Master Derek Jones
The late Master Derek Jones was a Wing Chun practitioner with a background in street fighting. 1 September 1986 Issue of Combat Magazine 2. Martial Arts Illustrated December Issue 1991 Derek got extensive coverage in the Martial arts magazines of his day, namely Combat magazine and Martial Arts Illustrated. During the Wing Chun Wars of the nineteen eighties, Derek fought an arranged fight with 'Bad Bob Sykes' that was organised after Bob had issued a number of challenges to Wing Chun practitioners following a spat of articles by Wing Chun Men claiming their prowess as street fighters. All declined Bob's invitation except for Derek Jones. Who signed a waiver of injury and sent it off to Bob, who signed it and sent it back. They met on a hillside in Huddersfield and went at it. This was an early example of style vs style before the UFC and other mixed martial art competitions. It was no holds barred. Master Derek Jones from Wing Chun Kung Fu vs Bad Bob Sykes from a Karate Kick Boxing background. It was 1986; there was no video taken, but accompanying students took photographs of the fight as it happened. Reports filtered back to Combat Magazine, whose September 1986 issue of the magazine had contained the 'Derek Jones Wing Chun's Last Street Fighter' article that had initially sparked the whole affair. The fight was called a draw; however, with Bob Sykes left respecting both Derek Jones and his style, having had his cheek bone broken by Derek's strikes. Bob would go on to create Martial Arts Illustrated and become its editor and would feature Derek numerous times, eventually running the Obituary article when Derek passed away in a Motorbike accident on the 28th of November 1991. The article was written by Bey Logan, who previously had been the Editor of Combat Magazine and was the writer of the 'Derek Jones Wing Chun's Last Street Fighter' article that had been the catalyst that brought the fight between Jones and Sykes into being.
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