Working With Warriors

In the early Seventies, three young martial artists worked together as doormen at a Liverpool nightclub and forged a lifelong friendship. Terry O’Neill went on to become the greatest karate champion Britain has ever produced. Gary Spiers was the deadliest streetfighter alive. And Dennis Martin is now a leading expert on close protection and bodyguarding.

Working with Warriors is the extraordinary story of these three martial arts masters and how they transformed both the practice of personal combat and the face of the UK security industry. It tells of how they brought unprecedented levels of training and sheer fighting skill to the muscle trade and it recalls in vivid detail the dangerous, violent path they walked and the characters they fought along the way.

Dennis Martin went on to work the doors for three decades, to guard beauty queens and royalty and to train law enforcement officers around the world. Terry became a legend both in karate and among doormen for his astonishing technique and founded the influential Fighting Arts Illustrated magazine before making films with the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sean Connery. And Gary, a hulking Maori who trained in the brutal dojos of Japan, dismantled gangs single-handedly and eventually put security on an organised footing at venues across the north of England.

About the author:

Dennis Martin spent his entire adult life involved in frontline security, working on the nightclub doors in Liverpool, protecting VIPs all over the world, then training bodyguards and other security professionals. He is also a widely published writer, with articles appearing in Black Belt, Soldier of Fortune, SWAT, Combat Handguns, Mars and Minerva and Combat. His regular ‘On Guard’ column in Fighting Arts International is widely accepted as being the impetus behind reality-based self-protection.

What they said:

‘Tough and compelling. This is a must-read for anyone interested in frontline security and bodyguarding but it’s also a fascinating history of martial arts in Britain over the past three decades. Highly recommended.’
FIGHTSPORT magazine

‘Well-written, entertaining, educational, and an amusing insight into the lives of three real world warriors.’ THE IRISH FIGHTER

‘Dennis Martin is the most credible instructor of real self-defence in the world today.’ – GEOFF THOMPSON, AUTHOR OF ‘WATCH MY BACK’