As a teacher and a practitioner, I utilise a few drills to road test what comes out in an ambush. You can use this drill for any aspect of your arts; we always go straight into the drill cold.
The video below is a mixture of the drill and a post-drill review. It’s very much worth hanging on to the end for the review. Honestly evaluating your performance is always a must. I had an absolute shower of a first round. We have not trained with short swords for five weeks. We have also not sparred for a month or so. You can see the challenges. Not good enough, but now I know I must up my game and also how to get back there.
The aim is to see what comes out and how long it takes. You need to get the correct mindset going. You should be correct from the first moment. Often, you must work yourself in to sync. This is an issue. First contact must be right. If not, you are behind the curve of the action and get taken out.
Feel free to use this in your own teaching and let us know how you got on. Train safe.
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Wondering if our training group or private lessons are for you, feel free to join and lurk a bit or ask questions.
During today’s class, I covered our absolute beginner knife defence, introducing the worst-case scenario: you are in range, do not have your guard or fence up, and the stab is on the way. The defence worked well and stood up to a little pressure testing.
We found it hard not to revert to the last year and a half’s martial arts training. This proves that our new method of training is working, and the mud is sticking.
I then taught two hours of KORA Pencak Silat Sera(K), looking at striking, closing and most importantly, what our attitude should be. I showed how we perform the knee strike from the Spanish arts, which becomes a disabling kick.
One of the outcomes was a reminder that when you close, you can be counter-grappled, in this case, an unscripted single leg. This is especially true if you stand tall and fail to drop lower as you move in.
The outcome is that we agreed we need to step up our grappling training again and put some work in. I will also begin to teach my Vale Tudo/MMA ground game, adapted to our context.
All in all, a great class, where I got to prove a lot of my teaching concepts.
We are halfway through the coaching year, and things are going well. Firstly, in January, I changed the way I teach to give my students the intention training I have been working on for the last few years, plus, after reading The Art of Practice by Laido Dittmar, I changed the format and running order of my lessons.
Since my group class is a recreational martial arts group that focuses on practical self-defence and a lot of my students’ time will be spent training either alone or with their personal training partners or in our training hubs. I have changed the class format to the following: Skills and then homework.
Homework is like training, not compulsory, but it is a great idea to avoid getting your head caved in if someone assaults you.
Since we are dedicated to preserving the martial arts of Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and European martial arts. I have been teaching separate classes as follows: We offer tuition in the following arts for self-defence, Kickboxing (Savate with a Basque flavour), MMA, Grappling (Lutte), as well as sword, dagger, and impact weapons such as sticks. We also provide specialised instruction in KORA Pencak Silat.
I have come to realise that each art that I teach is part of one art; each component enhances and informs the other parts. Therefore, over the next six months, I am going to teach the whole and only offer separate private classes if someone would like to study, say our flavour of Savate.
Our flavour of Savate and Lutte is a great example of an art that was dying or dead by the time I stumbled across it in 1986. This was partly because it’s hard to learn, painful in the same way ballet is, and it was driven underground due to the political situation. Some people also just kept it for themselves, not willing to share outside their inner circle.
For many years, I offered a small portion of our Savate as just a boot kicking module; it is only since the post-pandemic that I have offered it as a separate class to my group.
Going forward, in the Saturday 10 am class, I will be teaching my Dagger, Pencak Silat and grappling systems as one whole in a safe progressive manner under the label of KORA Pencak Silat.
Group class will look like this: 0900 KORA Sword and Dagger Class taught by me.
1000 KORA Pencak Silat and grappling taught by me.
1100 Class led by Xin, normally advanced Pencak Silat and some CMA.
I will continue to offer my private lessons to fellow researchers and anyone interested in learning the individual arts. Some people prefer private instruction, and that is cool.
In any of the above interests you, please get in touch.
Richard Killick
OSONS
Sailor Steve Costigan by Thomas Gianni – Book jacket art for “Fists of Iron: Round 2”
If you follow my martial arts research and training socials and you fancy taking part in something that is proven to enhance and protect your life, please check out the lessons section of this website. It’s what we offer, and we currently have two spaces in each class.
We offer a unique and world-class training opportunity in a small, semi-private group setting.
Students can choose to train in any class they like for a total of £40 per month. The fee is low as we are a non-profit group, however, the instruction is first class.
A very interesting hypothesis and theory article is available for those of us who do full-contact training and fighting. This article uses some extracts from an article on me. It also includes a few quotes.
My friend’s podcast just gets better and better. This one is with Nigel E. February of Piper fame.
Nigel studied criminals and built a system that shows how they work, to produce a better training bad guy. The result he labeled Piper.
Every time I hear Nigel, I cross-check our KORA knife system. In the past, I have thrown things out or altered our training and the way I teach. We practice practical knife usage within my group.
We may use knife sparring for our other training techniques and because it’s fun but really we are about this.
The result is we did a lot of refining. It blends well with what I learnt in Spain. It also aligns with insights from my family members. They learnt from relatives who were in the trenches of the First World War and in Vienna in the 1950’s.
This podcast is really worth a look at. It is especially useful for my training partners. Rather than giving the main lessons away, I leave it to you to watch the podcast. It may just save your life.
The video is for illustrative purposes only. Please seek professional instruction and train safely. If you are not very careful, you may risk injuring your thumb.
Many practitioners use the thumbs-up grip for their stick techniques. This grip is common in certain Filipino Martial Arts (FMA). It is also used in Irish stick styles. If this grip works well for them, that’s great. However, in my class, we often engage in stick grappling during sparring. I learned this from my Dog Brothers friends. As a result, sticks can be seized forcefully.
I believe that the thumbs-up grip puts your thumb at greater risk. The full grip, which my group and I prefer, is safer. Receiving full pressure with your thumb in this position is not optimal.
Additionally, this grip poses challenges in maintaining a strong hold on your stick. I teach that the thumb is essential for securing your grip. Without it, you become vulnerable to being disarmed. This is demonstrated at the end of the video. A route to disarm you is shown at that point.
It’s up to you which grip you use, try each one and roll with what you prefer.
Please see the blog post below (KORA Training 2025) for details.
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Killick Off Road Arts (KORA) is a martial arts organization that focuses on preserving and teaching traditional martial arts from Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Europe. It combines these with practical self-defence techniques to create a system tailored to real-world scenarios. The training includes disciplines such as kickboxing (with a Basque twist), grappling, sword and dagger combat, and Pencak Silat, a martial art from Indonesia.
KORA emphasises a comprehensive approach to self-defence, covering threat assessment, contact management, and techniques for stand-up, clinch, and ground fighting in weapon-based environments. Classes are structured around safe, engaging methods, including pad-hitting, free play, and sparring, ensuring both effectiveness and student safety. They cater to a diverse audience, from military personnel to everyday individuals.
The founder, Richard Killick, has been involved in martial arts since 1978. He integrates his extensive experience, which includes coaching fighters in various disciplines and conducting personal safety training for high-profile clients. Killick prioritises a hands-on, mentor-based learning environment to ensure authentic skill transmission.
Please contact us at korahit@gmail.com to book a class.
Killick Off Road Arts 