20 Questions with Lucci Del-Gaudio

Lucci Del-Gaudio first appeared in Lift Hands Volume 4, December 2017. It was the inaugural year of Kaizen — The Martial Arts Expo in Nottingham and Lucci was the man behind it. It has taken us almost 5 years to catch up with him again — as he is a busy, busy man — to put him through our 20 Questions.

I’ve known Lucci for a number of years now, not only is he a neighbour based down the road from Leicester in Nottingham, but he is also one of the myriad of friends introduced to me by the late great Anthony Pillage.

As I’ve said, Lucci is a very busy man holding down a day job whilst running his own successful Blackbelt Academy in Nottingham, as well as branching out with Kaizen Events [more about that later]. A few weeks ago, I managed to lure Lucci down to Leicester for the 20 Questions as well as to find out what is happening with Kaizen in 2022 now that we have finally emerged from lockdown after 2 years of inactivity?

LH: So, we are here with Lucci Del-Gaudio, otherwise known as Mr Kaizen! Lucci, Welcome back to Lift Hands, it is great to have you here with us again. I know you are a busy man, so I really appreciate you taking time out from your schedule. Once we have done the questions we’ll talk a little about Kaizen and what else is coming up in 2022.

LDG: [Smiling]… All right!

LH: Right, let’s get to it. Before we begin with our 20 Questions segment. Please tell our readership a little about yourself.

LDG: I’m from Nottingham, in fact not far from here — I’m only half an hour or so down the road which makes us neighbours!

My background is traditional Ju jitsu. I started after watching a kung fu movie called ‘Bruce Lee’ on tv. It was on a school night and I remember my mum saying, “It’s bedtime… you’re not watching it!” Now my brothers were martial artists! I’ve got six older brothers and five of us are at dan grade. My mum would always say, “I’ve got all these sons and not one of you can play football!”

LH: Well, yeah [laughing]… it makes sense her saying that!

LDG: Yes, here we are, one big Italian family, six world cup finals, passionate about football and out of seven sons — not one of us can play football! You would’ve thought that at least one could? [Laughs]

LH: [Laughing] And if I remember correctly you come from Naples… I mean that’s just a disgrace, you’re from a footballing city! [Laughter] What went wrong?

LDG: [Laughing] I know, I know! I grew up idolising Diego Maradona and I still can’t kick a ball! Dunno what went wrong… it was my brother’s fault — he ended up being my teacher! Anyhow, it was him who persuaded my mum to let me stay up and watch the film. So, I did and the next day I’m at school and we are in playground and we were practicing the moves since there were a couple of other kids who had watched it too. I spoke to a friend who did karate and he asked me if I wanted to come and I was like, yeah!

So, I began with karate and my first teacher was Simon Oliver! The area where I grew up, there was a karate club, a judo club and a boxing club. I went to all three! Now my brothers were Ju jitsu blackbelts already and they took the ‘Michael’ out of me all the time because I did karate and they did Ju jitsu! But, they had to go out

of town to do their Ju jitsu. In fact, my brother was the first one to open up a dojo in Nottingham under the WJJF banner! So, when I was about 12, my brother took me with him and we spent the day together at his dojo. There are 15 years between us in age… and I became totally hooked on Ju jitsu, so I dropped the karate!

I have a podcast called ‘It’s All Ju jitsu’ and I was inspired by my brother. It was only Ju jitsu or nothing! Everything’s crap, everything’s rubbish and that’s what inspired me to call it that! Today I teach Combat Ju jitsu — it works, my academy is 10 years old this year. I have around 90 students and we’ve had that for the past 10 years, and we are stable.

LH: I get that! I prefer teaching small groups. Far more interesting and hands on than having a class of 50 and not being able to give them your time!

LDG: I’m also a business development manager — so this sits well with my day job… or my ‘proper’ job! [Laughs]

LH: Well thanks for that Lucci! Let’s now get the questions started. If you could have personally witnessed anything, what would you want to have seen?

LDG: Oh, loads!

LH: Pick one!

LDG: Well, the year Madeleine McCann went missing my children were very young and we went to holiday in Portugal, around the same area a month later — being a local girl to us both, I’d like to know what happened to her? 9/11 is another and I wish I was an adult and not 7 years old during the 1982 World Cup!

LH: Interesting choices! What would you do if you were invisible for a day?

LDG: I’d sneak into big events without having to pay or if no tickets were available! [Laughs]

LH: What kind of events?

LDG: Concerts, boxing matches… all you can eat buffets! [Laughs] Seeing what the neighbours are up to?

LH: [Laughing] Yeah, I’d go with the concerts and buffet… as for your neighbours — they’re going to read this! As a child, what did you wish to become when you grew up?

LDG: At first a fireman… then that went out of the window! I wanted to be famous — like a rock star. I wanted to be like the bands my brothers and sister followed! I grew up on their music until I discovered Oasis!

LH: Why not… What animal best represents you and why?

LDG: Erm… I’ve got a British bulldog called Marley and another one called Zara — so probably a British bulldog! Why? Because they have great appetites and so do I [Laughs]. They are very friendly, me — I am very friendly. They are just lovely, they love sleeping and they can kick off if and when they need to… if I could be a dog — I’d be a British bulldog!

LH: Nice! What is your greatest strength or weakness?

LDG: Strength is talking! Communication! I love talking, I can communicate with crowds. Weakness… the same! Sometimes I open my gob and say things when I should have kept it shut — especially when I’m talking with the missus! [Laughs]

LH: [Laughing] I’d say most men would fall into that category!

LDG: But seriously, I know we all have weaknesses but I prefer to focus on the positives!

LH: Yeah, that’s a fair comment! So, something very specific and unique — this question has brought some really cool answers… What is your favorite memory of any one of your grandparents?

LDG: My parents had me when they were 42! I didn’t grow up with any grandparents. However, mum spoke about her mother all the time, right till her last days — every day… her name was Virginia! My mum lost her father during the war when she was aged 6. Obviously, I have seen pictures of my grandparents from both sides, but having that grandparent or grandma bond… I’ve never had! The first time I went to Italy, I was 3 years old. All I remember is this street and this woman with grey hair and me running to her and she picking me up! That was my grandmother!

LH: Wow! So you have that memory from such a young age?

LDG: I have that memory… I’ve had it all my life! I believe in guardian angels and I think she is my guardian angel! I can visualise it now in this street in Torro del Greco in Naples when I was 3 years old!

LH: That is some powerful memory!

LDG: Yeah, it is. I actually adopted my wife’s grandad, who is no longer with us, as my own. We supported the same team, he was really good to me and welcomed me to the family.

LH: Nice! Ok, here’s the next one… How do you want to be remembered?

LDG: I’m a martial arts teacher like yourself… our job is to inspire people. When I have gone, if only one person says that Lucci Del-Gaudio inspired me to this or that, and if it wasn’t for him then I wouldn’t be doing this or that — I will be happy as well as my family knowing that I have done the best for them!

LH: All right… What have you always wanted and did you ever get it?

LDG: I’ve always wanted a nice family home — not a mansion — I’ve got it! I wanted a nice car… I’ve got it! I wanted a hot missus… I’ve got her! I’ve hot beautiful children. That’s it!

LH: Well, what more could you want! Ok… I already know some of the next answer, so here’s the question, do you know your heritage?

LDG: My father was from a place in the south of Italy called Diamante in Calabria. It was a very poor place in those days. He was a baker and his father was a barber. They moved to Naples to find work. They were very dark skinned — the Calabrians! He met mum in Naples. My mum wasn’t interested at all — not one bit interested! My mum said, “He looked like a red Indian!” My dad was the type to not be scared to ask the best looking girl out… and that’s what he did — he wrote love letters to her, he did everything he could until mum gave in, in the end!

LDG: My aunty came to England in 1950 and my dad came over to look after her. Four of my siblings were born in Naples. So, dad came here on his own… set up home, got a job. He came with nothing! It’s from him that I get my work ethic. It was the immigrants Nasser that taught us to work hard — that’s a fact! They had to work twice as hard in order to achieve… you know where I’m coming from!

LH: I do indeed!

LDG: Mum came over after, on her own with four young children and she got the wrong train! My dad was supposed to meet her at Nottingham train station but she got the wrong train… Lord knows where she went , but she ended up meeting an old man and this old man guided her all the way to Nottingham and then he just disappeared! Right up until my mum’s last days, she spoke about this guy. Now and again a conversation would come up and she would talk about this man and refer to him as her guardian angel! I hope that they have met up again… and she has had the chance to say thank you to him. She wished him well all the time and even prayed for him!

LH: That’s some story! Ok, we are half way there… Are you still learning who you are?

LDG: Yes, I’m more wiser now… but I’ve not grown up! My wife’s always saying… you’re almost 50 — grow up, grow up! [Laughs] Yes, of course I’m learning — you always are but I’m not going to grow up!

LH: What, if anything, are you afraid of and why?

LDG: I’m scared of heights! God knows why?

LH: Only heights? So, you’re not afraid of flying?

LDG: No, I’m not… because I don’t sit near the window! I hate going on balconies… especially when you are on holidays and my wife’s saying, “Come here, look at this view!” I’m like… I’m all right where I am! I’m not afraid of dying… mum left us when she knew we were ready for her to go. It’s not death that I’m afraid of… I’m afraid of not having prepared my family for when I leave! That’s another scary thing!

LH: Yeah, yeah… I understand that! All we can do is do our best and hope that that is good enough to carry them through! Ok… What is the most memorable class you have ever taken?

LDG: [Thinks] It was one with Eddie Quinn. It was Silat Fitra. It’s quite personal this but I have spoken about this openly anyway… I was going through a very bad time. I had lost my mum in May 2020… by June, my wife wanted to call the doctors as she was concerned for my mental well-being… it was just going down and down and down! And I remember going out for a walk in the morning… it was around 1am! I had ben out all day and night. My wife nearly rang the police to find out where I was and report me missing, and around one in the morning, I sat on this bench with my head down and I was such a mess… and for some silly reason Eddie Quinn’s Silat Fitra lesson came into my mind! He had spoke about somebody who was going through a really hard time, someone close to him, and he was saying… he was on the ground in tears in a really bad state — all of a sudden he said, “I can fight from here, I’m a martial artist, I can fight from here!” And that came back to me… I accepted the fact that I was rock bottom, but then I told myself, you are a martial artist — you’ve trained all your life and you know how to fight from the ground! And you know how to get back up… and I believe that potentially, the memory of that lesson may have saved my life! So, nice one Eddie!

LH: Wow! Eddie is a special man! What book has influenced you the most?

LDG: Lots and lots! Too many to list. From a sales background which I have, probably a book called ‘The Power of Persuasion’ by Peter Thompson. That was all about communication etc and was great in my line of work.

LH: Right… What ridiculous thing has someone tricked you into doing or believing?

LDG: Oh, that would be during one of Pete Holmes’s sessions…. Here Lucci, come try this, it won’t hurt! You know… pressure points. I didn’t believe in them. He did one on my arm and I genuinely thought my arm was going to be on the floor. My arm was dead! I could not feel it! It was the most painful thing ever!

LDG: Again, too many, but if it weren’t for my missus I wouldn’t have done half the things I’ve done! She’s very supportive despite hating martial arts! Of course there are many teachers and martial artists over the years as well as other family members.

LH: What is the craziest thing one of your teachers has done or made you do?

LDG: I was 18 years old, really cocky and in my head I knew I was ready to take my second dan. My brother’s biggest class was in Nottingham, it was huge — around 90 students! I walked in late, got changed, walked up to him and said, “Yep, I’m ready to take my second dan next week!” He turned around in front of the entire class and said to me, “I’ll tell you when you’re ready — not when you say so!” He made me look so small… he made me do press ups and all sorts — made me look ridiculous! I’m like you’re supposed to be my brother… but on the mats he wasn’t my brother! And it wasn’t just left there… on the way home I got an ear-bashing the entire journey in the car. He held me back for 3 months for that and I had to wait until I was 19 to take my grading!

LH: That’s the sign of a good teacher!

LDG: Yep… it was the biggest mistake ever! It taught me much.

LH: When did you screw everything up, but no one ever found out it was you?

LDG: The Kaizen line up!

LH: [Laughing] Which one?

LDG: Every one! Every one I cocked up, every one was wrong! There were I instructors I had genuinely forgotten about. Put spread sheets everywhere with the wrong names and times on! But no one found out!

LH: [Laughing] Well they do now!

LDG: Yeah I guess they do… I apologise!

LH: If someone made a movie of your life would it be a drama, a comedy, a romantic-comedy, action film or science fiction?

LDG: I think it would be a drama/comedy! Definitely! It’d be like The Godfather without the mafia mashed up with Dumb and Dumber!

LH: [Laughing hysterically] That’s some combination! If you could select one person from history and ask them one question, who would you select and what would the question be?

LDG: Wow! That’s a tough one, depends on how deep you want to get… I met Muhammed Ali in 1990, I couldn’t ask him any questions though. He was really poorly. I remember shaking his hand and he was shaking uncontrollably due to Parkinson’s. His hands were like shovels. He was in Dillons — the book shop and I wanted to ask him about the Larry Holmes fight… you know Ali was in the corner beckoning him and Holmes wouldn’t hit him!

LH:Yeah, I remember that! They were training partners…. I remember seeing in a documentary not long ago, that after the fight, Holmes sat in the changing rooms crying… Ali was his idol — as well as the fact that he had been his sparring partner!

LDG: Yeah, Ali looked half-dead in the fight and indeed… how do you fight your idol? But, the question I would have asked him… when you were 22 years old and had you met a 22 year old Rocky Marciano, what do you think would have happened? I know there have been computer generated scenarios but Ali — he was the greatest and crazy fast hands!

LH: He was indeed! Right, last one. This should be nice and easy for you. How would you describe your art in ten words or less?

LDG: Ju-jitsu on acid!

LH: Ok… that’s brilliant! Thanks for that. That’s the 20 questions done, but before you go… Kaizen — we are back after an absence of 2 years in June. What should we expect?

LDG: Yeah, it’s in June, in Clifton, Nottingham. Fingers crossed we don’t have any issues in-between with anything like lockdowns again!

LH: So, what’s the line up looking like?

LDG: Well, I can confirm line-up… there’s Simon Oliver, Tommy Joe Moore — he’s up and coming in British Martial Arts… and he’s certainly made waves during the covid lockdown period. He’s a great guy, no ego, very humble and genuine with an immense wealth of skill and knowledge!

LH: Yes, he is indeed and he will be featured in this issue as well.

LDG: We’ve got Dr. Jon Xue Zhang — great fella, awesome and very talented! Sifu Della O’Sullivan… Wing Chun! She has a great story and a great martial artist as well, and we have some guy called Nasser Butt! Don’t know much about him… have you heard of him?

LH: Nah, can’t say I have!

LDG: So, we have a nice mix of old and new blood! We’ve got Filipino martial arts, Sword Punk and hopefully have a little friendly sport Ju-jitsu tournament. Plus all our other usual guests etc!

LH: That sounds great, so what’s the future for Kaizen then?

LDG: We’ll keep going! We have a fantastic platform and we’re doing well… we’ll see where it heads!

LH: And you also have The Asian Martial Arts Show later in the year?

LDG: Yeah, that’s going to be a big one… featuring many of the Asian martial arts and martial artists. There will be a meal afterwards as well as some presentations. It’s a part of the Kaizen events.

LH: So, you have a busy year ahead.

LDG: Yeah, there is a lot more in the pipeline including a possible event in Holland in Rotterdam!

LH: That’s fantastic… look forwards to it all.

LDG: Yeah, also… all people who bought tickets last year — your tickets are still valid. So, show up!

LH: Well Lucci… Thank you so much for your time. It’s been brilliant talking to you and good luck with everything, and hopefully we’ll meet up and discuss some more things soon.

LDG: Yes, it’s been a pleasure.

All interview images copyright © Nasser Butt 2022. My thanks to Lucci for providing images from his personal archives for publication.

One of the biggest problems [of many] which lockdown brought us martial artists was inability to be able to train with a partner. For people like myself, who had routinely trained week in week out with a partner for almost 3 decades, this was alien territory[ and one which I must admit I had the most difficulty to adjust too]!

As the weeks turned into months, I was finally convinced by a couple of students to do an online session either via FaceTime or Google Meet.

I’m a dinosaur… for myself, martial arts are a hands on thing — always have been and always will be! Anyway, having reluctantly agreed, we started the sessions. The problem was explaining concepts and ideas without being able to get hands on — both, for myself and my students.

Then, one evening my friend and student from Milan, Ramon, mentioned that he had acquired a dummy [called Fedo] which was being developed in Italy and hopefully, this would allow him to train in lieu of a training partner during the strict lockdown rules. Having seen the dummy, I could see the potential. It made it easier for me to teach him with reference to Fedo.

Ramon and I chatted, and he ended up forwarding my details to the company, TAT3D Advanced Target Systems, which was developing the ‘Human Target’. I was soon contacted by Adriano, the CEO of TAT3D, who kindly offered to send me Fedo to assess, review and to provide feedback. After much headache trying to fathom out the post Brexit customs rules to the UK, Fedo arrived.

It didn’t take very long to put Fedo together between myself, Krish, Iain and Amy. The fact that there were 4 of us made light work of the job. The instructions included in the box were straightforward with images and we had him assembled in 20 minutes or so [It is my advice that if you do purchase one then have someone to help you put it together since some of the parts are bulky, and require two people to position them].

Over several weeks I tested Fedo with elements from Taiji, Baguazhang, Wudang Boxing and Western Boxing, including weapons such as the short stick and knife and it faired well. Further, now that I had a Human Target myself, it made teaching Ramon in Milan much easier… I would demonstrate a move on Fedo and he would then mimic my movements on his own Human Target!

Just before Christmas 2021, I put together my assessment and sent it back to TAT3D with possible future advancements on the idea.

So, what is the TAT3D Human Target or Fedo as ‘he’ is called?

Demonstrating the opening movement from Taiji’s Small San-sau

FEDO — TAT3D HUMAN TARGET

Front and Rear View

The arm ‘gears’ allow them to be adjusted and held at desirable heights.

Well, the answer to the above question is easy — it is exactly what it says it is!

It is essentially a ‘human’ target mannequin standing at 165 cm, with a shoulder width of 55 cm, weighing 23 kg on a base which is 75x60 cm. It is advised to use weights in order to stabilise Fedo, using the upright rod on the base.

The ‘body’ of Fedo is made from solid expanded polyurethane and can handle a full blown strike. Its legs are essentially metal rods which are covered with protective rubber slats, which allow the practitioner to train leg strikes. The arms again are rubber and can be adjusted via the ‘gear’ mechanism attached to the shoulders. Its hands are capable of holding objects such as sticks, knives and gun for those wishing to practice disarmament techniques, and for this purpose one hand has been designed stronger, whilst the other contains a ‘slit’ allowing the weapon to be removed!

It is not advisable to use edged weapons with Fedo as it would obviously damage its functionality — at least not real or metallic knives and blades — rubber and wooden weapons are fine and Fedo can withstand such blows!

What makes Fedo special [compared with other humanoid target systems like Bob] is the simple fact that it has limbs, whereas others consist only of a torso and a head! This in my opinion gives Fedo an advantage…

Most targeting systems simply allow you to strike the target, in Fedo’s case you have a bit more ‘reality’ thrown in if you wish to train correctly — you have to get past his limbs in order to hit the target and that simple notion alone makes you move smarter! It is not simply about hitting the damn target as hard as you can!

Fedo’s head is solid and its torso has flex due to its design… so you get a reasonable response out of it when you strike it! A word of advice here… if you are not used to striking with bare-hands and knuckles, then it is advisable that you were some kind of hand protection for your own safety!

As I understand it, Fedo is a work in progress, there may well be upgrades to it in the future and with its limbs etc being detachable, it would mean that replacements should be easier.

Fedo is most certainly a training tool for ‘smart’ training and not just for mindless striking! Of course you can’t grapple with it, however, it allows you to work upright angles using strikes of any kind from punches, palms, fingers, elbows, kicks, knees and even head butts!

Fedo’s left ‘hand’ contains a slit which allows a weapon to slide out when practicing disarmaments! Below: ‘Monkey offers food’ from Baguazhang

Demonstrating a simple straight punch to the throat after having knocked the right hand guard out of the way.

A reverse hammer strike into the eye socket using a method from Wudang short stick!

Inset: Lead leg attack.

Fedo is not meant to replace a real living trainer partner, it does however allow you to train [with obvious limitations] in lieu of a partner and more importantly, it allows you to strike targets with power!

It can also be a useful tool with which to develop beginners or those who have never trained with another living body, by allowing them to strike something which is not going to hit back and is static. This allows students to safely build up confidence and timing without feeling nervous or intimidated before moving on to working with a real partner!

Eye attack followed by head butt!

Overall, having used Fedo now to teach and demonstrate upon for several months, I’d say it is definitely worth a place in any dojo or martial arts school. Equally, if you are training and do not have access to a training partner nearby, then once again Fedo is worth investing in!

Okay, so now to the nitty gritty and the costs. Fedo is currently priced as follows:

Cost to buy: 699€ [Euros] + Shipping + Customs fees if applicable

Now, the price may appear steep in these current times, but actually it is value for money when you compare it with other similar products available on the market, which are:

1. Priced much higher 2. Do not have limbs 3. Have only fixed upper limbs 4. Cannot hold objects such as sticks and edged weapons

Used correctly, Fedo can provide training for many years and the fact that it comes in separate easy to assemble pieces means that should one ever get damaged — like an arm or the rubber leg slats — the parts should be easily repairable or replaceable!

For those who are interested in purchasing Fedo, please email me for further details with FEDO as the subject heading:

lifthandsmagazine@gmail.com

Further, the manufacturers have kindly offered a discount price to those affiliated with Fa-jing Ch’uan Internal Chinese Boxing Schools and The Guild of Internal Martial & Healing Arts — again, please email me for details.