Blog
ACT visit
Just returned with Shihan Richard Norton from the ACT for a BJJ seminar on Saturday which turned out to be quite outstanding. This was followed by a Karate Grading conducted by me, putting Damien Philpott’s students to the test, and they performed quite well. We were very honoured by Richard who sat in at the grading. Dinner afterwards with Richard and some of our Budoshinkai students at a nice Turkish restaurant.
Also came along was Steve Micakovski of United Kempo. The next day we left the ACT and headed to Steve's full time school at Austral and met up with his father, Shihan Jordan 
Micakovski, where Richard put on a seminar for his students. Jordan’s other son, Alex, is a movie car buff, who surprised us with his new toy, ‘Herbie the love bug’ car which he recently purchased. a fictional character (an old Volkswagon vehicle), which was featured in several Disney motion pictures in the late '60's (you can look it up on Wikipedia).
One thing I have particularly noticed about BJJ is the infinite web of moves and counters. I relate this to our rules, regulations and laws in our society; if somebody finds a way to beat the system, the government comes up with a new regulation to counter. That’s what happens in BJJ. Everybody finds a way to beat a new move but there is somebody out there who is going to come up with a solution to counter it – ‘thus a new technique is born’.
Best wishes to Mr John Will and his family. His son, Ronin, is in a serious condition in hospital. Those who wish to read about his progress may do so by reading John's blogs. These are tough times for John but I believe a positive outcome.
GA
Richard Norton – 6th Degree Black Belt
My very good friend and mentor, Shihan Richard Norton, got the word he has just been promoted to 6th Degree Black Belt by the legendary Benny ‘the jet’ Urquidez in the Urquidokan martial arts system. What an honour to be graded by one of the greatest martial arts masters on earth! After spending 30 years training with Sensei Benny this grading is well deserved.
Mr Norton is staying in Sydney for a few weeks to do some work on the start of the ‘Mad Max 4' film. I have been keeping regular contact and putting some workshops at various schools in his spare time (not much of it).
I was told about the promotion when I met up with Richard on Saturday morning and I was the first one to congratulate and shake his hand. Richard’s grades are long overdue considering he started the martial arts almost 50 years ago. Mr Norton currently holds the rank of ‘Shihan’ under Hanshi Tino Ceberano (his original Instructor) and was also graded to 5th Degree, several years ago, by Chuck Norris. He also holds a 4th Degree in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under JJ Machado.
It really isn’t about the grades. Richard’s philosophy, ‘don’t show me your belt, show me what you can do’. The grades are only as good as from the person they came from. Guys, I have thrown a few certificates away in the past and my senior Black Belts can vouch for that. I only honour the certificates from the people who I honour.
To get back to the events of the day (Saturday), we first started with an hour of BJJ and then an hour and a half of Kickboxing. It was great to see the many happy and stunned faces at my school; they were totally impressed. Then a 2 hour BJJ seminar for kids at Wayne Miller’s school (the kids were fantastic). I was amazed I picked up quite a few things there as well. That was a great session for me, too.
What a great day, I’ve learnt a hell of a lot. Victor (senior Instructor) was absolutely astounded with the Kickboxing!
CONGRATULATIONS MR NORTON! FANTASTIC ACHIEVEMENT. I AND MANY OTHERS ARE REALLY HAPPY FOR YOU.
GA
Choke on this!
The other night, I had an interesting question put to me by one of my Brown Belts about a concern not being able to get out of a rear choke put on by one of her male friends. I said, "of 
course you couldn't because they already had the choke on, nor could've anybody else if on that tight." That’s similar to saying, ‘how do you stop a punch when it is only a centimetre away from your face?’ You are not supposed to let it get that far, you react the moment you perceive the threat (or at least see it coming). The same goes for the choke.
Self defence techniques are at their best when applied early. You don't let the opponent take away all your escape options. A technique’s effectiveness should not be judged solely on scenarios where your opponent is aware what's coming to them and they react accordingly, compromising the technique.
Many techniques are taught and practiced but not all are going to make it through the goal posts when it comes to the final crunch in a situation. But all techniques need to be practiced to ensure the understanding of reaction and body motion. A martial arts expert is a person who fully understands 'all' techniques and they are in a pretty good position to say what is or isn’t effective. Sometimes techniques may seem fruitless or even trivial but we are in the business of examining all options.
Techniques are only as good as the person practicing them. Not all of them are going to be good for everybody in every situation. That's why there are options.
GA