Mark Trains with the Worlds top MMA Strength & Conditioning Expert, & now holds the coveted IHP MMA-CSCC certification! 

Chief Instructor Mark Davies is just back from training with JC Santana of IHP Combat. The Institute of Human Performance is the worlds premier Strength & Conditioning facility, & is run by the legendary Juan Carlos Santana. Many of the worlds top MMA fighters are sent to IHP to be trained to perfection; & they are joined there by world class athletes, US Naval Special Warfare Development Group & US Army Special Forces.

JC Santana's training methods are simple & innovative, & are all based around using exercises that mimic the loads, angles, & speeds that combat produces. His coaching has brought many of the worlds top MMA stars to the best condition of their careers!

Now Mark is bringing this knowledge &  methods to his adults classes at 'the BEST defence'. Mark is now the only Martial Arts Instructor in Tayside to hold the coveted MMA-CSCC (Mixed Martial Arts- Certified Strength & Conditioning Coach) qualification from JC Santana & the Institute of Human Performance.

Mark Davies & JC Santana of IHP Combat

New 'Tactical Edge Concepts' instructors courses coming soon!

'Tactical Edge Concepts' courses are our new instructors certifications. They are aimed at Martial Arts Instructors who aren't looking to teach our Tactical Edge system, but who would like to expand what they can teach their students in their existing classes. Our Tactical Edge Concepts courses will cover specific areas of the Tactical Edge system that you can teach as part of your normal classes to expand your students abilities & knowledge.

The first course will be the 'Tactical Edge- Edged Weapons Concepts Instructor' certification. This course will equip Blackbelts & Instructors from ANY style with an effective & comprehensive syllabus to teach within their classes. Because Tactical Edge is a conceptual system, everything we do in the Edged Weapons course can be seamlessly adapted to work with almost any tool; Tactical Flashlight, pen, rolled up magazine etc- even empty hands. We'll cover skill building drills that are great fun, & that turbocharge a students co-ordination in empty hands skills; as well as actual application work.

Our Tactical Edge Concepts instructor certifications are open to Blackbelts & Instructors of ANY style, & are intensive weekend certifications. If you would like to become a certified Tactical Edge- Edged Weapons Concepts Instructor, contact Mark Davies now; as spaces will be very limited!

Tactical Edge Battle Camp is a massive success!

Mark Davies invited to teach at the Grand Opening of the Trident TKD Academy in Manchester

Fighting Fit is our NEW fitness class for MEN & WOMEN! This class will blow away ANY other 'themed' fitness class you've EVER tried. Fighting fit will give you a tough & exciting workout drawing from MMA & Kickboxing pad & bag drills, Russian Kettlebells training, Circuit Training- ALL IN THE ONE CLASS! This class will be launching after the school holidays, & will replace the Wednesday Cardiokickboxing class. If you want an exciting & challenging workout look no further. This class isn't taught by someone who's just done a weekend course, its taught by Jacqui Davies; who is a 2nd Degree Blackbelt in Kickboxing, a 1st Degree Blackbelt in TaeKwon-Do, & is BOTH a Certified Kettlebell Trainer with the IKFF, & an LKB qualified Kettlebells Instructor. Are you tough enough????

Buyer Beware

Its a sad fact that in the Martial Arts in the UK there are people springing up teaching who really shouldn't be. Almost every trade has cowboys & charlatans, & unfortunately Martial Arts are not immune.

Parents unfortunately very often just put their children to whichever class their child hands them a flyer for, or even to the 'cheapest' class. We all want the best for our children, so shouldn't we look a bit further into the pastime we're looking to put our children into?

Here where we are based for example, we have seen a class start up in a local hall in Arbroath that is being taught by someone who has never even actually trained honestly up to Blackbelt in ANY martial art! He did a 'bootcamp' with an organisation run by one of the UK's 'McDojo' artists! This organisation will turn almost anyone into an instructor if they pay the money to do their course EVEN IF THEY DON'T HAVE A MARTIAL ARTS GRADE! This person is grading his own students, even though he's not even really even a Blackbelt!

We have even seen posters advertising classes with a 'Grandmaster Ninja'. The classes are for adults & children, & are being run OUT OF HIS HOME! The worrying thing here is that the main Ninjutsu organisations in the UK have NEVER heard of this person, so this is VERY worrying!

Are these the types of people you want teaching your child skills that they might have to call upon to protect themselves with when their safety is in danger?

There are MANY great instructors in Angus who have 'done their time' & taken the long road to Blackbelt! Do yourself a favour & ask questions not just about your instructors rank, but also about their background, qualifications & experience. How long have they been training? What grade are they? Who was THEIR instructor & where? How long have they trained with them?

Mark Davies is one of the UK's most widely qualified & experienced instructors. He is a WORLD RENOWNED self defence specialist who's methods are trusted by elite military units. He holds Blackbelts in EIGHT different Martial Arts, & has 30 years of experience. He has trained under the worlds BEST masters & instructors, & has been teaching Martial Arts in Angus since 1987! We absolutely GUARANTEE that we will give you or your child THE BEST & MOST EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONAL INSTRUCTION available!

With almost anything else that you would buy that is important & a significant investment, you would do your homework first, please apply a bit of time & research here as well.

Arbroath & Montrose gradings, a BIG well done to all our students

Its been graduation time again for our classes this month, & we've seen some great performances in the gradings. Well done all. We've not managed to get photo's of all the gradings due to some very tight timings between some of the gradings, but we'll be making sure that everyone gets their pictures taken after the summer holidays.

A special mention has to go out to the people who were awarded Grading Awards for exceptional performances! Well done all.

 GTUK Self Defence seminars are a MASSIVE success!

I was kindly invited by Mr John Archer 6th Degree to perform a series of four seminars for his group, two for Mr James Miley in Manchester & two for Mr Archer in Stratford. All the seminars were (happily) sold out, & I had a GREAT time teaching a great bunch of people.

First Manchester seminar participants

Unfortunately we were so carried away that we forgot to get a photo of the first seminar in Manchester. Mr Mileys students were a fantastic bunch. They trained very hard, & gave everything a great deal of effort, even though I was taking them right out of their normal 'comfort zone'. I had a wonderful time teaching two motivated & enthusiatic groups of students.

We started off working through a light warm up with an emphasis on breaking down bi symmetrical co-ordination,  to break the ice we worked on Hubud to get everyone thinking about their co-ordination & timing. After this we moved onto basic takedowns, as this would be the most alien part of Tactical Edge to everyone. Once we had the basics down we moved onto situational training against common attacks, & finished up with an into to basic knife defence.

The next day it was Stratfords turn. Once again, a wonderful bunch of people who were a great reflection on their Instructors.

Stratford Seminar Participants

I'll let Mr Archer do the talking here first..."On Sat. 29th May, Tactical Edge Self Defence Instructor, Mr Mark Davies came down to England from Abroath to conduct 2 x 4 hour seminars in Manchester, followed by 2 x 4 hour seminars in Stratford on Avon. On both days the students entered with 'trepidation' and a fear of the unknown. But once the courses got underway a fabulous time was had by all.
The first 3 hours were taken with unarmed close quarter combat, with the last hour devoted to defences against knife attacks.

The atmosphere was very informal and despite the seriousness of the topics covered, a lot of fun was had, particularly watching the voulenteers get completely demolished !

Well done to all who attended, and have asked 'when is the next one !' A huge thanks to the very talented and clearly very dangerous, Mr Mark Davies and we all look forward to seeing him again in the not too distant future, watch this space".

Mark Davies back from his latest training trip to the USA

Mark is the only person in Europe certified as a ComTech instructor by Master at Arms James Keating, & is the Director of the ComTech European Affiliate. He is available to perform seminars or private tuition in any of the ComTech subsystems. 

Well done to all our students who graded recently!

Mark Davies invited to teach on Grandmasters Seminar

Chief Instructor of 'the BEST defence', Mark Davies, was invited to teach on the recent 'Audience with Grandmaster MacCallum' seminar hosted by GMac Martial Arts for ITF Scotland.

The seminar was in honor of Grandmaster Tom MacCallum, celebrating his promotion to 9th Degree Blackbelt Grandmaster by the International TaeKwon-Do Federation. This makes him Scotland first ever TaeKwon-Do Grandmaster. Grandmaster MacCallum was the Secretary General of the ITF for many years, & was the closest friend & aide of the founder of TaeKwon-Do, General Choi Hong Hi.

Mr Davies, Grandmaster MacCallum, Master Wallace & Master Hutton

The seminar was taught by Master Gordon Wallace, Master Mark Hutton, Mr Davies & Mr Andrew Niven. After Grandmaster MacCallum had kicked the seminar off with a few words on how TaeKwon-Do had changed in the time he had been studying & teaching it, & a quick warm up in the style of his first instructor in Singapore; the first part of the course was taken by Master Wallace. The students were taken through some of the 'old school' training methods, & Master Wallace introduced the students to some of the body conditioning methods that were part of a normal nights training back when Mark was one of Master Wallaces students.

Master Wallace's conditioning class, press up time.

Master Wallace demonstrating some partner stretching

Master Wallace demonstrating attacking tool conditioning

Master Hutton took over & took the students through some dynamic leg strengthening & stretching training. This part of the seminar saw some very interesting looks on everyones faces, & some really strange noises that sounded remarkably like pain.

Master Hutton demonstrating dynamic flexibility

Mr Davies then took over to perform Applied TaeKwon-Do with the students. Mark chose some techniques from the patterns & showed how they could be applied against edged weapons, working specifically against the high frontal threat position.

Mr Davies teaching edged weapons defence

The final part of the physical course was taken by Mr Niven, who is originally from New Zealand but now lives in Germany. Mr Niven took the students through some specialised training for developing their jumping & flying techniques.

Mr Niven demonstrating Special Technique training

After the physical part of the seminar everyone was invited upstairs to a Q & A session with Grandmaster MacCallum, where they could ask him questions about the early days of TaeKwon-Do & the ITF, & his years with General Choi.

The seminar was a HUGE success, & proved such an enjoyable day that the same format may be used again for future ITF Scotland courses.