Profile

Walt Missingham

Address

PO Box 134

Kenthurst

NSW 2156

Phone

(02) 9679 1742

Fax

(02) 8736 1230

Email

info@jkd.com.au

Current Details

Occupation

Television Producer/Company Director

Martial Arts Taught

LWKD comprising Mi Tsung I, Capoeira, Hung Gar, Western fencing, Kali, Jeet Kune Do Concepts, Pentjak Silat, Muay Thai, Grappling, Jun Fan Gung Fu.

Certified by Dan Inosanto as a JKD Instructor.

 

Walt Missinghan is one of the world’s leading authorities on Bruce Lee and the fighting method known as Jeet Kune Do. 

As producer and principal researcher of the best-selling Bruce Lee documentaries Jeet Kune Do, Intercepting Fist, and Path of the Dragon, Walt has been instrumental in the promotion, preservation and authentication of one of the world’s most in-demand fighting systems.

 

 Walt with Dan Inosanto

Walt is the pioneer of non-classical martial arts in Australia.

In 1974 he opened his first school, by 1975 he was the youngest full time professional martial arts instructor in Australia with about 30 schools operating. He established a specialised security service that dealt with the training of military and police personnel as well as providing people that managed situations where violence was expected. This group, headed by Walt, became quite famous in Australia and was known as ‘The Wrecking Crew’ and was featured on Television and in a number of newspaper and magazine stories.

The publicity lead to Walt being approached by the Seven Network to front a martial arts segment for ‘11AM’ a daily magazine style current affairs program, Walt produced and hosted this segment over a three year period.

In 1977 he was the foundation secretary of the New South Wales Kung Fu Association, which was the first time Kung Fu instructors had got together to form themselves into a cohesive body. This later developed into the Australian Kung Fu Federation, which is now the government recognised peak body for Chinese martial arts in Australia.

In 1983 he was approached by one of his television contacts that wanted to shoot a documentary about the first non-Chinese person to train at the Shaolin Temple and they wanted that person to be Walt.

The film was shot and the subsequent publicity helped promote Walt even further. Not long after this Walt first hosted a seminar with Dan Inosanto, it was to be the first of many over more than ten years, somewhere over three hundred seminars that Walt organised and attended during this time period. During this period he also organised seminars in Australia and New Zealand for Chai Sirisute, Larry Hartsell, Erik Paulson and Cocoy Canete – the quantity and quality of these seminars contributed greatly to raising the awareness and openness of martial artists in these two countries.

During this time period Walt trained with Dan Inosanto, Chai Sirisute, Larry Hartsell, Kevin Taylor, Erik Paulson, Gene LeBell, Cocoy Canete, Bill Wallace, Benny Urquidez.

From the mid-eighties to the early nineties Walt was also involved in training fighters for full contact matches and managed to train 32 fighters, in various weight divisions, to take Australian titles.

Walt was the first person to publicly teach Mi Stung I kung fu and Capoeira in Australia (in 1977) and later introduced these arts into New Zealand in 1988.

As the National Coaching Director for Martial Arts with the Martial Arts Industry Association and Kung Fu with the Australian Sports Commission Walt has personally been responsible for the accreditation of over 2000 instructors over the last 12 years.

Walt is of the view that the coaching sciences in combination with professional risk management procedures and the scientific application of the martial arts are the future.

Walt has produced and directed a number of martial arts training videos (3 on Dan Inosanto, 2 on Larry Hartsell and 2 on Chai Sirisute). In the mid nineties he was provided with all of Bruce Lee’s private training videos, notes and audio records by the Bruce Lee Estate and from this produced ‘Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do’ – to date the best selling martial arts training tape in the world. He also produced, for television broadcast ‘Bruce Lee – The Intercepting Fist’ and ‘Path of the Dragon’. These films have reached millions of people around the world and exposed them to the accurate message about Jeet Kune Do.

Walt’s current range of Martial Arts related activities and credentials are as follows:

·          Level Three Accredited Coach – Australian Sports Commission

·          Instructor Capoeria

·          Instructor Kung Fu

·          Black Belt Doce Pares

·          Instructor Thai Boxing

·          President (and Founder) Australian Jeet Kune Do Association

·          President Australian Kung Fu (Wushu) Federation Inc

·          President Martial Arts Industry Association Inc

·          Past President and Founder Australian Thai Boxing Association Inc

·          National Coaching Director – Kung Fu (Australian Sports Commission)

·          National Coaching Director Martial Arts (Martial Arts Industry Association)

·          Australian delegate to the International Wu Shu Olympic Committee Beijing China

·          Author of the Accreditation programs for Kung Fu (levels 1, 2 and 3) with National Coaching Accreditation Scheme (Aust Sports Commission)

·          Author of the Accreditation programs for Martial Arts with National Martial Arts Instructor Accreditation Scheme (MAIA)

·          Writer of the National Code of Practice for Martial Arts Centres and Instructors

·          Writer of the NSW Education Department Guidelines for the Safe Conduct of Sport and Physical Activities in Schools – Martial Arts

·          Past Adviser to the Standing Committee on Recreation and Sport (Working Group on Boxing and Combat Sports)

·          Past Adviser to the National Police Ministers Conference (Committee for Uniform Weapons Legislations)