Bob Gabersek was born in 1959 in the former Yugoslavia. His father was an Army captain first class. The young Bob attended college, where he studied sports and physical fitness, yet even before he began those studies, he had started his training in martial arts. He studied both Shoto Kan Karate and Wing Chun Kung Fu, where he received high master ranks in the two. Whilst studying at college he was introduced to Western boxing, Judo and Jiu Jitsu and he practised these for several years.
Bob, Special Forces Member, Kosovo, 1980.
Bob's father was responsible for his joining the military. Bob's background in physical education and martial arts meant he was enlisted straight away and sent to undertake selection testing for a specialist unit of the military police. The selection lasted five days and Bob trained with them for six months in urban and guerrilla combat. He became a member of the Elite Military Unit. Bob spent two years in the military, predominantly in training roles and deployment preparation, and was eventually deployed to the very first intervention in the troubled area of Kosovo.
Bob, Special Unit police training, Former Yugoslavia, 1983/4.
Bob was discharged form the military in the mid-eighties with a rank of Lieutenant. Post military, he took a position instructing the Military Police, and later the regular police, in unarmed combat. He was also a contract instructor to the prison service. These contract instructor's positions gave him the more flexible lifestyle he craved. In 1989, Bob had the privilege of enlisting in the Secret Services of the former Yugoslavia where he had the "unfortunate chance" to use his martial art and military skills in life threatening situations. His job as a Government bodyguard put him in danger on several occasions.
Bob and his Australian Instructors at a Combat Wing Chun School, Melbourne, 1997.
Bob's martial art training style started to focus towards Wing Chun Kung Fu. Bob first began studying Wing Chun in his homeland in 1978. He was the first generation of European students to train under Kate Keinchpeosk, the head of European Wing Chun. Bob was later to become a direct student and representative of the Hong Kong master Leung Ting. Bob first met Grandmaster William Chung in Paris, France in 1983 and adopted his style of Wing Chun, which he stands by to the present day. Bob opened schools all over the former Yugoslavia and today he still has fifteen Wing Chun Kung Fu schools operating under him. Bob has trained many students. His most successful student spent eight years as the personal bodyguard to the former Yugoslavian president, Slobodan Milosevic.
Bob and his International Instructors, Belgrade, 1998.
In 1988 Bob made the decision to immigrate to Australia, mainly because of the connection to his Wing Chun instructor, William Chung. He was to leave behind his life in Serbia, including his former wife and his daughter, now 21. When he finally arrived in Australia, Bob located himself in Melbourne and established his first overseas Wing Chun School where he taught full time. Today, Bob still teaches grandmaster William's Wing Chun style, but has shifted his focus on it's combat orientation. Combat Wing Chun is now predominantly his style of Kung fu. Bob's business, Elite Force Combat and Protect Group, works extensively within the security and close protection industry in Australia and abroad. Bob has global connections in the body guard industry and has worked in the United States, Canada, France, Sweden, Singapore, as well as Australia. Ask Bob his preferred weapon of choice and he will name the expandable baton and the Glock. Bob is responsible for introducing his Combat Wing Chun to the Republic of Macedonia's police academy and police special operation units. His Macedonian students were in charge of training NATO troops for a year. Bob will soon set up his permanent training facility in his Melbourne business complex.
Bob and Grandmaster William Chung.
Bob is a focussed individual with definite directions of pursuit. He seeks out the best training to provide the skills he requires as both an operator and as an instructor. Bob considers the Close Combat Association Directors and Master Chief Instructors as the best in the business, based on his lifetime's experience training, serving and instructing. Today, Bob regularly returns to the Former Yugoslavia, now Serbia-Montenegro, to conduct seminars and gradings. He has over one thousand active members in his Yugoslavian schools that his assistant instructors operate. Bob will host Tank Todd and the upcoming Todd European Close Combats workshops at his Melbourne facility in the near future.
