The master

“If I can do it, so can you.”

Massimo Mitola, Sifu Maximo, teaches South-East Asian martial arts for self-defence at Black Bull Academy in Desenzano del Garda. For him Jeet Kune Do, Kali, Silat, Muay Thai and MMA go far beyond technique: they are tools for personal growth, survival and awareness.

A family with fighting in its blood

Martial arts run in the Mitola family. His older brother, twelve years his senior, was already a karate black belt when Massimo started, and was a role model and a constant push to improve. His father, an operational motorcyclist in the Carabinieri, had a natural talent for boxing and passed on a principle that runs through all of Massimo’s teaching: adapt to every situation, and act first when it is clear the confrontation can no longer be avoided.

The masters

Sifu Guru Serafino Fontana, his Italian master, founder of K.E.S.A. Italia: the first to bring the Jeet Kune Do, Filipino Kali and Indonesian Silat of the Magda Institute to Italy. Massimo has trained with him since the age of fifteen, throughout his whole martial path to this day.

Sifu Guru Cass Magda, his American master, founder of the Magda Institute in Los Angeles and a direct student of Dan Inosanto, himself a disciple of Bruce Lee.

“I do not represent only myself: I carry on what was handed down to me.”

• Phase 3 in Jeet Kune Do, the system created by Bruce Lee.
• Phase 3 in Filipino Kali.
• Phase 3 in Indonesian Silat.
• 2nd Dan black belt in Kyokushin Karate.

The Black Bull Formula

The Black Bull method was born from the fusion of these experiences, knowledge and traditions into a simple, direct and pragmatic formula. It focuses on what really matters when danger is real: when you cannot avoid it or run, and you are forced to act.

• Mind before body: perceiving danger, managing fear, a calm mind that makes the body effective.
• Few techniques, mastered: punches, kicks, elbows and knees, and short combinations trained until they become automatic.
• Real defence: responses to shoves, grabs and chokes, no choreography.
• Consistency: 45–60 minutes of daily training is worth more than long, occasional sessions.

Black Bull is the style of the sharp, decisive, targeted strike: the mindset of the bull, centred, ready, determined.

• I’ll Teach You to Defend Yourself – The Black Bull Formula (e-book, in Italian). Eight chapters: the mental approach to self-defence, technical basics, impact strikes, effective combinations, real defensive techniques, training and consistency.