Joe Thambu
| Joe Thambu | |
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Joe Thambu after a seminar in the UK, November 2013
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| Born | Joseph Haridas Thambu 24 March 1961 Seremban, Malaysia |
| Residence | Melbourne, Australia |
| Nationality | Australia |
| Style | Yoshinkan Aikido, Shudokan Aikido |
| Teacher(s) | Thamby Rajah, Gozo Shioda, Kyoichi Inoue, Toshishiro Obata, Takafumi Takeno, Tsutomu Chida |
| Rank | Shihan (8th Dan, Yoshinkan Aikido) |
| Years active | 1972–present |
| Website | http://www.aikidoshudokan.com |
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Joseph 'Joe' Haridas Thambu (24 March 1961 in Seremban, Malaysia) is a teacher of Yoshinkan Aikido, currently ranked 8th Dan, Shihan.
Thambu was the third youngest of eight children from Malaysian Tamil heritage. He began his training in 1972, at the age of 11, training under his uncle, Thamby Rajah. Thamby Rajah is credited as the first Malaysian to grade to black belt in both Aikido and Judo. Internationally famous martial artists were frequent visitors to his uncle's school in Seremban, Malaysia. Among these were Donn F. Draeger, a prolific martial arts historian and researcher who wrote over 30 books on Eastern martial arts. Draeger was expert in Judo, Karate and Jōdō and was the first non-Japanese to be ranked Menkyo-Kaiden (teaching certificate) in the classical system of Shintō Musō-ryū Jodo.
Other notable visitors included Junichiro Yagi Sensei (8th Dan), and former Yoshinkan Aikido Shihan (master title), as well as Kenji Shimizu Sensei, a past headmaster of Muso Shinto Ryu Jodo.
In 1980, Thambu emigrated to Melbourne, Australia to undertake tertiary studies. After reportedly being unable to find an Aikido school with a training ethic to equal his experience in Malaysia, he began teaching Aikido.
In 1983, Thambu first travelled to Japan to further his Aikido training. Whilst in Japan, he trained at the Yoshinkan Hombu dojo in Koganei. While living in Japan he received instruction from teachers including Gozo Shioda, Kyoichi Inoue, Takafumi Takeno, Tsutomu Chida, Hitoshi Nakano, and then assistants Jacques Payet and Tsuneo Ando. From this time onwards, Thambu focused on the modern Yoshinkan syllabus, including knowledge from his earlier training.
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