SNN_August 2023 Issue_web

NEW ZEALAND SPINAL TRUST 20
—Tina Morrell
John quickly discovered the
people who saw no differences
and they were the ones who
became his friends.
karate club leader said: “If you think you can do it then
come along!” Up until then, he was busily begging for
karate books and borrowing them. He would sit on the
toilet reading them and practicing moves!
Being the first person in a wheelchair to receive his black
belt he comments “I don’t think gradings are any easier
for me, some of my fellow karate colleagues are actually
harder on me because I’m in a wheelchair.”
Further adding “they hit harder and that is quite good because,
on the street, people are going to be hard on us anyway.”
FIGHTING SPIRIT – John Marrable helps people find their “Amazonian warrior”.
Surprisingly for John’s parents, having to shift from their
two-storied council house was not the only change they
had to navigate. They also had the unexpected social
losses of losing friends as a result of his disability. The
loss of friends was more difficult to come to terms with, as
John explains “because their friends didn’t know how to
relate to them, suddenly they had a disabled child, how do
we speak to them?”
John quickly discovered the people who saw no
differences and they were the ones who became his
friends. Adaptability was something that John became
adept at in a world that was not wheelchair accessible.
Newly out of the hospital, John would use calipers and
crutches to walk up their hallway and would inevitably
fall over. John’s father would make light of it saying,
“While you’re down there, John, do you just wanna touch
up the skirting boards?”
John’s parents were hugely instrumental in building
John’s social and psychological capacities for facing the
world, his mother would caution “you can’t go out looking
like that, people will look at you strangely”. John’s father
would counterbalance with “they’re going to look at you
anyway John, go and give them something to look at!”
It was John’s father, who fostered a curiosity in John for
Asian martial arts. As an officer in the Royal Navy, he was
well-versed in self-defence with his training. When the
Kung Fu series started on television his father would
encourage him—“Hey John, watch this!” John’s first
attempts in the UK to join a karate club were
unsuccessful.
It was not until his family emigrated to New Zealand, and
settled in Dunedin that he was invited to come along. The
While he has celebrated the tremendous success of
achieving a black belt, he describes with tears and a great
sense of humility, feeling that it was a great honour.
It was the first step on a progressive pathway with the
Shodan discipline of degrees, with his latest achievement
being the Shodan sixth degree! The achievement is highly
prestigious, being six out of a possible 10 of which few
people in the world ever achieve.
The rewards for John and for those that he teaches, are
many and varied and surpass just the benefits of physical
fitness. John enjoys witnessing the journey first hand of
the growth of confidence that people display by finding
their inner strength.
He encourages people to find their ‘switch’, transforming
their stance from a shy, scared person and activating their
inner “Amazonian warrior.”
One day John was coaching and encouraging a woman to
find her own inner “Amazonian warrior” as she was
attacking the tackle bag with growing aggression. “That’s
it, you’ve done it” he said, “you’ve found your inner
warrior, now you need to learn how to dial it back”.
Finding that inner discipline and self-control to turn that
switch “on” and being able to self-regulate and turn “off”
that switch is just as important.
He has had his nose broken twice and been knocked out
of his wheelchair. He explains that for the able-bodied the
benefits of being able to use leg techniques and vary the
load on their bodies helps them when practicing karate,
whereas in a wheelchair he has to continue using his
arms, sometimes for up to two – three hours.
Despite his battle scars he finds it rewarding to see the
people he coaches develop and grow in their confidence.
Watching them transform from when he first meets them
and leaving with a newfound confidence. “I love
empowering people” says John.