Richard Killick – Founder & Head Instructor
Richard Killick is the founder of KORA (Killick Off Road Arts), a school dedicated to the study, practice, and teaching of practical martial arts. Since beginning his journey in 1978, he has spent more than four decades exploring martial systems not as a collection of styles to be accumulated, but as a way of understanding how people move, adapt, and develop capability under pressure.
From an early age, Richard was drawn to martial arts as a process of enquiry rather than a fixed destination. That curiosity shaped everything that followed.
Over the years, he has trained in a range of systems through close, private teaching relationships with individual instructors rather than large institutional pathways. Among these influences were teachers such as Sifu Dave Carnell in the 1990s and Gillvan van Ham from 2015 onwards, along with other instructors who contributed at different stages of his development.
Rather than seeking a single “complete” system, Richard consistently asked what works in context, why it works, and how it can be transmitted clearly to others. This approach led him across striking, grappling, and weapon-based systems. Ideas were always tested through practice, pressure, and application.
Richard also served as a regular soldier, later working in roles that supported peace process operations for various government agencies. This period involved operating in high-stress environments, often alone or in small teams, with limited or no immediate backup.
That experience reinforced a simple reality: no single martial system was sufficient for the range of situations he encountered. It also sharpened his focus on adaptability, decision-making, and efficiency under pressure.
Over time, this combination of martial training and operational experience led Richard to a broader conclusion. Martial arts are most useful when understood as principles rather than fixed traditions. They need to be tested, refined, and adapted if they are to remain effective beyond the context in which they were originally formed.
From this perspective, KORA emerged not as a new style but as a framework for research, practice, and teaching. It brings together a range of complementary arts, each contributing different perspectives on movement, timing, structure, awareness, and control.
The emphasis is on developing practical capability, and the ability to apply these principles appropriately across changing contexts.
This approach has also shaped Richard’s teaching philosophy. He is interested not only in what works, but in how people learn it—how students from different backgrounds can develop understanding, confidence, and usable skill without unnecessary complexity.
Alongside teaching, Richard continues to research martial systems, combative principles, and training methodology. His work reflects an ongoing interest in how knowledge is transmitted, how skills are preserved, and how traditional systems can remain relevant without becoming rigid or purely historical.
Despite decades of experience, Richard continues to describe himself as a student. He believes that martial arts are best understood as a lifelong process of refinement rather than a destination.
Every training session, conversation, and period of reflection offers an opportunity to improve understanding.
For Richard, martial arts are not defined by rank or tradition, but by their usefulness in developing capability, awareness, and adaptability. KORA represents the structure that has emerged from that perspective—a way of organising experience into a practical, teachable, and continually evolving approach to martial arts.
Qualifications & Teaching Areas:
- Head Instructor & Founder of Killick Off Road Arts
- Boxing & Grappling Coach
- Muay Thai Coach
- Vale Tudo / MMA Coach
- Filipino Martial Arts Teacher
- Pencak Silat Teacher
OSONS
James Cathcart – KORA Instructor
I started training in martial arts in the late 90s, Attending Taekwondo classes in my early teens. A few years later, I moved house. After the move, I began training in Jeet Kune Do and Filipino stick fighting with Richard Killick.
I began training as an instructor in Richard’s KORA System recently. This year, I had the opportunity to participate in the KORA Weapons Training Program. There, we developed our skills using a mix of styles. These styles can be used in the real world for safety and attack prevention.
When training to be a KORA instructor, I had several goals. I wanted to take these techniques out of the martial arts world. I aimed to package them for the average person. My goal was to help develop a skill set that will last a lifetime.
Killick Off Road Arts 