Sean Milsom

Instructor

Sean began his Arakan journey early in 2015 after moving to Melbourne and searching for a new martial art to train. He was searching for something to increase his fitness and conditioning when he discovered Arakan Martial Art.

Sean is always learning and growing, physically, emotionally and mentally and he instills this philosophy into his teaching and students. He loves watching his students grow and transform into a greater version of themselves and become more empowered, resilient, and stronger within. He loves inspiring his students to make a positive change and difference in their lives, mentally, emotionally and physically.

As an Instructor, Sean is patient and caring and receives great joy in sharing Arakan with others. He loves teaching his students the practical self defence aspects of Arakan along with the importance of physical strength and conditioning. He strives to get the best from his students and enjoys watching them grow and develop in their Arakan journey.

Sean has a great work ethic and believes that with time, focus and discipline, one is able to attain their goals. He strives to be better each day, become more resilient, faster and stronger and imparts this to his students. He finds the gold in learning from mistakes and challenges and using this to grow stronger physically, emotionally and mentally. His students enjoy training with Sean and the diversity of his lessons, combining fast and effective self defence techniques with fitness and conditioning.

Sean believes his greatest Arakan achievements to date is being awarded Most Improved Student in his first year of training, in his second year being awarded Student of the Year and achieving his Yellow Belt in his third year of training and becoming the first Melbourne grown Arakan Instructor.

When Sean is not training or teaching he enjoys being active and healthy and riding motorcycles.

Student Testimonials

Linden started training with Sean in March 2020. We thought it would benefit Linden to have one-on-one instruction as Linden is on the Autism Spectrum. Linden has been loving the training sessions and always looks forward to his class even when he does know it will mean an intense physical activity. We can see the difference - Linden's leaner, more alert, and has become more coordinated in his movements. Linden has been able to remain more focused and we can see how he follows Sean's instruction. Sean knows how to up the ante in challenging Linden to hold that plank a little longer or follow more difficult drills. We are definitely impressed by Sean's patience and expertise in teaching Arakan Martial Art to Linden. We look at continuing these training sessions with Sean to equip Linden with the necessary skills of power, focus and confidence.

John and Marose Koster
Parents of Linden Koster (19 years old)

Starting Arakan has changed my life. Literally.  In 2018 i started searching for a self defence to learn and was quickly put off by the cookie-cutter format of mainstream martial arts, especially as i suffered from social anxiety in large groups. Then I found Arakan and I immediately felt at home with the structure of their lessons.
The one on one format of private lessons outside in the open and the flexibility of locations and times are perfect for me as I lead a hectic life!. 
I'm a young 48 years old and after 4 years of guidance by the amazing Arakan instructors and my instructor Sean, i have more self control, deal with stress better, i'm more balanced, fitter, more resilient and most importantly, its helped my flexibility for surfing!
Seany is a dedicated instructor who has earned my respect and loyalty through his patience, persistence, incredible depth of knowledge and an awe inspiring strength! 
I nicknamed Sean the Barrel because he is compact and solid - but don't let that fool you because he is basically indestructible!
Thanks Seany the barrel and the incredible Arakan family. 

Matt Drysdale

I have just reached three years doing Arakan and the journey has been amazing. I didn’t think I’d be capable of starting a brand new ‘hobby’ in my thirties, but quickly proved that idea wrong and unhealthy. What started as a hobby has become important to me, week in and week out. Arakan continues to improve so many aspects of my life: the challenges and commitment are genuine and not artificial and the payoff is actually extraordinary.

Matt O'Reilly

I’ve been training Arakan with Sean Milsom for 3yrs. When I began I had a lot of difficulty focusing, struggled a lot with anxiety and depression, and was very disconnected from my body due to my desk job. Training with Sean has improved my mental and physical health dramatically. Through learning to identify my “pain voice” the little voice in my head that says “just give up” and recognise that I am much stronger and more capable than it says I am, I have realised I do not have to take every thought I have seriously, which has expanded my awareness and decreased my anxiety. I was also taught to overcome my learned helpless and depression by fighting back even when the odds are stacked against me and developing a never say die mentality. Sean is extremely kinaesthetically gifted and has also helped me to seriously improve my body awareness. By being able to keep my awareness in my body I am able to quiet my mind and focus a lot better. I am able to stay “in the zone” for longer periods when training and allow the flow and rhythm of the style to take control. The flow and energy of this style is so amazing that after training for an hour it actually leaves you feeling more energised than when you started. Also as a female looking to train in martial arts I cannot recommend Sean and Arakan highly enough. Sean is tough on his students, but if you really need to be able to protect yourself, which I think is true for women most of all, then you need to be training with someone who is going to light the fire in you and not go easy on you, so that you really get the experience of what it is like in a real situation where you have to fight to protect yourself. Arakan isn’t a competition style with rules, where you will never train what to do if someone tries to punch you in the back of the head because it’s “not allowed.” It’s a highly street effective style where you train for all possible scenarios and the aim is to get home safely. You can generate a lot of power as a woman doing this style. Even if I never get into a situation where I have to fight, I know that thanks to training with Sean my energy is much more calm and confident, and my awareness is greatly expanded, which makes me less likely to be targeted as a victim. I’m very grateful for everything I have learned and highly recommend giving it a go. 

Kate Barford

Our son, Riley, has been doing one-on-one Arakan sessions with Sean for just over a year.  Riley has ASD and struggles with anxiety, lack of muscle tone and strength, hand & eye co-ordination, focus and self-confidence.
After a challenging start in the early days, Sean’s patience, understanding and expertise helped encourage Riley to keep working at it.  It is amazing to see the changes in Riley. He is stronger, more confident, getting fitter and more focused. He still is not always happy about doing the physical exercises and workouts, but he is doing the work and getting so much better. Sean has the expertise and understanding on how to work with Riley and get the best out of him. The strength and focus when Riley does the drills with Sean has improved so much. We are so impressed.
Sean not only teaches Riley Arakan martial arts and fitness, but he also understands Riley’s challenges, supports him, and continues to build up his confidence. Sean has also given us amazing advice to help us understand Riley’s challenges in a better way and how to support him.
We look forward to seeing Riley grow stronger, more powerful, confident, and focused as he continues to work with Sean. Sean has just been incredible for Riley.
 
Brian & Cherie Harrison
Parents of Riley Harrison (11 years old)

Sean makes the lessons fun, challenging and tailors it to my learning style. He pushes you to your limits and doesn't let you slack off for even one shot/strike. He explains all the why and hows of every strike into real life situations. It’s great to learn how to get your mind and body moving as one unit from coordinating your breath to transitioning your strikes and footwork. And it's all tied to body mechanics and technique where even a small person like me can deliver a powerful strike. I enjoy both the 1:1 and group lessons. The instructors are all very patient and encouraging. The group is great and fun where get to practice with people of all shapes and sizes and you get to practice your learning from individual lessons with amazing people! 

Vineeta