British Shiro Tora Budo Kai -- White Tiger Martial Arts Academy

The British Shiro Tora White Tiger Martial Arts Academy

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The British Shiro Tora White Tiger Martial Arts Academy

Welcome to our website

Tuesday 8.15pm to 10.15pm

at the British STMA hombu dojo

South Croydon CR2 0AA

£5 a session

These classes are for all levels, beginner to advanced

This is an adult class over 18s only

There is no junior class

Our curriculum includes training methods from the following Fighting Systems:

Street Fighting . Self Defence. Urban Combat . Threat Response

Kali . Eskrima . Stick. Knife . Empty hand

Krai Krabong. Muay Thai boxing

Kempo Karate . Kempo Jujutsu

Jun Fan . Wing Chun

Boxing . Savate Boxe Francais

Grappling . Wrestling . Judo . Jujutsu. Dumog

Ninpo TaiJutsu . Kobudo

Our system is currently taught to Police Officers, Door Supervisors,

Prison Officers and Security personnel

Learn from a 7th degree Black Belt with over 30 years experience

For further information contact us by email

email: enquiries@ShiroTora.co.uk

website: www.ShiroTora.co.uk

blog: http://ShiroToraTiger.blogspot.com

Practical, Realistic and Effective Street Self Defence

Blitz Sport products

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Shiro Tora Budo Kai have been using Blitz products exclusively for over 20 years.

When you join STMA you will need to acquire the proper kit for your classes:

Boxing Gloves
Kali Sticks
Training Knife
Judo/Jujutsu gi
Boxing boots
Kit bag
Karate/Kickboxing groin guard, shinpads, forearm pads
Bag gloves/ Vale Tudo "MMA" gloves
Weapons - bo, jo, boken, tonfa, nunchaku

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White Tiger Martial Arts Integrated Combat Systems

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A complete unarmed combat system

based on Japanese empty hand Martial Arts

the rapid hand strikes of Kempo
the kicks, punches, blocks and strikes of Karate
the devastating and effective self defence techniques of Jujitsu
the joint locks and throws of Aikido
the throws, chokes, strangles and ground fighting of Judo

Backed up by
the weapons of Kali and Escrima sticks and knife fighting
the powerful kicks, punches, knees and elbows of Muay Thai
the fast strikes, trapping and energy drills of WIng Chun Kung Fu

and
the awesome power, speed, precision and conditioning of
boxing and savate

Self Defence for the Streets of Britain in the 21st Century
Multiple opponents
Weapon defence including gun and knife
Street proven techniques and tactics

We currently run two public classes a week:

Monday 8pm to 10pm
Wednesday 8pm to 10pm

at the STMA hombu dojo

These classes are for all levels, beginner to advanced.

This is an adult class over 18s only.
There is no junior class.

shirotoratiger.blogspot.co.uk
shirotoratiger at yahoo.co.uk

Surrey Martial Arts - Shiro Tora Budo Kai - White Tiger Martial Arts - Kali - Karate - Kempo -
Wing Chun - Boxing - Muay Thai - Savate - Jujutsu

Practical Realistic and Effective Street Self Defence

Women's Self Defence Martial Arts and Kickboxing

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At STMA Women who want to train in Martial Arts, Self Defence, Kickboxing, train alongside the men, NOT in a seperate class.

Ladies from Surrey, South Croydon and South London area interested in training, are all welcome to watch and try the classes in Shiro Tora.

Traditionally our dojos have always offered:

Ladies and womens classes in Self Defence
Ladies and womens classes in Martial Arts
Ladies and womens classes in Kickboxing
Ladies and womens classes in Muay Thai - Thai boxing
Ladies and womens classes in Wing Chun Kung Fu
Ladies and womens classes in Kali and Filipino Martial Arts
Ladies and womens classes in Self Protection and Rape Prevention

A lot of ladies join kickboxing classes to enjoy the sport and sparring. This is particularly good for women with a background in aerobics, dance, fitness, and those who have attended classes such as Body Combat.

A lot of women join Martial arts to learn traditional arts and earn their belts. We have several female members who have trained up to Black Belt and one female 2nd dan instructor.

A lot of ladies come to class interested in Self Defence and Self Protection, and the increasing need for Rape Defence training.

Karate Do - The Way of the Empty Hand

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I come to you with only Karate,
My empty hands,
I have no weapons.

But should I be forced to defend myself,
my principles or my honour,
should it be a matter of life or death,
right or wrong,

then here are my weapons,
Karate,
my empty hands.

Becoming a STMA member

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We welcome anyone interested in the Fighting Arts to visit us and get a feel for the atmosphere of STMA.

We recommend that anyone interested in joining us visits us to view a class before they take part in their first lesson.
We then offer an introductory class so the student can get a feel for the classes and ask any questions they may have. This also gives us a chance to assess the prospective students compatability with the current students, the instructors, and the Academy.

We welcome beginners, advanced practitioners, and students from other arts.

We reserve the right to refuse anyone access to our classes if we feel they are not suitable for STMA.

Training is twice a week, Monday and Wednesday nights. Members pay a monthly fee and are expected to attend all sessions. We do not accept casual drop-ins or people wanting to train once a week.

Fees

There is a one off joining fee of £35. This includes the cost of the starter pack of a pair of Kali sticks and a pair of boxing gloves, the basic training equipment.

From then on the cost is £35 a calendar month.

Non members pay £5 a session.

How a White Tiger Martial Arts class works

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The core class is our
Unarmed Combat - Self Protection - Threat Response - Street Fighting - Urban Combat system.

This is a set of drills students practice with each other.

There is no punching and kicking the air, though we do incorporate shadow boxing.

There is no hard oriental "discipline", we train in a relaxed and friendly manner.

There is no bowing, we prefer a smile and a handshake.

There is no half hour "warm up", just some basic stretching.
This is not an aerobics class or a yoga class, it is a Martial Arts skills class.
You spend your time building skills.

If you want to get fit go to aerobics.
If you want to get muscles go to the gym.
If you want to get flexible go to yoga.
If you want to learn to fight - come to see us.

This is real time one-on-one CQC drilling, taken from our core arts of
Karate, Kempo, Jujutsu, Taijutsu, Boxing, Savate, Muay Thai, Kali and Wing Chun.

There is no special uniform or gi, just wear what you feel comfortable in.

The class then bifurcates into Kickboxing and Kali and Kobudo (Karate weapons)

For Kickboxing you need your own protective gear for partner drills and sparring.
Everything we teach is brought out in kickboxing sparring sessions

There is karate style sparring and chi sao sparring

There is impact work on focus pads, Thai pads, and shields.

For Kali students need to buy their own weapons

A pair of sticks and a knife.
A pair of tonfa.
A set of nunchaku, both foam safety and wood/chain.
Bokken, shinai, jo and bo.

There is basic weapon sparring with sticks, nunchaku, sword and staff.

Grappling, MMA and Vale Tudo at Shiro Tora

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The way we do this class is start on the ground. We do some stretches from yoga that are relevant to the muscles used in grappling, then play some moves and transitions as a warmup. Then we pair up and play pins. We use the Newaza from Judo and the basic ground moves from wrestling and Jujutsu as they complement each other perfectly and don't leave any gaps.

Each pin has an escape and we play these, also drills such as pass the guard-escape the mount. Then we look at finishes from each position - chokes and locks. Then we look at the counters and reversals.

Then we stand up and look at throws, simple moves from Judo and wrestling such as Kata guruma - cross hip, seoinage - flying mare, o soto gari, simple stuff like that, so we know how to get there, and moves such as morote gari and other leg takedowns, and how not to get caught in the guard. Also pad drills on the ground, punching the pads while in the mount and guard.

Then by adding back in strikes to vertical grappling, the Thai clinch drill, and HKE, we can progress to kickboxing on the mat, and from the clinch, go to ground, practice ground and pound, and grappling.

With the new mats at the club, we can regularly explore grappling, MMA and Vale Tudo, and devote maybe an hour from a 2 hour class to this dimension of our fight training.

Feng Wei - Street Fighting - Urban Combat at Shiro Tora

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Feng Wei is the name we have given to the core Fighting System in Shiro Tora.

In Chinese it means "Phoenix". It is a streetfighting system for the streets of Britain at the start of the 21st Century.

As well as holding a 6th dan in karate, which has Okinawan and Chinese roots, Shihan is a full instructor in Wing Chun Kung Fu. Shihan's training has included classical and modified WC, as well as private training from the late great Master Derek Jones of Body Mind Spirit.

Shihan has been involved for many years in Jun Fan Gung Fu and Jeet Kune Do, so has trained in various aspects of Bruce Lee's art from the modified WC of Oakland to the Seattle Jun Fan to the LA JKD.

So as well as a core of Applied Karate, FW heavily borrows from WC and JF.

There are also elements of Jujutsu, Kali and Muay Thai.

Our Threat Response system is unique to Shiro Tora and the FW class is the best place to learn them.

Classes include: Tool development, lineups, defence and counter drills, attack by combination, HIA traps, locks, chokes, immobilisations, takedowns, KOs, multiple opponent drills, the fence, threat escalation, conflict management.

Whether you want to work in security, or just want an effective Self Protection system, we have it all right here.

This is the best class to start with as it just requires an empty room and people. It's diverse and we train in drills over modules for maximum skill uptake. We've had a lot of success with this format before and it isn't rivalled by anybody else doing the same thing.

It takes the core skills of Wing Chun, but not just traditional WC, but the modified style, and also the BMS system.

We've also added a lot of Jun Fan and JKD drills over the years, and a lot of the boxing skills.
There are also drills from Karate, Thai and Kali, as well as Jujutsu.

We have to call it something other than WC or JF so we call it FW.
(But it's just a name, don't fuss over it!)

We've adapted the functional training for the streets of UK at the start of the 21st century, so it really is a new streetfighting system. It contains the drills we and our doormen and security personnel practice and use, and it's fully effective in those scenarios.

It is done unarmed, one on one, with no equipment or mats.

We start with sequences dealing with punches, kicks and strikes, and counters.

We progress to HIA - Hand Immobilisations - Traps.
Locks from JJ.
Chokes.

NRG - Energy - drills.
Mainly Wing Chun - dan chi, bon lop, luk sao, into full chi sao sparring.
We also have drills from Mantis and Kali.

Sparring is based on 2 ranges from 2 core arts, and done without protective pads:

Wing Chun and Jun Fan Chi sao.
Karate Jiyu kumite.

Kickboxing at Shiro Tora

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Boxing

This is Western boxing, hands only fighting.

The main tools are:
Jab, Cross, Hook, Uppercut

The target is the head, the purpose is the knockout.

With lead and rear hooks and uppercuts, this generates 6 basic punches. You learn and practice these on the pads, then try them out in sparring.

Drilling is progressive:

Basic punches - the "big 6"
Defences
Attack combinations
Defensive combinations
Sparring

Kickboxing - Full Contact

This is basically boxing with the addition of the 4 primary karate kicks:

front kick - mygeri
Round kick - mawashigeri
Side Kick - kekome
Back kick - ushiro geri

These are learnt on the shield and primarily delivered to the stomach.

Head kicks are secondary and you don't have to learn them unless you want to.

Other secondary kicks include the hook kick, done to the head, and jump kicks.

Practice is progressive:

ABCs:
Hand, hand
Hand, Foot
Foot, hand
Foot, foot

There are of course defences for the kicks and defensive combinations.

Then there is progressive sparring:

Boxing v boxing
Boxing v kickboxing
Kickboxing v kb

Then isolation sparring:

Lead hand only
Lead hand and leg only
LH and LL against kb
...etc

Semi Contact Kickboxing

This is the same as Freestyle karate.

Primary drilling is done on the focus mitts. Sparring uses the lighter mitts and is touch or semi contact only.

Additional hand techniques include the ridge hand and backfist.

The stance tends to be more side on the FC, and there is more use of the side push kick than the front push kick.

Good head kicking is necessary to become really proficient at SC KB.

Lo Kix KB

Same as FC KB but includes low kicks to the leg, and involves the leg block.

Thai boxing

With KB we have taken our drilling mainly from karate and boxing.

Thai boxing takes training methods from Muay Thai, a different MA.

This involves the use of the knee, and training on the Thai pads.

Savate Boxe Francais

A whole new dimension to long range kicking and sparring.

Weapons at Shiro Tora

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Krabi
Krabi Krabong is the weapons art of Thailand, the military weapons forerunner to the unarmed combat art of Muay Thai and the ring sport of Thai Boxing.

Krabi uses twin stix, the number 1 strike and jodan uke block.

It uses an advancing pushing, pressure step, and retreats with defence.

5 step sparring involves advancing and retreating in attack and defence.

We start with a single step and strike, then progress to a double step and strike.

We finish the sequence with a power strike, a "kradot" jumping strike or a double "tenchi" strike.
It is also possible to put in a kick at the end of the sequence.

The stixs represent swords, as in kali. Though brutal as a stick combat art, the ultimate intention is to train for blade combat.

It is , like boxing, a very basic and primative art, with not a lot to learn. Which is what makes it so effective.

Eskrima and Kali
Eskrima and Kali are the weapons arts of the Philipines, referred to as Filipino Martial Arts or FMA.

Training is done with the short stick, single or double.

In Eskrima we fight with the stick, so stick training represents stick combat.

In Kali we fight with swords, so stick training represents blade combat. That is the real distinction between the two. Kali is a lot like Krabi, but also very different, as you will see.

Eskrima training consists of:

Sinawalli - double sticks
Largo mano - long range single stick
Serrada - close range single stick
Kadena de mano - knife and hand

Largo
Largo is the long range.

Largo mano actually means long hand, but we use it to cover weapons method as well.

The basic drill is an advancing and retreating 5 step kumite.

This can be done with the single stick, the longer stick, the sword and the staff, both jo and bo.

We can also mix and match weapons:

stick v 2 stix
boken v stix
boken v bo
boken v jo
jo v stix
bo v stix
tonfa v stix
tonfa v boken
tonfa v jo
tonfa v bo

Sinawalli
Sinawalli means "weaving". It refers to the patterns the stick make in the drills.

Sinawalli is done with double sticks at the largo range.

The first thing you learn is the basic different counts:
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

4 count also has a twirl and sipat henka
5 also has a sipta henka
5 and 7 are also performed "offside"

6 count is a series in it's own right, containing standard, heaven, earth, redondo, stab and sipat henka.

The second thing you learn is "chains" - 2 and 4,
4 and 6,
2, 4, 6
6 chains such as heaven, earth

Then you learn concepts:
chaining, matching, mirroring, redondo, chasing, etc.

It is a very dynamic, thorough and fulfilling art to learn and practice.

It's also a lot of fun!

Serrada
Serrada is the close range system done at the medio and corto ranges.

Drills include:

sombrada - both 3 and 5 count
box sombrada
hubud
entry from largo to medio and out again
move from largo to medio to corto and out
locks with stick

Serrada uses the 12 angle number system of Cabales Eskrima.

We can also drill with tonfa at serrada, and even nuncha (called tayok in FMA)

Knife
Though we do Japanese tanto training from kobudo and ninpo, the bulk of our knife training is from Eskrima.

Kadena de mano means knife and hand. It is the close range art of fighting and defending with the knife.

Knife to knife, hand to knife, and hand to hand are the 3 phases.

Knife uses the first 7 angles of Eskrima.

Knife defence we work on at an early level.

Knife "fighting" itself is taught to seniors.

Tonfa and nunchaku
We play tonfa and nuncha in serrada range as well as largo.

stick v tonfa
stick v nuncha
tonfa v nuncha
nuncha v nuncha
tonfa v tonfa

Bokken, Jo and Bo
We play these at largo range, extending the range out as needed.

Jujutsu at Shiro Tora

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Our Jujutsu is based on Traditional Koryo Jujutsu, Kempo Goshin Jutsu and Sports Jujutsu.

We train through all 7 dimensions of grappling combat.

Newaza
Groundgrappling, as in Judo, BJJ and wrestling. Pins, chokes, and locks.
We grapple with gi jackets and without.

We also have Ground Fighting as in Vale Tudo and MMA where we keep the gloves on and allow striking in ground range.

Nage - Throws
As in Judo. We practice all kinds of throws and then apply them in randori free sparring.
As well as gi grappling, we use the wrestling concept of tieing up without grabbing the clothes.

Takedowns
Not the same as throws.
Double and single leg takedowns down from the outrange fall into this category.
After a takedown you have the option of following into grappling, locking the leg from standing, striking, or breaking away.

Catch kick takedowns
Fighting at Kickboxing range we catch or "shelf" the kick and perform our takedown.

Karate Sweeps
Fighting at Kickboxing range we sweep the leg to takedown the opponent, as part of an attack combination, or in defence

Projections
As in aikido, when we are grabbed on the wrist, sleeve or collar we use arm and wristlocks to project the opponent to the mat.

Handachi
This is when you are down and the opponent is standing.
In aikido there is a whole section called handachi for this. However, in the West, we don't kneel on the floor as they do in Japan. If you find yourself kneeling in front of a standing opponent you are at the takedown phase, so do a morote gari.
Our handachi would apply if you were sitting in a chair when attacked for example.
But the worst example of this is if you go down and are lying there while your opponent still stands and tries to kick you. The grappling response is to affect a leg takedown, which allows you to follow to grappling, or to get up and reverse the position - you standing, him lying.

The 4 elements of STMA

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The 4 elements of STMA are:

Feng Wei
Kickboxing
Grappling
Weapons

Those familiar with the Godai concept of 5 elements in Oriental philosophy will know how they relate to the chakra system of consciousness.

Some of you will have read my previous work on this subject and how they relate to the psychological and physical aspects of combat.

We are now able to relate each of the 4 elements of STMA to the 4 elements of earth, water, fire and wind.

EARTH - GRAPPLING

The Earth element stands for strength and stability. It is the mountain that does not move, the tree standing firm. In the body it stands for the bones and muscles, the physical structure of the body.

In STMA, earth is the grappling element. You stand firm, pull your enemy in and pull him to the ground. You keep him there, even after you walk away. You feel confident. There is no need to run away from the enemy or even "defend" as such. You invite him in and take him down.

WATER - FENG WEI

The Water element stands for adaptability. It is the rivers moving over the land, running to the ocean, the rain that falls from the sky.

Water cannot be broken, snapped or grabbed.

In STMA, water is the Feng Wei element.

Based on Kempo, Karate, Wing Chun, Jun Fan, and a large part of Kali, it is adaptive, defensive, evasive, yet powerful when it crashes in.

Water can arode a mountain and a flood can clear a village or knock down the strongest tree.

"Be like water" Bruce Lee advised his students.

In the body water refers to the blood and the liquids that make life possible.

FIRE - KICKBOXING

The Fire element stands for Power, energy, attack. Fire is all consuming, it burns up everything in it's path.

In STMA Fire is the Kickboxing element. It is the forward driving power of the boxer or Thai boxer. The powerful punches on the focus pads, the mighty kicks, knees and elbows on the Thai pads. It is the power of karate as it breaks through wood boards.

The opponent has no option to retreat into the corner. If he tries to hit back we cover, evade, take his bows on our gloves or shins, and hit him back even harder.

In the body Fire refers to metabolism, the use of energy.

WIND - WEAPONS

The wind element in STMA is weapons.

Just as the wind moves over the land, moving objects with it's unseen power, so you move across the floor with your footwork, wielding your stick in your hand.

The sticks cut the air like wind, the crack of wood on wood is like thunder, the stick moves fast as lightning and when it strikes the enemy it lights up his nervous system with a flash of pain.

In the body the Wind refers to the breath.

The VOID

The 5th element in the Godai system is the Void.

Void is nothingness - the space that must exist for the other elements to manifest in.

It is the space between the stars, the space between the atoms.

In the body, it is thought, the creativity that is the manifestation of all action.

If the other 4 elements are the gears of the car, Void is the neutral position, the space you shift through that makes gear changes possible.

In STMA, the Void state is when you are no longer manifesting one art, and are liberated from all structure, moving freely. It is what Bruce Lee called "Jeet Kune Do". The state of Mushin or Wu Wei. The place we all want to be.

Over 18s Only!

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Over 18s Only!

Due to the content and standard of our training it is only suitable for persons over the age of 18.

Our curriculum includes:

Full contact sparring through all ranges
including boxing, kickboxing, grappling and weapons.
Weapons training and sparring including knife.
Street Self Defence and Urban Combat techniques and concepts.

Contact us

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Email us at:

enquiries@ShiroTora.co.uk

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STMA classes

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Classes are held every week at the STMA Hombu dojo.

Monday 8pm to 10pm

Wednesday 8pm to 10pm

Monthly membership is £35

or £5 a session Pay As You Go

Private lessons available

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Private lessons

Private tuition available at your home or a venue of your choice.

Personal one-to-one tuition or group tuition available.

The going rate for private clients is £25 an hour, or £50 for two hours.
This is based on what we would make on a class of 10 students paying £5 each. It is the standard rate. Whether that is one client, two or a team of five, that is the going rate.

Courses and seminars

We can hold courses or seminars at your club for you and your students.

The usual rate is £35 for one day or £50 for 2 days for each attendee.

Contact us for details.

White Tiger Martial Arts Blog

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We have a new blog, seperate from the main STMA Website:

White Tiger Martial Arts Blog

The main STMA website, although done blog style, is for general information purposes. Most of what is posted there is permanent and set.

The WTMA Blog will be constantly updated with news and information as the club and training progress.

"Private" club information will only be posted on the Forum for members to read.

Forum

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You can join the Forum here:
Shiro Tora White Tiger Martial Arts Forum

It is a members only forum, it can't be read by the public, and membership has to be approved by an administrator. If you look at it now it looks blank, but once your membership is approved and you log in you will have access to the boards.

You need to be a member of Shiro Tora and attend our class to join this forum.

It is firstly a place for us to post information regarding the club and classes, and to discuss techniques and training through the week between sessions. Also, if you miss a session, you will be able to catch up with what happened.

You can join the Forum from this page:
Join Shiro Tora Forum

Once registered, your login details will be emailed to you. Then once we've approved your account, you'll be in.

MEMBERS: If you are using an email or username that we may not recognise, eg "Dragonfly" or something like that, email to let us know who you are and then we can verify your account.

See you all at The Forum!