This is one of an occasional series of portraits of karate leaders from Aotearoa New Zealand taken from martial arts magazines from the 1970’s and 1980’s.
WE TRACE THE LIFE AND DEVOTION TO THE ARTS OF JOHN JARVIS, 5TH DAN, DIRECTOR OF THE REMBUDEN INSTITUTE OF MARTIAL ARTS.
John Jarvis was born in Wellington New Zealand in 1940. He was educated at Rongatai College and began an initial career as a surveyor’s assistant. Finding the work not to his liking, he joined the New Zealand Army in 1959 and specialised as an ammunition technician in the ordinance corps. During his basic training, he excelled for the first time in a martial art by winning his squad’s ‘Champion at Arms’ trophy at Waiouru.
Jarvis’ work included the demolition of old and faulty ammunition and he travelled extensively throughout New Zealand with Senior Officers, dealing with reported unexploded bombs and shells. Finishing his term in 1963, he transferred to the Canadian Army Horse Artillery and served overseas i n the Middle East, South East Asia and Germany.
Discharged in London in 1965 he became interested in the martial arts and tramped around London viewing several dojos before joining Bob Dalton and later Steve Arniel in Britain’s first Kyokushinkai club.
Leaving London a 2nd Kyu in 1966, he returned to New Zealand briefly before travelling to Japan for a year’s training under Mas Oyama in 1967. Jarvis feels he was fortunate in training in Japan while many of the greats were still actively practicing. Oyama Kancho, Kurosaki Sensei and Fujihira all had a hand in his training. During his stay in Japan, Jarvis risked the displeasure of Oyama Kancho by practising laido at the Tokyo Riot Police Headquarters under Kuroda Sensei, holder of thirty dans, and Jodo at the Rembukan under Shimizu Sensei, holder of an astonishing 70 dans. He also benefited from personal instruction by Donn Draeger, considered as a leading authority on the Martial Arts.
Shihan John Jarvis
Jarvis also appeared on Japanese television and in Mas Oyama’s Japanese language book ‘Karate for the Millions’. His stay in Japan was highlighted by becoming the fifth man to win the 100 Man Fight and he returned to New Zealand in 1968 a 3rd Dan Karate, 2nd Dan laido and 1st Dan Jodo.
Founding Rembuden in that year he travelled thousands of miles as chairman of the South Pacific Kyokushinkai organisation, spreading Kyokushinkai from Perth to the Cook Islands.
Appearing countless times on New Zealand and Australian television, Jarvis travelled again to Australia to challenge the self-proclaimed ‘World Champion’, Joe Miessner to a no holds barred contest. Although the journey proved fruitless with Miessner failing to appear Jarvis has always been willing to help those with a sincere desire to learn, and ruthless with those who claim fake grades, fail to keep a high standard or use karate as a vehicle for ego tripping, and this had made him often unpopular, especially with the ‘Mickey Mouse Clubs’ – a phrase coined by himself.
Although a strong believer in no-sport Karate, he led the New Zealand Kyokushinkai Karate team to Tokyo in 1975 at Mas Oyama’s personal request, but emphatically denies he will do so again. Jarvis states that dojo fighting is a truer test of any karate-ka, and all time and effort should be directed towards this end. Jarvis has awarded more than ‘forty black belts and has cancelled 10% of them for failing to keep a high standard. Unlike any other Kyokushinkai organisation, Rembuden black belts must regrade every two years if required to, as in some Kendo schools.
Shihan John Jarvis (2nd from right)
Married, with two boys aged three and five, his wife, Maureen is also a black belt graded by Nakamura and Oyama Shihan’s during their visit to New Zealand in 1974.
Asked how he thought he or any other Karate instructor should be judged, he thought it could only be by results, with the good instructor producing good students and the poor ones producing nothing.
Jarvis is well known for his articles in ‘Martial Arts International’ and ‘South Pacific Martial Arts’ magazines and is the author of “The Handy Self Defense Book’ and ‘Weight Training For Self Defense’.
He also manages ‘Rembuden Publishing’ and is the New Zealand consultant editor for ‘Martial Arts International’.
The highlight of Jarvis’ career was the building of the new $85,000 dojo and living accommodation last year – the only one of its kind in Australasia.
Jarvis currently has over 3,000 students in twenty five training halls throughout the South Pacific and feels that this is by far enough turning down applications by dojos to join him. This year Jarvis will visit dojos in Australia, New Caledonia and Fiji, and grumbles a little that such commitments leave him little time for his own training.
He thinks the future of karate and the martial arts is sound with the boom periods over, the stronger dojos surviving and the weaker ones not. A situation that has existed with martial arts schools since the beginning.
Shihan John Jarvis
CODA:
The director of the Rembuden Institute of Martial Arts and Vice Chairman of the South Pacific Kyokushinkai Organisation John Jarvis has resigned from Kyokushinkai. He feels the directions and standards of Karate no longer compatible with his principles and that over the past few years there has become a distortion between the ideals and preached and practiced.
John Jarvis, a 5th Dan, is the highest graded instructor in New Zealand and is the second top ranked Kyokushi nkai instructor to resign. Kyokushinkai’s number two man Takashi Nakamura, 6th Dan had resigned for similar reasons several months ago and has formed his own organisation. Several years ago the then number two Kyokushinkai instructor, Kenji Kurosaki also resigned.
Jarvis will now be devoting all his time and energies towards strengthening the Rembuden Organisation and will continue to instruct in the same manner that has gained him international recognition.
Additional
Shortly after the 1st Mas Oyama World Karate Championships last year in Tokyo, Shihan Nakamura who is based in New York, forwarded his resignation to Master Mas Oyama.
The resignation was on a matter of principle and involved policy and the direction being taken by the body headed by Master Oyama.
Mr Nakamura has formed a new organisation which has been called Seido Karate Do
It is far from certain at this stage how many Kyokushinkai organisations throughout the world will follow Mr Nakamura and how many will remain with Master Oyama, but here in New Zealand the Mas Oyama group of clubs headed by Sensei Hanham in Christchurch and Sensei Barber in Nelson have already been accepted into Seido Karate Do, headed by Mr Nakamura.
As more information becomes available about the new organization, South Pacific Martial Arts will report it to readers.
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