John Watson was born in Shanghai at the start of World War Two in December 1939.
His father, a British civil engineer, was given the choice of working in the mines of Northern China for the occupying forces or going to a concentration camp. He refused to work for the invading forces.
As a result the whole family were imprisoned in a concentration camp in the middle of China in 1942. Eric Liddell (featured in the Chariots of Fire) the Scottish runner and missionary was imprisoned in the same camp.
In 1945 the family was rescued by American troops who were parachuted in. John's most treasured possession from this time is a plane made of bullets given him by one of the US soldiers. The tail parts have been lost but most of it remains. He also remembers being given a bottle of coca cola by one of the US troops and has been an addict ever since!
They moved to England and then, when John's father died, to the Isle of Man.
John went to school in the Isle of Man and then taught Physical Education at a prep school in Hertfordshire. Around this time he had three mystical experiences of contact with God. A friend has asked John to write some more detail about these experiences.
The first one happened at the prep school in the evening when John was reading a book by J.B.Phillips called the RIng of Truth about the truth of the Gospels. As he read he started feeling a tremendous sense of love, energy and joy with the message to his mind that God was his Father. He later read in one of Paul's letters that God sends his Spirit into our hearts crying 'Father'.
He felt so full of energy that he rushed out into the school grounds. The trees seemed to be one with him and the park was full of intense colour. Everything seemed far more real than it had ever done. If this was all a dream , the dream was far more real than reality. The sheer peace and joy of this experience lasted for days.
John stopped a cyclist to tell him that God was real. The cyclist nearly fell off his bike and cycled on nervously. He also spoke to the Head Master and any one else who would listen. Ever since he has felt a strong compulsion to pass on the message that the Christian God is real. 44 years later he is still passing this good news on.
A second experience occurred at the Keswick convention in the Lake District. At the end of the meeting the speaker asked all those who felt they had failed as Christians to stay behind. John stayed behind and experienced what John Wesley called the second blessing. It was as if a wave of infinite love and peace passed through the tent in which the meeting was held and into the hearts of the people there.
A third experience took place in Switzerland where John was studying the BIble to see if the Pentecostal experiences of the disciples described in the book of Acts could happen today. As he read and studied for days on end it seemed that he was in a desert without spiritual answers. It had not rained in Switzerland for days. Suddenly a great storm broke in the physical world and John started speaking in the other languages described in the book of Acts and had a similar experience to that of the disciples in the upper room.
These three experiences have left their mark and, though they have not removed all doubts, make John think that the possiblity of a relationship with a living God and a life after death must be taken seriously.
John studied English at Cambridge. One evening he stood up in Pembroke College hall in the middle of supper and urged everyone to take the Christian Gospel seriously. Some people thought he had gone mad but others flocked to attend the Bible readings he was running. He later became an English teacher in South East London but after 5 years he did a diploma in Religious Studies and began teaching about religion full time.
He was Head of RE at Collingwood School in Peckham and then moved to Eltham Hill School in South East London.
After 33 years teaching in three London Comprehensive schools, John retired from teaching. He received several awards and commendations for teaching both religious studies and the martial arts. He still teaches martial arts after beginning training in kung fu and karate at the age of 37. The style he now teaches is Choikwangdo, a brilliant self-defence and health oriented style founded by Grandmaster Kwang Jo Choi in 1987.
John is a 5th degree black belt in free style martial arts (awarded by Dave Turton of the Self Defence Federation), a third degree black belt in Choikwangdo (awarded by Grand Master Kwang Jo Choi) a second degree black belt in Iai Batto Jutsu (awarded by World Champion Sensei Mochizuki) a second degree black belt in Taekwondo (awarded by Master Hock Lye Ooi) a 1st degree in Karate and a brown belt in Okinawan weapons (awarded by Sensei David Dyer) He has also trained in Capoeira with two world champions, Kung Fu with Sifu Tony Leung, JKD with top JKD instructor, Ralph Jones, and has attended seminars by top martial artists like Dan Inosanto, Dave Turton, Gary Spiers, Stuart Rider, Master Pereira and several others.
After his retirement from teaching Religious Education, he began studying internet marketing and continued his study of the psychology of achievement and self development. This has always been a key interest.
John now lives in Chislehurst, Kent. Chislehurst is only half an hour by train from London and is in easy reach of seminars held in London and near Heathrow. He has been to Robbins' firewalk seminar and a seminar run by Ian Fox which culminated in participants breaking an arrow with their throat! He has attended many other less spectacular seminars on the theme of motivation and success and has always been a keen student of human potential.The lesson of the arrow could be summed up by the following quote by Brendan Francis [Behan] (1923-1964) Irish Author:
"Many of our fears are tissue paper thin, and a single courageous step would carry us clear through them."
John plans on writing reports and books on both teaching and on achievement in general. He feels that many schools let their students down by not teaching enough about how to study (by using mind maps for example) and about how to set goals and how to start saving money for their early retirement!
Recently, John, has been inspired by Dave O'Connor, a student of Tony Quinn, the founder of Educo - a movement for the development of human potential.
Tony Quinn trained Steve Collins, the Irish boxer who ended the long unbeaten run of the great English boxer Chris Eubank.
Tony believes very much in the power of the subconscious mind and has helped many people to make the most of this power. Some of his students have been operated on without anaesthetic and have felt no pain. They have even enjoyed the operation! Tony's methods apply to life as a whole and not just to healing.
John's main aim is to make the most of his own potential and to help others make the most of their's. He also wishes to pass on whatever he knows of the meaning of life and to discover more and share more about the truths behind the universe.