About

I started my martial arts journey many years ago in 2002 when my friend Liz invited me to go the karate club where she trained on a Monday night. This was Ji Shin Do karate in SpreadEagle Road Gloucester and the instructors were Senseis Brian & Roweena Boland and Sensei Ian Elphick. I remember that first lesson, it was hard, I was all over the place, everyone else was so good, but I loved it and I was quickly addicted.

The style being taught was based on Shotokan karate but it also had modern techniques mixed in. There was an encouragement not only to follow the correct rules of the techniques but to also find your own way and your own interpretation when doing this, something I really liked.

As well as working through my karate techniques and forms (known as ‘kata’ in Japanese), the club also did a kickboxing class which I immediately started to go to and I’d regularly get beaten up on a Saturday afternoon! After a karate class on a Monday night I saw two girls, Charlotte & Aimee, doing some extra training. I watched as they both did the most wonderful spectacular kick that I had never seen before. They told me it was called a tornado kick. This was the first time I had witnessed extreme martial arts (also called XMA, tricking, acrobatic martial arts) in person and I wanted some of that.

I continued training hard, focusing on my kata, doing my karate gradings to get my next belt, conditioning my body to the strong, precise movements and the powerful low stances. I continued with the acrobatic martial arts, learning lots of new kicks, tricks and flips. I attened the weapons classes learning nunchuku, bo staff, short stick and tonfa. Eventually I naturally started helping out other students of lower grades and as such stepped in to the world of instructing. I became an official full black belt instructor in 2007 and this is when I started teaching my own classes.

Whereas I have mainly focused on karate as my style and influence, I have also dipped  and dabbled into other styles, for periods from a few months to a few years, when I have had time in my life. These include Mixed Martial Arts – Full Contact Continuous Kickboxing, Ground Fighting & Grappling and Krav Maga. I like to look at other styles and techniques as I am always on a mission to see ways to improve. To compliment my acrobatic martial arts I have also trained in gymnastics, sprung floors, air tracks and foam pits are a lot of fun!