First off, I’d like to give you a little background on the Open Circle Fighting Method and its amazing head trainer Russell Stutely.
Russell first started Karate at the age of nine when his older brother took him to a class where he was taught Shukokai Karate. Russell took this like a duck to water and was soon making his way through the belts. Through no fault of his own after a while he couldn’t continue due to family problems. He never forgot or stopped training on his own and when it was possible to restart with a club, the only one available was a style called Shotokan.
He quickly adapted to the changes and continued to advance through the ranks until he reached the status of 5th dan black belt. A few years before this he had started training with other styles and had already gained a reputation as a pressure point exponent. In fact, he had spent many thousands of pounds traveling abroad to train with experts like Rick Moneymaker of the Dragon Society. In addition, he organized many tours and seminars in the UK for these experts. So his personal knowledge skyrocketed and he combined all this with the skills that he already had.
Along with other training partners, Russell began to put into practice the ideas he had formed. To create a new system from scratch incorporating whatever works in a real life situation. This was far from easy and involved many years of hard work and study. The open circle wrestling method was born and is still a work in progress. As Russell likes to say, we are all students at heart, there is always something new to learn.
I know Russell would be angry with me if I allowed him to take all the credit when it was a team effort and I should also commend everyone who has been involved in this endeavor. I will not give names as I may forget someone you all know who you are.
The idea behind all of this is to create a self defense system that works for both men and women, adults and children. They have been very successful at this and now have many instructors in the UK and abroad.