When did you first become aware that there was such a thing as Karate?
We had a Judo club at school and somebody said Karate was better so I went to the library to find out what it was and found "Dynamic Karate". That was 1971 when I was 13 and I couldn't believe what was in the book.

It was a revelation?
Yes, I was very surprised that the human body could do those things.

How did you get started in Karate and who was your first Instructor?
A bit later I was taken to a club which just happened to be JKA. The instructor, Steve Thorburn had just won the Scottish Kumite championship.

What are your earliest memories of training?
The classes were big, lots of people. Two brothers called Alan and Ricky Jenkins took us through the basics for a few months before passing us over to the main beginner's class. We were kept in the basic stances for a long time, I can remember my legs wobbling uncontrollably when we were finished.

Has anything in particular stuck in your mind from those early sessions?
How well the instructors moved. They looked so dynamic and the fighting looked fantastic, just what I wanted.

You wanted to fight?
Yes, I was brought up in a very physical environment where fighting was a regular thing.

At school?
Everywhere. School, in the street, I'm not saying I liked it but I wasn't afraid of it.

What was training like in Scotland?
Lots of Kumite. 10 minutes at a time then change, change again, change again. We really got a feel for fighting early on, you know distancing and follow-through. The Kihon combinations were complicated compared to what I have seen students of the same grade doing since. On the whole I think it lacked real detail into the basic Waza, other than that it was great, good memories.

Did you train with any Japanese instructors before coming to Australia?
Yes. Enoeda Sensei was the Chief Instructor in the UK. He always invited guest instructors from Japan to his national seminars, so we got to train with some big names. Kawazoe Sensei was the Instructor in Scotland.

Scotland has been referred to as "Northern England"
Has it? Well it lies to the north of that country but it is further away than Australia to most Scots.

When did you come to live in Australia?
1981

Are you still in contact with any of the people you trained with?
No, I think they’ve all quit. I have a mate who now lives in Sydney who started at the same time but he didn't continue.

Going back, what would you change if you could start again?
More Kata. The Kumite training has stood me in good stead, we learned how to give and take a knock or two in the early days, the teachers were good fighters.

From a Karate point of view, tell us what it was like coming here and continuing your training with JKA of Australia.
It was no problem because I wanted to learn more. They did JKA here so I joined without hesitation.

When did you first meet Takahashi Sensei and what were your first impressions?
I first met him on one of his visits to Melbourne. He was clearly a JKA Instructor and he trained, taught and carried himself exactly that way.

When did you first meet Nishimura Sensei?
In was in early 1982. I had been trying hard to contact Takahashi Sensei who I was told hadn't been to Melbourne for some months. I couldn't get anyone to tell me why Sensei hadn't been in town, so I just trained with the students anyway. Then an old student of his called me to say that a new JKA Instructor was living in Melbourne. I didn't believe him, but it was true. I have trained with Nishimura Sensei since the day I met him.

Since coming to Australia, have you noticed anything that is different about our approach to Karate compared to elsewhere?
Yes. The difference is that Takahashi Sensei has made sure everyone is grounded in basic training before anything else can even be contemplated. It was hard at first, I actually thought I was going backwards, but for me it's been the right way.

As a new Australian have you had to adjust much to fit into JKAA?
Yes, but I wanted to fit. JKA is a hierarchical system, which means there is always someone above and below you, we call this the Sempai/Kohai relationship. When it comes to the organisational aspect of Karate we need to participate with the group, individual thinking is fine for your personal Karate but a group is a group and everybody must try hard to work within that framework.

Do you agree with everything in the association?
No I don't, but then I don't agree with everything in my marriage or with what happens at work. On the whole, JKAA is a great organisation, you can trust the people and it represents something very important to me. It also has history and continuity, rare and valuable things.

Do you get involved and are you interested in the Politics of Karate?
The time I have for Karate I spend training. I participate in discussions as far as our group is concerned when I need to and I support JKAA in every way I can, that is to say protecting what we have built and maintaining the integrity of the association. Other than that I'm too busy training.

What do you think of the standard of JKA Karate in Australia?
It is high. Generally the basics are as good as any in the world, our seniors have made that possible.

Describe your training routine.
I just train as much as I can. I lead the Melbourne Instructors' class, that way I can participate and offer help to the others at the same time.

Do you have a favourite Kata
Bassai Dai and I like Sochin very much. I'm actually really enjoying Kata at the moment, just many repetitions and getting a better feeling for the breathing aspect.

What about weights or Gym work?
I do private training including weights, but a lot of Kata. Karate is all you need if you do everything often enough.

Have you ever trained in another group?
Occasionally I visit a Kyokushin Dojo just to feel like a novice again, but my focus is JKA.

What is Kyokushin Karate like?
The moves are quite easy to pick up if you have done JKA and their Dojo Kumite is similar, but Shiai practice is continuous rather than Ippon based and I can assure you it is hard work.

What is important to you in terms of Karate?
In general terms I think continuity and persistence are important. Also, we must always consider Sensei and the group as a whole.

JKA Melbourne has a good record of competition credits, why is this?
Because of Nishimura Sensei. He is able to touch a chord in our thinking with the minimum of effort. A small suggestion here or a word about this or that rather than push, push, push. That way we pick up the baton and get the job done ourselves, with the right motivation.

You've coached the JKA Australia national team for some time. What is your main impression so far?
It's been great. We've stuck to the right path and any results are based purely on training. We have made excellent progress, especially recently. The commitment of every single member of our team in the training and competition at Taupo in March was unbelievable. As far as success at the highest level well, only one team can win in JKA competitions, and it's an open system in the individual events as opposed to a weights system, so there are far less champions. But our people have definitely shown the right signs and I'm convinced our time is coming. We have a great sporting tradition to live up to in this country and we will.

Who sticks out as a great performer from your time as coach so far?
Quite a few. I think Brad Hoffman was the best all-round natural talent but he didn't reach his full potential. Mike Ettingshausen is a very well-rounded Karateka and we also have some exceptional girls in the team.

Like all groups, people have left JKAA for various reasons, perhaps because of some expectation not being met. Why do you think this is?
I don't know why. I can tell you that JKA in Australia has fundamentally not changed since the day it was founded. People join full of enthusiasm, or come from another group, or from overseas, but then move on saying they disagree with the set up. But if the set up hasn't changed, they must have. Other than that I don't know, nobody has ever explained anything to me. As for Victoria, we train first and if friendships come, that's great, but Karate is a serious business, not a social club.

What would you say are the strengths and weaknesses of the association?
We are a group of tradesmen just doing the job, not salesmen saying things or politicians arguing about something or business people trying to maximise an income. Maybe that's also the weakness but on balance this is the best way.

Tell us about the early training at Melbourne Dojo?
Sensei (Nishimura) was at his peak and we worked hard. Sempai Omer Cukovic was the backbone of the Dojo and we had a good thing going. Against that background, we had great success in Shiai and most importantly, we developed a terrific spirit, which I can say is still in our minds.

Has much changed?
The same feeling prevails.

Is your routine different from say 5 years ago?
No.

…10 or 15 Years ago?
Just refinements, aggregating what I've learned. The force and effect of my movements seem to be greater now.

Who have been your models if any, in life and/or Karate?
My teachers and my beautiful wife. Some business people and others have influenced me as well, but these are the main ones.

Does your wife do Karate?
(Laughs) No, she says it's too boring and she is exactly right.

So you think it's boring?
No

Eh, I'm confused?
If you are married you can understand this and anything else for that matter.

Are you always enthusiastic about training?
On the way to the Dojo at times I'm not, I sometimes force myself to give what I should, but that is over very quickly and I can honestly say I have never left the Dojo feeling anything else but satisfaction. Sore and tired, yes, but always content and resolved to continue.

Are you conscious of nutrition?
Yes, but it's a complicated subject and I'm not an expert. I think a person's eating habits need to be closely related to his or her body type. I sometimes read things about nutrition that just don't make sense.

What kind of mental training do you do if any?
If you work the body first and over time get to the stage where muscle memory carries you through, then there is time to think more. For me, Karate thinking is just training without the sweat. I try to turn the thoughts into actions or at least reinforce some idea I may have, or something Sensei has said.

How can the average player improve his mental approach to training?
Make sure the training is honest and long, then reflect. Good surroundings are necessary, ie the right people and advice based on experience from seniors who are not selfish.

What would you say are your strong points and not so strong points?
I didn't understand proper basics until I was Nidan, but I was fighting right from the beginning. I still feel the positive and negative effects of this. That's why it is vital that novices are grounded in the basics and not over-exposed to relatively advanced stuff too early.

How do you relax?
I wrestle with my son or sing and play guitar with my girls or I just lie down and close my eyes.

If you could radically alter any of the training you have done so far, what would it be?
Not much at all, I'd do more kihon waza (basics).

How important do you think etiquette and the Dojo Kun are to Karate?
We are doing something that can mean the difference between living and dying. If Dojo behaviour is left to how people feel, it is reflected in the Karate. If your behaviour is modified and supported by the code of training, you have a better chance of surviving. Can you imagine an Army where anything goes? Where one unit or individual behaved differently to another? Everyone would be negatively affected, anarchy! The senior-junior aspect is at the very core of this. Short answer, extremely important.

When did you stop competing?
I was 40 at the time. I'd had a good run and I felt great but frankly, I was not getting excited at the prospect any more and I wanted to go deeper into the Waza, so that was it.

Has your outlook to training changed now that you have retired from competition Karate?
Yes, I can see what the old masters wrote and said about Kata being so important. The more I train, the more I can feel a new and deeper relationship with the JKA Kata.

How did you prepare for the competitive aspect of Karate and is it different to the preparation you undertake for, say a grading exam?
I just kept thinking about Karate. In the Dojo we did repeated Shobu-Ippon or variations using different scenarios, for example you are losing with 10 seconds remaining or it's a draw and your best arm is broken etc. For Kata, we just called random Shitei Kata in a continuous circle to create Shiai conditions. Grading exams are more serious of course, that is a case of complete attention to every detail.

What is the most memorable Kumite match you took part in and why?
Two come to mind. In about 1979 in the team Kumite event at the Karate Union of Scotland nationals, I faced Gene Dunnett a Scot and a member of the Great Britain World Championship winning team. We faced off and although the tension was very high, neither of us made a single move in the whole match. I was chuffed that Gene saw fit to do this but I'm sure he would have been able to make a decisive move if he really wanted to. The other was in about 1985, I met Sempai Omer Cukovic in a regional event final. We had a great match of nerves and some nice points were scored then he exploded with a lunge punch in the third extension to win. Good on him.

Cukovic was good?
A good competition player and also a person with great mental strength. In his last competition, a second after scoring cleanly on his opponent and well after the referee had called Yame, he took a full contact punch to the face with bare knuckles. I was standing one court away and I heard the thud. Sempai Omer camly stepped back to his line, he had a strange look on his face but he stood upright in the Yoi position looking at his opponent who was disqualified from the tournament. It turned out that his jaw and cheekbone were both broken and the orbit of his eye-socket, but he never fussed or complained. He just bowed and quietly thanked the doctor who was holding his head, then slipped away to hospital without even touching his face.

What appeals to you most, Judging or Coaching and why?
Both are great. They require great refinement and a good eye. Also, your responsibilities towards other people naturally increase in these roles. I try to listen to everyone.

Some Karate groups are not as formal as JKA in relation to Dojo "dressage" ie Seiza, Mokuso, Dojo Kun etc etc. Do you think JKA places too much emphasis on this?
It's a Japanese art so that's what we do. If it were a Scottish art we'd wear the Kilt, eh? I believe if you are doing JKA Karate you should do it all.

What is your approach to teaching Children?
I actually don't do much teaching, but I know it's harder than teaching adults and their attention wanders so you need to keep it interesting.

Is it ever too late to start Karate?
There must be a point where it is not practical to take it on. Too sick, too old, I don't know.

Is it for everyone?
Why not? We've had some very ungainly people in JKA Melbourne who turned out all right.

You have visited and trained in Japan many times, what did you think of training there and would you return for more?
It's fantastic training there but all my trips have been in Summer which is a killer.

Have you trained at the JKA Honbu Dojo?
Yes, and at some Universities. Both are different.

Different? it's all JKA isn't it?
University Karate can be unbelievably tough. It is raw and hard, there is not much teaching, just following. At the Kyokai (JKA Headquarters) all the teachers have come through the University system and then through the JKA Instructor Program, so there is an emphasis on teaching, but it is still hard training.

When were you last at the Headquarters?
In December 2000. I was there up to the last day at the old Ebisu Dojo. The final day was a grading day and all the main JKA instructors as well as Sugiura Sensei the Chief Instructor were present, it was memorable.

Did you notice any difference in your Karate after the Japan trips?
Yes, a clear improvement in endurance and more determined to keep going.

Do you ever visit other JKA Dojos in Australia for training?
Not much. We are busy enough at the Melbourne Honbu Dojo but by and large they all do the same thing anyway.

Do you use or teach any innovative training methods, ie music, special equipment etc?
I've thought about it but never really done it. Anyway, there isn't enough time for normal practice.

How do you see the future of Karate in terms of Competition and Dojo training, much change?
I can't imagine any dramatic shifts coming along. We have very stable rules and a system that has been refined over many years. I believe we are at a stage where the spirit of achievement in this country will now kick-in and our people will start to really excel. It is up to us.

JKA has been said to be “obsessed” by correct technique, any comment?
I've seen that question before. I fully agree. Experts in any field can be said to be obsessed with what they do. I'm not sure that it's the right word but I think if we are obsessed for the right reasons, it can only be good.

No martial art can be perfect, what would you say, are the strong and weak points of JKA?
I think our range for attacking and defending is far greater than most. We take a straight line to the target and the high impact of the Waza are all positives. Our close-in techniques are good at elbow distance but that's not our favourite place, and then there's the ground. The grappling arts have re-emerged because they work very well on the deck, they are a perfect complement to what we do.

The various political splits and break-ups in Karate including JKA are often spoken of as ‘inevitable’, do you take any notice of these and do you think any good can come of such splits?
It hasn't affected us in Australia. Takahashi Sensei and the executive of JKAA has a very high approval rating, so weaknesses such as we have seen in other countries thankfully haven’t bothered us.

Martial Arts magazines and the Internet are great sources of information they have also become open forums for frank and heavily opinionated material. Inevitably, Karate is often closely scrutinised. What do you think about this kind of scrutiny?
That's just chit-chat, I've fallen for it myself, but the only real measure for what we do is what happens in the Dojo.

The general public seems to be far more familiar than ever before with the fighting arts of the world, how would you like to have JKA Karate perceived by the average person?
In JKA we don't try too hard to influence people, best to let our Karate do the talking and if what we do is appealing, then anyone is welcome.

Why have you never taught Karate for a living?
I did for a short time. There is a fundamental difference in the relationship with your students if you rely on Karate for a living. A customer is a customer and you need to provide customer satisfaction if you depend on that for an income. A student on the other hand is not there to be kept, he is there to learn. Of course he will stay if the conditions are right but if he leaves, part of the Instructors livelihood doesn't walk away with him.

So you disagree with teaching for a living?
Not at all, it can be done very successfully, but for the time being it's not for me.

The old debate about what is the “best” fighting art now rages more than ever. If you had time to prepare for a life-threatening physical challenge (no weapons involved) what would you do?
This is hypothetical. Having time to prepare is drastically different to the alternative. OK, I'd be thinking about Ikken Hissatsu and relaxing. I fully believe what we do in the JKA Dojo is good preparation.

I know that you are very busy with JKA, but what other Martial Arts have appealed to you?
Yoshinkan Aikido. There's a fella called Joe Thambu in Melbourne who is very impressive but nothing has grabbed my attention like JKA.

What are your thoughts on particular breathing methods in Karate? For example, are you conscious of any specific breathing during a Kata performance?
Yes. This has been on Nishimura Sensei's mind for some time. It's a whole area of study of it's own but because breathing is the first and the last thing we ever do, with no breaks in-between, it comes very naturally. The trick is to maximise our Karate with the breath as another tool, not to ignore or suppress it.

Have you found or applied any spiritual aspects to your training?
That's hard to explain. Sometimes I feel a certain easiness in training, even when the going is fast and furious. Just calmness and the feeling that I could carry on for ages. Nothing spiritual in the sense of an outside power or anything though.

When did you first notice this?
I remember in about 1986 we had a Summer Gasshuku at Anglesea surf beach to the south west of Melbourne. Towards the end of the 3 days we were doing a full one hour of the same Kata on the sand without a break. It was so tiring that I just forgot about everything and got on with it. It happened then, it was fantastic. I'm sure it's another state of consciousness and a natural thing, the trouble is that it can be elusive.

What do you consider to be the most important thing about actual Karate training?
The Budo spirit first, but in training high repetition Kihon and Kata are the most important.

What can you see in the future for JKA in Australia?
Well, our country is an absolute haven for people to live a safe and prosperous lifestyle, just look at the number of immigrants that come here. Also, Aussies are very positive. This coupled with a disciplined art like JKA Karate that has been around so long and that offers so much to such a broad section of people, means that the future potentially will be very good for us.

Under what circumstances would you leave JKA?
I'll just keep going no matter what happens, JKA Karate is a long-term proposition as we have seen.

You couldn't see yourself out of it?
I've been involved for a long time, it's given me a lot and I want to keep going. If things change and I mean radically change, I'd need to think, but I would never leave of my own accord or act in a way that would threaten to undo all of our good work. You must be true to your code.

What do you want to do in the future, personally in Karate?
Firstly, keep training, everything will come from this. I'm not too ambitious but I'd like to move forward in the Judging area.

Do you have any regrets?
Thousands, but what can you do? Just train.

Walter, thank you very much for your time, what is the main thing that training in JKA Karate has given you?
Positivity and a lot of enduring friendships. By the way, congratulations and good luck with the new website, I'll do what I can to contribute. Oss.

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