Aikido Melbourne

Well not only does melbourne compete with Sydney for the business and cultural hub of Australia (well its hands down the best place to eat out I reckon) but the development and practice of aikido there is also fabulous. It contains all the major schools, with many headquartered there - together with talented independents of affiliations gone awry. 

So who are the big players? Well you can't go past Joe Thambu (Shudokan of the Yoshinkan), probably Australia's most famous aikidoka and well known by many other martial artists as well. Lets not forget this is also the head quarters of Aikikai Australia in Clifton Hill (with 20 satellite dojo about the state) and the (in)famous David Brown, Field Aikido (a Ryu ha of the Iwama Ryu-ha), the Ki Society, Kokikai and others of the Iwama Ryu. My own schools Aikido Yuishinkai also have quite a few including the long running full time Aikicentre (formerly independent). Here is a tour from a few years back (Budo Bums in Melbourne, 2004)