About JKD Unlimited

1. WE TRAIN FIRST AND FOREMOST FOR STREET SELF-DEFENSE. We train to be effective in the street environment, then make adjustments to the training for students who wish to enter sporting competitions. Not the other way around. 

2. WE TRAIN WITH PROGRESSIVE RESISTANCE. A real attacker is going to resist your effort 100%. If you want to learn how to fight, you have to practice fighting against someone who is fighting back. Progressive resistance allows everyone, regardless of experience, to do this in a safe, fun training environment.

3. WE TRAIN AS COMPLETE SELF-DEFENSE ATHLETES. We train to be prepared for almost any situation: all the ranges (standing, clinch, ground), multiple opponents, weaponry and a variety of environments. We want each student to actually train in as many self-defense scenarios as possible. If a student gets into a bad situation he will already have experience in that particular situation.

4. WE KEEP TRAINING FUN! I am planning to train for the rest of my life, and I assume that my students will do the same. If we are going to spend this much time working on developing functional skills, we should be having fun doing it. If we are training for self-defense, we should work very hard at times, but it should not be a big grind. The training sessions should be so enjoyable that we look forward to each class.

“You should train seriously, but don’t seriously train.” Bruce Lee

JKD Unlimited was founded in 1992 by Burton Richardson. It is a term we use to symbolize the overriding philosophy that guides all of our training programs. We use Bruce Lee’s idea of constant improvement with an emphasis on street self defense, along with the notion that there are no limits to our potential.

ABOUT OUR COURSES

Our goal is to offer top level, functional training to beginner and advanced martial artists interested in real street self defense. For The Street™ is the brand name we have chosen to describe our certification courses. FTS also stands for Functional Training Systems. All of our self defense certification courses are designed as distance learning programs. Wherever you are in the world, you can train and choose to pursue certification. No traveling is ever required.

The MMA FTS/MMA For Street Self Defense™ module, our most comprehensive self defense course, encompasses all the ranges, with or without weapons.

We also offer specialization modules for those who want to delve deeper in a particular area. People already versed in the striking arts may just want the BJJ FTS™ training module (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu For Street Self Defense™). Ground fighters may want our upcoming Kickboxing FTS™, or Clinch FTS™ training modules. MMA gyms may just need a weaponry curriculum for their school and choose from Battlefield Kali™ single stick, knife or sword training modules. Traditional martial artists may be drawn to our Silat FTS™ (Silat For Street Self Defense™).

ABOUT BURTON RICHARDSON

Burton Richardson started training martial arts in 1979 and he has never stopped. He was lucky to take his first lessons at the original Kali Academy, home of martial arts greats Sifu Richard Bustillo and Guro Dan Inosanto. 

Burton traveled the world extensively to pursue his passion. He trained in Manila under Grandmaster Antonio Ilustrisimo, Master Tony Diego, and Master Christopher Ricketts. He's visited Brazil to practice Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He has trained extensively with many top BJJ exponents, including the Machado Brothers, Carlson Gracie, Baret Yoshida, Charuto Verissimo, and Marcelo Garcia. Burton has even journeyed to South Africa several times to train with Zulu warriors in their method of stick fighting.
Burton's constant quest for self improvement and continued research has most recently led him to earn his black belt in Krav Maga. 
This broad spectrum of experience gives Burton a unique perspective on the arts. Civilians as well as Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) seek his training courses.

Burton is the author of 5 books. He wrote for Inside Kung Fu magazine for eleven years. He has been published in Budo Magazine, an international publication as well as other national publications such as Ultimate MMA. He was elected self defense instructor of the year by Black Belt Magazine and inducted into their hall of fame.

Burton currently lives in Hawaii with his wife, business and training partner Sarah Badat-Richardson and their daughter Talina-Queen. All three are passionate about realistic self defense training. They travel as a family to teach seminars worldwide.

Burton Richardson’s credentials:
Full Instructor in Jun Fan JKD under Guro Dan Inosanto
Full Instructor in Filipino Martial Arts under Tuhon Dan Inosanto
Full Instructor in the JKD Grappling Association under Sifu Larry Hartsell
Instructor in Thai Boxing under Master Chai Sirisute
Guro in Penjak Silat under Pendekar Paul De Thouars
Instructor in Kali Ilustrisimo under GrandMaster Ilustrisimo
Fourth Degree Black Belt in BJJ (brazilian Jiu Jitsu) under Egan Inoue
Instructor in Piper Knife System
Black Belt in Nir Maman's CT 707 Krav Maga
Bibliography:
Jeet Kune Do Unlimited Unique Publications (August 1998)
Choke Em Out Paladin Press (July 1, 2007)
In the steps of Bruce Lee: JKD without limits Rising Sun Productions (April 7, 2008)
Silat For The Street Black Belt Communications (August 1, 2016)
BJJ For The Street Black Belt Communications (2020)
Filmography:
Visit Burton Richardson's IMDB page for more on his movie work.
Media Appearances:
For a complete list of print, podcast and video interviews, click here.

Contact us if you wish to hire Burton to teach a seminar. He can also help as a fight choreographer or stunt coordinator on your next movie project.

ABOUT SARAH BADAT-RICHARDSON

Sarah was born and raised on the exotic Reunion Island, a state of France near Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Sarah grew up speaking French and the local Creole dialect. She later mastered German (she earned a bachelor's degree in German linguistics), English, and Italian. As a student, Sarah was hired as the weekend weather reporter for the major news channel. When she graduated, she was offered her very own weekly Television show. It was during this time in 1997 that she met Burton, who was teaching seminars in Reunion for Daniel Duby.
Sarah started training martial arts soon after. She fell in love with Burton's realistic martial arts approach and has continued training in all of the ranges since they married in 1998. In addition to running the day to day tasks for JKD Unlimited, Sarah homeschools their daughter. Sarah assists Burton teaching seminars worldwide. She is known for her thorough explanations, an intolerance for any martial arts techniques that haven't been thoroughly pressure tested, and for her infectious smile. She is also a talented photographer, a prolific writer and recently displayed her web design skills by completely remodeling JKDUnlimited.com.

Sarah Richardson’s credentials:
Instructor Level 2 in MMA For The Street
Watch Sarah's instructor test on Youtube
Instructor in Krav Maga
Black Belt instructor in BJJ For The Street
Filmography:
Visit Sarah Badat Richardson's IMDB page