FOR Bermuda's newest jujitsu instructor Shawn Harvey, it's always been a life-long dream to one day own and operate a local martial arts school. Last November, that dream finally became a reality.

Specialising in the modern art of small circle jujitsu, Harvey, 32, currently teaches avid students the pros and cons of the sport at the Bermuda Small Circle Jujitsu Academy located on 10 North Street in Hamilton.

The young entrepreneur now envisions the new form of open-arm combat will one day take the island by storm - though he admits that things were slow getting off the ground.

Taking conventional jujitsu to a whole new level, small circle jujitsu is a blend of wing chin do, street jujitsu and Master George Dilman's pressure point martial art forms.

Small circle jujitsu, or practical street self-defence if you will, places great emphasis on utilising simple motions to attack opponent's weaker body parts such as the fingers, wrists and Golgi tendon in the arm.

By using small, efficient circular motions and the Small Circle Ten Principles, individuals trained in the art can inflict pain to render the largest person helpless without causing injury.

Harvey is a student of top US and two-time world jujitsu champion, Ed MeLaugh, who runs the thriving New England Small Circle Jujitsu Academy in Boston. The Bermudian successfully completed a five-year course both locally, and under the watchful eye of MeLaugh, who was inducted into the prestigious World Martial Arts Hall of Fame as Instructor of the Year in 1991. MeLaugh is a 25-year veteran in the sport and a Soke Dai (inheritor). He also holds a seventh degree black belt in small circle jujitsu and is the current head of the United States Small Circle Jujitsu Association.

"One thing that I really wanted to create was something legitimate where there's less training," says Harvey. "And all of my students can go on to learn small circle jujitsu in the US where they can fit right in without missing any part of the syllabus. That's one of the biggest things that I wanted to do."

Small circle jujitsu is now a world renowned martial art form that became a registered system in 1987 after MeLaugh blended the various jujitsu art forms.

"It is a very proactive art form in that you don't have to do no more then you have to," explained Harvey. "This whole art is derived for the street and basically you have the practitioner come in and learn how to work with open-arm combat and with various other weapons. Basically the only difference from other martial art forms is that there's no kata (fighting simulations). There's no kata per se and basically more combat.

"It also amalgamates groundwork as well. There's a lot of ground fighting as students learn how to fight on the ground and how to manipulate their opponent. So basically it's a mixture of judo, boxing, kung fu and wing chin do."

Harvey strongly believes that he's onto something big.

"I know that it is going to take off because it mixes wing chin do, which was derived from the wing chong which is also very big in Bermuda," added the confident young entrepreneur, who also wants to dispel a few myths about the martial arts.

"My biggest goal is to get the mystic out of the martial arts. A lot of people think that you have to be some great athlete to do the martial arts. You don't have to be a great superstar athlete to do this sport," he added.

"This art is designed for the masses. You don't have to be a runner or footballer or high jumper. It's real proactive stuff and quite simple to learn.

"A lot of this stuff is just simple common sense because in this particular system there's no strength and students learn to control the aggressor by using finger and wrist locks."

Harvey said the sport also encourages a healthier lifestyle and diet.

"The physical aspect of it is that diets are involved and once you obtain a serious practitioner they are taught what to eat," he said.

He also said the new art form can be taught to both male and female students as it is that simple to learn.

"I've actually observed people with little or no co-ordination do this stuff," he said. "Everyone thinks that you have to be Bruce Lee to do martial arts. But it's just all about doing the simple things. It's like a science and even the women are able to come in and do this art because there's no longer any strength involved."

Harvey currently conducts only one class per week (Friday) and anyone interested in joining his fledgling club can reach him daily at 505-8458.