He had wanted to be a doctor, but through his father's influence devoted his time to martial arts, and travelled extensively to both practice and compete.
During a South African Judo championship, Robinson was challenged by Sebastian Hawkins, an ex-student of his father, to take on a number of his students.
[1] Schmidt had been studying karate from books and practicing it within his dojo and in Robinson found someone that shared an interest in martial arts that went beyond Judo.
In 1965 four instructors were brought to South Africa: Taiji Kase; Keinosuke Enoeda; Hirokazu Kanazawa; and Hiroshi Shirai.
After this, Schmidt and Robinson spread Shotokan Karate further into South Africa and on many occasions they visited Japan during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
Nakayama agreed he became the one of the first karateka from outside Japan to join the JKA Instructors Class, which Schmidt had dubbed 'The Hornet's Nest'.