Concise Life History – H.R. Fontini Herman Fontini was born in February 1977 and grew up in Cape Town.

He pursued the Martial Arts lifestyle from the tender age of six years, sprouting roots in the style of Gojo-Ryu Karate under Sensei Carl Van der Merwe in 1983.

In 1991 he left the Karate arts with a brown belt and enough discipline to pursue a successful High School Career. Throughout High School he trained leisurely with socialites in various arts, including Jiu-jitsu, Ninjutsu, Aikido, Shaolin Kung-Fu, searching for the ultimate martial arts style, but never finding it.

It was not until 1997, and under the guidance of his mentor, Jochen Stark, that he found the answer to the question inside his head. Wing Tsun Kung Fu laid the foundation and became the platform on which he later created various new fighting methods.

In 1998, under the guidance of his mentor, he opened up Wing Tsun Kung Fu schools in Stellenbosch, on the Campus of the University where he studied a B.A Degree in languages. During 2 years of active training and teaching in Stellenbosch, he grew and matured into a Sihing or brother in the Kung-Fu arts and moved to Durbanville to start small Wing Tsun training cells.

During active Wing Tsun Kung Fu training and amidst his continued quest for perfection and search for the ultimate in weapons training, Herman discovered the art of amok! knife fighting.

Under the guidance of Mark Human, head of Amok! South Africa, he started his knife training in 2004, and opened up his first Amok! knife fighting Academy in Camps Bay in March 2007.

The amok! schools grew in popularity, seeing the Sea Point school open in 2008 as well as the Table view school opening in August 2008. During this period, he trained various armed response companies as well as security officers in the art of advanced hand-to-hand combat, designing industry-specific programs based on real-life scenarios encountered by these individuals.

Later in 2009, he met up with Karl Laaks, a 2nd dan Koga Ninjutsu black belt, who became his friend and training partner, enriching his life with countless advanced Ninjutsu skills and techniques. Later during 2010, Herman was introduced to Eric Uys, 1st dan Ninjutsu black belt, who also became his friend and training partner and actively shared his knowledge of the deadly art.

In 2010 Herman also met up with Nicolai Pareti, a decorated Aikido specialist, who became is training partner and friend and continues to teach him the intricacies and specialised art of Aikido.

In January 2010, Herman opened First Strike Academy in Table View and started to redesign the realms of realistic fighting. He incorporated fight psychology as well as explosive techniques that were taken from more than 28 years of his own Martial Arts experience. Together with advanced Kung Fu wooden dummy techniques explored during training with Jochen Stark, a new style of fighting was born… a style that focused on ending the attack with split-second devastation. This system forms the backbone of First Strike Academy’s philosophy.