Alive and still kicking - 60 years on

Friday, 09 December 2011

Ju jitsu master John Black, 69, refuses to give up the martial art despite having undergone a quadruple heart bypass operation. In fact, doctors told John that his super-fitness helped him survive the operation and aided in his total rehabilitation. Japanese-trained John, now a 10th Dan black belt, making him the best of the best, is still picking up gold medals.

Old dog

John said: ‘’I’m never going to be an old man happy sitting in an armchair, wearing my slippers, that’s not who I am.

“I teach teenagers now but an old dog can still show them some new tricks. I have 60 years of experience.

“Ju jitsu is a part of who I am and as long as I’m upright on my two legs I’ll be doing it.”

John, a retired diver, began practicing martial arts aged nine. His father Conn, having learned the then unknown techniques during his incarceration in a Singaporean prison camp in 1945, taught him the intricate moves.

Conn set up his own ju jitsu camp on his return from World War II and young John was one of the club’s first members.

John became hooked and followed in the footsteps of his father, but went one step further.

Made in Japan

After two years in the Merchant Navy, aged 18 he took two years off and moved to Japan to be schooled in the ancient art.

Father-of-two John, from Greenock, Inverclyde, said: “I wanted to be an expert in ju jitsu so I went right to the source, to the country where the Samurai started doing this.

“It was developed as a way to fight if they lost their swords, so they could still defeat their opponent.

“I found it fascinating and developed my own style, based on that tradition. Those lessons gave me an insight I could never have received in Scotland.”

He moved back to Scotland when his money ran out and took a job as a deep sea salvage diver for the Ministry of Defence. But John still religiously practised ju jitsu and took over his father’s group.

Black belt

He worked his way to becoming an 8^th Dan black belt, an accolade given by the organisation Scottish Goshindo Ju Jitsu. The veteran fighter is well-respected and a coach for the American national ju jitsu side.

And he coaches up-and-coming teenagers twice a week at Boglestone Community Centre.

John, who underwent a quadruple heart bypass op in September 2006, now performs ‘katas’, or patterns, in which he displays his technique with a sword.

Gold medallist

Despite his age, John won two gold medals at the Freedom Games in Cancun, Mexico, recently.

John, who has two children, John- Paul, 43, and Anne-Marie, 41, said: “I still feel like a young man in my head.

“I know I’m not but I’m still better than some of the youngsters. I would tell any older person to come along and give it a go.

“Even if you’re 80, it’s great exercise and it’s been one of the best things I’ve done in my life.”