Oxford School of Martial Arts

Instructors

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Rob King Bsc (Hons) PGCE

The ethos of Oxford School of Martial Arts derives directly from its founder, Rob King. Rob learned the lessons of martial arts the hard way - working through crippling shyness as a child. He developed his confidence and perseverance through karate, and discovered a talent and enthusiasm for teaching by being promoted through the ranks to Black Belt and learning to communicate his skills to other students along the way. He took a degree in Sports Science and a PGCE in PE to construct OSMA as a professional modern school, with a uniquely structured syllabus. Rob does not believe in acquiring knowledge by osmosis. His particular talent in teaching is rare – he can deconstruct complicated movements and create bite-sized progressions, and when one teaching method is not working, Rob is guaranteed to find another way to make a goal achievable.

This approach is not confined to physical skills however, and this is the key to the sense of purpose, and ultimately the mission of Oxford School of Martial Arts. Our curriculum is designed to support parents in teaching children lessons for life: to make them safer, happier, better disciplined and ready for whatever the world will try on them when we can no longer be there to hold their hands. With 30 years experience in many martial arts, Rob has developed a character development curriculum that is all-inclusive. You want your overweight child to learn to love exercise? We can do that with you. You want your bullied child to learn more confidence and to be assertive? We can help with that. Is your unruly child making your life hell? We can help him see things from your perspective and learn to change. Rob’s approach is to break down the concepts of martial arts – the discipline, the control and the responsibility and to communicate that to children as young as three, through key phrases, parables and reaction training. His holistic approach leaves nothing to chance, and the success of our school has been built on these foundations.

Mary Stevens MA (Oxon) MA PGCE

Mary has led classes in all our venues at different times over the past 12 years. Her recent work has been as a secondary school English teacher at Larkmead in Abingdon so she is familiar with the challenges faced by our students at school. She began training with OSMA in 2002 and started teaching martial arts in 2004. She has a 2nd degree black belt with OSMA and is also a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, having been national heavyweight champion more than once during her competition fighting. She holds advanced instructor status in various Les Mills programmes and continues to teach fitness classes at David Lloyd and at Taurus Training.

She read Modern History at Oxford University and also has an MA in English Language, Literature and Culture from Oxford Brookes, which she took part time when raising her children (now 18 and 16). Her PGCE was also taken at Oxford University. Her particular specialism in school has been coaching public speaking and debating as she is passionate about building confidence and enabling young people to express themselves. She believes more strongly than ever that the study of martial arts helps to maximise children's opportunities in education and beyond by building strong foundations for personal excellence and self-motivation.