Your Instructors
Your Instructors at 'the BEST defence'
Chief Instructor- Master at Arms Mark Davies
Master at Arms Mark Davies started training in Martial Arts way back in 1980, moving over to ITF TaeKwon-Do in 1983 when he became the first student of the first Taekwon-Do school in Tayside in Montrose. He gained his Blackbelt in 1987, becoming the first TaeKwon-Do Blackbelt produced in Tayside. Since then he has gone on to become one of the worlds top authorities on reality based self defence. He is the most highly & widely qualified Instructor in Tayside & Angus, holding not only a 5th Degree Blackbelt in ITF TaeKwon-Do, but also Blackbelt & Instructors Credentials in SEVEN other martial arts. He is the founder & Master Instructor of Tactical Edge, a cutting edge self defence system that is quickly spreading around the UK. He is a Combatives Instructor to elements of UK Special Forces, & travels internationally where his methods are trusted by military & government agencies. Mark is one of the few people in the UK to have been awarded the coveted MMA-CSCC (Mixed Martial Arts - Certified Strength & Conditioning Coach) qualification from JC Santana & the Institute of Human Performance. IHP is the Worlds top training facility for elite level MMA fighters, elite professional athletes, & even operators from the US Navy's SEAL's. Mark has been trained & certified by JC & IHP, & is able to deliver their cutting edge fitness & conditioning methods- the same ones used by the worldsmost elite MMA athletes- in his classes! He is one of the few people in the world to have been awarded the title 'Master at Arms'.
Most instructors are part time amateur instructors, but Mark is a full time Professional Instructor; which means he spends his whole time developing his programmes. His material is constantly being developed & refined ensuring that his students get the most up to date instruction possible. Mark is currently a personal student of Master at Arms James A Keating, who is the Worlds leading expert on some of the more unusual & rare South East Asian & European martial arts. Mark is the only person in the whole of Europe certified as a Full Instructor in Master at Arms Keating's methods. Most martial arts instructors have earned a Blackbelt in a single Martial Art, but Mark has spent many years devoting himself to researching & studying different styles of Martial Art. The result being a knowledge base wider than almost any other instructor in the UK. Ask yourself a question, would you rather your child was taught by a teacher with a limited amount of knowledge & experience, or a teacher with a MASSIVE amount of knowledge & experience that can be passed on?
Mark has been featured & interviewed on GMTV, Reporting Scotland & North Tonight; as well as on Radio 4, Radio Scotland, Radio Tay, Australian Talk Radio, Irish Talk Radio & various English local radio stations. He has also been interviewed & featured in many local & national newspapers many times. He is the only martial arts instructor to have been mentioned by name in a motion brought before Parliament, & has been to parliament a number of times to provide presentations to MSP's on the realities of knife crime, & his anti knife crime education programme 'The Cutting Edge'. He is also a certified instructor of the 'Winning Without Fighting' anti bullying programme.
Marks childrens programmes & methods have been widely praised by teachers in schools throughout Angus, where he regularly provides martial arts sessions during health weeks & for PE sessions.
- Almost 30 years total experience
- Founder & Master Instructor of Tactical Edge
- Europe's only Certified Combat Technologies Instructor under Master at arms James Keating
- Institute of Human Performance, MMA-CSCC
- 5th Degree Blackbelt ITF TaeKwon-Do
- 3rd Degree Blackbelt Sul Sa Do
- 3rd Dan Blackbelt Yoshinkan Bujutsu
- 1st Degree Blackbelt Hapkido
- 1st Degree Blackbelt Korean Kempo
- Graduate Military Pekiti Tirsia
- Native American Fighting Arts Instructor
- Certified Close Protection Officer- CQB Services
- Micro Expression Training- Expert Level- Paul Ekman Group
- Certified Winning Without Fighting anti bullying coach
Assistant Instructor Arbroath- Mr David Finch, 1st Degree Blackbelt TaeKwon-Do, 1st Degree Blackbelt Kyuk Too Ki, Tactical Edge Apprentice Instructor
David Finch has been training with Mark for around 10 years, starting as a junior in Marks Junior TaeKwon-Do class. He is a very talented & able young blackbelt who has devoted a great deal of his life to his martial arts training, & assists in all of our classes from time to time..
Assistant Instructor Arbroath- Mr John Hammerton, 1st Degree TaeKwon-Do
John Hammerton has been training with Mark for around 6 years, though he has been around our classes for around 10 years as a 'dad' who took the plunge & eventually took up training himself too. John assists in our TaeKwon-Do classes.
Assistant Instructor Arbroath- Mr Ross Cairney, 1st Degree Blackbelt TaeKwon-Do
Ross Cairney has been training with Mark for around seven years, & assists in the Arbroath TaeKwon-Do classes.
Assistant Instructor Montrose Classes- Caitlan MacLean, 1st Degree Blackbelt.
Caitlan has trained with Mark Davies since she was a little girl. She started with her older sister Shari & brother Jared, all of whom reached Blackbelt together. Caitlan assists Mark with the Kids Kickboxing & Little Ninjas classes in Montrose.
Contact us for for information on our Childrens Martial Arts in Arbroath & Childrens Martial Arts in Montrose.
We're happy to speak to parents about how we can offer their children the highest standard of instruction in the martial arts. You can contact us using the contact form on this website, or the phone numbers at the side.
Buyer Beware- a sad but necessary notice for parents!
Its a sad fact that in the Martial Arts in the UK there are people springing up teaching who really shouldn't be. Almost every trade has cowboys & charlatans, & unfortunately Martial Arts are not immune.
Parents unfortunately very often just put their children to whichever class their child hands them a flyer for, or even to the 'cheapest' class. We all want the best for our children, so shouldn't we look a bit further into the pastime we're looking to put our children into?
Here where we are based for example, we have seen a class start up in a local hall in Arbroath that is being taught by someone who has never even actually trained honestly up to Blackbelt in ANY martial art! He did a 'bootcamp' with an organisation run by one of the UK's 'McDojo' artists! This organisation will turn almost anyone into an instructor if they pay the money to do their course EVEN IF THEY DON'T HAVE A MARTIAL ARTS GRADE! This person is grading his own students, even though he's not even really even a Blackbelt!
We have even seen posters advertising classes with a 'Grandmaster Ninja'. The classes are for adults & children, & are being run OUT OF HIS HOME! The worrying thing here is that the main Ninjutsu organisations in the UK have NEVER heard of this person, so this is VERY worrying!
Are these the types of people you want teaching your child skills that they might have to call upon to protect themselves with when their safety is in danger?
There are MANY great instructors in Angus who have 'done their time' & taken the long road to Blackbelt! Do yourself a favour & ask questions not just about your instructors rank, but also about their background, qualifications & experience. How long have they been training? What grade are they? Who was THEIR instructor & where? How long have they trained with them?
Mark Davies is one of the UK's most widely qualified & experienced instructors. He is a WORLD RENOWNED self defence specialist who's methods are trusted by elite military units. He holds Blackbelts in EIGHT different Martial Arts, & has 30 years of experience. He has trained under the worlds BEST masters & instructors, & has been teaching Martial Arts in Angus since 1987! We absolutely GUARANTEE that we will give you or your child THE BEST & MOST EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONAL INSTRUCTION available!
With almost anything else that you would buy that is important & a significant investment, you would do your homework first, please apply a bit of time & research here as well.