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NO FORTY WINKS FOR Marc Wickert Sifu Mick Spinks was born in Kent, England, on November 3,1950, and reached his half-century in 2000. But for this dedicated martial artist, life is just beginning, again. In fact, it’s these new beginnings that have kept Mick so focused throughout his dynamic career. At age five, Mick immigrated to Australia with his family, and although he participated in some school sport while attending Chester Hill High, his introduction to full-contact combat didn’t begin until he was the victim of an unprovoked attack by a drunkard in a Parramatta street. This was, unofficially, Mick’s first lesson in full-contact street-defence. Stage One: The Ko Ben Soon Factor Surprisingly, the Parramatta encounter was not what prompted Mick to take up the arts some years later, although he does wonder if the memory, lying dormant in his subconscious mind, did actually have some influence on his decision to visit a karate dojo in 1970. It was while Mick was employed as an earth-moving mechanic that a work-mate showed him a few moves in karate. Mick liked what he saw and had a closer look at an A.C.T. dojo. "I was briefly down in Canberra on a job and decided to visit the local gym there for a lesson. Initially, I found karate to be fun and interesting. At the time I was living at Yagoona and, after arriving back in Sydney, joined a Goshin Ryu karate club at Bankstown under Ko Ben Soon," says Mick. Mick showed great promise through his determination, going on to compete in the Australian Titles, only to be disqualified for leg-sweeping. This experience left Mick dissatisfied with semi-contact competition and with an undying determination to find a more realistic form of street-applicable defence. Stage Two: The Sifu Chan Cheuk Fai Factor The next influence in Mick’s career was Sifu Chan. Sifu Chan learnt kung fu at an early age from his father, Chan Heng Wan, who was his master. "Chan Heng Wan was a master at unarmed combat and the broadsword. Before communist rule in China, he was an instructor for the Chinese army. When China came under communism, my father had to flee China, leaving his wealth behind, to start from scratch in Hong Kong," says Sifu Chan. Sifu Chan was born in Hong Kong and his family later moved to Malaysia in 1967, where he ran a Chinese medical clinic with his father in Kuala Lumpur. Like his father, Sifu Chan became a master at unarmed combat and weaponry, and specialized in the double-butterfly sword, double dragon pole, and the nunchakus. Sifu Chan moved to Australia in 1977, and in May that year began teaching kung fu at his own academy in Chinatown, where he currently instructs in kung fu, kickboxing, martial arts’ fitness classes, and weaponry. Mick Spinks moved to Maroubra, in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, and in 1977 approached Sifu Chan to instruct him in Jin Wu Koon kung fu, and began training under Sifu Chan as an ungraded student. "Mick started with me as a student when he was twenty-seven years of age, and I immediately recognized in Mick outstanding qualities, such as his self-motivation and unrelenting determination to win," said Sifu Chan. "Sifu Chan taught me to loosen up and shorten my stances. He showed me how to move off the centre line, to deflect, and go with the energy - all kung fu principles. He also taught me to shin-kick instead of slapping with the foot," says Mick. In 1978, Mick became New South Wales Kung Fu Champion, a title he successfully defended in 1979. He also added the title of Australian Kung Fu Champion. In 1980, Mick travelled to Malaysia to compete in the 5th International Chinese Pugilistic Tournament (World Kung Fu Championships), before a crowd of 12,000 local enthusiasts. Mick regards this tournament as the most exciting experience of his life. "The first elimination bout and opening ceremony were in Penang. My feelings were mixed as I came up for my first international bout. I was the first Australian to fight. There was a roar from the crowd. As I moved into the fighting arena, I heard the squeaks of Australian accents. ‘Come on Australia!’ young voices from the audience called." The loyal barrackers were children of an Australian consul Mick met after the fight. Their unexpected support had settled any nerves Mick might have had. "My opponent came out very strong. I kept away from his initial attack and won by a KO in the first round. That was the Singapore champ." Mick’s confidence was high now. His second bout was in the town of Serembon against the Malaysian champion, and ended abruptly with a knock out punch from Spinks in the second round. "The final was against a very tough adversary from Hong Kong. The 12,000 capacity Kuala Lumpur Stadium crowd roared. He was strong, but my confidence was high and I had no injuries from the earlier bouts." "When I entered the stadium, I saw these stunning, pewter champion plates and I knew the only way I’d leave without one was if they carried me out. I had got this far. No way did I believe that I could lose." The fight was the most savage Mick had ever experienced. He was surprised to discover there were no rules. After receiving a groin kick, Mick had the count put on him for the first time in his career. In typical Spinks fashion, Mick fought back. "I learnt how to take punishment. I got a lot tougher. I fought back." Throughout the five rounds, both men fought like Colosseum gladiators, with Mick Spinks inflicting his own brand of punishment on the warrior from Hong Kong. The fight ended in a draw. Stage Three: The Kickboxing Factor
Until the end of the seventies, kickboxing was relatively unknown in Australia. And when it did arrive, it seemed as though Mick’s prayers for more full-contact fighting had been answered. "I loved the challenge and kickboxing gave me more opportunities to compete in full-contact competition and to test my skills." He liked the similarities between kickboxing and kung fu, though he still believes kung fu to be more street-effective. "The style of kung fu Sifu Chan had been teaching me, with its dynamic actions and policy of moving away from an opponent’s energy, adapted well to the ring and the street. "In the earlier bouts I used more kung fu strikes, which had similarities to the boxing characteristics I learnt after this early full-contact period." With a career boasting 27 fights, 26 wins and 1 draw, Mick decided to coach other martial artists in both styles, while continuing with his own totally committed training. Mick’s impressive list of proteges includes Grant Barker, Peter Blumson, Billy Soulos, and Rick Chivers and a list of state and national champions, which grows each year. During this period in his career, Spinks was able to employ strong, low leg attacks, which had earlier caused him to be disqualified in the Australian Karate Championships. Mick faced two legends of the ring, Benny ‘The Jet’ Urquidez at Darling Harbour and again at Port Macquarie, and Bill ‘Superfoot’ Wallace at Parramatta Leagues Club. Spinks met both opponents in demonstration matches and swept both men off their feet. Stage Four: The Grappling Factor
November 12, 1993 saw the introduction of the Ultimate Fighting Championships at McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado. This almost-no-holds-barred competition saw eight competitors, representing karate, savate, boxing, tae kwon do, sumo, shootfighting, kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, vie for a first prize of $50,000. Prior to the event, Rod Machado had predicted several of the bouts would go to the canvas, though many in the martial arts world were caught off-guard by the end result. Brazil’s Royce Gracie (Brazilian jiu jitsu) and Amsterdam’s Gerard Gordeau (savate) worked their way through to the main event, with Royce Gracie taking the $50,000 purse. This event showed there was a definite weakness in purely vertical styles, and many practitioners of these styles were discouraged by the revelation. But in typical Spinks fashion, Mick found this to be another opportunity to broaden his martial arts horizons. "Brazilian jiu-jitsu flared interest in me and rekindled my passion to train in martial arts. All standing skills are lost on the ground and Brazilian ji-jitsu provided me with a new direction." He found it hard to find a suitable BJJ instructor in Sydney and invited Machado expert, Melbourne’s John Will, to conduct seminars at the Double Dragon gym in Cronulla every four months. Fitness centre owner, Wayne Bridge, had a karate background and proved to be the perfect training partner for Mick. After each John Will seminar, Mick and Wayne would practise what they had learnt, eagerly awaiting John’s next seminar. Stage Five: The Wax Factor
On November 3, 2000, Mick Spink’s birthday cake was ablaze with fifty candles. People close to Mick knew he wouldn’t take reaching the half-century lying down, unless he was in his gym with some unfortunate opponent in his guard. It’s simply not in Mick Spinks’ nature to rest on his laurels. Looking back on his career in martial arts thus far, Mick reflects, "Without the support of my wife, whom I met just before the 5th International Chinese Pugilistic Tournament, I know I would not have been able to achieve many of my goals. "My wife and two sons have made my life perfect. I wouldn’t mind doing it again, but I wouldn’t change it," says Mick Spinks.
Mick Spinks holding N.S.W. Super-Welterweight Kickboxing Championship trophy 1980 World Middleweight Kung Fu Full Contact Champion, 1981 Gold Medal Winner in Hong Kong Freestyle Tournament, 1979,1981,1982 N.S.W. Full Contact Kung Fu Champion, N.S.W. Middleweight & Super-Welterweight Kickboxing. For more on mick spinks click on the Chan
& Spinks link under feature stories.
MICK SPINKS
Part 2  Trainer Mick Spinks at ringside Mick Spinks is one of Australia’s most respected martial arts trainers. And at 55, the former World Kung Fu Champion has no intention of slowing down. A Red Sash Kung Fu instructor, Mick is also a qualified coach in boxing and kickboxing. And since the inaugural Ultimate Fighting Championships in 1992, Spinks has trained passionately in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Today, at his Double Dragon gym in Sydney, Mick takes classes in all four fighting disciplines. "I like to teach the gym’s systems as separate identities. Otherwise you lose the depth of the various styles," says Spinks. "However, I have created the Dragon Fist freestyle system, which tends to appeal to a lot of young people. The first three levels are based on Thai boxing, boxing and kickboxing, and three levels of street-orientated BJJ. And then we go into the open-hand work – a bit of disarming and Jin Wu Koon Kung-Fu, which I consider to have very good defensive techniques & open hand strikes." His Dragon Fist freestyle system also contains ground fighting and submissions: "Oh, definitely. We look at them as having more of a street finish, with a little bit of g’n’p as well. We’re not going for the cross-lapel chokes or other technical finishes, although I encourage the students to do at least one day of BJJ per week when they are grading through this curriculum.
"I like them to get that floor base - the balance and brace-out situation where they can hold their control, and practise escape routines. As I explain to many of my students, in stand up, the punching and kicking part is the easy part. The awareness and control of the attack is the hardest thing to master, so the ground escaping or reversing a situation and maintaining control is vital. "They’re good things you can learn from that. Everyone wants to finish with arm bars and chokes, but I tell the guys just starting out not to worry about finishing. Just get your control and escapes going. They’re your priority. And get your elbow strikes going. If you’ve got control, you can always set up an elbow strike on the ground. It’s a pretty good way to finish a street situation." But with the other disciplines Mick instructs in, he maintains their traditional characteristics and authenticity. "I still like to keep the Kung Fu as a separate identity from the kickboxing. For me, too, the Thai boxing is another concept. It has different characteristics, so I don’t like to teach them together as a lot of other people do." Mick, how did the Return of the Ring Kickboxing Championships go at Sutherland Basketball Stadium? "It went well. We had two ISKA-sanctioned, national title defences on that card. Jaden Dempsey (Double Dragon, Sutherland) trains with me. He was the current Super-Welterweight titleholder and he lost his title to Paul Smith. As we do, we discussed why he thought he lost, and we think Paul wanted it more. I suggested that Jaden needs to get a passion back, and he agreed with me. The other kid just wanted it more on the night. "I’d say it would have been a draw if Smith hadn’t dropped him and got a standing eight count. Paul Smith won the first two rounds; the middle round was a draw; and Jaden Dempsey won the last two rounds. It appears the one point from the knockdown was the only thing separating them for the Australian Title."
What about the other national bout? "That was for the Super Middleweight Title. Simon Black (Phoenix Gym, Canberra) was the titleholder against challenger Mohamid Eddine (Eddine Kickboxing, Rockdale). It was a very hard-fought bout. Simon is definitely a strong fighter. They exchanged hands very well, and appeared even in that area, but Simon kept finishing with a kick. So in the fifth round, the referee just stopped it. Mohamid’s legs were smashed. He was not returning in the clashes and he’d been knocked down with a few leg kicks. The referee deemed it was dangerous for Mohamid to continue." Do you have the results for the State Titles? "Nick Black (Double Dragon) defeated Josh Wayne (Superfight Gym, Wollongong) on points for the Welterweight Title. "Chris Chan (Double Dragon) fought Ray Linfanti (Full Force, Blacktown) for the ISKA NSW Middleweight Title. Ray Linfanti won on a close-points decision." 2004’s Aussie Fighting Legends Tournament featured such big names as Alex Tui, Rick Kulu, Paul Grima, Rob Murdoch Jr., Kon Pappy, John Loannou, and yourself. How did that come about? "Well, Father Dave was the organiser of that fundraiser for his Marrickville youth centre. The Fighting Father, as he is affectionately known, does a lot in his area to help youngsters who get in trouble to turn their lives around. Father Dave was a fighter and he does a number of kickboxing shows as fundraisers for the youth club. "He ran it by me to have a stoush/exhibition where former world and noted champions got together for one round of boxing, one round of kickboxing, and one round of mixed martial arts. I was the oldest there by 12 years. Father Dave also competed." Did you compete against The Fighting Father? "No. My first elimination was Paul Grima. He admitted he wasn’t real fit. I hit him with a front kick and he said he nearly hit me with the kebab he ate on the way over there. My second elimination was with Alex Tui, the former World WKA Super Welterweight Champion. The third bout was against Rob Murdoch Jr. Nobody was going for the knockouts, but it was hard, honest sparring. We had a lot of fun, but the main thing was, we raised a lot of money for a worthy cause."
You’re one of Australia’s most respected trainers, and you’ve been coaching champions since 1983. How is Ian Schaffa shaping up? "Ian ‘Sharp-Shooter’ Schaffa - or Goshu Hurricane, as the Japanese have named him - made his comeback in kickboxing when he fought on the K1 Max show in Yoyogi Stadium, Tokyo, October 12, 2005. It was Ian’s first kickboxing bout in six years, and he won a unanimous points decision over seasoned Japanese ex-World Champ, Akeomi Nitta. "Next time Ian will be more switched on to his kicking skills, as we had only three weeks to train for that fight. Ian has tentatively been offered a fight against the top Japanese fighter, Masato. It will be at a big K1 main event bout, on February 4, 2006. Ian is also keen to fight MMA tournaments with his strong wrestling & BJJ background." Mick, along with Mick Nicholls, Bill Wakefield, and Ken Twaddell, you’re a supporter of the American Marines’ MMA team: Red, Black and Blue? "Yes. And when they make it to Australia again, they’ll be more than welcome to do a bit in my Double Dragon Gym at Sutherland. I have a couple of elite-forces guys training here too, and it doesn’t matter what level people are, you can always learn something. Obviously, Team Red, Black and Blue’s interpretation of things would vary from ours and will make things interesting. "I’ve got a couple of guys training here who are in the Australian Special Forces, and they’re very good on the ground. But I’ve found their stand-up needed work, so I’ve been helping them out with that. They’re actually much better than I am on the ground, but we’ve got this great thing going where we’re offering each other some stuff. And if the guys from Red, Black and Blue can make it back to Australia, that’s what we would like to offer them – an exchange of techniques." For more on Mick Spinks: www.doubledragon.com.au Articles containing info on Mick can also be found at www.knucklepit.com under the titles: Chan and Spinks, and Further on up the Road.
MICK
SPINKS Gracie Sydney–Double Dragon Team
Marcos
Nevel, Alex Prates, Mick Spinks, Bruno Panno
©
Marc Wickert, December
3, 2007 With
the MMA wave going through the roof in Australia at the moment – despite
ill-informed journalists from some of the larger newspapers here trying to
find new stories, and then looking to sensationalize them with little
research and murky buckets of misinformation, it seemed a good time to
catch up with one of Sydney’s most prominent MMA instructors, Mick
Spinks. Spinks
has been training in martial arts since 1970, and whilst representing
Australia, later became World Kung Fu Champion. Through his Double Dragon
Gym, he has coached champions in kung fu, boxing, kickboxing and MMA. And
at 57, Mick still works out at a grueling pace with his students. “My
training is going well. My stand-up is in order and I still really like a
bit of chess sparring: not too much hard sparring these days. Now I
have plenty of BJJ coaches all trying to help me out, it’s fantastic. I
just wish I was young again, but I guess I am not on my own there. And I
still do some weights, which I find to be boring, but they make a huge
difference,” says Spinks. Recently
Mick’s Double Dragon Gym became affiliated with the Gracie Sydney Gym.
And Mick says it all came about by chance. “I train Ian Schaffa, and Ian
was training ground with Bruno Panno (Gracie Sydney). When Ian fought
Kid Yamamoto on a K1: Heroes show, Bruno came to Japan as well and
I got to know him. He invited me to train at his Caringbah club, so I took
him up on that offer, and I met Alex Prates there. Alex asked if he could
come to my gym to learn some stand up, so of coarse I invited him,
and there it began: the Gracie Sydney-Double Dragon Team. “Gracie Sydney consists of Bruno Panno (senior instructor who trained under Royler Gracie in Brazil), Marcos Nevel (teaches for Bruno and was a senior instructor at Royler’s school in Rio de Janeiro and also trained with Rolker Gracie and Grand Master Helio Gracie), Bernado ‘Treko’ Fuks (competitor and instructor, who gained his black belt in the Royler Gracie school), and Alex Prates (competitor who trained under masters Mario Sperry and Walter Mattos, and had the privilege of refining his BJJ with Bruno Panno).”
Action in the X-Agon Mick,
do the Gracie Sydney guys mainly focus on the BJJ side of the preparation?
“Yes.
Bruno and Marcos are ground and BJJ coaches: They prepare the MMA guys for
the ground side of MMA.” What
aspects of the preparation do you handle? “I
‘periodise’ their preparation, in relation to strength and
conditioning, evaluating over-training (common problem with keen, serious
athletes), and co-ordinate the transition of priorities during a training
lift as well as help them to develop their stand-up fighting. I also
work with the blending of the various disciplines required for top-level
MMA competition, and help them to make weight.” How
many guys is GS-DD Team preparing for MMA competition? “Alex Prates, Bernado ‘Treko’ Fuks, Heath McMannus and Ian Schaffa are all top professional MMA competitors who train ongoing. There are a few up and comers, but these are the serious guys.” Is
your team preparing for any specific competitions? “There’s nothing locked in for us, but Warriors Realm, CFC and X-Agon have all said they want the guys for early next year. Our fighters are having a few weeks off as they have all been active over the last 10 weeks, then they are going into a strength cycle and preparation for a big year in 2008.”
Alex Prates Will
we see any of your fighters competing in UFC? I think these guys are serious enough and competent enough to compete at that level, but a bit more cage experience would be good. Ian Schaffa is definitely ready for that level of fighting: He has had two weeks back in training after a knee operation and is keener than ever. He will be firing on all cylinders by about February.” Is
Gracie Sydney-Double Dragon the official name of the team? “At
this stage.” Can
anybody train with you guys? “Marc, you know me well: Anyone can train with us. I am not necessarily doing this to train fighters - that just happens. I like to train individuals to become better people and believe in themselves. That is my journey, although training these guys is very stimulating and exciting. They are all really decent and humble guys, which is a trait of our team, I think. But most of the good fighters and trainers seem to be like that.” Can you tell us a bit about the way the gym is equipped? “We
renovated the gym this year - put in a new ring and new strength and
conditioning area. The weight area is really basic: big chin bar, power
rack, benches, chin and dip chains, a cable machine, leg-curl machine, leg
press, Olympic bars, weights and dumbbells… really just functional
strength. We also have a climbing rope, big tires to flip, sledge and tire
wrestle, sleds, farmers’ walks, and a few sprint bikes. All the
good stuff. “Shannon Green, our strength coach, is a real asset too. He is very knowledgeable and gets the form right so the athletes can get strong safely. We have a formula, which I like, that applies to skill and conditioning: Technique, Quality and Intensity.”
Double Dragon Gym For more information contact Mick Spinks on 029 589 0400 or mick@doubledragon.com.au.
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