Geordie Lavers-McBain has always been a fighter at heart.
At eight years old, he knew he wanted a future in martial arts – not just practising it but teaching others.
By 16, he turned that childhood ambition into reality, launching his career as an instructor and founder of Black Dragon Kai in 1993.
Today, he runs a range of martial arts programs across several locations, including Beaudesert and Jimboomba, turning the dream of a determined eight-year-old into a growing community enterprise.
A young fighter
Geordie’s journey began in Brisbane, where he first practised Kendo at the local YMCA.
He remembers spending his first lesson continuously swinging a sword above his head while watching others train.
“It used to be an old martial arts thing where they’d make you do a monotonous task to see if you were serious about training,” he added.
At seven, Geordie moved to Charleville after his father Douglas was transferred for work as a school teacher.
He trained whenever he could.
“Different people came into town and would teach; some of them were not even black belts – which was more than anybody else had in town,” he said.
When his family relocated to Beaudesert when Geordie was 11, Douglas became Head of Science at Beaudesert State High School – a position he held for 20 years.
The move opened many doors for Geordie to train seriously, and he began doing Taekwondo, Zen Do Kai and Muay Thai.
Alongside his training, Geordie started working at 13, picking up dead chickens on a local chicken farm.
He later worked at Reinke’s Corner Store before becoming a bouncer at nightclubs when he was 16.
During his busy schedule, Geordie began teaching martial arts at the Anglican Church Hall under Black Dragon Kai.
He would ride his pushbike around town putting up hand-coloured posters to promote the club.
“I used to colour them in with a pencil because I couldn’t afford photocopying,” he joked.
He rented out venues in surrounding areas to teach, including the Jimboomba Community Hall and Jimboomba State School music room.
In 2004, he opened his purpose built first training centre in Jimboomba, with his second one opening in Beaudesert in 2007.
Black Dragon Kai has continued to go, now having 12 locations across Queensland.
A match made on the mats
Geordie adores teaching martial arts and he even taught his future wife Jessica in 1999 at the Jimboomba Community Hall.
“I love seeing the change in people and helping them to do things they never thought they could,” he said.
“There’s a great self-worth in helping someone be able to defend themselves and their family.”
The pair married in 2012 and have two children – Lochlan and Athena.
Geordie continues to keep his dream alive through hard work, discipline and an unwavering belief in the power of teaching people to protect themselves.
