Kobukai International Budo - Australia

13/04/2026

03/04/2026

The Jo isn’t a weapon here. It’s a direction indicator.

On the floor — it marks the line. Your Irimi follows it.

Across the shoulders — it shows where your movement is actually going. If the tip moves off the line, so did you.

Direction before technique.
The principle before the application.

Kobukai — Aikijutsu, Perth.

31/03/2026

Week 2 starts tomorrow night.

We begin with a full revision of Week 1 — so tomorrow night is still a viable starting point if you've been considering it.

7:30pm. Scarborough Community Hub. 3 minutes from the beach, 5 minutes from Bunnings Innaloo.

DM us or find the link in our profile.

Kobukai — Aikijutsu, Perth.

29/03/2026

Three phases. One principle — Kuzushi.

崩し Kuzushi — the work done all up front. Everything from Kamae to Put. By the time this sequence begins, Uke's nervous system is already responding to conditions Tori created. Not to force. Not to pain. To something operating below the level where resistance is even possible.

作り Tsukuri — fitting in. Tori has entered the rear triangle. Body to body contact. Where Tori moves from here determines which techniques remain available.

掛け Kake — the last decision made. And the easiest one. What techniques remain are those where Tori is now and where Tori needs to be. The technique is a consequence of Tori's movement back to Kamae, ready.

If Kuzushi is complete, Tsukuri and Kake follow inevitably. The technique is the consequence. Not the method.

Guess the technique.

Kobukai — Aikijutsu, Perth.

27/03/2026

It's raining in Perth this weekend.
The mat doesn't care.

Last night a first-session student applied this technique within the first hour. Same principle. Different point on the same path.

Saturday. 1:00pm. Scarborough Community Hub.

If you've been considering it — the link is in our profile.

Kobukai — Aikijutsu, Perth.

26/03/2026

Week 1 is principles in action — moving to where balance has no support.
When using principles rather than speed or strength, the outcome is inevitable.
About an hour into the first session, effortless.

Week 2 is Wednesday 2nd April. It starts with a full revision of Week 1.
There are already students joining that night — if you'd like to be one of them, DM us or find the link in our profile.

Kobukai — Aikijutsu, Perth.

23/03/2026

This is a regular Wednesday night at Kobukai.

Darren is the one receiving the technique — not demonstrating it. As always.

Every pair on this mat is working together — not competing, not sparring, not testing each other. Tori moves. Uke receives. Both are learning the same principle from different positions.

The Foundations Course runs alongside this — a small group, separate from the main class, working through the same principles from the beginning.

Wednesday 26th March. If something in the last two weeks has stayed with you — click Learn More to see if it's right for you.

Kobukai — Aikijutsu, Perth.

Kobukai is a not-for-profit Aikijutsu dojo in Scarborough. Principle-based martial art for adults. No sparring, no belts race, no pressure. One conversation to see if it's right for you.

22/03/2026

If this has been sitting in the back of your mind — the page is there.

One question. See if it's right for you.

The link is in our profile.

Kobukai — Aikijutsu, Perth.

Kobukai is a not-for-profit Aikijutsu dojo in Scarborough. Principle-based martial art for adults. No sparring, no belts race, no pressure. One conversation to see if it's right for you.

21/03/2026

If you come to the first session and it's not right for you — full refund.

The guarantee exists because we're selective about who we invite. If it's not right, we want to know that as much as you do.

Kobukai is a not-for-profit. Nobody here gets paid — not the instructor, not anyone. There's no commercial interest in how long you stay or how many courses you do. If you come and it's not right, we'll refund the full amount.

If you come and it is right, you'll know by the end of the session.

Four weeks. Six hours total. $39.
Wednesday 26th March,
7:30pm Scarborough Community Hub.

DM to confirm your place, link is also on our profile.
Kobukai — Aikijutsu, Perth.

20/03/2026

The man on the left is Jan Janssens Kyoshi. 9th Dan. Founder of Kobukai International Budo. He travelled to Scarborough in January 2025 to present that certificate.

The man on the right is Darren. Shihan. 6th Dan. 35 years in one lineage.

The portrait on the wall behind them is Minoru Mochizuki — founder of Yoseikan, one of the most significant martial artists of the 20th century. Darren's lineage runs directly through him.

Mochizuki didn't build Yoseikan to be preserved unchanged. He built it to be understood — and then made your own. His expectation of serious practitioners was clear: innovate deliberately, remove what doesn't belong, move forward.

Over 35 years in the art, and 23 years teaching in Scarborough, Darren has systematically refined what he teaches — removing techniques and movements that rely on mechanical forces, and rebuilding with Aiki principles. The engine changed. Everything that couldn't run on it is gone.

Jan Janssens has seen this. He recognises it as aligned with his own direction. That recognition is what's being documented in this photograph.

This is what a living lineage looks like. Not a syllabus preserved in amber. A principle transmitted, understood, and carried forward.

DM us, or you'll find our link in our profile.

Kobukai — Aikijutsu, Perth.

19/03/2026

Most martial arts that use joint techniques rely on pain compliance.

You apply pressure to a joint. The person feels pain. The pain overrides their resistance. That's the mechanism — and it works, because the body has limits and those limits can be exploited.

If you've trained before — in any art — you know what pain compliance feels like. You've felt the point where you tapped because it hurt, not because the technique was complete.

That's not what's happening in this photo.

Look at Uke. His structure is already gone. He's on his toes, weight committed forward, posture broken. He didn't get there because something hurt. He got there because Darren generated Aiki at the point of contact — and his structure had no answer for it.

Aikijutsu is not about attacking joints.

This is the distinction between a martial art built on mechanical principles and one built on Aiki. Pain compliance requires a window — a moment where the receiver feels enough to stop resisting. Aikijutsu, done correctly, never opens that window.

No force. No pain. The principle working.

DM us, or you'll find our link in our profile.

Kobukai — Aikijutsu, Perth.

18/03/2026

Most people who find this dojo don't act immediately.
They read the page. Look at the images. Think about it for a few days.

That's a reasonable response to something unfamiliar. This art isn't what most people expect — and taking time to consider it is exactly the kind of disposition that tends to do well here.

But here's what usually happens when people wait.

The course starts. They meant to enquire. Life moved. And six months later they're still thinking about it.

If something in what you've seen has been sitting with you — the next step is smaller than you think.

One message. No commitment. No registration.

Just tell us where you're coming from — what you've trained before, what made you look, what you're curious about. We'll tell you honestly whether this is likely to be right for you.

DM us, or you'll find our link in our profile.

Kobukai — Aikijutsu, Perth.