Last Updated on Tuesday, 15 February 2011 17:08 Written by Mike Quin Thursday, 02 December 2004 03:00

An overview and introduction to the Firestorm Dojos including what we do and where we are from and a brief history.

Firestorm Dojos is a family within the Bob Jones Corporation's, Zen Do Kai, Freestyle Martial Arts schools. We are located in Victoria, Australia, at the outer Eastern suburbs of Melbourne. My name is Mike Quin. I am the founder of the Firestorm Dojos and invite you to wander through our web site at your leisure. You will find information here about my dojos and our style of martial art. We are a 'freestyle' martial art which means that we incorporate techniques from many other martial art's styles, including, Karate, Taekwondo, Kung Fu, Ju Jitsu, Kendo and Muay Thai, to name just a few, and adapt them to suit today's world. I'm sure you will find that what we do is very interesting. Our web site also offers plenty of photographs, which reveal aspects of dojo life, and information about our heritage.

Zen Do Kai (which is a Japanese term and literally translated means, 'the best of everything in progression') offers more than simply training in self-defence strategies; it is, in essence, a prescription for living and for life itself. The Zen Do Kai section of the site will reveal to you, many of the symbols and concepts which, when forged together, form this prescription. You will learn of the symbolism behind the mythical 'Red Dragon'; the meaning of the valued Crosses worn by Zen Do Kai's black belt warriors; the mysteries of the thirteen Zen Do Kai Kata meditations; the steps to the elusive Zen Do Kai black belt; the concept of the Zen Do Kai Families and why they were formed; the spawning of Zen Do Kai from its very beginning, through its founder Soke Bob Jones; and the philosophy which binds all these concepts and methods together - SENJO.

Having attained the elusive black belt, the Zen Do Kai warrior is never the same person again for at this point the practitioner is introduced to Senjo. Through this, the practitioner begins to understand 'self' in terms of physical, psychological and spiritual platforms and thus attains a greater understanding of daily interaction in the physical world whilst transcending psychological and spiritual levels.

We have created this web site to help us to share what we do with as many people as possible and to fill the gaps that our physical training doesn't enable. With this in mind, we hope to increase communications amongst ourselves, our Zen Do Kai brothers and sisters throughout Australia, New Zealand and the world, and all other martial artists and interested people around the globe.

Firestorm Dojos opened its doors back in 1991 with about 10 students at only one training venue (dojo). It has now grown to a complement of well over 100 regular students who train at the Firestorm venues and many hundreds of students have passed through the Firestorm dojos over the years. Many of these students have progressed to the black belt level which has strengthened the whole fabric of the Firestorm family.

The name "Firestorm" evolved from the idea that a style being uniquely Australian should be named after a uniquely Australian phenomenon - the 'Firestorm'. I like to instil in my students the strengths associated with a raging storm that feeds itself and overcomes all obstacles.

The Emblem (badge/mon) of the Firestorm Dojos family includes a fist holding a Japanese archery bow and arrow (Kyudo) which is surrounded by fire. The fist is borrowed from the symbol of the Goju Kai style of Karate. Zen Do Kai's roots are within the Goju Kai Karate style. The bow and arrow are symbols representing the Samurai spirit. Such reminders of the past are a traditional aspect of the design of a "mon" or symbol in Zen Do Kai. The direction of the bow symbolises the direction in which the knowledge of martial arts has travelled. The fire relates to the "firestorm" intensity of spirit, and training that overcomes all that stands before it. The eight flames of the fire are a metaphor representing the eight qualities of the martial artist as defined in the Zen Do Kai Senjo philosophy.

Thank you for taking an interest and spending some time here; please contact me if you have any enquiries.

In Bushido, Mike Quin.

"If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives is a lantern on the stern, which shines only on the waves behind us." Samuel Coleridge (1772 - 1834).

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