Frank Brennan

[Thegamefroob]

Lolz... This guy is coming to my town ;)

[MrCubababy]

Frank , has to be the best all round fighter we have ever produced . It's his personal skills he needs to work on . He's not very approachable to say the least. If he takes a leaf out of terry or andys book he would be better person . All that aside he was and still is the best

[jaapert]

in any WKF karate tournament he would get his ass handed

[SuperBluepurple]

@jaapert thats because the WKF is semi contact and lame. The old school Jka was meant to be semi contact, but no one cared, so the judges rarely dqed people for hard contact . The WKF is a horrible competition format and makes karate look worse then tkd. Now a days the best karate is kyokushin.

[blackbeltste]

@SuperBluepurple I wish I could disagree with you, but the sole reason I don't do competition is because of that very reason. If it were full contact, id be in there like a shot.

[RothwellSKC]

I have trained with Frank Brennan, he is a legend. I would be terrified fighting him, he is incredible.

[joetheshmo1968]

some realy stupid comments flying about '' frank is one if not 'the best ' kumite fighter this country has produced .

[windowpain81]

who is?

[Rosslyn9]

Hi FrankSwindon - I think Terry O'Neill would beg to differ :-) Suggest you read 'Working With Warriors' by Dennis Martin

[FrankSwindon]

karate is evolving. the old days we did what our sensei told us. in the new phase we listen to our sensei and then see if it stands up to pressure testing. high kicks will never work in the street when you are cold and wearing normal street wear....just crazy.

[sweetypie000]

must just be you, i do pretty well, any kick - hot, cold, high or low

:)

[iwannaberelevant]

why does your vagina rip if it's too high?

[mizu1000]

Karate may be "evolving" for you, but personally, I still do what my sensei tells me.

[tq25tn]

I think you miss the point Frank. It isn't about what is best in the street. Karate isn't the best street fighting style. Practiced street fighting is!!  It's about ablity and style. Like fencing isn't the best in the street defence. Enjoy it for what a performance it is.

[windowpain81]

i must respectively disagree. maybe some systems aren't, but i'll say that shotokan, and kyokushin are very effective in the street. it just depends on whose operating the machine.

[zeele0910]

dats what karate kumatie is not now if you touch some on on the face u get honsoku

[sw1000xg]

WOW whats this about him joining the Red Triangle at the age of 13 when he trained at Kirkby Karate club under the tuition of Billy Christhall not Andy Sherry, I know coz I trained with him...

[thebluekangaroo]

I have always believed Sensei Brennan only trained at the triangle, I will ask brother about this tomorrow.

[sw1000xg]

Cheers...

[thebluekangaroo]

Haven't had a chance to speak my Sensei about this but I do know he never started training at 13, he was turned away from the triangle as you had to be 14. I am sure he then went and did a bit of Judo whilst waiting for the triangle to allow him to join. Not sure where this was though, but it could have been Sheild Road. Can't believe he would have bothered traveling to Kirkby to train when he was local to the Triangle and the most Senior instructors in the city all trained there.

[sw1000xg]

Hi

Frank did train for years at Kirkby Karate Club he had actually taken some of his gradings there. I know I had to fight him and another person to get my grading for lst Kyu (brown and double white) as Frank got his 1st Kyu as well there. He was never accompanied by Andy Sherry as everybody states in prior interviews etc, we trained Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday nights and in the summer Sunday afternoons and he was there most nights. Pass my name Barbara Williams.

Thanks

[thebluekangaroo]

Sorry Barbara, but I spoke to my sensei last night, Franks elder bro Sensei Jim Brennan and he said you are wrong. Frank has never been a member of any other club than the triangle, he has only ever graded at the triangle. He may have trained at Kirkby in the past but only as a visitor and accompanied by Sensei Sherry in the same way he visits dojo's all over the country. Looks like in this instance it may be a case of the wrong Frank Brennan. Hope this helps clear this up. Good luck. Oss

[mizaryonprozac]

I read somewhere eh knew he couldnt train (too young) so lied about his age?

[thebluekangaroo]

Not sure about that, could be true.

A book came out last year about the early history of karate in Liverpool and it mentioned in there about Sensei (Terry) O'Neil lying about his age so he could join a year early.

[micirv20]

He wasn't allowed to join the karate club until he was 14 so he did judo until he was.

[Mantrousers]

He sat in on, and assessed, all my gradings upto purple belt. I went to a training session run by him as well, and nearly passed out!

Don't know how he manages it but he is somehow totally fearsome, yet gives off an aura of complete calm and scholarliness when he's sitting giving people feedback.

Very cool dude, and a nice guy. More vids please.

[gyromancy2]

I love watching this guy. It's too bad that MMA doesn't have someone like him. Lyoto doesn't do the cool moves like Frank does in this video. Frank is way more exciting than Lyoto.

[karatefella]

I've sadly never trained with Sensei Brennan, but I greatly admire him.

I'm just glad I've never had to fight him !

[PanicusVulgaris]

karatefella, I beg to differ. Brennan Sensei is realy an amazing fighter (and a very humble and cool personality, as far as i know), but that's why I am sad I never had a chance to fight him. Of course he would beat the crap out of me, but it would be both a great honour to just stand face to face with him on the tatami and a great chance to learn something from one of the greatest.

[karatefella]

i'm confused.

What are you disagreeing with?

[PanicusVulgaris]

Hahaha, you said you're glad that you never had to fight him. And I disagree on that one. I'd love to have as many chances as possible to fight great fighters as Brennan Sensei is. Every fight like that is a great learning experience.

[karatefella]

I am glad I never had to fight him because I would have got battered !

I am 4th Dan in Shotokan Karate and I am confident in my ability, but Sensei Brennan is a brilliant fighter !

[windowpain81]

i completely agree. i would love for a chance to fight brennan. couldn't have said it better. brennan is a great martial artist, and it would be a great learning experience.

[gyromancy2]

what's the name of the kick at 00:40 of this vid?

[Rosslyn9]

ushiro mawashi geri

[ThePurdude]

if he's a bully, then i suppose my football coach is also a bully for always yelling at me to run faster, kick harder, and score with more accuracy

[PICO482007]

SU,SUGOSUGI~~

I wish I can kick like the...(~o~)

[karatefella]

I bet the first opponent was glad Sensei Brennans Ushiro Mawashi Geri didn't connect !

[gyromancy2]

What's the name of the kick at 00:40 of this video??

[peterkeen1]

Who the hell thinks Brennan is a bully. Your obviously not up to his physical training or ethos. Hes a bloody perfectionist and the damn Japs even trained specifically to beat him. I just trained with him tonight in N.Ireland. His training in second to none! If he speaks to you once, you know he wants the best out of you, and in every session training with him, you always perform at your best. Sounds like there are many soft people out there.

[gyromancy2]

I think he's the best caucasian I've ever seen in Karate. He's better than most Japanese fighters.

[veritum]

If you think he's a bully, then i take it you felt bullied? So you are a victim??

I've trained with him since i was an orange belt. Never felt bullied though. Only motivated and inspired. From my experience the people who call him a bully are those who can't hack a proper class. I guess its easier to say 'He's a bully' than 'i'm not up to it'

[mlechgar]

name of he music

[jeffersonleandro]

PRODIGY - smack my b1tch up ...

[scousemacca1]

trained wiv him hate him he's a bully who thinks he's hard

[gmd5]

hope you found someone else to train with who you felt at ease with and didn't give up completely, don't know why ppl are being mean to you on here, it's just your opinion xx

[RbSeq]

where is Brennan now?

[mooseven]

Same place he's always been - Liverpool!

[veritum]

yup, still in Liverpool. One of the main reasons i moved to the city of culture... to train at the red triangle :)

I think myself lucky to have such world class instructors!

[blackbeltste]

monster.

[datdrudi]

GREAT! Please post more of Sensei Brennan!