We don’t run many self-defence seminars but when we do, we always invite someone very special over. This time, it was a friend of mine who we had lost contact and a relationship I wanted to rekindle – Master Shaun Porter.

Shaun is a Master in the Philipino arts, being a very close personal student of legendary Lightning Scientific Arnis Grandmaster Benjamin Luna Lema. He has over twenty years experience cross training in a number of martial arts systems which includes various FMA and Silat. He also holds a black belt instructor rank in the art of Kuk Sool Won.

The self-defence seminar was a great insight into Filipino martial artist’s perspective. The day started off focusing on rattan skills, how to use your whole body and combine it with a proper stance to gain power with each strike. Ultimately as the day progressed we moved onto other areas covered by the Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) system which we found tied in well to the self-defence training we usually do.

In short and to sum things up it up the principles were simple but learning the proper execution and developing the skillset does require practice and commitment. Overall though we had a great time and we’re very grateful to Shaun for sharing his knowledge with us. We’re hoping to train with him again and arrange a near future self-defence seminar, so keep an eye out of updates on that!