Founder of Aikido

Aikido derives mainly from the lethal martial art of the Samurais, Daitò-ryù Aiki-jùjutsu, but began to separate from it in the late 1920s, due to Ueshiba’s respect for people and life.

Ueshiba’s senior students have different methods and understanding of Aikido, this was dependent on the period when they studied with him. Today Aikido is diverse all over the world and practiced in a number of styles, with a broad spectrum of interpretation and emphasis.

Nonetheless, they all share the concept of Budo learned from Ueshiba and most have concern for the well-being of the attacker.

Founder of Yoshinkan Aikido

Soke Shioda Gozo Sensei was born in Shinjuku, Tokyo, in 1915. Shioda Seiichi, his father, was a prominent paediatrician and medical academic. It was young Gozo’s father who encouraged his son to take up many forms of exercise. As a result of his father’s support, Shioda Gozo practiced kendo, gymnastics and then Judo as a youth. It was in the art of judo where Soke Shioda Gozo excelled, having reached the level of 3rd dan by the time he had reached his mid-teens. A turning point in his life came at age 18, when his father sent him to the Kobukan to study under Ueshiba Sensei, a man rumoured to be ‘invincible’. On his first visit to the Kobukan, Soke Gozo Shioda was invited by O’Sensei to use his Judo skills to try and throw him. Launching an attack, sceptical of his opponent’s ability, Shioda Gozo found himself flying through the air, hitting the ground, head first, having no idea how he got there. The very next day, May 24, 1932, the young Shioda joined the Kobukan and commenced his Aikido career under Ueshiba Sensei. He left the Kobukan in 1941 when he had finished his university studies. The advent of the second World war prevented any practice of Aikido. After the war Shioda Gozo performed his first public demonstration in 1954. In front of an audience of 15,000, he was awarded the grand prize for best demonstration. Within a year after the demonstration, Soke Shioda Gozo was heading his own Aikido dojo, the Yoshinkan, named after his father’s original dojo. The literal meaning of Yoshinkan is the Hall to Cultivate Spirit. Soke Shioda Gozo was awarded his 9th dan by Ueshiba Morihei Sensei in 1961. His outstanding contribution to the promotion of Japanese Martial arts in general and Aikido in particular was further acknowledged by the honorary award of tenth dan by the International Martial arts Federation in 1984, along with the title of Meijin or Grand master. Soke Shioda Gozo died in 1994, leaving an organisation which has expanded all over Japan, the America’s, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia. Soke Shioda Gozo was convinced that through the silent language of Aikido, all differences between peoples and between cultures disappear, making peace and a harmonious co-existence a reality rather than an ideal.

When Shioda became a student of Ueshiba Sensei, Aikido was still in its formative stages and was then called Aiki Budo. The character of the techniques and the manner of their execution still bore the marks of the Daito Ryu Aiki-Jujutsu curriculum, which O Sensei had learned. This was a forceful, martial style of aiki jujutsu, concerned primarily with the efficiency and effectiveness of technique in combat.

Practice at that time reflected this spirit and was hard, fast and relentless. Shioda Sensei revelled in this form of practice and it undoubtedly influenced the nature of the training methods he put into place at his own school.

Gozo Shioda created a structured method in which beginning students would learn the foundation techniques. Techniques are made up of elements such as the initiating attack, the applicable control and whether it is a pin or throw. They are further divided into two groups called ichi (first) and ni (second) techniques. Ichi techniques have a feeling of the energy moving away from shite, often with uke, pulling or blocking a strike. Ni techniques have a feeling of the energy coming towards shite. In an ichi technique, the Yoshinkan practitioner goes with the pull; and for a ni technique he diverts or pivots away from the push.

The current method of breaking the techniques into steps and the kihon dosa were developed in order to facilitate teaching beginners in a group. To remove stiffness from techniques taught in this way, practitioners over the rank of shodan also practice timing and flow called jiyu-waza.

Master Thamby Rajah

Recognised by the Malaysian Book of Record as Malaysia’s first black belt in Aikido and longest practicing Aikido teacher, Thamby Rajah Sensei first studied Aikido in Japan in the late 1950s under Gozo Shioda Sensei. Thamby Sensei quietly dedicated himself to teaching Aikido and Judo from his school for well over 50 years. Over the years, various high profile martial artists visited the school in Seremban, Malaysia. One regular visitor was the famous American martial arts author and researcher Donn F Draeger. Draeger Sensei was also the first Westerner to receive a teaching license in numerous classical Japanese martial arts. Thamby Sensei’s school name was given to him by Shioda Sensei. It is called the Shudokan ~ the place for studying the way.

8th Dan

Joe Thambu Sensei began studying Aikido at age 11 under his uncle Thamby Rajah Sensei. Living next door to the dojo, he trained almost every day and was teaching classes by his mid-teens.

Immigrating to Australia in 1980, Thambu Sensei established Australia’s first Yoshinkan Aikido school, the Aikido Shudokan. Training for extended periods at Yoshinkan Headquarters in Japan, Thambu Sensei has studied under Aikido luminaries including Gozo Shioda Sensei, Kyoichi Inoue Sensei, Takeno Takafumi Sensei and Tsutomu Chida Sensei.

For 30 years Thambu Sensei has trained, taught and developed the Aikido of Gozo Shioda Sensei in Australia and around the world. Traveling frequently to England, Poland, Malaysia and Indonesia he is a teacher to the next generation of Aikido teachers. Thambu Sensei’s skill as a practitioner is widely recognised and he has a reputation for being a true teacher of Budo, the martial way. Under his guidance the Aikido Shudokan has seen the proliferation of traditional dojos internationally; that upholds and preserves the martial spirit.

Melbourne Budo Academy is a proud branch school with roots and philosophies from Shihan Joe Thambu’s Aikido Shudokan.

The founder of the Gyokushin Ryu school of Aikido

• Yoseikan Okuden Menkyo Kaiden

• 7th dan Yoseikan Budo

• 4th dan Yoseikan Jujutsu

• 3rd dan Katori Shinto Ryu

• 3rd dan Judo

Washizu Sensei initially began his study of budo at the age of 15 when he joined the high school Judo club. He became sickly in his late teens and a as a way to regain his strength and health he decided to enter the legendary dojo of Mochizuki Sensei, the Yoseikan Honbu dojo in Shizuoka, Japan and pursue his dream of becoming a budo teacher.

Demonstrating an aptitude and talent early on, he was often called upon by Mochizuki Sensei to have techniques demonstrated on him and played a fundamental role in the formation and creation of many of the techniques in the Yoseikan curriculum under the supervision of his teacher.

The Gyokushin Ryu was formed as an expression of 40 years of training and assisting Mochizuki Sensei and at its core, specialises in “Sutemi waza” or sacrifice throws. The meaning of Gyokushin Ryu is “Spherical spirit” and refers to the fact that no matter how a ball moves, its centre of gravity always remains the same.

8th Dan

Having started Aikido under Shioda Sensei in 1969, Tsutomu Chida Sensei is renowned for amazingly fluid and effortlessly masterful technique. He was previously the Chief Instructor (Dojocho) of the Yoshinkan and was the longest serving uchi-deshi under Gozo Shioda Sensei. He is widely recognised as a living legend of Aikido. In January 2008, due to numerous developments Chida Sensei decided to establish his own organisation dedicated to the teaching and dissemination of the Aikido of Gozo Shioda. His organisation is called Aikido Renshinkai.

10th Dan

Inoue Sensei is a 10th Dan Aikido instructor and holds the rank of Hanshi. He was Aikido instructor to the Tokyo Metropolitan police and riot squads on behalf of Aikido Yoshinkan, and later become the 2nd Kancho. Inoue is currently Aikido Master Emeritus of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, and Kancho of Aikido Nishinkan. Although no longer affiliated, he is nonetheless a living treasure of Yoshinkan Aikido, having been at Yoshinkan since its beginning and helping to formulate the distinct kihon dosa and teaching system. He is recognized as one of the very best aikidoka in the world today. In April 2009, Inoue was awarded the title hanshi and the rank of 10th dan by the International Budo Federation.