Lakhvinder S. Madahar

A Journey to……….

 

Introduction

 

Lakhvinder S. Madahar (Lucky) is a martial arts instructor based in Coventry, teaching students from the area and local universities, who share his enthusiasm of Muay Thai and the exotic Filipino martial arts of Kali. Despite a slow start, he now has a loyal following of students who are beginning to love these arts as much as he obviously does. One of his students, Mick Tully (a Wado Ryu Karate instructor with 18 years experience) caught up with him after one of his classes to find out more about this quiet and unassuming instructor and his martial arts journey of 30 years.

 

Mick Tully - We’ll start with the present; it’s usually a good place to start.

You’re now a full time instructor. Do you think it was a good idea to give up your normal occupation?  It can’t be as secure as your previous work in the building trade (carpenter/joiner)?

 

Lucky Madahar - Believe me, the building trade has never been that secure, it’s always up and down. For the moment at least; the martial arts do feel a bit more secure then my old job. I have a little more control over the whole thing, and it’s definitely more satisfying. I’ve been teaching on a full time basis for over Five years now. Before that I had taught part time -Thai Boxing for nine years and the Filipino martial arts for about fourteen years. I think that was a pretty good grounding for turning a hobby into an occupation.

Once a friend advised me; in order to succeed in business, I had to really know my product and every thing else will take care of it self.  With this in mind and a natural desire to learn, I’m always updating the material I teach.

At times it’s been a struggle, but I‘ve managed to keep my head above water I really enjoy teaching and that makes it worthwhile.

 

Mick Tully - You’ve been practicing the martial arts for quite a long time. Can you shed some light on your background; when did you first begin your training and why?

 

Lucky Madahar - Well my martial arts journey began in Judo I think it was around March/April of 1974, some thirty years ago.

I had watched an episode of the Kung Fu series and guessed that Judo would be pretty similar. So, I joined the Judo club at school and started training twice a week. I really enjoyed it and before long found myself going on 3 - 4 mile runs and weight training to supplement my Judo.

Plus! It gave me something to talk about with my friends. I still hated the normal P.E. at school and continued to fake illnesses and injuries to get out of the sessions.

 

Mick Tully - But a couple of weeks ago in the Thai boxing class, you mentioned something about you getting bullied in school? With all this training; I didn’t think it would be possible.

 

Lucky Madahar - Oh, that was about a year before. Deep down that’s probably the real reason why I began to train and continued.

 I got bullied a fair bit, at times it got really bad. I found it really hard to fit into things after returning from India with a three year gap.

A shy little kid, with a poor grasp of the English language and little or no confidence. I think you’ll agree that it’s a pretty good combination to become a target for every bully in the school.

 The interesting thing is that the usual advice people give you on such situations are:  “Deep down bullies are all cowards, you’ve got to stand up to them and they will back down and will soon find an easier target”.  That may be the case, but every time I tried that, none of them did, nor did they appear like cowards. It just got me into more and more trouble.

For example; in an art (pottery these days) lesson at school; this big kid had been continuously intimidating me verbally and also pushed me a round physically for months. Eventually I snapped, and threw wet paper towels into his face as I was cleaning the tables at the end of the pottery session.

He rushed in and just knocked me to the ground. All I remember is that there were loads of stools and chairs tumbling over and around me and I could hear him yelling at me to get up. As I did a few times, he would knock me straight down again. This continued until the teacher finally stepped in.

            Well! He didn’t come across as a coward, in fact he looked quiet proud of himself. When I faced him in class the following day, he was more arrogant then ever. The bullying continued. May be. I should have hit him with something more than just a few wet paper towels.

He had no intention of changing. I guess it made him who he was. Instead of leaving me alone after that, it gave him the perfect excuse to get even heavier handed with me.

            The other option was to tell the teacher, but due to the fear of reprisals this was not a good idea. I don’t think things are much different in schools these days.           

 

            Can I mention another incident?

 

Mick Tully - Sure!

 

Lucky - Another time, I was attacked by a couple of lads as I walked home from school. One of them caught me completely unaware and knocked me to the floor with a jumping kick to my back. As I got up and gathered my books and folders that had been strewn all over the ground, he asked me if I was all right. I just nodded and started to walk off. I didn’t want to aggravate the situation. If I did nothing, I thought they would leave me alone, but a few seconds later his mate jump kicked me with the same result.  This time I got up and realised that there wasn’t anything I could do against them. So, I just crossed the road and luckily they didn’t follow me. I suppose they did it because they knew they could get away with it and they did.

 

            These are just a couple of incidents, but they occurred at fairly regular intervals.

   

Obviously, something needed to be done apart from me just accepting it and trying to carry on. I never told any of my teachers or anyone at home.

 

Mick Tully - Did the Judo training help you to sort out the bullies? And is there any advice you would like to give to kids that are being bullied now?

 

Lucky - I wasn’t having any actual Kung Fu fights, if that’s what you mean. I wanted to though! I remember making a mental hit list of the ones that gave me such a hard time, but I never carried it out.

            I believe it helped me indirectly, getting a little stronger and fitter with the training I was doing. That obviously increased my self-esteem and I began to feel generally a little more confident. For the first time I got a sense that I could actually do things.

            I think this changed other people’s attitudes towards me. I was only picked on a couple of times after taking up Judo and handled the situations with a bit more success.

            As for the advice on anti bullying, it’s best that they tell someone, a friend, a teacher, parents/guardian and they will be able to help. As the television ad goes “Don’t suffer in silence”. Another thing worth mentioning is; that there is safety in numbers, so don’t walk or hang around on your own.

            I would also suggest training in the martial arts. I know it’s a big step and very difficult for someone, when their life is turning into a living hell. They should take someone with them for the first couple of lessons and do the best they can in class. In a few weeks they will begin to develop new skills. Not necessarily to beat people up; but to gain a little self – respect. Regular training will develop the necessary attributes for them to start; believing in themselves and also give them something worthwhile to back it up, if need be. They may not see the results immediately, but the qualities they develop will also be carried into other areas of their every day lives.

           

Mick Tully - What about the fear and the mental side to this, how would you deal with this?

 

Lucky - Fear does take a grip of someone in situations like mentioned above. It is something we all have to face and overcome, both in training and in life generally. I remember a Chinese proverb that hits it home quiet well and it goes something like this; “If you plant rice, rice will grow; if you plant fear, fear will grow”. Over coming fear is very important, if you don’t, well, it can hold you back in life. A strong minded person can overcome fear by confronting it, and gain control of themselves, and handling the situation in question.

            Bob Spour; my Thai Boxing instructor and an NLP - Neuro Linguistic Programming practitioner has mentioned some interesting techniques to alter the mind set, so that you can be in control of your fears.

 

Mick Tully - You enjoyed the training in Judo and got a lot out of it. Why did you then leave and join a Karate club?

 

Lucky – As you know Coventry has always had a good Karate reputation and some of my friends trained in Karate and they kept telling me how I would get hit if I tried to grab them to do a Judo throw.” Plus, Karate did look a bit more like what Bruce Lee was doing in his movies.

 

Mick Tully - Okay well! Could you tell us about your training in Karate and was it as good as your friends said?

 

Lucky - I did some sparring with them and got beaten: so I couldn’t make my Judo work against them. So in a way they had a point.

 

            As for the training in Karate; it was a traditional Shotokan Karate club, ran by two Brothers; Sensei Rick Jackson and Sensei Mick Jackson, well-respected Karate-ka’s.          

            The training was very strict and extremely hard. Everyone just trained like mad. We did lots off basic kicking, punching, blocking and low stance training. A great deal of emphasis was put on Kata for the technical improvement and mental visualisation. Most of the sessions finished with plenty of sparring.

 

Mick Tully - You trained there a fair few (6-7 years) years. What do you remember the most?

 

Lucky - The hall floor being ice cold - I started training there in the winter months, at times it felt warmer outside. We trained in bare feet, which is the Karate tradition. That really tested my mental strength, and even after a good twenty-minute warm up, my feet stayed frozen throughout the whole session. It was as if I was training out in the frost.

 

Mick Tully - So that was good training for your milk round – the 4.00 a.m. cold mornings. You know all the stuff about transferring skills to everyday life.

 

Lucky - Very funny! Well okay, that was cold as well.

 

            Anyway, another painful memory was when we had to do the box splits with our partners. This was when one person stood on you as the other two pulled on your legs. It was sheer agony. I guess that was from the dark ages, really glad that we don’t have to do that any more - thanks to sport science.   

            It wasn’t all bad though. It was a great club and for me Karate seemed better suited than Judo.

            I enjoyed all the areas we covered in Karate, but the self-defence/fighting side of Karate was probably my favourite, due to my desire for self - protection.    

The club produced some excellent martial artists, namely Geoff Thomson of “Watch my Back”, Dev Barratt (world kick boxing champion, early 1980’s), and a number of others who are not in the lime light, but are still active and are running some very successful clubs.

 

Mick Tully - You trained in Kung Fu as well. Why did you take up Kung Fu and what style did you do?

 

Lucky - I did Shoalin Mak–Ka style Kung Fu under Si Fu Charles Chan, and I also carried on with my karate training. It was also another step closer to Bruce Lee’s art; as Jeet Kune Do wasn’t available at the time in this country. The club also had a punch bag, which was a deciding factor for me in joining the club. It was very rare in those days (around 1978) for a punch bag to be used in martial arts training. 

            Si Fu Charles Chan taught the Sholin Mak- Ka Kung Fu style and Tai Chi. The syllabus was divided into two parts where grade five was equivalent to a black belt in Sholin Mak- Ka and grade ten was the black belt equivalent in Tai Chi. As for the style it was classical with a lot of forms, punching and kicking techniques and some weapons forms; namely the Staff, nunchakus, tonfa, Sai and the spear

            I got to a grade four after about three years training there, and then Si Fu Charles Chan closed down the club.

            As luck would have it, the Shotokan Club also closed down about the same time, after a number of instructors came and went. I managed to reach Brown Belt level, after about 5 - 6 years of training there. I know it doesn’t look to impressive, but in those days it was quit normal to train for 7 – 8 years before reaching a Dan grade.

 

Mick Tully - Jeet Kune Do has been widely available for a good few years now, didn’t you consider taking it up?

 

Lucky - I did get into Jeet Kune Do for a while in the mid 80’s, but I wanted to concentrate on the Filipino Martial Arts. However, I am doing some more training in it, with Rick Young’s guidance; through his seminars and 1-2-1 sessions.      

 

Mick Tully - You seem to favour Muay Thai and Kali over your earlier disciplines of Karate and Kung Fu. I can see why but for the benefit of the reader. Why do you feel that way, especially when you’ve put in a lot of time and effort training in them?

 

Lucky - That’s a good question; but a hard one to answer. Let me put it this way; I started in martial arts so I could look after myself.

            As mentioned before, I did train in Karate and Kung Fu for a good few years. To supplement my martial arts training, I jogged 4/6 miles a day. I also did weight training 3 - 4 times a week and stretched every day. The problem was that I still felt that there was something lacking structurally and it was time to move on.

            I did like the hard training, the strict discipline and the morality behind it all, and I try to pass these aspects on in my classes.

 

Mick Tully - When did you get into Kali and Muay Thai? What were your first impressions of it?

 

 Lucky - I had always read about other martial arts and particularly the Filipino martial arts, Jeet Kune Do and Muay Thai.

            My introduction into Kali or the Filipino Martial Arts came about in numerous stages. Firstly I was introduced into basic Eskrima and defences by a couple of my workmates, when one of them bought a pair of Eskrima sticks to work. Actually, it was a broom stick cut in half and painted black with a couple of metal caps on the ends. Anyway; they showed me the numbering system from Dan Inosanto’s poster techniques, which were published at about that time (1977/8). As I learned the 12 strikes, defences and the empty – handed interpretation, it felt a bit too easy. The moves didn’t look flamboyant enough to be martial arts techniques. This was just a lack of understanding on my part.

            The following year I got an 8mm cine film on the Nunchakus by Dan Inosanto and saw about 3 minutes of Eskrima on it. It was amazing to watch Eskrima in motion and I couldn’t believe what I’d seen and was completely flabbergasted.

            Then in 1979 Guro Dan Inosanto came to Cimac (martial arts shop in Birmingham) to sign autographs. There we were treated to a 25/30-minute demonstration on the Filipino martial arts. Actually it was more instructional than a demonstration and I got to see Eskrima being performed live for the first time. It seemed completely different to the Karate and Kung Fu that I was training in at the time. The way Guro Dan Inosanto and Jeff Imada flowed from technique to technique in such a relaxed manner was unbelievable. I realised then that this was the art that I had to learn.

 

Mick Tully - Did you join any regular Eskrima classes after that?

 

Lucky - No, there was still very little information on the Filipino martial arts. As for instructors, there was Bill Newman of Latosa Eskrima who taught in Peterborough and once a month in Leicester. Unfortunately I had no transport and so it wasn’t really possible for me to attend regular classes. However I did get to train with them a few years later when they held some seminars.

            In the next few years, I bought just about every book that was available and two more 8mm cine films by Angle cables on the Serrada Escrima system. I continued to learn using my books and 8mm films and then I started to workout with a couple of friends. I remember we worked through the 12 angles and defences from Dan Inosanto’s book and the 12 Serrada angles with defences and counters. This was in both the single stick and in the olisi Y olisi (stick and short stick).  We just kept doing them over and over again but there was only a limited understanding of it. I didn’t even know why Angel Cables had a smaller stick with his standard stick. There was some sparring (counter for counter) shown in the footage, by watching it we tried to copy their movements. The whole thing was a lot of fun, learning the heaven and earth six from Remy Presas book, and then piecing the punio samrada drill together from the B.B.C’s ‘Way of the Warrior’s’ documentary on Eskrima. 

 

Mick Tully - When did you first have the chance to practice in a class/seminar situation?

         

Lucky - It was at the Dan Inosanto weekend seminar of 1984, he was invited by Bob Breen.

            I got a lot of material from this seminar and really accelerated my Eskrima progress. Dan pointed out that there were 64 variables to the heaven six and a further 512 variables from the original 64. Then there were the footwork patterns. The drills could be done from a kneeling position, a sitting position or from lying on the ground. These different footwork patterns complimented the double stick drills. Further drills included using a reverse grip and also the different environmental situations in which the drills could be used. All variations were from just one of the categories in the art. I’ve just described about ten minutes of his two day seminar.  

            Bit by bit we pieced together the big picture. It’s a great journey, which still continues today; and it’s worth it. Twenty years later, I still haven’t lost any of the enthusiasm for the art, its great.

            I feel that Kali is probably one of the few martial arts that come close to a complete fighting system. It has equal emphasis on both unarmed and weapons training. It has something for everyone, regardless of age or physical ability. Anybody can train in it.

 

Mick Tully - What about Thai Boxing?

 

Lucky - I’ve always liked Muay Thai. I was a little late getting into it; again the problem was finding someone who was teaching it locally.

 

            I had known Bob Spour from his column in the Combat magazine. After a short chat, I started to train with him. I quickly found out that Muay Thai was a lot more then just kickboxing with elbows and knees. He was teaching the art in a traditional manner, with the Ram Muay and the cultural values. Couple of years ago, I interviewed Mr Pimu and he also stated quite passionately that if the Ram Muay is not taught, then it’s not Muay Thai. It’s very important that the whole art is presented, not just the more popular aspects of fighting.

            In Muay Thai there are only the essential techniques. It’s simple, but with a lot of depth. The material is trained over and over again and it works; mostly because of the tight structure and the absence of unnecessary motion. The emphasis on a high level of equipment (Thai pads, belly shields, kick bags, etc) and contact training also keeps the students and fighters in great shape.

           

Mick Tully - Who are your instructors in the Filipino martial arts and Muay Thai and what qualifications do you hold in these arts?

 

Lucky - Bob Spour is my instructor in Muay Thai. I’ve also had Mr Pimu, Tony Myers, Panya Kraitus and Tony Moore as guest Instructors to do seminars on Karbi Krabong, Muay Boran and Muay Thai.

            In Muay Thai, I’m a senior instructor for the Phraya Pichai Dab Hak Muay Thai camps, of which Bob Spour is the Chief instructor. The Phraya Pichai camps are affiliated to Mr Pimu’s E.P.M Gym in Thailand (check out Oct 01 issue of MAI magazine for an in-depth interview with Mr Pimu).

            In the Filipino Martial Arts, I’ve trained with most of the Kali/Eskrima instructors in this country such as Bob Breen, John Harvey, Pat O’Malley, Krishna Godahina, Simon Wells, Andy Gibeny, and more recently with Edward M.Calado.

            Presently, Rick Young holds quarterly seminars for me. Through the seminars and also private instruction, he updates my Kali training and gives me much needed feedback.

            I hold two black belts in the Filipino martial arts; one in the Warriors Eskrima System and the other in the Rapado Arnis.

            However, I teach the Filipino Martial Arts under the banner of the Progressive Kali ~ Eskrima System, with a syllabus compiled by myself which is affiliated to the British Combat Association.

           

Mick Tully - Why did you setup your own Eskrima syllabus, and can you explain a little about the Progressive Kali ~ Eskrima System?

 

Lucky – Well a couple of reasons. The first one is politics; I think it’s holding the Filipino martial art and its practice back.

Secondly, I wanted to compile the material I had learned while training and researching the Filipino martial arts, in a progressive, easy to follow format. There a few of my own additions. It’s designed to take a student from a novice level to a competent level fighter in impact weapons (sticks), edged weapons (sword, machete, knife) and empty hands (Filipino boxing, kicking, locking, grappling).

I also wanted to include the Pocket sticks, Nunchaku, staff and sword, as well as the standard stick and knife materials within the Filipino Martial Arts. The material in the syllabus is divided into 50% weapons and 50% empty – hands, making sure both receive equal attention in training. As a result the students are capable of sparring/fighting with the wide range of hand held weapons and in all the ranges.

            I’ve called it the Progressive Kali ~ Eskrima System, because the syllabus progressively takes the students though all the stages.

            While the feedback about the syllabus, from my students and a number of experienced instructors, has been very positive, I’m always open to constructive criticism; I feel it helps me to grow.

           

Mick Tully - You’re obviously very busy teaching; do you still find time for your own training?

 

Lucky - Yes, I try to get a workout nearly every day. On most days, I do some running, work the heavy bag, stretching, and weight – training. Some days, I also do about 30 - 45 minutes of yoga, followed by technical practice of weapons Karnza, amras, and the wooden dummy.

            I also join in with some of the classes, and the private sessions with my students also help me to stay in reasonable shape.

 

Lucky - You’ve done a little Krabi - Krabong, how do you think it compares with Eskrima?

 

Lucky - I haven’t done as much Krabi – Krabong as I would like, but from what I’ve seen, it’s very good. To compare Karbi - Krabong to Eskrima or comparing Eskrima to Krabi Krabong is a little negative. I think it’s more constructive to spend that time and energy in training your chosen arts. If you get an opportunity to train in a martial art of interest, it should be taken. If a Kali student trains in Krabi Krabong, it will improve his/her kali and of course vice versa

 

Mick Tully - Why did you take up Yoga and what did you learn from it?

 

Lucky - I took up Yoga after reading a book about it. I learned the Asanas postures/exercises have a lot of therapeutic values. They are a lot more than just simple stretches.  I practice Yoga on a fairly regular bases and it helps me to stay in shape and has greatly increased my flexibility. Yoga helps to bring the body into balance with improved health. Each Asana has a purpose, performing them slowly with correct breathing and muscle control increases overall body awareness. It promotes a state of mental and physical well-being. I would recommend it to everyone.

 

Mick Tully - When a student joins your class what can he/she expects to learn?

 

Lucky - Well, I teach the two arts in separate classes, to avoid confusion with the material that is being presented. Especially with the Panatukan and Muay Thai, as the two arts do look very similar to one another with the boxing and the round shin kicks.  

            If we take the Muay Thai Class first generally the class begins with approximately twenty minutes of warm - up, mobility stretching and strength - building exercises. The lesson then progresses to actual skills practice. This will consist of kicking and punching techniques, plus Knee Kicks and Elbow Strikes. These techniques will then be combined in various ways to improve co-ordination, accuracy and power using Thai pads and punch bags. The class will sometimes end with a fair bit of controlled free-sparring and then warming-down exercises for ten to fifteen minutes. Some effective self-protection (with and without weapons) practice is also incorporated into the lesson.

            I involve many other activities in our Muay Thai training. These include weight training, running, skipping, stretching, yoga/meditation, Krabi krabong, Muay Kaad Chiek, Muay Boran and the practice of the actual Muay Thai techniques and combinations. This is to ensure that the students develop a high level of general fitness and technical ability.

Mental relaxation is also very important and is achieved by means of short periods of meditation incorporated into Ram Muay (Ritual Dance) movements and also by special breathing (Panramma) exercises.

            A few will express the desire to fight in the ring. For them we hold interclub (friendly competition) every six to eight weeks to gain experience. These are usually held at Bob Spour’s gym in Birmingham

            The students involved in Muay Thai abide by the code of conduct passed down through the generations by many great Warrior Fighters; to honour and preserve the traditions and philosophies of the art and to respect and support each other in the preservation of this noble art.

            The Kali Class has many of the activities of the Muay Thai class.

After the warm up and stretching, the lesson again progresses to actual skills practise, followed by empty hand drills on focus pads and weaponry (stick, sword, knife, etc) drills. From the flow of the drills the techniques are taught, then these techniques and flow drills are combined in such a way that it maximizes co-ordination, accuracy, speed, power and many other attributes.

            The students gain an understanding of the characteristics of the Kali weapons and their relationship between the hand held weapons and the empty – hands within the Filipino martial arts. Through empty hands sparring and weapons sparring, the students will learn about the spatial relationship, giving them a complete understanding of the different ranges in combat.

            The material that’s taught in class is very practical for today’s world, with emphasis on good moral conduct.

 

Mick Tully - Is it harder to teach within the university environment, as your students only stay for three years and are the terms are so short?

 

Lucky - It’s not that bad; some of them have done really well in training and in the interclub tournaments. I’ve had a few that were champion material but had to leave at the end of the university year. I have a couple of student at this very moment who I think will be title holders.

            It’s sad when students; that I’ve got to know and trained to a good level have to leave. Especially the ones those were very keen to continue their training with me.

            I have some very fond memories of some of them when they made comments like: “I wish I could do a degree in Kali, instead” or “the only reason I continue with my computer science course here is because of the Thai Boxing training at the uni”. It’s very flattering.

            One student thought I was like Joda from Star Wars; not sure what to make of that one!

            It’s nice when some of them keep in touch for years and some don’t mind the travelling and continue their training, either on a one to one basis or they attend one of my intensive courses.

             

Mick Tully - Moving on to competition; when did you last compete in tournaments yourself?

 

Lucky - I think it was in the mid nineties, I competed in the European Eskrima championship in Ballymena, Ireland.

            Before that I competed in an annual event that was held by our Kung Fu club; I think that was around 1979/81. I had a couple of good fights, although some were either too easy or I had no hope of winning. In one event I had to fight Paul Boyer who was one of my instructors.

            In the final year, Paul Boyer won the Sparring section, Geoff Thomson won the weapons section and I won the forms section.

 

Mick Tully - You’re teaching two very different arts. Do you have a favorite?

 

Lucky - Not really; I think both of them are very down to earth. They may appear to be very different on the surface as one is seen to be a weapons art and the other to be a ring sport. But once you have an in-depth knowledge of them, it becomes apparent that they are more similar to each other then they are different. Personally I think the arts compliment one another. For example: both have boxing, elbows, and knees, clinch work and both use the shin in their round kick.

            The Filipino art of Kali is a weapons based martial art and considers the empty hands as its advanced level. In the arts of Thailand, a Muay Thai student can progress into the art of Krabi Krabong, if they prefer to learn weapons.

 

Mick Tully - I see what you mean, let’s move on. Are you interested in any other martial arts that you would like to pursue?

 

Lucky - There are a number of other martial arts I’m interested in, such as Penjak Silet, Chaopria, Kalari Payat and Gatka, a form of stick fighting from the Punjab, my home region in India.

            For the time being at least, they will have to remain just an interest. Just over a year ago, I’ve started to train in the grappling arts of Brazilian Ju Jitsu and Vale Tudo with Brillio Estima and Rick Young.

Recently, we had the pleasure of hosting some Erik Pualson seminars in Coventry. His was just mind blowing; we all enjoyed them, and his coming back in September.   

            On my own progress; I have more then enough material to work on I’d be just spreading myself too thin to take on any more. I like to train and concentrate on the arts I have; Kali, Muay Thai and Grappling. Other arts I just enjoy watching or reading about out of interest.  

 

Mick Tully - Who have been the most influential figures in your martial arts growth?

 

Lucky - Guro Dan Inosanto has to be on top of the list. I would like to thank him for giving us a Kali demonstration in Birmingham all those years ago, that began my journey in the Filipino martial arts.

            Bruce Lee and Muhammad Ali; they were more than just fighters. Both did a great deal for people from all walks of life, directly and indirectly. They lived/live their lives by their philosophies and beliefs; I think that you’ve got to respect that in a person.

            Bill Wallace was another influential figure. I attended his 1980 seminar. He showed us that it was possible for anyone to be flexible and a good kicker. I still enjoy watching his tapes, a great champion and martial artist.

 

Mick Tully - Finally, what are your plans for the future?

 

Lucky - Well, as you know Mike. Just a few of months ago, I’ve opened up a full time academy (TOTAL MARTIAL ARTS ACADEMY) here in Coventry. I’ve improved my classes by getting more equipment with Boxing Ring and punch bags, and will continue to invite guest instructors in the Thai arts, the Filipino arts and the Grappling arts.

            I’m writing a book entitled The Tree of Kali - the Filipino martial arts. I think I’m about three quarters of the way through completing it.

 

            I’m also in the process of doing a set of six of DVD/video tapes on the Filipino Martial Arts. There are two volumes on the knife defence, two more volumes on the stick and knife work and the final two volumes on the flexible weapon of Tabak –Toyok or the nunchakus.

            They will be ready a little later in the year.

 

             Bob Spour’s book (The Ultimate Muay Thai) has now been published. Well worth getting a copy. You don’t have to be into Thai Boxing, because the book is of benefit to any stylist.

 

Mick Tully - Is there anything you would like to say as a final note?

 

Lucky - I would like to thank all my instructors over the years for sharing their knowledge with me and I would like to thank my students, past and present for supporting me and motivating me to carry on.

 

Thank You.

 

Mick Tully - Thank you for a very interesting interview.

 

Lucky - You’re welcome

 

For more information contact L. S. Madahar 

Mobile: 07834767487

            

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.thaiboxing-coventry.co.uk