I was not really into sport at school. At the age of eight I studied Judo for around 3 years, something I really enjoyed. In my early teens I tried boxing with a school friend and Later Karate, where little attention was given to beginners. This put me off looking for a more suitable club but played a huge part in my method of teaching in later life in TSD..
At the age of 17 I was victim of an un-provoked attack from 4 assailants. Something that changed the way I thought about self-defense. It was at this time I decided to start Martial arts.
My Brother had been training in Tang Soo Do for about 18 months. Further to watching a TSD championship held in Dewsbury I knew there was a future for me in Tang Soo Do.
I joined the UKTSDF. The classes were hard, and despite training for 25 years I still remember my first class. Good memories always last.
I used to train every class (5 times a week) while studying at The University of Teesside.
I left university to work near London and continued to train under Master E. Titus, where we trained very hard and I made some new friends.
Master E.Titus was a complete gentleman and had a fantastic engagement with all his students. All students saw him as an instructor as well as a friend, he was also very popular in events such as championships with all other clubs. He welcomed me into his club and it didn’t take me long to feel part of it. He treats everyone as an equal. This is something I have always respected him for.
In my early 20’s I worked offshore, abroad etc.. taking me away from class for a number of weeks at a time. I always managed to keep up regular training on my own. Be it in a hotel room, oil rig Gymnasium and also have fond memories of running alongside the Norwegian Fjords and through the centre of Paris on many occasions.
Historically I have trained regularly with friends who do kick boxing/grappling etc.. but Tang-Soo-Do has always been my main focus in martial arts and an important part in my life.
I train for self defense, fitness but mainly for the club. I will always consider myself to be a student of Tang Soo Do. I mostly enjoy teaching students and I am very proud at our grading’s to see our students progressing. I will always continue to devote a great deal of my time to TSD. However, I have always believed that martial arts should be pressure tested and be adapted to real life situations and also be-spoke to the individual.
Having trained in this way for a number of years with my fellow instructors, we believed it was time to break away from our original club and set up our own where we could focus on the pure self-defense elements of Tang Soo Do.
Hence ‘Zi Shiying Tang Soo Do’ was created. We wanted to create a club that was community based and non-profit.
In addition to the above we also teach self defence as a stand alone class, further to purchasing a few DVD’s from Eddie Quinn, I knew this was a method that could be taught not only to beginners, but also to martial artists with many years of training. In October 2014, I was very fortunate to meet Eddie Quinn and I completed the APPROACH ‘train the trainer’ course. I have further continued to improve my instructional skills by completing a B-TEC in self defence instruction.
This completely opened my eyes. Eddie is a true gentleman and has built a system based on real life changing situations that is extremely effective, simple and adaptive. We now offer self defence courses using the approach ‘self protection method’
As hard as it is to admit we live in a cruel world at times. I believe all person’s should have access to self defence.. In order to achieve this we set up a ‘Not for profit organization’. All our suits are sold at cost, as is our insurance. We also support the anti-bullying campaign ‘Anti-bullying Alliance’.
I live in Billingham with my wife Michelle and our two amazing children Jacob and Lucy who both train regularly in Tang Soo Do. I work as a HSEQ Manager, this is something I really enjoy and am very passionate about.
In addition to TSD I started running about 5 years ago and have completed a few Marathons. Recently, I have started to compete in Triathlons. I like all the 3 disciplines of a triathlon. I completed my first Ironman in 2015.
Although Im not getting any younger I still love to train and teach in TSD as much as the day I started.
I would like to thank all of our instructors for their support, a huge thanks to Eddie Quinn for his direction and wisdom.
A special thanks to our loyal students who continue to train, both new and old and the parents/guardians who manage to make the trip to/from class without them our class and valued cause would not be possible.
Kindest Regards
Craig Moat – Chief Instructor
1st Dan (Jnr) 3rd June 1995
1st Dan (Snr) 14th December 1996
2nd Dan 10th November 2001
3rd Dan 27th June 2004
4th Dan 12th May 2010
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Certification
Pearson BTEC Level 3 Advanced Award (Click here to view)