When you first speak to Gavin Mulholland, a Shihan (5th Dan) in Goju-ryu Karate, don’t what ever you do say, ‘Goju-ryu Karate? Well, karate’s all like Shotokan anyway, isn’t it?’ because you will be in for a sharp response! Sensei Mulholland is a keen exponent of the Goju-ryu style of Okinawan combat, which is included under the Karate umbrella but is the, “complete, holistic fighting system that is Goju-Ryu Karate.”
He describes this martial art’s style as, “a close-quarter combat system that incorporates striking with locks, throws, chokes and strangles, both standing and on the ground.” However, to simply describe his style as ‘Karate’ irritates him due to the obvious differences with the various styles such as Goju, Shotokan, Wado and Kyokushin. Gavin explains the historic background to the word, ‘Karate’, “The name ‘Karate’ originally came into being in Okinawa on the 25th of October 1936 when the then Masters of the native systems of Te, met to discuss how the Okinawan Martial Arts might best be moved forward into a new era. At that meeting it was agreed that the combat systems that they were currently practising, should come together under the umbrella name of Kara-te – empty hand.” Therefore, “the global name ‘Karate’ has now come to mean a specific type of unarmed system.” When in actual fact, there are many styles practised. Gavin suggests we stop referring to all styles as simply ‘Karate’ but refer to the art by its proper name because, “Saying that you do ‘Karate’ is akin to saying you do ‘Field Sports’ when you actually play football, hockey or rugby.”
“The Kata and training regime are structured in such a way as to begin the student with hard straight-down-the-line training. This serves to develop both fitness and fighting spirit before you get onto the more technical aspects of fighting. Ultimately if it comes down to spirit or technique, spirit will serve you better in a fight every time.” - Gavin Mulholland
Gavin Mulholland has vast experience within his chosen style, he has been practising Goju-ryu for 28 years, taking it up in the late 1970’s after he, “witnessed a Goju demonstration by Mick Lambert, Kim Roberts and Dave Arnold.” His inspiration grew as, “the power and ferocity was awesome and I was hooked from that day to this.” This was of course, having already studied various other martial arts for the previous 10 years, including Judo, with his father, who himself taught unarmed combat to the British Forces. At the age of 44, Gavin has already amassed a lifetime’s experience in the martial arts. However, his path into teaching Goju-ryu was a bumpy one as when his instructor, Kyoshi Kim Roberts asked him to take a class when he reached Second Dan he, “wanted no part of it.” Fortunately, his instructor insisted and he ran a popular intensive physical workout at Eastpoint Karate Kai, which he continued to do until he left for his travels in Japan.
Beginning Teaching
After returning and commencing a degree in Psychology, Gavin still had, “no desire to teach,” but after attending some disastrous classes in other martial arts, he opened his own school of Goju-ryu Karate in London and thus the Daigaku schools of Goju-ryu Karate were born. Now, Gavin’s attitude to teaching has turned around because he, “loves to see the fundamental changes that martial arts training makes in people.” But he has noticed some changes in, “the raw material that walks through the door. It is weaker today than twenty or even ten year ago – both mentally and physically.” He blames this on what he believes is a slackening in the discipline we apply to the young as it has, “led to a nasty youth culture and its effect on our young people has been nothing short of devastating.” Gavin advises that, “young people need discipline and they need structure. The other thing all humans need is some form of ‘rights-of-passage, from youth to adulthood.” However, he believes that this can be provided by the martial arts as he enjoys seeing, “people growing stronger in body and mind and often changing from cocky young men into physically and spiritually strong martial artists.”
Gavin has a tough approach to his students, yet when they achieve by pushing themselves through their own limitations, he is full of admiration. He mentions a time when, “we did once have a brown belt guy who was completely blind.” However, Gavin did not make allowances for him as he points out, “if this chap was attacked outside the dojo, I wouldn’t be around to help him so it’s false to overly help him inside the dojo.” Which when put into a street defence context, is a very fair point. Therefore, by being uncompromising in this gentleman’s training, including kumite (free sparring), “he became a very competent fighter... he came to me to learn how to fight and that’s what I taught him.”
Other students of note and achievement are also mentioned, his Canadian student Steve Jones, who after requesting he took his Nidan (Second Dan) test, which involved the ’30 man kumite’ did so after breaking his foot on arrival in England. He also mentions his Sempai (head student), Goran Powell, who also completed the gruelling 30 man kumite when he didn’t need to. Powell has since written about his experiences doing this in his book, ‘Waking Dragons’ which has been reviewed by Martial Edge. Gavin often emphasises the, fighting “spirit” that is most important within a student, which he believes is, “true and good within the martial arts,” and which these students had in spades.
30-Man Kumite
Gavin talks about his own experience completing the ’30 man kumite’, which is the sparring requirement for the 2nd Dan test in Goju-ryu. He describes the challenge he undertook under the tutelage of his instructor, Kyoshi Kim Roberts as, “full contact with no face contact. Full contact to the legs and torso with head kicks allowed. No padding is allowed but you can wear a groin guard, gum-shield and sparring mitts if you want to. That’s just a personal choice because while it may be easier on your hands, your strikes will have less effect. The rounds are one minute each with a two minute break after 10 fights and another two minute break after 20 fights.” Gavin is pragmatic when he speaks of the task that lay ahead of him, “I was terrified of doing the test and that fear really drove my training.” But he, “made a commitment to do everything I could the hard way at all times both inside and outside the dojo – work, rest, and play. Ultimately I still think this is a good strategy because you are effectively training all the time rather than just for set periods. It also has huge benefits in terms of physical conditioning and mental strength. It really helped me get through it... it was very arduous and demanding and I was in a pretty bad way by the end of it. I had trouble walking and I remember having to drink my celebratory Guinness through a straw.”
Waking Dragons
The first thing that attracted me to this book was its cover. Ok, so you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but I’m shallow and am swayed by appearances. Its appearance is much more contemporary than any other martial arts books I’ve seen recently and its red cover with black and white eye staring at you screams read me!
Making a Living
Gavin has some strong ideas as to the place teaching martial arts should take within an instructor’s life. He mentions an old Okinawan saying, “You should not eat from Karate.” He describes that making a living out of a martial art changes the teacher-student dynamic as, “those students become your customers and the relationship has to change.” By needing your students to make a living, you run the risk of, “a general erosion of standards.” He describes that, “Karate is supposed to be a hard and arduous endeavour...people should fail gradings because it is meant to be a filter system, not a rewards one...in the higher ranks you only have the best.” Gavin lives by this standard himself; during the day he works in a psychological research agency, which he, “finds fascinating”, with a previous career in teaching door-staff and security personnel.
Finally, Sensei Mulholland speaks of the need as teachers to, “continually evaluate our training and methods to make sure that they are still the most effective that they can be.” Having said that, “it is crucial that you be working to some sort of syllabus.” Gavin describes the Goju-ryu syllabus: “The kata and training regime are structured in such a way as to begin the student with hard straight-down-the-line training. This serves to develop both fitness and fighting spirit before you get onto the more technical aspects of fighting. Ultimately if it comes down to spirit or technique, spirit will serve you better in a fight every time.” And for most people who have witnessed a fight in either a competition or otherwise, one couldn’t agree more.
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Interviews 
When you first speak to Gavin Mulholland, a Shihan (5th Dan) in Goju-ryu Karate, don’t what ever you do say, ‘Goju-ryu Karate? Well, 
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