Professor Steve Newman
Professor Steve has been training, learning and teaching martial arts for many years. He still trains hard everyday to make sure he is the best he can be and to be the best possible instructor.
Professor Steve is the head instructor and owner of Matrix Martial Arts and achieved his Black Belt in Brazilian JiuJitsu from Mastre Sylvio Behring in 2016. He currently trains under Professor Lovato Jr the most decorated American JiuJitsu practitioner in history. Professor Steve is also a coach under the great Erik Paulson, founder of CSW Combat Submission Wrestling and one of the pioneers of MMA in America. At Matrix Martial Arts he will be teaching Coach Erik's STX Kickboxing, CSW NoGi grappling and Professor Lovato Jrs JiuJitsu curriculum.
It is Professor Steves dream to build a martial arts school where everyone can thrive and a place where everyone can feel safe. Professor Steve can help you to build confidence, lose weight, learn something new or even compete if that is your dream one day.
I started my martial arts journey in Bournemouth, England at 12 years old with Shukokai Karate and continued to train up until I had achieved a purple belt in that art at the age of 15. I decided to started to train again after a break and found a Wado Ryu Karate school. This time I was determined to train hard and get my black belt. I did train hard, training 4-5 times a week and was well on my way to that black belt when after 3 years my instructor came into class and announced that we wouldn’t be training Wado Ryu anymore but switching to Zen Shorin Do. So again my Karate journey stopped at purple belt. At this point I was introduced to Colin Sherrard and Jeet Kune Do. Colin ran the School Of Fighting Arts in Poole, Dorset. When I started training with Colin I knew my martial arts was going to go to a different level. Colin Sherrard was one of only a few full instructors under Guru Dan Inosanto in England at the time. My eyes were opening to a whole new world of martial arts. Muay Thai, Savate, Eskrima (knife and stick), trapping and grappling to name a few. I had the pleasure of training with Guru Dan Inosanto on numerous occasions at various seminars around the country. I was also meeting other great martial artists; Erik Paulson, Rick Faye, Rick Young. During this I was also fortunate to meet Phil Norman. Phil was Colin’s best friend and training partner and an amazing martial artist. Sadly in 1999 Colin passed away. I knew without a doubt that if I wanted to continue to train JKD Phil Norman was my best option.
I trained with Phil until Oct 2000 when I had a nasty motorbike accident which took me out of work and away from martial arts for 4 years. Long story short after being hit by a car and then hitting a lamp post I was in a bad way. Drs told me to rest and my back would get better and after 3 years I finally decided to take matters into my own hands and to start my own rehab. So I went to the local sports centre as a 28 year old with a walking stick. I started with Aqua Aerobics, Deep Water Aqua Aerobics, a core stability classes then walking on a treadmill and eventually started small runs. After about 9 months of this I said to my best friend Kev, “Hey buddy, do you fancy a game of squash!?” He looked at me like I was crazy!! We played squash later that week. In 2005 I finally went back to Phil and started training again. In 2007 I stepped into the Cage in my hometown of Bournemouth. I didn’t get the win but it was a close fight with me winning the ground fighting and my opponent winning the stand up. The commentators gave it to me but the judges gave it to my opponent. In 2008 my wife and I moved to Sherwood Park, Canada. I immediately started to look for a place to train. This task was difficult as I could not find a Jeet Kune Do school that I wanted to train at in Edmonton. At this point I didn’t know what to do so I decided to work out what part of JKD was my favourite. I soon broke it down and realised it was the grappling. Now I was on a mission to find a BJJ school. I explored a couple but really didn’t like what I was seeing. In 2009 Sensei Ryan Timoffee opened up Arashi Do Sherwood Park and my search was over. I loved BJJ from day one and was hooked. As normal I threw myself into it and before long I was training 4-5 days a week about 8 classes a week. I was travelling to Arashi Do North twice a week to train with the head instructor Professor Mike Yackulic and his understudy, now Professor Andrew Gummer of Method BJJ. I was soaking it all up, as much as I could get, including Muay Thai with Professor Mike. In 2011 I moved all my training to their northside school. After a while Professor Mike asked if I would like to teach his MMA class. I gave it a try…… Oh, I was hooked……. I love teaching!
In October 2012 I was given the opportunity to teach BJJ at the Arashi Do Fort Saskatchewan location. From the moment I stepped into that school I knew it was my new home. By June 2013 I had added an MMA program and was really starting to build a family. June 2013 was a real special time for me. I was given the opportunity to purchase the school and June was the change-over date. During Christmas time, 2013, I started major renovations on the school and I'm very proud with how it has turned out. On Friday April 22nd 2016 my 41st birthday I was awarded my Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu by Mastre Sylvio Behring. It was a very special day for me, anyone that has tried BJJ knows it’s not an easy sport on your body and not an easy sport to learn. Now as I write this in March 2018 I'm proud and honored to be a Black Belt under Professor Rafael Lovato Jr. In 2016 I decided to leave Arashido and go out on my own, I started and ran Hybrid Martial Arts in Canada for a couple of years before deciding to sell my school and move to Spain. The move to Spain was for two reasons, one was to be closer to mine and my wife’s parents as they age and the other was due to my health. In Canada I suffered with bad sleep apnea that was not allowing my body to repair so my injuries would build up. After taking a holiday to Spain in 2017 I discovered that my sleep apnea wasn’t present here. After research I found my particular sleep apnea was brought on due to altitude, so the decision was really made for us.
So here we are Spain 2018 and living the dream, I now train under two amazing coaches, Coach Erik Paulson founder of CSW and Professor Rafael Lovato Jr. I now get to train with these guys on a regular basis and have an amazing support system and curriculum from both of these great fighters. I’m also very happy to announce that I will be training with Phil Norman again back in England as well. I’m currently training his amazing GHOST elusive sport fighting system. It is my dream now to get my body healed and get back on the mats to compete again in Jiu-jitsu. I competed at every belt level in Canada but I have not competed at Black Belt yet. I hope to one day add a Masters Title to my list of achievements.
