117129ob

SOUTHERN VIEW Latest Christchurch news at www. .kiwi
Tuesday May 9 2017 7
martial arts onto apprentices
The self-defence training
you learned – have you used it
outside of a dojo?
I used to do a bit of bouncing
and had to use it against knives
to machetes to general street
fighting. Only as self defence,
though. I never used to go out
looking for it. I bounced at the
Dux Deluxe and the Redwood.
Dux was a crazy place to bounce
at. There was a wide variety
of different people from your
yuppies to your gang members.
It could be quite a rough place
at times, really. Especially on a
Friday. I used to help teach the
bouncers as well.
Furui ryu is a specific form of
jiu jitsu, what’s different about
it compared to other forms of
jiu jitsu.
Jiu jitsu comes as a mixture of
judo, karate and aikido. Some
forms of jiu jitsu are more aikido,
some are more judo and some
are more karate. Most styles
these days are more aikido. Our
style has been more designed for
the street and to be as realistic
as possible without having too
many injuries. By being realistic,
we teach people proper self-defence
that can be used to protect
themselves. These days we’re not
too hard on the students. We still
do full contact in gradings, but
we wear a lot of gloves. We also
do free fighting occasionally.
How difficult is it to get a
black belt in jiu jitsu?
Very hard in our club. We
don’t give away grades. We
always make sure they do their
time. If you train twice a week
for the whole five and a half years
you’d get it, but most people are
more like six to eight years. I got
my black belt in 1985 after about
six years.
Can you tell me a bit about
your family?
Both of my parents are Scottish.
My mum’s passed away
but my dad’s still going. Dad
was a painter and I learnt my
trade from him as a painter. I
was brought up in the Redwood
area and stayed in Christchurch
all my life, a part from a ninemonth
trip to Australia.
What is coaching like?
There’s always people coming
up through the grades who you
can’t let down so you just carry
on. We have a kids class as well
as an adult class so you’ve just
got to be there for them. We create
a lot of discipline in our class
and respect for each other so
no one loses their cool and they
behave themselves outside of the
FAMILY: Paul
Stokes has
spent decades
training at
Bromley’s Furui
Ryu jiu jitsu
dojo, which
has taught him
discipline and
focus, attributes
he has passed
down to his
students.
dojo. They’re all aware they have
to be responsible. You get a sense
of accomplishment from watching
the kids improve to a black
belt. To watch their attitudes
change through discipline and
the pride of seeing them getting
their grade – it’s amazing. We’ve
had some kids who have had to
fail their grading and they cry,
and I just say, “look, you’re not
a loser, you’re only a loser if you
don’t come back”. They come
back and they get the grade, and
the smile on their face, it is just
amazing to see that.
How popular is jiu jitsu in
New Zealand?
It’s getting more and more
popular through cage fighting.
We were the first jiu jitsu club in
Christchurch and, since then,
clubs have been popping up
everywhere. However, today jiu
jitsu is associated with Brazilian
jiu jitsu, with cage fighting and
MMA. But our style is quite different
to that.
How did the club start?
It started in 1967 as Canterbury
unarmed combat school.
And then when John Bonniface
came down in 1968, he got graded
up to black belt to go to Japan
and trained under Sugawara
Geshu and came back with fuji
ryu jiu jitsu and came up with
our style in the early 1970s.
What do you like to do in
your spare time?
I used to do an hour weights
in the club everyday, but my
joints don’t allow me to do that
anymore. I’d go down and do a
bit of boat fishing every chance
I could get if I do have some free
time. Fishing is a bit more relaxing.
Try to knuckle around with
the guitar a bit when I can. I’ve
put that down for a while now.
It’s been sitting there too long
now. I learnt guitar about 20 to
30 years ago and I do need to get
back into it.
Hagley Junior Open Night
Looking at high school options for 2018?
Join us for our Junior College Open Evening and discover
more about what Hagley can offer you!
TUESDAY, MAY 9TH | Please join us at either 4pm or 5pm
Phone us on (03) 379 3090 ext 884 or visit www.hagley.school.nz
for more information about Junior Enrolments.