In April 2010 our schools set the Guinness World Record for the longest ever marathon exercise/ martial art class, training for 29 hours and 5 minutes. Not only was this the longest ever continuous martial art training to have taken place but was the longest ever exercise class of any type - breaking the previous record held by an aerobics class in Brazil by over 3 hours. In the process our schools raised £13,000 for charity.
The rules
To set an official Guinness World Record all the stringent rules had to be adhered to. These included:
Two independent witnesses present
Two trained timekeepers present
Stewards present
Videoed throughout
Only 5 minutes break per hour – this includes all toilet and food breaks
Training had to be non-stop with every person training the same techniques
The event
Led by Si-Fu Julian Hitch (to whom the World Record is officially attributed) the training started at 10am on Saturday 24th April 2010, ending at 3pm on Sunday 25th April. Taking place in our Bromley Kwoon, 33 of the students took part in this event. Aged between 16 and 50 the students came from a whole variety of backgrounds – lawyers, doctors, policemen, students, directors, plumbers and builders all trained together. Of those who started, only three did not finish. Two students had to leave to attend emergencies at work (after training 24 hours), whilst the third student returned later after resting to help with the clearing up.
Charity
Having set a target of £5,000, every student pledged to raise at least £250. As the event drew closer it was clear that we had far superseded our expectations, with donations coming from the public, along with supporters of the schools. Indeed, 3 students even individually raised over £1,000 each. By the end of the event it became apparent that the school had raised £13,000 – nearly three times our initial aim.
All the funds went to the worthwhile cause of
St Michael's Hospice. The Hospice is a charity dedicated to providing specialist end of life care and support in Hastings and Rother to local people and their families, friends and carers. It offers a wide range of high quality services that are adapted to meet an individual’s needs. Last year the hospice gave care to nearly 400 in-patients, provided over 2,300 hospice at home visits and over 2,200 booked day therapy attendances.
St Michael’s Hospice is heavily dependent on the generosity of individuals, companies and local organisations. Nearly 75% of St Michael's funds is spent on frontline services with less than 30% of its total funding coming from the NHS.
Community support
Our attempt was supported by community - local residents not only helped with recycling any waste from the event but provided support and food for the participants. Widespread media cover ensued: from Martial Arts Illustrated to the front page of Southwark News.
Spirit of the Martial Arts
The event was outstanding not only for amount raised for St Michael’s Hospice or for the achievement of the World Record; the event was a triumph of human determination. Due to the logistics involved in planning the event, no special training was possible apart from training in the classes as normal. The majority of the students had never before done more than 3 hours training in one stretch.
One student, Michael McGinley, was hit by a car travelling at 30mph two days before the event. Despite being heavily bruised and suffering from bad tissue damage (and against the Doctor's recommendation) he still successfully completed the whole event, as well as training the two nights leading up to it, including the evening of the accident.
A number of students who took part were affected by the travel emergencies caused by the volcanic eruption. However, most were able to return in time, including 1 student who arrived the day before the event and still completed the whole record.
Si-Fu was also affected by the eruption, stranded for 5 days in Paris, diverting to France after his initial flight to the UK was cancelled. Travelling with heavy luggage and training equipment, he caught 3 trains, 2 taxis, 2 buses, and a ferry to get back on the Monday evening, 5 days before the event. Despite this, Si-Fu taught every night (including Monday) and finished teaching on the night before the event at 9.30pm
In April 2010 our schools set the Guinness World Record for the longest ever marathon exercise/ martial art class, training for 29 hours and 5 minutes. Not only was this the longest ever continuous martial art training to have taken place but was the longest ever exercise class of any type - breaking the previous record held by an aerobics class in Brazil by over 3 hours. In the process our schools raised £13,000 for charity.
The rules
To set an official Guinness World Record all the stringent rules had to be adhered to. These included:
Two independent witnesses present
Two trained timekeepers present
Stewards present
Videoed throughout
Only 5 minutes break per hour – this includes all toilet and food breaks
Training had to be non-stop with every person training the same techniques
The event
Led by Si-Fu Julian Hitch (to whom the World Record is officially attributed) the training started at 10am on Saturday 24th April 2010, ending at 3pm on Sunday 25th April. Taking place in our Bromley Kwoon, 33 of the students took part in this event. Aged between 16 and 50 the students came from a whole variety of backgrounds – lawyers, doctors, policemen, students, directors, plumbers and builders all trained together. Of those who started, only three did not finish. Two students had to leave to attend emergencies at work (after training 24 hours), whilst the third student returned later after resting to help with the clearing up.
Charity
Having set a target of £5,000, every student pledged to raise at least £250. As the event drew closer it was clear that we had far superseded our expectations, with donations coming from the public, along with supporters of the schools. Indeed, 3 students even individually raised over £1,000 each. By the end of the event it became apparent that the school had raised £13,000 – nearly three times our initial aim.
All the funds went to the worthwhile cause of
St Michael's Hospice. The Hospice is a charity dedicated to providing specialist end of life care and support in Hastings and Rother to local people and their families, friends and carers. It offers a wide range of high quality services that are adapted to meet an individual’s needs. Last year the hospice gave care to nearly 400 in-patients, provided over 2,300 hospice at home visits and over 2,200 booked day therapy attendances.
St Michael’s Hospice is heavily dependent on the generosity of individuals, companies and local organisations. Nearly 75% of St Michael's funds is spent on frontline services with less than 30% of its total funding coming from the NHS.
Community support
Our attempt was supported by community - local residents not only helped with recycling any waste from the event but provided support and food for the participants. Widespread media cover ensued: from Martial Arts Illustrated to the front page of Southwark News.
Spirit of the Martial Arts
The event was outstanding not only for amount raised for St Michael’s Hospice or for the achievement of the World Record; the event was a triumph of human determination. Due to the logistics involved in planning the event, no special training was possible apart from training in the classes as normal. The majority of the students had never before done more than 3 hours training in one stretch.
One student, Michael McGinley, was hit by a car travelling at 30mph two days before the event. Despite being heavily bruised and suffering from bad tissue damage (and against the Doctor's recommendation) he still successfully completed the whole event, as well as training the two nights leading up to it, including the evening of the accident.
A number of students who took part were affected by the travel emergencies caused by the volcanic eruption. However, most were able to return in time, including 1 student who arrived the day before the event and still completed the whole record.
Si-Fu was also affected by the eruption, stranded for 5 days in Paris, diverting to France after his initial flight to the UK was cancelled. Travelling with heavy luggage and training equipment, he caught 3 trains, 2 taxis, 2 buses, and a ferry to get back on the Monday evening, 5 days before the event. Despite this, Si-Fu taught every night (including Monday) and finished teaching on the night before the event at 9.30pm