At the tender age of nine, a tragic event occurred that would shape the life of a young boy growing up on Queensland, Australia’s Sunshine Coast.
Having grown up predominantly on farms, I had not come across much in the way of violence. However, as I visited my brother in hospital, the victim of a savage beating, I was suddenly drawn to understanding why such a thing could happen. How could my big brother, a former taekwondo champion who had proudly returned from competition after competition with medal after medal, be laying here with permanent brain injuries? It didn’t seem to make much sense.
Thankfully, my brother Denis would eventually recover with minimal loss of functionality, but the seeds of a burning desire to understand and prevent violence had been planted. This attack had been fairly simple – Denis had been using an ATM early in the morning and had been hit over the head with a bat and robbed. However, as I quietly worked away at my own martial arts journey and schoolwork, I became aware that there was much more to understand about this world.
Years later, I found myself still working away at martial arts with several state, national and international titles to my credit, and still obsessing over the psychology and sociology of violence. Having looked at the issue through the lens of martial arts, and also through studying psychology at the University of Queensland, I took what would become my most important step: I became a bouncer.
Suddenly violence wasn’t just something in textbooks and newspapers; it was now a hazard to be navigated five nights a week. I discovered, also, that martial arts alone were not enough to deal with the drugs, alcohol, multiple people, unpredictable environments, coordinated ambushes, knives, glasses, stools, pool balls and the accompanying bodily fluids. I was forced to think on my feet and accept the fact that occasionally a short stop at the first aid room, hospital or police station was going to be a necessary part of the life. Learning on the job caused me to rethink my training and seek out those that may have already done the same.
Inspiration would come when I discovered the work of Richard Dimitri (founder of Senshido International) and Gavin DeBecker (CEO of Gavin DeBecker and Associates and author of the award winning The Gift of Fear.) These two gentlemen understood real violence in a way that mesmerized me. In Dimitri, I found a man who had lived violence even more severe than what I was experiencing and come out the other side as an enlightened warrior. In DeBecker, I found a genius threat assessor and someone that understood what makes a person violent better than any university professor I’d ever had.
I would eventually develop a close personal friendship with Richard Dimitri and be invited to join his elite team of Senshido International instructors. I continued to religiously study DeBecker’s material and add other influences to my material in the form of Rory Miller (author of Meditations on Violence and Facing Violence) as well as Ray Floro, Loren Christianson, Luis Gutierrez and Marc MacYoung. Through experience, training and research, I developed a system of self defence I felt was worth teaching, and an understanding of aggression and violence that I knew was necessary to share.
Today I offer training in Senshido (including women’s only classes, knife defence, multiple attackers and much more), my own system of restraint training named Saunders Subject Control, and my personal application of judo nicknamed Street Judo. All training is conducted privately, in small groups or via seminar/workshop.
Further, I offer consultancy services for business looking to mitigate the risk of occupational violence and members of the security industry wanting to limit use of force liability. I am also available as a keynote speaker and guest columnist/blogger by negotiation.
Joe – In Bullet-Point!
- Senshido International Team Member
- Registered Expert (Violence Prevention) with the Association of International Consultants
- Diploma of Management
- Diploma of Security & Risk Management (in progress)
- Certificate IV Training & Assessment
- Certificate IV Aggressive Behaviour Management (Instructor)
- ISR Matrix Law Enforcement & Civilian Tier One Instructor
- Nationally Recognised Tactical Self Defence Instructor
- Extensive experience working in Emergency Departments, Mental Health facilities, nightclubs and large events.
- Certificate III Security Operations – Firearms and Executive Protection
- Australian Federal Government Blue Card – Working with Children Check
- 2005 Australian Judo Champion
- 2005 Australian University Games Judo Champion
- 2005 Oceania World Cup Judo Open Australian Representative
- 2010 Oceania Amateur Sumo Champion
- Joe has also competed in Amateur Mixed Martial Arts, Brazilian JiuJitsu, Submission Grappling and Japanese Jujutsu competitions.
