Tang Soo Tao martial arts studio celebrates 50th anniversary

The legacy of a martial artist who cheated death multiple times and befriended the Dalai Lama was honoured at his studio’s 50th anniversary. Read what he endured.

Members from around the country descended on Darwin as part of the 50 year celebrations. Picture: Supplied.

A charismatic American who lived more than a thousand lifetimes in his 35-years has had his memory and lasting legacy honoured in Darwin.

Master Robert Caputo founded the city’s oldest martial arts studio in February 1974 with the help of his good friend and current Tang Soo Tao’s SA Bom Nim (chief instructor) Dieter Spielkamp.

A friendship that started in the most unlikely of circumstances, Spielkamp helped rescue Caputo after his boat ran aground on a reef off the coast of the NT.

A nomad who grew up in Hawaii on an air force base, Caputo spent a number of years in South Korea honing his craft, before hopping on a dilapidated wooden boat in Indonesia.

Their course was not set for Australia, it was a cyclonic weather event that made the vessel collide with the reef.

Master Robert Caputo and his senior students in Darwin. Picture: Supplied.

Spielkamp came to Caputo’s aide on the shore, and immediately drove his new mate to the hospital to clean up his legs, which were riddled with coral poisoning.

Fast forward a few months and a demonstration on the back of a flatbed truck and the two decided to start their own studio.

“I became his first student and we set up a small studio,” Spielkamp said.

“He was 23 and I was 25 but I still, even then, looked up to him and wanted to follow in his footsteps.”

The pair’s friendship continued outside of the studio in the form of other recreational activities, namely skydiving.

Caputo came agonisingly close to death once again after his primary and secondary chutes failed to open.

The American plummeted to earth, miraculously surviving with just a broken leg.

“He hit the ground very hard,” Spielkamp recalled.

“I thought for sure he’d be dead once I managed to get to him.

“I was shocked when I saw him moving, and I once again raced him off to the hospital.”

Breaking his leg in multiple places, Caputo didn’t let the cast and crutches get in his way, continuing to teach classes on one leg.

More tragedy struck when Cyclone Tracy practically destroyed the fledgling studio on Christmas Eve 1974.

Tang Soo Tao Martial Artists Nathan Franklin, Alan Holand and Meranda Thatcher posing for a photo commemorating the studio’s 40th anniversary back in 2014.

The two went their separate ways, Caputo back to America and Spielkamp to South Korea until they reunited 18 months later back in Darwin.

In their absence, the studio had grown in numbers and welcomed the return of the two friends.

Caputo’s adventures continued, becoming peers with his holiness the Dalai Lama.

“Master Caputo spent six months with his holiness in India, learning his teachings and participating in meditation retreats,” Spielkamp said.

“He even took a number of us, including myself, over there to receive the same teachings.”

A man that led his life in a very methodical and structured manner, Spielkamp believes his friend knew his time was nearing an end, becoming sporadic and insular.

Caputo’s life came to an unceremonious end in 1985 on the country roads of Victoria after he died in a crash.

Caputo’s legacy lives on with his loyal students continuing to teach in his absence.

And 50 years later, Tang Soo Tao’s Darwin branch estimates more than 12,000 students have come through their doors, and are still going strong.

The studio have even expanded through the decades, with studios in Maroochydore, Melbourne, Geelong and Daylesford as well.