Harry’s heart for martial arts beats stronger than ever

For 20 years, there has been a hive of activity whenever you approach the Moy Valley Freestyle Martial Arts dojo in Ballina. When the Western People got the opportunity to visit last month, this was the case once again.

A variety of age groups were either finishing their class, in the middle of instruction or warming up ahead of their session. Among the instructors is sensei Harry Thompson, who has been there since day one and he gets the latest class ready for their session.

When he asks if the class are ready, the response is somewhat muted. But when he says ‘No, I can’t hear you’, the class responds in unison. They are ready to begin. Martial arts, he believes, is more about the mind than the body.

“Obviously, they're tied together. When you do the longer physical training, it affects your mind, and your mind has to be at peace,” he told the Western People. “That's why we're pushing them with the warm-up and all that stuff like that.

“I’ll ask the kids when they're on the ground, when they're training, when you get knocked down, what do you do? They all shout back to me ‘we'll get up’. I'll ask them if they're tired and they'll say ‘never’. ‘Are you ready?’ ‘Always’.

‘How strong?’ They'll shout back at the top of their voices ‘Stronger than my excuses.’ We have it on the wall.

“We have seen kids here just change and blossom to very different individuals and that's the big reward.” 

Close to 150 members train at the dojo, but they are not all just fighters preparing for competition. Many kids and adults who join are simply interested in personal development. Their journeys are just as important to Harry as the fighter getting ready for a bout.

“When you see somebody going from beginner, white belt to black belt, it takes roughly six to seven years. That's a massive journey.

“They take their black belt exam, which is the Shodan. It's a hell of an exam. What we tell them is, now that you've got your Shodan, now that you've got your black belt, give back.” Thompson added: “You compete to a certain age. The martial arts training is something you can do at any age. I'm not young, but I'm out here in front of all these guys. And to be honest, this keeps me young because all these young people out there that come in and the mentality and the attitude, you can't help but take part of it.” 

Giving back is a core value of Harry’s philosophy. The Ballyhaunis native began his journey into martial arts back in 1977, with backgrounds including kickboxing, karate, judo and sanshou. His dedication to his craft saw him elected chairperson of the International Martial Arts Federation last year, of which he is one of the founding members.

A unique way Harry gives back is by working with children on the spectrum on a one-to-one basis.

“What we do is we work with them until the time is right and then we integrate them because integrating them to the big crowd at first just doesn't work. We have to prepare them for it and get them ready for it and be very patient with them. Whatever time it takes, it takes,” said Harry.

Kickboxing may be the main style his dojo teaches but it is called freestyle martial arts for a reason.

“We have no specific style. We go to kickboxing tournaments and we follow their rules. We've been in Europe a fair bit over the years. They have a system called open combat, which is their version of MMA. We follow their rules. Our idea here is to be adaptable.” 

Harry does not just see himself as a sensei just teaching them martial arts, but also as a confidante to his students and fellow instructors.

“Their goal is to develop themselves stronger, their minds stronger. Anxiousness is a big thing nowadays and we deal a lot with that. I've taught a lot of people over years with anxiousness, and I have sat here on the floor with them till two or three o'clock in the morning, individually talking to them, because that's what a sensei does. Because it's not just like a sport, we are family.

“What sensei means is ‘the one who came before’. It means not just one that can kick and punch and do all that stuff, but one who has life knowledge.” 

For their 20th anniversary, the dojo plans to bring back the Dragon’s Tournament in May, a tournament they last held before Covid. As to what the future holds, the plan for both Harry and his wife Ann-Marie is to continue to do what they do.

“It's not broken, so don't fix it. We're going to keep doing what we're doing. Our numbers are growing all the time,” said Harry.

“We don't close. We go right through the summer. We never close. The work never stops. That's the mentality. Most of the people here will be here all the time.” 

Ann-Marie does hope they could get funding in the future to own the dojo. If not for them, then the future instructors who could take over one day.

“We would like our members to take it on once we're finished, to leave it in such a way that people will be qualified enough to actually run it to the same level,” said Anne-Marie.

That day won’t be anytime soon just yet.

“I don't intend (to stop) anytime soon,” added Harry, “but I'd like to see if it would go on and there was a good hand and the right mentality was there. We're very fortunate with the members we have, what they do for us.”