The Martial Arts

About Me

Thank you for visiting my site, and taking the time to learn a little about me.

I began the arduous path of studying Chow Gar Praying Mantis Kung Fu in 1993 under the instruction of Master Paul Whitrod UK Representative.

Back then the main reason I wanted to learn martial arts was to be able to defend myself and that still is my main motivation today. Though of course, the health benefits of training the martial arts should not be underestimated, and in fact many people chose to study martial arts just for the health benefits alone.

The training drills were particularly unique, seeing students perform body conditioning exercises, hammer hand hitting, back to back hitting, although at the time it looked very painful, it was only when I began to study the system that I realised the importance of these exercises and training correctly.

Through the years I have been lucky enough to learn the weapons of Chow Gar from Master Paul Whitrod as well as Dit Dar medicine and Tuina (Chinese massage therapy).

I was initially very impressed with the immense power and speed the advanced students had. Sitting there watching the senior students perform their forms, I could see that this system had something that I hadn’t seen in anyf the other classes I had been to watch. The training had an “oomph” which I couldn’t explain.

In 1991, after nine years training I was awarded the title of Sifu. This is when the training really began.

In 2002 I travelled to India for six months during which time I furthered my knowledge of the martial arts.

Upon my return I decided to pursue a course in Personal Training. I realised that not everyone would chose martial arts as a way to maintain and develop their health and fitness and I wanted to offer an alternative. I have since gained a qualification in Personal Training and can now offer this as well as or instead of martial arts training. Realising that weight training in a gym can be boring for some I have also studied training in different environments. This can be training outside in the park, in the home, or even in the office.

Anyway that’s enough about me, time to train