do in a millions years prior to this feature and that’s the beauty of what we’re doing. I can’t stress strongly enough, that during your time here at the University of Kent, you should visit and have a go at as many clubs and societies as you possibly can because you’ll never be apart of anything like Kent Union ever again, where you have 60 sports clubs and 226 societies all under one roof, so go on, like Sean and myself, give it a go! 

#giveitago

Sport is an integral part of many students lives here at the University of Kent. For some it entails competing on a weekly basis in the University colours as part of the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) programme, others compete on behalf of their college in the Inter-mural system, whilst others partake in sport as a means of socialising and exercising with fellow friends and colleagues alongside their studies.

In my role as the Kent Union Vice-President for Sport, I aim to provide our students with the best possible opportunity to thrive and to develop by means of playing sport. Regardless of whether you’re competing in a National Championships or having a kick about with your housemates on a Saturday morning, sport means so much, to so many of you and throughout this year I will strive to make it more accessible, affordable and ultimately more enjoyable for all.

Sport plays an important role in several different areas, such as employability, recruitment, widening participation, retention, wellbeing  student satisfaction and community engagement. Sport has the power to change lives, with the ability to enhance and to develop ones personal skills through means of working and interacting with others. It is imperative that we make each and everyone of you aware of the skills in which you’re gaining as a result of playing and volunteering in sport and how best you can articulate those skills to enhance other areas of your lives, none more so than your academic studies. This year I will be focusing upon the importance of sport within Higher Education and staking my claim that sport at University really does matter. 

Over the past year we saw the evolution of Team Kent, which resulted in us finishing 30th, in the BUCS league tables, which is our highest finish in recent years. As we look forward to the new academic year we have 12 teams currently in BUCS 1A and the National Premiership combined. Last year we saw a number of our teams battling it out for promotion of which 10 clubs won their respected leagues, 3 of which made it into the National Premiership playoffs. Besides the traditional BUCS Wednesday afternoons we had many outstanding individual performances throughout the year, which resulted in national success, both in the form of titles and national selection. Amongst all this success we once again regained our Varsity title for the 17th successive year with a record margin of 30-10.

Over the next year, I would love to see Team Kent, grow and develop even further. We've now laid the foundations to build upon our success. Over the next twelve months I’ll be working very closely with our individual sports men and women and their respective clubs as I hope to provide them with greater resource and expertise to allow them to progress. In the near future I would also love to be able to bring a number of major University Championships to our campus, in doing so putting the University of Kent on the National sporting map.

Sport is for everyone and this year I am really excited to work with numerous clubs, organisations and societies as I strive to make sport here at the University inclusive and accessible to all. Over the next year expect to see a number of campaigns and events that not only raise awareness of various liberation groups, cultures and non-traditional sports but also provide greater opportunities for each and everyone of us to get involved within sport, regardless of our ability and our background.