February 2008

Andy Staton brings us the latest news on all things Bruce Lee.

Well we have had a few months off but now we are back and I can promise 2008 is going to be so special for people who admire the King of Kung fu, or should that be the King of Mixed Martial Arts? Again thanks to Bob Sykes we are going to have some truly revealing interviews from people who met and trained with Bruce Lee and some appropriate articles on Jeet Kune Do and its direction today. This month we start with a news round of what has been happening in the past few months and what you have to look forward to in the near future. Next month the long awaited tribute to Larry Hartsell. Till then, walk on and be strong.

[To read this article in full you must buy the February 2008 edition of Martial Arts Illustrated]

This month we are going to focus on the The Jumping Spinning Inside Crescent Kick.
By Justyn Billingham.

The striking part
The most effective striking part for this kick is the inside of the heel with the foot held in a vertical position. You can also use the upper part of the foot i.e. the area around the ball of the foot, but you may find it’s not quite as effective.

The stance
The stance can be a major factor of the jumping spinning kick because you need to rotate your body as fast as you can. My advice would be to try working the kick from the various stances we have covered so far in the programme and find one that works better for you. In the photos, the kick has been worked from a front on stance.

The breakdown
The complexity of the Jumping Spinning Inside Crescent Kick makes it necessary to break each part of the kick down and focus on individual movements in order to ensure you fully understand how the whole thing works.

From a front on stance in a left lead (or your preferred stance) (photo 2), prepare for the jump by

[To read this article in full you must buy the February 2008 edition of Martial Arts Illustrated]

By Steve Rowe.

“Tonight, I’m going to teach you how to stand, walk and then run,” Sifu waited for the statement to sink in.

“Well excuse me, Sifu, I’ve only been practising that for the last 24 years,” said Jamie with an air of mock sarcasm.
“And you’re not very good at it, are you...” Sifu answered with a statement more than a question. “This is the problem, standing, walking and running are everyday uses of the human body, when we can do this skilfully, we are practicing our martial arts all of the time - and importantly, improving our health and vigour. If we perform these functions mindlessly, then we are unskilful more than we are skilful, this is going to make learning martial arts hard work. A couple of hours a week learning to move skilfully and then 166 hours a week standing, walking, running, sitting and laying unskilfully will tip the balance towards the unskilful favour every time...”

“I never looked at it that way,” Jamie said thoug

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Robbie Hughes interviews Brendan Mitty, WKA World Championships Gold Medallist.

Fresh from the WKA World Championships with a Gold medal around his neck, my Liverpool Freestyle team mate, Brendan Mitty was straight back into training with as much enthusiasm to train hard as ever. Brendan has trained for over 20 years in martial arts and is without doubt one of the top heavyweight fighters on the planet right now. I have always looked upto him as a top training partner, his work ethic is admirable. I decided to ask him his opinions on the sport about, his recent World Title and future goals...

Robbie Hughes: Brendan, back from Germany with a well earned heavyweight world title. How was the experience for you?
Brendan Mitty: The experience was special this time as having three world silver medals in the past nothing but a gold would be good enough. What also made it that extra special was having my instructor of twenty years, Alfie Lewis right behind me. You cannot even begin to understand how much it helps, which, made the experience very sweet as the

[To read this article in full you must buy the February 2008 edition of Martial Arts Illustrated]

Always give more than you charge for! The Karate legend on Bruce Lee, longevity and appearing at Seni08 by Malcolm Martin (Fighters Inc).

With certain films everything falls into place just right to create an enduring classic and within the martial arts genre the stars aligned for ‘Enter the Dragon’, to the point that it is still, over 30 years later, the benchmark by which other martial arts films are measured. The legendary Bruce Lee was the star but a film’s worth is measured by the memorable nature of its villains and ‘Enter the Dragon’ had more than its fair share with the claw-handed Han, muscle-bound Bolo and the scar-faced O’Hara, played with menacing relish by Bob Wall.

Although he played key roles in three Bruce Lee movies, to say he is defined by them would be to underestimate his overall and enduring impact on the martial arts scene. During the two groundbreaking decades of the ‘60s and ‘70s, Bob Wall was a major force on the burgeoning tournament circuit, placing 1st or 2nd in every major Karate championship from 1965 to 1972.

He was a member of the legendary quintet tha

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Matt Fiddes, 6th degree black belt, is becoming a household name across the country through his award-winning martial arts schools, currently being established in towns and cities around the world. MAI editor Bob Sykes caught up with Matt Fiddes and Danielle Lloyd to find out what Matt has in store for us in the future.

His chain of martial arts clubs offers an exciting blend of Kickboxing, Taekwondo and Kung Fu disciplines, in a fun non-combative educational programme, which helps the pupil learn self-reliance, respect and discipline.

At just 28 years-old he is one of the most successful martial arts instructors to have graced the covers of Martial Arts Illustrated. Last year MAI presented Matt with the well deserved Instructor of the Year award. This year he will launch his Ladies-Only brand of martial arts with celebrity friend and student, the model Danielle Lloyd.

MAI: There has been a lot in the media recently about you both and the various projects you have been working on. Can you tell how you both met?
Matt Fiddes: Danielle was introduced to me by Jermaine Jackson, after he met her in the Big Brother House. Danielle was having problems with a stalker and he asked me to help her out with some security.

Danielle Lloyd: Jermaine told me about Matt and

[To read this article in full you must buy the February 2008 edition of Martial Arts Illustrated]

Paul Butterfield jnr reviews one of Geoff Thompson’s masterclasses that he had the pleasure to attend.

Thank you for your time, Sharon and Geoff Thompson, in taking this year’s master class. It has been a blessing working with you both. I’m so grateful for the experience that I have had with all these people, and the master classes (beautiful experiences) continue to happen. A new class is starting in January 2008 and here I want to let MAI readers in on this experience.

I always start with gratitude from the second I wake up until I go to sleep (even when sleeping, I’m in gratitude mode). So thank you, reader, for taking the time to read my article on Geoff Thompson’s master class. I’m sure I don’t have to explain who this man is but, if you don’t know... get to know him at www.geoffthompson.com. I met Geoff a year ago in McDonald’s for a coffee at 9am. Geoff was impressed with my level of commitment to training and being a fantastic human being he told me about his master class. I thought this would be a stupid idea to miss out on, so I made the decision then an

[To read this article in full you must buy the February 2008 edition of Martial Arts Illustrated]

Alan Orr looks at Chi Sau training within Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun Kuen.

It’s harder than you think to find liked minded people in life. I’m fortunate enough to have quite a few mad dogs as my brothers in arms. I’m a strong believer that as a teacher you must be always questioning what you are teaching. I encourage my students to be open-minded and test what I teach them.

A student and friend who has become an integral part of my school and an invaluable training partner is Nick Forrer. When Nick came to train with me he had great, untapped potential. Very quickly he could see the ‘Body Structure’ of the Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun System was a much deeper understanding of Wing Chun than he had believed existed. With his potential and hard work, fused with a system of training and teaching that rewards a keen mind, Nick has developed an excellent knowledge of the arts.

Another such person is my student and friend Sai Jun Mak who has totally committed his mind to his training and teaching of the Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun System. Sai has

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Abdul J. Tarafdar interviews Sifu Seyfi Shevket, a man who has trained with many masters.

I recently had the opportunity to interview Sifu Seyfi Shevket who is a second generation Yip Man and second generation Bruce Lee student. He is a respected and liked teacher with over 35 years of martial arts experience and has sustained his passion, remaining faithful to Wing Chun for over 20 years. Sifu Seyfi has trained with many masters and here he tells me about some of his experiences.

Abdul J Tarafdar: Thank you for taking the time to tell us a little about your experience in martial arts. Can you tell me how long you have been studying and what kind of background you have?
Sifu Seyfi Shevket: I have been studying and training for 35 years, from the age of 13, starting with Judo (4 years), Wu Shu Kwan (5 years), Tae Kwon Do (7 years) and Wing Chun (21 years). I have been very fortunate in meeting and training with many true masters of the pugilistic arts. All my teachers have my utmost respect and have influenced me in different ways at different times in my life

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Urban Combat exponent, Emil Martirossian, helps us to become at peace with ourselves and everyone around us.

“Try your best to become at peace with yourself and everything around you, life is not a competition, my friend, it is a search for one’s true self”.

I truly believe that, if you don’t have the right mindset, you will never grasp the true essence of martial arts. You have not to only transform your whole body in to a weapon but you have to tune in your mind as well, so that it becomes one with everything. Meditation is also a great help in the control of anger, and in a fight or self- defence situation, to get angry is the last thing you need. Uncontrolled anger can be very damaging and can make you forget all of your well practiced moves and techniques.

This chapter will help you and give you a basic outline of how you can begin to meditate, so that you can calm your inner spirit and tune into yourself, thereby finding out the true essence of what you are all about.

To adapt oneself to any situation, to, as Bruce Lee put it “Be water, my

[To read this article in full you must buy the February 2008 edition of Martial Arts Illustrated]

It’s a busy time for the DKI in Great Britain as demand flies in for seminars around the country.Over the last few weeks several seminars have been held back-to-back to fit in location after location. Chris Byrne reports.

Grand Master Bowman and several other DKI instructors made their way to Maidstone in Kent for another seminar at the great dojo run by our good friend Master Dave Martin of Family Martial Arts. In waiting were around 50 students and dan grades eagerly waiting to learn a little more about pressure points and kata breakdown.

The lesson started off with a short power-point presentation on what pressure points are and their relationship to acupuncture. This was delivered by Master Pam Batten (a fully qualified/practising Acupuncturist), “the Dame of Pain, as we like to call her”.
Many people do not understand the relationship between the points in terms of hurting / healing, so it was great that this was so clearly explained by Pam.
Presentation finished, and Grand Master Paul Bowman started off with some basic finger locks to warm everyone up. As we know “pain makes believers” and there sure were some born again believers in the room. Not all attacks start wi

[To read this article in full you must buy the February 2008 edition of Martial Arts Illustrated]

Terry Garrick interviews Grandmaster Rene Latosa, not your typical Filipino, but an Escrima veteran of over 30 years.

Grand Master Rene Latosa who stands at 6ft tall and weighs just over 200lbs (not your typical Filipino) has been teaching Escrima for over 30 years and is continuously furthering the development of his unique system in the Filipino martial arts. He began his training at the Stockton Escrima Academy in Stockton, CA in 1968 with the likes of Grandmaster Angel Cabales (Serrada), Dentoy Revilar (Serrada), Maximo Sarmiento (Kadena de Mano) and Grandmaster Leo Giron (Largo Mano). However, the most influential Escrimador and training was learned at home through his own father, Juan Latosa.

Latosa’s original organization was called the Philippine Martial Arts Society, which began in 1976 in London. Escrima was the initial name used under the flag of the PMAS. The name changed to Combat-Escrima in 1982 as the system became influenced by the concepts of using power and combat reality. Combat-Escrima relied heavily upon a single goal: Winning. This goal produced effective and aggressive

[To read this article in full you must buy the February 2008 edition of Martial Arts Illustrated]

Panantukan Art of Advanced Boxing by Lakhvinder Madahar.

It was just a normal day where I would be teaching a class or two, holding a private session or two and squeezing in an hour or two of my own personal training. Things haven’t changed so much, since I gave up my so called craftsmanship as a carpenter about seven years ago. Teaching martial arts hasn’t made me rich, but I am making a living from something I enjoy.

A few years ago, there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary going on either; it was just another day where I did a thing or two. Then this particular day turned out to be an exception, as my whole lesson plan fell flat on its face.

As usual I had prepared my lesson plan mentally, ninety nine point nine percent of the time this worked well for me due to the excellent flexibility of being able to adapt to the students’ needs.

I made my way to the Kali class at Coventry University, and put my plan into action. The classes there have always been very popular; ever since we started them

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Having fulfilled his dream of opening a residential martial arts and retreat centre in Italy, Jeff Sawyer comes to MAI to tell us all about it.

Jeff Sawyer is a retired police officer, a professional martial arts instructor and has worked as part of a close-protection team, operating throughout Europe and in West Africa.

He has trained in Ju-Jitsu since 1979 and holds the grade of Godan/5th Dan Black Belt. He has cross-trained extensively in Filipino Kali and Muay-Thai, is registered as an assistant boxing coach with the Amateur Boxing Association and for many years was a Home Office approved instructor of Police arrest and restraint techniques, defensive tactics, and use of force legislation.

Now he is the owner of Villa Metta, a place for the practice and study of meditation and martial arts, of rest and rejuvenation, of activity and learning. A place where teachers, masters and facilitators can bring their students and work groups to study in peaceful surroundings which encourage and promote creativity, learning and relaxation. Villa Metta is the culmination of Jeff’s twenty year dream.

[To read this article in full you must buy the February 2008 edition of Martial Arts Illustrated]

Hardcore Jeet Kune Do. A different way to look at Bruce Lee’s martial art by Lamar M. Davis II.

In the world of martial arts today, it is easy to see how the original teachings of Bruce Lee have somewhat fallen by the wayside. Although his methods are just as valid today as they were when he was still with us, the recent interest toward MMA and NHB type sport martial art events has left a gap in the area of realistic, street effective self defense at a time when it is actually needed the most. There are still many martial artists who dedicate the majority of our efforts to street effective, realistic self defense for today’s streets.

These days there are several different approaches to training in Jeet Kune Do, the martial art founded by the late Bruce Lee. The most common approaches are known as “original” Jeet Kune Do and the approach referred to as Jeet Kune Do “concepts”. These approaches are defined by the curriculums and training methods of the practitioners involved. While the original JKD practitioners tend to focus on exactly what Bruce Lee did, the

[To read this article in full you must buy the February 2008 edition of Martial Arts Illustrated]

Jamie Clubb takes a look at something too often overlooked in this world, common sense.

Many martial arts veterans look back on their early training with nostalgia and it is not hard to see them still holding true to what these early days taught them. When I look back to my early days, however, I probably owe more to what my lifestyle was before I first became enchanted by the colourful world of martial arts.

I grew up in a travelling circus community among hard-working people who spent more time working with their hands than anything else. It was in this environment that I heard the words “common sense” regularly uttered as the ultimate reason why you should not do something that was obviously stupid or unnecessarily dangerous. This word popped up again at school, mainly in the form of stern lectures. There was always something grounding in its usage, something that made sense, not necessarily because of the apparent logic being argued, but because it just did. Today my students and I go back to common sense every time something in our training or rese

[To read this article in full you must buy the February 2008 edition of Martial Arts Illustrated]

Combat32 managed to grab a few words with ‘The Gladiator’ in Portugal at the WAKO World Championships, to try and identify if the rumours are true that he is indeed a reincarnation of a formidable Romanic warrior.

There are very few people who can say they were fighting back in the day when Alfie Lewis was dominating the Freestyle scene in the mid ‘80s and can show a photo of themselves on the rostrum after winning a bronze medal at the 2007 WAKO World Championships. One of those special few is the ‘Gladiator’ himself, Mark Brown.

Mark has won much, fighting many of the greats, including Pele Reid, Steve ‘Nasty’ Anderson, Peter Edwards, Billy Bryce and many, many more. He is still fighting fit to this date, a shining example of an athlete who loves his trade and who refuses to accept age as an excuse to stop practising the sport he loves. His sheer persistence and dedication has graced him with law defying qualities that enable him to compete to this day at the highest internationals level, consistently delivering for his country. He still commands an element of respect that can be compared to no other, which was clearly visible at the recent Combat32 showcase.

Co

[To read this article in full you must buy the February 2008 edition of Martial Arts Illustrated]

Neville Wray reports on the Cimac International Fight Night and the Cimac Superleague Hall of Fame Awards 2007 at the Magnet Leisure Centre, Maidenhead, Berkshire.

Part World-class fight night, part dinner-show, part awards ceremony, the annual end of season send-off for the CIMAC Superleague has grown over the years to the point that it is now one of the most eagerly awaited events in the Superleague calendar and the fact that the tables could have been sold-out twice over is testament to the league’s consistent growth in popularity under the stewardship of Neville Wray.

In his opening speech, Nev the Dev acknowledged the loyal support that has seen the Superleague rise to prominence and many thank-yous were proffered by the big man, not least to Pat Morgan and the British Red Cross team who have been covering the events for the last 13 years.

As is customary, the evening started off with a top-class demonstration, and this year WKA World Champion Rubie Planson opened the show with a blistering display that got everyone in the mood for the popular junior team event, where Mad Dogs took on the Renegades. With boxing style

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Alan Orr reports on UFC 79: Nemesis from the Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas. Nemesis saw the coming together of two modern greats in Chuck ‘The Ice Man’ Liddell and Wanderlei ‘The Axe Murderer’ Silva and all the promised fireworks were duly delivered. Amongst the other fighters on the card were Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Lyoto Machida, Matt Hughes and Georges ‘The Rush’ St Pierre.

The UFC has seen a large growth in its mainstream appeal over the last few years. Longer-term fight fans of MMA have talked about one fight match up for over 6 years now. The dream fight that has always talked been about is Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva. At one time they where the champions from the two biggest MMA show rivals.
Chuck for UFC and Wanderlei for Pride. Times have changed of late, UFC now owns Pride. Chuck and Wanderlei have both been knocked off the top of the pack. But as both fighters now need wins to restart a climb to the top, what better timing for the dream fight to go ahead? What better timing indeed. Chuck has lost his last two fights, but is said to be back on form and hungry again. Wanderlei is still young enough, but due to so many wars in the ring was rumoured to be burning out. But now both fighters look reborn with this chance to turn their careers back into a new reign of glory. Both fighters love to throw hands and are at their best when they sm

[To read this article in full you must buy the February 2008 edition of Martial Arts Illustrated]