This blog’s primary goal is to talk about the training we are undertaking in our KORA class and help people with their training journey from afar as best we can. The idea is to be positive and promote the benefits of martial arts.
One of the reasons I started a blog was that I realised that I was becoming a bit of a martial arts recluse. The situation is not helped because I retired from teaching members of the public in 2005 and have been quietly researching and teaching in a low-profile way ever since.
Over the last thirty-five years or so, I have helped train professional fighters, soldiers and even some A-listers along the way; for most of that, I am under a non-disclosure agreement, and for those I am not, I keep my word to keep things private. A few people have gone on the record to thank me, that’s muchly appreciated, but that’s very their decision.
A quick view of the about me section details a small proportion of my overall experience, and hopefully, it shows how grateful I am for my past and current teachers and martial arts friends. I commit to give credit where credit is due and also be transparent.
In my research group, we study two different core activities: first, under the KORA banner, we study MMA, Grappling, Sword and Dagger, full-contact stick fighting and Savate with a Basque flavour. Separately in a closed-door class, we study Pukulan Sera. I draw on my long-term military, practical, and coaching experience to construct and refine my curriculum and attend regular coaching courses in various fields.
Over the last year, since I started chatting to people on social media and writing my blog, I have had some great feedback, and I guess I got rediscovered. This is great as I made some new friends and even reunited with some old students or their students.
The downside of this is a small element in the martial arts world that resents people’s success, even when the person is non-commercial like me. Some people also resent others getting any form of recognition, still more see other people as a commercial threat. Not great, and if that’s you, maybe you need to do a revaluation of your life.
We also have flimflam merchants who tell a great story and insist it’s their way or the high way. Tell them to do one and train with who you like. I recommend shopping around and trying different coaches and arts.
Next up have the con artists, people who don’t do the work and make false claims. Being low profile, I have mostly missed these guys as there is no point in claiming teaching credentials from someone no one knows. A few of my friends have been victims of this kind of thing in the States, but it’s a new one to me.
I recently found someone who was using my writing but with his name under the title, even using a similar logo. Someone else was copy and pasting my words of advice and posting as if they were theirs, and separately someone else making claims that he was a full instructor under me. Three separate people, all of which I had to deal with. That’s all now been dealt with, and there will not be a reoccurrence from those guys.
I can’t patrol the internet and social media all time; I have protected my logos and the group’s name with these guys: Protect my work.com.
My training partners and friends also keep an eye out for me, and I do the same. If you come across anyone making any claims regarding being an instructor with me or teaching KORA, please let me know. I will be happy to confirm and recommend authentic teachers in other arts or even people.
All of us coaches have a unique way of doing things, and most of us know each other in the UK. It’s, thankfully, a small world filled with talented people.
Killick Off Road Arts 