The Prestigious AMA has become the latest Martial Association to acknowledge the vast contribution made by Athos Antoniades to the Martial Arts world by awarding him his 7th Dan, thus elevating to the level of Master. This serves to further establish Mr Antoniades as a formidable force on the contemporary scene. As well as internalising American Kenpo to create his own devastating style of Kenpo Taiji, he is also a respected Tai Chi and Chi Kung Instructor. He has been inducted into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame by organisations in Great Britain, Europe and America as well as being voted in the Top 100 Martial Artist's and also in the top 100 Kenpo instructors. His many other achievements are a constant focus in the Martial Arts and mainstream magazines. A prominent Martial Arts magazine has offered him a monthly column as a means of sharing his vast knowledge and insight in the Martial Arts. He has promised to take up the offer as soon as his busy schedule permits. [back to top]

A brief profile of the man demonstrates the 'true grit' which has made Athos Antoniades such a formidable force in the Martial Arts. For 12 years he was a successful full contact Kickboxer with many bouts under his belt, some with European and World Champions. It was in fact a serious knee injury sustained during a fight with former world champion Rafael Nieto which he believes robbed him of winning the world championship. However, he now considers this incident as one of the most fundamental in his Martial Arts career. It was this incident which eventually led him to founding his own style of American Kenpo Taiji. The knee injury was so severe, that not only could he no longer compete, but even found it difficult to train in kick boxing. In an effort to avoid a knee operation he took up chi-kung as a means of building up his internal energy and healing the knee that way. He was immediately hooked on the internal and the more he delved into other Internal Arts, in particular the 'Old Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan' the more fascinated he became. There was a whole Martial Arts world out there outside kickboxing, which had so much to offer but he knew so little about. In typical fashion he left no stone unturned, traveling far and wide, seeking out instructors which he thought had something to offer in an effort to master the internal martial arts. Unfortunately, however, the knee problem persisted and eventually needed an operation. It became evident that he would not be returning to kickboxing for a while and although he continued to train in the internal arts he wanted to also train in an external style, preferably one that used more hand strikes than kicks. American Kenpo was exactly that, a style which was largely based on a rapid succession of a combination of hand strikes. He studied with a club in England and although he was soon awarded a blackbelt, he was not content. American Kenpo carried such a formidable reputation under Ed Parker that he thought there must be more to it than just learning techniques and forms. He looked to America to further his Kenpo studies and joined the legendary J.T. Wills UKKA and Chuck Sullivans IKCA. Although the black belt he was awarded in England was rejected which meant he had to start grading from yellow belt again, this did not deter him. Such was the conviction of the man, that he welcomed the challenge and looked upon it as an opportunity to start learning from Masters that were there from the very beginning and were instrumental in the development of Kenpo, alongside Mr Parker. He earned high Dan grades under both Associations and will always be eternally grateful for the knowledge awarded to him so unselfishly, in particular by Grandmaster Sullivan who is a true Kenpo legend. Surprisingly Athos Antoniades remains one of the few instructors in England to have been Dan graded by a genuine Kenpo Master. Mr Antoniades Kenpo training ran parallel to his training in the internal Martial Arts, primarily Tai Chi and Chi Kung. He came up with the brainstorm of internalising Kenpo to form American Kenpo Taiji and the rest is history. [Back to top]

American Kenpo Taiji is based on energy disruption and subconscious reaction, and not solely on physical strength. It is a natural progression to American Kenpo and takes the Art onto a higher realm. Kenpo Taiji sees the most fundamental changes to Kenpo since Ed Parker adapted William Chows system. Although an excellent system for providing the student with the tools for fighting American Kenpo as it was actually falls short of making the student into a natural fighter. It is too logical a system based primarily on pre-arranged techniques but real street fighting or self defense is totally illogical. Under no circumstances are you able to apply a logical system to an illogical situation, for this reason fighting must be a sub-concious reaction. Wild Animals are natural fighters. They have to be in order to survive their environment, humans are not. There is no doubt that training in techniques and forms is an imperative part of any system as this is where we learn about balance, coordination, timing, connectivity and rooting as well as an excellent way of practicing our kicks and hand strikes. However it is wrong to regard the techniques as an end in themselves, they are only a means to an end. In order to make American Kenpo into a true self-defense system, we have to make it reflex and to do this we much internalise it, which I have done by incorporating training methods of the internal systems into the style, being an instructor of the original style of Yang Style Tai-Chi and Chi Kung as well as American Kenpo it was a matter of blending the styles together to create the formidable style of American Kenpo Taiji. Reflex actions are illogical as indeed self defense should be wild animals do not plan their attacks they just happen reflexively. We too are capable of this if we train in internal methods which serve to awaken our Reptile Brain, which has been lying dormant for centuries, which is effectively our survival brain. The Reptile Brain is the first brain that anything ever had and reptiles such as snakes and crocodiles still only have this one brain. Their only concern is therefore their survival. Most other animals also have the second brain, which is the paleo-mallion brain in addition to the Reptile Brain. Humans have both these brains in addition to the neo-mallion or human brain. This is the brain that we use at least 90% of the time. It is our logical thinking brain and cannot be used in fighting which is basically an illogical situation and here lies the difference between Kenpo and Kenpo Taiji. The latter takes the responsibility for fighting away from our human brain and makes it subconscious by transferring it to the Reptile Brain. Teaching the student how to enter and make full use of the Reptilian Brain is a major part of the Kenpo Taiji curriculum training methods from the Internal Arts have been incorporated into the system from yellow belt through to black belt and beyond. A requirement for the student to be awarded a black belt is to learn the original Yang Style Tai Chi form. This is the best method for effectively re-enacting the survival brain. The form has an additional advantage, in that each posture is a strike to a Dim-Mak point. Dim Mak is also a prominent part of American Kenpo Taiji. The students are taught from the beginning that techniques should not be seen as an end in themselves but as training methods which are used to teach Dim Mak points and practice all that was mentioned earlier. Nerve strikes and neurological shut down are also taught. Internalising the Art also involves using Yin force which when added to our Yang force can increase our striking power up to seven times. Anything in American Kenpo which I felt did not work or taught the wrong approach has been changed or removed. In the interest of making American Kenpo a truly superior style I am happy to share my knowledge with American Kenpo instructors (and others) throughout the world. I truly hope that those wishing to take their teaching and training to a higher realm will contact me and not allow ego to hinder their progress. [Back to top]