Heydan Bucknell
Heydan Bucknell brought a judo background to co-founding AxisNZ, where he teaches children and adults and develops instructors alongside him.
Biography
Sources for this profile
AxisNZ, entire current history and instructor biographies(opens in a new tab)
Bucknell’s martial-arts background includes judo and other grappling arts.
Where in the source: Complete named Heydan biography.
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He met Trevor Johnstone through Morganti jiu-jitsu before they became partners in AxisNZ.
Where in the source: Complete Trevor Johnstone biography under current instructor section.
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Bucknell and Johnstone founded AxisNZ inChristchurch inSeptember2010.
Where in the source: Whole opening historyparagraph.
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The NewZealand school is part of the Axis association founded inTokyo by TakamasaWatanabe.
Where in the source: Whole historyopening and Tokyo trainingparagraph.
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Bucknell received his BJJblack belt fromTakamasaWatanabe, a black belt underRicksonGracie.
Where in the source: Whole named Heydan biography and openingTokyo founder sentence.
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The current academy roster lists Bucknell as a second-degree black belt.
Where in the source: Full Heydan biography, final sentence.
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He is head instructor of AxisBJJNewZealand.
Where in the source: Named roleheading and whole biography.
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He returns to Axis headquarters inTokyo to develop his own practice.
Where in the source: Entire Heydan personal biography.
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AxisNZ describes maintaining its Japanese connection through visiting black-belt seminars inChristchurch and student trips toTokyo.
Where in the source: Whole schoolhistory second/thirdparagraph.
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The school serves Christchurch and also lists satellite clubs inKaiapoi andRolleston.
Where in the source: Full locationparagraph and footer.
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Bell later appears on the academy’s instructor roster as a purple belt responsible for no-gi classes.
Where in the source: Complete currentZachariahBell namedbio.
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Johnstone holds his black belt underBucknell and teaches alongside him.
Where in the source: Complete namedTrevorbio.
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JudoNZ, official2006SouthIslandChampionships results(opens in a new tab)
He took senior men’sunder90kg bronze at the2006SouthIslandJudoChampionships inChristchurch on26–27August.
Where in the source: Page1, whole SeniorMen U90kg row and all GOLD/SILVER/BRONZE/BRONZE headings, event/date and Chr/CA team.
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JudoNZ, official2008CanterburyOpenChampionships results(opens in a new tab)
He won senior men’sunder90kg silver at the2008CanterburyJudoOpen on24–25May.
Where in the source: Page1, entire SeniorMen17+ U90KG row with all four medal headings and event/date.
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Heydan Bucknell, complete first-person WhoWeAre interview, AxisNZ(opens in a new tab)
He says technical complexity and freedom for personal expression attracted him tojiu-jitsu.
Where in the source: Entire first-person interview, openinganswer.
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He identifies restoring physical balance as a challenge and names the community and continuing room for growth as reasons to return.
Where in the source: Complete biggestchallenge andkeepsreturning answers.
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He describes rolling as producing a sense of flow that influences life beyond training.
Where in the source: Whole final first-person answer.
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AxisNZ, complete KidsBullysafe programme and instructors(opens in a new tab)
Bucknell teaches children alongside Johnstone in the academy’sBullysafe programme.
Where in the source: Complete Kids programme with bothnamedinstructors; currentAboutrole matches.
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That programme teaches de-escalation and positional restraint while grouping children by age and experience.
Where in the source: Whole programmeintro and LittleNinjas5–7/HammerheadSharks8–12/GreatWhiteSharkscolouredbelt list.
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AxisNZ, complete AllLevels programme and instructors(opens in a new tab)
He also teaches AllLevels gi sessions that combine fundamental work with more detailed technique for experienced students.
Where in the source: Whole mainclassdescription andcomplete namedinstructorlist.
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Zacariah Bell, complete first-person WhoWeAre account, AxisNZ(opens in a new tab)
As a white belt, Zacariah Bell credited learning from Heydan, Trevor and their teammates with helping him feel regular technical progress.
Where in the source: Entire Bell first-person profile, secondparagraph.
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Lineage
No teaching connections are shown on this page.
Open lineage