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Founder

Frank was introduced to health & fitness at an early age when the whole family used to go running, adventuring and training together, led by his father – a cross country runner for the RAF.

A boyhood also filled with wrestling, football, & swimming, (both in the pool and out – what they now call ‘wild swimming’ – in rivers, lakes & the sea).

Holidays entailed navigating (Literally – as a nine year old in the front passenger seat on his mother’s lap, map in hand), round the whole of the mainland coastline (bar the top end of Scotland), as well as inland Wales, Lake district etc. to take them orienteering, climbing, canoeing and anything else that came their way.

At school the careers officer was informed he wanted to be a stuntman, and his first introduction to martial arts came with the fencing foil and kickboxing, closely followed by judo at college.

A family move ‘up north’ introduced Frank to Karate, which he continues to practice to this day, over 45 years later, along with other martial arts.

During this time, in 1980, he completed a Barefoot Run for charity from Scarborough to Blackpool (approx 130 miles!) with other members of the Cobra Karate Club.

In 1991 he opened what was possibly the UK’s first true multi style martial arts training centre, hosting over 10 different martial disciplines under one roof.

At this time he also formed his own style of martial arts called Tobu JiyuJutsu – or Fly Free Art (art without constraints) which is the basis for Urban Combat.

An introduction to yoga and nutritional studies were added to his list of passions and took his understanding of health & fitness even further.

From fitness yoga he progressed to Ashtanga yoga, a dynamic and flowing form, and later he took his exams to become a qualified yoga teacher.

Always looking to improve, Frank took a ‘working holiday’ early in 2007 to Hong Kong, after securing a letter of recommendation from his Wing Chun Sifu William Lai, where he was honoured to train with Sifu’s teacher Grand-Master Choy Shun Tin, the worlds leading Wing Chun master.

Marrying a Bournemouth girl in 2008, he has settled between the Jurassic coast and the New Forrest to call Bournemouth his home.

2009 he started his ‘Yoga on the Beach’ classes which has grown to become the south coast’s premier Yoga on the Beach venue.

In 2010 he formulated the ‘Every list’ which was later to become the ‘Every Human Challenge’ and in July 2011 he became a father with the birth of his first Son.

2011 was the year he founded the Safe and Sound chair-based exercise programme which has developed and grown into the leading &award winning Safe & Sound, Music and Movement+ programme.

October 2012 saw Frank completing the MovNat Trainers course in London to become one of the original of only a handful of certified trainers in the UK.

In2017 he attended the Perpetual Movement Symposium in Dance and Health with the famous Rambert contemporary dance company in London.

In 2018 he won Gold in Kata at the Ty Ga London World Championships.
In 2019 he qualified to represent Team GB in the World Martial Arts Games being held that year in London with over 40 different countries participating. He was proud to win 2 silver and 1 bronze medals, though he was beginning to feel unwell.

In May 2022 he was diagnosed with cancer and in September started treatment.

In November 2022 he was honoured to receive the ‘Master’s Special Award’ for his outstanding contribution and support towards Dragon Tang Soo Do.

Dec 2022 he was told that the cancer had spread and things looked dire. However, the fact that he was so fit and otherwise very healthy helped as he underwent radical surgery.

On the road to recovery, a busy schedule now sees Frank juggling being a father and teaching Holistic Body Training in all its elements full time.

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