Summer Camp 2012
TONY FELIX’S MARTIAL BIOGRAPHYWritten by Tony Felix
Note from BKKU Webmaster: MAI Article Featuring Tony Felix is attached at the bottom of this bio
I began my martial arts journey in 1974 and have continually trained since then, except for a 2- year break when I focused on playing rugby. I began with hard/external styles then after gaining proficiency in various systems and suffering from a life-threatening illness I started training in and investigating the soft/internal styles. My experience in training, competing, teaching and coaching goes from local, through regional, national and international levels. I am based in London but have travelled around the country and the world deepening my knowledge by training with practitioners from various systems and managed to obtain Black Belts or equivalent teaching grades in at least 7 martial systems. In most systems I studied I have learned the forms, basic techniques, and drills along with various weapons, breathing, meditative and healing exercises.
I have studied martial arts from all parts of Asia, Africa, North America, South America and Europe. The fighting system I now teach is Progressive Kuntao Silat. Kuntao has a base of Chinese Kung Fu, Indonesian Pencak Silat and other South East Asian martial techniques. At present my other training passions are Indonesian Yoga, Grappling and Simbha San Shou. Plus I have also taught Tai Chi in Mental Health Institutions.
As well as my extensive training I also participated in numerous competitions in varied disciplines, which helped increase my experience and deepen my understanding. I have competed in traditional full contact (San Shou and San Da), Tai Chi pushing hands, Kickboxing, Semi-Contact fighting, Karate Points-fighting, Light continuous points fighting, Chinese Wrestling, Knockdown Karate fighting, Judo competition, Russian Sombo and various amateur Submission Fighting events. During competition I managed to attain many Gold, Silver and Bronze medals along with various awards for Best Technician, Most spirited fighter and Best Fighter of the event. I also won many medals for empty-hand and weapon forms in both hard/external forms and soft/internal forms.
In 1989 after months of far-from-good health I was diagnosed as suffering with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. This is a cancer of the lymphatic system that affects the white blood cells and the body’s immune system. For most of that year I underwent various medical procedures that began with diagnostic surgery, included chemotherapy and concluded with a bone-marrow transplant. As I was physically unable to continue with the strenuous kung-fu training during this time I decided to investigate Tai Chi and other internal arts. I already knew basic Breathing and Energy exercises from years of Shaolin training but then began to study the Internal Energy systems. The softer exercises coupled with deep breathing and lots of walking aided me in the recovery process. The years of hard training also played a major factor in forging the will that helped me overcome the disease, pus I knew it wasn't my time. After recovering from the illness I returned to Kung-Fu training but continued practising Tai Chi.
From the early 90’s until retirement from fighting in 1996 I was the most successful Full-Contact kung-fu fighter in the country. I was one of the only Sifu/Instructors who actively competed in full-contact competition. Many teachers refused to compete through fear of ‘losing face’ if they failed to win their bouts. During my fighting career I was noted as being a ‘Technical Fighter’ and a ‘Stylist’. I was one of a few people who could actually display techniques that resembled classical martial arts as opposed to-quote ‘fighting like a kick boxer’. During this time many fighters often came to me seeking technical advice on using their trained fighting techniques in competition. This was the beginning of my coaching career.
In 1991 I started teaching a small group of eager students the Lohan Buddha’s Fist system while still continuing with Tai Chi Chuan studies. I had always advocated full-contact sparring and decided to continue with full-contact competition. I trained my class in a complete traditional syllabus that included forms, techniques, drills and lots of traditional sparring. I competed in various competitions and had great success in many different disciplines. My students also began competing and did very well within both the traditional and non-traditional circuits. I continued teaching traditional kung fu until I returned from the 1996 World Kung-Fu (Kuo Shu) championships in Taiwan.
I had a great thirst for martial knowledge and had achieved Black Belt or the equivalent instructor level in 7 systems so I found San Shou fighting expressed martial methods in ways that were practical. Training in San Shou also freed me from having to limit my ideas to the confines of any particular style. Maximising classical fighting techniques by incorporating modern training equipment and scientific methods with a combat sport regimen was how I trained. So after fighting in Taiwan in 1996 I returned with the intention of creating a valid martial training system. Using various aspects of arts I had studied I wanted to formulate an adaptable and diverse full-contact martial art system. Using Lohan Chuan and Kuntao-Silat self-defence principles provided the teaching framework. I used the base techniques that were commonly employed by the various systems that corresponded with realistic full-contact application. The selection of body-targets was correlated to the Dim-Mak (Energy point-striking principles) theories. The mixing of traditional footwork with western boxing footwork and wrestling movement helped the system gel into a synergistic whole. Traditional sensitivity and reaction drills were adapted to fit modern scenarios. I decided to name this system ‘Simbha San Shou’. SIMBHA SAN SHOU was the culmination of his then over 20 years training. From the techniques I had used in fighting I gained a reputation for being able to use classical fighting applications. So I then had many traditional martial artists come to me for coaching in using their techniques in a practical arena.
I had been introduced to Pencak Silat in 1991 and had incorporated many of the principles into my arts. In 2001 I worked in Prague with Cliff Stewart for 5 months and received hands on intensive study in Dutch-Indonesian Pentjak Silat and Kyushu Jutsu. After returning to the UK I intensively studied Indonesian Pencak Silat and Chinese-Indonesian Kuntao Silat while still teaching my San Shou system and Wu style tai Chi Chuan. I completed the training syllabus in the Silat Arts of Harimau, Kucing, Garuda and Cimande as well as a good grounding in Buaya and Kura Kura.
Because the Silat movement was so influential there was a natural integration all my studies and SIMBHA SAN SHOU developed into a system called SIMA KUNTAO which is a progressive KUNTAO SILAT system. This system fuses all the elements I have studied over the years into what I believe are the 3 important aspects of Martial Arts training.
KUNTAO SILAT -Self defence applications KUNTAO SAN SHOU -Sparring and using techniques on pads TAI CHI and CHI KUNG -Breathing, Energy Work and Rejuvenation
Within all the training I have specialised in weapons work and sparring. The knife is the short weapon I like. The sword or 4-foot stick s the mid-range weapon I prefer and the scarf is the flexible weapon I prefer.
MAJOR MARTIAL ARTS AWARDS FULL CONTACT KUNG FU (SAN SHOU) BRITISH CHAMPION - 1993,94 EUROPEAN CUP CHAMPION- 1993 WORLD CHAMPION - 1994 US INTERNATIONAL OPEN – RUNNER UP 1996 Due To Injury Sustained In earlier Fight 8TH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 1996 - 4TH PLACE – Retired Due To Recurring Injury TAI CHI CHUAN BRITISH OPEN PUSHING HANDS CHAMPION - 1991, 1992 TAI CHI NATIONAL GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP – 1999 3RD PLACE An event including: HAND-FORM, WEAPONS FORM, PUSHING HANDS and FUL CONTACT SPARRING SOMBO WRESTLING BRITISH OPEN 1997 – THIRD PLACE AS TEACHER / COACH MY STUDENTS HAVE ACHIEVED: BRITISH FULL-CONTACT KUNG FU CHAMPIONS – 1994 and 1995 TAI CHI GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP 1999 1ST and 4TH PLACE 1998 TAI CHI PUSHING HANDS CHAMPION 1993, 2ND PLACE 1992 1994 WORLS CHAMPIONSHIP 3 x CHAMPIONS and 1x 2ND PLACE Plus Many Other achievements as coach. |