Simon Oliver
OSS Quarterly Journal June 1996 Profile
I can't remember a time when I didn't have some involvement with martial arts. M y family has a long history with the Japanese martial arts. My grandfather, my mother's father, was a Russian immigrant and worked in the music halls and fairground attractions during the 1920's and 30's as a 'strong man' boxing booth operator and wrestler.
When I was a child he had the awesome task of looking after me. To keep me out of trouble he would teach me what he called his "secret tricks" which he had learned from a Japanese Jujitsu master who had been active in the same business as him. I have since found out that his master was called Yukio Tani.
My uncles can remember seeing my grandfather fight for money and knocking out opponents with his palm heal and hammer fist strikes, just after the war. They can also remember him being arrested at the outbreak of the war and imprisoned because he never gave up his Russian passport. Apparently the six police officers who came to arrest him, were heard arguing over who was going to ask him to come to the station. He was a big man over six foot six inched tall.
He went peacefully and my uncles said he never broke the law of the land. If he didn't like the law he would just leave the country.
I have in my collection of books a number of very rare Jujitsu texts, which were left to me after his death.
Q) Who was your first instructor?
My father and his cousin, my uncle Tommy, formally introduced me to the martial arts in 1966. I was six years old.
They had been practising Judo and Jujitsu since the 1950's and my father had studied with the great Koizumi Sensei 7th Dan at the Budokwai in London. My father had to retire from regular practice some years ago due to ill health. He was ranked 5th Dan.
Q) Where did you train?
At first in the lounge of my mother's house, until my uncle Tommy put his foot through the lounge window! I then trained at the Islington boys Judo club. In 1968 my father took me to see a demonstration of Japanese martial arts and I first saw Karate there.
That was it! I pestered my father to find an instructor for me. Unfortunately the few Dojo's that were around did not cater for children. My father eventually came into contact with a Wado-Ryu instructor called Pete Bell. He was a Shodan.
Q) How old were you when achieved Shodan?
Pete Bell agreed to teach me the basics and eventually he took me along to the Sensei's Dojo, Tatsuo Suzuki, who I think was 7th Dan then. He was Pete's main instructor. I stayed with the Wado-Ryu until 1972 gaining Shodan when I was twelve.
Q) Have training methods of today altered from when you started?
When the family moved to Doncaster, I started training in Shito Ryu (then called Shukokai) with Alan Rushby Sensei. I think the training differences were apparent.
This was an electric time; the Dojo's were packed as everyone was going Kung Fu crazy.
The energy around had to be experienced to be believed. The training was certainly tougher and I think if you held a Dan grade then, you had probably been through a harder grading regime than is around today.
As far as training methods are concerned, we probably train much safer today. I can certainly remember some mad exercises in warm-ups and warm-downs, endless "bunny hops" that cant have done many people much good. Discipline and etiquette were certainly more zealously enforced. These days some instructors worry about members leaving too much, and therefore modify their teaching methods accordingly.
Q) When did your competition career begin?
In 1975 the family returned to Liverpool, where they originally came from. I stayed on in Doncaster during the week due to me taking exams so I travelled home at weekends. This caused some disruption to my training but I still managed to compete.
I first competed in 1973 at some obscure Karate open in Preston and won the junior Kumite and Kata. There were only twelve of us in both categories.
In 1976 I first trained with Terry O'Neill Sensei and it was then that I was hooked so decided there and then that Shotokan was going to be my path. It was not going to be easy. I still competed in every event I could get to. Some months competing in two competitions a weekend. Everything from local inter-club events to the new full contact "bashes"!
In 1977 I came to Nottingham to live and eventually study at Trent Polytechnic. I promptly enrolled at Shiro Asano Sensei's Dojo which became increasingly expensive for me and his class times clashed with my new found part time job in the Nottingham night club security business. So I started training at a small KUGB Dojo run by John Whyler, a big tough 1st Kyu and travelled back to Liverpool once a month to train at Terry O'Neill's Dojo. John Whyler's Dojo left the KUGB and I left soon after to form the Zanshin with two former Asano Sensei students.
Q) What do you consider to be your best achievement?
As I said, I entered all sorts of events and won some great prizes, black eyes, split lips and broken toes. But I suppose the achievements that stick in my memory as the greatest, were winning the under 21's Kumite in the European open at Paris in 1979 and getting placed in the Kata in the final four of the Dutch Grand Prix 1980. These were large open events, with loads of entries. I can't remember which event it was but the eliminations were still going on at 9.00pm! Also, fighting for the Notts county squad (Nove Centurions) against Scotland in 1984 and getting knocked out in the first round of a competition in Japan. It had always been a dream just to compete in Japan.
YES! But you must get the balance correct. In most Dojo's less than 5% will compete.
Competition is for the young. It is healthy, purposeful and teaches good timing, Irmi (entry technique) and develops spirit. If participated in correctly, it will develop respect and control. Sadly it not often entered into at the right time for many individuals and is flawed by poor standards of refereeing in many cases. The KUGB however, does endeavour to maintain quite high standards in its events.
I think many instructors struggle to get the correct balance due to many factors; time being the major handicap. They must be very careful not to teach competition techniques and then try to sell it as self-defence.
Q) Do you emphasise any particular aspects of Karate in your Dojo?
The basic principles of Kihon, Kumite and Kata, not necessarily in that order. I use the Okinawan and JKA principles of linking the Kihon from the kata into the Kumite in many classes. This means that you are not doing three systems but one discipline.
Q) How many students train in your Dojo?
In the Zanshin's heyday we had around 400 members training regularly. Today we average around 130 to 150 students. Remember, we are open every day of the week.
Q) How do you see your club developing over the next five to ten years?
The Zanshin has seen many changes since it started in 1978. It has weathered political unrest, power struggles and instructor changes. The Dojo is only as strong as its members. If it continues to expand I can see us moving to a permanent, private Dojo in its own premises. The Zanshin has become an institution. Many people visit the Dojo every year to train on the many courses and I hope it continues long after I've gone.
Q) You have strong interest in Kata. What is its relevance in effective Karate?
Kata is Karate. Without it we are just practising poor kickboxing. Many people do not understand Kata or how to train in it properly. I have always studied Kata and have been lucky in that I have been able to experience many interpretations of our Kata as well as Kata from other systems, with some of the best instructors in the world.
Kata must be studied, with the aim of mastering the form first, so you have structure that you can then take and practice applying in as many different ways as possible. This we do by first practising Bunkai and then Oyo. The Kata will then provide good conditioning for both mind and body.
Q) Many students are familiar with Kata Bunkai (practical applications of the moves) but what is Oyo, the subject of your video's?
First of all Bunkai with the Shotokan Katas is not the practical application of Kata, but rather the direct application of the Kata moves without changing embusen (direct attack line of movement in the Kata) or varying the form. Some styles of Kata have not been influenced by competitive performance and their Bunkai and Oyo are just distance when being applied.
Shotokan Kata and especially what is happening to the Kata now, are just hybrids of the original Kata. This falls into line with what Funakoshi Sensei wanted. He was very influenced by Kano Sensei the founder of Judo and wanted Karate to unify into one global system and become just Karate-Do.
Oyo is not a new practice, but rather an old way of practicing applications that allow you to take the moves and apply them at very close-quarter or grappling distance. The training concept pre-dates Kumite as we know it. The Oyo training will bring a level of reality to your training. It goes beyond Imri (entry techniques) we use for closing distance and speed. I am not saying that this is all we should practice. Oyo is just as important as Kihon, Gohan and Jiyu Kimite. However, if you are teaching Karate for self-defence, you should be teaching close quarter techniques and proper combat psychological preparation, or you are conning people.
Q) You have an interest in Kobudo (weapons training). Is this a regular part of your weapons training and teaching?
Kobudo has always been part of my Karate training, right from my early Wado-Ryu days. Again I have been lucky enough to study with some of the great weapons masters. Yamazaki Sensei, Demura Sensei , Sakagami Sensei and Matayoshi Sensei. Due to my work I have been able to travel not only in the UK, but also in the USA, Canada, Japan and Okinawa to train with these Senseis who are a link with the past.
I do not make Kobudo a mandatory part of training but rather optional to those who have reached at least 5th Kyu and are over the age of 14 years. I find studying with weapons improves distance, accuracy and awareness. It is also vital if you are going to face people with knives and bottles, to know how a tanto (Japanese dagger) works at least! Many people say that they have enough to learn just with Karate, but once you start training in Kobodo, you quickly realise how close they both are. The Okinawans were not stupid. They didn't have to learn two systems.
Q) You regularly host training courses with a number of Sensei, some from different disciplines. How has this influenced your own teaching and training?
Greatly! My competition days bought me into contact with many styles and systems, which I think is very healthy. My belief has always been that it is very naïve to think any one style has all the answers. Exposing yourself to other arts makes you question your own training and helps you maintain momentum and commitment. I can't remember which master said, "know your enemy as well as you know yourself!" but whoever it was, was a very wise man.
Q) Who impresses you in Shotokan Karate, both in this country and the world?
My great mentors and friends Terry O'Neill Sensei and Dave Hazard Sensei, always have and always will inspire and impress me. For me, they compliment each other perfectly. I have trained with some of the greatest Sensei in the world, including Yaraha Sensei and Abe Sensei when I trained in Japan. Kawasoe Sensei, I have always found technically inspirational. Out of the new breed of home grown Karateka and future masters, Aiden Trimble is well worth a visit. For pure raw adrenalin, Ronnie Christopher, Randy Williams and the great Elwyn Hall take some beating.
Q) As long-standing Karateka, how has regular training affected your daily life?
Karate has helped to keep a balance in my life and has provided a purpose, a direction. Karate is a good constant and when everything else in your life is going crazy, the Dojo is always a good place to go!