THE ENFORCERS
August 25th 1973
On the Wall of Bob Jones'' Karate school in Melbourne there a poster inscribed: "Thanks to Bob Jones'' Karate Skool - Mick."
The Mick is Mick Jagger, for whom Bob and his boys provided a bodyguard service on the pop, star''s Australian tour. On another wall is another, notice which reads: "We are not responsible for valuables". Obviously the bodyguard service doesn''t work inside the club, but then, if a karate student can''t look after his wallet, who can.
Over the past ten years Bob has become well known to thousands of pop fans and topline entertainers. He actually registered a company, Bob Jones Security, to provide assistance to pop stare and hotel managers when the going got rough.
Through this, he established a chain of 23 karate schools throughout Victoria and has now expanded interstate. Today, Bob, a third degree Black Belt expert, is more businessman than heavyweight bouncer, but, as his swollen, calloused knuckles prove, he still keeps up his training. "Karate is not something you can perfect," he explained. "It is a life long pursuit.
I''m '' 30 years old now and the best I could manage in my own lifetime is to reach a Black Belt sixth degree. "To reach the ultimate limit you must spend every minute of everyday on karate framing, both the physical and spiritual sides. "Few people achieve that degree of perfection." Bob is happy to carry on the way he is, teaching other people the art of karate and the way of life that goes with it.
The security company has been wound up, so Bob will come out of this retirement only for very special bodyguard jobs like the Jagger and the Jackson Five tours. "We don''t cover local stars or hotels any more," he said. "It just isn''t worth while.'' "The reason we ware so successful as trouble shooters originally was the good vibes we had with the teenagers. We didn''t look like policemen anal we didn''t threaten.