NSW Tomiki Aikido Club at North Ryde RSL Youth Club.

My information on the NSW Tomiki Aikido Club is way out of date, because it is no longer "my" club. But this will give you some of the history of it, here in Sydney, Australia.

The NSW Tomiki Aikido Club began back in the late 1970's under Alan Ames, a student of the late John Gay, Shihan, 7th Dan Japan Aikido Association (JAA), who was founder and head of the Australian Aikido Association (AAA) based in Melbourne. At that time, the AAA represented Tomiki Aikido in this country.

Back then, John Gay was a full-time instructor with the Victorian state police in Melbourne. His defense techniques and baton work were awsome... I can testify to this because I have been on the receiving end during some of his demonstrations! The Sydney branch of the AAA taught Tomiki Aikido at Willoughby Park Centre, near Chatswood, New South Wales -- a pleasant and affluent suburb on Sydney's north shore.

After Alan Ames left Sydney, we learned our Tomiki Aikido skills from Mick Mugg and later Bill Fettes. Bill had been living in Melbourne and was actually sent up to Sydney by John Gay to train us up to black belt standard, which he did. But he wasn't yet a Sandan (3rd Dan) black belt, so Bill couldn't grade us himself.

Then John Gay decreed that all new black belts had to learn and perform the Dai Yon kata before we could be graded by him, and neither Alan Ames or Bill Fettes knew this kata... And since Bill Fettes was then only a Shodan, he could not grade us either.

Bill too did his best in the time he had, but he left Sydney to train in Japan and China. Bill Fettes got into Jo (5 foot staff) and Naginata (halberd) and various arts, both Chinese and Japanese. And meanwhile, our Tomiki Aikido club just struggled on as best we could without a Dan grade instructor.

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