For many years, Peter Consterdine and Geoff Thompson had felt that the UK Martial Arts scene lacked a credible organisation which specifically dealt with the issues of practical martial arts and self defence and which was run by people who had years of street experience, as well as being traditional martial artists; not just people who had a theoretical and erroneous belief about how traditional martial arts would work for self defence.
Also, even after decades of martial arts in Britain, most ‘style’ organisations were still political in the sense that they were protectionist, prevented their instructors from studying elsewhere, were closed to practical and realistic applications and were often run by people who were happier in a committee than engaged in hard training and being progressive.
Peter had interviewed Geoff for an article which was going to appear in the UK’s leading martial arts magazine, Martial Arts Illustrated, and this was going to be the first review of the manuscript for Geoff’s, then unpublished book, ‘Watch My Back.’ During the interview Peter and Geoff got on really well and patently shared many of the same views as to what would and would not work in the street, on the door, or in any violent encounter.
When Peter firmed up his ideas about the British Combat Association, he spoke to Geoff and asked if he wanted to come in as joint Chief Instructor and that was it – the rest, as they say, is history.
Since its formation, it can accurately be said, and without fear of contradiction, that the BCA has been ground-breaking in what it has achieved. There has been no other martial arts organisation, before, or since, which has brought under one roof the very, very best Instructors, in not just practical, combat applications but in ‘core,’ traditional martial arts. Over the succeeding years the BCA has also provided a platform for many now well known Instructors to springboard themselves and their organisations into prominence and rightly so. Our instructor cadre reads like a martial arts hall of fame and our prime philosophy is that we are a family, not just an organisation.
The Chairman and Co-Chief Instructor of the Association is Peter Consterdine, an 8th Dan in Karate. Peter started his martial arts career in 1964 and in the ’60s and ’70s spent over 8 years as a full Great Britain and England Karate International. In the late ’70s Peter was one of the very few Karate Internationals who entered the then new full contact arena and had early success going on to win the British Middleweight title. Peter added to his Karate skills with many years of study and practise of Chinese systems, particularly Wing Chun.
Throughout the ’70s and into the ’80s Peter worked as a doorman in Manchester and operated the door supervision for his own licensed premises. Peter now runs his own specialist security consultancy companyand over the past 25 years has operated in nearly 30 countries running Close Protection (Bodyguard) and specialist training.
Peter’s particular area of expertise is in the field of Personal Security where he is recognised as an International expert. On the combative front, it is in the field of impact development and Close Quarter Combat (CQC) that Peter is called upon to instruct and has been a consultant instructor at the UKs National Police Training College as well as an instructor for many other regional police forces. He has authored the definitive works on close protection, self defence and fitness training in his three books – The Modern Bodyguard, Streetwise and Fit To Fight and Travelsafe. www.peterconsterdine.com/portal
Peter’s Co-Chief Instructor is Geoff Thompson, a 7th Dan in Karate, 1st Dan in Judo, a Chinese Boxing expert as well as being highly skilled in Western Boxing and numerous grappling systems such as Russian Sambo and Wrestling.
Acknowledged as one of the most prolific martial arts authors, Geoff has now written over 20 books on the subject of practical martial arts and self defence. Geoff’s writings have taken him into the world of psychology and his book on ‘Fear’ is one of the leading works on this difficult subject. Geoff’s many years of ‘front line’ door security work not only led him to write the most detailed and chilling account of his experiences, ‘Watch My Back’, but also led him to question the efficacy of traditional martial arts in violent and unpredicatable situations.
Geoff is now called upon share his skills internationally and he has become the leading example of how to combine the best of many diverse systems into a workable and practicable whole. The early success of Watch My Back has been followed by the ‘Pavement Arena’ series, Bouncer, Dead or Alive, and many more as well as a comprehensive range of videos covering self defence and grappling.
World Chief Instructor
In 1998, we were very pleased and proud to announce that none other than Guru Dan Inosanto had kindly accepted to become our World Chief Instructor. Guru Dan needs no introduction or CV and as a figurehead he both typifies and exemplifies what the BCA is about.
Instructor’s Courses
The highlights of our calendar of events in the BCA have been our instructors courses. These are held once every two months and we invite the very best people in their field to be a guest instructor for the day. Over the years, these courses have become acknowledged as some of the finest in the UK.
Kevin O’Hagan and ‘Mo’ Teague instructing on a BCA Residential Course