North Sydney PCYC closing down

End of an era.

It only seems like yesterday that I pulled up outside of the North Sydney PCYC, looking for a place to start teaching my brand of Martial Arts. It was 1992, and I was ready to teach after spending 12 months doing intensive training with Konda Sensei and the Daito Ryu Aiki Jujitsu. What an experience that training was. It was all so new to me. The dojo, the people, the techniques. I had no choice but to let go and fully immerse myself in the experience.

I was first at the North Sydney PCYC in 1987. I trained in the old style of Ju Jutsu; TenjinShin-yo Ryu. This was before my stay in Japan. Back then the PCYC was a thriving community, plenty of people using the facility. I was looking forward to seeing my old friends again. In the 12 months I was away, a man managed to convince the PCYC that he could run the facility and what a mess he made.

I got out of my old ute and saw that the front door had been chained and locked. Thinking that is no good, I knocked on the window a couple of times and was in luck. There was a man that opened the door for me. You see, at the time the PCYC was used and being run by a man that had the whole place locked up and he was using the upstairs for his private wellness centre. There were a couple of others that had marked the gym for their own personal use. Well, I was having none of it. The place was damp and stuffy, and all the doors had locks on them. I set to work.

I managed to get in contact with the policeman that was the supervisor. These police that acted as supervisors at PCYC’s were generally at the end of their careers and just wanting to wind down the clock until retirement. He said we can rent the wrestling room twice a week from 6.30pm. The wrestling room hadn’t seen any wrestlers for years, I think it had been used as a storage and as a meeting room at the top rear left hand corner of the building. Very small but it was a beginning.

We soon outgrew the wrestling room, and we moved all of gear into the multipurpose room downstairs. We built a cupboard at the back of the room and settled there for a couple of years. That was the birth of Northstar Ju Jitsu. Where the system was constantly being tested by all comers. They were rough and tumble days, and I had to fight a lot. Through that time of challenge, I lived on a razors edge having to prove my system worked against all styles. I was never beaten.

In the meantime, the room at the top of the stairs was cleaned up and made into a dojo, that got rented out very quickly. With all of my programs and with Pat Moore’s popular Box out classes the PCYC was booming. Just plonked in the middle of nowhere, hundreds of students every week managed to defy logic by finding parking and making their way up to the upstairs programs. At one stage I rented the main hall, the multipurpose room, and the upstairs dojo all at the same time. I was running Cardio Karate, Kickboxing and NSJJ. I had to wait a couple of years to get a foot into the new upstairs dojo. I played the long game and put the time in waiting patiently for someone to leave so I could take the time slot in the dojo. I knew it would happen sooner or later because people just give up as soon as it gets a little hard. I now had my 2 time slots in the new dojo.

Without the North Sydney PCYC I would never have built such a powerhouse martial arts school. At its peak, there were up to 2000 students training a week in 7 locations. The super session gradings were a feat to be reckoned with. The largest we had was 200 students going for grading, in one day. Then I pioneered “The Fighting Spirit “ sparring competition, where memories and champions were made.

Through all of this, the one constant was North Sydney PCYC. The PCYC has been like a light house that guides you safely, a rock for so many people, the calm in the storm. It has always been there for us. I bid you farewell and thank you for all that you have done for us,

So, it’s onwards and upwards. Quantum Martial Arts is leaving the PCYC. The PCYC is closing its doors and QMA (Quantum Martial Arts) whom I am proud to endorse will be taking Northstar Ju Jitsu and teaching it at their new purpose-built dojo. So, the spirit of the Samurai warrior continues to live on, in the north shore, under the expert guidance of QMA founder 7^th Dan Darren Higgs and his team.

The new Crows Nest dojo has the wow factor. If you are a current student or someone that wants to get back into it again, I have never seen such a magnificent studio for martial arts.

Call 80074100 for details of classes.

Email. info@quantummartialarts.com.au