Quote:
Anthony Wong wrote:
...As i remember, Michael Tham Sensei brought Aikikai Aikido to KL at 1970s.
|
Hi Anthony,
Wow. I've met you and trained with you. You look too young to have started aikido in the 70's. Just joking, you probably meant to say that you've read from somewhere about Michael Tham starting aikido class in KL YMCA in the early 70's.
Way, way back in the late 60's (I must have been 10 or 11 at that time) my cousin sister was a trainee teacher in a secondary school in Port Dickson. She commuted from PD to Seremban almost everyday to train with Thamby Rajah sensei. Yes, I might have my first induction to Aikido at that age. Yes, she was a peer of Michael Tham sensei and she still remembers some of the people she trained with those good ole days. She is now little over 60 and the best part is that the last time I met and spoke with Thamby Rajah sensei, he could still remember her about 40 years later and amongst the hundreds of his students.
When I started my restaurant, I had the golden opportunities to meet some of the people who had trained aikido in the 70's with Michael Tham sensei either in Seremban or at the KL YMCA. I have heard some first hand accounts of the history of aikikai aikido in West Malaysia from these folks. Perhaps I will write about my "interviews" with these interesting folks one fine day.
As I have mentioned before, the history of aikido in Malaysia is not just about Yoshinkan or Aikikai lineages but also from the Peninsular Malaysians' and East Malaysians' points of views.
Regards
David Y