What makes up Integrated Fighting?

Krav Maga	Israeli Self-Defence System originally devised for use by the Israeli Military
Catch-Wrestling	American no-gi catch-as-catch-can wrestling where students learn advanced hooking (locking) techniques and chaining (locking combinations) without the restrictions of rules and regulations. Knee, ankle, spine, elbow, shoulder, wrist and even finger locks,  are the order of the day.
Brazilian JuJitsu	Grappling system made famous by the legendary Gracie family of Brazil. Usually practiced with a Gi.
San-Shou	Chinese Kickboxing. Kickboxing which includes takedowns.
Pankration	Ancient Greek Fighting Art comprising of strikes, locks, throws and grappling
Judo	Modern Japanese Sport of throws and submissions.
Goshin Ryu Ju-Jitsu	Traditional Ju-Jitsu - strikes, throws and locks
Shuai-Chiao	Chinese Wrestling.
Kettlebells	Russian Kettlebell training to improve all round physical strength and conditioning.

After teaching in Auckland for 11 years why don't you have hundreds of Black Belts?

The answer is easy - we don't do this for a living, therefore we don't have to extract money from our students; we don't sell uniforms, we don't have "Black-Belt-Clubs" for extra training fees, don't charge for gradings and every stripe on a belt, and we don't believe in "Paper Tigers".  Mostly, we have standards and ethics not clouded by money. Please understand that we don't begrudge any instructors making their money from martial arts, but do hope that they don't sacrifice quality for quantity.

If someone has attained a grade at our school, you can be sure the he/she has earned it through hard work and good character.

We estimate that it should take between 5-7 years to obtain a Black Belt, there are no shortcuts. We believe that our 4-5 year Blue Belts have sufficient knowledge to assist in instructing our groups.

What competitions are available to Integrated Fighting members?

The following are available and are totally voluntary for all students.

Sport Ju-Jitsu (striking only)	Semi-contact sport fighting allowing limited, controlled hand & foot strikes. Ju-Jitsu Gi (uniform), gloves and shin/foot pads are mandatory.
Sport Ju-Jitsu (grappling only)	A hybrid set of grappling rules which combine principles of Judo & Brazilian Ju-Jitsu. Ju-Jitsu Gi (uniform) is mandatory.
Sport Ju-Jitsu (free-fighting)	Semi-contact sport fighting including stand-up and grappling. Ju-Jitsu Gi (uniform), gloves and shin/foot pads are mandatory.
Pankration	Full Contact, including hand, elbow, knee and foot strikes; takedowns and groundwork. Head contact is prohibited. No protective gear is used.An excellent entry platform for NHB fighters or those who want to experience a "safer" form of NHB.
San-Shou	Chinese Kickboxing under International Wu-Shu Federation rules. Hand & foot striking and takedowns are performed on a lei-tai (raised platform). Competitors wear gloves, leg protection, chest protection & headgear.
Submission Wrestling	Takedowns and Submissions, standing or on the ground are allowed. No strikes of any kind are employed during this contest. Various rules apply depending n the organisation running the tournament.
NHB / MMA / Mixed Martial Arts	Full contact matches, similar to Pride, UFC and King of the Cage. Various rules apply depending n the organisation running the tournament.
Judo	Standard Olympic Judo rules apply.

The theory behind Integrated Fighting:

Integrated Fighting specialises in cross-training in various “circles” of combat. One must be competent to fight on his feet as well as on the ground. The simple theory is that a human being does not stand, he balances. A table stands as it has four legs but the human body is balancing precariously on two. That is the main reason why 90% of fights land up on the ground.

The Chinese Martial Arts define the ranges of fighting as Na, Da, Ti and Shuai. These are simply grabbing or locking, hand fighting, foot fighting and throwing techniques

The Japanese Martial Arts distinguish between Atemi Waza, Kateme Waza and Nage Waza. Literally translated these amount to methods of striking, locking and throwing.

Integrated Fighting aims at giving a student a well rounded education in all of these ranges. The maxim “grapple a striker and strike a grappler” always rings true!

The last 10 years of teaching have largely been influenced by two training partners and friends :-

Jason Godsey from Indianapolis, probably one of the best grapplers I have ever had the pleasure of training with, he opened my eyes to grassroots Catch Wrestling and its combination into MMA. By adding this to our foundation of Judo, JJ, BJJ and Stand-up, I am convinced that we strengthened our ground (and standing) game tenfold. Struggling for a good name when I first opened my NZ school and believing that Jason's "Integrated Fighting" described us best, I thank him for allowing us to use the name here in NZ.

Master Mark Cheng, one of the most underrated Martial Arts and conditioning instructors in the world. His years of research into traditional and eclectic Martial Arts, combined with his study of physiology and an unparalleled teaching style make him one in a million. His ability to convey concepts logically and systematically, then back them up with physical application is exceptional. Where many coaches will take the shortcut to short-term gain by adding speed and strength to dysfunction, Mark will work to strip the strength and speed in order to re-pattern the dysfunction before compounding good motion with exceptional strength and speed.  

Darryl Grauman