A Short Introduction...

I started taking up Judo classes at 8 years old, back in the late 70s.
Throughout my teenage years I kept being very fashinated by martial arts and Japanese history, I was avidly reading any kind of translated publications on the subject. After school I was taking up several kind of classes, from Karate to Kick Boxing and even traditional western boxing.
In 1991 I decided to move to Japan , a very young man with a lot of expectations from a country that had very little to do with all what I was reading for years.
No samurai in the streets, no martial arts school at every corner, no white beared masters ready to coach a grasshopper willing to learn.
I studied in a University in Tokyo , Japanese language was my first needed weapon in order to move freely in a totally different world. In the campus there was a Karate, a Kendo and a Shorinji Kempo club. I joined the Shorinji one. My interest for Kempo didn't last long but by that time I was able to speak and read Japanese, I also got a moped allowing me some ‘freedom' to move up and down between the city and the campus.
I settled in a Aiki-Jutsu and AikiDo dojo, an amazingly lovely place, very Japanese style and although the monthly fee was quite high for a student, I managed to carry on by taking up several part times jobs. Most probably that was the real ‘shugyo', as tighten up in between three part time jobs, the classes at the univeristy and the dojo, I was sleeping an average of 3 to 4 hours a night.
After graduation I landed in my first proper ‘full time' job, allowing myself to rent an apartment in central Tokyo . The place was really small, unfurnished and hard to understand whether the toilet was bigger then the closet or vice versa. It had a beautiful view on the Tokyo tower though and it felt quite confortable.
I travelled all over Japan eager to visit as much as possible, history and religions have intrigued me ever since and I am proud to say that my knowledge of historical places and traditions can compete with the one of local tour guides. After studying for a while under Yunoki Sensei and endless travelling back and forth to Kyoto, I got a Menkyo (School License) in Koka Ryu; a traditional style from Ninjutsu traditions.
Throughtout the following years my job took me pretty much all over Asia, from Thailand to Hong Kong, from China to the Marianas Islands passing through Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Bhurma, Vietnam, Korea and in most of these places it has became a recurring routine visit.
I took up some Kung Fu lessons as well….nothing more then a taste of it. I trained at the Shaolin Temples for a month but came to the conclusion that Kung Fu wasn't really for me as I was still pursuing the 'spirit' of the classic Japanese martial disciplines.
I have bodyguarded several international stars when travelling and playing in Asia such as the Rolling Stones, Santana, Tattoo, Gipsy King as well as renowed designers and major corporation's CEOs.
Later, I set up a gym and martial arts center in Thailand, which was a total business failure but quite an interesting experience.

Today, after almost 20 years of living in Asia and 3 decades in martial arts, I couldn't agree more with what Socrates quoted:
"I can't teach anything to anybody, I can just try to make them think".

Have a safe and enjoyable Journey,

Rodolfo 狼努 Turolla