Aikido?

[IrishDutchman]

Well, I'm looking into martial arts, and I stumbled across Aikido, which looks interesting, is there anyone who can tell me more about it, or another martial art?
It seemed interesting to me, because from what I heard, it's all about evading and using your enemies attacks to your own advantage, instead of blocking them.

[Ktan]

Yes, it's more about using the opponents forces against them, I think. Using body movements to manipualte their attack so they fall over or leave themselves vulnerable.
I should look it up for you.
Try to google it.

[GenocideAlive]

It was invented by a chick, and is mostly for chicks. Or it is in my opinion, because you gain very little advantage for size in Aikido, which I think is stupid in terms of maximizing a body's potential for martial activities. I'm afraid I'd have to go with Bruce Lee in terms of "the best", before someone asks.

[hammocksleeper]

i saw a guy doing tai chi on the quad, in the rain, this morning. it was sweet, i could hear the rocky music playing

btw judo is the same way as what you described. It's all about taking your opponent's momentum and efforts and refocusing it back on them.

[IrishDutchman]

Meh, I've seen alot of judo, I've done it in school and a friend of mine did it, but it didn't interest me much...
My dad also suggested Kendo, but it seems a 'lil strange, a bit too many rules and you have to dress up in suits and then batter eachothers brains out with bamboo shafts.
But is there anyone here that practices Aikido?

[Ktan]

Kendo is very much about discipline, not just mindless whacking. All in the name of safety, i guess :)

[dunchy]

I'm trying to get into martial arts too, but nothing good is really being offered, or I don't know what to look for.

Anyone know a martial arts that just looks sooo damn cool? Yes I'm shallow :)

[GenocideAlive]

But is there anyone here that practices Aikido?
OK, I'm going to stab you in the neck with a pencil. How can I make this any clearer?


I have practiced and gained minute rank in Aikido.
Aikido is for little people and requires an extremely large time investment in order to get any returns.
I have practiced and gained significant rank in Judo.
Judo works for people of medium or larger build that requires a short time investment before getting returns.
Kendo is for idiots and Japanese blowhards. It's completely fucking useless unless you can break for 15 minutes to find a good long stick whenever you're about to fight.


"Cool" looking martial arts are typically Kung Fu or Cappoeria (sp?). However, if you're going for martial arts to be "cool", I can predict your career beforehand and save you money.


You join your school and find out it actually takes time, effort, and committment to get any returns.
You put in a halfassed attendance and effort, and manage to squeak past your first two rank tests.
You're combatting boredom the entire time you're practicing and by your third belt you realize that higher level belts require exponential effort. Your shoddy, underpracticed skills in the first two belts really start to show.
Upon realizing that this isn't going to be like a 5-minute Rocky training segue, or a cheetos-n-chips WoW item-grind and more like a 5-year part of your life, you quit disillusioned.


I may sound like a dick there, but seriously--martial arts is a way of life, not something you can whip out to look cool. It may be a cliche, but the only reason it's used so much is because it's universally true. There's no way to do martial arts on the side--it's something to which you dedicate yourself.

[ScottieIWU]

Capoeira is one of the coolest martial arts, and it requires a ton of discipline and working out. One of my brothers here at school does Capoeira and is pretty good. He'll go to University of Illinois Saturdays and practice for hours on end, on top of his other time commitments.

The thing is, to get any good you have to put in time to build muscle and endurance to be able to do some of the moves which can require some pretty ridiculous, almost break-danceish, movements.

Plus, as far as I know it's pretty worthless in a fight. It's mostly a means of physical conditioning and almost a meditative/artful style.

[dunchy]

OK, I'm going to stab you in the neck with a pencil. How can I make this any clearer?


I have practiced and gained minute rank in Aikido.
Aikido is for little people and requires an extremely large time investment in order to get any returns.
I have practiced and gained significant rank in Judo.
Judo works for people of medium or larger build that requires a short time investment before getting returns.
Kendo is for idiots and Japanese blowhards. It's completely fucking useless unless you can break for 15 minutes to find a good long stick whenever you're about to fight.


"Cool" looking martial arts are typically Kung Fu or Cappoeria (sp?). However, if you're going for martial arts to be "cool", I can predict your career beforehand and save you money.


You join your school and find out it actually takes time, effort, and committment to get any returns.
You put in a halfassed attendance and effort, and manage to squeak past your first two rank tests.
You're combatting boredom the entire time you're practicing and by your third belt you realize that higher level belts require exponential effort. Your shoddy, underpracticed skills in the first two belts really start to show.
Upon realizing that this isn't going to be like a 5-minute Rocky training segue, or a cheetos-n-chips WoW item-grind and more like a 5-year part of your life, you quit disillusioned.


I may sound like a dick there, but seriously--martial arts is a way of life, not something you can whip out to look cool. It may be a cliche, but the only reason it's used so much is because it's universally true. There's no way to do martial arts on the side--it's something to which you dedicate yourself.

Pretty good advice there, not sure if all of it is thrown my way. I'm not trying to get into a martial art to 'look' or 'be' cool. If I'm going to get into a style of martial art, I want 3 basic things:

1.) Fast time, good results. It's not cool for me to go to a gym 2 hours 4 times a week and take 1-3 years just to begin to see results. I enjoy fast/fewer training days, simply because my scedule is far too busy as I grow older.

2.) Looks good. This is more of a self confidence issue here. If I'm paying money to learn the martial art, apart from it teaching me to defend myself and others I love, if I can get the same thing while having a form of fighting that looks good, sold.

3.) A good instructor, but that's something nobody here can really recommend now is there? ;)

Capoeira is waaaay out of my league though, that's shits crazy what they do.

[hammocksleeper]

I don't really understand when or where you would be showing off these "cool" moves that you learn. My roommate is a blackbelt in karate and I've never seen him do any moves, not even a punch or anything. The most I've seen him do is play street fighter on the super nintendo.

[IrishDutchman]

Well, it's not really about showing off cool moves, it teaches you discipline, and if someone is hostile/agressive towards you, you now how to react and don't get caught up in the rush of adrenaline. You can stay calm and react in a controlled manor.
For instance, my dad did fencing right, and we we're in Greece and there was a pack of wild dogs (no kidding) in the mountains where we were having a walk. My dad had a walking stick and went into fencing mode, and chased them away.
What interested me in Aikido most was that it's not competitive, and you it's not about who's better or stronger.

[GenocideAlive]

I don't really understand when or where you would be showing off these "cool" moves that you learn. My roommate is a blackbelt in karate and I've never seen him do any moves, not even a punch or anything. The most I've seen him do is play street fighter on the super nintendo.
Seconded. And I totally kick my sifu's ass in Tekken 2, hands down.

I pick Lei Long to humilate him.

It's pretty short-lived, because then he picks himself against me IRL and pretty much humiliates me. The best I've ever done is a kick to the face that ended up being a toe to the eye when he was trying to dodge it. Go me. :rolleyes: