Jamie Thorne

2nd Degree Senior Instructor

 Jamie was recommended Arakan in 2012 by his best friend, not knowing whether he would enjoy Arakan or not. To Jamie’s, and everyone’s surprised, he absolutely loved the style and began training in earnest. 

Being a rebellious youth, Jamie immediately found great benefit in the street self defence style of Arakan and become more focused, discipled and commitment through his training. Arakan has helped transform Jamie’s life for the better, with powerful mentors such as the Chief Instructor and his Instructors, gave Jamie the belief in himself that he could achieve any goal he set for himself, and he wanted to share this passion and desire with others.

Jamie is very passionate about teaching his students self protection and he does this with a lot of love and great care. He has personally been through some real life situations and brings this knowledge, combined with Arakan skills sets and techniques, for fast, effective ‘street smart’ self defence solutions. 

Jamie’s greatest Arakan achievement is being able to share his passion of Arakan with others and grading his Orange Belt. When Jamie is not teaching or training he enjoys tattoos, and going on adventures and nature hikes and personal development. He has a strong belief that tragedy can be one of your greatest teachers, if you let it, and is passionate about helping others. 

Student Testimonials

After starting my Arakan journey late 2016, I feel empowered, more confident and prepared for any situation. Training with Jamie has been amazing! He has been a kind and encouraging teacher, customising private lessons to my situation. I highly recommend training with Jamie as he is highly skilled, knowledgeable and passionate about Arakan and about training his students to be the best they can. I had no prior martial art experience or knowledge and was not really sure how it would go, but it has changed my life for the better.

Ashlee Thornton Smith

My 21 year old daughter and myself have been training with Jamie for the last couple of years. We joined Arakan to help us with our fitness and help with our personal experiences. We are always keen and motivated to attend every lesson.
Jamie is a very professional, friendly and patient Instructor who has made such a difference in our lives. We have come a long way with Jamie building our self-confidence and strength, which is what we hoped to achieve.
Jamie is a very caring and genuine person who cares about our well-being, and educates us on how to protect ourselves and stay safe in our everyday personal lives and our work environment.
I would not hesitate in recommending Arakan and Jamie to anyone. Thanks Jamie for teaching us life skills and being able to protect ourselves.

Colleen Hill

My daughter and I started our Arakan journey in 2016 with the help and guidance from our Instructor Jamie. It amazes me how much we progress with each lesson.
I wanted my daughter Maisie to have the ability to look after herself plus learn respect and discipline, which Jamie has taught not just her but myself over the years.
Jamie and Arakan have given me a new purpose and goal to reach, offering so much through personal training lessons to group and also invitations to many family days to experience with Maisie and seminars to further myself with more experience and training tools.
Jamie customises our lessons to suit our individual needs and provides us with in-depth instructions throughout from his Arakan knowledge.  We see Jamie not only as an Instructor but as a great friend as well.
We thank Jamie for all his hard work and effort he puts into our training, he is so passionate.

Lee Wager

Jamie is a fantastic Instructor who motivates me every lesson train hard, pushing me to a new limit so that I can improve and reach a new level. Jamie always goes the extra mile for his students and my lessons with him are always the highlight of my week.

Maya Geragthy

Jamie has been my Arakan Instructor for a little over a year and a half now and I would say the thing that sticks out the most about him is his passion for Arakan. He is always trying to better not only himself but his students to. He’s perfect attendance record is a reflection on just how dedicated he is he is also a very patient man and willing to put the time into his students if they are willing to put the effort.I always look forward to our private lessons; he is always very easy to talk too and supportive inside and outside training. I’m looking forward to the years to come.

James Brownie

I have been training with Jamie Thorne for 2 years and have found Jamie to have a great understanding of Arakan Martial Art. His ability to put into words what is required from me has been a great help for myself to understand the Art on a much deeper level. Jamie was instrumental to help me grade my Yellow Belt in 2019. I would have no hesitation in recommending Jamie as an Arakan Instructor. He demonstrates the greatest desire to empower his students with his knowledge and skill throughout their Arakan journey. His professionalism and integrity is beyond reproach. He genuinely has the student’s best interest in his heart. His deep understanding of Arakan is now being utilised throughout our training toward my next grade, Orange Belt, and I look forward to continuing my Arakan journey with Jamie’s instruction and patience.

Mark Barlow

My seven year old son Jett has been training with Jamie for over a year now. Before starting Arakan, Jett misbehaved on a regular basis; however since training with Jamie I have seen great improvements in his attitude and behaviour. Jamie is a fantastic Instructor and has many great qualities but the one I admire most is his discipline and the way he teaches this to Jett on a weekly basis. Jett has learnt so much and come so far in 12 month and looks forward to his lessons. I believe Jamie will be a great mentor for Jett for many years to come. I highly recommend Jamie to anyone who is serious about training Arakan. We think he is the best. 

Jett Love

I began training Arakan Martial Art® in 2015 and have been training with Jamie for the past 2 years. Jamie is a compassionate, caring Instructor who has the best interest of all his students. While training with Jamie, I have become more self confident and greater levels of awareness. Each week training with Jamie is fun and engaging – I am always excited to train. Whether it be improving my skills with Arakan and consistently learning and always being given advice, Jamie can always be counted on. Not only is he an incredible Instructor, and friend. Beginning your Arakan journey with Jamie would be the best way to start; he is able to teach you an extensive range of skills in Arakan that are not only practical and useful in real-life situations, but assist in personal development and growth.

Keeley Barlow

I started training Arakan Martial Art about three years ago with Jamie Thorne and it has been one of the best decisions I have made. It has helped me in so many ways. It has boosted my confidence, taught me the importance of being aware of your surroundings and the people around you and just helped me grow as a person. Jamie has been amazing from my first complimentary introductory lesson right up till now and I’m certain for many years to come. Every week he just makes each lesson awesome and exciting, I can always count on Jamie whether I need help improving my Arakan or just need to talk and get some advice. He is always there and I’m sure he’s always there for his other students and many others too. I would highly recommend starting your Arakan journey with Jamie Thorne, he has so many skills to teach you not just in Arakan but in everyday life too. 

Bailey Day

I started training Arakan around 4 years ago with the intention to improve my fitness and flexibility, and as a means to try and keep fit and active as I was now in my early 40s.
I initially started out with one private lesson a week, but within a short time I found that I wanted to add an additional lesson in per week and not long after that a group lesson. I found the challenge of learning the techniques required a lot of focus and application and was as good for my mental health as it was for physical. Arakan is not something that you can become competent in quickly, and for me that is a big part of the appeal, you need to keep turning up and putting in the work and as I learn more and improve in small ways, I am motivated to continue. Hard work and persistence are values I hold as important and to see results in Arakan they are particularly important.
 
I feel very fortunate to be learning Arakan and want to give thanks particularly to my primary instructor Jamie Thorne. Jamie has been teaching me from my early days, and now teaches my whole family. Jamie is committed to Arakan, he is very highly skilled and knowledgeable, and he is reliable. Jamie’s one on one instruction and patience has been instrumental for me in improving and his ability to articulate quite complex movements is invaluable.   
Jamie provides a great example to his students and he inspires me to continue to push myself and learn. Jamie has built a great rapport with us all on a personal level and I look forward to many more years of learning with Jamie’s guidance and instruction. 

Adam O'Shea

I’ve had the pleasure of training with Jamie through Arakan for just under a year now and the thing that stands out to me the most, with training through him is his dedication and pride he takes in his teachings while also never having a dull moment in out training session. He’s always been very always been very supportive in helping me and others reach our goals through skills and fitness as well as just being and all round good mate to have. I started Arakan knowing absolutely nothing about the art and was very unhealthy but through putting in the the work and staying dedicated to my training he’s not only helped build up my physical strength heaps but also has helped me build up my mental strength and confidence which is something all my friends and family have noticed within me as well, so for that I am very appreciative. So if your reading this and not to sure whether to give it a go, I 100% recommend giving it a try and he is perfect to help you reach your goals whether it’s building yourself up more mentally physically or both, he’ll will help you reach those goals.

Harry Hamilton-Doyle

I've been training Arakan since the beginning of 2021 with senior instructor Jamie as my primary instructor. I found Arakan when looking for variety in my fitness regime and from the beginning of the complimentary lesson I knew Arakan was something I would love. What I really like about the 1:1 lessons as they are completely customizable to where I am at. Group classes are great to learn from other students as well as instructors. Jamie is a genuine, skillful, patient, and passionate instructor who always brings high energy and fun into every lesson and has an incredible way of teaching techniques through different analogies and stories. Each lesson is not just Arakan but lessons on life, discipline, mental toughness, self-confidence, and continuous improvement via our training sessions. I could not recommend Jamie or Arakan any higher. Contact Jamie for a complimentary taste of what your Arakan journey can be. 

Josh Davis