Tora Bushi-Do originally began as an idea to help students at school develop leadership skills. One thing led to another and 25 years later Tora Bushi-Do continues to grow and prosper.

Tora Bushi-Do's main objective is to develop an environment where everyone feels welcome and most of all, Safe. Tora Bushi-Do is my life, it is a medium through which I can reach people and help develop personal growth. I have always had a Philosophy that I am not a teacher but rather a facilitator, I am a leader that leads from behind, giving support, encouragement, developing self-esteem and empowerment to the individual. When a participant has all of the above elements of support, he/she is capable of great things given the right opportunities.

Traditionally martial arts has always been a discipline which requires the participant to develop a degree of mental and physical toughness, through spirituality. I have always had a belief that if you can equip the individual with the essential tools of the mind and body and give students the ability to develop at their own pace, that individual will become a force to be reckoned with. Overall a degree of discipline is still a requirement and a expectation from many practitioners. Unfortunately it is with discipline that we have a dilemma and the dilemma is, how can a young man or women with no discipline practice martial arts on a consistent basis. Traditionally martial arts has always attracted the disciplined anyway and any student who could not cope with this type of environment would fall by the wayside within the first 3 or 4 lessons. Tora Bushi-Do attempts to address this problem by catering for the individual and allowing the student to develop as an individual and not as a homogeneous group. This observation is based upon my experience working as a Behaviour Management Advisory Teacher with hundreds of young people who lack discipline and self control.

Richard Thomas / Dai San