WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT THE ACADEMY?

IT'S AIMS & OBJECTIVES

No other martial arts club in the area covers the myriad of topics that this one does. This club is totally dedicated to reality training, instilling the appropriate knowledge and qualities necessary for an individual to survive, or better still, avoid a 'live' situation. Another big difference is that everyone is treat as an individual. There are no expectations of ability or commitment. Everyone is unique, their preferences, perceptions, fitness, strength, character, attitude, etc, are all different. Therefore students are taught with consideration for this fact. It is the intention of the club to instil positive qualities. "Everything a person does is habit forming and character building". It is with this in mind that we are trying to form a positive habit and a strong, positive character.

Basically anything that has any relevance to understanding, dealing and coping with any threatening or violent confrontation.

The training at the club is split into two categories, Self Protection and Support System. Basically, any subject that is connected to a real confrontational situation is addressed. Obviously the physical elements are a major part of a students training, although that doesn't necessarily mean that the physical components are the most important. Developing the physical attributes takes time. Like learning any new skill, the techniques need to be practised over and over again. This will prove time consuming, especially when you consider that we incorporate a large number of individual disciplines, blending them together in order to construct a sound physical support system. Covering the mental aspects of confrontation and stressful situations is a major factor when attempting to develop an ideal personal safety strategy. These are often all inter-connected with each other. At times these can become quite complex issues that have to be strategically addressed in order to avoid confusion and afford an adequate understanding. Attaining the appropriate mental status is vital if surviving a violent encounter is to be achieved.

The first section deals with all the safety precautions, pre-fight strategies and psychological topics (Environmental Awareness, Threat Evaluation, Behaviour, Pre-Incident Indicators, Distance Control, Pre-Emptive Striking, Aftermath, Legal aspects, etc...). A strong emphasis is put on nurturing and developing the correct mental qualities that are a vital commodity when the pressure of a confrontation is increased, not to just concentrate on the physical parts. Without the correct mental discipline, determination and aptitude, then an individual will stand little chance of standing firm and employing a suitable response in reply to the threat they are facing.

The Second section, the 'Support System', deals with a multitude of physical disciplines and concepts that possess valuable skills relevant to the fight aspect of a confrontation. The main components include, Chinese Boxing, Mauy Thai, JKD, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Shootfighting, Kickboxing, Wrestling, Western Boxing and 'Streetfighting', all taught from a reality perspective.

To sum up, anything that is connected to encountering confrontational situations is incorporated into this training system. The ultimate aim is to teach people, firstly, to be aware of (and fully understand) the risks involved when facing a confrontation, as a result of which, the individual attains the ability to avoid any threatening or dangerous situation through recognising the relevant pre-incident signals. Secondly, to develop the capability of dealing with the threat on a physical level. Finally, to develop qualities that will have a positive effect on other aspects of a persons life, making everyone a better being.

When it comes to dealing with a volatile situation, one that is very likely to turn physical at any second, then you will only be as strong as your weakest link (area). It is no good relying on your strongest attributes in a fight. Very often a violent situation will exploit your weak areas. Therefore you need to be strong in as many 'combat' areas as possible, well versed in any situation, whether standing or on the ground.

The training regime is mixed. We are trying to develop a base knowledge at first, giving people a little information at a time on a variety of subjects. This is done for two reasons. Firstly, it is very easy to create a feeling of information overload if the student is constantly practising the same subject for any length of time. Its a little like spending days after day just studying maths at school, rather than an hour or two at time on it. You soon find that no matter how hard you try to concentrate you just cannot absorb any more information on the subject. Secondly, a person can become frustrated that the information is not being taken in quickly enough (which is a natural reaction when learning something for the first time). This can develop negative feelings towards training in general, causing the student to feel as though they are 'getting bored'. This will usually cause a student to cease training altogether.

A good way of explaining this teaching principle is as follows. If you imagine that each time you train you are given metaphoric 'bricks' of information, from which you are to construct a wall of knowledge that is of infinite height and infinite width. Each time you attend training you will collect a number of these 'bricks'. At first when you begin to construct your wall, none of the bricks touch each other. In fact it may appear that the subjects have no direct connection to one another what so ever. Gradually though, over a period of time, you will add more and more to your 'wall' and the bricks will begin to 'touch' each other and you will be able to see that thing are taking shape. Parallels and similarities will become apparent between different areas of skill and technique and before too long you are able to flow from one discipline to another effectively.

In a word, no. Everyone trains together. It is an essential part of a student's development to be able to work with different levels of ability. At first you will be given a lot of training designed to help you gain a base understanding of the main subjects we cover. This is sometimes done within groups of students who it is felt need to address that particular aspect. Because we cover such a broad perspective of training (changing the topic nearly every session) and because not everyone can train at every session, you will find that the whole class mixes about frequently. The best way to improve your level of ability is to work with people of greater ability. This is not to say that people with more knowledge cannot learn from someone who considers themselves to be a 'novice'. By applying the correct mentality to your training everyone can learn something from everybody.

If, for example, I spent the evening teaching groundwork (grappling) to a group of students who had never experienced it, I would still be able to develop my own knowledge and ability. How? I hear you ask. Easy. By spending time going through the basic and fundamental elements I am practising the techniques and you can't get enough practise of basic skills, they are the foundation for all other skills that proceed them. Also by working with people who are do not have any experience at a particular topic they are less likely to react in an expected manner when executing the techniques. Therefore, I would be given a wider scope of possibilities to consider, which in-turn will broaden my perception of potential responses and actions, increasing my knowledge (which is my main objective with regards to training).