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n the West the golden era of the martial arts was the 70s and 80s in my opinion. Bruce Lee had exploded on to our screens then sadly passed, Chuck Norris was fighting wars on every frontier and new clubs were opening in every church hall and scout hut. One man though was blazing his own trail, Bill Wallace, who fought and beat everyone put in front of him, did some acting and realised Hollywood wasn’t for him, but also continued to teach and pass on his amazing skills (including Elvis as one of his students). He also retired from his professional kickboxing career with an unblemished record of 23-0 which was no mean feat. Before getting into Karate, Superfoot also trained in Judo & Folk-style wrestling, he was forced to discontinue his Judo because of an injury he suffered to his right knee during practice.He then began to study Shorin Ryu Karate, while serving in the U.S. Air Force. After entering the point fighting tournament scene and achieving success there, he switched to full-contact competition. He focused on his left leg because of the Judo-related injury to his right knee, using the right leg primarily as a base, hence the nickname ‘Superfoot’ rather than ‘Superfeet’! So as a child and a teenager in that era ‘Superfoot’ was a legend to me and they say never meet your heroes as they may disappoint, but I did just that 10 or so years ago and he didn’t let me down! So fast forward to Sunday 17 October 2021, I’m like a child excitedly waiting for Santa because Bill is coming to Cambridge again for the first time in 4 years and he’s the first seminar we’d hosted since that horrible virus started doing the rounds. Now I have One rule when it comes to seminars and that they must be completely inclusive as that is what Adaptive Martial Arts UK & Ireland is all about, promoting the inclusion of people with all types of disability into martial arts. Bill has done several seminars for us and is always the consummate professional who makes everyone welcome and caters for all the abilities in the room. The room on this chilly Sunday morning was packed! With people from as far away as Wales having made the journey down. There was a variety of styles and of course a vast spectrum of abilities. As soon as Bill entered the atmosphere was electric, everyone was there for one reason and he didn’t disappoint. There was one other bonus, this morning Ken Herrera joined Bill for the seminar. Ken is another amazing martial artist who is one of very few men to have graded to Black belt under Bill, Chuck Norris and the late Joe Lewis. He’s also been a great friend and supporter to Adaptive Martial Arts UK & Ireland over the years, so it was the icing on the cake to have him there as well.
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