Instructor of the Year

Inside Kung-Fu Magazine

February 2009 Vol. 37


Instructor of the Year

By Dave Cater


It took Joseph Simonet nearly 25 years to become an overnight sensation. Simonet, a contributing editor of Inside Kung-Fu for the past two years, has taken the martial arts world by storm with a teaching concept both unique and traditional. One-half (along with 2008 “Woman of the Year” Addy Hernandez) of the juggernaut martial arts system known as KI Fighting Concepts, Simonet has taken the best ideas of his predecessors and synthesized it into a magical collection of training, conditioning, technical and application skills that can benefit anyone of any discipline.


“What good is a martial arts technique if you can’t use it?” ask Simonet, whose Unique Publications books and DVDs are among the company’s best-sellers. “For an application to be beneficial, it has to be easy enough to learn and even easier to apply,” adds Simonet.

Now don’t think for one minute that Joseph has borrowed from his martial arts brethren. Far from it. Long before the world knew who he was or what he could deliver, Simonet was training with some of the most-respected minds and most-admired technicians in the martial arts world.

Like any trailblazer, however, Simonet was not content to stand on ceremony. In other words, he was not afraid to tinker with perfection. What may have worked in the 1500s was due for some modernization; the street fighting techniques practiced 40 years ago needed a facelift to tackle the dangers of today.

Through seminars around the world-from China to New York and hundreds of stops in between-Simonet is spreading the gospel of his exciting new discovery. KI Fighting Concepts is a living, breathing 21st- Century approach to training that fits around the practitioner like a new pair of jeans. The more you wear it, the more it stretches to fit your style. It takes a martial artist of vision to create something so revolutionary. It only took the rest of the world 25 years to take notice.