This is the second part of a long interview I did with Sensei Christian back in 2015, that was published in the UK martial arts magazine 'Martial Arts Illustrated'.
This section covers the early 1970's and the 'Kung Fu Boom' of that period.
'FOLLOWING THE TRAIL' – A CONVERSATION WITH SENSEI TONY CHRISTIAN.
AM = “Just to take
you back. What was Karate training in general like back in the
1960's, your pre-Goju Ryu Training ?”
TC = “We didn't know
any better, any depth. My lessons could be, line up, basics and then
we'd fight: Kumite / Randori for an hour and we'd knock sh*t out of
each other. It was terrible really. This was in the Gordon Smith
Institute, it was a Seaman’s institute. In the middle of the hall ,
where all this training was going on, was a big glass case with
model ship – like a nine foot long model ship, huge ! And this old
boy would keep coming running in...”For Christ sake, what are you
doing ? You'll break me ship !” We were always knocking each other
about, ask Bob Honiball (Sensei Christian's first Black belt student)
about this. There was no real Kata study, it was all fight, fight,
fight. It really got bad, because it was Liverpool. I couldn't relate
Kata and fighting (Kumite), till Gary Spiers came along and showed me
Bunkai etc. And we were young and silly and putting adverts in saying
; learn to fight, that sort of thing. So there were always people
coming in and trying it on and I was always up for it – loved it !
Looking back, we had some bad times, how people didn't get killed ?”
AM = “So free
fighting predominated ?”
TC = “Yes, loads of
injuries though, lad had a broken leg, because we didn't know what we
were doing. Shiomitsu (21) was asked why he'd been so cruel back then
and said when he was young and because he didn't know how to teach,
just fight. I was like that, knew how to fight, but didn't understand
Kata or the philosophy behind it all (Karate-Do) . I'd come from a
Boxing school and we were just whacking each other with this
wonderful new art.”
AM = “We're into the
1970's now and you'd converted to Goju Ryu now, moved out of
Liverpool to Wigan and are instructing , but not professionally yet.
“
TC = “What happened ,
to get this down. I was a time served engineer, with a degree working
at Napiers in Liverpool. We got taken over by British Aerospace and
moved to Rushman - Packman in Newton -Le – Willows. So I moved out
of Liverpool and to Wigan....I was working and teaching part-time.
Now Karate was rare in Liverpool, it was like no one had seen
anything like it in Wigan. A guy called Vick Dalton, a real
all-round sportsman : Football, Rugby, Cricket ….Started training
with me and Bobby Greenhalgh, we had clubs in Liverpool, Manchester ,
Preston and St Helens as well as Newton. We were going to 'crack eggs
with big sticks' (Liverpool expression). So we had clubs everywhere
but Wigan. Then Vick and a lad named John Owens said to me, you live
in Wigan, why don't you have a club in Wigan ? And they are the ones
who got me the Drill Hall. And that was the most magic time.”
“In the other clubs
there was like ten training. When I opened up at the Drill Hall in
Wigan , There were cars all over the place. I thought they were for
the nearby rugby ground. I walked in and they were all for me. There
were hundreds trying to join ! That was September 1973 and they'd all
been watching Bruce Lee and we must never forget that wonderful
Bruce Lee. I have a shrine to him – bow to Bruce (laughter) –
made me a professional teacher. “
“When this happened
I'd been doing Karate a while, I was no beginner. And I had some good
black belt students under me by this time. I turned up that first
night and there was hundreds and then every Wednesday after that. A
standard night at the Drill Hall was one hundred students, it was
unbelievable !”
“It was because
they'd all seen 'Enter the Dragon' and all that. It was huge there, a
magic time, and of course attracted loads of other people, the likes
of Steve Taberner (22) etc, loads.”
AM = “The Drill Hall
is now legendary. It's where I started with you. Sometimes there were
over two hundred and we had to train in-between the army lorries. “
TC = “It is
legendary. This is how it all fits in. Because I'd come up to Wigan,
Gary was still in Liverpool. He was teaching, but he was also
bouncing and body guarding. Doing it for the money.
I was an engineer and I
was teaching, so I was getting a proper wage. Gary didn't have a
proper job and had to chase it, job to job, bouncing etc. I think he
was struggling. There wasn't much money in teaching before Bruce Lee
and the Drill Hall. So Gary wasn't really around when it really took
off......Remember that at this time there was no Sky TV, no
computers, inter-net and no trendy fitness gyms, nothing like that.
These were a hard working gang : a mining and rugby town. So when
they saw this (Karate), it just took off. They were a fabulous bunch.
Up to that time Bob Honiball and Brian Taylor were my Black Belts and
I had a small group of brown belts at the other clubs, only a few
students at clubs here and there, but in Wigan it just really took
off.”
AM = “So you can
thank Bruce Lee for becoming a pro-instructor. Because you set-up in
Wigan, had these masses of students and could make the leap from
being an engineer and part time Karate teacher, to become one of the
first professional Karate instructors.”
TC = “It took over
from my job. What happened was my boss in engineering said, in a
nice way, basically. “You've got to make your choice Tony. You're
not working in the right way. This Karate's distracting you from your
work.” One thing lead to another and I went in and said. “ I've
made my choice – I'm leaving !” Shocked everyone. My dad went
berserk at me. I'd been to college and everything. Five year
apprenticeship, proper qualifications, wife and a little baby,
mortgage. And I walked away from that safe long term job. On
reflection – wow ! I can see what my dad thought, how would it
last ? I'd given up security for something that could only last a
few years. Well it lasted a bit longer that a few years. I had over
30 years in the sun. Most business' only run 7 years.”
“Karate was all right
then, up to when Danny (Connor) died. After that Karate started to
peter-out. It's had a good run, over 30 years. Most business only
have a run of 7 to 10 years , if they're lucky. Karate tripled that.
It's lost its run now, gone quiet. “
“People go about the
1960's and how great the Karate was, even back into the 1950's : but
really nothing was going on. It was trying, but.....Really it was the
1970's and good old Bruce Lee. That's when things took off. Even
when Gary Spiers came around, there was nothing big going on. Then
Bruce Lee came along and it's on tele' as well (The 'Kung Fu' TV
series). That's when things really exploded. Suddenly it was
everywhere. 'Kung Fu Fighting' on Top Of The Pops, even those
'Hai-Karate' adverts. I was what ? Twenty seven years old, sports
car, living the dream , as they say now. The time of my life.”
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