Inevitably, the story of the Shudokan begins with Sensei Thamby Rajah, the the father of Malaysian Aikido. Having already started to train in Judo in Malaysia, Sensei Thamby travelled to Japan to further his studies. In Japan, Sensei Thamby trained under many notable Judo teachers, including Ichijima Sensei, as well as Mifune Kyuso Sensei (10th Dan), one of the foremost teachers at the Kodokan - Judo's World Headquarters.

Whilst training at the Kodokan, Sensei Thamby was introduced to Soke Gozo Shioda. As a result, Sensei Thamby combined his training of Judo with that of Yoshinkan Aikido. A year later, Sensei Thamby returned to Malaysia, having been awarded a Shodan (black belt) in Judo (the first Malaysian to do so) and a Black belt in Aikido.

Whilst in Japan, Soke Gozo Shioda gave Sensei Thamby the dojo name of ‘Shudokan’. ‘Shu’ meaning to study, ‘do’ meaning the way and ‘kan’ meaning house. On returning to Seremban, Sensei Thamby established the ‘Shudokan’ the ‘place to learn the way’. Sensei Thamby taught Aikido there, introducing Aikido to Malaysia for the first time.

Sensei Joe Thambu, Chief Instructor - Aikido Shudokan, Melbourne:
Sensei Thambu began studying Aikido under the tutelage of his Uncle, Sensei Thamby Rajah at age 11. During the early years, Sensei Thambu also studied some Kendo and about three years of Shindo Muso Ryu Judo.

Sensei Thambu was awarded his Shodan in 1978. After coming to Australia at age 19, he studied some ju-jitsu and tried some Aiki-kai whilst at University, but soon decided this training was not suited to him.

In 1983, Sensei Thambu travelled to Japan to further his training. Whilst in Japan, Sensei Thambu stayed at the Honbu dojo. On his return, Sensei Thambu purchased the St Georges Road premises and established a permanent home for the 'Aikido Shudokan'.

Since 1983, Sensei Thambu has returned to Japan many times, the most memorable being in 1993, when he was awarded a fifth dan by Soke Gozo Shioda, at the time, the youngest non-Japanese student of Aikido to be awarded that rank. He has also the privilege of being the last student to be tested by Soke Shioda Gozo before his death in 1994.

Sensei Thambu, the chief instructor of the Shudokan, Melbourne, Australia, has been a student of Aikido for nearly 35 years. In this time, he has had the opportunity to train under many great Instructors - Soke Gozo Shioda, the founder of Yoshinkan Aikido, Sensei Thamby Rajah, the father of Yoshinkan Aikido in Malaysia, Sensei Don Draeger, Soke Toshishiro Obata, the founder of Shinkendo and a student also of Soke Gozo Shioda and Shihan Tetsuro Nariyama, (Chief Instructor of Tomiki Aikido), all world-renowned Martial Artists.

In 1996, Blitz martial arts magazine, recognised his ability and achievements by awarding him the Blitz Aikido Instructor of the Year. He is also a much sought after instructor in the security industry combining his martial training and security experience in a very unique manner.

2002 is Sensei Joe's thirtieth year of Aikido training and teaching, and he continues to spread the art with recent visits to Malaysia, Canada, Europe and Japan. In early 2008 he was also awarded the rank of seventh dan black belt by the International Yoshinkan Aikido Federation.