The Talking
Click below to check out
Click below to check out
About Sifu Dwight Woods
The Early Times … How Things Got Started
Unified Martial Art Academy‘s (UMAA) Chief Instructor, Sifu Dwight Woods, is a martial artist who has over 40 years of experience, 30+ of which have been dedicated to the study and practice of Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do.
Sifu Dwight is a native of Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies, but grew up on the neighbouring island of Barbados.
In 1983, he was the first Caribbean resident to attend a California Martial Arts Academy seminar where he met and trained under Dan Inosanto, Cass Magda, Francis Fong, Paul Vunak, Larry Hartsell and Tim Tackett.
Before Dwight left California, Sifu Inosanto said to him, “You know, one of the best ways to get this stuff is to teach it as you learn. So since you’re the first person from your part of the world to come out to us, you have my permission to share it when you get home.”
Dwight’s original intention had been to spend two weeks at the camp and then go back to Barbados and show his friends what he’d learned.
But, as he says, he got bitten by the JKD bug and arranged an additional week off from work to head back out to Orange County.
After that, he started travelling out to Los Angeles as much as he could on an average of every six to eight weeks.
In the summer of 1984 he was back at CMAA camp, this time in St. Louis, Missouri and again in 1985.
When Did Things Start To Get “Serious”?
In 1985, he received his Apprentice Instructor certificate from Dan Inosanto and UMAA was “officially” started.
From October 1985 until May 1986, UMAA operated out of the garage of Dwight’s home in Barbados.
The South Florida Adventure Begins …
Miami’s Unified Martial Art Academy
That “backyard JKD” mentality continued in 1986 when he relocated to Miami, Florida as UMAA moved through a succession of parks, basketball courts, living rooms and garages.
In April 1988, the first step was taken to provide instruction to a wider clientele with the opening of the first “bricks & mortar” Academy in the warehouse district of Tamiami Airport. This small group, semi-private/semi-public tradition continued for 4 years as word about Jeet Kune Do spread throughout the South Florida area.
Locations 2 & 3
In December 1992, UMAA moved to its first “professional” location on busy Kendall Drive in southwest Miami-Dade county.
In March 1996, in its second Kendall Drive incarnation, UMAA provided students from ages 7 and up with 2400 square feet of state-of-the-art facilities, including heavy bag and wooden dummy stations, a pro shop and separate men’s and women’s shower and bathroom facilities.
There is also a UMAA affiliate branch in Barbados, where Sifu Dwight conducts periodic seminars.
The Instructorship Path
In October 1985, Dwight Woods was accepted as Apprentice Instructor into the Inosanto International Martial Arts Instructors’ Association.
In 1992 he was promoted to Associate Instructor.
In June 1997, Dwight Woods was awarded the rank of Full Instructor in Jun Fan Gung Fu/Jeet Kune Do and Filipino Martial arts by Dan Inosanto.
He also holds the rank of Senior Full Instructor in Muay Thai under Surachai Sirisute as well as teaching diplomas in Boxe Française-Savate under Salem Assli and has a “working knowledge” of Wing Chun Gung Fu through Francis Fong.
Who Else Has He Trained With?
Dwight has also trained with and been trained by Rick Faye, Chris Kent, (the late) Ted Lucaylucay, Jean-Jacques Machado, Cass Magda, Yorinaga Nakamura, Erik Paulson, Burton Richardson, (the late) Edgar Sulite, Paul Vunak and other luminaries in the martial art world.
The Miami Seminar Series
Since its first seminar in April 1989 with Pendekar Paul de Thouars and Burton Richardson, UMAA has afforded martial artists the opportunity to train with the world’s best.
In October 1989, Dan Inosanto conducted his first Miami seminar and continued to do so the first weekend of June every summer until 2006.
Over the decades, UMAA has also hosted (or co-hosted) seminars with Salem Assli (Boxe Francaise-Savate), Willem de Thouars (Kuntao Silat), Francis Fong (Wing Chun), Samuel Kwok (Wing Chun), Jean-Jacques Machado (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu), Cass Magda (JKD, Kali, Silat) Erik Paulson (Combat Submission Wrestling), Surachai Sirisute (Muay Thai), (the late) Herman Suwanda (Pencak Silat Mande Muda), Tim Tackett (Jeet Kune Do) and Paul Vunak (Jeet Kune Do, Kali).
That Was Then…
In April 2014 after 20+ years as a solo operator UMAA merged with TOT’L Martial Arts and Fitness and moved into its third Kendall location. However, this association ultimately proved incompatible and dissolved in July 2015.
…This Is Now
Since then UMAA has returned to its original roots as a small group class Academy inside The Health Joint located at 8015 SW 40th Street (Bird Road) in the Westchester area of Miami.
In July 2017, Sifu Dwight, along with his longtime student Carlos Redlich, performed an impromptu FaceBook Live show which was so well received, it gave birth to what is now known as The I Love Jeet Kune Do Broadcast, the Internet’s only weekly topical discussion of Jeet Kune Do and its “associated disciplines”.
Subsequent to starting The ILJKD Broadcast, Sifu Dwight realised another dream of “lending voice” to his myriad JKD colleagues by creating a second FaceBook Live show, The Jeet Kune Do Dialogues, another Internet first as the only weekly online conversation between members of the JKD clan.
The Training
Group Sessions & Personal Intensives
Now You Can Train In Bruce Lee’s Art & Philosophy
of Jeet Kune Do and its Associated Disciplines
(Filipino Kali, Muay Thai, Jun Fan Wing Chun, Maphilindo Silat) with Sifu Dwight Woods, 4th Rank Full Instructor
and 2nd Generation Bruce Lee student
Group Training
@ Tropical Park
7900 SW 40th Street
(Bird Road)
Miami, Florida 33155
(by the tennis courts behind the rental office)
Junior Jeet Kune Do
ages 7-13
Tuesdays & Thursdays
5.00pm – 5.45pm
Tuition
Initial payment: $299
(incl. 1st month, uniform, gloves & weapons)
Monthly tuition: $159
Minimum 3 month enrollment
Adult Jeet Kune Do
ages 14 and above
Tuesdays & Thursdays
7.00pm – 8.30pm
Tuition
Initial payment: $269
(incl. 1st month, uniform & weapons)
Monthly tuition: $179
Minimum 3 month enrollment
Individual Or Small Group
Private Lesson Training
@ Dante Fascell Park
8700 SW 57th Avenue,
South Miami, Florida 33143
or at location of your choice*
Availability
Mondays 10am – 5pm
Tuesdays & Thursdays
9.30am – 12.30pm
Wednesdays 9.30am – 12noon
Tuition
$100/class – 10 class minimum
(10% discount if paid in full;
5% discount if paid in 2 payments)
45mins. – physical training;
15mins. – mental training
*$115/class – if conducted at
your location with Metrorail / Metrobus pickup
*$125/class – if conducted at your location with no pickup
Cancellation requires minimum of 24 hours advance notice for credit
Bring a training partner and get 10% discount; partner gets 5% discount
Specialised Workshop
or Seminar Training
Sifu Dwight is available (on a limited basis) to teach national and/or international workshops and seminars on general martial arts skill and development; specifically in Jeet Kune Do or even more specialised modules for those who want to delve more deeply into a particular area.
Traditional martial artists may enjoy taking a look at the well-roundedness of Jeet Kune Do.
Striking arts can explore JKD Grappling.
Grapplers may want to take a look at Jun Fan Kickboxing and/or Muay Thai.
Mixed Martial Artists may want to round out their skills by checking out a weapons-based system like Filipino Kali for stick, knife or sword training.
Sifu Dwight has long been known for working with other JKD instructors and schools on areas of training and teaching methodology and curriculum design.