Karl Webber is a well-known name in the New Zealand MMA circuit, with his roots as a successful fighter in underground fight events – during a time when MMA was unsanctioned and fight nights would be held in an old power station.

Forged in the crucible of MMA in New Zealand in the 1990s as it was being developed, it is no mystery that Karl is a very direct person, with little patience for talking around a subject. His blunt personality coupled with his roots as a blood-and-guts cage-fighter have resulted in a man who is uniquely crafted to train young fighters into championship material.

His training style is modelled upon his own tutelage when he was an up-and-coming fighter, meaning it is extremely gruelling and requires a high standard of discipline.

The above factors combine to create a unique individual – one who has earned himself the nickname: Coach Hostile. Harry Greenfield went to the Canterbury Fight Centre to ask Karl a few questions.

Hi Karl. Can you tell me about your martial arts roots?

“My background is in jiu-jitsu. I learned three styles: Combat jiu-jitsu, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and Japanese jiu-jitsu, under three different coaches.

“I was lucky to have coaches that allowed me to do that, instead of trying to keep me under their thumbs. I was encouraged to cross-train.”

Who were the coaches in particular who were influential to you?

“Terry Evans and Chris Easley, who were both world jiu-jitsu champions. Terry is the man; he ran Waitakere Martial Arts. Chris was one of the black belts at Terry’s.

“Chris would turn up and would always single me out and give me special attention. In the form of beatdown after beatdown.

“Lindolfo Coller was the first Brazilian BJJ black belt instructor who turned up in Auckland. We jumped on that as soon as he opened up.

“At the same time, I was going out to Papakura Army Base and training with Ron Evans out there. I was searching for that secret martial arts technique that would beat all other techniques.

“I was still hunting for the secret. I was training in all of the different styles. Hence the name of my team: Universal Vale Tudo.”

When did you start fighting?

“We started in the ’90s. Sport jiu-jitsu was our main testing ground in those days. As for MMA, it wasn’t even invented at that point.

“Other than free-fighting and grappling competitions, we didn’t have much opportunity to fight, so we had to put on our own shows. The first Vale Tudo show we put on was in the mid-’90s.”

Tell me about the first Vale Tudo events you were part of.

”It started in 1996. There was nothing for us in terms of fight nights. So myself and the late Michael Gent ran one of the first Vale Tudo events in Auckland.

“It was no-holds-barred. There was no law. It was held at the Power Station in Auckland.

“Michael Gent was a ninjitsu instructor, so he got some of his boys and I got some of my boys, threw a few Academy of Combat boys in there too. We had a jiu-jitsu versus ninjitsu night.

“We didn’t know what we were doing. We had no f***ing clue haha. It was ugly. It was brutal. We only had three rules: no biting; no eye-gouging, and no groin strikes. Everything else was allowed.”

How did it go? Were you fighting in these as well as promoting?

“It was awesome, haha. It was great! It was a sell-out. Everyone was baying for blood, and we didn’t disappoint.”

“Yep, I fought in it as well as promoted it.”

What are the achievements you’re most proud of in your fighting career?

“I’m proud of them all, really. I won six national titles in jiu-jitsu, yeah, in sport jiu-jitsu. I won the first national BJJ tournament. That was held here in Christchurch, actually. Would have been about 1996 or 1997, I think.

“I fought for a national Vale Tudo title on a Terry Hill card and lost! I was quite disappointed by that actually. In that fight, I got kicked to death by one of Michael Gent’s boys. I didn’t have much stand-up; I was just chasing the guy around and he was kicking the sh*t outta me.

“After that, I hooked up with Aaron Boyes of Strikeforce to learn some striking. I was still at Universal Jiu-Jitsu, but I hooked up with Aaron and he helped train me for one of the first eight-man cage-fighting tournaments they had in New Zealand.

“I fought three guys in one night and won. I finally got my New Zealand title for cage fighting.”

This was all underground and unsanctioned with no rules?

“Yeah, I think this was when it started to get a bit of publicity. I think with the Power Station events we kinda ran them on the down-low and no one knew what was going on. With the big one, though (the eight-man tournament) the cops got involved and they said they were gonna shut us down and arrest everyone.

“They came with a riot squad and heaps of cops came in and surrounded everyone. They said ‘the rules are you can’t box without a license, so if it looks like unlicensed boxing, we’re gonna shut it down’ but the rest was a grey area. So, we got away with it.”

So, Aaron Boyes started Strikeforce and you joined him eventually?

“Yeah, Aaron started Strikeforce when he was really young, like in his teens. I moved out of my old gym to train with Strikeforce and just rented mat space off Aaron. We would train on alternate nights.

“After a while, I said to Aaron ‘hey, why don’t we combine? Our guys all cross-train with each other anyway’, so after that, Aaron took care of the stand-up and I took care of the MMA.

“Once we combined, we were on a roll.”

Can you tell me about your experience training Dan Hooker in the past?

“Dan was under a guy named John Olsen. At the time, Strikeforce was creaming it and everyone was jumping on board, as they do when something is successful.

“The one thing I liked about Dan was that he always stayed loyal to John. John eventually had to stop coaching due to work commitments and that’s when Dan joined Strikeforce.”

What level was Dan at when he joined Strikeforce?

“He was actually a New Zealand champion in his own right before he joined Strikeforce. He was the Supremacy Lightweight MMA Champion.

“Dan eventually became the Strikeforce Auckland MMA coach. He ran the MMA team up there for us. He always had a very high fight IQ. He would take our old-school training drills, modify and advance them all the time.”

You’ve got a new gym in Aranui under the CFC banner. Do you have any up-and-coming fighters showing potential?

“Yeah, we have a heap of young fighters starting to put their hands up now. I don’t wanna name names but trust me; watch this space. The future looks bright.

“We are lucky because it’s balanced with a solid team of more experienced guys. Pro fighters and champions who all have put in their time with the team and are in a position to show this next generation the path.”

Your kids’ martial arts programme is a success in the community. What led you to run this?

“Here’s the thing. When I was training at the army base, my coach up there, his name was Ron Evans. He was the one who awarded me my first black belt, and my second dan, actually.

“I was a brown belt, and he said to me ‘if you want your black belt, you’ve got to start teaching kids’

“I hated that. I was like: ‘I hate kids, they give me a headache’. Ron said to me: ‘if you can get a message across to a kid, then I can trust you to get a message across to an adult’. At that time my son TJ was just coming up; he was about four years old, so that was the time to start doing it.”

It seems like you love it now.

“Yeah, it seems like it, haha! Yeah, nah, I say that I don’t, but I’m just a big kid at heart really.

“I’m really big on discipline and having correct form. A lot of kids don’t have the discipline these days. Plenty of the naughty kids don’t last with me, because even though MMA is modern, I run the kids’ classes as a traditional martial arts class, with old-school strict discipline.”

Thanks for your time Karl. It’s great to hear your story.

If you live in Christchurch and you want to be an MMA fighter, it doesn’t get much better than training with Coach Hostile at the Canterbury Fight Centre. You can find him using the Facebook links to the Canterbury Fight Centre and the Universal MMA pages. You’d better be prepared to work hard, though.

Likewise, if your kid is getting bullied, or has expressed an interest in learning real martial arts, the kids’ class is full at the moment, but put their name on the waiting list.

Pop down to the Canterbury Fight Centre at 319 Pages Road, Aranui. Look for the Universal Vale Tudo logo writ large on the wall and walk through the door in the centre. You won’t look back.