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Stephen Oldman's interest in martial arts began at an early age. He was influenced by Bruce Tegner who is described as one of the first westerners to take the mystery out of martial arts.

Bruce wrote books on the subject and studied a number of martial arts spreading his knowledge into the mainstream by teaching actors James CoburnΜύ and Rick Nelson amongst others his skills. Stephen says unlikely heroes such as the Green Hornet and his sidekick Kato along with cinematic characters including Bruce Lee also attracted him to the martial arts

Stephen was just ten years old when his uncle, a Shotokan expert taught him some basic moves and he was hooked. His first club experience was of jujitsu and aikido. Martial arts take many different forms but usually they fall into one of two categories; grappling arts and striking arts. Training for martial arts is both intensive and demanding.

After a number of years of being involved with a number of semi-contact sports such as Kung Fu and karate Stephen gravitated toward Thai boxing. In his thirties at the time, he became an instructor rather than a competitive fighter.

Thai boxing is extremely popular in Thailand and stars are treated in much the same way as Premier League football players are here. Fights are regularly screened on television and the comparatively huge sums of money fighters receive attract many young people to training camps dotted across the country in the hope of pursuing a successful career. Places in residential camps are extremely competitive but the rewards are great.

After their Thai boxing careers are over, many fighters, move into other areas such as acting and the media. Stephen has visited Thailand to see fights and says the fighters are extremely competitive and dedicated to their sport and are revered by the fans.

British competitors also fare well in competitions here and abroad. The main picture shows Stephen on the left and Craig Scurry on the right at the Mejiro Gym in Amsterdam in 2000. This world famous gym has produced many champions. The pair
spent a week at the gym in preparation for Craig's British Title Fight, the British Thai Boxing Championship. It was time well spent as Craig subsequently won the competition.

It's an achievement Stephen is particularly proud of as Craig was one of Stephen's first students when he opened his Driffield Club in the nineties. Craig is still there as the general and fighters' coach. He has many fights under his belt, not only in Thai Boxing but also in the more physical and traditional form which allows full contact and allows kicks above the waist.

Stephen says that although Thai boxing is a very hard sport in terms of its physical nature and complexity, he says it's far less dangerous than playing football and rugby. Years of training and preparation and ensuring combatants are of relatively equal ability means accidents are rare. Fighters wear protection where necessary and medical treatment is available should it be needed.