I’ve been interested in learning a martial art for a while now, for a number of reasons (personal fitness, as a hobby, and for self-defence to a certain extent). One day, I asked a parent of a friend (the whole family studies martial arts) what the best art for me would be, given my preferences. My preferences are as follows:
Something with a medium-slow learning pace, not incredibly intense.
Something that focuses on defence and offense.
Something that isn’t based on striking.
Something that could be applied to real life. (this one is less necessary, since I don’t get into many fights)
She recommended Aikido. I know that there are lots of Dopers who have studied various martial arts - can any of you guys share your thoughts about Aikido?
Additionally, if it matters - I’m a medium-tall guy, and fairly skinny.
The learning pace really depends on how much you want to put into it. I tend to train fairly intensely, but I don’t have much a life. On the up side, most Aikido is non-competitive so there may not be as much pressure to advance quickly.
I’ve noticed Aikido styles seems to change drastically from dojo to dojo. Some Aikido is very spiritual and would be of dubious value to self defense. Others stress combat and involve more striking / submission holds; however, I think it’s safe to say there’s much less punching than most martial arts. There is more of a concentration on evading your opponents’ attacks and using their body motion against them.
If you’re curious the best thing to do would be to check out some local dojos. They generally will not object to you watching a class or two, and will often let you try out a class to see if it is the martial art that is right for you. As I mentioned, styles of Aikdio differ greatly so if I don’t like what you see at one dojo you don’t have to give up.
I’ve really enjoyed the time I’ve put into it (in fact, I’m about to go outside and practice with my jo). I hope you will find a martial art that’s right for you.
My only experience with aikido has been with “ki” aikido, which is one of the more “spiritual” schools, as SexyHamster described. However, I believe I am correct in saying that aikido in general teaches defense rather than offense. In your OP, you stated you were interested in both offense and defense. I have also heard that the methods taught aren’t effective against certain kinds of strikes, such as jabs.
Sounds good. I’m not a terribly competative person.
Well, I doubt there’ll be any problems with selection in Toronto. After some research, it turns out that a local one offers a first free class. I’ll look into that.
Thanks for the kind words and the helpful information.
Aikido sounds like the right form for you. I love it. I love the fact that it is all responsive, no strikes, just immobilizing moves. Aiki-jitsu is much more deadly and involves stiking. My sensei taught semi-spiritual Aikido, he is paralyzed from the waist-down, but he could make you cry for mommy in 2 seconds easily. he taught us that true Aikido was not about “winning a fight” but about keeping things stabe. If someone messes with you, you do whatever you have to in order to not get in a fight. If a fight is imminent, you do not strike, you use their momentum in order to subdue them. Many times while using Aikido you will come into cicumstances where you can quite easily strike your opponent, without any negative consequences on your part. This is not the point. Aikido is defensive, basically showing your opponent that he should not fuck with you. Aiki-jitsu is similar, but involves more “you fucked with me, I kicked your ass, now I kill you” not necessarily ending in death.
Don’t go to any dojo that advertises prominently, they’re all crap. Meet the Sensei, ask about his reasons for teaching Aikido, and go from there. Stupid white soccer moms get sucked into Kung-Fu programs for their kids thinking that their kids will have more “charachter” when they come out, no, it just makes them think they can beat all of the kids on the playgrounds asses.
Find a really good Sensei, and you will gladly pay twice their fee, for a lesson on how to be a grounded, well defended person.
Oh, Steven Seagal should have his card taken, that bitch has given Aikido a bad name, I’d love to see my Sensei beat the shit out of him, with or without his crutches. Slimy bastard.