If you are late…

My early experience in combat and in combat training taught me many lessons; one is: if you’re late, you’re dead.

In the 1980s British Army, a lot of time was spent on making sure we got there on time, which meant being five minutes early and ready to go do our task. It’s a skill I still carry today, and it’s served me very well. Being on time has saved my mates and me many times, and you could say it’s a proven survival skill or life hack.

This can translate into many things in daily life. It can translate to arriving five minutes early to your practice session, being ready to go. It can also mean operating just a hair faster than your sparring partner and landing on them before they touch you.

Sword & Dagger training teaches this very quickly: if someone cuts you and you are late, you will never master the timing required to survive if the opponent is any good. Counterintuitively, you can slow things down and get the timing right and slowly, progressively speed up to full speed.

KORA Life hack: Be on time.

KORA Coaching

Since I started teaching, my training partners have been split into those who want to get fit, those who want to improve their self-protection skills, and those who want to do a deep-dive study or train for sport fighting. Some, the one in ten thousand, want to be teachers. I realised a long time ago that people will attend for as long as they need to meet their goals, and that’s great.

To sum up what I call the KORA training cross.

  1. Fitness.
  2. Self-protection skills.
  3. Sport fighting skills.
  4. Deep dive study.
  5. Teacher training skills.

Some training partners want a few of the above skills or change their personal selection as they go through the training.

I designed a teaching style that works for all five, and that improves people’s lives.

Lately, we have been very chilled during practice, but I realise that some people need an encouraging push to be the best they can be, and so from time to time I modify how we train.

Within KORA, we don’t call our training periods classes; we have always called them practices, and we call the people who attend training our training partners. This gives a slightly non-classical vibe but is traditional in some arts.

The idea is that the training partners grow as people and their lives improve for the better.  Several people have noted that happens in our school reviews, and I also have many personal testaments, sometimes from the 1980’s onward, about the difference attending practice made to people.

This is the reason I teach.

The KORA Rungu Stick

My KORA training partners and I train regularly with a Rungu Stick, as shown in the video above.  We started to use the Rungu Stick around three years ago, and it has gradually replaced our sledgehammer handles and Sheilaghs. For us, the Rungu Stick is a great aid that drives the power and swiftness of our sword, dagger, and stick work. The results speak for themselves.

The secret is the weighted end of the business end of the stick, which allows us to follow our informal motto of bone breakers and dent makers.

KORA is, at its heart, a collection of sometimes lost teachings from my fifty-plus years of training, teaching and research. That combines beautifully into a hybrid training method. Each element fits into the whole system, and there is often a direct crossover between systems of training, like the similarities between our Spanish (Iberian) arts, Serak (Pencak Silat) and our Ilustrisimo (FMA).

What I did as a founder, with the aid of a keen curiosity and enthusiasm for off-road arts, was spend my time researching and teaching these rare arts. Where there was a like-for-like strategy, technique, or concept, I kept them grouped.

You may see us use a Rungu stick to drive and reinforce the motions on our Spanish Dagger. This may sound like I am adding things to create a mishmash, but what I did is boil the arts down to mathematical equations.

The results have been excellent.

Must have book

Spy Secrets That Can Save Your Life by Jason Hanson.

A must-read book if you are concerned about your and your loved ones’ self-protection.

I was planning to write this, but Jason beat me to it. Totally required reading for all KORA students, new and old.

KORA School Facebook Page Revamped: Follow Us!

The KORA School FB page has been revamped and is back!

Facebook

This replaces the 12 year old page we lost access to. It mainly points to this website, so you are in the correct place but some find value in being able to pop on and follow on FB.

KORA Ranks of Achievement

KORA Ranks of Achievement

Year One – Beginner

The first stage of your KORA journey is Beginner. This is where you build a solid foundation, develop essential skills and begin to understand the principles behind our arts.

Year Two – Technician

The Technician stage is about developing greater understanding, technical ability and confidence in applying your skills.

Year Three – Senior

The Senior rank represents a significant level of knowledge, skill and experience. It is also the point at which formal testing begins.

Years Four and Five – Apprentice Instructor

Those who wish to progress towards teaching may enter the Apprentice Instructor stage. This is an opportunity to develop not only technical ability, but also the knowledge, judgement and responsibility required to help others learn.

KORA Teacher

Beyond Senior is the rank of KORA Teacher. This is not simply a technical grade; it recognises that an individual has earned the permission, trust and responsibility to teach and represent the KORA system.

KORA Teacher remains the highest rank within KORA.

For those aspiring to become a KORA Teacher, there is an additional requirement: practical experience in full-contact competition. This can be gained in any full-contact discipline, including striking or grappling arts.

Your Progression

As always, progression is entirely your choice.

Some people enjoy working towards ranks, setting goals and taking part in testing. Others train simply for personal development, enjoyment and the pursuit of skill. Both approaches are equally welcome at KORA.

Our aim is to recognise more than technical knowledge. We want to encourage people to develop the ability to apply their skills under pressure, understand what they are doing, and ultimately pass that knowledge on to others safely and responsibly.

There is no pressure to progress. Train because you enjoy it, develop your skills, and let your journey unfold at your own pace.

Jesse Glover’s Original Non-Classical Gung Fu (NCGF)

I never got to meet Jesse Glover or Ed Hart, but one of my MMA students did. He went to a workshop here in the UK and was very impressed, especially when Jesse showed him some clinch counter ideas from pressure sticking. My student noted that Jesse’s ethos was very much like our old 1980s and 1990s training. Something I am determined to go back to.

I do have Jesse’s book, Number One: Reflections of Jesse Glover, Bruce Lee’s First student and find it great, insightful reading.

Number One: Reflections of Jesse Glover, Bruce Lee’s First student: Amazon.co.uk: Bax, Paul: 9781522776406: Books

Anyway, I stumbled on the following YouTube site and have really enjoyed the interviews. Well worth taking the time to watch.



Enrol in Pencak Silat and Self-Defense Classes

New students are always welcome; we teach these arts in separate classes:

• Pencak Silat Serak & Sera
• Sword & Dagger and Stick
• KORA Combat Essentials

If you’re interested in joining, these are the ideal times to begin training and get fully embedded in the syllabus.

Essential KORA Dagger Movements: Insights from Martial Arts Traditions

In this video, Richard Killick demonstrates how we train with the KORA dagger, drawing from Spanish methods, Filipino Martial Arts (FMA), and other traditional systems.

This is a sanitised version presented for historical research and educational purposes. Much of what was essential to know about duelling had already been established by the 1500s.

The core concept shown here was passed to me through direct transmission in the mid-1980s. The corkscrew motion featured is a fundamental and recurring movement across multiple blade traditions.

Chat GBT Review

Main Teaching Points

1. The hammer grip is a natural, robust grip

  • The knife is held much like a hammer, giving a strong wrist alignment.
  • The grip favours power, retention, and instinctive use under stress rather than fine motor dexterity.

2. Guard protects while threatening

  • The lead hand is kept high to protect the head and monitor the opponent.
  • The weapon remains in a position from which it can attack immediately without exaggerated chambering.

3. Close-range rather than long-range fencing

  • The emphasis is on operating inside the opponent’s space.
  • Rather than exchanging long cuts, the practitioner closes the distance and works from conversational or clinch range.

4. Simultaneous defence and attack

  • The demonstrations suggest that defensive movements are combined with offensive actions.
  • Instead of blocking and then striking, the motion appears to intercept while delivering a stab or cut.

5. Economy of motion

  • There are no large swings.
  • The dagger travels on compact, direct lines, making the movements difficult to detect and quick to recover.

6. Body movement generates the strike

  • Power comes primarily from stepping and body rotation rather than arm strength.
  • The knife follows the movement of the body rather than acting independently.

7. Continuous pressure

  • Once an opening is created, the practitioner continues working rather than stopping after a single attack.
  • The flow suggests maintaining initiative until the opponent is no longer able to respond effectively.

Tactical Principles

The demonstration appears to emphasise:

  • Protect yourself first.
  • Enter decisively.
  • Control the opponent’s line.
  • Attack from the closest available opening.
  • Keep movements small and efficient.
  • Continue attacking while maintaining structure.

These principles are consistent with many historical Mediterranean and Spanish knife traditions, where surviving the initial exchange is more important than producing large, visually impressive techniques.

It is crucial to prioritise safety when training. Please take a moment to review the safety advice below.

Safety Advice

The advice and techniques in this video should only be undertaken by students in a martial arts gym environment who are supervised by a qualified instructor with suitable martial arts insurance.
Please seek suitable professional medical advice before undertaking any type of physical training.

Safety Advice Continued

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the advice and content of this video is technically as accurate as possible, it is shown for illustration purposes only.
Neither the author, or anyone connected to the production of this video can accept responsibility for any damage, injury or loss as a result of the use of this material.

Obey the laws in your area.

If you copy us, please be cool and give credit to the channel.

Unlocking the Corkscrew Punch: A Boxing Technique Explained

Some asked about the Spanish corkscrew and its relation to empty hands. The answers yes. The delivery heart punch is a little unpleasant and a close-door secret.

From: Facebook

The corkscrew punch is a fascinating boxing technique that is now rarely seen. Developed by Kid McCoy, who fought between 1891 and 1912, it resembles a jab delivered over or under an opponent’s guard while stepping forward. As the punch travels, the fist rotates from a thumb-up position to thumb-down at impact, twisting the arm and shoulder in a corkscrew motion.

McCoy found the punch particularly effective in bare-knuckle boxing, where the twisting action often caused cuts, lacerations, and eye injuries. It also proved valuable in gloved boxing. Early boxing manuals, such as The Complete Boxer (1914) by Lynch, frequently describe “heart blows” capable of stopping a healthy man. The corkscrew punch’s sharp, jarring impact to the chest may help explain those accounts, with the potential to stun or even incapacitate an opponent.