Steve Morris News

There are more photos on the Gallery page, thanks to the generosity of those who dug out their old pictures and sent them. Special thanks to Andy Dunne and Jeanette Gore. Last night Dave Naughton e-mailed us some clean scans from an article about Steve and Earlham Street in Combat Magazine, 1976. Although we have a copy already, his scans came out better than ours and I've added some to the Gallery page. This inspired me to see what else I had lying around that could go up. I had a number of other photos that people had e-mailed over the last year or so, but I lost them when my inbox crashed in April--I hadn't backed anything up. Which brings me to my next subject.

Steve has been wanting to put up a memorial page to Gary Spiers for some time, and I'd been collecting images that people had sent us with the intention of building something. But I've bloody lost them. So, I'll put this out as a public call. Anybody who has photos or stories about Gary that they'd like to share, please e-mail them to me and I'll get something sorted out.

We have a few more photos of the late Joseph Cheng and I'll try to get those up soon as well.

By the way, specifically there's an old picture of Steve carrying a barbell and a few guys on his back, but the scan we have is so poor you can barely see it. If anybody's got a clean version of that, we'd love to have it. Steve's also recalling there was a Fighting Arts International photo spread of breaking 2x4s over Brian Waites--it would be great to have those. Thanks. (TS)

It's going to get silly if I have to post here every time a new post goes up on the blog, so from now on I'll only make note of it if it needs special introduction, or there's been a long gap between posts. Otherwise, please watch the blog for day-to-day entries. Thanks! (TS)

On nutrition, kicks in MMA, streetfighting--and also whilst digging through these old pages I came across this old quote from Terry O'Neill sent to Steve by Bob Allen, which I've given pride of place on the Endorsements page. (TS)

I'm in the process of cleaning up the sidebar navigation, and I've posted a handful of old Letters as well at the bottom of the letters page. There will be NEW content soon, also. (TS)

I will be returning to Nottingham on 28 September to do a second course with Pep Padovano and Richard Cotterill. During the summer, my Primal guys and I have been developing a phenomonal program of standup work. I hate to keep using this same expression, but we've taken it to another level yet again. The guys who have been doing this program with me in Primal, I think at the moment they're surpassing even their expectations of what they could achieve.

In Nottingham, I'll be introducing this training for the first time outside of Primal. As with the first course I did earlier in the year, it will be an introductory course teaching a new approach to standup. No previous experience with my method is required. Anybody can jump in. Check out the balintawak site for details. http://www.balintawak.co.uk/index.php

I will also be in Wexford, Ireland, on 4th October. This is a full-day course at a very reasonable price. I'll be introducing this new concept to standup training there as well. In addition, I will be introducing some weapons training, namely, knife, that I've been developing for years and recently updating with a private group for the past six months. I've been doing weapons for a long time--since the early seventies--and I've always tried to move it forward. A lot of the weapons work that you see around these days has just been cobbled together and marketed to exploit the fear of knife crime. That's not what I do. Recently I've taken my long-standing weapons work and incorporated it into the Morris Method as a whole. It all fits together. The quality of this program is comparable to anything else I do. And I can teach it to a complete beginner.

So it's going to be a full day of highly productive training. To find out more about the Wexford seminar, try this link http://www.wexmma.com/seminars.htm

...can be found here, or by clicking on the link in the Letters page. More soon. (TS)

I've just changed the DVD pages back to normal. Huge thanks to everybody who made the August DVD sale a success. I'm digging my way out from under a pile of orders. After that, we'll be back to work on the blog and site, and we hope to have new content on both next week. (TS)

A couple of people have asked whether they can now access private You Tube clips because they've bought films. Just to remind everybody: we no longer have the facility to share private clips via the 'friends' option on You Tube. About a year ago, I think, You Tube limited the number of video-sharing friends to 100. We had no choice but to make all the clips public at that point. So, you aren't missing anything! Any new clips that go up will also be public.

If you asked me and I didn't reply privately, sorry about that--my inbox is really snowed-in and I think there might have been one e-mail that referred to this that I couldn't find when I went to respond. Hope you're reading this! (Tricia)

It's just come to my attention that on the DVD sale the wrong price comes up for NHB1 and NHB1A on the 'add to cart' button for Paypal. Sorry about that--if you have ordered either of these DVDs, I'm refunding the £5.00 difference to you. Thanks. (Tricia)

I know I still haven't put up all the letters from the old website, but before I do that I'm starting to put up selected Q&A posts from Steve's tenure at Self-Protection.com. There was a lot of good material there, and so I'm sorting through it and putting it on its own page here on this site. First batch of posts goes up today.

Also there's a new entry on the blog, dated yesterday. We'll be getting more of these done over the next several weeks while my fingers are available to help Steve with typing, so keep an eye out.

Those who have been ordering DVDS: thanks very much. So far I'm keeping up and if you ordered this week, you can expect your DVD to be with you within a few days.

Oh, one more thing. I have some links to other sites/people that I need to put up and I keep forgetting. I'm typing this here to publicly remind myself. It's sad that my brain has deteriorated to this point, but what are you going to do? (Tricia)

To kick of my summer I will be having another MAD MORRIS SUMMER DVD SALE. The new Primal DVD will be out by the end of August (unless I get hit by a truck) but before Steve and I do that, we're offering deep price cuts on all the other DVDs we sell. Some are about 1/3 off, and some are over 50% off. The sale starts today and finishes in one month, let's say 21 August. Please allow extra time to receive your DVDs, at least two weeks. IF YOU ARE ORDERING FROM OUTSIDE EUROPE, PLEASE E-MAIL ME FIRST. At these prices, I will have to charge a small fee for international shipping.

The next time prices are reduced on any of these DVDs will probably be January, but I can't guarantee I will have the time to run a winter sale, so if you've had your eye on a DVD, now is the time to get it.

I'm really sorry about all the switching and changing on Primal dates--we're having kind of a crazy summer. Primal will be OPEN on the 20th and the 27th July. The Nottingham course has had to be postponed. Primal will also be OPEN on 3 August and 10 August but CLOSED on 17 August and 24 August, and back OPEN again on 31 August and 7 September. Whew. Hope that makes sense.

School holidays start next week and I'm making it my goal for August to get some new information up as well as release the first Primal DVD. Keep an eye out over the next couple of weeks. (Tricia)

We were cancelling Primal on 13th and 20th July because Trish was due to go in for an operation and needed support at home for a couple of weeks. But her doctor has now postponed until August. So, Primal is OPEN throughout July EXCEPT 27 July when I'm doing a course in Nottingham. Sorry for any inconvenience. (SM)

Primal will be closed on 13, 20, and 27 July. The 27th is a special course in Nottingham (see below) and on the 13th and the 20th I cannot be there for personal reasons. We will re-open 3 August for training as usual.

In a separate matter, Primal will be moving in September. Tony Pillage will be leaving the current venue in Little Heath and moving to a new facility. Primal are seeking new premises. I am planning to open a full-time gym. Our last session at Little Heath will be 7 September. I will post more information as we go along. (SM)

I'll be doing a course for Arthur Meek in Bridgwater on Saturday 28 June 1-4 pm and another on Sunday 27 July for Pep Padovano and Richard Cotterill at Liberty Gym in Nottingham. Both are introductory courses, open to anybody. (SM)

It's good to be back on this site, and I've got a letter from a site supporter up on the Letters page (which I see hasn't been updated for a year due to the Q&A). In time, we'll put up selected posts from the Q&A to fill in the Letters page as well. (SM)

I just realized I messed up the blog link. I'm correcting it on this page now, will fix the rest asap.

There are SENI photos there btw. My faves are the red-eye ones. Couldn't bring myself to correct them--Steve and Dan Smith both look like denizens of Hell...(TS)

Steve has dropped his Q&A over at self-protection.com so that we can concentrate more on this site and also on a martial art book project. To reflect the change from Q&A to blog, I am messing around with the navigation bar on the left side of the page; please bear with me.

We are also editing the first of the Primal DVD series. I used to be behind the camera of all Steve's films, but since we had the kids I haven't been able to fill that role. This time I was able to film and it was a real experience! The energy in that room was unbelievable--I can only imagine what SENI must have been like.

Speaking of which, Alan Orr has sent Steve over a hundred photos from the course at SENI, and I'm just getting to grips with Photobucket so we can share some of them with you without taking up all of our own server space.

I started a blog and my first two entries are up. Trish is going to be doing some work on the website and the blog will eventually come up on the navigation bar, but use this link for now.

I've posted some personal notes about SENI to kick it off. I have a lot more stuff in the pipeline. (SM)

Just heard from Tony Pillage that the organisers will allow the enrollment to extend up to 60 and they'll give us a bit more space to train in. So there are some places available again. If you want one, call Tony Pillage on 02476 331239. (SM)

Steve's seminar at SENI has sold out. Unfortunately, the organisers are having to turn people away.

To anybody who has been disappointed: please consider yourself invited up to Primal on any Sunday after SENI. It's only £25 for over three hours of training, and the age, experience and fitness of participants varies widely. The group is friendly and newcomers are always welcome. Come along and find out for yourself. (TS)

I'll be doing some small changes to the site content and navigation over the next week or so. For now, Steve's added some acknowledgements to his opening page and there's a finally a brief bio as well. We'll be changing the navbar, too, to make the site a bit simpler. Soon. (TS)

I've got a two hour slot at SENI this year on Sunday 27 April 1-3 pm. I've written about it on the Q&A, so go over and have a look at it. I don't get down to London much, so if you're in the London area, it's an opportunity to hook up with me. I'll be doing a lot of new material and I'd appreciate your support. (SM)

Presentation School, Grogans Road, Wexford, Co. Wexford (see www.wexmma.com for map)

To book contact club@wexmma.com or Mark Porter markporterosteo@iol.ie 087-6778612 after 6 pm

The Morris Method teaches you how to break the fight down into its essential components and then devise exercises, drills and conditional fighting methods by which to test them. The first half of the seminar will be principle-based, discussing fundamental ways of moving, skills, and key moves. We will examine how the dynamics of these natural movements fit within the context of fighting. The second half will take you through exercises, fight drills including pad work, and conditional fighting methods to enhance the structure, familiarize you with skills, and give you a way to test the application of that skill in a high-intensity live situation. The conditional fighting is designed to replicate the challenge of a real fight, but with a safety factor built in.

The Morris Method can be applied to any martial art and this introductory course is geared for a broad spectrum of martial artists, irrespective of style or experience. All are welcome.

(Primal will be running the next day, Sunday 8 June, as normal)

This Sunday's session at Primal will be starting from 2 pm to 5 pm due to the gym being in use earlier than that. After that we'll be back to our normal times. (SM)

The course up in Nottingham on the 9th February went really well. I'd like to personally thank Richard Cotterill and Pep Padovano for setting it up and making me feel welcome. It was great seeing you guys again! Hope to do it again.

I ought to mention that I've signed up to do a seminar at SENI on Sunday 27 April from 1-3 pm. The cost is £30 and includes admission to SENI. Although it's a short course for me, I'll be looking to jam in as much information as I possibly can.

I've avoided SENI in the past, but this year I'm going to try it. I see it as an opportunity to get my ideas out to a wider audience. I'll be busting my balls, as usual. I know that many of you probably wouldn't normally attend SENI, but if you're in the London area and you want to connect with me, or re-connect, this is a good opportunity. I've been doing a lot of new work at Primal and it hasn't yet got out of the club door, but I'll be showing some of it off at this seminar during SENI. Hope to see some of you there.

The Q&A has been pretty lively and I'm seeing it as a means of changing the way people perceive the martial arts and how they should be practiced. I know that a lot of you guys who read this site and buy my films haven't put in an appearance over there yet. But I'd like to see you there. This is one of the ways we can change things. Come over and post.

I will be doing a course on 9th February with Richard Cotterill and Pep Padovano in Nottingham. This will be an introduction to the Morris Method and is open to anyone. There is more information, including a flyer and directions, on Richard's website http://www.balintawak.co.uk/index_files/Additional_Events.htm. Please book through Richard, but if you have any questions about the course content, feel free to e-mail me.

The sale on Power Pad is now over. If you ordered within the last few days, please allow a little extra time for delivery as we are waiting on a shipment of blank DVDs to fill the last group of orders.

The monthly courses that I was planning to do beginning 26 January have been postponed for a short time. I'll announce the start date and details in a couple of weeks. (SM)

Hope you all had a great Christmas; we did! I'm not posting much on the main website at the moment because the Q&A is taking up most of my time. I'd like to invite everyone who reads this site to come over to the Q&A and participate in the discussion of anything related to martial arts. The board isn't restricted to 'self-protection'.

I do have some articles that I'm working on for the site, and I'm always looking out for clips for 'Watch the Fight.' There's some work on the Fighters Notebook waiting to go up also.

With regard to photographs, I've been sent some old ones and those will help to fill in some of the gaps in the gallery.

Primal is a small group, but we're really getting up to some excellent training and it reminds me of the old Earlham Street days. It's not as hardcore, but the esprit de corps and spirit of experimentation is the same. We're developing new training methods all the time.

Looks like there's a course on 26 January with Tony Pillage. This is separate from Primal, and we're hoping to set up a once-a-month course which will have less of a MMA flavour and should appeal to those coming from various traditional backgrounds. The instruction will be heavily principle-based and I'll be helping you to make sense of some of the traditional practices that you might be engaging in but not fully understanding what their purpose is.

For those who haven't been to see me, this will be a great way to experience what I do and I'm going to be giving out a lot of information quite freely with no strings attached. It's my way of contributing directly to the martial arts, without asking people to give up their traditions.

The Power Pad DVD will be going on sale for a limited time only, from now until 7 January, at £25 reduced from £35 for four DVDs. Technically speaking, it is our best production to date, and we've had extremely positive feedback from those who have viewed it. This is a great deal for a limited time, so if you've been wanting these dvds, now's your chance for a bargain.

So come and read the Q&A, that's where I spend most of my internet time. You'll see over there that I'm getting some great reviews on the private lessons, and that's from pro boxers, Escrima practitioners, BJJ guys, Wing Chun, internal Chinese practitioners, ex-karate....I can take on anybody and make them better in an afternoon.

Next weekend November 4th there will be no training in Coventry due to a prior booking of the gym for an outside seminar.

This means that if you wish to pay for November in advance, you can pay £45 beginning from 11th November. I'll still do the lower rate even though there are only three training weeks in the month.

Finally it's ready! The new film, MORRIS METHOD 4: POWER PAD is finished and thanks to the talents of Luciano from Brazil, we even have professionally designed packaging.

Steve often talks about the importance of developing striking power against a live target, and the padwork that is taught and demonstrated on this film will do just that. The film moves from the theory and technical aspects of padwork through a whole series of striking drills on the feet, and when everything gets put together at the end the intensity of the training is crackling. You really get some great examples of how to replicate the high-intensity, all-out exchanges of a real fight without anybody getting hurt.

We are grateful for the help of Hels Sharpless, who filmed, and everyone who attended the session. Raj Saigal and Bob Allen are the main demonstrators, but of course Steve is in the mix, too. As always. (TS)

Small correction on prices on the Primal page. Monthly fees are £60 payable in advance, not £75 as I'd printed. The price at the door is £25 a lesson. Thanks.

I have a great deal of video that needs to go on You Tube--I'm saying it here in the hope that I'll get my act together to actually do it. (TS)

Long time no post. I've been busy over on the Q&A and doing some other writing. We'll be releasing a new film, Power Pad, in the next couple of weeks. Also I've got the first of the Primal sessions this Sunday at 1 pm. We'll train for three hours and then have an hour's talk, etc.

Sorry about the site being down. Some of the links may still be a bit dodgy. Our BT server was migrated and it led to contortions that messed everything up, but after much frustration I finally got through to someone really helpful over on the BT DNS help desk and we are up and running again.

Please go and have a look at the new page for Primal which can also be found via the Courses page. The date to kick the training off is Sunday 7 October. Steve and I would both like to thank Luciano Imoto for the superb logo he gave us. Fantastic!

Steve will probably be posting later himself. If you have trouble getting to links, try going in straight through Morrisnoholdsbarred.co.uk and then to the main page with the menu bar. If that doesn't work, please e-mail me because I haven't had time to look through the whole site and see what's there and what isn't.

Primal is a joint venture between legendary martial artist Steve Morris and Anthony Pillage and is based in Coventry at The Way of the Spiritual Warrior Dojo. Anthony Pillage is widely known for his work as the seminar and workshop organiser for the SENI show, the biggest martial arts festival in the world but his impressive CV also includes Martial Arts Club coach of the Year 2006, British Combat Association Coach, National Sho Go Ryu Karate Champion 2006, Shikon Coach and Finalist in Coventry Citizen and Teacher of the Year 2007. As impressive as these credentials are, Anthony points out why he was delighted to have Steve Morris head-up Primal.

“I firmly believe there is no-one in the world today with the depth and breadth of knowledge of reality martial arts than Steve Morris. To have the opportunity of working closely with a genuine martial arts legend is such a privilege and I believe that Primal will change many perceptions of how martial arts is taught and addressed both in the UK and throughout the world.”

Primal is an open environment that will train martial artists from beginner to professional fighter across two classes a week, each class three hours in duration. One class will promote the Morris Method for martial artists and students of self protection, including weapons such as the knife and stick, whilst the other will feature the Morris Method as applied purely to MMA; multidimensional fight training from stand-up to ground.

Both classes include conditioning, fitness, strategy/tactics and psychology and are guaranteed to be competitive and challenging (would you expect anything else from Steve Morris?) but safe and conducted in a friendly atmosphere. Students will benefit from direct instruction by Steve Morris himself, geared to each individual’s needs and developed from Steve’s many years at the forefront of martial arts development. This is what the man himself had to say about Primal-

“I've spent many years developing a method that allows people to prepare realistically and safely for all of the dimensions of a violent encounter, and for me this venture represents an opportunity to get my method out there to the public. I've had a lot of success with individuals training in this method, and I'm confident that we can get great results on a larger scale.”

This unique initiative accepts people of all backgrounds and abilities with the sole intention of giving them high-intensity training that will leave them feeling high and, more importantly, taking their martial arts to another level. This news has already excited big names in the industry, including the likes of Mick Coup and Steve Rowe-

I'm excited at the prospect of seeing more of what Steve Morris has to offer. In terms of teaching and training ability, not to mention pedigree and real experience, I truly believe few can match him. Tony Pillage is the man to make this happen to everyone's benefit, his outstanding organisational acumen and drive are the ideal vehicle for the development and success of the "Primal " project.
Mick Coup Core Combatives

The partnering of Martial Arts genius Steve Morris, with the central location, excellent training facilities and boundless energy of Tony Pillage has given anyone in the UK the unique opportunity of being able to restructure their martial arts training from the ground up.
Steve Rowe 7th Dan MASA & Shikon Chairman, MAI columnist

Are you ready to go Primal with Steve Morris?

Tony initiated this idea about ten days ago, and since then we've been having intensive discussions about how we can make this work for both of us, and for benefit of the UK martial arts in general. He's worked like crazy to set up the framework for Primal, and in a few weeks I'll be holding the first course down at his place.

Just to clarify one small point of nomenclature: what Tony and I are calling 'Primal' is a brand name for my method in application. We're not doing 'Primal martial arts.' It may seem like splitting hairs, but I don't want to end up getting called the founder of the 'Primal System' or something!

Many apologies for the site being down, or partly-down, since Friday. Looks like BT were migrating sites to a new server and in the process a few things went not-according-to-plan. I've been on the phone to BT about 6 times in the last 24 hours and finally it looks like the problem's being dealt with. There may be some more tweaking over the next week, so if we should disappear again, it's only temporary.

Right. If you're waiting on dvds, I'll be sending out a bunch on Monday. I'm waiting on a shipment of cases.

Things may seem a little quiet, but there is A LOT going on and we'll be posting about it soon. (TS)

Had a good course again at Tony Pillage's on Sunday. We'll be sending out an e-mail reminder about the course on 22 September which I'm holding for my 'core group' of guys who train MMA. Although I'm calling it a 'core group' it's always open to newcomers and your background isn't important, just your enthusiasm.

The DVD sale is now over and the last batch of films will be going out this week.

For those following the Self-Protection.com Q&A, I'll be posting over there in the next couple of days. We've been pushed for time. (SM)

I'll be doing a seminar for Tony on 1 September and then a regular monthly course for my core group, the first of which is on 22 September. These sessions are open and it's a good group of guys.

Also, I've got another Q&A on a new forum hosted by Lito Angeles. We had some trouble signing on so I come up as 'SJ Morris'. On both Q&A's I try to give informative answers, but I can't always give them immediately. (SM)

At long last, I've succeeded in converting films to NTSC format. If you live in North America, you can order any of our films and if the billing address is in North America, we will send them in NTSC format unless you request otherwise.

Unfortunately, we can't do anything about the exchange rate; the US dollar is very weak right now. But all of the DVDs are on sale, so it might be worth a try...(TS)

Oops. I've been getting e-mails about the shopping cart. If you tried to order and the paypal buttons didn't work, please try again. There was a small error in the code, but it's fixed now. Thanks. (TS)

When I was growing up in NJ there was a discount electronics store called Crazy Eddie's. You know, 'prices so low we must be CRAAAZZY!' I think Crazy Eddie was eventually convicted of something, so maybe I've chosen a bad example...

ANYWAY, in the spirit of Crazy Eddie, today begins the first annual MAD MORRIS LATE AUGUST SALE!!!!!!

Check out the DVD page for great deals on our stuff. Remember, postage is included in the price.

Please allow 2-3 weeks for delivery on any items. E-mail me with any questions. Sale ends 1 September.

PS Also I've sorted out the photos in the gallery that I'd innocently saved full-size; they should download much faster now..

Steve is keen to add new content but I'm having to go through all the pages and change the navbar by hand because I screwed something up with the template. It is taking FOREVER and I hate it, but this is what happens when you give Dreamweaver to the clueless.

I need to resize those photos in the gallery. Also, I'm thinking of doing a late August Mad Morris DVD sale, provided I can get the site more or less done before the end of the month. I'll let you know. (TS)

A note to our site subscribers/members. You Tube has changed their policy on private videos, restricting the number of people enabled to view them to 25. This makes it impossible for many of you to get the clips.

Don't know exactly how we're going to get round this one, but for the moment we've made all the clips public. They are accessible via the stevemorrisnhb channel and there are a lot of them.

The original purpose of the private clips was as a gesture of appreciation to our supporters, who have made it possible for us to continue working on this site. At the moment, I can't offer you anything special, other than my sincere appreciation, and of course my preferential attention to your correspondence.

We've put up a gallery page. There are very few photos on it, and you can read why here. I'm hoping if there are any guys out there who have pictures of me, they'll send them in.

Because there are so few photos, I'll also put a few clips up in the gallery. The first one is a breaking clip.

p.s. a couple of the photos didn't upload because we ran out of server space. our host is upgrading and we can't get more for a couple of weeks, so please bear with us... (ts)

For those of you who had been attending the London courses, be aware that it may be up to a year before there's any possibility of getting something going in London again. I've been given a terrific opportunity to establish a base in Coventry courtesy of Anthony Pillage. I'd like to see some of the more dedicated amongst you come up to Coventry from time to time. It's a two hour trip each way. I was driving nine hours every time I came down to teach at Monsters. Also, I've reduced the price to £35 because my costs are much lower going to Coventry. I'm trying to use this opportunity to get something going, and for some of you I hope I can count on your support.

The Articles archive pages are up. Oh, and a big Thank You to Julian Winkhart for the dvd advice. (TS)

Have got the DVD page up with most of the sample clips. Some of the older clips aren't de-interlaced--sorry about that but we'll just have to live with it for now.

I have been having massive problems with DVD burning but I'm starting to get on top of it now. On top of that, orders were delayed this week by a combination of the postal strikes and suppliers sending me the wrong stuff.

There is more to come on the site. Also, I owe lots of people e-mails but have got hit with a minor illness, so if you are waiting on something from me, it might take a little longer than usual.

Thanks to everyone who has written in with encouragement. It goes a long way! (TS)

Most of the site is up, and most of the links seem OK. I still need to do most of the Letters page and the Archives. We will be doing some more adding and updating over the course of the week. (TS)

I have just uploaded the first batch of pages for the 'new look' site. I can already see there are bad links & other oddities. Lots of pages aren't even ready yet, but I am working as fast as possible to get all of the old material restored.

For now, one important announcement. The next course on 19 August at Monster Gym has been moved to 18 August at Anthony Pillage's place in Coventry. I will post more about this asap. E-mail with any questions: trish@morrisnoholdsbarred.co.uk

I draw your attention to the 'Courses' page: Steve will be doing more teaching out of Pillage's place, including private lessons; this may interest some of you.

Oh--and many thanks to Luciano Noeme Imoto for sending us a whole series of logos to use on the site. Now, to go to work on the t-shirts... :-) Thanks also to Mark Perry, who has helped me with the site more times than I can count.

	Morris No Holds Barred