Originating in Brazil, Vale Tudo is portugese for 'Anything goes' and is among the most lethal and effective fighting systems. It has been made famous by fighters such as Marco Ruas. It is also similar to Gracie Ju-Jitsu.

Vale Tudo takes the most effective combat techniques from styles such as Jujitsu, Muay Thai, Sambo,Wrestling and Western Boxing. In England Vale Tudo is still in it's infancy though it is likely to hit the English Martial Community with an impact.

At the Tap Out Academy , Wolverhampton, Vale Tudo is taught as a means of self defence and a way of entering the ring in Full Contact. Great emphasis is placed on physical training and technique. Members can practise a very aggresive sport in a responsable and friendly environment.

Tap Out Academy, Wolverhampton, was founded to provide a training location in the West Midlands for full-contact, cross training martial arts totalfighters. In keeping with the philosophy of quality over quantity, commercialisation has been shunned and class sizes are kept small. In the club, members are encouraged to form 'training pairs', to help maintain motivation and support each other through all aspects of training. The club as a whole is very much team oriented and mutually supportive.

The training sessions are rigorous and may last  up to five hours, being split into fitness building, technique development and skill acquisition through a large amount of sparring. Training aids such as the heavy wrestling dummy are often used to develop striking power when ground grappling and to practise powerful throws such as suplexes. Naturally, grappling practice plays a key role within Totalfight preparation, with technical knowledge being derived from the Japanese and Russian martial arts.

Before founding the club I spent many years developing my totalfighting style, blending modern Jiu-jitsu and Boxing with the adaptability of Submission Wrestling.

A great deal of tough grappling experience was passed on to me by my friend and mentor Rob Harris, who has coupled a wide range of technical experience in Jiu-jitsu, Sombo and Wrestling with a keenness to push the limits of hard, full-contact training.

Sharing the same spirit as the original Vale  Tudo schools, famous in Brazil, I always refused to accept any knowledge at face value, putting techniques and strategies to a pressure test under Vale Tudo and other fighting conditions. As a result my basic curriculum is kept small, with a greater emphasis placed upon developing experience, which allows the Totalfighter to operate calmly, rationally and efficiently whilst under the pressure of Totalfight rules.

All of those training at the school are already experienced martial artists of various styles. Current fighters at the school include; Mat Bowen (Aikido), Dale Adams (Wing Chun), Steve Cooper (TKD), Ayman Sarhan (Karate/Aikido), Barry Thomas (Shootfighting) and Vikas (Muay Thai/Freestyle Wrestling). Initially putting themselves forward for training with the aim of simply developing grappling skills, which their own styles lacked, many have since realised that Vale Tudo Totalfighting has many more benefits.

There is currently room for new enrolments at the club and instructors are available for seminars. We also welcome contacts from other martial arts clubs who may be interested in friendly competition.

Please contact Matt Bowen on 07050 27759.