Guro Wayne Martial Arts Biography:
Guro Wayne has been training in Martial Arts for over 40 years in multiple disciplines. He attained his first Black Belt in Tang Soo Do at the age of 23 and was Essex Tang Soo Do Free Fighting Champion 3 years running in 1980, 1981 & 1982.
Wing Chun Kung Fu was his next calling and he spent 5 years training under Sifu Eddie Yeoh in Chinatown, taking part in various Inter Club challenges and mastering all the forms that meant he was qualified to teach the system and attained a Black Belt Status.
After an extended hiatus from the arts, Guro Wayne moved on to Freestyle Kickboxing and after that Muay Thai, once again studying long enough in each to achieve an Instructor rank and Black Belts in both.
Guro Wayne found the Filipino Martial Arts when he started studying Rapid Arnis with Grand Master Pat O’Malley and did this for 2 years. Whilst he did not train long enough to attain a black belt in this system, he was awarded an Affiliate Instructor status.
Flying Eagle Hapkido was where he received his fifth Black Belt and after he had accomplished his goals in this Martial Art (studying to Black Belt 1st Dan) he moved back into the Wing Chun world, studying the Leung Ting system within the EWTO for 5 years.
In 2015 Wayne started studying Lacoste-Inosanto Kali and achieved Brown Belt status in a 2 years. Whilst training Kali, Guro Wayne started to investigate training in the Philippines and contacted Maestro Amosco. They agreed that Wayne would travel to the Philippines and train in Maestro’s Arnis system.
In December 2016 Guro Wayne flew to the Philippines and stayed with Maestro for 2 months training 10 hours a day learning the Armado system. Due to his knowledge gained from Rapid Arnis and Lacoste-Inosanto Kali, he was able to pick up the system concepts, principles and nuances quickly and by the end of the intensive training he was presented with his Assistant Instructor Black Belt grade and the authority to represent Armado FMA Defensive Tactics International in the United Kingdom.
Guro Wayne started Armado seminars when he returned and started a regular class that Leon and Dave joined pretty much straight away. As well as training students Wayne typically trains himself for 2 hours every day and Maestro continues to provide training remotely.
In 2018, Wayne returned to the Philippines for another intensive training month to refine his skills, absorb any updates to the system and upgrade to Black Belt 2nd Degree. In 2022 Wayne is now a 3rd Degree and working towards his 4th.
In 2019 Guro Wayne was inducted into the Filipino Martial Arts Hall of Fame and voted to be one of the top ten Filipino Martial Artists of the year and received his Black Belt 3rd Degree. He has also been inducted into the UK Martial Arts Hall of Fame with multiple awards.
During 2020 Guro Wayne and the team further developed the teaching strategy of the Armado system to cater specifically to self defence needs relating to the UK, focused on Empty Hand Combatives and knife defence. We have rebranded the club name to Armado Arnis UK to reflect that but remain a committed part of the Armado FMA DefTac family.
Leon Martial Arts Biography:
Leon Halsey has been training in Martial Arts since he was a boy, starting with Judo and then learning Greco Roman Wrestling from the 1971 British Heavyweight Champion Bob Page. In the latter teenage years, he trained to brown belt in Freestyle Kickboxing.
After a long break he restarted his martial arts journey in his late twenties learning Leung Ting Wing Chun Kung Fu via the UK Auto Defence system and Master Joe Segar. At 30 he spent 2 months in Thailand learning Muay Thai in Koh Pha Ngan with Horizon Muay Thai and taught this in the UK to a closed group in Southeast London for a time.
Leon’s focus moved towards street-based self-protection, and he would go to seminars in different disciplines to learn new techniques and principles and broaden his knowledge. He certified with the now defunct RSDA (Realistic Self Defence Association) as a Self Defence Instructor. He currently has an active Self Defence Instructor certification in Modern Close Quarter Combatives (MCQC) from Paul Brennan.
Since the beginning of 2017 Leon’s passion and focus has been Filipino Martial Arts. Specifically, training in the stick and bladed art of Arnis. This training is within the Armado FMA Defensive Tactics System developed by Maestro Melchor Amosco, under the tutelage of Punong Guro Wayne Hunt. With the approval of Maestro, Punong Guro Wayne and Lakan Guro Leon have rebranded the UK branch as Armado Arnis and have been developing the system to cater for the self-protection challenges more applicable to the UK.
Leon holds a Black Belt 1st degree in Armado Arnis and is a club senior instructor with the title of Lakan Guro. He is also a black belt in Corto Combat Kickboxing, awarded to him by Punong Guro Wayne in 2021.
Lakan Guro Leon has been inducted into the UK Martial Arts Hall of Fame in recognition of his consistent teaching and training of Armado Arnis. He has performed Arnis demonstrations on the main stage at the National UK Martial Arts Show and will be doing so again in 2023.
Leon manages the club when Wayne is unavailable and is the main instructor unless Wayne is teaching the class.
Dave is also a long-time martial artist. He is a 2nd Degree Black Belt in Freestyle Kickboxing and also a 2nd degree Black Belt in Muay Thai.
He met Guro Wayne when they were learning Lacoste-Inosanto Kali together. When Wayne returned from the Philippines and started teaching Armado Arnis, Dave stopped Kali so as to focus solely on the Armado system and has been a dedicated practitioner ever since.
Dave received his Black Belt Certification in 2021 and will sometimes teach in class as required.
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