Aoyama Dojo is a space where growth meets expert coaching, led by decorated judoka and Philippine Judo Federation president Ali Sulit.
Aoyama Dojo is not your average martial arts center. As Alexander “Ali” Sulit, founder of Aoyama Dojo, puts it: “This is unlike most martial arts gyms; [it] is focused on what I always say, higher learning through martial arts.”
Ali has been immersed in martial arts for most of his life. He started practicing Judo in college, while studying at Ateneo, and eventually became a decorated competitor. Among his many achievements, he is a five-time heavyweight division champion in the National Judo Championships and has won two gold medals from the Asian Championships. Just two years after his graduation, he took over as a coach and became the program head of the Ateneo Judo Association, a position he has held for 27 years now. On top of this, he also started practicing Jiu-jitsu in his 40s and even competed for the national team in his 40s.
Now, Ali is the current president of the Philippine Judo Federation and is an executive member of the Philippine Olympic Committee.
“It has been a very long martial arts journey,” he shares with The GAME.
Having dedicated years of his life to martial arts, Sulit has a profound understanding of what these practices can offer a person beyond competing. As he says, “There are many benefits of learning martial arts: character building, values formation, being an effective individual in society, a righteous one, if possible.”
Now, he is putting thirty years’ worth of learning into practice with his martial arts center, Aoyama Dojo.
A space for personal growth
Located in UP Town Center, Quezon City, Aoyama Dojo is a martial arts training center that offers a dedicated space for the practice of various disciplines, including Judo, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Karate, and Katori Shintoryu, a very rare martial art that dates back 600 years.
Ali Sulit is proud of their team of experienced coaches who help lead their classes and develop the skills of their athletes, regardless of age, athletic background, or experience. Although they primarily focus on classes for children, in Aoyama Dojo, you’ll find practitioners of all ages enjoying the process of learning.
But Aoyama Dojo is not just designed to be a gym. Ali Sulit likens the space to an “academy” or “school” and thus, beyond offering practitioners the ability to obtain certain skillsets, he believes that martial arts can greatly benefit an individual’s growth and development, even off the mat.
Carrying the spirit of its name, Aoyama, which means “blue mountain” in Japanese, this space also promotes the important life-lessons and values you can gain from martial arts: discipline, composure, and hard work. These are just a few of the values that Ali hopes the students at Aoyama take with them.
“That’s what martial arts is. Basically, you are equipping yourself with skills that can empower you. But like anything, like any form of power, it depends on the person who wields it.
And for me, with proper guidance, you give power and authority, and you enable somebody who has a good mind, who has a good heart, and you’re going to come up with a very outstanding individual out there, which is the goal of Aoyama.”
Classes that speak for themselves
If you’re curious to try out martial arts or to enroll your kids in a lesson, Aoyama Dojo will make it very easy for you to step onto the mat for the first time: just show up, and you can participate in a trial session.
“We give them a chance to see if this is the environment they’re looking for, if the structure of the class is to their liking,” Ali Sulit explains.
“We invite everyone, for families to check it out. We offer good programs for kids. We started at five years old for Jiu-Jitsu and Karate. For Judo, right now, we are offering 13 years old and up. And for Katori, since it’s weapons-based, 13 years old and up.”
Ali and his team of experienced coaches allow the trial sessions to speak for themselves — and the number of students they’ve trained over the past year and a half is a testament to the quality of classes that they have on offer.
Since their opening in January 2024, Aoyama Dojo has seen many practitioners of all ages walk in, try out a class, and stick with it.
“I’m very happy that we are able to deliver what these families are looking for and what they see that their children can really benefit from what we offer.”
As someone who has been practicing martial arts for three decades, Ali Sulit is proud of how far the sport has come, especially in recent years. This is a fast-growing space, especially in Metro Manila, which speaks to its inclusivity as a sport, and based on his own experiences, he believes in creating a positive impact through martial arts.
“I gave up corporate life and that path, wherever that path would have led me, to pursue this [a life dedicated to martial arts]. And it has been a challenging road less taken. But I think that the experience in itself was worth it.
“The people I met, the lessons that I learned, the opportunities that I was able to take. I’m very grateful.”
Looking to start your own martial arts journey? Check out more at Aoyama Dojo’s official website.
Banner image taken by Lorenzo Corro.