Punching and Kicking

It sure has been a busy couple of days here in the UK!

Since my last entry, Dominic and I joined A1GP Team New Zealand driver Earl Bamber in catching up with Colin Giltrap and a number of influential businessman at a casual evening in London on Monday night.

This gave me a great opportunity to mix with friendly, but powerful people, and more importantly the 'casual' aspect allowed me to feel relaxed and comfortable in the setting and really make some headway in preparation for next year.

As a result, a number of meetings, invites to private functions and introductions to more like-minded business people have been offered and taken up. Ahhh, the power of networking!

It was also great to catch up with Earl, who I haven't seen since the start of the year as he's been jet-setting around Europe racing in various single seater championships.

On Tuesday Dom and I travelled to Cambridge to (finally) meet Frank Nezhadpournia, a 5th Dan Karate 'Master' who I've had regular contact with via Facebook over the past couple of years.

Frank is behind the movement for awareness and safety in Karate, and the push for inclusion of the sport into the Olympics in 2016, and the two of us have a remarkable amount in common - as do our sports - hence the International friendship that has formed.

Even so, it wasn’t until yesterday that I actually met Frank, and Dom and I trained with he and Tom Barrett (a fellow Black Belt and student) in the afternoon in the Dojo.

Donned in a wicked traditional uniform (or ‘Gi’), I was absolutely taken aback at not only how physical Karate is in combat, but also the amount you sweat in sheer concentration when learning the various intricate movements and sequences that make up the sport of Karate.

No doubt, we only touched on the surface of it, but it was remarkable fun and reiterated the similarities between motorsport and martial arts. The passion; the dedication; the mental and physical strain; the focus, and the perfection. Great stuff! Check out the video at the foot of the blog!

Frank has also really gone out of his way to get me involved in the local media here. After a lovely meal at his home last night, I returned to Cambridge this morning where I had a BBC Radio Interview (broadcast to 2.5 million people), and one of three newspaper features that will take place throughout the rest of the trip.

He also somehow got in touch with the Producer of Top Gear (he wanted them to let me take on The Stig! - no such luck, but he’s a real go-getter!) and has Local News TV, not to mention an invitation onto Britain’s equivalent of Murray Deaker’s sporting talk show, in store on my next trip. Not to mention a long and successful meeting with another skilled and experienced expert in big business to assist in where I go from here, and into the future.

Frank, thanks so much bro!

It’s people like this that can influence a career moving forward, and already there’s a lot to be thankful for.

This evening Dom, his flatmate and Formula 3 Euroseries racer Cesar Ramos and I are doing the classic Kiwi roast thing, and we will be back into London tomorrow to meet and greet with more high rollers.

Fingers crossed!

Jono

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Videos from "Punching and Kicking":

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