Paul Starling

Paul Starling
Paul Starling at the Japanese Prisoner-of-War Memorial in Cowra, New South Wales
Born	1948 Sydney, Australia
Residence	Australia
Style	Karate
Rank	8th dan karate

Paul Noel Starling (born 1948) is an Australian martial artist renowned as a Gōjū-ryū Karate master. He was the most senior Caucasian student of Gōjū-ryū Gogen Yamaguchi, and is a world Vice President of the International Karate do Goju Kai Association (IKGA)

He was also the first Australian karateka to compete in a Karate World Championships and remain undefeated when in 1970 at the first Karate World Championships his team came up against undisputed favorites Japan at the inaugural event held in Tokyo Japan. Paul Starling was also the first graduate (1973) of Gogen Yamaguchi's Japan Karate do College, and the only Caucasian and Australian to graduate as a Shihan (Master). He commenced training as a teenager in 1963 at the first Dojo (karate school) of Goju Kai established in Australia at that time, with the founder of Goju Kai in Australia; Merv Oakley Sensei. During this period in Australian Karate do history there were few qualified Instructors in the country, and of those only a handful were proficient or graded legitimately to Instructor level. Merv Oakley was a pioneer of Australian Karate, and was the first Australian to have traveled to the Nippori, Uneo and Asakusa Tokyo Dojo in Japan to study and train with Gogen Yamaguchi for extended periods of time.

Starling had commenced training on a daily basis in judo from adolescence with Australian teacher Ron Cox, and for a decade continued to train in judo and Goju Kai Karate do concurrently on a full-time daily basis.

After graduation from Barker College in Sydney with the Leaving Certificate, Paul was recruited by Unilever Australia who supported his world championship participation 1970- 1972 where he commenced a managerial trainee-ship whilst he simultaneously commenced duties with the Australian Army CMF, following in the footsteps of father: Lieutenant Colonel Noel George Reid Starling, who was arguably the longest serving Australian Army Officer, (46 years) enlisted 1927- 1973.

It was as an Australian Army officer himself that Paul Starling developed his early leadership skills and the self-discipline that helped him build the reputation of Gōjū-ryū via the Sydney Goju Kai Dojo and the Macquarie University Karate Club, into successful traditional Japanese Dojo. As a founder and executive member of the Australian Karate Federation, for many years he was involved in a voluntary capacity for over two decades in promoting Karate do in Australia and as a referee, judge and coach at State, National and International W.K.F. competitions. Along with Australian politician and fellow karateka, the late John Newman, he promoted Australian Karate do in the media and helped to organise colleague Instructors in Australia in those fledgling days, into a cohesive group whereby Australia's reputation and success at International competition during the 1980s was unprecedented for a country with such a limited population.