As a youngster I was always a little bigger than most others my age so fights and scraps at school were never really an issue for me.
Being “A”stream and being big enough to look after myself was too much of an incongruity for some people to understand. Only nerds were supposed to be “A” stream and the “tough” guys were supposed to be brainless thugs, so having a solidly built Samoan who also had a brain that functioned beyond finding food created something of an unusual mix that many had problems coming to terms with. For me, it meant that virtually everyone wanted to be my friend (or at least nobody wanted to be my enemy). For my classmates it meant that very seldom would they get hassled for being nerds as they were friends with the “big Samoan guy”.
Eventually size would not be enough. Once I left school and entered the big wide world I found that you can’t just use your size to make would-be-bullies back down and expect everything to be hunky dory. I decided to try Karate. I enrolled at Okinawa-Te Karate but after a few months I found the rigidity of that style not suited to me. Eventually I attended Zen-Do-Kai (a free-style martial art) where I trained for a few years under the expert tutelage of Sensei Geoff Aitken. I learned much from Geoff and the philosophies of Zen-Do-Kai fitted easily with my own style of learning. His teaching style was such that when showing us a move, he would show us the same move in many different styles. He was expert in traditional karate as well as Aikido and Muay Thai Kick Boxing. From what he showed us we were encouraged to learn each style and pick whichever suited us personally, or even to develop another way of achieving the same result that was comfortable to us. In doing so we were able to understand and break down the science behind different movements in the various martial arts. This ability to analyse body movements has helped me immensely in many different fields of my life.
Eventually I gained work “on the door” at a club. It was a good club. In two years there was only one incident and that was virtually taken care of by the female manager. I eventually gave that job up to work at a “busier” bar, but when that bar went through management changes I was put down the road.
Years later I got together with a friend (Deano) who had done a number of different martial arts, including styles such as Greco-Roman Wrestling, Wing Chun Kung Fu and Tai Chi. At one point Deano started teaching Self-Defence classes to a small group of our friends. Together we would try various moves on each other and we each developed what worked for us. It was through Deano that I re-entered the bar scene and started working again as a “Group Environment Mood Stabiliser”
People love that title, but it’s not nearly as pretentious as it sounds. I don’t like the word Bouncer it has too many connotations and I certainly don’t want the image of being the big burly guy that picks people up and bounces them through the door. I consider it my job to ensure that people in the bar are able to enjoy the night without others upsetting it for them. It is not my job to make the bar an enjoyable place (we hire musicians for that) – my job is merely to ensure that one persons actions don’t interfere with someone elses ability to enjoy themselves – I don’t set the tone, I merely moderate it – I don’t create the mood, I merely stabilise it – Mood Stabiliser
Essentially I consider myself a capable martial artist – I like physical contest – but I’m certainly no “slap-happy thug” –
I do sincerely believe that had I not found love when I did, I would have eventually either joined the French Foreign Legion or become a proffessional bodyguard. Had this been the case, my martial arts would have evolved and developed by now to a phenomenal level. Alas that was not the case. Don’t get me wrong though – I’m no slug! …but neither am I Jet Li 
Martial arts.. I like it