Coaches
Zoltán Dienes was
captain to the Cambridge
and Oxford karate blues teams in the 1980s. In 1994, after meeting Terry Wingrove, Zoltán
became interested in martial arts as self
defence rather than sport. In 1995 Zoltán also started
training with Rick Clark on each of his biannual visits to the UK. Rick helped Zoltán disregard
the boundaries of styles
and to train in all areas of self defence. Some training with Steve Morris in 2003 and 2004
profoundly influenced all aspects of Zoltán's training, to make it more functional,
be it on the ground, grappling, or striking. Zoltán
continues to draw from
the evolving methodologies of Mixed Martial Arts to create fun and functional self defence training.
Zoltán is a member of Rick
Clark's Ao Denkou Kai, an organisation constantly exploring and developing concepts for self defence training. Some
of Zoltán's own research (with Mike Flanagan) on the use of pressure points is reported in Rick Clark's 2000 book Pressure
Point Fighting and Vince
Morris's 1999 book Kyusho Secrets 2. Zoltán started teaching martial arts at Sussex University in 1990 and
was awarded Coach of the Year 2003 by the University of Sussex Sports Federation.
Neil McLatchie
Neil started training at the club when at sixth form in Kent - travelling all the way to University of Sussex because he could find no other club nearby that was so progressive in its training methods and philosophy. In fact, he chose Sussex for his BSc precisely so he could continue training at the club! While in his first year at Sussex he won gold at the first (and so far only) British Universities Vale Tudo competition. Neil, who has just finished his Bachelors in Psychology, recently achieved his black belt in Integrated Martial Arts. He was awarded USSU (University of Sussex Students Union) Martial Artist of the Year 2009.
