Combat Company

Already known nationwide as the home of champions, including two time World Champion - Helena Martin, the Academy now boasts a coaching staff which includes Ninjitsu Master and BJJ Brown Belt - Simon Yeo and, most recently, British MMA star - Brad "one punch" Pickett.

Brad is one of the worlds top bantamweight MMA pros and has spent the last few years dominating his division in the WEC and has now preparing for his debut in the UFC's (Ultimate Fighting Championships) brand new bantamweight division!

Brad, who lives just down the road in Kingston, has quickly established himself as a much loved coach at the Richmond Academy, despite his relatively short time there.

"Although he has his own training to attend to (he will be fighting at the next UFC event to hit the UK in May), he has offered to advise and coach our students and even our other Instructors," - Academy Manager, David "Seraph" Jenkins.

Speaking to a representative from the British Kickboxing Council, Brad said "I like the set-up here; it's an awesome venue. There's a great mix of abilities and styles, and the coaches and students are all great guys and girls. I'm here to pass on my knowledge and I'm happy to help in any way I can."

Although he will be back and forth between coaching, cornering his friends at various events and, of course, doing his own training, Brad will be holding a three hour MMA Masterclass at the beginning of March. The seminar is open to non-members, but spaces are limited so book now!

With hundreds of listings detailing plenty of activities for your child, look no further than London for Kids!

Great news everyone!

A legendary 12th dan Ninjutsu Master and Brazillian Jiu Jitsu Brown Belt under BJJ Legend and MMA Superstar - Royce Gracie, Simon Yeo will now be teaching a weekly two hour masterclass in BJJ for all levels.

This class is available to all Adult members and we hope to add additional classes for Juniors very soon.

I might have to try my hand at the Ninjitsu as well!

Congratulations to Helena Martin for her Silver Medal at the WKA World Championships last month! It was her first time fighting at this level in the Full-Contact and most spectators said they would have easily given her the win in the final if they had been the referees, after dominating her opponent across all three rounds.

Congratulations as well to one of our old Instructors who reached the final before having to go home for personal reasons. Still, a dominating overall performance that earned him another Silver medal.

There was also a double Gold performance from another former Instructor and student, Alex Kennedy. Now the WKA England Light Contact Coach, Mr. Kennedy has achieved his dream of getting a world title, with his powerful performance in the Men's Light Contact and his equaly impressive efforts as part of the Men's Points A Team. Rebecca Jennings, also a regular at the Academy, won Gold in the Ladies Light Contact again this year and there was impressive performances from the rest of the England, Scotland, Wales and N Ireland squads.

See the WKA Website for a full list of results.

.....but fortunately we made weight!

Daniel Lucas - 84.4kg

Wez Lucas - 75.8kg

George Tidmarsh - 63.5kg

Good luck guys and to anyone coming down to support them tomorrow night, see you there!

Also check out this link to read Matt Veach's interview with MMA Spot!

Congratulations to Karen and Tamsin who fought hard at the first annual BKC Nationals last Sunday, winning themselves a Silver and a Bronze respectively, and earning them both a place on the WKA Team England squad heading up to Scotland for the World Championships later this year!

The event was a huge success! Check out the photo gallery and video gallery for more and visit www.the-bkc.com for a full report!

On Saturday September 25th Dave Ryan will be hosting another of his fantastic "Only the Strong" events.

These events show case some of the best kickboxing the uk has to offer.

SOme of the top competitors around have fought on this prestigious show, some of which are at this very academy!

Richmond CIT programme members who have represented us on Only the Strong have always put a great performance in and we keep being asked back!

Helen Evans and Helen Bannan have both represented us twice and our chief instructor Wez Lucas has been a regular on the show for some time.

This time round its our resident MMA specialist and current WKA Worlds gold medalist Helena Martin defending her Only the Strong title.

This will be miss Martins third appearance on the show and is looking forward to it:

"I always look forward to competing and defending this title will bring me a little closer to where i want to be fightwise, i have been training hard and look forward to a great fight"

Tickets for the event are available from Richmonad martial arts directly.

0208 940 5577 to book yours now.

Starting on August 14th, every 2nd Saturday of the month will have a Masters Class (1pm-3pm) for anyone on the Leadership or CIT Programs who wants to learn Freestyle Forms, Martial Gymnastics and Weapons.

The class will be a fantastic workout, working you in different ways to your usual classes, focussing on plyometric power in the legs and also focussing very heavily on your technique.

The class will also include weapons training (starting with Karmas), so speak to an Instructor as soon as possible about getting a pair!

On September 26th, the British Kickboxing Council will be making history once more by hosting Britain's first ever OFFICIAL National Kickboxing Championships!

For the first time, all of the top organisations in Britian, as well as Sport England and UKSport, are coming together to organise and sanction an tournament as THE event to win. Finally we can give our athletes the national recognition they deserve for all of their years of training! We're even looking at getting the event televised!

With nearly 80 categories in Semi- and Light- Contact, Freestyle Forms and Traditional Forms, there's a section here for everyone from the absolute novice to seasoned veterans.

For more information and to pre-book your place in history, visit www.thebkcnationals.co.uk.

For more information on the BKC and the work it's doing to professionalise and grow this amazing sport, visit www.the-bkc.com.

Have fun in training and good luck to everyone at the event! I look forward to seeing you all there!

Kind regards,

David Jenkins

Senior Instructor - Richmond Martial Arts Academy

Senior PR Officer - British Kickboxing Council

Dear Members,

We are holding our next seminar on Saturday 1st May 2010, starting 12:00 – 13:30.

This seminar will be the Katana Sword, members will have the oppurtunity to learn techniques, blocks and enjoy drills attacking and blocking in a controlled environment. The seminar will cost £15 and will include a Wooden Bokken for members to keep and use in the future here at Richmond Martial Arts Academy.

The katana is a type of Japanese sword, also commonly referred to as a "samurai sword”. In the strictest sense, the term katana in Japanese is applied to any kind of single-edged sword, of any origin; contrary to common belief outside Japan, the Japanese word does not necessarily refer to a Japanese sword.

Acutely curved (as opposed to the older "tachi" style featuring more curvature) Japanese sword with a blade length of greater than 60 cm (23.6 inches).

The katana is characterized by its distinctive appearance: a curved, slender, single edged blade, circular or squared guard, and long grip to accommodate two hands. It has historically been associated with the samurai of feudal Japan, and has become renowned for its sharpness and cutting ability.

*Sword seminars are always very popular so if you are interested please ensure you speak to an instructor and reserve your space.