Herefords leading mixed martial artist Simon Small has achieved a rare accomplishment in the world of martial arts.
Adding to his 3rd Dan black belt in Contact Karate/Kickboxing with the English Contact Karate Association, and his black belts in both Shukokai and Shotokan Karate, Simon has recently gained a British Judo Association black belt, this in its self a great achievement. Simon who is chief instructor to the Hereford
The BJA black belt is taken in two parts, firstly during a theory exam Simon had to demonstrate a variety of throws, hold-downs, arm-locks and strangles, adding to the pressure of the test, instructions are given by the examiner in Japanese. Simon's hard work and dedication to training was reflected in his pass grade of 91 percent.
The second part is a test of the candidates fighting ability. Fighting against others, who are also trying to gain their black belt, candidates are given three fights from which they must win two by the maximum possible 10 points (the equivalent of a knockout in boxing), in order to qualify for 'the line up'.
Whilst many would think about taking things easy after such a successful year, Simon is doing nothing of the sort, he is currently working towards his ECKA 4th Dan, and is preparing to defend his British Ju-Jutsu title in November.
Report & Photos by Dave Coles 17/10/02
Contact Karate Club and coach to The Combat Academy, has been studying martial arts for over 16 years, during which time he has gained British or National titles in full contact, Light continuous, semi-contact karate, kata and Ju-Jutsu Kumite. His successes are not limited to one style of martial art as titles have been gained with no less than six different associations.
After two hard earned victories, Small progressed to the line up where he faced a further three separate opponents in a gruelling 12 minutes of fighting, one after the other without a rest. In order to complete the line up, and be awarded the coveted black belt, all three opponents had to be defeated by the maximum 10 points. Small completed the task with time to spare.
