Downderry Martial Arts

06/09/2026

This was my first dojo. I walked through those doors as an 18 year old hoping to find something even though I wasn't sure what it was. I soon came to love the structure, discipline and brotherhood. The instructors at Plymouth Shotokan were all excellent in their own right - completely different from one another and all a part of a bigger design
- the jigsaw of martial arts. That single decision went on to shape my entire life, something l am unendingly grateful for today. I still have friends I made in that place that produced some outstanding karateka and now, 38 years later and a lot of water under the bridge it genuinely saddens me to see this place falling apart. It was somewhere we could meet, laugh, bleed, bond, grow, vent, heal, our own church within a church. So is a building more than just bricks and cement? Can a place provide one half of the polarity that energy requires? Does a space cause people to thrive or wither? If so then my feelings are well founded, otherwise I'm just a sentimental old t**t.

29/07/2026

The new merch for DMA is in the making & will be available soon. We will keep you posted.

29/07/2026

27/07/2026

FUNDRAISING OPEN MAT

We’re opening the mats for a day of K1 • BJJ • MMA, and everyone is welcome—whether you’re a complete beginner, experienced martial artist, or just want to come along and support an incredible young athlete.

Our fundraising open mat is in aid of Ethan Stewart 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇩🇲 - who has been selected to represent England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 at the IMMAF Youth World Championships in Abu Dhabi!

Representing your country is an incredible achievement, but it comes with significant travel and competition costs. Every donation, no matter how big or small, will help Ethan get one step closer to competing on the world stage.

📅 Saturday 8th August 2026
🕛 12:00 – 20:00
📍 Centaur HQ - Unit 1 Prideaux Close, Saltash

Open to all clubs and all abilities

Donations welcome on the door or via Ethan’s GoFundMe.

If you can’t make it, we’d really appreciate it if you could share this post to help us reach as many people as possible.

Let’s get behind one of England’s brightest young MMA talents and help Ethan achieve his dream!

05/07/2026

Today DMA demonstrated karate at downderry carnival. Karate is about personal growth and seeing young people showing the confidence to do this kind of thing is reward in itself. Thanks to the organisers and all who supported this event, it was a great afternoon.

02/07/2026

In both sessions tonight we unpacked one simple question - how do we hit hard? We blended natural flair with the refinement of best practice and discovered a surprising truth - everyone had their own individual sweet spot where the best results came from sometimes unexpected places. It is my absolute pleasure to see the confidence shining in people discovering their own power.

24/05/2026

What survives pressure? Martial arts training supplies pressure, discomfort, pain, disappointment and many more unwelcome guests into our thoughts. It shows us that these are essential ingredients to growth and to some extent, weirdly you start to welcome them in.
We learn an ABC principle that, when energy flags, technique drops away and the devil on our shoulder tells us to quit - Awareness, Breath and Clarity will see us over each hurdle.
Saturday morning saw a bunch of people all on the same path sharing knowledge and enjoying this journey whilst raising money for worthy causes. I am glad to call these people friends, it’s a community like no other so I’d add an F to the ABC - Friendship.

26/04/2026

Martial arts
Is my church. It has been a constant throughout my life, an anchor and a path at the same time. It has been mentor, redeemer, jailer, taskmaster, I’ve loved it and hated it but it has always shown me what I needed to see at the time. It has held my hand and let it go, I’ve had clarity and confusion but regardless its honesty kept me coming back whilst evolving with me and what I think I need. It has been many things but never a bully.
Maybe it’s an algorithm thing but I have seen a steady rise on social media of martial arts content ridiculing other martial artists which feels treacherous to me. People train for a variety of reasons, some want to move their bodies, some need confidence or a sense of belonging and some just want to test themselves or learn new cool moves. Combative sport or effective self defence somehow has become the only metric acceptable by some self appointed gatekeepers pointing and laughing at others who don’t fit the fashionable version of proper martial arts. Surely the one thing martial arts absolutely cannot tolerate is bullying. Isn’t that a core ideal?
Yes there are some frauds looking for notoriety or a quick buck but these things are something we have to navigate daily and in all walks of life, we deal with it with maturity and proficiency, learn and move on. When we see a short glimpse, out of context or badly shot video do we have the right to dismiss it as never working in the street or bullshido? Does it matter if the people in the clip are never going to win a cage fight or a bar brawl? One thing is for sure - laughing at them isn’t the surest way to encourage them.
The martial arts community represents a single figure percentage of the population, do we need to fracture it into sub cultures and gangs, each one claiming to have superiority over others? Shouldn’t we support each other in our growth whilst recognising intruders looking only for profit?
Our path is a solitary one, ours to tread our way, be it trailblazing through thick jungle or following a motorway, and if we do stop and ask for directions it’d be good to know the person we ask has a good sense of direction or at least hopes that we get there.
A bully requires an audience, a journey requires only the will to take it.

21/04/2026

https://youtube.com/shorts/nsVqQ5glNGs?si=G7RaVPEvQoLOwbMH