Geoff Thompson

'People often think of me as an anti-traditionalist, because I teach reality martial arts, but nothing could be further from the truth; I owe everything to my formative years in Shotokan karate, grading and training under Kawazoe and Enoeda Sensei, hugely influenced by legends like Terry O'Neil (Terry was responsible for my very first published article) Bob Poynton, Andy Sherry and the karate savant Frank Brennan. It was impossible to be in the room with people like Ronnie Christopher and Elwyn Hall and not be awed. That is why I am such a big fan of Legend Productions, because the incomparable Ged Moran keeps these legends alive for us on film. Even now, forty years on from my first karate session in Coventry under Rick and Mick Jackson (and later under John Johnston) I am still hugely inspired when I watch these people in action.

I was grateful then, and I am even more grateful now to be able to say 'this is where I started. This was my genesis.'

Geoff Thompson