About Coach Mani
· 1977 – Started Martial Arts training (bare-knuckle-boxing, single knife tactics, self defense tactics) with his father, Mansell Eugene Gilmore
· 1979 – 1989 trained in American Kickboxing, Jun Fan Gung Fu / Jeet Kune Do, Filipino Martial Arts and Xingyiquan
· 1989 – Started training in Shorinji Kempo with Makoto Hagata Sensei
· 1989 – 1992 also trained in Aikido and Shaolin Chin Na
· 1992 – 1994 trained in American Kickboxing and Muay Thai with Daniel “Doc” Docto
· 1996 – Opened Lubbock Kickboxing Club and met and began refining his skills in Jeet Kune Do and Kali Silat (Inosanto Blend) with Sifu/Guru Ron Penny
· 2004 – coached Muay Thai and MMA for local MMA / Kickboxing team – met and began training with Walter Bushy Sensei
· 2004 – Bushy Sensei tasked Coach Mani with putting together a system based on his Martial Arts experience – Sifu/Guru Ron Penny agreed with Bushy Sensei and gave Coach Mani permission to use Jeet Kune Do and Filipino Martial Arts in this process
· 2006 – Coach Mani, wanting to teach according to modern educational theory, goes back to school
· 2011 – graduated with a degree in Special Education
· 2013 – awarded his first Black Belt to Elisha David Gilmore
· 2014 – After 10 years of development and refinement, Coach Mani began teaching public classes in Gilmore Method Eskrima
Mansell Christian Gilmore (Mani) was born and raised in the San
Francisco Bay Area. He began his martial arts training in 1977, at the age of 5.
His father, Mansell Eugene Gilmore, was his first teacher. From his father he
learned empty hand self-defense, single knife tactics and bare-knuckle-boxing,
but most of all, he learned the kind of attitude that was necessary to prevent
and (if necessary) survive a volatile situation. This early training developed a
passion for martial arts that has only grown with the years. Recognizing the
passion in his son, Mr. Gilmore asked several of his friends to continue his
son’s training. Over the next ten years, Mani trained in or was exposed to a
number of Martial Arts. The training was always intense and always focused on
applicability. Then, in 1989, at the age of 17, he met Makoto Hagata Sensei and
began training in Shorinji Kempo.
Mani was Hagata Sensei’s first student in the United States.
Prior to this, his martial arts education was functional rather than
philosophical. That old-school axiom, “it’s only a good training day if there is
blood on the floor,” epitomized his training up until then. Training with Hagata
Sensei changed his life, teaching him what it meant to be a martial arts
teacher. His training in Shorinji Kempo gave him a philosophical basis for
martial arts that has informed his growth ever since.
His passion in martial arts continued to drive him towards
exploration. Between 1989 and 1992, in addition to Shorinji Kempo, he explored
several other systems including Aikido and Shaolin Chin Na. Then in 1992, he met
and became friends with Daniel Docto. Under Daniel “Doc” Docto Mani refined his
skills in American Kickboxing. It was during this time that Doc was introduced
to Kru Vut Kamnark and began his training in Muay Thai. As Doc learned Muay
Thai, he taught it to his kickboxing students. This was also the beginning of
the Mixed Martial Arts era, and Mani began to understand the real advantage of
finding a way to blend the functional elements of his previous martial arts
education.
In 1994, due to unforeseen family issues, Mani moved to Lamesa,
Texas. Lamesa was a small town and the options for martial arts training were
limited. Left on his own, he began to refine what he had learned, to perfect
what he knew. In 1995 he moved to Lubbock, Texas. Lubbock was a larger city than
Lamesa, and Mani hoped that he could continue his martial arts exploration. He
opened his first Kickboxing / Muay Thai School called “Lubbock Kickboxing Club.”
Through one of his students he was introduced to Sifu/Guro Ron
Penny with whom Mani was able to refine his understanding of Jeet Kune do and
the Filipino Martial Arts. In 2004, a local MMA team approached him as a
Kickboxing / Muay Thai coach. Several members of this team were preparing for a
local Kickboxing competition and Mani stepped in to train them for it. This is
where he met Walter Bushy Sensei who coached one of the other teams competing.
They became immediate friends and Bushy Sensei gave Mani an open invitation to
come to his Bukijutsu Dojo to train.
Mani soon took him up on his invitation and during one of these
training sessions, Bushy Sensei took Mani aside and told him that he had “too
much to offer the martial arts world as a teacher, not to teach what you know.”
Bushy Sensei asked him to systemize what he knew and publically teach. Mani was
initially resistant to this, wanting to complete his training in traditional
Samurai martial arts, but Bushy Sensei told him that the Bukijutsu and the
Iaiajutsu would always be there. Mani immediately approached Sifu/Guro Penny and
told him what Bushy Sensei wanted him to do. Sifu/Guro Penny agreed with Bushy
Sensei, and gave Mani permission to freely use Jeet Kune Do and Filipino Martial
Arts in this process.
Over the next several years Mani tried different mixes of the systems he
knew, different curriculums, and different types of training drills. He also
began researching the systems he had trained in to fill in the gaps in his
education. He found that he had no issue training the experienced or advanced
martial artist. His problem was with the beginner. He had a tendancy to give the
beginning student advanced content before the student was ready for it. So, in
2006, he went back to school to finish his education, choosing Special Education
as his major in order to inform his system with modern educational theory and
methods in the hope of improving his ability to train the beginning student. The
result was Gilmore Method Eskrima.
In 2013 Coach Mani awarded his first Black Belt to Elisha David
Gilmore. That same year, he found out he had a nervous disorder that could
increasingly impair his physical ability. He learned that all those years of
hard contact to the head had greatly contributed to, if not caused this
condition.
This information inspired him to rethink everything about how to
teach and train in the martial arts, especially how to approach sparring. It
also inspired a reassessment of the system he had developed. Once again, he
found himself returning to the drawing board, only now he had a greater
understanding of limitations of the systems he had studied. Using his formal
education and his decades of experience, and using the limitations and the needs
of his condition as a focus he began to reform his system for the student who
was not an athlete, who could not train every day, and who was smaller and weaker
than a potential attacker. In this change of focus he found the solution to
teaching the beginning student.
As Mani began to model his own training around this new, reformed version of
Gilmore Method Eskrima he found that his symptoms gradually decreased.
Both the tremors and the pain went away, and Mani realized that he had something
special. GME was a system that could be modified for each and every student
without losing its essential qualities. GME was ready for the public, he had
accomplished his goal. He brought the finished product back to Bushy Sensei,
who offered him dojo space to begin to teach to the public.
· 1977 – Started Martial Arts training (bare-knuckle-boxing, single knife tactics, self defense tactics) with his father, Mansell Eugene Gilmore
· 1979 – 1989 trained in American Kickboxing, Jun Fan Gung Fu / Jeet Kune Do, Filipino Martial Arts and Xingyiquan
· 1989 – Started training in Shorinji Kempo with Makoto Hagata Sensei
· 1989 – 1992 also trained in Aikido and Shaolin Chin Na
· 1992 – 1994 trained in American Kickboxing and Muay Thai with Daniel “Doc” Docto
· 1996 – Opened Lubbock Kickboxing Club and met and began refining his skills in Jeet Kune Do and Kali Silat (Inosanto Blend) with Sifu/Guru Ron Penny
· 2004 – coached Muay Thai and MMA for local MMA / Kickboxing team – met and began training with Walter Bushy Sensei
· 2004 – Bushy Sensei tasked Coach Mani with putting together a system based on his Martial Arts experience – Sifu/Guru Ron Penny agreed with Bushy Sensei and gave Coach Mani permission to use Jeet Kune Do and Filipino Martial Arts in this process
· 2006 – Coach Mani, wanting to teach according to modern educational theory, goes back to school
· 2011 – graduated with a degree in Special Education
· 2013 – awarded his first Black Belt to Elisha David Gilmore
· 2014 – After 10 years of development and refinement, Coach Mani began teaching public classes in Gilmore Method Eskrima
Mansell Christian Gilmore (Mani) was born and raised in the San
Francisco Bay Area. He began his martial arts training in 1977, at the age of 5.
His father, Mansell Eugene Gilmore, was his first teacher. From his father he
learned empty hand self-defense, single knife tactics and bare-knuckle-boxing,
but most of all, he learned the kind of attitude that was necessary to prevent
and (if necessary) survive a volatile situation. This early training developed a
passion for martial arts that has only grown with the years. Recognizing the
passion in his son, Mr. Gilmore asked several of his friends to continue his
son’s training. Over the next ten years, Mani trained in or was exposed to a
number of Martial Arts. The training was always intense and always focused on
applicability. Then, in 1989, at the age of 17, he met Makoto Hagata Sensei and
began training in Shorinji Kempo.
Mani was Hagata Sensei’s first student in the United States.
Prior to this, his martial arts education was functional rather than
philosophical. That old-school axiom, “it’s only a good training day if there is
blood on the floor,” epitomized his training up until then. Training with Hagata
Sensei changed his life, teaching him what it meant to be a martial arts
teacher. His training in Shorinji Kempo gave him a philosophical basis for
martial arts that has informed his growth ever since.
His passion in martial arts continued to drive him towards
exploration. Between 1989 and 1992, in addition to Shorinji Kempo, he explored
several other systems including Aikido and Shaolin Chin Na. Then in 1992, he met
and became friends with Daniel Docto. Under Daniel “Doc” Docto Mani refined his
skills in American Kickboxing. It was during this time that Doc was introduced
to Kru Vut Kamnark and began his training in Muay Thai. As Doc learned Muay
Thai, he taught it to his kickboxing students. This was also the beginning of
the Mixed Martial Arts era, and Mani began to understand the real advantage of
finding a way to blend the functional elements of his previous martial arts
education.
In 1994, due to unforeseen family issues, Mani moved to Lamesa,
Texas. Lamesa was a small town and the options for martial arts training were
limited. Left on his own, he began to refine what he had learned, to perfect
what he knew. In 1995 he moved to Lubbock, Texas. Lubbock was a larger city than
Lamesa, and Mani hoped that he could continue his martial arts exploration. He
opened his first Kickboxing / Muay Thai School called “Lubbock Kickboxing Club.”
Through one of his students he was introduced to Sifu/Guro Ron
Penny with whom Mani was able to refine his understanding of Jeet Kune do and
the Filipino Martial Arts. In 2004, a local MMA team approached him as a
Kickboxing / Muay Thai coach. Several members of this team were preparing for a
local Kickboxing competition and Mani stepped in to train them for it. This is
where he met Walter Bushy Sensei who coached one of the other teams competing.
They became immediate friends and Bushy Sensei gave Mani an open invitation to
come to his Bukijutsu Dojo to train.
Mani soon took him up on his invitation and during one of these
training sessions, Bushy Sensei took Mani aside and told him that he had “too
much to offer the martial arts world as a teacher, not to teach what you know.”
Bushy Sensei asked him to systemize what he knew and publically teach. Mani was
initially resistant to this, wanting to complete his training in traditional
Samurai martial arts, but Bushy Sensei told him that the Bukijutsu and the
Iaiajutsu would always be there. Mani immediately approached Sifu/Guro Penny and
told him what Bushy Sensei wanted him to do. Sifu/Guro Penny agreed with Bushy
Sensei, and gave Mani permission to freely use Jeet Kune Do and Filipino Martial
Arts in this process.
Over the next several years Mani tried different mixes of the systems he
knew, different curriculums, and different types of training drills. He also
began researching the systems he had trained in to fill in the gaps in his
education. He found that he had no issue training the experienced or advanced
martial artist. His problem was with the beginner. He had a tendancy to give the
beginning student advanced content before the student was ready for it. So, in
2006, he went back to school to finish his education, choosing Special Education
as his major in order to inform his system with modern educational theory and
methods in the hope of improving his ability to train the beginning student. The
result was Gilmore Method Eskrima.
In 2013 Coach Mani awarded his first Black Belt to Elisha David
Gilmore. That same year, he found out he had a nervous disorder that could
increasingly impair his physical ability. He learned that all those years of
hard contact to the head had greatly contributed to, if not caused this
condition.
This information inspired him to rethink everything about how to
teach and train in the martial arts, especially how to approach sparring. It
also inspired a reassessment of the system he had developed. Once again, he
found himself returning to the drawing board, only now he had a greater
understanding of limitations of the systems he had studied. Using his formal
education and his decades of experience, and using the limitations and the needs
of his condition as a focus he began to reform his system for the student who
was not an athlete, who could not train every day, and who was smaller and weaker
than a potential attacker. In this change of focus he found the solution to
teaching the beginning student.
As Mani began to model his own training around this new, reformed version of
Gilmore Method Eskrima he found that his symptoms gradually decreased.
Both the tremors and the pain went away, and Mani realized that he had something
special. GME was a system that could be modified for each and every student
without losing its essential qualities. GME was ready for the public, he had
accomplished his goal. He brought the finished product back to Bushy Sensei,
who offered him dojo space to begin to teach to the public.