Kenpo Instructor – Don Woods
My name is Don Woods, and I currently hold a 4th Degree Black Belt in Kenpo 5.0.
My wife Suzanne and I are the senior instructors at Jeff Speakman’s Kenpo 5.0 in our home city of Brisbane, Australia.
Our School is in Sunnybank on Brisbane’s southside and has been running since 2004. We teach both adults and children classes every week.
I started Martial Arts in Brisbane back in 1988 and progressed through the ranks of Freestyle Tae Kwon Do achieving a 2nd Degree Black Belt in November 1997. I continued with TKD for another 6 years.
In Jan 2003 I had the pleasure of attending a seminar with Mr. Jeff Speakman in Brisbane. I clearly remember Mr. Speakman demonstrating a few Kenpo Techniques using me as the “Dummy”. I couldn’t believe his incredible power and speed. After experiencing the awesome power of Kenpo & listening to Mr Speakman’s clear and concise explanations of the underlying principles and concepts, Suzanne and I decided to leave TKD after 15 years and study Jeff Speakman’s Kenpo.
One of the great things about Mr Speakman’s Kenpo is that it is a continually evolving art, to provide its students with solutions to new threats that develop in the street. The ever-increasing popularity of Mixed Martial Arts in Australia has resulted in many more people who have skills both in stand-up and ground fighting. To provide solutions for defending against opponents on the street with these types of advanced skills, Mr Speakman evolved his system into Kenpo 5.0 in 2006. The Kenpo 5.0 Ground Fighting System was created, adding many ground fighting techniques to the curriculum.
In June 2006 I had the great pleasure of testing for my 1st Degree Brown Belt in Las Vegas, USA. What an awesome place! And what a fantastic group of people Mr Speakman leads! I met new friends from countries such as America, New Zealand, Bolivia, France and the UK. The standard of Mr Speakman’s students from all over the world is extremely high, and everyone participates in the test every year, whether they are testing or not!
Since 2008, Suzanne and I have been regular attendees at the annual Las Vegas camp, and we have successfully passed our 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th degree Black Belt tests.
Suzanne and I have three children who all train Kenpo 5.0 with us. Rachel, Daniel and Sarah have all earned Black Belts in our Junior System, and currently hold 2nd Degree Black Belts in the adult system.
For us, it is truly a family affair. I take great pleasure in guiding all our students towards their goals. They are all well on their way to becoming strong, kind, respectful, knowledgeable and humble members of our community.
