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Tallyn · 07-18-2007, 07:10 AM

Finding the right martial art for you depends predominantly on two things, 1) what you hope to gain from your training and 2) the quality of the schools that you have access to. If you're looking to feel like you can defend yourself in a relatively short amount of time I would recommend Muay Thai over Aikido. If you have a lot patience (which you appear to have if you study Kyudo =) and want an art that you can study fruitfully for several decades, take up Aikido.

I've studied Aikido (and Iaido) for about six years now. While it can be an effective style if you train properly (there are a lot of mediocre schools) the learning curve is very slow. It takes somewhere in the vicinity of three to four years of good practice to get to the point where you wouldn't get your ass kicked out of hand in a real fight vs a competent opponent. The reason for this is that Aikido focuses from the first day on training to a high degree of sophistication spacing, timing, angular movement, and balance manipulation. These are clearly elements of all martial arts but other systems often teach them implicitly through sparring or gloss them over during training in exchange for the ability to deliver power (ie, do damage) to the opponent. Aikido does basically the opposite, teaching the subtleties first and worrying about power later, hence the uptake is slow.

Aikido differs from Judo a couple of key ways. Both arts are derived from traditional Jiu Jutsu and share nearly all of their techniques. In Aikido most of the training is structured partnered practice against an attacker who is specifically not resisting you as strongly as they can, both to prevent injury and to allow you to get the technique cleanly and experience what that feels like. Much of Judo training focuses on full-resistance competition. However, to reduce serious injury much of the Jiu Jutsu joint manipulation and all of the striking techniques are removed from the Judo competitive repertoire. Also, Judoka practice ground fighting (a la BJJ), whereas Aikidoka do not. There's a nice discussion of the other differences here: JOHN BISHOP'S KAJUKENBO HOME PAGE - Judo, Jujitsu, Aikido What's the difference?

If you're still curious about Aikido, PM me. I'm happy to answer any questions you have. If you tell me where you live I could recommend a couple schools you could visit, as well.

07-18-2007, 07:10 AM	#2 (permalink)
Tallyn Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 332 +1 Internets	Finding the right martial art for you depends predominantly on two things, 1) what you hope to gain from your training and 2) the quality of the schools that you have access to. If you're looking to feel like you can defend yourself in a relatively short amount of time I would recommend Muay Thai over Aikido. If you have a lot patience (which you appear to have if you study Kyudo =) and want an art that you can study fruitfully for several decades, take up Aikido. I've studied Aikido (and Iaido) for about six years now. While it can be an effective style if you train properly (there are a lot of mediocre schools) the learning curve is very slow. It takes somewhere in the vicinity of three to four years of good practice to get to the point where you wouldn't get your ass kicked out of hand in a real fight vs a competent opponent. The reason for this is that Aikido focuses from the first day on training to a high degree of sophistication spacing, timing, angular movement, and balance manipulation. These are clearly elements of all martial arts but other systems often teach them implicitly through sparring or gloss them over during training in exchange for the ability to deliver power (ie, do damage) to the opponent. Aikido does basically the opposite, teaching the subtleties first and worrying about power later, hence the uptake is slow. Aikido differs from Judo a couple of key ways. Both arts are derived from traditional Jiu Jutsu and share nearly all of their techniques. In Aikido most of the training is structured partnered practice against an attacker who is specifically not resisting you as strongly as they can, both to prevent injury and to allow you to get the technique cleanly and experience what that feels like. Much of Judo training focuses on full-resistance competition. However, to reduce serious injury much of the Jiu Jutsu joint manipulation and all of the striking techniques are removed from the Judo competitive repertoire. Also, Judoka practice ground fighting (a la BJJ), whereas Aikidoka do not. There's a nice discussion of the other differences here: JOHN BISHOP'S KAJUKENBO HOME PAGE - Judo, Jujitsu, Aikido What's the difference? If you're still curious about Aikido, PM me. I'm happy to answer any questions you have. If you tell me where you live I could recommend a couple schools you could visit, as well. Last edited by Tallyn : 07-18-2007 at 07:25 AM.