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SOME BACKGROUND ABOUT DAVE TURTON. Dave was born in ROTHERHAM in 1948, moved to HEYWOOD (north Manchester) in 1951. He was educated at Heywood Grammar School from 1959 to 1964. It was here Dave first became involved in the 'combat' world. Picked on at school for being short, skinny and with Red Hair (I looked like an unstruck match!), Dave took up both Boxing and Wrestling (Olympic Freestyle), in a bid to 'defend' himself better. Also at the time Dave lived on a VERY rough Council estate, known as "Back o' the Moss" ... where street violence was a weekly event. (it's somewhat better these days, but still TOUGH!) Anyway Dave loved both the boxing and wrestling and made school team on both. He even competed on occasions, although his record wasn't great ... Wrestling 5 competitions he had 2 wins and 3 losses ... Boxing (school boy) 6 bouts , 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses. Never the less, he gained much from his couple of years involved. The fates stepped in when Dave left school, and was no longer allowed to use the facilities. So he went out and found a JUDO club .. (Tommy Hodgkinson 2nd Dan was the Instructor). From here Dave progressed to Ju-Jutsu and Karate, gaining 4th Kyu Orange belts at both. Realising that even Judo, Ju-Jutsu and Karate had weaknesses for the street, Dave set out on a kind of 'Quest' to find the best street methods. This took him through Kempo Ju-Jitsu, Wrestling (again), and several other 'minor' styles such as "Fu Jow Pai" and others. Some of these styles Dave studied for months, others for weeks and one or two for just a few sessions. However once again Fate stepped in to lend a hand .. in late 1970 Dave met the one person who became most influential in Dave's development and growth in the Personal Combat World .. His name JOHN WARFIELD. (From Pontypool in South Wales) John Warfield's name may not be well known throughout the martial arts and combat world, but it should be. Along with his brother Gordon, John ran the GOSHINKWAI SYSTEM for many years. The brothers (along with a third brother 'Colin') were students of probably the GREATEST combat master ever to come out of the East, namely the late and very great; KENSHIRO ABBE 10TH DAN ... All three brothers were students of Kenshiro Abbe, although Colin dropped out after a while,leaving John & Gordon to carry on. The many years the two brothers studied with the great Kenshiro Abbe, as well as other high ranking masters such as Michigami, O'Tani and others led John to formulate his own interpretations of the methods of these masters and his own studies in other arts (including 'dance' for some footwork). The end product was what I personally believe to be the absolute peak of personal combat (I haven't seen better in nearly 50 years)....Go-Shin-Kwai. Dave joined the Goshinkwai of Wales (as it was known then) in late 1970, and spent 20 years studying with both brothers, but mostly influenced by John Warfield ... in the 1980's the system was honoured to be awarded FULL RYU STATUS as a family style fully recognised and acknowledged by the Eastern masters ... a GREAT moment, (I remember it very well). The style name was changed then to:The Goshinkwai Yawara Remmei. Dave continued with the Goshinkwai until he left in 1990 to pursue others aspects of the defensive arts. At the time Dave had been graded by both John & Gordon to 4th Dan Black Belt in Goshinkwai Yawara and 5th Dan Black Belt in Sei-Ryo-Kyu Combat. Dave FULLY acknowledges that the Goshinkwai was the most influential art he ever practised, however its training methods and techniques were (and still ARE) so severe that many dropped out. Many more were 'put off' from training in its methods. Frankly speaking, for as much as Dave LOVED the Goshinkwai, it is NOT a method of self-defence or self-protection, it is probably the ULTIMATE in Personal Combat training. Self-Defence and Self-Protection should be available to ALL, not just HARD young men and women who dedicate themselves to YEARS of what is almost BRUTAL training. It was with these ideals in mind that Dave left the Goshnkwai and spent the next TEN years studying other methods, including many of the 'SOFT SKILLS', such as 'Awareness' ... 'Threat Evaluation' ... Avoidance & Evasion methods, and much more. Dave also studied many 'old' or forgotten British & European methods, which led to large evaluation of which methods and techniques were most suited for the average person on the street .. ancient British arts such as 'Purring' & 'Crayling' and some Catch-style wrestling were also studied, as were some continental methods such as: Chausson & Savaux. as well as Stick and Cudgel styles. This led to a more adaptable system, and after YEARS of development including instructing some of the UK's TOP martial artists, Dave eventually realised that the launch of a NEW organisation devoted purely to self-defence and self-protection was needed. As was a SYSTEM developed for that ethos .. The system was and is: THE SDF SELF-DEFENCE SYSTEM DAVE TURTON GRADES & AWARDS: The following are the grades Dave has achieved since starting in 1960 .. NOTE only his BLACK BELT grades are listed, and list ONE are the grades he achieved in the past, that due to his no longer being members of certain organisations/associations, he can only list as PAST grades not current ones. LIST ONE: past grades 4th Dan Black Belt in Goshinkwai Yawara Ryu 4th Dan Black Belt in Atemi-Jutsu 4th Dan Black Belt in Oikiryu Ju-Jutsu 2nd Dan Black Belt in Bugei art of Defence. 5th Dan Black Belt in Japanese Ju-Jutsu Current Grades (2009) include: 8th Dan Black Belt in SDF Self-Defence 8th Dan Black Belt in Combat Ju-Jutsu 8th Dan Black Belt in Combat Budo Inducted into the Combat Masters Hall of Fame in 2003. | ||||||
