Senior Instructor Oliver Pritchard
My training since 1990 to the current day has been solely in Goshinkwai Yawara self-defence.
I have been taught by many instructors over this time. However, the two intructors who have been most influential are Alun Williams and John Warfield. In 1995 I was a brown belt attending the annual course. Alun was taking his 2nd Dan grading and I was his Uki (training partner).
As part of this I presented to John Warfield a pre-grading for my own Dan grade and following this John asked me if I would like to attend the Saturday morning Dan grade training sessions that he was then just restarting. This was the most significant event in my training career. I began training with John following this and continued until the weekend before his death in the summer of 2003.
I would like to pay tribute to him by saying that he was among the most skilful and knowledgeable martial artists in the world. He knew many different styles of fighting and he was able to adapt them very much to suit the individual.
Being instructed by John was an opportunity that few people got and I feel genuinely privileged to have been able to train with him for so long. I will try to pass on as much as I can to the students that I teach.
During 2006, I together with several instructors amalgamated to form a new organisation, Which is Total Body Defence.
The last few years have seen the continuing development of the class in Cwmbran. This is run in a friendly and I hope very welcoming manner. I continue to be delighted with the progress made by the students here. Recently we have seen some outstanding gradings for various belts (see pics below). Two of the class' long term students, Paula and Tony, attained their black belts with some great displays and now help to run and teach the class. Having a female dan grade brings a different perspective and may be particularly attractive to prospective female students.
Fianlly, now living in Cardiff, I am considering opening a class here. If you are interested let me know either via the website or by phone (07900 162441).
Her are some pics from the Cwmbran class.....
