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SOURCES
Aikido - Sensei John Turnbull
Judo - Sensei Tony Charge
Shihan Peter Hermann - National Coaching Director, JFA
Ju-Jutsu - Shihan John Bear and Shihan Roger
Karate - Sensei Jeff Barnes
Master Wally Szlagowski
Shihan Tino Ceberano
Kung-Fu - Sifu Johnny Koay
Grandmaster William Cheung
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CLIENT
Stuart Sobell
LOS ANGELES CALIF 90026
USA
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CONCEPT
Link major social events (eg WW 1 and 2, Mass Migration, Vietnam War, Colombo Plan,
Relaxation of White Australia Policy etc) with developments in Martial Arts field on a
chronological basis.
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IN THE BEGINNING
Australia is a young nation - dating back only to 1788. In some regards, it is very
similar to the United States of America - it was initially developed for use by the
British Crown as a penal settlement. After the transportation of convicts to penal
settlements in the New World had passed, mass migration was responsible for peopling the
country. Of particular interest from a Martial Arts historical perspective are the mass
migrations of the Twentieth Century, which mainly brought in people from Europe following
World War Two, and the more recent intake of Asian migrants.
Many of our Post -WW2 migrants were ex-servicemen from a score of nations - men with
combat experience in the various unarmed combat disciplines utilised by the armed forces
(such as the Fairbairn inspired methods used by the British Commandos and the Ju-Jutsu
related systems used by the USA Rangers etc).
The development of Martial Arts in Australia cannot be examined without reference to
the impact of major social factors such as migration, participation in schemes such as the
Colombo Plan (whereby many thousands of students - many with Martial Arts experience -
from Malaysia, Hong Kong and other British Commonwealth countries came to Australia to be
educated). This brief overview will try to put these issues and their impacts into
perspective and look mainly at the development of the major arts of Kung-Fu, Karate,
Ju-Jutsu, Judo, Tae Kwan Do - with less popular arts such as Aikido, Kendo, Pentjak-Silat,
Ninjutsu etc being discussed only briefly..
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KUNG-FU
The earliest form of Asian Martial Art introduced into Australia was undoubtedly
Kung-Fu! It was introduced in the early to mid - 19th Century by the Chinese
"coolies" who came to work on our Goldfields. A visit to our goldfields museums
at places like Ballarat, Braidwood etc will disclose various Chinese weapons - which were
used for Kung-Fu training, ceremonial occasions and the occasional riot. Kung-Fu was
regarded as a means of survival by the first Australian Asians and was consequently not
made widely known - it was taught only to Chinese. In fact, this tradition of secrecy
prevailed until the early to middle 1960s.
The first Kung-Fu Kwoon to open its doors to the general public (and then only after
strict vetting) was the Choy Lay Fut Academy of WA, which started taking non-Chinese
students in the early 1960s. Run by two brothers, Sifu Dave Lacey and Sifu Vince Lacey,
this school is still in existence and can claim to be Australia's first and longest
running Kwoon. Sifu Vince Lacey is now teaching his art in San Francisco.
With the advent of the Bruce Lee era in the early 1970s, several other fine Chinese
instructors began opening their classes to non-Chinese. These included Sifu Cheung
Cheuk-hing (William) of the Wing Chun school (now recognised as a Grandmaster);
Grandmaster Chan Hak Fu of the Bak Hok (White Crane ) school; Sifu Greg Choi of Wing Chun;
Sifu Lee Yitman (Eddie) who taught Tai Ch'i Chuan, Choy Lay Fut and Wing Chun; Sifu
Lawrence Lee of the Tong Kune Do school and some pioneering Australian Martial Artists
such as Master Serge Martich-Osterman of the Shaolin Chuan-fa school, Sifu Wal Missingham
of the Mi Tsung-i school, Sifu David Crook of the Bac Fu Do school ( the latter two
instructors being Founder members of the Federation of Australian Kung-Fu Organisations -
the Government recognised umbrella organisation for Chinese martial Arts).
Australian Kung-Fu has come a long way since the early 1960s and the level of knowledge
present is comparable to that in many major nations - thanks to the fine instructors who
pioneered it in the early days and the many senior instructors who visit its shores on a
regular basis.
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JU-JUTSU
Our next import from Asia was Ju-Jutsu - with a confirmed introduction in 1905. At that
time, Japanese instructors like Tani, Kozumi etc were making a big impact in Europe and
the USA - President Theodore Roosevelt was probably one of the first non-Japanese to be
graded to Brown Belt and people like Lafcadio Hearne had journeyed to Japan to learn this
wondrous new approach to self-defence.
Australia's first Ju-Jutsu classes were taught by Cecil Elliot in 1905. Mr Elliot was
graded to Shodan in Yokohama in 1904 and came to Australia shortly afterwards. He brought
two Japanese instructors over to Australia also, Senseis Fushishima and Okura - Sensei
Fushishima later went on to become Australian Lightweight Wrestling Champion. Mr Elliot
later became a convert to Judo and taught Australia's first Judo classes in his backyard
in 1945 - a true pioneer.
Other major impacts on the Australian scene included the teaching of Ju-Jutsu to many
Australian Servicemen stationed in Malaya, by Master Kam Hok Hoe. Master Kam's students
returned to their Home country to spread his teachings and now number amongst the most
senior Ju-Jutsu practitioners in Australia.
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JUDO
The introduction of Kodokan Judo did not occur until relatively late in the piece. It
was first taught in 1945 and did not become nationally organised until 1952, when the Judo
federation of Australia was founded. Australia has produced some fine Judoka, with senior
instructors being graded up to 7th Dan and with Australian competitors winning 3 Bronze
and 3 Silver Medals and 1 Gold Medal at various World Titles and 2 Bronze Medals and 1
Gold Medal at the Olympics - a good record for a country with only 16 Million people!
The Judo Federation of Australia can be rightly proud of the advances it has made since
its foundation in 1952 by Senseis Moss Hollis, Ivan Zavetchanos and.......... Sensei
Zavetchanos was also largely responsible for the introduction into Australia of
Kyokushinkaikan Karate-Do some years later.
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KARATE-DO
Karate was a post-WW2 import - the methods first introduced being taught be
ex-Commandos and Airborne soldiers. One of the first karate schools in Australia was
established in 1953 by Master Wally Slagowski - and is still running today! The Shotokan
style had a major impact in the early days of Australian Karate and is still very strong
today - however, the Goju style of Master Gogen Yamaguchi was introduced by Shihan Merv
Oakley in the early 1960s and the Kyokushinkaikan style of Kancho Masutatsu Oyama was
introduced by Sensei Ivan Zavetchanos (also a Founding Member of the Judo Federation of
Australia) in the mid-1960s.
Today, Australia has a wide variety of different Karate styles from Japan and Okinawa
(including Shotokan, Shotokai, Wado Ryu, Shito Ryu, Shorin Ryu, Okinawan Goju Ryu, Goju
Kai, Seishin Kan, Kyokushinkai Kan, Okinawa Ryu, Nipppon Kempo and others). For a small
nation, Australia has produced some very strong competitors and international standard
officials and has done very well in international competition with countries with a much
larger Martial Arts population.
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TAE KWON DO
This popular Korean art was introduced into Australia in the early 1960s - it's first
proponents were ex-servicemen returned from Korea (including some US migrants such as Jack
Rosinsky, who taught for many years in Melbourne's Little Lonsdale Street).
However, the first major impact could be said to be the migration of Master Chong Chul
Rhee to Australia in the mid-1960s (Master Rhee later brought his brothers to Australia to
help run his national chain of Do Jang). The Rhee Tae Kwon Do schools are now one of
Australia's biggest Martial Arts "chains", with many thousands of members in
hundreds of locations.
Of course, many other Korean instructors are now resident in Australia and have
established strong followings of students. The quality of the instruction available to
Australian Tae Kwon Doists is evident in the fine showing they have made in international
competition. Many of the Korean instructors resident in Australia also had skills in
Hapkido and were responsible for establishing that art in Australia.
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AIKIDO
Aiki Jutsu, the fore-runner of Aikido, was first seen in Austrlia in the early 1920s -
when two Japanese Daito-ryu senseis visited Australia (some people now believe that these
instructors were members of the infamous Black Dragon Society and were on an intelligence
gathering expedition for the Japanese military). One of the visiting Japanese, Sensei
Shima, befriended and taught a young Australian, Les Byers, who later established a class
in the Bjelke-Petersen Academy of Physical Culture. Like other Australians, Sensei Byers
taught Aiki-jutsu for self defence, but also taught Judo for sports competition and
produced several Australian champions and an Olympics medallist.
However, true Aikido did not come to Australia until Sensei Sugarno arrived in
Australia in 1965 - complete with his Australian bride. Sensei Sugarno was the first Honbu
instructor to travel internationally at the direction of O-Sensei Uyeshiba. Sadly, Sensei
Sugarno left Australia, after raising some fine students to take over the teaching of
Aikido, and is now in Europe - but still returns to Australia periodically.
The 1970s saw the spread of Aikido around the world and Australian Aikido developed a
strong following during this time - the first Australian Black Belts included people such
as Howard Farmer, David Watts and John Turnbull (who is a good example of the
multi-faceted person that Martial Artists should strive to be - since he is also a keen
conservationist, as well as a well known Angling writer and conversationist - if he isn't
catching fish, he's talking about them!)
All in all, Australia has been lucky enough to gain benefit from its close proximity to
Asia, by being exposed to the many and varied teachings of fine instructors from
neighbouring countries.
Australian Martial Arts bodies have burgeoned into strong and healthy organisations,
numbering many fine competitors and teachers in their number. The Australian Martial
Artist is generally a very open-minded and friendly individual who likes nothing better
than to swap ideas with fellow practitioners, regardless of the style or art that they
practice.
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