About our instructor
Meet Sensei Mitch
Sensei Mitch Boag began his training in Yoshinkan Aikido in 2003 in Melbourne under Joe Thambu Shihan at the Aikido Shudokan Dojo in Oakliegh.
In 2010 Sensei Mitch relocated to Perth, Western Australia where he was able to continue his training under the guidance of Darren Skelton Shihan (6th Dan) with Watanabe Ikuo Shihan (8th Dan) visiting from Japan as regularly as possible. In October 2017 Watanabe Shihan awarded Sensei Mitch his 3rd Dan and his international instructors certificate.
Since then Sensei Mitch has continued his training with regular trips to Japan, Singapore, And around Australia to learn from other senior Yoshinkan Aikido Instructors.
Yoshinkan Aikido: San Dan (3rd Degree Black Belt)
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Purple Belt
Judo: 4th Kyu (Orange Belt)
Mauy Thai - (4 Years Experience)
What is Yoshinkan Aikido?
Yoshinkan (養神館 Yōshinkan lit. "Hall of Spirit Cultivation") Aikido is a style of aikido that developed after World War II in the Yoshinkan Dojo of Gozo Shioda (1915–1994). Yoshinkan Aikido is often called the "hard" style of aikido because the training methods are a product of Shioda's grueling life before the war. Shioda named his dojo "Yoshinkan" after a dojo of the same name that was built by his father, a physician, who wanted to improve both physical and spiritual health.[1] The Yoshinkan style is currently the second largest aikido organisation worldwide.
Yoshinkan Aikido has a reputation as a strong style, concerned with the practicality of its techniques. As a consequence, Yoshinkan Aikido is taught to the Tokyo women's police force and is taught also to an elite group of riot police. Yoshinkan Aikido, or the house of cultivating the spirit, is made up of three words - yo meaning 'to cultivate' or 'to foster', shin meaning spirit, and kan meaning hall.
Gozo Shioda
Soke Shioda Gozo Sensei was born in Shinjuku, Tokyo, in 1915. His father, Shioda Seiichi was a prominent pediatrician and medical academic. It was Shioda Seiichi who encouraged his son to take up various forms of exercise. As a consequence, Shioda Gozo practiced kendo, gymnastics and then Judo as a youth. It was in the art of judo where Soke Shioda Gozo excelled, having reached the level of third dan by the time he had reached his mid-teens.
A turning point in his life came at age 18, when his father sent him to the Kobukan to study under Ueshiba Sensei, a man rumoured to be 'invincible'. On his first visit to the Kobukan, Soke Gozo Shioda was invited by O'Sensei to use his Judo skills to try and throw him. Launching an attack, sceptical of his opponent's ability, Shioda Gozo found himself flying through the air, hitting the ground, head first, having no idea how he got there.
The very next day, May 24, 1932, the young Shioda joined the Kobukan and commenced his aikido career under Ueshiba Sensei. He left the Kobukan in 1941 when he had finished his university studies. The advent of the second World war prevented any practice of aikido.
After the war, Shioda Gozo peformed his first public demonstration in 1954. In front of an audience of 15,000, he was awarded the grand prize for best demonstration. Within a year after the demonstration, Soke Shioda Gozo was heading his own aikido dojo, the Yoshinkan, named after his father's original dojo.
Soke Shioda Gozo was awarded his 9th dan by Ueshiba Morihei Sensei in 1961. His outstanding contribution to the promotion of Japanese Martial arts in general and Aikido in particular was further acknowledged by the honorary award of tenth dan by the International Martial arts Federation in 1984, along with the title of Meijin or Grand master.
Instructors
Chief Instructor
Shihan Watanabe commenced his Aikido training in April 1964 and currently holds the rank of 8th dan black belt or Hatchdan.
Shihan Watanabe first opened a Yoshinkan Aikido dojo in Townsville Queensland in the late 1980’s the dojo was named Shinbukan. After some time Shihan Watanabe returned to Japan and left the running of the dojo in the capable hands of Sensei Richard Hungerford and Sensei Scott Roach.
In 1993 Sensei Hungerford moved to Perth with the Australian Army, it was here that he established the Yoshinkan Aikido Watanabe Dojo in 1994.
In 2014, Watanabe dojo moved to a new dedicated facility in Wangara. Sensei Watanabe currently runs Ayase Dojo in Japan. Sensei Watanabe visits the Watanabe dojo in Perth annually to conduct training and grading.