Wayne Roscherr
This page is dedicated to the late Wayne Roscherr, the co-founder of Rough and Tumble (RAT).
Wayne was born in South Africa, but lived in Zimbabwe for the first years of his life. At the age of eight his family returned to South Africa.
His martial arts training started while still very young and he earned a 4th Dan in Judo and 4th Dan in an eclectic style of Japanese Jiu-Jitsu. This was remarkable feat, as he achieved both of these ranks while suffering a terminal illness. He also achieved the grade of brown belt in Karate.
Wayne was a true martial artist and lived life like every day was his last. Amongst his many achievements, he saw active service in the South African border war, where he used his martial arts training and also fought in the South African Defence Force Judo team.
Wayne co-owned and managed the Kiora Judo and Jiu-Jitsu club for many years together with Pierre Botha and later Robbie Jordaan until he was no longer able to perform the club duties due to his illness.
A surprise for dangerous attackers
Wayne was a hands-on martial artist who practised what he preached. This fact came as a surprise to two armed attackers one day who tried to relieve him of all the banking money from work, even though one attacker was armed with a firearm and the other with a knife. After Wayne had dealt with the situation, the gun attacker was arrested with a broken arm and the knife attacker ran off and subsequently arrested. Upon questioning Wayne, he said that he would not have fought back, but the attacker was close and placed the firearm against his stomach and Wayne said he simply reacted without thinking. This demonstrates an exceptionally high level of skill and what all martial artists aim towards.
Amongst his many accomplishments, Wayne successfully completed the gruelling Comrades Marathon (89km) four times and numerous marathons, even though he was struggling to walk due to his illness.
Wayne passed away in his early 40’s, but by that time he had achieved more than 30 years active training in martial arts. We are all incredibly proud to have known him and thankful for his contribution to RAT, which to this day still incorporates many elements of the original ideas and syllabus we put together.