Also known as | Shudokan Institute of Aikido International, Aikido Shudokan International, Shudokan Aikido the Black Belt Academy |
---|---|
Date founded | 1952 [1] |
Country of origin | Japan, Malaysia |
Arts taught | Aikido |
Ancestor arts | Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu |
Ancestor schools | Yoshinkan |
Practitioners | Thamby Rajah, Joe Thambu |
Official website | http://www.shudokan.co.uk/ |
Shudokan Aikido is a school that teaches Yoshinkan Aikido. It was established by Thamby Rajah in Seremban, Malaysia, in the early 1950s as the Shudokan Institute of Aikido.[1][2] Whilst in Japan, Thamby Rajah trained with Shioda Gozo and returned to Malaysia as the first Malaysian Shodan black belt in Judo and in Aikido.[3][4][5] The words "Shudokan Aikido" have sometimes been misconstrued as a separate style to Yoshinkan Aikido. Some online sources suggested incorrectly it is a derivation from Aikido and Karate (perhaps due to the similarity in name between Shudokan and Shotokan). However, video and anecdotal sources suggest that Thamby Rajah has always taught a natural derivation of the techniques he learned at Yoshinkan Hombu Dojo (circa 1959). Thamby Rajah's technique is also influenced by extensive experience in Judo at the Kodokan, and his earlier Jujutsu training under Walter De Silva in Malaysia during the post war years. Thamby Rajah's Aikido is fundamentally the same as Yoshinkan Aikido, but is more reflective of the early days of Shioda Gozo's Aikido.