Editor’s Note

Nasser Butt

Welcome to Volume 23 of Lift Hands Magazine 2022!

I hope that all our readers and contributors, teachers and students are keeping well.

It would appear that the Gods are not making life easier this year! Again, my apologies for the issue being a few days later then the scheduled date! I managed to lose quite a few days to issues with family and friends and then — covid struck! To be fair, my body dealt with it well and using natural remedies, I recovered quite quickly. However, it simply added to losing more days. Anyhow, here we are and we have a bumper issue for our readership once again.

Before I go any further, I’d like to mention Gavin Mulholland Sensei [DKK], who recently made public that he had been diagnosed with a serious illness. Gavin is not only one of the top martial artists in this country, he is also a thoroughly nice human being, and someone whom I respect highly for both his skill and knowledge. He is a sensei, I believe, in the true sense of the word and I’m sure that there are hundreds, if not thousands, out there who would agree with me. Gavin, has contributed regularly to Lift Hands and from the magazine, myself and on behalf of all our readership, we wish him and his family well in this difficult time and hope and pray that he makes a speedy recovery — “Trust in the Gods and science!”

In this issue we have an amazing 20 Questions with Simon Oliver Sensei. I have been wanting to do this one for quite some now and Oliver Sensei did not disappoint. At times he had me laughing hard and holding my head in disbelief, while he, himself kept a cool calm exterior through most of the session. I’m sure that the readership will not only find it equally amusing, but also get a insight into the man behind the art!

Once again, we have a couple of fantastic articles each from both Katherine Loukopoulos Sensei and Dr Gregory Lawton. I am pretty sure that Katherine Sensei could write an amazing memoir of her travels and adventures. Her articles are always insightful and she appears to have always found and taken on challenges that most would well leave alone!

My dear friend Greg provides another insight into ‘Embracing the Blade’ and continues with Part II of the article, and has written a second on ‘Martial Arts and the Healing Community’. Greg is a true martial artist — versed in both the healing and fighting arts. For myself, he is a living walking yin yang symbol.

My brother and fellow Guild ‘dictator’ — Peter Jones — is back after a short break with more insights into Erle Montaigue’s training methods.

This year has flown by and I can’t believe that I’m saying this, but the next time we meet, it will already be Christmas!

So, get writing and get your articles into me as early as possible and let’s make the December issue even bigger!

Stay well, stay safe and thank you to each and every one of you who has contributed and helped to make this issue. You all know who you are! And an even bigger thank you to those who have responded to our ongoing ‘Support Us’ appeal… you are helping keeping the magazine move forward.

Nasser

105 Countries

29K Readers

Albania Algeria Argentina Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bangladesh Belarus Belgium Bolivia Bosnia & Herzegovina Brazil Bulgaria Cambodia Canada Chile China Colombia Costa Rica Cote D’lvoire Croatia

Cuba Cyprus Czechia Denmark Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt Estonia Fiji Finland France French Guyana Gambia Germany Ghana Greece Guatemala Hungary Iceland India Indonesia

Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lithuania Macedonia Madagascar Malaysia Malta Mauritania Mexico Moldova

Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Palestine Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russian Federation Saudi Arabia Serbia Slovakia

South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Tanzania Thailand Tunisia Turkey Ukraine UAE United Kingdom USA Uruguay Venezuela Vietnam Zimbabwe