Aikido Albury

Dr Huy Nguyen began training at Aikido Shudokan in Melbourne in April 2009 at the age of 47. Although initially for fitness, not long afterward, Aikido soon became his new passion in life. He has been training regularly at the main dojo at Thornbury under the chief instructor of Aikido Shudokan Australia, Joe Thambu Shihan, who founded the first Yoshinkan style dojo in Australia and is currently a technical advisor for many Yoshinkan dojos across Asia and Europe. After achieving the rank of Shodan in April 2012, Huy is still training almost weekly while working as an emergency doctor at Albury Hospital (since 2001) and he thinks that Aikido training has provided him greatly with physical fitness and mental stamina which are required for his job that can be very demanding and stressful at times. Aikido (the way of harmonising the energy of the universe) is first and foremost a martial art but it is also much more. At its most basic level Aikido is a system of throwing, joint-locking, striking and pinning techniques, coupled with training in the use of sword (bokken), staff (jo) and knife (tanto) techniques. Aikido was founded by Morihei Ueshiba in the early twentieth century and has now grown to be one of the world’s most popular martial arts. It places emphasis on practical efficiency, and is the style used to train women and anti-riot teams of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. Size, weight, age and physical strength play only a small role in Aikido, also making it a uniquely suited option for women, children and older students. As a form of Budo (the martial way), Aikido is more than a fighting art. It is a path of personal discovery and character improvement. The path on which you have taken the first steps is different for each person but if you train hard you will see improvements in many areas of your life. Some of the benefits include increased physical fitness, improved self-confidence and a greater awareness of yourself and your boundaries as well as those of people around you.