DAVID KHOO | aikidoshoshinkai

KHOO EE SOON 3rd Dan
Chief Instructor

Aikido Shoshinkai Malaysia

Khoo Sensei or better known as David Khoo has been training in Aikido for more than 20 years. His passion for and talent in martial arts were discovered at a very young age. Growing up in the 70s, and like many others in his childhood years, David Khoo had dreams to be a legendary Kung Fu martial artist like Bruce Lee. Particularly Bruce Lee's approach in mixing various martial arts together.

Because of this, throughout his lifetime, he trained in various martial arts such as Karate, Taekwondo, Silat, and Capoeira in his quest for self discovery in this Budo world. However, he experienced Aikido while he was studying for his Engineering Degree in the United States of America and the concept of the “peaceful” martial art of Aikido intrigued him.

Thus his first training in Aikido began at the Nihon Goshin Aikido school (or dojo) in the USA under Jerry R. Phelps who was the instructor or Sensei at the dojo. It was at this dojo that he learnt and trained self-defence amongst law enforcement officers, which opened his eyes to the effectiveness of Aikido application in real-life situations.

In 2001, he returned to his hometown in Penang, Malaysia where he continued his training at an Aikikai Aikido dojo called Unity Aikido Penang, and trained under Khoo Kay Poh Sensei.

During the early years of his return to Penang, he had the opportunity to train with many top Aikido instructors from Japan such as Seiichi Sugano, Ikuhiro Kubota and Etsuji Horii; and not to forget, his other well respected Sensei and long-time mentor, Tee Cheng Sum from Seishinkai Aikido Kuala Lumpur.

In 2010, Unity Aikido Penang was introduced to Kunio Yoshimoto from Shiga Prefecture, Japan. As Shihan or Master Instructor for Unity Aikido Penang, Kunio Yoshimoto has since provided guidance and further insights of Aikido using the art of the Sword and Jo (short staff) heavily to explain the principles of Aikido. This legacy was left behind by the late Shoji Nishio who was one of the third (post-war) generation students of Aikido founder, Ō’ sensei Morihei Ueshiba. David Khoo was impressed and inspired by the training method and since then decided to devote his Aikido training towards continuing this legacy.

In June 2013, David Khoo opened his own dojo in hopes to share the new experience with his peers at his hometown. Later on, David Khoo Sensei went on to officially establish Aikido Shōshinkai Penang in January 2016, as he was confident that the dojo is now ready for further expansion. The name of this dojo is the joint collaboration with Kunio Yoshimoto Shihan’s dojo in Japan called Aikido Shōshinkai, which is affiliated with the Aikikai Aikido Foundation Japan.

The legacy continues.