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!

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.

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!

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.

On Wednesday 17th June 2009 mr W Lucas was invited to York house in Twickenham to recieve and award from Richmond Education Business partnership on behalf of Richmond Martial arts.

The purpose of REBP is to develop a productive relationship between education, businesses and community organisations. In doing so REBP are supporting the education of young people and raising the aspirations and achievements of individual learners. Together with their partners we are committed to encouraging and helping young people to develop their potential and become part of a skilled and adaptable community.

The function was fantastic and full of some truly inspirational people. Some schools were in attendance at the function including representatives from Waldergrave and Christs.

In attendance also was the mayor of richmond councilor Celia Hodges who seemedto enjoy the event very much.

A big thank you and congratulations to everyone who took part in the last Inter-Academy event. The next one is THIS SUNDAY so we'll see you then!

Below is a list of all those whocame 1st, 2nd or 3rd, including which Academy they fought for and howmany points they earned their respective teams.

1 Mixed Under 8s

No Entries

2 Boys Semi Contact under 140cm

Harry Overall Epsom 3

James Harrison Epsom 2

Chris Harrison Epsom 1

Brandon King Epsom 1

3 Boys Semi Contact under 150cm

Stephen Kenny-Ayres Epsom 3

George Heath Epsom 2

James Tomassi Epsom 1

4 Boys Semi Contact over 150cm

Luke Coppinger Guildford 3

Michael Woodall Chorlton Black Belt Schools 2

Shaun Phillips Epsom 1

Rory Hughes Richmond 1

5 (A) Boys Light Continuous under 150cm

Chris Harrison Epsom 3

Reece Bromidge Panthers 2

5 (B) Boys Light Continuous under 150cm

George Heath Epsom 3

Louis Bromidge Panthers 2

5 (C) Boys Light Continuous under 150cm

Reece Bromidge Panthers 3

Shakiel Liburd Chorlton Black Belt Schools 2

6 Boys Light Continuous over 150cm

Luke Coppinger Guildford 3

George Noel Panthers 2

7 Girls under 135cm

Rachel Higgins Cobham 3

Maisie Carole Cobham 2

Alice Davies Epsom 1

Katie Harrison Epsom 1

8 Girls under 145cm

No entries

9 Girls Over 145cm

Emily Davies Epsom 3

Ellen Michael Epsom 2

Issie Carole Cobham 1

Emily Pascoe Guildford 1

10 Girls under 135cm

No Entries

11 Girls under 145cm

Demi Saddler Epsom 3

Katie Harrison Epsom 2

12 Girls Over 145cm

Megan Quick Panthers 3

Emily Davies Epsom 2

Issie Carrol Cobham 1

13 Women Semi Contact OPEN

Teressa Tomassi Epsom 3

Helena Martin Richmond 2

Anna Horsey Surbiton 1

Aurora Aurora Surbiton 1

14 Women Light Continuous Open

Rebecca Jennings Croydon 3

Helena Martin Richmond 2

Teressa Tomassi Epsom 1

Aurora Aurora Surbiton 1

15 Men’s Juniors (Orange Belt & Under)

John McDonnald Richmond 3

Stuart Knox Surbiton 2

Jenns Henderson Guildford 1

Jacob Henderson Guildford 1

16 Men’s Intermediate (Green Belt –Purple Belt)

Steven Elwood Epsom 3

David Jenkins Surbiton 2

Andy Carrol Cobham 1

Hussain Croydon 1

17 Men’s Seniors (Brown Belt & Black Belt)

Alex Campbell HQ 3

Alex Kennedy Guildford 2

Wez Lucas Richmond 1

Brian Kumm Croydon 1

18 Men’s Light Contiuous Under 75kg

Adam Naismith Croydon 3

Tyrone Demmer Guildford 2

Scott Fraser Richmond 1

Henning Hulk Richmond 1

19 Men’s Light Contiuous Under 85kg

Linville Taylor Croydon 3

Keefe Johnson Richmond 2

Brian Kumm Croydon 1

John Duggan Richmond 1

20 Men’s Light Contiuous Over 85kg

John McDonald Richmond 3

Andy Bolton Richmond 2

Jordan Henderson Richmond 1

Mark Davis Epsom 1

21 Under 16s Musical Open hand

James Harrison Epsom 3

Naomi Norris Epsom 2

Alice Davies Epsom 1

22 Under 16s Musical Weapons

Ellen Michael Epsom 3

Stephen Kenny-Ayres Epsom 2

POSITION CLUB NAME POINTS

1ST Epsom 53

2ND Richmond 20

3RD Guildford 13

4TH Panthers 12

5TH Croyden 11

6TH Cobham 8

7TH Surbiton 7

8TH Chorlton Black Belt Schools 4

9TH HQ 3