arcelt

True indeed! My son recently won his elementary school's annual chess tournament(and my daughter, his twin sister, came in third!). I was prouder than I've ever been over anything that i had personally accomplished. On the martial front, he recently started taking TKD and had taken BJJ for awhile...I pulled him out of that (BJJ), over his protests, because I was a bit concerned with the frequent rate at which the kids were getting injured...I'll let him take it again when he gets a bit older if he still wants to. I'm also teaching him the basics of Goju in our little garage/storage room/dojo. He is a complete MA addict, like his old man. His sister, though, is happier painting pictures and looking at clouds (like her mother). I'm equally proud of them both.

It's been a great year for me....After a decade absence, I'm training again, and I haven't felt better in years....

My favorite kata has always been Shisochin. I'm a rather lanky anglo sort, and I've sometimes been concerned that so many Okinawan kata seem to be built with the stereotypical compact Okinawan build in mind. Shisochin features long, deep stances and snappy movements that seem to flow more naturally with my body type.

I've done cross-training, though only out of necessity. I spent the better part of a decade studying Goju-Ryu before taking a long layoff. While I am now studying Aikido, which blends well with just about any striking style, IMO, I briefly studied TKD and Kenpo during my layoff. While I could hold my own with the advanced students in basic punching, kicking, and kumite, I had a HELL of a time adjusting to the different blocks. I guess years of doing blocking drills have ingrained a certain muscle memory that is not easily modified. Conditioned to the sweeping, circular blocks of Goju, I found it terribly difficult to implement the more linear blocks of the other 2 styles.

I second that, Joesteph...While Goju is known for being both hard and soft, it's the "hard" part that really stands out to me in my memory. The soft and flowing movements of Aikido almost seem like magic to me in comparison.

I studied Goju Ryu for ten years and have just recently begun studying Aikido. While my understanding of Aikido is elementary at the moment, I am already willing to bet that it would take many, many years to be able to employ Aikido by itself in a confrontation. However, I can also readily imagine, again putting myself in a hypothetical confrontation, how, in the midst of the struggle, I might notice an to employ a throw or lock I learned in Aikido, thereby enhancing my Goju. Just my $.02, but my understanding of the situation is that, if one is looking to quickly increase their fighting skills, Aikido might not be the place to start. If, however, an experienced martial artist is seeking to move their practice into a new dimension, one could do far worse than study Aikido.

After a week in Aikido (the class meets 1 and 1/2 hours 4 evenings per week), I definitely have a bit more perspective. For one, I am WICKED out of shape. It's interesting that I notice this, since Aikido is not a hard, physical art. Nevertheless, after getting thrown, getting up, getting thrown, getting up, etc., I've noticed some real strain in my abdominal muscles. I also find it is much more difficult to sit in Sieza for an extended period of time. This I can attribute to lost flexibility as well as the fact that my lower legs have to support about 80 lbs more than they ever did when I trained before. Even after just one week, though, I can say that I am very happy to be training again.

I took my free trial lesson today and signed up right after class. It feels great just to get back into things. Aikido is sufficiently different from Goju that I don't feel that I'm duplicating past effort and I also don't have the problem of comparing my present and past physical abilities.

I appreciate the replies, folks! I think I'm going to start my Aikido trial week on Monday and see how it goes. I'll report back! Thanks!

I never had the opportunity to train with Superfoot, but I did attend a seminar given by Wally Jay. For some reason he chose me to be his demonstration dummy. I remember being awed at how this little old man could put me in a world of pain (I learned that day the importance of tapping out) with the smallest of movements. I also had the opportunity to attend a seminar given by Fumio Demura. As a Goju-Ryu practioner, though, the most awestruck that I've ever been has been training under Morio Higaonna in several IOGKF gassukus and when I tested for my Shodan under Sensei Higaonna in his San Diego area dojo. Maybe that's not as big as a Superfoot or Wally Jay, but to someone in the IOGKF, it doesn't get any better...

Honestly, I don't remember his reaction. He wasn't mad, though (surely I would remember THAT). We had been working on this particular take down in the weeks previous to this, so I hope he was happy that I was at least paying attention!

That only happened to me once. I was 17 and sparring with my instructor and managed to sneak in a take down. I perhaps got a bit too cocky and tried the same move again the next time we sparred...and the next time...and maybe the next. It never worked again. My initial cockiness was soon replaced by the knowledge that I had lucked into a cheap shot, that my Sensei never sparred full speed against me anyway, and that I was fortunate indeed to have a Sensei who used that situation to teach me that anyone, even my Sensei, can be caught off guard.

I'd like to hear the experiences of any here who have returned to martial arts after an extended absence... I began training in Goju-Ryu at the age of 9 and continued until I graduated from high school. As is often the case with teenagers, I became more interested in chasing girls and getting into trouble than training, went off to college, picked up bad habits, and the rest is history. I am now a 33 year old overweight software engineer. For some reason, I am again bitten by the bug and find myself longing to start training again. There are no Goju Ryu schools where I live, but there are some TKD schools as well as an Aikido dojo (I'm leaning Aikido). I have been running and lifting weights in order to get back into some semblance of good shape and feel like I am now ready to begin again. I'm just curious to hear the stories of others who trained in the past (particularly in childhood) and have returned. How have your perceptions of the martial arts changed? For me, one difference is apparent even before my training begins...as a child, I was awed by the superhero archetype of the karate master and wanted to be like that. Now, as an adult, I'm much less interested in the self defense aspects of MA and am more drawn to art and tradition.