So… who am I? If you found this page you may be thinking, “so, who is this Master Gary Simmons anyway?

Well, on a personal level I’m a family man, surfer and Yoga student. And professionally, I’m a writer, speaker and Martial Arts Instructor.

In 1995 I founded Shire Martial Arts. SMA is now one of Sydney’s leading and progressive Martial Arts black belt schools. Shire Martial Arts utilises the techniques and philosophy of Martial Arts to create various training programs. Or, as I like to say “we teach ancient knowledge for the modern world”. Shire Martial Arts has a wide array of exciting and engaging programs for pre-school and pre-teen kids. Also, we help teenagers and adults learn how to become the best version of themselves.

As you can imagine, with such a wide cross section of students, it’s a very busy place!

In my 30 plus year career, I’ve taught Taekwondo based Martial Arts to thousands of boys, girls, men and women. From those students, I’ve helped hundreds of them earn their internationally accredited black belt. I also take great pride in being a pioneer within the field of using Martial Arts as a vehicle for personal development, rather than just for ‘fighting’.

The Early Days

My current journey started when I created the ‘Be Safe In Your Space’ and ‘Service with Safety’ non violent self defence programs. I’m also a qualified Work Health Safety (WHS) professional, as well as a security consultant. I specialise in dealing with school & workplace bullying. I also have a passion for teaching safe customer service in the workplace.

I’ve written an acclaimed non-violent self defence book. And, many of my articles have been printed in magazines and posted online.

But of course, I wasn’t always “Master” Gary Simmons, the professional Martial Arts Instructor, Writer and Anti-Bully Trainer.

I grew up in the surf culture of Sydney, Australia. Although it looked idyllic, this urban beach environment was awash with drugs, gangs and violence.

My early education was at two large all boy schools, each of which had hundreds of students. I had to navigate through lots of bullying, hazing and violence from an early age. I then finished my schooling at a co-ed high school (it wasn’t much different).

Finding My Way In The World Of Men

After school, I found myself working in a massive dockyard with thousands of men and boys, which was quite a shock to the system.

The dockyard also had institutionalized hazing and bullying. Alcoholism, drug abuse, violence and criminal activity were rife. Surviving in such a harsh environment was a case of sink or swim. At the dockyard, I learnt a lot about the good, the bad and ugly of what constitutes being a man. I also learnt how to deal with the concepts of earning and giving respect, acceptance and resilience. There were some confronting lessons.

Once I finished my engineering training, I went out to mining camps in the Australian desert. For a young man from the city, this lifestyle, the relentless heat, combined with harsh working conditions, was for me, another huge learning curve about coping with life. Luckily, my dockyard experience helped me adapt to dealing with the tough, hard working, hard drinking and gambling men within that industry.

I then moved into the oil industry, which was also all male, with a culture of drinking, drugs and bullying. During these early years I lived, worked and played with some of the hardest and toughest people in our society.

This is what first sparked my interest in the dynamics of how to successfully get along with people from different backgrounds and cultures.

Luckily for me though, by this time I had a secret weapon for finding my strength and confidence. It was my involvement in martial arts training and the competitive arena, which gave me the strength and belief in myself, so that when an opportunity arose to become a model (it’s quite a story!), I jumped at the opportunity… and ran with it.

The World of Television

This then led to the prospect of becoming an actor, which opened up a whole new world to me, which was poles apart from the world of men and industry.

Surviving in this new artistic environment meant that I had to rise up and have total confidence and an unshakable belief in myself. At times, I found this to be very challenging. I still remembered where the source of my power came from though, so I continued to throw myself into my martial arts training.

Meanwhile, I was going to radio and TV school, which led to me working for networks as an on air presenter (show reel available on request). This opened up opportunities for hosting high profile public events, that paved the way for my corporate training business.

This experience in the media also led me to be the front man for many high profile radio and corporate promotions. In this capacity, I was the public ‘face’ of radio stations and large companies. I was hired as their representative to interact with the general public.

Olympics

In the year 2000, my home town of Sydney was hosting the Olympic Games. These were the Olympics where the sport of Taekwondo made its debut as an official Olympic sport.

At the Olympics, I was appointed as the ‘Sport Specific Expert’. As well as that, I had the role of Presentation Supervisor and Manager. These Olympics were hugely successful. Taekwondo was a very high profile event because Australia won a Taekwondo gold, plus a silver medal!

This led to me being appointed the Presentation Manager for the Olympic Youth Festival by the AOC.

Presently, in my role as the Senior Chief Instructor of Shire Martial Arts, I’m mentoring young instructors, creating online training programs and writing. 

I Love…

Working on improving my own Martial Arts skills. Practicing Yoga, being in nature with my wife Christine, and… becoming a better cook.

If you’d like to contact me please click here