Shodokan Sports Aikido Club in Sydney

If you live in or near Sydney and you'd like to learn Shodokan Aikido, I'll soon be starting up a new dojo (martial arts school) for Shodokan Sports Aikido Clubs whose Honbu is based in Brisbane.

Shodokan Aikido was developed by Tomiki Kenji, the first and only student of Aikido Founder Ueshiba Morihei to be presented with a master’s licence of 8th dan*.

Tomiki Sensei's home dojo is in Osaka, Japan, and is named Shodokan. Hence his style of Aikido is called Shodokan Aikido.

And while Tomiki sensei’s Aikido training system has a sporting aspect, it certainly works for real-life self-defense. The competitive aspect was developed along the lines of Judo and Kendo, because Tomiki was a high ranking Kodokan teacher and Kendo practitioner before he studied Aikido. The “randori” element (free practice) and the competition side of Shodokan Aikido lets advanced students test their techniques against a highly-skilled attacker who does everything he can to thwart them. So when your techniques succeed under such extreme adverse conditions, you really know they will work on the street.

I have just spent time up north in Queensland and have trained in Brisbane with Alan Higgs to help brush up my own Shodokan Aikido skills.

Alan Higgs sensei (6th Dan JAA) is the top Shodokan Aikido teacher in Australia and will be the Chief Instructor of the new dojo in Sydney, Australia. He is a direct student of the present head instructor of Shodokan and Technical Director of the Japan Aikido Association, Tetsuro Nariyama Shihan. Mr Higgs has accepted me as a Deshi (apprentice) and I will assist him with the dojo here in Sydney.

Mr Higgs is currently based in Brisbane, but will visit Sydney regularly throughout the year for instruction and student examinations.

If you're keen to learn this unique martial art and sport yourself, then I'd be happy to hear from you.

You can reach me, David Harvey, on 0415 193-612 or on 02 9875-1203.

My email address is: gedanate(at)yahoo.com

Footnote: All dan grades are "black belts". An 8th dan or Master's certification used to be called a Menkyo Kaiden in the old Japanese martial arts systems, from long before colored belts were invented to show rank. Since that time, some (but not all) martial arts have added 9th and 10th dan grades. If anyone claims that kind of super-high ranking, but they are not yet an old man (or woman), then it is time to be a bit suspicious!