Meet the Chieftain
BERNIE LEDDY
Bernard Leddy is the "Chieftain" and the legitmate inheritor of the Doyle system as appointed by Glen Doyle. He is the head instructor of the system and the first person in history outside the Doyle lineage to be appointed to lead the system. He oversees the standards and growth of the system worldwide. He is based in and runs a school and a number of study groups in his native Ireland as well as having students and study groups worldwide.
Bernie started his martial training at a young age. At 8 years old, he began training in Shotokan Karate and later Judo. He then left his native Ireland and relocated to England where he studied Aikido. He rose to the rank of 3rd Dan, running a successful club in Luton for 10 years. At the age of 28, he became a prison officer where he learned about human behaviour and gained valuable experience in dealing with people from all walks of life. He spent time as a hostage negotiator and in riot teams, as well as a basic skills tutor and therapy officer. After 20 yrs of studying Aikido, he had a terrible accident at work which stopped his training, and put him out of action for 2 years.
Two operations later, he returned to martial training, but decided to go in a different direction and began studying under different teachers and systems to find another “path”. Unsatisfied, he then looked at his native Irish culture, where he found the martial art of Bataireacht or Irish Stick Fighting.
He studied directly under Glen Doyle, one of the last hereditary stick fighters in the world, and after years of hard work and dedication, became an instructor in Doyle Irish stick fighting. He is the Chieftain and head of the Doyle system, runs a school in his native Ireland, and promotes and teaches Irish stick fighting through students, seminars, and coaching courses worldwide.
About Doyle Irish Stick
Doyle Irish Stick Fighting is a devastatingly effective two-handed combative system developed by the Doyle family in Ireland. This system was brought to Canada via a Doyle who settled in the rough and tumble landscape of the Atlantic’s Newfoundland coast.
While most Irish styles used the one-handed methods (much like fencing), the Doyle style evolved from a one-handed longer range style to a much more ‘close-quarter’ two-handed style when a family member fused the principles of pugilism into the motions of the stick.
