AIKIDO IN SYDNEY - Key Persons
Our ‘Head of School' Andrew Sunter began training in 1989 and holds dan ranks in several schools of aikido. He received a 6-dan from Koretoshi Maruyama Sensei (a direct student of the founder of aikido), who he often accompanied to seminars nationally and internationally.Having trained in both hard and soft styles of aikido, Andrew today offers students a direct experience of ‘aiki', encompassing the totality of these.
Students enjoy individualised instruction appropriate to each stage of their journey. He uses, but is not bound by, the framework of syllabus through the vehicles of kata (technique), weapons, internal training and modern science. (See complete bio)
Sydney is home to many, many martial arts, rather than let an advertisement, convenience or a salesman decide what best for you, read on for introduction to the martial arts in Sydney, we apologise in advance for the bias towards aikido ;). If you new to the martial arts we recommend you read Choosing a Martial Arts School
Martin "Pinchy" John recently returned to Old South Wales but remains in our hearts.
He began training in aikido at the age of nine. He was a small boy growing up in Treorchy in the Rhondda Valley when an aikido dojo opened up over his back fence.
Since then, Martin has spent more than 20 years on-and-off training in aikido. In addition he has trained in judo and kyukoshin karate. Martin ran our St Clair dojo from 2009 to 2014 and holds 3-dan in aikido.
Job Titles:
- Senior Instructor for Our Aiki Kids
Mike "the Mechanic" Allen is the senior instructor for our atemi-jutsu program. He began training in martial arts in 1978 and is yet to take a break.
Mike holds dan grades or equivalent in aikido, kempo and Chinese internal arts. He is Australia's most senior instructor in Target Focus Training.
"Side-Street" Bob Withers joined Aikido in Sydney in 2005 after training aiki-budo for a couple of years with the Kufudokan. Bob's dedication is an inspiration to sempai and kōhai alike. Bob holds 3-dan in aikido.
Also known as "Snatchy" Sempai, Bob is currently on sabbatical having inadvertently moved too far from the dojo for regular training. He occasionally puts in an appearance as a guest instructor. These events are eagerly anticipated by all.
Many of the martial arts are Japan based but we also enjoy a variety of other arts from Asia including Korea, Indonesia and of course China, not to mention Western martial arts like Boxing, fencing etc.
While this site is primarily about the martial art of Aikido there is a rich interaction to be had with other arts that we have enjoyed.
We compare Aikido with many of the other martial arts you may be more familar with ( Consider Aikido it might just be what you are looking for) which you will also find in Brisbane. Many martial arts have similar roots though they can differ significantly in their approaches, philosophy, combat distance and training methods.