ELITE  MARTIAL ACADEMY

Finn sensei studied martial arts in Japan from 1967 to 1970, under Japan’s leading masters. He came back to Britain at the request of the City of London Police, who wanted to use his expert knowledge. After that he returned to Japan on a number of occasions to train and qualify on Japanese terms. In time he attained (in layperson's terms ), 40 black belts in 10 martial skills, the Guinness Book of Records know of no one more qualified. All of Finn sensei’s qualifications are verifiable.

It was in the late 1970's that Finn sensei founded Elite Martial Academy. In his opinion the real heart of Japanese martial skills has never reached the western world. Most training in the west is what is called organizational, that means that thousands of students join or affiliate to an organization. Because of this all training has to be standardized to accommodate such large numbers, committees constantly make changes to accommodate the masses.

In Japan the old masters taught in what is referred to as ‘Isshin Denshin’, this is where one master has a very small class. Because of this his individual attention allows more subtle aspects to be passed on, many such skills go back hundreds of years. Mike Finn trained with the founder of Tomiki Aikido, the last Grand Master of Shindo Muso Ryu and others, what is taught now and was taught by them is now very different.

In the old ways, martial arts techniques are used as a medium to develop the individual. In this way the mind, body, and spirit work at full potential. All techniques are of no use if the individual is not capable of effecting them, it’s like having a great sports car, but not being able to drive properly. Real martial arts develops a socially mature individual who plays a practical role in society.

In respect of self defence, something that seems to be paramount in the western world. I once spoke to Judo master Sumiyuki Kotani (10th dan) about this issue. He had amazing skill in Judo and was capable of relentless application, but he paused and pondered then said ‘hmmm - self defence, I never thought of that, I suppose I could use it that way’, again it comes down to personal development. As an analogy, the production of a sports car results in a highly tuned, well balance, precision instrument, capable of exceptional performance. The average street vehicle is simply made to perform its task within the framework of its basic parameters. Elite Martial Academy aims for the higher goal achieved through training. London Based - Private & Semi-private Tuition

If you wish to train, contact us.

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