These workshops are for students to learn or perfect their techniques in preparation for their next grading.
It covers all the TMAS styles:
The cost for these 2 hour sessions are:
Saturday Workshop details are:
14:00 - 16:00 Yellow to Blue Black Stripe Belts
16:00 - 18:00 Green Belt and above
Sundays Workshop details are:
12:30 - 14:30 Yellow to Blue Black Stripe Belts
14:30 - 16:30 Green Belt and above
Time to grow and improve, these grading's, your walk out a better martial artist than when you stepped in. You will get to be tested in the style that you are studying and the level you are aiming for whilst sampling the other martial arts that TMAS teaches. Expanding your knowledge and ability.
22 March - Bearwood
25 April - Ryeish Green
7 June - Pound Lane
19 July - Bearwood
Class Venue Changes - 2026
Change in location from Loddon Valley to Ryeish Green
Saturday Classes 09:00 - 12:00
Job: Pricing Analyst
Favourite film: Carlito's Way
Favourite food: Sushi
Hobbies: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)
Why Martial Arts:
I did a lot of sport when I was younger; 7 years of rugby, 2 years of America Football and a season of natural bodybuilding. When I was 24 I did a year of MMA training before an elbow injury forced me to take a break. It was so painful that my punches were hurting me more than my opponents!
I started my own business - 9 years flew by and I never got back into it. Eventually, the birth of my son triggered me to think about what I wanted him to get out of sport. I realised I wanted to teach him but I hadn’t gone deep enough into MMA to really be able to do that.
Why TMAS?
I’d unsuccessfully tried a few clubs at various stages and knew what I didn’t want. I didn’t want a club that was more concerned with its insurance than practicing takedowns or ground and pound. I didn’t want a club that trained exclusively to rigid competition rules, leaving massive blind spots. I didn’t want a club that was going to give me grief if I had a busy week at work and couldn’t train three times that week…
So I ended up at TMAS by process of elimination! TMAS delivered on all the things I did want, a broad range of realistic fighting training with an understanding coach and sense of camaraderie between the other fighters.
Martial Arts goals:
Shortly after joining TMAS, I had the chance to have an MA interclub fights. It went ok but I decided I wanted to focus more on my ground work and so I started competing in BJJ to achieve that. BJJ competitions take less of a toll on your body so I was able to have 24 matches in my first year competing. I’ve now had 28 matches, winning 23 of them. However, these have all been at white belt / beginner level so this year I want to show I can still be competitive at blue belt / intermediate level.
Body conditioning:
When I started 1-2-1 training with Sifu Ross, I weighed 90kg. I’m 5 foot 7 so I had a lot of body fat. 6 months later, I weighed in at 70kg. This was achieved through a lot of lifestyle changes including:
These are not necessarily things that I couldn’t have done before I joined TMAS and the bottom four were not new concepts to me. But without a goal to focus on, there was always ‘next week’ to catch up on the cardio and every work deadline felt like I needed a sugar hit to push through. Once I became focussed on competing at 70kg, I realised I didn’t need the sugar and it was making me feel worse shortly after the temporary boost wore off.
Becoming part of a club made it more motivating as people noticed my progress and encouraged me towards competition, I felt like other people actually cared if I won!
aka Militant Pete thanks to his punishing HIIT classes)
Job: International man of mystery… if I told you I would have to kill you.
Favourite film: Monty Pythons life of Brian (He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!)
Favourite food: Cake, it’s got to be cake yes definitely cake
Hobbies: Cake decorating and running (the muddier the better)
Sports and martial arts background: Up to my forties nothing, then running, mountain biking and obstacle course racing.
Why martial arts:
I had some issues with new neighbours who were causing my young family issues making us all feel very uncomfortable in our own home. My brother, who was an instructor with Ross, made the suggestion that I learn a martial art so that I could defend myself if needs be (yes, they really were not nice people).
Learning some street self defense really boosted my confidence and I found that this led to a new love of sports and fitness. As for the troublesome neighbours, let’s just say that they moved away and haven’t been seen since…
Why TMAS?
Right from the start I felt comfortable in the class. Don’t get me wrong It wasn’t an easy ride, martial arts is hard and the classes were full on - I would go home with bruises and scrapes and aches in muscles I didn’t even know I had!
I also liked the style that Ross was teaching, stuff you could apply to real situations if push came to shove. Another thing that really appealed was they way Ross and the higher grades were so enthusiastic about wanting to pass on their knowledge. Nobody looked down on the lower grade students and this is as true today as it was back then.
Martial arts goals:
Martial arts is a journey without an end and I am currently working towards my Kickboxing San Dan* (3rd dan).
As an instructor I like to keep my classes fresh and exciting, as well as pushing the fitness levels up by including this bear crawls and burpees (everyone loves a burpee!) as well as many other exercises to keep everyone on their toes. I love encouraging students to step outside their comfort zones and to see them grow as they move through their own journey. To infinity & beyond!
*What is a Dan in martial arts?
The dan ranking system is used by many Japanese, Okinawan, and Korean martial art organizations to indicate the level of a person's ability within a given system that could be generally described as a finite set that once achieved becomes an art that can be defined by some formalized system of patternism.
Some of Pete's cake creations
Job: Civil Servant
Favourite films: Miss Congeniality, closely followed by almost any Disney film
Favourite food: Chocolate
Hobbies: Cooking, baking, dance and drama
Why Martial Arts:
I joined TMAS about 8 years ago after originally starting kickboxing at university when I wanted a new challenge after focusing on dance as a child.
I enjoy kickboxing because you’re not only exercising, but also learning practical skills at the same time. As a sport, it develops your strength and fitness and keeps you challenged and engaged mentally.
Why TMAS:
I love the variety at TMAS - no two classes are the same and there’s always opportunity to focus on specific areas you’d like to develop. I’ve also always found the teachers and other TMAS members very friendly and encouraging, which means you can have fun whilst also training hard.
Martial Arts goal:
I am currently training for my Black Belt, 1st Dan and hope to achieve it in late 2019/early 2020. Very proud to be the first female TMAS student to achieve this and hope that I inspire some of the younger girls to follow in my footsteps.
