What Shobukai YOSHINKAN Gym is, and what we care about most.
Scenes from our Hachioji headquarters — the environment that raised world champions.
Muay Thai is the Thai national sport that kickboxing grew out of. Our gym carries more than half a century of striking history into Tama.
Serious Muay Thai, taught kindly. We coach one-to-one within every class, matching each member's age, fitness and goal — from a first-ever workout to championship fights — and we never leave beginners to copy from the back row.
Our roots go back to 1970 and the founding of Jigenkai, a school of full-contact Shotokan karate that also competed in professional kickboxing under the name Sagami Gym, developing fighters in both worlds.
Makoto Nozaki — chief karate instructor at Jigenkai/Sagami Gym and a ranked professional kickboxer — carried the tradition on by founding Nozaki Kaikan. The fighters' course and pro-kickboxing division of Nozaki Kaikan later became independent as Yoshinkan.
Yoshinkan has been active from amateur to professional level in the MA Japan Kickboxing Federation, the Japan Kickboxing Association and the New Japan Kickboxing Association. In Thailand, the home of Muay Thai, we trained at gyms such as Chuwattana, Kaewsamrit and Sasiprapa, and our fighters have fought in Thai rings.
During the same period, under the guidance of Kunimasa Nagae of the famous Jiseikan gym, we helped run and support events in Shin-karate (Yukido), professional kickboxing and junior kickboxing — working behind the scenes as part of the "Nagae group" and as one of its affiliated gyms.
Shobukai and Yoshinkan share years of connection through training and fights in Thailand and activity in Japanese amateur and professional rings. On that foundation of history and trust, Yoshinkan became Shobukai YOSHINKAN Gym — a member of the Shobukai group — focusing on Muay Thai and combining authentic Thai technique with Shobukai's deep coaching experience.
The Shobukai group trains fighters and everyday members at several locations: the Hachioji headquarters, Shobukai Fujiwara Muay Thai Gym, Shobukai Kuki (Kuki branch) and the YOSHINKAN gym in Tama. Members of the Tama gym may also train at HQ and other group gyms for ¥2,000 per visit.
From kids to adults — a digest of pad work with our coaches.
