Ladio Marismari
My interest for martial arts began at an early age. I was fascinated by the television exploits of Monkey, The Water Margin, and even Hong Kong Fuey captured my imagination! I didn’t realise it then but I was already hooked!
At 16 I joined a Kyokushinkai Karate club which was a great experience. It helped me shape my personal preferences to the martial arts and gave me a taste of the actual training involved.
A year later I found a local Shaolin Kung Fu school which instantly spiked my interest and I quickly joined up. For me Kung Fu brought with it a rich tapestry of tradition accompanied with an immense subject matter to learn, I liked both the soft and hard variances of the style and although there were no gradings, the syllabus was exciting to learn. I trained there for four years.
Following the premature closure of the school I ventured into Kickboxing, training under former World Champion Marty Cox for several years and competed locally. I quickly learned that there was nowhere to hide in the ring! This was a purely fight orientated approach to training and the teaching was geared towards competition which was immensely enjoyable.
Fast forward 20 years, I was out of shape, in my mid 40s, bored of trying to get fit and failing. I realised I needed to push myself outside of my regular activities and searched high and low for a good club and found Shaolin Nam Pai Chuan in Chiswick.
Under the excellent guidance of Sifu Jerome De Silva and many of the senior students, I have learned so much. Martial arts transfers into your daily life if absorbed with passion and your learning curve becomes limitless. Progression requires the cultivation of mindset and this comes with many hours of practice and time.
I’ve now been training in the system for a decade and can honestly say I am in a state of constant learning. My passion over time has not diminished as the art is both challenging and engaging. For me the toughest tests have been psychological and I have found a lot of obstacles to overcome along the way, some more surprising than others. This system has a great sense of family, where everybody supports each other through good times and bad. Every individual is encouraged to step beyond their comfort zone to achieve their personal goals.
My aim now is to continue to learn as both a student and an instructor, and help others move forward in their art.
Recent Posts
