Thai Ju Jitsu /Nigel Scantlebury/ - know him?

**Tonuzaba** · Posted On: 7/07/2009 12:27pm

I've managed to find a single thread on TJJ from 2 years ago by g-off:
http://www.bullshido.net/forums/show...el+Scantlebury
But it was an attempt to critique the videos on the site (www.thaijujitsu.com) and nobody reacted.

Does anybody know Mr. Scantlebury (looking at Canadian Bullshido members specially), or trained under him?

I might be putting this into the wrong forum, but after the Quick-scandal (non-existent Eddie Bravo-brown belt) worrying information should be taken even more seriously. There are several things on the site that just doesn't sound right, starting with this little piece of poetry:

"The circle signifies the continuity of flow.
The triangle represents strength and perfect balance.
The yin and yang follows the theory that all things complete themselves with opposites;
just as within Thaiboxing there is grappling and within grappling there is Thaiboxing."

or

Being already well versed in Judo and wrestling it was quite easy for him to make the necessary adjustments considering Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a mixture of Judo, wrestling and Sambo.

or

Iron Panther, the name affectionately given to him by his students who proclaimed he has shins like iron and the agility of a cat. Today he teaches the Thai-Ju-Jitsu self-defense system.

and

Master Nigel Scantlebury was officially recognized as the President of the Canadian Muay Thai Association, achieving the second highest ranking in Muay Thai.

(I was unable to google such an Association or for example "MT master Tom Harinc"...)

Mr. Scantlebury claims to be the first person ever to bring Muay Thai as well as BJJ into Canada plus being the first ever in Canada to participate in MMA events even when they were still illegal in the country..., I have no idea as to these claims, but they are huge claims.

However he states he has a 5th degree black belt without clarifying in what martial art/received from whom... His BJJ resume is mainly about Rickson Gracie telling him to name his style ThaiJuJitsu instead of Thaijupakun...

The "Pictures" section of "Media" part of the site has scans of documents, some apparently about entitling Mr. Scantlebury to teach MT, most about participating on seminars (Inosanto, Machados...)

I am sorry if I suspect a well respected martial artist that I know nothing of, but maybe some of you could help clear things up, thanks.

**Lysol** · Posted On: 7/07/2009 2:48pm

Originally Posted by Tonuzaba

Mr. Scantlebury claims to be the first person ever to bring Muay Thai as well as BJJ into Canada plus being the first ever in Canada to participate in MMA events even when they were still illegal in the country..., I have no idea as to these claims, but they are huge claims.

They are also pretty much impossible to disprove. No matter how many older schools you find, he can always claim to have been training a few guys in his garage who he hasn't heard from in years before those schools opened. And the whole "I fought MMA here when it was illegal" can pretty much mean anything. Sort of like how Tank Abbott took his drunken bar fights and called himself "undefeated on the bareknuckle circuit" to qualify for the UFC.

This doesn't make him bullshido, but perhaps he is a bit too enthusiastic about these claims.

**fanger123** · Posted On: 7/09/2009 6:48pm

i know at least one person who trained under him. apparently he's a very intense dude.

from what i gather, he doesn't have a "real" BJJ rank, but i don't think he claims to teach BJJ. i think he's primarily a striker.

but i do recall seeing thai jj people at local grappling comps.

**Hemant** · Posted On: 7/11/2009 4:27pm

I trained with Nigel a few times way back in the day. Just to clarify, I haven't seen or trained with Nigel in at least 10 years. I'm not a friend or student of his. I can't back much of what I know up but when I met Nigel, he truly was one of the first ones to be integrating multiple disciplines.

The "illegal MMA" he's referring to is the Extreme Fighting 2 which was held in Montreal in 1996.

http://www.sherdog.com/events/EF-2-E...-Fighting-2-64

The big story was that the organization had not been approved to hold their event by the Quebec govt. They decided to hold the event on a local Native reservation to circumvent the rules. All the fighters actually got arrested immediately afterwards. Nigel was probably one of the early pro MMA competitors in the country. The event in question was only about 3 years following UFC 1.

As well, about BJJ, if he's not the first to bring it to Canada, he's pretty close. I attended a seminar that he arranged in Montreal with Royce in 1994, shortly after UFC 1. He also arranged another seminar in 1998 with Renzo. After taking trips out to train with the Machados, he added BJJ to his school's repertoire. As far as I know, he has never achieved or claimed black belt rank in BJJ. I can attest to the fact that he was a pretty sick grappler even way back in the 90s.

With respect to Muay Thai, I believe Nigel was awarded an instructor's certificate after training with Pud Pad Noi in Montreal in the late 80s and early 90s. I have heard it said that he may have "purchased" this certification but I don't have the facts to make a judgement.

As far as I know, he only awards ranks in "Thaijiujitsu" which is an art he developed himself from an amalgam of stuff he has trained in. I'm sure his 5th degree is in that art.

Hope this was of some help!