Joanna Zorya
Joanna Zorya is an internationally renowned expert of Chinese martial arts and a highly acclaimed teacher, writer and producer of instructional DVDs. As well as having taught police & security personnel, she has been paid by West Yorkshire Police Community Safety Initiative + Calderdale, Bradford, Kirklees & Leeds City Councils, The Children's Society, and a number of voluntary and community organisations to deliver self-defence courses and workshops for potentially vulnerable community groups.
Joanna has been studying Chinese Martial Arts since 1996. She has been a student of Taiji, Bagua, Xingyi, Praying Mantis Kung Fu and the South-East Asian styles of Silat and Escrima. Although she adheres strictly to Tai Chi movement principles, this combination of arts has lent something of a SE Asian / Kuntao flavour to her work.
Joanna has been interested in martial arts and military strategy for much of her life and as a teenager used to practice informal full contact sparring with replica Medieval European weapons and armour. She has also had quite a lot of experience of real life violence, both unarmed and armed, and has had to deal with a number of serious assaults to herself, and to friends and family.
Before setting up the Martial Tai Chi™ Association in 2006 and the broader Martial Training Association in 2008 with fellow instructor Julie Hinder, Joanna was an A-Grade Instructor with the T'ai Chi Union for Great Britain for 5 years where she was also briefly a member of the executive committee. Ultimately, however, she felt herself to be too at odds with the "Tai Chi for Health and Spirituality" mainstream.
Joanna's approach places martial purpose above all else, stressing logic and practicality. Movements are understood and taught solely in terms of martial tactics and body mechanics.
One-to-one lessons
Group Classes
Kung Fu Seminars - Martial Tai Chi™, Xingyi & Bagua
Discover the fighting techniques and training methods of Martial Tai Chi™ / Taijiquan, Xingyiquan & Baguazhang, united and consolidated under a single, coherent, scientific framework system called "Universal Martial Training". Learn to generate real whole-body power and utilise subtle and sophisticated physical skills to subdue bigger and stronger foes. For self-defence and the protection of others. 100% Martial, 100% Non-Mystical.
It's a:
seminar
Venue:
St Laurence's Community Rooms
Location:
Scalby, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date and time:
Saturdays 2009:
24 Oct Martial Tai Chi™ 1pm - 7pm, 14 Nov UMT 10am - 6pm, 28 Nov Martial Tai Chi™ 1pm - 7pm
Rates:
£30 / 6 hours, £40 / 8 hours Universal Martial Training™ Seminars
Universal Martial Training™ is a highly effective, sophisticated fighting art that contains fast and powerful strikes, kicks, locks, throws, defences, evasions & weapon disarms as well as covering some modern, hand to hand weapon usage such as knives, sticks and improvised weapons. In classes, training mostly consists of contact work with a variety of intensities, generally making use of body armour for high impact training. We also teach solo and partner drills that can be practiced in or between classes. Universal Martial Training™ (UMT™) is practiced for the sole purpose of developing real-life self-defence skills, rather than as a sport or athletic pursuit.
In all of our regular classes we teach students Universal Martial Training™. This may then be used as a practical martial foundation from which students may go on to explore the techniques, martial strategies and training methods of Martial Tai Chi™, Martial Bagua™ and Martial Xingyi™ as practiced by our school.
Drawing from Taijiquan / Martial Tai Chi™, Baguazhang, Xingyiquan, Boxing, Silat and Escrima, Universal Martial Training™ is a powerful and highly effective form of self-defence, combining only the most powerful, and most foolproof combat techniques, along with the most effective training methods - all united into a single, coherent, system.
While training with us will develop your strength, fitness and reflexes, our techniques are designed to work against bigger, stronger and tougher opponents. None of our techniques rely on simple brute force - instead we teach you how to move powerfully in any direction, making use of whole-body- connected power, stable stances, good postural structures and natural physical forces such as gravity, momentum and leverage. Once you have developed the skill of effective whole-body-power, you can use it to power any kind of attack or defensive manoeuvre you like.
We also teach you how to minimise your attackers' advantages by obtaining a tactically superior position, making use of strong and weak angles, targetting vulnerable areas and using the attacker's force against them.
There's no fantasy, mysticism or mysterious powers - just rational, systematic, scientific & sensible martial training. Everything has been tried and tested, honed and polished for maximum impact and maximum effect.
Our classes are modern, practical and culturally neutral. No one has to bow to anyone else, to the room, to altars, idols or flags. We do not practice meditation or mystical philosophies so our classes are suitable for people from all religious or non- religious backgrounds.
It's a:
seminar
Venue:
St Laurence's Community Rooms
Location:
Scalby, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date and time:
Saturdays 2009: 24 Oct Martial Tai Chi™ 1pm - 7pm, 14 Nov UMT 10am - 6pm, 28 Nov Martial Tai Chi™ 1pm - 7pm
Rates:
£40 / 8 hours Universal Martial Training™ & Xingyi Kung Fu
See above entries for more details.
It's a:
class
Venue:
North Bridge Leisure Centre
Location:
North Bridge, Halifax HX3 6TE, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date and time:
Mondays (UMT) & Thursdays (Xingyi) both 7.30 - 9.30pm
Rates:
£35 monthly membership Experience
Background
Joanna Zorya, has been studying Chinese Martial Arts since 1996. She has been a student of Taiji, Bagua, Xingyi, Praying Mantis Kung Fu and the South-East Asian styles of Silat and Escrima. Although she adheres strictly to Tai Chi movement principles, this combination of arts has lent something of a SE Asian / Kuntao flavour to her work.
Joanna has been interested in martial arts and military strategy for much of her life and as a teenager used to practice informal full contact sparring with replica Medieval European weapons and armour. She has also had quite a lot of experience of real life violence, both unarmed and armed, and has had to deal with a number of serious assaults to herself, and to friends and family.
Before setting up the Martial Tai Chi™ Association in 2006 with fellow instructor Julie Hinder, Joanna was an A-Grade Instructor with the T'ai Chi Union for Great Britain for 5 years where she was also briefly a member of the executive committee. Ultimately, however, she felt herself to be too at odds with the "Tai Chi for Health and Spirituality" mainstream.
Joanna & Julie set up the broader Martial Training Association in 2008 as a cross-style governing body for practically minded martial artists. The Martial Training Association (MTA) is a group of people (teachers and students) who practice martial arts for the sole purpose of developing real-life self-defence and combative skills, rather than as any kind of artistic, gymnastic, spiritual or sporting pursuit. We feel that by focussing on this aspect, we remain truest to the origins of the arts we practice. This is important because it prevents our fighting techniques from becoming watered down, stylised or otherwise rendered less effective by having priorities other than full martial potency.
Dates:
Aug 1996 Educational history
Martial Arts Instructor
Dates:
March, 2002
Institution:
TCUGB
Joanna was authorised to teach everything she knows.
Teaching
Services
Aimed at: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced.
THE SMALL PRINT
For their monthly membership fee, regular class students are free to attend as many of our 4, weekly classes as they can get to. Members get 1/2 price DVDs and 1/3 off the cost of private lessons. Unused fees are not returned.
Last login: 13 years 51 weeks ago
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