Aikido Shudokan offers Yoshikan Aikido practitioners the chance to further their knowledge of Aikido by living in the dojo. As a dojosei or uchideshi, you are required to attend every class, including after-class training, in addition to completing duties to contribute to the upkeep of the dojo. The life of a dojosei and uchideshi can be difficult physically and mentally but the efforts that a student puts in will be matched with equal reward. This is a traditional Japanese system where the student is given a great opportunity to learn the budo by immersing themselves in an environment which fosters this learning.
The dojo has several sleeping quarters where students can stay for a period of time. It also has all the facilities you need such as a kitchen, a laundry and showers, and you will be sharing the stay with the teacher, providing you with a greater opportunity for learning.
 Kitchen |
 Lounge Room |
For any expression of interest, please contact us via e-mail or postal mail.
The “English Boys”
The three of us, or the ‘English boys’ as we would become to be known, arrived in Melbourne at the end of January 2008, fresh faced and admittedly completely unaware of what was in store for us. We are now in a position to look back on our time at the Aikido Shudokan and contemplate what it means to be a dojosei. Although we had studied aikido in the UK we were new to Yoshinkan aikido and to the high standards of the Shudokan.
The English Boys
Being a dojosei meant training every session, and continuing to train after the sessions finished. We had committed to spend five months in Melbourne in full time training, with our initiation beginning with several sessions focusing on basics. These were led by the uchideshi, and growingly frustrated Sensei Joe, as Tim gradually learned left from right.
Additionally, we slept in the dojo and became an integral part of the upkeep of the dojo – a task we threw ourselves into with all the vigour that you would expect from three reluctant teenagers. However we soon became fiercely proud of the decking put down at the back of the dojo under the guidance of Lenny, local carpenter and lifestyle guru.
 Making decking |
 Dojosei Duties |
Sensei Andy Hobday was very helpful in these early days, providing pearls of wisdom to ensure our survival off the mat ‘if pork smells like seafood, don’t eat it.’ He also advised us that painkillers would have no effect at reducing the pain of prolonged seiza. Naturally this advice was ignored completely. As Adam and Ali prepared themselves for a grading (having taken the recommended two tablets), Tim skipped over and sat down. When asked how many he had taken he grinned – ‘six’.
After we had been at the Dojo for two months, Sensei Michal and Danny from Poland arrived. Fond memories are made more memorable through the chronic injuries we obtained over the weeks they were at the dojo. As Tim once put it to Sensei Michal – ‘with great power comes great responsibility’.
One of the best moments of our stay was the Inoue Sensei Seminar, where we were lucky enough to perform Kihon Dosa Rensoku at the public demonstration and also take uke for some of the instructors. It was also a fantastic opportunity to meet so many people drawn together by the Shudokan – and to see some familiar faces.
We had some great weekends in and around Melbourne and we owe many thanks to people who made us feel at home. At one of the particularly funny evening, we wore second hand suits bought from a closing down salvos, hitting Crown casino, to gamble away the next week’s food budget. A less successful evening started with too much of Mark Peck’s bootleg whiskey – and finished with us stirring (and continuing to disturb) Sensei Joe. We only discovered the extent of our misdemeanour after the Monday afternoon session. We would later congratulate Sensei Zac, on our hardest hajime class.
Training intensively instils a grasp of the basics hard to achieve through regular training. In the five months we spent in the dojo we managed to grade to 2nd Kyu, having started as complete beginners in Yoshinkan Aikido. This goes to show how if you put the time and effort into your training you can progress through the grades fairly quickly. We owe a lot to the uchideshis in Melbourne for their thorough (and often patient) supervision, as well as the dojo regulars for providing such great training. We really do miss the fantastic people we met at the dojo. Ultimately though, we reserve our enormous gratitude for Sensei Joe, a man who literally welcomed us into his home and dojo. We owe our memorable experiences to his fantastic teaching on and off the mat.
 Beginning Test |
 Testing |
- Tim Bobak, Adam Taylor & Alistair Travis
Top
My Dojosei Experience
I have been lucky to be able to spend three months as a dojosei in Melbourne Dojo. October 2005, February 2007 and April 2008.
Michal Pabiasz Sensei
I met Sensei Joe Thambu for the first time in 2002. Very quickly I realized that if I wanted to learn aikido he was the man to learn from. After all, how many aikido instructors worldwide pressure tested their art on nightclub doors? So, Joe Sensei’s deep knowledge and amazing ability in the art of aikido drew me like a magnet to his dojo from the other side of the globe.
Though going to Australia to train full time was financially, geographically and physically extremely challenging, I knew that to be any good in aikido I had to get the best tuition available independently of the cost.
As a dojosei you are spending 3 to 4 hours a day training with amazing people under instruction of some of the best teachers on this planet, there is no better way of learning something. You marinate in aikido to the point where it’s awkward to wear something different than a dogi, it’s hard not to get good.
I can’t say that it’s nice and easy while you are there, because it is not, but as they say, if there is no adversity there is no advance and I can assure everyone that there is plenty of both in the dojosei program.
It would also be a lie to say that hard training is all a dojosei is getting because there is a lot of fun associated with it and the friendships you make are for life.
 Hard Training |
 Dojosei Dinner |
It’s a live changing experience and a “must do” for anyone that treats their budo seriously.
- Michal Pabiasz (Aikido Shudokan, Poland)
Top
The Dojosei Life
I became a dojosei from the Jan – May of 2010. Before arriving at the dojo, I had had a positive expectation towards becoming a dojosei. I have heard of all the good stories from everyone who had stayed as a dojosei at Aikido Shudokan, and I was very excited.
Chida Tsutomu Shihan, Joe Thambu Shihan and Tadashi
Having seen some of the dojos in Japan, I was amazed with the size of the dojo. It was so much bigger than I expected and well facilitated.
As for the training, it was a lot harder than expected. Maybe it was because it was in the middle of the summer, but it really took me a month to adapt to the heat and then another month to adapt to the daily training of 3-4 hours a day.
Every class was hard but the regular Friday “Hajime class” was an exceptionally hard one. I remember the first class we did 100 or so back falls to just warm the class up, and I really struggled to keep up. I did make sure I could do them from the following week mind you…. Sensei always made sure if there was anyone falling behind, we all help and encourage them, and told us “that is how you train in hajime class!” Even though it was hard, I always look forward to hajime class.
 Helping at School Fete |
 Aikido Shudokan 30th Anniversary Demonstration |
I made some great friends in the dojo. Everyone in the dojo was so nice it really made my stay so enjoyable. We often cooked for each other after training and had a few drinks. Sensei Joe will tell us some stories from the old days in Hombu dojo, and Sensei Jon will tell us his stories from his days in Hombu… the story telling with swift swigs of beer and vodka carried on till late in the night….along with a big bang of headaches in the morning.
I have also been very thankful and fortunate to go out of Melbourne a few times too – Fulori, George and others have been very kind to take me to see some Koalas, and Kanagroos, as well as the beaches. It was such a nice change from being in the dojo all the time, and it really made me appreciate the friendship I made and the very little free time I had (which was only Sundays).
 Melbourne Sightseeing |
 More Sightseeing in Melbourne |
Coming to Australia to learn Aikido was quite a strange concept for a Japanese person as my parents said, “Why are you going to Australia to learn a Japanese Martial Art?” Taking a Sabbatical at the age of 35 to come to the other side of the world to learn Aikido was financially and careerwise a difficult decision too, but I can honestly say this is probably the best four months I have spent in my life.
Sensei Joe is an exceptionally giving teacher and a very patient teacher. He has made so much effort to make my stay welcome and stepped aside to give me advice not just on Aikido but about his experience in life. Living with the teacher and seeing all sides of the character made it a very humble experience.
I love the word of Shioda Gozo “Aiki sokuseikatsu” pretty much translates “Aikido in everyday life”. I came to Australia to feel and experience that life and I think if not for some…at least a little… I have I experienced it as a dojosei. And it has been an absolutely legendary experience, too!
- Tadashi Narita (Aikido Shoshinkan, UK)
Top