Southend-on-Sea, England: Kung Fu master Tony Anthony and Avanti Ministries

[honesty]

the book Taming the Tiger was co-written by Angela Little, a freelance author who specialises in testimonies. Her website is here: http://alittlecreative.com/

Under the books section is states that Taming the Tiger has sold a 100,000 copies. The books published through http://www.authenticmedia.co.uk.

[ChingChuan]

Thanks! However, I don't think I could just e-mail them and say 'I demand proof of Tony's statements', could I?

Also, I took a look at the video's. He's wearing a long-sleeved shirt there, so I can't see whether there are burn marks or not... (That's also a nice argument, by the way, I forgot to list it). I don't recall that he rolled up his sleeves to prove that his story was true...

[Asriel]

I live in Southend-on-Sea, does he teach around here?

[DuckofDeath]

I hope you don't mind that I revive a very old topic...

Not at all; in fact, I was thinking of bumping this one myself.

[DuckofDeath]

Vids:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjT0vv23ovg

More here:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_lis...2E83FAB8AA8985

Seems he also has done a video ad here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/GeorgieOoi

I watched the first video and was surprised to hear him say that when he was serving as a bodyguard in the Middle East he unnecessarily took people's lives because instead of shooting armed assailants in the shoulder or leg to disarm them, he would instead aim for the chest or head. As a kid, he apparently watched a lot of TV westerns in which one gunslinger would beat the other to the draw and shoot him in the shoulder or the knee before he could get his gun out of the holster. His implication that "winging" an armed assailant would have been the appropriate course of action positively smacks of bullshido...

Addendum: If an armed assailant has weapon in hand, would shooting him in the leg preclude his being able to return fire?

[mightydavefish]

Hmm.
He's figured out a way to cash in on both Jesus AND Kung fu.
He can part TWO kinds of suckers from their money.
In the end it's brilliant.
The kind of idiots for fall for one part of his crap will probably then fall for the other.
I'm jealous I didn't think of it first.

[forgetit]

Just the way this story is discribed it sound like bullshido to me.

[ben1g]

Hi, I'm a christian and a martial artist, and I came here for just this discussion.
I've read the book and I can say without hesitation that I believe Tony Anthony to be a fraud and a liar.
The training, rites of passage etc are all straight out of a shaw brothers movie. The idea that a 4 year old could pick up a Dao and raise it over his head is also laughable.
The tiger sequence is also a joke. Even if you ignore the zoological improbability of it, tigers are territorial killers. They don't give a rat's *ss if you're afraid or not, if you're on their patch they're going to attack you.
The whole competitive career thing is straight out of bloodsport, and it shows a complete lack of knowledge of Kung Fu to believe that in the early '80s there was an organised world body who could put him in training with a skilled coach and find work for him.
His career as a bodyguard is again pure fantasy, and the idea that you could survive on foot in the Saudi desert with just a small bottle of Evian is particularly amusing.
The strangest thing about this book is that the Christian story is completly unrelated to the Kung Fu story. It's been marketed as this big anti-martial arts treatise, and it only has one sentence against martial arts in it, and this is based on a somewhat flawed baptist teaching which would apply to all self defence.
I'm also somewhat disturbed by his apparent lack of grief, remorse or feelings of responsibility over the dead cyclist.
Why the deception? Well, first off there's the £100k-£200K from booksales etc. Then, if he visits a large church as a guest preacher every week, he will receive a "love offering" from the congregation which at a conservative estimate would average at £500 (cash, tax free).
I'd say that's plenty of motive.

[ChingChuan]

Thanks for your replies, all of you.

Hi, I'm a christian and a martial artist, and I came here for just this discussion.

Same for me ;).

The idea that a 4 year old could pick up a Dao and raise it over his head is also laughable.

Is this a verifable fact? (how heavy is a Dao?) Perhaps there's someone who knows... I mean, as I said, I'm trying to find as many verifable facts as possible, since I don't think they'll believe me without solid argumentation.

it shows a complete lack of knowledge of Kung Fu to believe that in the early '80s there was an organised world body who could put him in training with a skilled coach and find work for him.

When was the first organised world body for Kung fu founded?

I really hope that this guy can be stopped!

[ironhill]

When was the first organised world body for Kung fu founded?

I've read his book (no I didn't pay for it). He mentions the International Kung Fu Federation many times in reference to his alleged world titles and bodyguarding experience.

This seems to be the same organisation (how many International Kung Fu Federations can there be)

http://www.internationalkungfu.com/

Looking at this

http://www.internationalkungfu.com/R...ations_IKF.pdf

On the first page or so, says it was founded in 2003. I got the impression that his Kung-Fu past had to have happened at least ten years ago, with all the prision time he claims so how can he have been the champion in an organisation that didn't exist? Why not e-mail them and ask them if they have ever heard of Tony Anthony? Anyone who reads his book can surely tell what a crock of **** it is though right?