Meet Our Instructors | Expert Martial Arts Coaches Perth

Walk into a class at Spear Dojo and there is a good chance the person teaching once stood where you are standing now. Many of our instructors started here as students. Some arrived as children. Some as teenagers. Years later, they became competitors, coaches, mentors, and role models for the students following behind them.

Between them is experience across Zen Do Kai, Muay Thai, Boxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, athlete development, self defence, sports science, and coaching at every level.

Many have trained together for years. Some are now teaching the children of people they once trained beside.

What people tend to remember, is not everyone’s ranks or credentials. It’s the instructor who notices when someone is struggling before they say anything. The coach who stays back answering questions after class. The person who still teaches every week long after they could have stepped away from the mats.

For many of us, Spear Dojo is more than a place to train.

Our Instructors

WAYNE SPEAR

46 years – Bob Jones Martial Arts (2026)

Train with Wayne for five minutes and you’ll understand why we look up to him.

You will still find him on the mats every week correcting details, answering questions, training beside students, and quietly noticing things most people miss.

After 46 years in martial arts, Wayne still approaches training the same way he always has: curious, engaged, and willing to learn. Seminars, travel, conversations with other instructors, time on the mats. The learning never really stops.

The standard at Spear Dojo comes from the example Wayne sets every day.

He would rather talk about the team than himself.

SANDY SPEAR

30 years – Bob Jones Martial Arts (2026)

Sandy never really stops.

Somehow Sandy knows everyone’s name. She will probably also know how your grading went, how your last fight went, how your kids are going, and which nights you usually train.

For more than 30 years she has taught classes, organised competitions, supported instructors, and helped students navigate everything from their first class to their black belt and beyond.

In one way or another, she has given a little bit of herself to everyone who has walked through the doors.

ROD STROUD

54 years – Bob Jones Martial Arts (2026)

Spend enough time on the mats and you’ll quickly realise how many people have a story about Rod.

More than fifty years in Bob Jones Martial Arts. He brought Zen Do Kai to Western Australia. Then he brought Muay Thai, promoting some of the earliest events including a World Championship and coaching many state and Australian title holders along the way.

In 2025 he was inducted into the WA Muay Thai Hall of Fame.

You do not have to look very hard to see why.

ADAM SOCHACKI

27 years – Bob Jones Martial Arts (2026)

If you’ve ever wondered why a technique works, Adam is probably already thinking about it.

Adam first walked into Spear Dojo as a teenager and never really looked back. It’s easy to see he loves the technical side of training and has a genuine fascination with movement, timing, and the small details that make techniques work.

Whether he’s coaching a fighter, teaching a class, or talking shop after training, Adam’s enthusiasm for martial arts is hard to miss.

TIM HAMILTON

25 years – Bob Jones Martial Arts (2026)

One minute the room is laughing. The next everyone is moving in sync.

Having spent much of his life on the mats, Tim knows how to get the best out of people. His classes have a rhythm to them. Repetition, correction, timing, movement.

Whether he’s teaching a beginner their first technique or helping an experienced student refine a detail, Tim has a way of making everyone want to improve.

ANDREW WEIR

19 years – Bob Jones Martial Arts (2026)

Andrew is usually helping someone.

A new student who missed a small detail. Someone preparing for competition. A training partner looking for advice.

Whether you’re stepping into class for the first time or preparing for competition, Andrew brings a sharp eye, total focus, and the kind of quiet encouragement that makes everyone on the mats want to push harder.

THOMAS CHAMBERS

18 years – Bob Jones Martial Arts (2026)

Thomas has never been one for doing things halfway.

He started here as a child and eighteen years on the mats later, along with a Bachelor of Education in primary teaching, he is still as invested in learning and improving as he was when he first walked through the door.

Whether he is working on his own skills or helping someone else improve theirs, Thomas pays close attention to the details and puts genuine care into everything he does.

JACKSON LOVELL

20 years – Bob Jones Martial Arts (2026)

Jackson has a way of making hard work feel like fun.

He first walked into Spear Dojo at just four years old and is now both an instructor and a primary school teacher.

One minute he’s making people laugh. The next they’re working harder than they realised.

BEN LANGMAN

7 years – Bob Jones Martial Arts (2026)

You do not need to ask Ben to do another round.

Years of competition show in the way he trains and coaches. Sharp combinations. Hard rounds. High standards.

Between rounds, he is usually holding pads, helping someone fix a detail they missed, or encouraging them to go again when they thought they were done.

ALAN HENRIQUE FERREIRA

16 years – Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Alan has a way of making world-class experience feel approachable.

There’s a calm confidence in the way he teaches Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He focuses on helping people understand not just what to do, but why it works, and enjoys seeing students put the pieces together for themselves.

Whether you’re brand new or have been training for years, Alan has a way of making you feel like you’re exactly where you should be on the mats.

BEN TIPPETT

22 years – Bob Jones Martial Arts (2026)

If you spend long enough training, you start to notice how things connect.

Ask Ben why a technique works and he will tell you, in detail, how it links to something else, and then something else again.

A lesson from one martial art, a principle from another. Ideas that seem unrelated until someone points out the thread that connects them.

After more than 20 years on the mats, Ben is still the first to tell you he is still learning.

DAN JOHNSON

28 years – Bob Jones Martial Arts (2026)

Dan never seems rushed.

Whether a student is struggling with a technique, preparing for a grading, or working through a difficult training session, Dan has a way of bringing people back to what matters and helping them move forward.

There are no shortcuts. Dan wouldn’t trust them anyway.

JEREMY DU

12 years – Bob Jones Martial Arts (2026)

If you can still talk comfortably during a round, you’re probably not there yet.

Ask anyone who’s been through one of Jeremy’s warm-ups and they’ll tell you the same thing: by the time class actually starts, you’ve already worked harder than you expected to all night.

He’ll laugh with you about it the whole way through.

ROBERT MARTIN

36 years – Bob Jones Martial Arts (2026)

Robert has seen a lot during his thirty-six years on the mats.

Students know him as someone who will challenge them when they need it, support them when they need it and always shares his experience freely.

He has a way of knowing exactly what someone needs to hear in the moment, whether that is a push to go one more round or the reassurance that they are already doing enough.

NIGEL GORBUNOW

29 years – Bob Jones Martial Arts (2026)

There is more to Nigel than meets the eye.

You could train beside him for months before realising just how much experience he has. He carries himself quietly, treats everyone with respect, and always seems to have time for others.

When Nigel shares something, it is usually thoughtful, practical, and delivered with a dry sense of humour.

Just when you think you’ve got him figured out, something else surprises you.

TREVOR MASON

26 years – Bob Jones Martial Arts (2026)

Nobody has ever needed to tell Trevor to go harder.

A long day, a hard week, he turns up and does the work. If someone needs an extra round, a partner, or a helping hand, Trevor is usually already there.

He doesn’t seem to have an off switch.

NIK KEARNEY

34 years – Bob Jones Martial Arts (2026)

Show up. Train hard. Respect the people around you.

Nik has been doing exactly that for thirty four years.

The kind of martial artist who does not need to be told twice, does not cut corners, and does not make a fuss about either of those things.

You will rarely find him too busy to help.

NIGEL HARBACH

37 years – Bob Jones Martial Arts (2026)

Few people throw themselves into challenges quite like Nigel.

With decades of martial arts experience and a career in the stunt industry behind him, Nigel has never been one to shy away from testing his limits and trying something new.

His enthusiasm and sense of adventure have a way of encouraging others to step outside their comfort zones too.

Meet the Team

Coaches, mentors, competitors, teachers, and lifelong martial artists.