A reminder of the early days of The Zen Judo Family.
From Mike Healy 4th Dan ZJF and 5th Dan BZJFA
The light has gone from the sky, the weather is cold and wet and, somewhere in the south of England five people in an aging, but well maintained, Ford Granada are travelling west towards Dorset. All show signs of strenuous effort. The clothes they wore to carry out the deed are carefully stowed in bags in the boot of the car. All of those clothes show signs of the effort they have expended and all will be carefully cleaned on their return to remove all traces of the acts in which they have been involved. Some suffered minor injuries. All were elated at the success of their venture and grateful for the lessons they had learned.
So who are these desperate few who have travelled from the depths of Dorset to a point not far short of Sussex to carry out their task? Burglars I hear you wonder, Bank Robbers perhaps, criminals of the foulest kind. But no; none of the above; they are, and you may well tremble at the thought, members of Wareham Zen Judo Club returning from their regular fortnightly trip to practice at the shrine that was Dominic (Mac) McCarthy’s Zen Judo Club in Petersfield.
Nor were they alone in making that journey. Regulars at that time included Senseis and students from across Southern England all keen to gain the expertise and insight that Mac alone had the ability to pass on. But I have begun my story, as is my wont, at a point a little removed from the start.
In April 1984 I found myself posted, in the Military rather than the post office sense, (my boots wouldn’t fit through the letter box), to Bovington in Dorset. Almost my first act was to find a Judo Club for my son who had previously been training with a close friend and BJA instructor in Germany.
The nearest club was run by one Brian Bagot in the Sports Centre in Wareham. After two weeks I was so aware of the difference between my son’s previous training and what he was now doing that I joined. Two weeks later my Wife, Ann, and our two daughters also joined.
What happened next was to change all of our lives forever in the most positive way imaginable.
Those of you who know Zen Judo well will be well aware of the spirit of mutual benefit and welfare that it teaches and perpetuates. This was never truer than in the mid eighties when all clubs were bound by one unifying force – Mac.
So from those early steps on to a Zen Judo Mat, through long trips on dark nights to train with OSensei Mac, through the trepidation of facing, along with so many other candidates, the gradings at Petersfield at which no quarter was asked or given, we progressed.
The rest is, as they say, history with the Healy’s taking Zen Judo to the troops in Germany, Brian’s frequent trips to visit us and check our progress, the tour of Germany on which I had the great privilege of being Mac’s driver for the week and onwards.
Still we progress, still we proceed along the path that Mac created, still learning, still sharing our knowledge in a spirit that, we hope, Mac would be proud of. And still, sometimes late at night, in fair weather and in foul, small determined bands can be found travelling the roads of Britain about their mysterious travels, tales of past adventures shared, and ancient wisdom passed on.