CONNOISSEUR OF THE FINER THINGS…AND FIGHTING!

If you’re wondering who Harry is, he’s the guy who looks like the dad of the annoying twins John and Edward from the X Factor. However that’s where the resemblance ends. Harry has a big personality, when he’s in the gym you know! He’s a man with an encyclopaedic knowledge of all things combat and a haircut from a bygone era…more about the hair later. He’s the kind of guy you’d want to have a pint with because most of what comes out of his mouth is entertaining.

He grew up in Orpington, Kent but now lives in a quaint little backward village called Great Horksley in Colchester. As Harry points out, “it’s bloody miles away”. He was born 14th July 1972, “the hair gives it away I know”. He’s the baby of the family with an older brother and even older sister. He lives with his partner Laura, in a new home with a posse of kittens and chickens. He adds, “Laura wants a pig for Christmas only to fatten it up and have it for Easter, but I draw the line at eating your pets”.

He’s the governor of the Bank of England’s…gym, but looking at running a Health Centre Wellness program, “a concept I’ve yet to finalize and sell to the corporate world, but I’m working on it….”

He’s been fighting since he was a nipper. “I started wrestling when I was 7 for a few years then got into football until the teams we played started kicking us rather than the ball so I joined a freestyle club (points fighting, flash outfits, Macho gloves) with some school friends and my brother (who at the time thought he was the re-incarnation of Bruce Lee).” He continues, “ I won three national karate & two kickboxing titles through that organisation and trained up until I got my black belt then realised that it was all a load of crap and that I couldn’t fight for toffee. There is only so many times you can throw a back fist, reverse punch, ridge hand and it will never work in the street. I started Thai Boxing in 1990 in Croydon with the BMTA for a few years but kept breaking my toes so kept my shoes on and trained at Fitzroy Lodge in Waterloo (home of a young and skinny David Haye). Fatefully walked into the judo hall at the Sobell Centre and met Paul Hines & Jess Liaudin in Sept 2002. Then walked into a guillotine, an arm bar, a key lock (repeatedly) and have been doing so ever since…”

But age catches up with us all and due to an ongoing health issue Harry now trains sporadically, boxing at least once a week, the occasional bag work and being on the receiving end of whatever Ash Grimshaw & Nick O can hit him with inside the cage. According to Harry his coaching style is, “Do as I say, not as I do”! He analyses guys and tries to find what works best for them, and then shouts at them until they get it.

Away from the gym, Harry enjoys the finer things in life. His guilty pleasure is white chocolate and if he’s off the wagon gets uncontrollable with several bottles of Château Margaux or Absolute Citron & bitter lemon…until he pukes, (his words not mine). If he’s on the wagon then he’ll drink water & elderflower and tons of earl grey tea.

I was interested to know if Harry had ever stolen anything and of course he has. Apart from the requisite hearts and kisses he was particularly daring stealing hand wash from The Balham Kitchen – it must have been that extra cup of earl grey that gave him his Dutch courage!

Despite all his bravado, I get the feeling that Harry’s a sensitive chap, which was, confirmed when I asked him what he would save from a fire? His reply was, “animals, girlfriend and laptop…but not in that order”! And if he could have one last meal it would be, “ My late aunt’s Steak & Kidney pud. You wouldn’t finish it but you’d die trying”.

So if you fancy a beasting with some good humour thrown in, come see Harry 18.30 – 19.30 Thursdays at The Angel.

by

S Finnegan

This entry was posted on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 8:41 pm and is filed under Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.