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JAMES SUMARAC With These Hands …
© Marc Wickert For James Sumarac, his introduction to martial arts was a case of sink or fight. "My elder brother used to take me fishing at Eildon Lake, in Victoria, and he had a friend who was a brown belt in jujitsu. Forty years ago, that was like being God. There weren’t too many brown belts in Australia at the time. Anyway, these guys got terribly drunk, and I was a fourteen-year-old boy. Well, the jujitsu guy decided to throw me in the lake," says James. "They had been away at the pub whilst I’d been looking after their fishing rods, and I’d caught this large fish on the jujitsu gentleman’s rod. So when they got back - I was a rather abusive fourteen year old - an argument broke out over who the fish actually belonged to, before the jujitsu guy picked me up and threw me in Eildon Lake." James recalls drying out in his drenched clothes around a fire and promising himself it would never happen again. It wasn't long after the experience Sumarac took up jujitsu and then karate. James recalls later meeting up with his older tormentor, and agrees retribution did cross his mind, but he chose to laugh it off instead. Born in Newcastle, New South Wales, James Sumarac moved at the age of ten to Melbourne, where he lives today. Eventually he took up Goju Karate, and in 1974, Sumarac’s wife secured a position teaching English in Tokyo, while he trained full time in karate for twelve months. "I lived with Gogen Yamaguchi, who was then head of Goju Ryu Karate, and had an international college in Tokyo. By chance, I also met a gentleman by the name of Tadahiko Ohtsuka Sensei who is the head of Goju Kensha. I started training with him at the same time, and I’ve been his student ever since." James has returned to Japan twelve times in a life-long quest to improve his martial arts skills, and has practised as a professional karate instructor for the past sixteen years. His other travels have included numerous trips to Taiwan, and to Beijing on four occasions, where Sumarac focused on the three Chinese internal Kung Fu systems: Tai Chi, Ba Gua and Hsing I.
"I studied these internal arts because they are complementary to traditional Japanese Karate, which deals more with external, physical aspects. Whereas the Chinese internal systems involve much more sophisticated techniques, with a stronger emphasis on re-establishing the integrity of your body’s energy systems, so you can employ power in a very efficient way – not just muscle power, but more the use of the mind and internal power." James’s philosophy is that, as we grow older, we shouldn’t lose any power, we should actually gain power. When reaching our seventies, he believes we can’t be training physically as hard, so we must compensate by going to a higher level, training correctly, and using our power in a more relaxed way: being more efficient with our energy and dynamics. "I’ve been going back to Japan for over thirty years, and the instructors who are my peers - I’ve observed them over that period and they haven’t lost any power. In fact, they’ve gained power – they’re older, but their power certainly hasn’t diminished. I’ve witnessed this with my own eyes." Sumarac enjoys his treks to Japan and China, believing the Japanese are the people who have structured modern day Karate, whereas, whilst he regards the Chinese systems to be exceptional and of greater depth, he feels they are not as well structured. "But both systems complement one another. Master Ohtsuka sees Chinese martial arts as the mother and Okinawan Karate as the father. The result is Japanese Karate as we know it.
Recent recent to N.Z receiving Maori blessing for new Dojo in Whangarei. "The Chinese arts allow you to take your training to a deeper level. I think you have to evolve into it. It’s a traditional thought in Asian philosophy that when you are young, you train your body to be physically strong, but as you grow older, you need to focus more on softer or internal techniques. "You should use your body in a smarter way and concentrate more on other dimensions of your training. Your external martial arts are very physical – part of it is mental because you need the mental strength to train hard - but the Chinese martial arts place more emphasis on pushing all dimensions of your being. It has to be balanced. An understanding of that balance is essential in order to evolve." Today, James combines his original Jujitsu skill with his karate and Kung Fu for a well-rounded martial arts system. But his study of the human anatomy is not restricted to the fighting arts: the name James Sumarac conjures up an entirely different response in other circles. James is also a renowned healer. "I’m a doctor of Chinese medicine and have studied for my Melbourne practice in Australia, China and Japan." Included in Sumarac’s healing techniques is the use of acupuncture, which has provided him with an understanding of Dim Mak’s pressure point manipulation. "It’s interesting the same points you strike to cause damage to the human body can also be used to heal the body. "I accidentally got involved with that aspect of the martial arts when I was very young. Whilst living in Japan, Master Ohtsuka introduced me to the Chinese medicinal arts then - but I was too young and silly to appreciate it. He told me, in order to really understand the whole picture of martial arts, you have to be able to reestablish injuries and not just cause them. Later, that statement probably influenced a lot of things I’ve done with my life." James states that in years gone by, a master of fighting skills was also a master at helping people to recuperate from injuries and illnesses. He believes it is easy to hurt somebody without being very skilful, but it requires a lot of skill to help somebody. It would appear James Sumarac’s life is all about balance, as he dedicates half his time to instructing martial arts, and half to his medical career, where he has a reputation for being able to assist stroke victims, after many western treatments have failed. "I have several long-term patients I work with in my clinic and in general hospitals. If you can reach them early after they’ve had their stroke, acupuncture can be very effective in establishing a clearway for the energy that has been blocked."
James Sumarac with his teacher and
mentor of 30 years Tadahiko Ohtsuka Hanshi in Tokyo. "If you’re able to get stroke patients early enough, it’s possible to almost get them back to one hundred percent. But generally, victims will go through the hospital system, only trying acupuncture as a last resort. By this stage they’ll get a bit of relief from acupuncture, but more could be done for them in the early stages of the stroke." Sumarac also consults in specialist schools in Australia, going into the schools and training the staff in ways of safely restraining and escorting the children from place to place. "Some of the children are profoundly autistic, and some have mental illness, displaying incredibly violent, psychotic behaviour. So I show the staff how to restrain patients without hurting them and without sustaining injuries themselves. This is the most interesting aspect of my work. "After thirty years of martial arts practice, I’ve finally found a use for it. I have no interest in punching people, but to be able to move these kids around safely, without injuring them when they’re trying to rip my head off, is a really nice feeling."
James has also had a long-standing relationship with the Land of the Long White Cloud, having conducted Goju Kensha workshops in Whangarei, on New Zealand’s North Island, for the last seventeen years. However, Sumarac has spent a great deal of his ‘spare’ time developing a purpose-built martial arts training camp in central Victoria’s Lancefield, on a twenty-acre forest property. Consisting of martial arts obstacle courses, equipment, a large training area with sprung floor and ample accommodation, the complex is an ideal martial artist’s retreat. "We will be hosting an international symposium at the training camp in June 2004, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Australia’s association with Japan. Master Tadahiko Ohtsuka and a group of high-level instructors from Japan will be special guests. "The camp is suitable for anybody serious about the arts, wishing to come out here and attend training camps, or large martial arts organizations who’d like to lease the building. We also have various workshops here, dealing with the healing arts, massage, and people from various martial arts styles come here to conduct their workshops."
15 year anniversary in N.Z with local
Martial Arts Instructors and special guests. To contact James Sumarac: 03 5429 2122 (mob) 0417 350 398 (Web) www.jamessumarac.com (email) james@jamessumarac.com
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