Martial Arts Festival ..... A RIPPING SUCCESS!

Fists of fury, flying feet of action and a Traditional Chinese Lion Dance performance opened the 1st ever Wellington Martial Arts, Health and Fitness Festival held at the Wellington Soldiers Memorial Club, Wellington NSW over the weekend.

From there it was non-stop action and information as the many Masters from the local area and beyond to Sydney and Melbourne entertained and educated those who had come along to see the absolute best in action. To single out any one display or demonstration would be unfair as all where top notch! It was great to see the community come along and see the action.

However, a highlight of the Festival was the World Record Attempt of the most Balloon’s burst with a Blow Dart and Chinese Paper Darts in sixty seconds by World renowned Martial Artist and multiple world record holder Anthony Kelly. Anthony, a TV Stunt Performer and reaction training specialist who has appeared on the Mythbusters and Guinness World Record Show, named as the top ten record makers for the decade went on to equal the current record of 17 Balloons made by a Shaolin Monk in China! This was a fantastic effort especially considering that Anthony had not trained for this record attempt! He is currently in training to bet the record for the most chopsticks thrown at a target!

“I’ve known Anthony ofr Hung Kuen in Armidale for a good couple of decades now. In fact I’ve trained Anthony and helped him achieve the highest accolade a Martial Artist can aspire to, the level of Grandmaster! What you see with Anthony is what you get … a truly masterful martial artist of the highest calibre, a wonderful person and a very dear friend” said Festival organiser Ron Goninan.

Workshops followed the displays and everyone joined in, sharing and learning. This for many, was the major feature of the Festival. The workshops continued on day two of the Festival at Ron’s White Crane Gongfu School and those attending greatly enjoyed training in this wonderful art. So much so that Melbourne based Martial Arts Master Jamie Close is travelling back to Wellington this very weekend to continue training with Ron Goninan. Something he says will be a regular occurrence.

As a special feature of the Festival was the giveaway of Double Tickets to the up and coming Shaolin Monks Performance in Dubbo won by Margo Mackenzie, Kath Campbell and Sophie Dale.

As a special bonus, Anthony Kelly and his troupe performed the Chinese Lion Dance in the Flamingo Restaurant for the Chefs and people dining out.

As for the Festival, Ron Goninan said “The Festival was a terrific success. And every one of the Masters who gave of their time to be there and share their arts and healing modalities have told me that it must become a regular yearly event! It set out to achieve and educate people that the Martial Arts is not all yelling and screaming and dancing around in funny looking pyjamas. They are very real, very special arts whose main aim is to make good people better. It’s not about beating up somebody in the ring for a belt or trophy, that’s ego gratification. It’s about helping people to become the best people they can be for themselves and the communities in which they live. I’ve achieved something so rare, something most would have thought impossible. That something is the unification of Martial Arts, Healing Methods and Fitness in our area and I’m tremendously inspired and excited as to where this can lead us”.