Sifu Robert Parkes has been involved in the martial arts since 1980. He is licensed to teach Chinese Wing Chun Kung-Fu, Non-Classical Kung-Fu, Filipino Stick & Knife Fighting (Arnis), American Kick-Boxing, and Japanese Togakure Ryu Ninjutsu (in which he was awarded the rank of Shidoshi - 5th Dan Black Belt - by Grandmaster Masaaki Hatsumi in 1993).
As a Ninjutsu Instructor he was featured in Australasian Fighting Arts (1992) v.15 n.4, pp24-27; and published in Blitz (1996) v.10 n.5, pp59-62. He was lecturer in Neuro Linguistic Programming, Shiatsu, and Oriental Medicine at the Southern Cross Natural Therapy Centre (Brisbane) from 1992-1994; and Chief Instructor of the Ninjutsu Federation of Australia from 1989-1993.
In 1994 Robert developed the COMBAT KUNG-FU system (the name coined by long-term martial arts colleague Glenn Turner, but at the time referred to as GOSHINDO - The Way of Self-Defence), which he now teaches in Sydney.
Robert has recently completed a Bachelor of Education (Hons.) at the University of Sydney. Since attending University he has been named a Dean's List Scholar (1997), and has received the Newcombe Hodge Essay Prize for his (Ed.II) term paper on Vygotsky's educational theories. In the Year 2000, he has been awarded First Class Honours, and the University Medal for his final thesis, titled: The Constitution of the Subject in the Zone of Proximal Development: A Critical Analysis of Vygotskian Pedagogical Discourse, that looks at the possibilities for developing a postmodern radical pedagogy (critical approach to teaching-learning in this time of instability). He is currently completing a PhD.
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