Published at 09:10, Monday, 18 June 2012

IT has been a good spell for Hexham’s Mike Jackson as, in addition to being promoted as a full instructor, he had his black belt for mixed martial arts.

In the honours: Simon English (front left) presents Mike Jackson with his awards in mixed martial arts.

The accolades were bestowed upon the dedicated instructor with Phoenix Martial Arts (PMA), based at Wentworth Leisure Centre, in Hexham, which he joined in 2006.

As a deputy headteacher in a special needs school for four to 19-year-olds, Mike has been trained in restraint and physical intervention techniques to help with his job and this has benefited his martial arts career. A decade of previous experience in various martial arts, including a red belt in Wing Chun and a red badge in Filipino martial arts, meant that Mike already had experience before joining the ranks at PMA but he has honed his skills while training at Wentworth.

Yet Mike has continued to cultivate his knowledge by attending seminars with stellar names such as Simon Lau, the Wing Chun specialist, and with shoot wrestling’s Lee Hasdell.

The PMA syllabus is constructed around Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do concept, although it amalgamates many other martial arts such as Thai boxing and Escrima.

All ranges of fighting are covered and PMA incorporates weapons such as single stick, knife and combative whip and was developed as a martial art by head instructor, Simon English, who presented Mike with his certificates.

Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk