Our Story

Origins

SeTs ry, the association was legally formed in 2020. The story however, started long before.

The founder Chris Spencer like most young boys was a keen footballer. He started training in Judo at a school club back in 1973. After playing Squash, tennis and table tennis competitively for many years he joined a Jiu Jitsu based martial arts club at University. Initially he hesitated about joining any martial arts club for all the common reasons but, after suffering martial art debates by the other three for ten hours a day, he finally gave up the ghost and decided to go along and see what it was really all about. The choice was between Karate, Jiu Jitsu and Tai Kwon Do. The 6th degree Tai Kwon Do teacher recently arrived from Thailand gave a demonstration and ended up going to hospital after breaking his fist rather than the brick, which was a British Brick, the clay Thai ones in the impressive training video. At the time he lived with three other students, one of whom practised karate and the other two a modern style of Jiu Jitsu. The Karate Kid had been completely unable to use his training to protect himself when attacked by a former room mate, so the choice seemed obvious at that time. However, after one month of practising Jiu Jitsu he was completely hooked, not what he had expected at all. This was back in 1983. 

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He opened his first club in 1985 as a brown belt and attained his first black belt in 1987. Since then he has founded five clubs, two in England, and three more since moving to Finland in 1995. He has been writing down what he has learned into a series of instructional reference manuals for the last 35 years (since 1989). This was the start of the process that has now culminated n the formation of SeTs Ryu. There are now 10 extensive reference manuals in various states of completion.  After being made redundant from Nokia Networks, where he worked in project management he struggled to find work as a foreigner in Finland and ended up putting his martial arts training to good use as a security officer, i.e. security supervisor and screener (järjestyksenvalvoja, and as a security guard in shops (Vartija/Vahtimestari). He then went back to university to get a Master of Science degree (with merit award) and eventually a vocational teaching qualification for university lecturers/adult education teachers based on the M.Sc. along with developing and teaching a couple of security and risk management courses at the local University of Applied Science. Regular work was still had to come by so he started developing his own pedagogic model based on that experience and even tried to build a Learning Management System of his own using Drupal Open Source code. Unfortunately this proved too bigger challenge without sufficient expert help and resources. Other entrepreneurial projects also came his way through collaboration with friends on other APPS/systems and business services for the Independent Film Industry and related film and dance festivals  for which Chris acted as a planning, development and event manager in his free time.  

 

In order to get by, he added Parkour and Authorised Personal Trainer qualifications to his teaching collection. The writing down of knowledge gained continued in all of these areas of endeavour, a process out of which was born much of what makes-up SeTs Ryu philosophies and methodologies today. The process was both an analytical and creative process that through the experience of teaching in practice was continuously refined and combined cross-functionally to create the innovative and distinctive programmes and teaching methods that define SeTs Ryu and guide all its activities. Collaboration with the other business project still continues in the hope that some day they will also be realised and compliment the services already provided by SeTs Ryu. As I believe  Jeff Bezos once stated in an interview, if you want to build your own company, the best way, or time to start is when you are unemployed. Few distractions and nothing to lose!

 

The lesson from this story we believe, is that true creativity is not a simple matter of brainstorming a few initially stupid ideas with team mates (a very amateurish process), but a constant iterative process of analysis, critical and diagnostic (CAD) thinking to drive the creative process in a more systematic and consistent way.  True innovation is hence born of the need to adapt and improvise in the face of adversity, change and variable conditions/circumstances. I.e. Problem Solving!  There is no such thing as the one and only perfect solution and, many professional disciplines have created their own knowledge systems even though the core of what they are doing is the same. This leads to wasted resources and confusion with everyone trapped in their own specialization silos and bunkers, putting up barriers to the cross-functional fertilization needed for future innovation.

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During this last year (20924) AI LLM systems and related Agent APPS have exploded onto the scene like a Tsunami wave. We either swim with the tide and try to guide (regulate) it where we can, or sink and drown under it. Despite our onsite coaching activities, SeTs Ryu is no exception to this requirement for our online programmes and business operations, and we are working hard to learn and adapt to this new requirement and ever faster encroaching influence of AI technology and the working conditions it is creating. At the moment it seems a bit like a 'Wild West' situation again, just as it was and still is with Web 3.0 and the social media use and abuse. We must however, ensure that we remain the masters of the tools and technology and do not become slaves to it or, its puppet masters. Ai is created to compliment and aid human intelligence (HI), never replace it even it it could. 

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SeTs Ryu is and always will be..

 

AI Empowered, HI Driven

From HI to AI and back to Hi again,

it all begins and ends with human beings.

BACK to the FUTURE

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Chris Spencer