My father was creative director at Saatchi and Saatchi, the agency that helped define Margaret Thatcher’s public image and one of the writers behind her speeches. She would send her handwritten notes. He would decipher them and craft them into something the world would hear.

He described it as copywriting.

I would describe it as understanding exactly what someone means and finding the words that make it land.

I grew up watching that principle in practice.

I didn’t follow him into advertising. But I never stopped thinking about what it means to communicate with precision under pressure, in a negotiation, in a boardroom, in a competition, and eventually in a business you’ve built yourself.

I trained at The Budokwai in London, the oldest Japanese martial arts club in Europe, founded in 1918, the first Judo club on the continent. My coach was Ray Stevens, Olympic silver medallist.

I earned my black belt by Batsukan — a competitive promotion method where the candidate must win three consecutive fights against dan grades without rest. No exam. No controlled conditions. Three fights, back to back, against people trying to stop you. All 100 points awarded on the spot or not at all.

I am a two times Masters British Heavyweight Champion and Masters Commonwealth Medallist.

Judo teaches you something no MBA does. The strongest person rarely wins. The one who understands position, timing, and leverage, who knows where the balance breaks and when to apply pressure, that’s the one who walks away on their terms.

I have been thinking about that principle in professional and business contexts for twenty years.

I started in technology, working on systems that would eventually underpin one of the earliest UK internet businesses acquired by Amazon.

I certified as a Business Analyst, moved into consultancy, and discovered what most capable people eventually discover — that corporate life is structurally designed to absorb talent rather than reward it.

So I left.

I built three businesses. An online directory, sold. A £10 million property portfolio, developed and exited. A consultancy that served ten FTSE 100 companies across more than 25 countries, at board and C-suite level.

Throughout all of it, I competed in Judo.

The mat and the boardroom taught me the same thing.

Kuzushi is the Judo concept of breaking your opponent’s balance before the throw.

You don’t win by being stronger. You win by finding the moment the position shifts and being ready to move when it does.

That idea is the most useful thing I have ever applied to decisions that cost money, time, and leverage when they go wrong.

It is also the name of my channel.

Every video is built around one question: what does it actually take to move — in compensation, in negotiation, in a career, in a business when the system you’re operating inside is designed to keep you where you are.