The Lightning fast art of (BMS) Body, Mind and Spirit is based on the ancient art of Wing Chun Kung Fu and is an outstanding example of a non-traditional method. Street fighting skills and self-knowledge combine to make it a devastating multi-range fighting system. It is a martial art, not a sport.

BMS emphasises the use of strategy and advanced footwork, dealing with the direction rather than magnitude of the opponent's force.

The martial art of Body, Mind and Spirit is based on Wing Chun Kung Fu and was pioneered by the late Master Derek Jones in the latter half of the 1980s. Reputed by many to be a prodigy and the best Wing Chun street-fighter of his day, Derek tested the various Wing Chun techniques and realised that radical solutions had to be found to a whole range of problems.

Although some of these solutions came in the form of new techniques based on acutely observed body mechanics, technique alone was not enough. In answer to this, Derek Jones founded the Body, Mind and Spirit fighting system which embodied not only new physical techniques but also the psychological and mental strength needed to be effective in any true life confrontation.

Bruce Lee continually complained that teaching martial arts without experience of real fighting was like trying to teach someone to swim on dry land. Taking this analogy a step further, you have someone like Derek Jones, who had been 'in at the deep end' on numerous occasions in terms of real life street-fighting and so was well qualified to advise others on how to survive in this kind of environment.

Master Derek Jones first began studying Wing Chun in 1976. After some time he began questioning the viability of the techniques he was being taught in terms of their on the street effectiveness. He recalled that when he was younger, up until the fights he had for money, he found that Wing Chun techniques alone were letting him down and that he was constantly changing and adjusting positions to make them viable.

As martial arts journalist Bey Logan said shortly after the death of Derek Jones: "Like Bruce Lee, he believed the only help was self help. After a point he didn't need an instructor. He left Victor Kan and abandoned the cause of William Cheung, because he realised he had discovered how to teach himself."

In 1985 he set up his own independent association (The British Wing Chun Kung Fu Association). He had already established a sizeable reputation for his innate speed and fighting skills within Wing Chun circles.

He continued on his pioneering quest and continued to improve the system to a point where he believed it became distinct enough from other methods of Wing Chun to merit a new style and in the spring of 1988 he announced to the martial arts press, the birth of 'The World Body Mind and Spirit Martial Arts Association.'

Copyright © BMS 2001