Aikido

I'd always fancied myself as a martial artist, and when at the ripe old age of 17 I finally forced myself into a starched white pair of pyjamas and joined a Shotokan karate club, I fell in love. Within 6 months of training there I was itching to try my hand at another art while continuing my karate training, despite people advising me this probably wasn't a good idea quite so early on in my training. Nevertheless, I'm not one to be easilly dissuaded, so started looking around. I live in a small town and realised almost immediately that I didn't have much choice. However, I'd always fancied Aikido and there was a club nearby, so I went along. Aikido, ...  Read the complete review

Aikido IS quite a difficult martial art to get into. It takes time to reverse what you have done for years and time to build confidence in order to "blend" with an opponent or "uke". Aikido teaches you to not use strength when dealing with an opponent. Rather, you blend with movements in a circular motion and finish solid, in a square posture. The true strength (not physical strength), comes from the centre. The harmony that comes when your body is functioning as one unit, instead of flailing arms and legs, provides more ability to remove the uke / opponent from the equation. The beatiful art has deadly roots, and contrary ...  Read the complete review

I trained in aikido for just 2 years before giving it up due to ill health (not related to the aikido I should say!!) I found the whole experience deeply enjoyable and life enhancing. Aikido is not like the traditional conception of martial arts. It doesn't involve smacking the living day lights out of others. It's point seems to be (you need to ask someone who has been doing aikido for 20 years) to harminise the attack by using the attackers energy and your own in the same direction. This way of harmony, this beautiful, peaceful idea is borne out in movement as well as precise (and technically deadly) techniques. There are many different ways ...  Read the complete review

Aikido is an ancient Japanese martial art. Aikido techniques come from ancient battlefield combat systems although it was officially recognized as a martial art a couple of hundred years ago. The practitioner of Aikido known as an ‘aikidoka’ will learn very distinct movements and positions. Aikido is a very distinctive martial art. Techniques wise the aikidoka will learn: circular directional parrys, joint locks and throws, breakfalls and balance, distance and control techniques and training methods. The joint locks tend to cause little pain and simply give the aikidoka control of his opponent, which is why it is known as the gentle art. Don’t be ...  Read the complete review

Aikido is primarily for defense, the Aikido martial artist aims to be able to disable and disarm an opponent without hurting or injuring them (unless he/she wishes to), by means of joint locks. Aikdo is for anybody of any fitness level, it is generally more fun to learn than Karate and most punching/kicking martial arts because there are interesting joint locks to learn that you get to practice on your sparring partner. But how practical is Aikido? Although my experience is limited in the art, I believe it is dangerous to base all your self defense on a martial art that solely relies on locks, arm bars and throws. (excluding bo, jo and katana training) ...  Read the complete review