BRIAN JONES, HISTORY OF A GRAND MASTER

Master Brian Jones answers questions about his life in martial arts & the Brian Jones Integrated Kun Tao System.

MMM Where and when did you start your Martial arts career

BJ My Martial Arts Life? I started training in London at about age 17 with Judo then went from there to Wado ryu under Tatsuo Suzuki 1955.  I then went out to Malaysia in 1957 and learned Kun Tao Tai Qi under Leong Fu and Penckat Silat under Wei Wong.  That was hard work I can tell you, trying to learn one system at a time is hard enough when you have a full time job as well.  When I came back I carried on my studies of Wado ryu but I wanted to learn Wing Chun and so I found Greco Wong (one of Yip Man's students) in 1964.  I was teaching my boxing system in London when I met up with Rene Latosa who was over from the USA in the air force and was looking to teach his system in Europe, he came into the club one day and liked what I was teaching and I started to learn Escrima in about 1971 and in exchange I taught him my boxing system.

MC: can you tell us what Kun Tao Tai Qi is?

BJ: Kun Tao means the Royal system, it's a Malay style of Yang Tai Qi but with Chen style influences this makes it a slightly harder style than the normal Yang Family style.  It was taught to me by Leong Fu. It is basically a more combat orientated style of Tai chi with a lot of emphasis on Pushing Hands or Tui Shou, the four gates or Da Lu, and the many weapons of Tai Chi such as the narrow sword or Jian , the long pole or Goon, the sabre or Dao, and the fan or Shan.

MC: What is Latosa Escrima & why do you feel it's such a good stick fighting system?.

BJ: Escrima is a Filipino weapons martial art that involves an empty hand boxing system (Cadena De Mano), all types of bladed weapons, sticks, machete's, daggers, chako's (nunchako), long & short staffs, bow and arrow and yo-yo (which is a traditional Filipino weapon). It is quite intense when someone comes at you with a big stick trying to knock your head off, but we read more and more of this kind of thing happening and so Escrima is becoming more relevant in our society. Sometimes to have this kind of training when you are safe can increase your confidence to know that you can protect yourself when you need to.

MC: What is Cadena De Mano & What makes it so special?

BJ: Cadena is the original empty hand system of Escrima but we (me and Alan Broom) have added more meat to it and it is now the development of all the empty hand fighting systems that I have learned integrated into one boxing system hence the name Brian Jones Integrated Kun Tao System.

MC: Is there anything else left for you to do in Martial Arts?

B.J: There are huge amounts left for me to do but one of the most important to me at the moment is I would like to see B.J.I.K.T.S become nationally & internationally recognised as we have  been called the hidden system for to long now and as I will retire in the next couple of years  and so I am investing a lot of time in the instructors coming through at the moment and hope they take it take it much further.