Carl Schell, (at the left end of the back row), Harry Thomas, (back row, 5th from the left), and John Crawford, (back row, 4th from the right), left the club early in 1959 to form a new dojo, The Judo Shimpokai. These three also reached black belt rank. John and Harry left judo many years ago and are now deceased. Carl Schell is the only member in the photo still involved in judo. Carl led the Shimpokai club from 1959 to 1999 when he formed two committees to run the club, a Parent’s Committee and an On-The-Mat Committee. These committees run the club today with Harold Stears as Director. Carl, aka, “Dutchie” is still on the mat teaching kids judo at the Shimpokai.

Photo of the 23 year old Dutchman, Jon Bluming 3rd Dan of Korean Yudo Asociation. Jon taught us judo before moving on to his goal, the Kodokan of Tokyo, Japan. Jon trained there under Don Draeger and with the best in Japan. Jon was undefeated in Red and White tournaments at the Kodokan and reached the rank of 6th Dan at the Kodokan before returning to his homeland, the Netherlands. Jon was also 6th Dan with the Oyama”s school of karate in Japan. We knew in the 1950’s that we were seeing a very determined, unusual, skillful judoka with tremendous potential. Jon proved we were right.

Photo of original Shimpokai dojo located at 15 Sydney Street, Saint John, New Brunswick. This photo, taken in June 1960, shows the first dojo of the Shimpokai. Ary Anastasiatis, 2nd Dan of Montreal is shown inspecting our mat made of sawdust with a canvas cover. Ary kindly came to Saint John to give us judo instruction for a week. Other club members who constructed the mat are looking on waiting for Ary’s comments. The dojo opened on April 1959 and operated at this site until January 1962 when the owners of the building took over the space. Take note of the dojo”s modern heating system with overhead stovepipe and heat reflecting ceiling! The main source of heat was an oil space heater that required much attention. Unfortunately, our water supply froze the first winter and a more modern propane heating system was installed later along with a fire escape deemed necessary by the city’s fire department. New Brunswick first Saturday morning kid’s judo classes were held at this location.

Photo of the entrance of our 2nd location at 290 Waterloo Street, Saint John, New Brunswick. This photo shows the club’s second location with a family living above and a drycleaning operation below. We brought our propane heating system with us from our old location and installed our first shower. We were moving ahead! The club operated here from January 1962 until December 1963 when the building was torn down to make way for the city’s urban renewal.

Photo of kids taking part in first NB kid’s tournament held at the 290 Waterloo Street dojo. Michael Barry, at the left end on the front row, became a blackbelt at 17 and later represented Canada as a wrestler at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. He and his brother, Sean, (front row, 5th from the left) also represented Canada on the international wrestling scene and was a member of the 1980 Canadian Olympic Wrestling Team along with brother, Michael. Jim Oagles, (second row, 4th from the right) became a black belt at 18 and represented the club at the Nationals.

Photos of our third location, before and after - 3rd floor, uptown, in the centre of the city at 69 King Street. This was our next stop and our best location ever! If you look closely you can see our club name in the right window on the third floor. We now had two showers, two dressingrooms and had started a girls division. We moved in on January 1964 and were completely destroyed by fire on April 20,1979. Fifteen great years but it looked like the end of the Shimpokai!

After the fire on April 20, 1979.

Photo of the interior at 69 King Street – note the kids class! We got our first real tatami at this location after years of sawdust!

Photo of the opening of our dojo located in the abandoned St. Peters Recreational Centre on Clarendon Street in the city’s North End. We renovated, Bill Naves constructed a new floating mat and we opened once again. This was home for us for 24 years until we moved to Milligeville North School in 2003. Former member and one of the founders, John Crawford, (now deceased) cut the ribbon with (left to right) Harold Stears, Sonja Naves, her husband Bill and Carl "Dutchie" Schell, all black belts of the Shimpokai standing by. Harold and Dutchie are still here in 2003!

Photo of Heinz Wazal who, as a young man, in 1955 brought judo to New Brunswick from Germany. Shown here with Carl Schell 42 years later in 1997. Heinz was Carl’s first judo instructor. (see photo of New Brunswick first judo club).