INTERVIEWS

This area will gradually expand to cover many interviews with martial art teachers from around the world. Much of this material will come from our Emag and by you the reader who has submitted an interview of someone you know. Feel free to submit material to us.

Down below is the Bio on the Martial Art Legends that appear in our awesome DVD production "Taste of the Arts"
Hanshi Tino Ceberano 8th Dan Karate is also warmly known as the father of martial arts in Australia. His years of experience to the martial arts have provided him the knowledge that has written him into the martial arts history books. Read more

Richard Norton, martial arts icon, body guard to the rich and famous and international movie star. The envy of most career oriented young men, there doesn’t seem to be much that Richard hasn’t done. His experience and expertise on the movie screen in reality is dwarfed by his prowess and knowledge as a martial artist, exercise science practitioner, communication master and sports psychology expert. Read more

Rob Gear's incredible talents were spawned over 20 years of service within the Military Police. He is the man responsible for developing and conducting VIP Close Personal Protection, Close Quarter Combat and Defensive Tactics training within the Australian Defence Force. Read more

Shihan Graham Slater, martial arts master, educator and chairman of the International Martial Arts Alliance (IMA). Graham has become a foremost lecturer and is a leading driving force for nationally recognised qualifications for the martial arts industry in Australia. Graham Slater has been involved in the martial arts and fitness industries for over 32 years. He has operated 10 martial art schools in Australia and has had 6 branches operating in England. Read more

John Donehue Extreme Jiu-Jitsu & Grappling's Head Coach John Donehue travelled to the United States in February of 1990 with a predominantly boxing and kick boxing background. Once there he trained almost daily with his friend, World Champion Bill "Super foot" Wallace, at the famous Jet Centre in Los Angeles. Read more

Joe Thambu Sensei 6th Dan International Yoshinkan Aikido Federation (IYAF)Joe Thambu Sensei's exceptional skill as a martial artist is the result of nearly 35 years commitment to Budo (the path of the warrior). Thambu Sensei's training began at age eleven under the tutelage of his uncle, Thamby Rajah Sensei - the father of Malaysian Aikido. Read more

Anthony Perosh Rank BJJ Black Belt, Thai Kickboxing Black T-shirt
Anthony is one of Australia’s top martial arts competitors. Anthony is currently an MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighter and a UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championships) veteran fighting in UFC 61 (8/7/06) and UFC 66 (30/12/06). Read more

John Will began his martial arts training in 1972. With a basic grounding in amateur wrestling, Goju Kai Karate and Taekwondo. He first left Australian shores in 1975 to study the indigenous martial arts systems of South East Asia; with many of those years spent in Indonesia learning Pentjak Silat. Read more

Grandmaster William Cheung started his training in 1951, at the age of ten, in the style of Wing Chun Kung Fu under the late Grandmaster Yip Man. From 1954 to 1958 Cheung was a live-in student of Grandmaster Yip Man. It was during this time that he inherited the complete system of Traditional Wing Chun Kung Fu. Read more

Senior Master Eng Chor is a qualified international Tai Chi and Wushu judge, a qualification not held by many outside China. He was a gold medalist at the 1986 International Tai Chi Tournament in China. In 1988 Snr Master Eng Chor attended the International Tai Chi and Wushu seminar conducted by the Chinese Government in Beijing. Read more

Master John Gill 5th Dan Taekwondo and Hapkido has been training for nearly 30 years and has sveral Australian and World Titles. Read more

Emag 5 is produced as full screen DVD (one & half hours) for the TV and a 125 page pdf magazine the PC. Order Now

Tino Ceberano Part 1 pdf file 234kb

Interview with Graham Slater html text + photos
Originally printed in Bujutsu International Magazine - May/June 2003 Issue

NEW ARTICLE page 6 html text only (one artcles)
1. Interview with Graham Slater 'Birth of the IKA" by Andy Wright

JUST AN 'OLD-HEAD-BANGER" FROM WAY BACK
Interview with David Crook with Erle Montigue
Australasian Fighting Arts Vol 11 No 2

SIFU DAVID CROOK has been around for a long time ... having been involved in the Martial Arts for 25 years now. If is usually thought that, if someone lasts that long in this business, then he must be doing something right! When I asked him recently how he got started in this business, he told me he was just an "old head-banger" from way back.

This interview was conducted in Canberra when I was invited to attend David Crook's 25th Anniversary 'surprise dinner,' held recently in his honour The dinner was attended by about 65 guests - mostly David's students, plus some representatives from other Martial Arts schools in the A.C.T and Sydney ...

Erle: You said that you were a "head banger" earlier What, exactly, does that mean?
David: I wasn't doing Martial Arts in England just head-banging, North of England. That means the old liverpool Kiss'and all that head bulls sit them still.

I did Karate and Jujitsu for about five years, then switched to Kung Fu. Primarily because I got knocked around by the Kung Fu guys.

I am a bit of a head-banger, but now it's more controlled. I didn't get into Martial Arts until I went to Adelaide , because my Dad was a pretty good     boxer. I started after getting knocked around in my school days. I didn't mind getting knocked around, but they also knocked off sixteen shillings and fourpence . . . which was a lot of money in those days.

Erle:  So what did you start In?

David:  I started in Karate and Jujitsu. I did that for about five years, then switched to Kung Fu. Primarily because I was knocked around by the Kung Fu guys. Too fluid. I mean, I could punch holes in brick walls and break quantities of tiles and that. Although the guy I was training with, Moss Hollis (who died not so long ago) was pretty good, because he'd bring in Japanese guys off the boats. The guys on the Japanese boats always did some training like the marine engineer did JuJitsu and the navigator did Karate, etc. In the club, we had different sections for Karate, Jujitsu and Judo and if you wanted to specialise in Karate then you also had to do Jujitsu. In fact, you have to have a Brown Belt in Judo and Jujitsu before you could get Black Belt in Karate, and visaversa. That way, we got the close and the long-range skills. So he (Moss) was pretty well enlightened. Moss was a long way ahead of his time in some ways. He was an ex-British paratrooper and had his club in Blurt Street , Adelaide .

Erle:  What did you teach in the early days? Was it a combination of Karate and Kung Fu?

David:  We used to teach the beginners the Karate, and then when we were sure that they weren't idiots, we'd introduce them to what we think are the potentially more lethal Kung Fu techniques. Then I used to teach the advanced students the more effective Chinese techniques.

Erle:  What was your original Kung Fu style or styles?

David:  I started in Choy Li Fut, Preying Mantis. some Wing Chun etc. We got into these groups that were run by university students, mostly out here on exchange. and they'd teach a few different styles. There were guys there from Monkey Boxing, Hung Gar. We used to just knock each other around and, being the only two Gwa-Laws ('foreign devils'), we were treated with suspicion at first I had Black Belts and we'd start sparring. particularly when we were into the Northern Shaolin aspects; we'd get in With some good kicks etc. But they could take it. But if we were fighting against someone who had our level of experience (in Karate) then we couldn't really compete with them. Kung Fu is a more complete Martial Art. You have the striking, the Chin-na (grappling) aspects, you have the therapeutic breathing aspects, you have the weapons. If you tried to get from the Japanese styles what you get from the good Kung Fu styles, you'd have to study about 10 different arts and sometimes they're just not compatible. The concepts are different, and so perhaps your Bo-Jitsu wouldn't fit in well with your Karate concepts etc. Whereas, in Kung Fu, once you have the basic art, you pick up anything and use it. It's more integrated. A lot of people thought it was peculiar back in those days. We didn't have the big stances and the kiai ...

Erle:  Is Bac Fu Do a combination of everything that you've learnt?

David:  Yes, sort of. But I've taken a very analytical view of things. I knew that Karate had deficiences because of the blocking systems being too slow, so my instructor recognised that enough to make us do a lot of in-close stuff. The blocking system is okay ifsomeone is only throwing one punch, but if someone came in with combinations ... For example, my Dad was a bantam weight and a boxing champion in the British Army. Against most Karate guys in the club, if he got inside their kicks he'd murder them; they didn't have any idea of how to cope with fast hand techniques. So okay, I looked at Kung Fu and saw that it had the fast hand techniques, but I initially started with Choy Li Fut and Northern Shaolin. Now they are better, but they still had some things that weren't quite right. Choy Li Fut is an excellent sort of multi-opponent style. It's got some good hand techniques, but it lacks in close.  So I viewed that as a deficiency in and so I started to look at Wing Bill Cheung's senior students used to come down to my club to train in circular techniques and how to kick, and I to train with them on how to work in etc. I used to train with a guy who to do a lot of Chin-Na from the White Crane System, so I picked up those aspects from him. Over the years he years I've changed emphasis, coming to Canberra . I went through Wing Chun phase and tried to nut deficiencies etc, and tried to correct  them, because I was looking at survival and not sports Kung Fu.

Erle:  What sort of deficiencies in Wing Chun?

David:  Well for most people (not meaning anyone who's really exceptional at Wing Chun ... just your average Wing Chun Joe) it's good it you've got one person right in front of you and you're fighting in a toilet or a telephone booth or something, Wing Chun is ideal. But it you're fighting somewhere where you've got more than am guy because Wing Chun hasn't got a range of multi-directional attacks like, say, Choy Li Fut has you can't hit a guy with a back kick and they (Wing Chun experts) decry roundhouse kicks, which are very good in multi-opponent situations if you're using them on the side-steps etc. And also, a lot of Wing Chun guys don't really know how to cope with circular techniques. Because they vain with specifically straight-line techniques. I have found a lot of Wing Chun guys      (those that I've sparred with) get confused when confronted With a circle. Because a lot, of them get confused about the mechanical efficiency and they equate that to combat effectiveness. Okay from A to B, in a straight line sure, this has got to be the most efficient technique. However, just as any boxer knows, you can use a straight to beat a curve, just as you can use a curve to beat a straight. But Wing Chun is great in urban situations.

Erle:  What are the main aspects of Bac Fu Do? Foot techniques or hand, or a bit of both?

David:  Well, we go for a bit of both. After I'd been through the Wing Chun phase I figured that what I really liked was a slightly modified Choy Li Fut, with the ability to still function with Wing Chun and Chin-na at close range. The whole thing is to be able to function at any range under any circumstances. If we hit a guy well take him into a lock situation; or you might hit a guy in the chin with a palm-heel and immediately go into a grab or use a disorientating move to dump him on the ground or bring him into a knee etc, If necessary well use a locking technique - not so much for it's locking, but to take a guy over his head into the ground. I think what we've got now is reasonably effective in a street situation ...

Erle:  I see that you are well up on beg training. Do you think that too much beg work sometimes gives people a false sense of security? How do you get around that aspect?

David:  Oh yes, it's like anything else. It's like doing sets, right' You've got to have a really well balanced training programme. In a club situation, ina normal session, we do the warm up and depending on grades, well get into various activities which include bag work, sets, individual practice of combinations, practise with a partner, weapons etc. Self defence stuff against common holds, because that's one area where a lot of primarily punching kicking styles miss out. It's great to be able to kick and punch but what happensif you slip and you've got some clown on your chest. I like to have a balanced program of training, and bag work is one aspect of training, and it shouldn't be over emphasized.  It's just like sets:  some people do nothing but sets.  It's when you concentrate on any one aspect that you get into trouble; like if you train in chi sau ("sticky hands") all day. Some Wing Chun clubs will do nothing but chi-sau for three quarters of an hour. Now chi-sau is an aid to sensitivity, but if you do it all the time then other important aspects miss out.

'A lot of Wing Chun guys don't really know how to cope with circular techniques. Because they train with specifically straight-line techniques .

Erle:  When do you introduce people to sparring?

David:  We usually don't introduce them for at least six or nine months. They do a lot of work with a partner, but not free sparring too soon. We  have a lot of pre-arranged sets where the student is introduced to sparring slowly and then we look at it and say, 'okay, what if the opponent does such and such etc?' And the student has to find the solution for himself. Then well gradually get onto free flowing sparring, working on continuity and flow etc. So that people can learn to recognize openings. We start off with light contact then heavier contact with gear on etc. Then we go on to heavier contact without the protection but you're looking at a guy who's been training for at least two years by then. You've got to have control first.

Erle:  Any early challengers when you first started?

David:  Oh yes, we had a lot of challenges from the guys who thought that Kung Fu was "sort of sissy", and we put a lot of guys through walls etc. The training was harder in those days than now. Quite often there was blood on the floor. One of my senior students said last night at the dinner that we must have been stupid to have trained like that, and somehow I agree with him. But it got me through a lot of challenges. After about three guys from other clubs were hospitalized, they stopped coming around.

Erle:  Some people get into the habit of only ever fighting with people from their own clubs and against their own style, then they wonder why they get decked in the street, How do you get around that?

David:  I invite people from other styles to come and spar with us. My club is open to any style. We've had very good relationships in the past. We used to have a Kyokushinkai club in Canberra a few years ago. We used to take guys over to their club and have sparring sessions and they'd come over to our club. On Sunday afternoon my guys have a mixed-bag sparring session for about three hours and we have kick- boxers, Karate people etc. come along. So they get used to fighting against other styles. As long as they behave themselves, we invite anybody from other clubs to do a bit a training, sparring etc. If I get into a fight- keeping in mind that I try and avoid it possible - but it degenerates, then I like to leave the guy in a fairly helpless state. I mean, I don't want someone who's big and angry coming after me if he gets up. Look, you've got to be careful in fights nowadays; not only from being smashed but now we've got to be careful of AIDS ...

Erle:  Do you believe in the one-Punch knockout?

David:  Yes, we think that you should have the capability to knock someone out with one punch. But that's not necessarily going to be your first punch. You might set him up with a few and then land the knockout. You should have the technique to be able to channel your power into a good opening when it presents itself.

Erle:  I keep asking myself this next question: Why do we teach so many techniques if we're only teaching people to defend themselves? Why do you teach Martial Arts?

David:   Primarily for self-defense. We get guys in that want to do exercise to improve their fitness, and it's also a lot more interesting than only just jogging etc. We get people who just want to learn how to defend themselves.  I've had guys who have been really ‘bad'. Their whole attitude has changed.  Martial Arts helps you to achieve your real potential in anything you do.  It could be pottery or writing etc; Martial Arts helps in anything. I've only met basically good people in the Martial Arts. There have only really been two people who have really disappointed me in the past 25 years.