Evolutionary Martial Arts is born from Sigong Paul Horrobin’s practical and progressive approach to traditional Gongfu training, now taken to its next level by Sifu Josh Nixon and The Evolutionary Concept. Read on to find out more.

What is The Evolutionary Concept?

The Evolutionary Concept represents our philosophy of continual mindful development of ourselves through martial arts, and of the system itself through research, testing and collaboration. It is a reflection of this that each edition of our Syllabus has on its front cover something not often seen on such a thing: a version number. The Evolutionary Concept is the unifying core of three disciplines: Evolutionary Martial Arts, Evolutionary Self-Protection and Evolutionary Health. Brought together, the three form a powerful, positive and progressive way of life for those who choose it.

What is Evolutionary Martial Arts?

Names are problematic things. To impose a name onto something is to impose limits onto it because when we say what something is, we also say what it is not. After years of deliberation, we’ve settled on Gongfu as a good term to use, based on the common understanding of its meaning as being along the lines of “great skill derived from hard work”. This in itself is problematic, as while many methods called Gongfu are not similar to EMA, many methods which are not called Gongfu share similarities with what we do.

EMA’s roots are deeply embedded in Wing Chun (詠春), but this core syllabus is complemented with elements from other forms of Gongfu (功夫) as well as other martial arts and relevant disciplines. It is our belief that remaining confined in one way of doing things presents a significant limitation. There is always more to learn and no martial art should be ignored in this respect. In this, our philosophy on training is very much in line with Bruce Lee’s on his famous Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do (振藩截拳道). Someone watching us train might pick out some concepts and methods they recognise from Wing Chun (詠春), Krav Maga (קרב מגע), Taijiquan (太極拳), Systema (Система), Muay Thai (มวยไทย), Jujutsu (柔術) and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, for example.

The training is relevant and effective for all ages (18+, but get in touch to enquire about children’s options) and will enhance not just your ability in martial arts but your health and fitness as well through our incorporation of Evolutionary Health.

Sigong Paul’s teaching style (with many life stories and analogies!) is excellent for encouraging the personal development of his students through the martial arts. He invariably becomes a guiding figure in everyone’s lives for those who train with him. A true example of kindness, humility and respect, Sigong Paul lives the virtues he teaches about and we are honoured to continue his dream in its present form.

Gongfu is not just self-protection. That is just one aspect within a path to self-perfection. This is the Way.

Sifu Josh Nixon has now taken over the management and teaching of EMA from Sigong Paul, applying The Evolutionary Concept to further develop the art and science of Gongfu. With the influence of his work on Evolutionary Self-Protection, his approach adds a context of realistic and practical self-protection to the traditional martial arts, as well as many outside influences from ESP’s diverse skillset and conceptual base. He is a qualified teacher with training in first aid, safeguarding, health and safety, fire safety and extinguishing, emotion coaching, teaching methodologies to differentiate for special educational needs and disabilities, CEOP, PREVENT anti-radicalisation, etc.

We train every Wednesday, at:

Milton St. Philip and St. James Church,
Baddeley Green Lane (A5009), Milton,
Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire,
ST27AJ

(Find it on Google Maps here.)

from 18:00-19:30

Classes cost just £5 per student, pay per session.

Beginners are always welcome.

No booking, experience or particular level of fitness is necessary. You are welcome to just turn up to any session and join in.

You will need:

• Comfortable clothes that you can move in easily. Joggers and a t-shirt are ideal. If you have martial arts training gear such as Gongfuzhifu or a Gi, etc then feel free to wear those if you prefer.
• £5
• A drink of water – you’ll want one!
• Many people like to bring a towel for after our warmup!
• Some people like to bring a yoga mat or similar for greater comfort in some of the exercises, but this is completely optional.
• If you have any training equipment you like to use (a favourite pair of focus mitts, gloves, etc) then feel free to bring your own if you want to. We provide everything you need, but that doesn’t mean you have to use our stuff.
• An open, yet questioning, mindset that is eager to learn.
• Diligence and the same amount of effort as the amount of value you would like to get out of your training!

Those experienced in other martial arts and systems, including instructors, are also welcome to train with us. This is an open and honest learning community – diversity and variety in training is to be celebrated, and the learning process is multi-directional for us.

Once you have enjoyed your introductory sessions, you will need insurance and membership with the British Combat Association in order to continue. This costs just £30 per year, which includes:

• Insurance to cover you for training with other students in not just any of our sessions but any other British Combat Association instructor, club or class as well (depending on their terms and conditions). There are a great many of us across the country, and we details can be found here.
• Membership with the British Combat Association, which gives you eligibility to undertake our certified gradings.
• Membership with The Evolutionary Concept, which covers you for Evolutionary Self-Protection training as well as individually tailored advice for holistic health and wellbeing, covering nutrition, movement (including strength and conditioning), sleep and relaxation (including mindfulness, breathwork and meditation) among other key conceptual areas.
• Individually tailored training advice for your own training outside our sessions with prioritised access to instructors for any relevant questions and discussion you might have.
• When you undertake a grading, you get detailed post-grading debriefings with training targets for your continued progress as well as your sash and certificate.

Further information can be found on the British Combat Association website here.

If you have any questions or concerns then feel free to contact us following your preferred method and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Start your evolution today!