Nam Yang wouldn’t be what it is without our fantastic team of dedicated, knowledgeable and supportive instructors and volunteers to give you the best training experience.
Tom Stiff
Director & Senior Instructor
Tom is Nam Yang Brighton’s longest serving instructor and has been training with Nam Yang for over 20 years. He currently runs the Tiger-Crane Kung Fu, Shuang Yang and Chi Gong classes. Being a direct disciple of Grandmaster Tan Soh Tin, his classes are famous for their high intensity warm ups and his attention to detail of technique and form.
Sam Byford-Winter
Director, Senior Instructor & Manager
Sam has been training in Martial Arts and Combat Sports for over 20 years. He manages Nam Yang Brighton and Hove branches and runs all the Kickboxing programs, Teens Kung Fu, Junior programs and Little Tigers as well as our community outreach work. If that wasn’t enough, he’s also our competition team head coach.
Christina Jo Saunders
Instructor & Personal Trainer
Christina is a level 3 personal trainer and Instructor at Nam Yang Brighton. Her Martial Arts career includes Wado-Ryu Karate, Kickboxing, Boxing and Savate, for which she won a National Championship in 2018. Christina also runs Team Queen, a queer friendly environment for female identifying students and non-binary people to train in Combat Sports and fitness programs.
Max Freshney
Instructor
Max was a keen skateboarder before deciding to get into Martial Arts. He is a blue belt under Ivam Maciel in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and has competed in Savate Kickboxing several times for Nam Yang. Max teaches at Nam Yang Brighton in both Kickboxing and San Da as well as Junior and Little Tigers classes.
Chance Kanyoni
Instructor
Chance is one of Nam Yang Brighton’s most experienced instructors having started training with Nam Yang in 2001 as an asylum seeker in the UK. Before arriving in the UK he achieved a 2nd degree black belt in Shotokan Karate along with brown belts in Judo and Aikido. Chance was also the East African Karate champion with an undefeated record in Kumite.
Sam Pottier
Instructor
Sam has been training with Nam Yang for over 15 years. He routinely trains in Kung Fu, Shuang Yang and Savate. Sam is a very knowledgeable and calm teacher who brings a good base of knowledge to the classes. He also has several Savate competitions under his belt too.
Ramsey James
Instructor
Having been in the marines for five years as a young man, hard work and discipline come naturally to Ramsey. He spent five years training Muay Thai at the famous Mejiro Gym in Amsterdam under Andre Mannaart’s tutelage. Ramsey has competed in Muay Thai for Nam Yang and helps run the Kickboxing and San Da classes.
Ve King
Instructor
Ve has been training with Nam Yang Brighton for over 10 years. She started with Kung Fu and Shuang Yang before training in Savate Boxe Francaise. Having competed in Savate and boasting some of the quickest kicks in the club, Ve brings great fun and experience to the classes. She helps run sessions for the Little Tigers and Savate Kickboxing.
Harry Fairchild
Assistant Instructor & Kickboxing Master
Already a national table tennis champion, Harry decided to take up Kickboxing after training with head coach Sam. Harry trains at the brilliant Brighton Table Tennis Club and his training at Nam Yang, helps his fitness for his table tennis competitions. He brings a wonderful energy to all the sessions and helps assist in the Junior and Adult Kickboxing classes as well as some of our out reach programs.
Mack Tincombe
Assistant Instructor
Mack started in Nam Yang Little Tigers aged 4 and has been with us ever since. He trains three times a week in Tiger Crane Kung Fu as well as Savate and Kickboxing. He has competed in Savate at the Brighton Open as a 14 year old against adult opponents, and in 2021 come home with two gold medals from the Northern Ireland Open. He is keen to compete for the British title soon. Mack helps run the Little Tiger and Junior sessions.
Josh Keys
Instructor
Josh has been training with Nam Yang for over 12 years now. Whilst at University in London, Josh trained for 3 years at our Epsom branch before returning to Nam Yang Brighton. Josh now teaches and assists the adult Kung Fu and Shuang Yang classes as well as the Teens Kung Fu class. Josh is a committed member of the team with a great depth of knowledge for his arts.