Master Raoul Kent Pt. 6
By Haydn Ellis, founder Brutal Training

Handing it over to Colin again. Thanks for your time in sending me these great emails.

Hey Haydn,

Colin here again, I can tell you to pass on to any disbelievers. You have brought many smiles to my old lined face of the memories of training with Raoul for many years. No disrespect in calling him by his first name is meant or should be taken as I consider him now not only my most revered instructor but a close and valued friend.

I have many such memories myself of his capabilities, once upon a time long ago Raoul was offered certain jobs by certain law practices to do work that was not quite within the boundaries of the local constabulary to look after. Myself and my girlfriend at the time who was an extraordinary and powerful girl (well she had to be to train in Brighton) with all of us masochists. Ha!

Well we were generously offered to work with Raoul on a few of these seedy jobs for quite good remuneration I might add. I can remember one particular incident where a so called heavy took Raoul on. I should say attempted to take him on. In a matter of moments they were on the ground and Raoul had covered this guy like a blanket! Not rolling around or struggling just over the top of him. Then I will never forget the squeal that emanated from this bloke! It was hilarious to me at least as I knew what he was going through. Then Raoul said something along the lines of are you going to behave now? It was the obvious high pitched yes answer then he was let up, and he was as pale a white sheet he just walked out the door ignoring the female who was with him and urging him to re think his retreat. In fact she had more dash than him. They did throw abuse as we threw out all their furnishings etc' but that was from a distance.

Well that's one story. My first lesson with Raoul, was just such a shock Ha! It was a Ju Jitsu class, I had come from a "Ninja" style that I was an instructor for hehehe. My uncle who was a Wing Chun practitioner & instructor had led me to him. So, I thought oh yeah why not check this guy out he couldn't hurt me much more than I had been over the past 15 years or so of training. (I was in my mid twenties?) Well was I wrong with a capital 'W" & "P" for pain he took me on the mat with a re assuring smile and a most polite voice. Told all the students to sit down against the wall and introduced me to them and his style of Ju Jitsu!

Well for the next 30 to 45 mins I think he just showed them technique after painful technique on me! he put me on my knees lifted me on to my toes hit me in ways that my neck has never forgotten, not to mention all my other joints. This man has such a capacity to go for months and not show the same technique. He was and still is brilliant in his chosen field. I suffered greatly that evening and Raoul was always smiling at me reassuringly all through it.

Very nice of him I thought Ha! the students even had a laugh over it, at my expense of course. They no doubt were happy to have someone else taking the dummies part. Anyway I was converted this man was to be my teacher extraordinaire. I and my girlfriend trained 6 days a week in Judo, Ju Jitsu and karate with him.
When you stay with Raoul and train regularly you become a machine no jokes on that. He later told me, years later ha! That if I had of kicked up a fuss he would have thrown me down the stairs and not taken me on as a student as he had heard much of me as well and wanted to test my character. He rarely complimented you just allowed you to find your own satisfaction in what you did. But, on the odd occasion he did give you praise, you never forgot it.

You either learned the lessons or you didn't last, I remember one such occasion whilst going for my Ju Jitsu brown belt and fighting an ex Legionnaire he grabbed me by the balls and twisted! I freaked and gave up. I was totally disgusted with myself. Then I had to fight him again this time he tried again and I let him do it I bared the pain closed my legs over the offending arm bit into the bicep of his other arm this time he jumped! Then I worked my way behind him and choked him into submission! That's how it was.

He could place his little fingers in your gi and before you knew it  you were in the air and on the mat! You just didn't feel the throw and that's no shit.! He was amazing, in his judo techniques. Oh but the self defence courses I helped him on are other stories ha! When he showed those women what they should do, I felt it! From ashtrays to the back of my hands to palm strikes to the face through a newspaper I was holding up in front of me. He always made them understand the full effectiveness of a strike or technique. You never left him not feeling assured of what he had shown you would in deed work. The women would cringe at times but it was the real deal. There has never been any of this fancy shit to his moves not like most see in the movies and most are influenced by these days. Anyone that has ever been in REAL physical conflicts knows that the majority of the crap out there is never going to stand the test. Nor do real fights ever last that long or allow you time to take a stance that often. Raoul's teachings were / are basic and true.

In summer he would close all the windows so as the heat was unbearable through the tin roof in the Brighton dojo then in winter he would open them up and let in the nice cold air and weather. He said that's how they did it in the Kodokan. Lol. Summer or winter the mirrors were always wet with the sweat of our training. He brewed some very hard men and boys very few girls though unfortunately.

All in all he is a man who’s craft and life have come together in unison, he is much older now and dare I say has mellowed just a little but never let anyone fool themselves that he is not still a very capable martial artist. So much knowledge will be lost when this man passes in a hundred years or so.