Shihan Mike’s first Sensei was Hennie de Vries. After his first white belt grading in 1973, he continued his tutelage under the late Hanshi Denis St John-Thompson from 1973 to 2007. Hanshi Denis introduced Mike to teaching karate in 1976 under his direct supervision for three years.
Shihan Mike’s forte was building up the ailing dojos around the Cape Peninsula. Wherever there were dwindling student numbers, Shihan Mike would be sent, lifting the energy and student numbers again before moving on to settling in as the Head of Claremont dojo for many years. This dojo later became the Newlands dojo.
In 2004, Shihan Mike was admitted to the South African Karate and Martial Arts “Hall of Fame 2004″ – Silver award: 1st – for his achievements in karate.
In his desire for a deeper knowledge of traditional Okinawan Goju Ryu, Shihan Mike and a few friends went to Israel to train with Kancho Rony in 2007. Shihan Mike and Kancho Rony first trained together as green belts in 1975 at the famous Central dojo in Cape Town under Hanshi Denis. Re-invigorated by his visit to Kancho Rony in Israel in 2007, Shihan Mike and two others started Kokusai Karate-do Renmei South Africa.
In 2010, Shihan Mike was introduced to Yamanni Ryu Kobudo under Nishime Sensei, who had accompanied Kancho Rony to South Africa to hold a gashuku. This kobudo learning was furthered in 2011 when Mike attended Kancho Rony’s summer gashuku in Israel, whose special guest instructor was Nishime Sensei.