MANY people have sampled the martial arts at some point in their life. These mystical ancient combat practices often inspire participation through either curiosity, as a method of self-defence or simply for enjoyment.

However, the interest often proves to be little more than a five-minute wonder. While there are clearly those who manage to stand the test of time and master the discipline required to be successful, there are those, like myself who, after several weeks, decide it’s not for them.

My excuse was impatience. There was only so many times I could aim the same punch at thin air without feeling the need to clobber a real target. So I gave up karate as quickly as I had taken it up.

However, I have remained curious about the numerous martial arts out there, not least because it would be nice to have a knowledge of self-defence to fall back on if ever fight took the place of flight.

But, admitting to myself that I didn’t have the time or patience to make a real go of it, I kept that particular desire suppressed. Until now.

Upon hearing of the success of local martial artist Ethan Rhys, who had won a bronze medal at the UK Open Championships, I decided to go along to his Walthamstow-based club, Titan Freestyle, to take part in a beginners’ session.

This is not your average martial arts club, though. Co-founders and head instructors Jason and Tonya Duck have devised a form of the arts that combines the ‘best bits’ of what they have learned through a combined 40 years’ worth of experience in karate and kick-boxing.

The result is Titan Freestyle. And I was about to find out how different it really was to your karates and tae kwon do’s.

Tonya broke it down for me. “When I learned karate it was a case of throwing 32 punches and keep doing it until you get it right. I don’t believe you’re going to learn that way. You need to keep people interested, teach them a few things first and then work on perfecting them throughout the weeks.

“We decided karate was too restricted and the kicks in kick-boxing weren’t as strong as karate, so we decided to merge the best bits of what we’d learned. We’re also Self Defence Federation instructors and we decided to bring elements of that into the class as well.”

Bearing that in mind, I took to the floor with the other members of the club, not knowing what to expect.

I was one of three newcomers, and we were taken aside by Tonya for our own personal session, while Jason instructed the more experienced fighters.

Once we had mastered our stance it was on to the punches – a jab, a cross-over, a hook and the uppercut. Before long we were reeling off all four in a rapid combination of lefts and rights.

In the first half hour we had already learned more than I had done in three weeks of karate lessons, but we weren’t finished there.

Next up was the kicks – straight ones to the sternum and knee blows to the pads.

Panting for breath and dripping with sweat I felt like I had been through 12 rounds with Mike Tyson. But I was hooked. And so were my two fellow newbies.

I had been converted in the space of an hour, and I’ll be seeing them all again next week.

For further information contact Jason on 07764 791982 or Tonya on 077537 44893.