Key Profiles
Sensei Graham Ravey, 6th Dan, QldSensei Mike Lehman, 4th Dan, Qld
Sensei Rob Williams 4th Dan, Qld
Ashley Stevenson 2nd Dan and Shaun Stevenson 1st Dan, Qld
Sensei Graham Ravey 6th Dan
Sensei Graham Ravey was born on August 25, 1953 in a small town in England Chesterfield. When Graham was 14 years old he became very interested in studying Karate. Chesterfield was small there were not many styles to choose from. Eventually Graham found a style called Wado Ryu. During Graham's first lessons in Karate he informed his mother that one day he would go to Japan and study karate, and his mother laughed at him. When Graham was 18 years old he changed over to a style called Goju Kai.
At the age of 20 years Graham decided it was time to go to Japan and seek out some of the old values of traditional Karate. This time he told his mother he was going and she no longer laughed. Graham arrived in Japan and within the first week he was introduced to Sensei Higaonna. Graham was so impressed with Sensei Higaonna that he immediately changed over to studying Goju Ryu. For one whole year Sensei Higaonna made Graham train every day for about six hours a day and after this time Graham was allowed to take his Black Belt 1st Dan. (by this time Graham had been training for over six years). Graham only intended to stay in Japan for one year but that one year eventually stretched into twelve years. Graham worked his way through his grades to 4th Dan - all grades being examined by Sensei Higaonna and all grades being taken in Japan. Graham is the only foreigner to do this.
In 1987 Sensei Graham Ravey was appointed Chief Instructor of Australia and he left Japan to take up permanent residence in Australia.
Later on, Sensei Ravey established the T.O.G.K.A to preserve the old ways of Okinawa Karate.
Japanese training schedule of Sensei Ravey Yoyogi Dojo. Tokyo. Japan 1978-1982
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
| 5 Hours | 5 Hours | 5 Hours | 3 Hours | 5 Hours | 3 Hours | 5 Hours |
| Stretching | Personal Training | Stretch | Personal Training | Stretch | Personal Training | Personal Training |
| Strength | Kata | Strength | Kata | Strength | Kata | Kata |
| Fighting | Weights | Fighting | Weights | Fighting | Stretch | Stretch |
| Higaonna | Higaonna | Higaonna | Stretching | Higaonna | Skipping | Skipping |
| Karate | Karate | Skipping | Skipping | Karate | ||
| Skipping | Kata | Stretching |
As portrait by Sensei Graham Ravey's in his own words
During personal training which was usually in the mornings Sensei Higaonna would be there too. Sometimes he would call me over and we would train together, Saturday, Sunday training continued for about two years until I sort of "Got a Life" in Japan. I trained in Parks and Shrines around were I lived, once there was a shrine situated one minute walk from my doorstep. In my eyes I was blessed. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday Bert.V. Johansson ("The Swede") was my fighting coach.
My Training History
I started Wado Ryu Karate in 1968 and was taught by the following Instructors till 1973.
| Phil Milner | 3rd Dan | Wado Ryu Area Chief Instructor |
| Nev Coulson | 1st Dan | Wado Ryu |
| Tony Martin | 1st Dan | Wado Ryu |
| Stev Bellamy | 1st Dan | Goju Kai |
From 1973 to 1987 I was taught by Sensei Morio Higaonna the 7th Dan, but I met a man called Bert Valetin Johansson ("The Swede") who trained only fighting and power training at the Yoyogi Dojo outside the scheduled Karate sessions. He had a significant input into my Kumite ability, I also continued to work out with Steve Bellamy once to twice a week.
Mike Lehman, 4th Dan
Mike
Lehman was
Born October
21st 1962 Lismore, New South Wales, Australia.
Mike first started his
karate career in Queensland at the age of 17 in 1979, he began
lessons under Malcolm Anderson, No 2 in the Zen Do Kai style of
Karate.
Mike then went onto to study Zen Do Kai at the University of
Queensland Karate Club under Shane Kleese and Kim Tvede
achieving 2nd Dan rank after some years.
Mike then went to the Gold Coast to live and started a full time
professional Dojo at Miami in 1986 still under the auspices of
Zen Do Kai (ZDK).
After a time Mike decided that he wanted to research more about
the roots of Karate discovering that Zen Do Kai was an offshoot
of Goju Kai Karate (Bob Jones of ZDK being a former student of
Master Tino Cebrano) and that Goju Kai Karate was the Japanese
offshoot of Okinawa Goju Ryu.
Mike found the details of Okinawa Goju Ryu in the Australasian
Fighting Arts magazine and rang Peter Oberaker Australian Chief
Instructor, at the time, of Okinawa Goju Ryu.
Peter advised Mike that he was in luck as one Graham Ravey had
just returned from Japan to live and teach in Australia and that
Graham was physically just up the road from Mike at Woodford.
Mike rang Graham and Graham was more than obliging and welcomed
Mike to train at the next training session at the Caboolture
Dojo which at that time was part of the tennis court complex at
Caboolture.
Mike had an induction of fire and brimstone that very first
night training with Graham.
Never having been exposed to likes of Ude Tanren (arm forging)
before and being paired up with Graham whose arms were like
armour plating and developing a huge egg on his arm as a result
…Mike had never had experienced training of this intensity
before…..Graham and Okinawa Goju making an indelible imprint on
Mike’s mind forever as to what true Karate was really like.
Mike decided from that first encounter with Graham Ravey and
Okinawa Goju Ryu that he would dedicate the rest of his Martial
Arts career to the study of this very ancient, noble and highly
effective art.
The Gold Coast Dojo Mike founded in 1986 is still operating
under the auspices of Mike’s black belt Craig Smith albeit with
a small hard core of dedicated students since Mike left to live
and work in Europe in 1998… he is presently living in
Switzerland with his beautiful and most understanding wife Megan
and daughter Freyja.
Mike has had the privilege of training at Sensei Ravey’s very
first dojo in Sheffield in the UK as well as training in a
clinic conducted by Sensei Ravey in the UK with several hundred
black belts from various styles attending …..with Sensei Ravey
receiving a standing ovation at the end of this seminar.
Mike Lehman continues to train most days of each and every week
being inspired by the living legend that is Sensei Graham Ravey.
Mike considers Sensei Ravey to be his blood brother and his
closest and most true friend as well as being his Sensei to the
day he dies.
Mike presently holds the rank of Yondan having trained
consistently over the last 25 years.
Sensei Rob Williams, 4th Dan
Born: 1953 Victoria,
Australia.
Lives Buderim on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland.
Training
History:
Shodan, Okinawa Goju
Ryu, IOGKF
Founding member of TOGKA Inc,
when Sensei Ravey resigned from the IOGKF.
Yondan, Traditional
Okinawa Goju Ryu Karate Do. TOGKA Inc.
Principal Instructor & Developer of,
Onna Do TOGKA Women’s Self Protection Program.
Certified Sports Coach and Trainer.
Instructor of Excellence in Sports, Motivational Training, and
courses in Basic non-board subject Karate for High School
students.
Other martial training
experience.
Boxing, Wrestling,
Judo, Kobudo, Jo
Dojo: Caboolture Dojo: North of Brisbane Queensland
Morayfield State High School, Visentin Rd opposite Rail Station,
Multi Purpose Shelter
Mondays & Wednesdays Juniors: 6.00pm to 7.00pm, Seniors: 6.00pm
to 7.30pm
Juniors $4.00 seniors Seniors $6.00
Annual Registration $35.00
New Members Welcome
Personal highlights.
The opportunity to train with Sensei Ravey, a man who is living
Budo and Karate,
He has been Sensei
Ravey’s student and friend for over 20 years.
Sunday Bloody
Sundays, training sessions of the 80’s and 90’s in the
Kilcoy Ranges.
An article about one of these training sessions is on our
website.
Rob Williams Sensei ran training seminars in Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania, to induct our East African Chief Instructor, Sensei
Kheri Kivuli and students into the TOGKA. This was really an
eye opener, these guys would walk or run 1 hour or more to get
to training, their dedication and zeal for hard training was by
far better than westerners, with our Tanzanian students were
truly motivated with 95% of the students putting in 110% effort,
their best and more. They were the nicest and most sincere
people Rob have ever meet.
They had nothing but would give you everything; it was a very
humbling and satisfying time for me. Our association sponsored
their Dojo’s with Martial Arts magazines, Training manuals,
membership and equipment. He can remember presenting the Dar es
Salaam Dojo with kick bags and using them for the first time,
their looks and smiles were worth the trip.
Sensei Kheri Kivuli was a very dedicated and proficient Karateka,
and very worthy of promoting and preserving Traditional Okinawa
Goju Ryu in East Africa.
Running Training seminars in England at our Sheffield and
Beighton Dojo’s.
Rob has been training under Sensei Graham Ravey for over 20
years, Rob first meet Sensei at the Caboolture Dojo in 1983.
The early days of training were, by today’s’ standards
excessive, you thought yourself lucky if you could walk down the
stairs after training, let alone the pain of the second day
after. The bruises, lumps and broken bones all catch up.
Fortunately these days we are a lot smarter with our training
methods, and are aware of the damage that we can do to young
developing bodies, so our training methods have become a little
more scientific to protect new students, particularly the young.
Sensei moved back to Japan after 18 months of training and Rob
and a couple of hard men by the names of Dave Houghton, Nev
McCasker ran the Dojo and had regular training with Sensei Peter
Obereker from Newcastle.
They trained after work starting at 6.00pm regularly going
through until 10.30pm at the Dojo 3 nights a week, and at each
other’s homes on other nights and Saturdays. They trained with
other styles but only as a supplement to their Okinawa Goju.
As a supplement they ran the streets of Caboolture carrying
large rocks, doing blocks and conditioning their palms by
striking them on the rocks to take our minds off the pain in
their legs. Quite a bit of the training in those days was
devoted to heavy Kumite and supplementary training and
conditioning.
A warm up before training was 10 times around the oval with 5
activity stops of press ups, sit ups, squats, Kumite etc. so you
could end up doing 500 of these before you even started the
lesson for the night. They were crazy days.
After Sensei returned to Australia and settled, every second
Sunday was compulsory training at Sensei’s Dojo at Mary Smokes
Creek in the Kilcoy ranges.
Sunday Bloody
Sundays that’s what they were called Rob wrote about these
Sunday sessions back in the 80’s and has posted it in our
articles section.
Ashley 2nd Dan and Shaun Stevenson 1st Dan
Both
Ashley and Shaun began training in September of 1992 when Ashley was
12 and Shaun was 11. Both have been training at Peachester since the
first night the Dojo opened and continue to train there to this day.
Regular trips are also made to Kilcoy Dojo to train under the guidance
of Sensei Graham Ravey. On the 16th of June 2002, Ashley
and Shaun both attempted a black belt grading and both being
successful were awarded a First Dan black belt. During their ten
years of training, Ashley and Shaun have entered into several
tournaments, Ashley receiving a third place, and a second place, in
the full contact sparring on two separate occasions, and both Ashley
and Shaun receiving a first place in their respective kata divisions.
In 2003 Peachester Dojo hosted a demonstration night, which featured
an eight-man submission fighting tournament. The tournament was an
elimination system in which the winner of the fight progressed on to
the next round to face another winner. Shaun was announced the
tournament winner. Ashley and Shaun continue to train at Peachester
with a small class of dedicated students and would welcome anyone to
come along to the dojo.