Graham Kavanagh, of Dale Street, off Nunnally Lane, is a specialist exercise instructor and runs his own business, Graham Fit Personal Training.
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As reported by the press at the timeLast year, Graham, now 51, was selected as the only York native to travel to Thailand to train at the prestigious Buddha Swan Academy of Swordsmanship in Ayutthaya.
Now he has returned from a 10-day trip training under Thai masters at the highest level for about six hours or more a day.
He said, “I think a lot of people thought it was just a matter of picking up a few swords and doing a few moves.
“It was great to go back in time to the history of Krabi Krabong and be accepted as a student.The current members of the institute are, in a way, my family.”
Graham became a student at Krabi Krabong, one of the three forms of Thai martial arts in Manchester.
“Krabi Krabong is a royal martial art and a Thai weapon system, and it's not just about fighting; the discipline, culture and education of this rare martial art is also important to me, and I hope to continue it for many years to come. I am.
“It's becoming a disappearing martial art form. Very few people know about traditional Thai martial arts. For me, it's important that tradition and knowledge stay alive and promoted.”
“I don’t know of anyone in York, across Yorkshire or further afield who trains at Krabi Krabon, or anyone from our part of the UK who has ever trained at Buddha Swan. ”
Graham trained at the Buddha Swan Institute, the gold standard in Thai martial arts.
“If I hadn't trained so hard and had the patience, this experience would never have happened. In the early days, I thought I would never be able to finish a training session, let alone continue training for years. “The benefits of learning Thai martial arts are immense, as it is a very advanced skill level,” he said.
Graham has a background in Thai boxing, having taken up Thai boxing in his hometown of Darlington in the early 1990s as part of an effort to improve his fitness levels.
He said: “Eventually I gave up on this path many years ago, but that seed was always in my heart. I was still looking for something to do related to martial arts.
“Thai Martial Arts is the source of my martial arts experience and knowledge, and there is nothing like it.”
Krabi Krabong is believed to have begun its life at Buddha Swan centuries ago. This system is said to date back thousands of years, and is different from other martial arts in that it is a battlefield skill.
