Eleven days after his life changing and hopefully life saving surgery to remove a tumour the size of a tennis ball from next to his heart, I sat and talked with Tony Pillage about his experience of being diagnosed with cancer and how it has changed him.

He told me how he found out he had cancer, what he did to try to fight back and the of the best and worst of treatments. He tells of a cancelled procedure that could have killed him and the fear of the operation itself.

Post op, he now feels something that he has never before felt, vulnerable.

This experience has changed his view of the world, the world of martial arts and view that each and everyone of us should have, according to Tony, of ourselves.

He’s candid in his answers in how publicly he choose to share the experience with the world via social media, the benefits it brought and how his future teaching of self defence will change. ‘What I’ve taught before’, he says, ‘self defence against an attacker is not what needs to be focused on solely’.

Rarely do you get to hear so soon after such a traumatic experience the thoughts of a person who has so grievously been affected. It is… super food for thought.

Richard Barnes – Dec 2014

Barrington Patterson

‘One-Eyed Baz’ is the life story to date of Barrington Patterson that has received critical acclaim. After an accident when he was six, he was blinded in one eye. This did not stop Barrington going on to do what he wanted to in life. He doesn’t regard it as a disability that holds him back. He’s colourful larger than life character and a top martial artist who has fought on the world stage against world champions and won world belts.

His fight with Vitali Klitschko is the stuff of legend. He tells the story here. Barrington talks about his life, his involvement with football violence with the Birmingham Zulu’s and his career as a fighter that has took him all over the world in front of huge stadium audiences. He tells of his respect for his family and how he is saddened today that respect and honour is not as valued as it should be. He also gives a sneaky peak into to his latest project, that of a movie star in a new Brit flick and willingness to warn today’s youth of the pitfalls of taking the wrong path in life. He’s a larger than life character with some great stories to share. It’s a honest and truthful interview that is entertaining and insightful.

A must listen. Enjoy.

Mick Tully

The world according to Mick is different. He sees things in a different way, as a more humorous, valued place and this eloquent individual has a unique way of explaining his perception and perspective.

Interviewing Mick is quite hard for me as the rules in the interviewing guide say I shouldn’t bring personal bias into it. But that’s difficult when I’ve known the fella since we both had hair. That’s a long time ago. What you can hear in our conversation is two mates talking about martial arts, the good the bad and the ugly in the world and his recent appearance on TV game show, ‘The Chaser.’ Not forgetting how he won a British BJJ title in 2013. We chatted on both days of the TMAX show and both conversations are here. If you enjoy this interview half as much as I did doing it, you’re in for a real treat.

Steve Rowe is head of “Shikon Martial Arts” based in Chattam, Kent. Well versed in Wado ryu Karate, Iaido ( Japanese sword ) and a practitioner of Yang family Tai Chi. With over 40 years of Martial arts under his belt, he is one of the most influential Western martial artists in Europe.

Six years ago he had a double knee replacement that injured his legs, a further 14 surgeries, it’s now 20 months since attempted and failed rebuilds to connect the 6 severed and atrophied quadriceps muscles in his legs and tying the kneecaps in place, 10 months since they identified MRSA infection that nearly killed him with an initial failed debridgement and subsequent further knee replacement with antibiotic cement, spacer and 3 months of powerful intravenous antibiotic treatment. There’s no doubt, he had a hell of a time.
Overcoming adversity and pain has become a routine daily occurrence for Steve. Yet still he is one of the most successful men in martial arts.

The end of this year has his organisation with packed classes, over 600 students, 25 successful after school clubs and 7 professional Instructors and paid office staff. All Seminars and demonstrations in the UK, and abroad have been highly successful with the 24th Annual Czech Summer Course the pinnacle of the year.

His story is a cracker, he’s a witty articulate gentle man and well worth listening too. Enjoy.

More information : http://shikon.com

“Don’t be bound by anything, the truth is always outside any fixed patterns.” Martial arts legend, Tim Tackett’s final words to me resounded not just for the field of martial arts but also for a whole worldview.

Tim has had 3 love affairs in his life. His wife who he met after High School, his love of teaching Drama and as a world renowned martial arts teacher.    Tim began training properly in the martial arts when he was stationed in Taiwan in 1962 while serving in the United States Air Force. He trained 6 days a week for 7 hours for the three years he was there. On leaving the air force he returned home and went to college. To fund his way through college he opened a Kung Fu school.

In 1967 he first came across Bruce Lee. From then he went to train with Dan Inosanto, Bob Bremer, Dan Lee, Richard Bustillo, Pete Jacobs and Jerry Poteet which started the famous Wednesday Night Group.

Now, Tim runs a non-profit group dedicated to preserving Bruce Lee’s art of Jeet Kune Do and travels the world sharing his knowledge.

He is instrumental in sharing the teachings of Bruce Lee and JKD to the world.

Tim talks about his life, his view of martial arts, he’s critical of what is taught to today, and he shares some the wisdom learned from of his life. He’s a fascinating person. Enjoy.

More information see : http://www.jkdwednite.com

Had Phil’s mum not being a teacher at the same school as he attended, his story might be very different. Had Phil listened to doctors advice after a crippling injury his story would had been a lot shorter. Had Phil decided travelling thousands of miles to follow his passion was far to far to go, his story would not have been great.

Some of the decisions Phil took were to overcome the bullies, to not give up and seek out the very best tuition in the world to follow a passion that started with Hong Kong Phooey.

A winner of a world title in Sports Ju Jitsu, a winner of the hit TV series Gladiators and awarded a degree in sports science after enrolling on a course to help him overcome the boredom of not being able to undertake physical training is quite a story.

That’s not the end, now he’s used he’s years of experience and knowledge to re-write the combat training model with his Ghost system. Enjoy listening to Phil Norman.

For more information visit : http://www.gladiatoracademy.co.uk/index.html

Andy Gibney is a unique fellow. He’s a martial artist, entrepreneur and public speaker. And if that’s not enough he’s the worlds only business Jedi. His perspective on life and the world of martial arts is coloured by many diverse areas of study and training.

Witty, erudite and he draws on a wealth of experience and his life story takes in adversity and heartache as a child and success on the World stage. 1981 he undertook the first stages in his physical training, beginning with Karate. In 1987 he started his journey in Jeet Kune Do – he is now one of the most respected teachers of this system in the UK. For 6 years in the 1990’s he competed in the sport of stick-fighting winning 2 world championship silver medals and became British champion. In 2001 he was the world championship winning coach of the British Team. He has also been inducted into the Hall of Fame in the US and the Philippines (the home of stick-fighting).

Here the story takes a twist. After training the body for so long Andy went in search of psychology to improve his performance in all avenues. He trained with the best: Bandler, McKenna and Robbins as well as many others. He learned how to tell if a person is lying, he learned about the subconscious, body language and how to cure any phobia in under an hour.

The chat with him at TMAX is surreal at times and honest and his story offers insight to all looking to be successful and happy in whatever walk of life you wish to choose.

Find out more about Andy Gibney

Business website: http://www.andygibney.com/
Martial arts: http://www.ufsjkd.com/

Sunday 20th October 2013 – TMAX Live – Ricoh Arena Coventry

Alex Reid has two personas. The public persona as most know him, through the media as a cross dressing mixed martial artist who has had two very public relationships. He was married to Katie Price, media personality, reality TV star, former glamour model, business woman and mum of 4. His ex-partner Chantelle Houghton is also a model and realty TV star and  the mum to Alex’s daughter, Dolly.

In the days up to the interview at TMAX there was much talk in the press about Alex’s relationships including an exclusive in The Sun newspaper on the day of the interview.

The personal persona I understand of Alex from those that know him, is one of a big hearted caring soul who would do the best he could for those in his life. He seeks to use his life experience and contacts to help others.

I wanted to understand why there where such conflicting views of one person and which one was right.

He spoke to me candidly about his martial arts, how he is viewed, what he wants from life and the things that didn’t go to plan. He tells of how he was bullied and was a bully, how he can’t trust people, what martial arts did for his life, his acting and alter egos. He also speaks about Katie and Chantelle.  Judge for yourself which persona is right, the public or the private.

© Copyright 2013 Richard Barnes – http://www.richardbarnes.com

All rights are reserved. Materials are not allowed for reproduction in any medium without prior permission.

It was a true privilege to get to speak to martial arts legend and internet star , Master Ken. His ‘Enter The Dojo’ show has had over 3 million views, he travels the world to assist inferior martial artists see the light and offers hope for those seeking peace in the knowledge the can defend themselves using techniques this 11th Dan black belt developed. The Kill Face, Groin Grab, Hurticane and the Trust of Freedom are all part of the Ameri-Do-Tei system he developed. His work with Ninja’s has saved many from a life of wearing pyjamas.  And there’s more…

In this exclusive interview, he offers his honest opinion on other martial arts and artists, he says if Bruce Lee was alive today, Bruce would study under Master Ken and reveals exclusively what he thinks of dogs. Not to be missed, this Master Ken interview is an insight to the man like you’ve never heard before and could possibly save your life. Share with your friends, it might save theirs as well.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/EnterTheDojoShow
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MasterAmeriKen?fref=ts

Note: Master Ken is coming to the Martial Arts Expo – 19-20 October 2013, Ricoh Arena, Coventry. The UK’s Martial Arts Show for 2013.

Meet Matt Page. An actor, writer and director from Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. He’s appeared in numerous US TV shows and films and has a part in the new film ‘The Lone Ranger’.  He is the creator of the YouTube hit Enter The Dojo and the martial arts legend Master Ken. The show has had in excess of 3 million hits. His business, Riff Raff New Media is doing well and all in all, Matt is a happy chappy, doing the things he loves, living life how he wants to.

This though didn’t all come together by accident.

At 18 with a love of film, he left high school and home to seek fame and fortune in Hollywood. It didn’t work out. No fame. No fortune. Just time spent dodging the landlord for rent, scraping by trying to live up to what those at home believed he had gone to do. The dream turned to nightmare. He left Hollywood and went home. This podcast is Matt’s story, turning the nightmare back into the dream again, following his life’s passion and making it work. Enjoy this inspirational story.

More information:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matt.page.585?ref=ts&fref=ts
Business: http://www.riffraffnm.com/
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0656275/
YouTube: Enter The Dojo