John Mellon M.A. was born in Glasgow in 1958 to an Italian mother and Scots Irish father. He began his martial arts training at the age of four under his Sicilian grandfather, later inheriting the family fencing tradition as the 33rd generation, direct lineage head of Porrelli family Sicilian Fencing. This is a battlefield fencing tradition, rather than duelling or sport, and consists of a broad education in combative strategies, tactics, a wide variety of weapons and techniques for both the individual and military units.

John became involved in oriental martial arts at the age of 9, beginning with Judo, progressing on to the art he still considers his core discipline, karate, at 14. He began instructing in the same year upon reaching his green belt in Wado-Ryu karate and has been teaching ever since. He holds a variety of teaching ranks across a total of 22 different martial arts from a variety of south-east Asian cultures in addition to his grandfather’s art. He founded his own teaching method, Munen Muso Ryu (the school of No Style, No Pre-Conception) in 1980, which continues to evolve.

John says of Guru Shamim, "I first met him about ten years ago in a small group of students I was working with at the time. He immediately stood out as one of those rare individuals who both have the natural talent for movement, and the dedication to put the work into refining the application of that movement." He looks forward to learning more of the art in the coming years under the tutelage of Guru Shamim.

John works as a Business Analyst & Training Designer for large corporations and Civil Service institutions.