Simon on From Bullied to Black Belt.

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I think I am the first to admit that my books, certainly the ones I have written about my life, my family, my martial arts and more, all have one thing in common; they are based on incredible adversity but also my successful attempt to overcome the problems I have faced.

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From Bullied to Black Belt is, and always will be, my pride and joy when it comes to writing. It is a little rough around the edges as I was a young man who had no formal training (other than school) in writing and it shows, but what I also hope it shows is that you can overcome almost anything with courage and hope.

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It starts in a small Welsh seaside town and is disturbing from the start.

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My bullying happened early in life, oh boy did it! Just five years of age and the mould is set for a childhood, teenage years and early adulthood as I pretty much cowered to anyone willing to throw an angry punch in my direction.

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Panic attacks and agoraphobia followed, before I was pulled back by the girl I went onto marry. Julie was (and still is) my everything. from time she would dress me because I was so weak until the time she gave me a final push to get me to where I thought my answers lay; a Karate Black belt.

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Of course adversity knows no time limits and even after I took the test, I fell again. This time a gang of drug dealers took a dislike to me (funny, around about the time I took a dislike to them selling their filth in the house next door to me.

We, Julie and I battled for almost three years to keep our children safe until the gang decided enough was enough and they...well, buy the book and see what their decision was.

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The book swears by the saying "Where there is courage, there is hope." We are living proof of it.

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And about An Everyday Warrior.

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It couldn't get any worse though, right? Yep, I thought so too, but it did and I played a big part in my downfall as I hit the bottom again, only this time it was a more serious affair.

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I had the lot. Beautiful wife, three children, a new four-wheel-drive car and two brilliant dogs. My first book was selling well. I had my own gym and was giving regular talks and seminars. Then disaster struck as I was betrayed by the very man I should have been able to trust with my life; my own father.

I'd always known he flew close to the wind. I had seen it enough in his factory when I was growing up. I wrote a saying about it;

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"If you are going to leave behind a trail of debt, expect to see a line of violent man in your future." And this is what happened.   

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 Under the pretence of wanting to retire, he persuaded me to buy his factory in order to give him a safe retirement. Honestly, I didn't need much persuading. Even as a grown man, I was desperate to impress him and shed the dark wool of my black sheep back, and here lay my new problems that almost killed me.             

         

He gave me the good sell. "International sales, you will make a great boss, you are honest, people like you blah, blah, blah and just go and borrow a small fortune to get him out of the picture. I did. And along came the people he owed money to. Men with bats, men with guns, men with anger. Men willing to shoot me for the debt he owed and men who were members of the infamous terrorist group, the IRA. When they say they are going to kidnap you and torture you before burying you in the Irish countryside, well no matter how fast your roundhouse kick how hard your elbow strike or how quick you can drop a man, it is best to be taken seriously, especially when they feed you important information. Information such as the school your children go to, your wife's car, where you train, hell, everything I needed to know.

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 And it went on, and on and on. Said father was no help. No, he had set up a rival company in a nearby town and so the pressure was all mine. Four years of it. It was inevitable really, drink. One drink a night, two drinks a night and who keeps count anymore? After all, I was 'it.' Everything was on me now. My behaviour was erratic to say the least, and finally, my lovely Julie had had enough. Give up the booze or go be on your own. I could hardly blame her. Giving up it was though, but done so quickly and with such a shock to my system, my withdrawal summoned the very demons from hell. Hallucinations of everything that had ever frightened me appeared. The Elephant Man, gangsters, blood baths in a maternity ward as men gave birth and all from the comfort of my hospital bed as Julie and the kids sat and prayed I wouldn't die.   

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And so I came around abruptly, alcohol leaving my body as realisation set in. I needed something and it was a return to the fighting world. I set myself the challenge of fighting for my fourth Black Belt and if you want to know how I got on, well it's all available in every format, paperback, e-reader and audiobook.