Mervyn Nelis
Inducted into the A.M.A.H.O.F.(Inc)
for 2003 INSTRUCTOR OF THE YEAR VICTORIA – KARATE
Inducted into the W.K.U.H.O.F. for 2003 INSTRUCTOR
OF THE VICTORIA – KARATE
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Even from early primary school years Shihan Mervyn
was involved in mock fights with fellow school friends.
During lunch and recess breaks he and others would
stage play fights imitating real life scenarios. From
these early exploits Shihan had a taste for the fighting
arts and sought out different disciplines to study.
Boxing and wrestling were the first unarmed self-defence
methods to capture his interest but after several months
of practise, enthusiasm started to wane.
It was a chance meeting with a Dutch exponent of
Ju-Jitsu, Mr. Bill Pauuw, that sparked a renewed interest
in
the fighting arts. Although originally wishing to
study karate Shihan was informed that only Jui-Jitsu
tuition
was available at present. Shortly after Shihan enrolled
as a student of Kito Ryu Jui? Jitsu and continued
his studies for several months.
At the end of 1967 a
Japanese Kyokushin instructor, Mr. Kato, came to
Australia and conducted a seminar
over several days at a local seaside beach. As
Shihan at this time was employed as an Insurance Clerk
he
asked permission for time off (3 days) to attend
this special training seminar. His employer refused
permission
and Shihan, together with another co-worker, simply
did not turn up for work but attended the seminar
instead. Shihan was immediately impressed with
the training
and made up his mind to pursue Kyokushin karate
from that day on. On Shihan’s return to work
he and his friend were reprimanded for their non-attendance
but fortunately were allowed to retain their employment.
From that day on Shihan trained diligently (6/7
days a week) and within
3? years received his Shodan (Black Belt).
Prior
to receiving his Black Belt Shihan instructed at
Mr. Pauuw’s International School of Self Defence
and on attaining Black Belt returned to his Jui-Jitsu
studies which he continued with for several years.
In
1974 Shihan travelled to New Zealand to attend a
10 day clinic in Kyokushin Karate conducted
by Kaicho
Nakumura and Shihan Shigeru Oyama.
This was
Shihan’s first meeting with Kaicho Nakumura
and was the start of further communication
leading up to Shihan’s acceptance into the
World Seido Juku Karate Organisation.
In 1975 Shihan
married and travelled to Japan
to study under the legendary Grand Master
of Kyokushin-
The
late Sosei Mas. Oyama. Shihan stayed for
3 months and trained twice a day 5/6 days a week.
The
training was
hard and being a foreigner communication
was
difficult.
Prior to leaving Shihan was promoted
to Nidan.
Several incidents that happened during Shihan’s
training at the Tokyo Headquarters made him
reassess the direction
in which he was heading. Disillusionment
led to disenchantment and Shihan returned
to Australia with a totally different
perspective.
On his return to Geelong Shihan
decided to travel to Adelaide and open a
dojo free of the restrictions
of his home state Victoria. Shihan conducted
classes 3 times a week from an old church
hall with approximately.
20 students. This dojo was named the H.D.R.
School of Karate. The initials standing for
Humility, Discipline
and Respect.
After spending 6 months in Adelaide
Shihan decided to return to his hometown to open
a sports store.
Through communication with Kaicho Nakumura,
Shihan became aware
of the newly formed Seido Organisation
and immediately applied to join. After Shihan
submitted his
ideas and philosophy on the Martial Arts,
Kaicho Nakumura,
after
a long deliberation, agreed to accept him
into the Organisation. Shihan then travelled
to
New York in
June 1977 and studied under Kaicho Nakumura
for 5 weeks. Prior to leaving New York Shihan was promoted
to Sandan.
On Shihan’s return to Australia
there was much to do. Firstly preparations
were under way for the
opening of the sports store as well as
finding a suitable location for a dojo.
Within 2 months all was completed
and the opening of the sports store coincided
with the first class of the Australian
Branch of Seido Juku
karate.
The first class started on September
20th. 1977 with a class of 20 students. The dojo
was situated
above
the sports store in James Street, Geelong.
It was an old attic, which required substantial
renovation
to
make it suitable for training. It was
quite spacious
and when finished looked very attractive.
After
3 years in the upstairs dojo, circumstances dictated
a shift in location. The dojo
was now located on the
waterfront and operated 3 times a week.
Numbers started to increase gradually
as the news
of Shihan’s
commitment started to spread. At this
time Shihan returned to security work
at local nightclubs as well as driving
taxis during the day. It was a hectic
time running
from one job to another in order to
meet his obligations.
In January 1983
another dojo was opened
in Clifton Springs (approximately.
15 kilometres from Geelong)
and this operated two nights a week.
Shihan was now offering classes five
nights a
week
at two
locations.
During a visit to Honbu Shihan was
graded to 4th Dan despite having sustained
a broken arm during training.
Towards
the end of 1983 three students were to try for Black
Belt and as we
had insufficient
sparring students Shihan invited
Shihan Renzie Hanham and
Shihan Andy Barber along with 40
other New Zealanders
to attend
and officiate at the grading. This
was an incredible week with parties,
training
and
sightseeing
- the Kiwis certainly made their
presence felt. It was
a week that
is still talked about up to this
day. During this hectic week three students
tried for
Shodan with
two successful
- Shihans first Shodans - Senpais
Terry Bourke and
Trevor Dean.
Shihan was now offering
self defence instruction at several schools in
and around Geelong
as well as taking
classes five nights a week and
working security several nights a week. The
student numbers
slowly increased
and eventually another training
night was incorporated into the Clifton
Springs dojo
schedule.
Eventually separate children’s
classes were offered at both dojos
and this proved to be very successful.
As student numbers increased Shihan
was able to utilise
higher Kyu grades to assist with
the now becoming busy class instruction.
In
1987 Shihan discovered a large disused timber shed
that was advertised
for
rent. After inspection
by several
students it was decided that
this would be our new home for Shihan
and his
students. Long hours
of tedious
work followed in order to prepare
the building for use as a dojo
- pulling
down of walls,
sanding boards
for the dojo floor, erecting
change rooms, toilets and showers, painting,
tearing
up
and relaying
of floors - until after 6 months
it was ready for use.
In January
1988 the first class for students was held at Shihan’s
current premises. The response was incredible with
many students lining up to
train even
though the
floor was not finished
(we
trained on carpet in the limbering
up area). Eventually, through
trial and
error, a
floor was constructed
which was spacious and smooth.
With a more varied class schedule
offering tuition 7 days a week,
numbers
started to increase dramatically.
Everything was
going smoothly
until in 1990 a major building
society in Geelong collapsed
causing many
hundreds of
people to
lose thousands of
dollars as well as catastrophic
job loss. Repercussions were
felt throughout
Geelong
and this in turn
started to affect the dojo
membership. It was only just
a few years ago that the economic
situation started to pick
up and the City of Geelong
resurfaced from its negative
attitude.
In October 1990 Shihan was
invited to attend, as Australia’s
representative, a demonstration
group to travel to Japan as
part of a worldwide team to
celebrate the
New York/Tokyo sister city
celebration. This was a momentous
occasion as this was the first
public demonstration
of Seido Karate in Japan. It
was a whirlwind 10-day event
for the 12-member team with
several demonstrations
together with special dinners,
press interviews and television
appearances. It was an important
highlight
in Shihan’s life and
a tremendous honour.
October
1996 saw Shihan, together with
approximately. 20 students,
attended
the 20th anniversary
of the World Seido Karate Organisation
in New York.
This
event was
attended by many hundreds of
Seido students from around
the world.
To mark this occasion
a tournament
was staged
and participants from every
Seido branch entered. Australia
entered
15 students
and all performed
well with some
gaining major placing’s.
This event was also a special
time, apart from the honour
of being
promoted to 6th Dan
and
being a part
of the celebrations,
Shihan
was
able to bring his two daughters,
Kristy and Alisha to New York
and spend valuable
time
with them
sightseeing and relaxing.
At
the start of 1997 Shihan established
a special Junior
Program to cater
for the muchneglected
5 to 8 year
olds. This program proved to
be a phenomenal success with
all courses
fully booked.
New courses have
had to be introduced to meet
the demand. The
specially adapted syllabus
allows the young child to progress
at a steady pace and at the
same
time receive tangible rewards
for his/her
effort.
On 1 st November 1999
Shihan Mervyn announced that he had
severed ties
with the Seido
Karate Organisation
in order to form his own
style – Zenshin
Karate. He felt the style
that he had been involved with for
over 20 years did not address
the very reason most
people join a martial arts
school – self defence.
He also felt the syllabus,
both senior and junior, that
was required to be learnt
by the students was
unbalanced, making learning
difficult for new students.
Shihan
Mervyn firmly believes in
the traditional values
as evident
in oriental
arts, but
in today’s society
practical self-defence should
also be an integral part
of one’s learning in
the martial arts.
With the
formation of Zenshin Karate
the traditional values
of Humility,
Discipline and Respect
were intertwined with practical
selfdefence within
a more balanced
and realistic syllabus.
Through his studies of Boxing, Wrestling,
Ju
Jitsu and Security
work
over the last
30 years he has formulated
techniques that
are simple, practical and
easy to apply.
The formation
of Zenshin karate also gave Shihan the chance to
expand his knowledge and undertake
a special
instructors
Course in the
Self Defence
system called Krav Maga.
It was an extremely enjoyable
course
(21 days- 8/9 hours a
day) where he was able to train
with the
top instructors
in a friendly
and
supportive
environment.
Krav Maga
is a unique system that has received
international
recognition
as an innovative,
effective and highly
practical selfdefence
and fighting method.
This recognition
has
come largely
from
experts in
Martial Arts and
hand-to-hand combat
instructors from tactical units around
the world,
operating in civilian,
law enforcement, and
military contexts.
According
to many professionals who have experienced
Krav Maga training,
the most
important and
prominent characteristics
of the system are
the following:
The system is comprised
of simple, easy
to learn techniques
based
on natural body
movements and logical defence
principles, Consequently,
practitioners can attain a high
level of proficiency
in a
relatively short
period of
instruction.
The
techniques and tactics work
even
in harsh, uncontrolled
and
violent
environments,
Individuals
retain the
ability to
perform the
techniques
at a high
level with
minimal review
and practice.
With schools
in Perth,
Melbourne, Ballarat,
Geelong and
Clifton Springs,
Shihan
continues
to look
for, and
find, new and exciting
ways
to Teach
practicable
selfdefence
as well as
traditional
martial
arts
to a broad
spectrum
of the community.
Special
classes for
juniors and
a warm welcoming
atmosphere
encourage
self-development. |
