|
PROFESSOR "BRAD" BRADSHAW
© Marc Wickert – published in Fight Times In 1946, Professor "Brad" Bradshaw’s martial arts career began when he enrolled in Chinese Boxing classes in the Victorian suburb of North Melbourne. During 1950, the Professor also commenced classes in the Japanese style of Jiu-Jitsu, where he was under the instruction of Aubrey Bailey. The Professor’s father was a French Canadian and had previously practised the French kickboxing art of La Savate, a discipline demonstrated by Gerard Gordeau in 1993’s inaugural Ultimate Fighting Championships. At a young age, Brad was impressed by his father’s ability to leap high in the air and perform what the Professor later learned to be spinning kicks. Through Brad’s association with local Chinese friends, he became interested in Kung Fu. But as a kid in 1946, the Chinese practitioners thought it would be better for Bradshaw to forgo Kung Fu and instead take up unarmed combat. Originally he thought it was because they didn't like him, but later Brad realised it was because the Chinese were under pressure for instructing a non-Asian student in their martial art. So the Professor joined the Victorian Railway Institute and commenced lessons in unarmed combat. "My first grading was in 1946 when I was presented with a white belt. I was only about five years old, and I thought the idea of wearing a white belt was terrible. I felt demoralised. Although I continued to train, I didn’t bother going for another grading until I was presented with my green belt at about fifteen years of age. By this time I was training under Professor Wally Strauss, an Austrian who migrated to Australia via China." Professor Bradshaw says he practised the unarmed combat of Jiu-Jitsu into the 1950s, when the sporting aspect of Jiu-Jitsu took hold and became known as Judo. It was further promoted in 1961, when Wally Strauss and Doctor Ross travelled to Sydney to formulate a Jiu-Jitsu/Judo organization.
"Many of the older Judo masters around today had at some stage passed through Professor Strauss’s door. He applied a modified system of the Kawaishi Judo, and adopted Mikonosuke Kawaishi’s approach to techniques and terminology. "Jiu-Jitsu was taught following the proposal of Eric Rahn, a German police Master, with Alfred Baumann of Switzerland’s self-defence system, and Josef Kuehr’s Jiu-Jitsu and unarmed combat, and former Askoe Jiu-Jitsu of Vienna. Added to this international melting pot was Shotokan Karate. The end result was then taught under the banner of the International World Jiu-Jitsu Judo Federation." In 1979, at a time when the Professor was ranked 6th Dan, Bradshaw talked to his Shotokan teacher about his inability to come to terms with ‘one punch doing the job.’ So the Shotokan instructor suggested that Bradshaw try to implement some Chinese boxing into his techniques. The result was that the Professor became quite successful with his new martial arts system, but the Shotokan teacher resented the Professor’s success and suggested they part company, which they did. Professor Bradshaw then travelled overseas, training with people in Taiwan, Hong Kong and USA, before returning to Victoria, where he taught at nine Melbourne Council Community Centres. It was in 1983 that Bradshaw was double-graded from 6th Dan to 8th Dan by martial arts hierarchy visiting from America. He was then invited back to America and trained with 10th Dan, Duke Moore, and 7th Dan, Bernie Weiss. With these two noted martial artists, the Professor started the American/Australian Alliance. Some time later the American Teachers’ Association of Martial Arts promoted Kancho Barry "Brad" Bradshaw to the Masters’ rank of 9th Dan, Senior Professor, in Judo, Jiu-Jitsu and Chinese Boxing. The certificate bears the names of Professor Duke Moore, Bernie Weiss (then President), 9th Dan Don Carollo, and 9th Dan Helen Carollo. In 1995, Professor Brad Bradshaw made international martial arts history by becoming the first all-Australian black belt Master to receive the status of Grand Master, 10th Dan Black Belt, the highest ranking in martial arts. Today, the Professor concentrates mainly on Jiu-Jitsu, Judo and Chinese boxing, and has a number of instructors operating under his guidance, the most senior being his eldest son who holds a 7th Dan.
"We have a Hombu in Blackburn, Victoria and about fifteen clubs that operate in YMCAs, community centres and such. I’m an engineer by day and hold a full-time job for a car company. I instruct every night of the week, on Saturdays from 9am til 5 pm, and on Sundays, from 9am til 1pm. My wife and three kids are all black belts, which makes life easier. I also like to do gardening and read books. I sleep between four and six hours each night. But I think sleep is a waste of time. If I could find a way of not having to sleep, I’d be doing something else. "We have competition Judo in our organization. It’s not like you see in the Olympics. We have a somewhat different style where we implement a full range of locks, throws and immobilizations. We employ the Kawaishi system, where numbers are used rather than names for the moves, because I’ve taught for many years in multicultural centres and a lot of the students are struggling with English. So I don’t want to confuse them further by using Japanese words." Although Professor Bradshaw is a 10th Dan and has numerous awards and trophies, his martial arts success is not measured by the accolades. "To me, those sorts of things are superfluous. My reward is having a guy like this (points to Leonard Montagnana), who I’ve had studying martial arts with me since he was a little guy, and is still with me. And I have many students whose sons and daughters I’m now instructing. That’s a great reward. That’s a better trophy than something you hang on the wall to gather dust." The Professor is the sort of guy who can walk out on the floor in a dojo, wearing his street clothes, and it won’t be long before people start to listen. He doesn’t have to be in a gi, and wearing a black belt with a whole lot of gold bars, for people to realise he has something of value to say. There was, however, some time ago, one person who listened to the Professor too well. "I was showing this police officer how to disarm a would-be assailant of his gun. Two years later, I went back and this sergeant said, ‘I’m not taking any more notice of you. You nearly got me killed.’ I said, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘I was out there with a crim, I disarmed him, and then I handed the gun back. If my buddy hadn’t been with me, I’d have been shot.’ I said, ‘You ratbag! Why’d you hand it back?’ He’d trained so often at it, and each time in training, the officer had handed the gun back. So when it came to the real thing, he disarmed the crim and automatically handed the gun back."
Professor Brad Bradshaw can be contacted at askafi@mel.comcen.com.au or (613) 9878 7655.
|
