Train with us – Ghost Elusive Combat

Book a Seminar Train at Tier 1 Martial Arts Book a Private Lesson with Jake Zoom with us

Who am I and Why should you train with us?

A pioneer of UK MMA…

My name is Phil Norman. I am a life-long martial artist, full instructor under Guro Dan Inosanto and considered a pioneer of MMA in the UK.

I’ve been very fortunate to train with many of the best martial artists in the world, including instructors like Dan Inosanto, Erik Paulson, Rick Faye, Yori Nakamura, Trevor Ambrose and many others.

It was after winning World and British titles in different combat sports that an embarrassing KO made me rethink my approach to combat.

Drawing from my experiences training with Trevor Ambrose and Kali gave me the inspiration for what became Ghost Elusive Combat.

In case you don’t know who Trevor is, he is a multiple kickboxing and boxing champion with hundreds of fights to his name, and he was one of my main training partners during my fighting days.

It felt like his three mates had jumped in the ring…

Trevor had this incredibly elusive style of striking. I remember the first time we sparred, the moment after we touched gloves, it seemed like his three mates had jumped in the ring and decided to get involved. Trevor was hitting me from everywhere but seemed to vanish whenever I tried to punch him.

I survived the session, which I’m quite proud of considering how good Trevor was, and began training with him regularly to sharpen my striking skills and learn Trevor’s style.

However, Trevor didn’t teach that way, and none of his students had the same style. Instead, he focused on teaching a very tight traditional boxing game.
For years after my first session with Trevor, I tried to figure out how to develop a style similar to him, and systemise his approach, but had limited success.

Finding the missing piece...

That was until I found the answer in Kali. I’m not sure how much you know about Kali, but it’s a weapon-based art, and one of the main principles is off-lining. After all, if someone is going to stab you or try and bash you with a stick, you definitely don’t want to stand in front of them.

But it wasn’t until a particular numerado training session with Rick Faye that I realised off-lining was the missing piece in the elusive puzzle and one of the main principles of Ghost was born.

Over 11 years of pressure testing…

That was over 11 years ago, and thanks to A LOT of pressure testing and experimentation at the highest level of competition, Ghost has developed into a complete system that can be taught to anyone whether they have previous experience or not.

Through the Ghost system, I’ve taken students with zero martial arts skills to MMA champions in six months, and I’ve helped competitors conquer national and international titles while taking minimal damage on route to victory. One of those students is Jake Clarke.

Jake Clarke

Ghost Story

I started kickboxing at the age of 10 and was awarded my black belt under Sensei Trevor Ambrose (5x World Kick Boxing Champion) at age 15.

At 16 I was diagnosed a type 1 diabetic but despite this, I decided to start competing in kick boxing until age 19, winning a southern area K1 title, IKF British title and IKF 5 nations title during that time.

At 19 I made the switch to amateur boxing winning 4 x southern area titles and one national championship. Ranked No 3 in the country I made the England squad where I represented my country. I also boxed in the German boxing league (Bundesliga) for BC Traktor Schwerin.

The next chapter for me now is to turn to Professional boxing.