Aikidoka

For this stretch you will need a partner. Sit on the ground and spread your legs as far apart as possible. Have your partner do the same whilst facing you, with their soles on the insides of your calves. Grasp each other's wrists and have your partner lean backwards, pulling you forwards. You should feel this stretch in your lower back. When you feel you've reached your limit (be careful not to stretch dangerously far) tap your partners wrists and have them hold it there for 30-60 seconds. One vital bit of advice - never bounce when stretching or you will cause the over-extension reflex to kick in. If a muscle is being stretched in a dangerous fashion, your body will tense the muscle and so nullify the stretch. Good luck.

Judo derives from jujutsu and aikido derives from aiki-jujutsu. Aiki-jujutsu was a very secret and deadly style of jujutsu taught only to the heirs of samurai families, which was then modernised into aikido. Judo covers mainly the sport side of martial arts, while aikido has both sporting and traditional sides. If you just compare them as sports, judo deals with the grappling/throwing side of jujutsu and aikido deals with the striking/joint locking side. The founder of sport aikido, Kenji Tomiki, was one of Jigaro Kano's finest students before Kano 'gave' him to Morihei Ueshiba (the founder of aikido). The traditional side of aikido includes a Zen mind-set, meditation and sword and staff technique. As far as I know, modern judo does not retain these things.

In the context I know it, trapping is entwining your front leg around the front leg of your opponent to stop them kicking you. It also allows you to throw your opponent as when you push them backwards they will trip over your leg. Other people may have other definitions.

I personally agree with Pangamut, but one of the most experienced wing chun teachers I have ever found says that it takes about 2 years to lay the foundations.

Well, I'm glad I stirred up some discussion, if not much support! I don't agree with what they did, but then I don't see the point in trying to ignore their point of view. They were commited to their beliefs, just because you can't understand why they did a thing does'nt detract from it. The firefighters and policemen showed bravery, in sacrificing themselves for their beliefs of what is right. Your ideas coinside with theirs, so you put them in higher esteem than terrorists who died for theirs.

Good input, it's great when people can come together to broaden each other's knowledge.

I totally disagree. I think Bush is in no way adequate for ruling the most powerful nation in the world. There are jokes about him because he is inelloquant and and times stupid. For example he called the terrorists "faceless cowards". 1. They are not faceless as they have been identified 2. It takes incredible bravery to plow a plane into a building in the cause of your beliefs. Also: ''I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe—I believe what I believe is right."—Rome, July 22, 2001 "Our nation must come together to unite."—Tampa, Fla., June 4, 2001"We must have the attitude that every child in America—regardless of where they're raised or how they're born—can learn."—New Britain, Conn., April 18, 2001 (Thanks to Eric Beerbohm.) If you need more proof go tohttp://slate.msn.com/Features/bushisms/bushisms.asp I'm probably going to get a lot of abuse for this, but hell; it's my opinion, freedom of speech and all that.

Oh, I see. Well even so, it will be hard for you to adapt to wing chun from karate, and even more so if you continue to do karate. But if you combine the two, the result could be pretty awesome!

Here are all the styles I know of (but not about): Baguazhang Bak Hok Cha Chuan Chin-na Choy Ga Choy Lay Fut Dim Mak Dragon Fist Eagle Claw Fut Ga Hou Chuan Hsing-I Hu Chuan Hung Gar Hung Kuen Iron Forearm Iron Palm Jeet Kune Lao ga Lee ga Lohan Mizong Mok ga Monkey Northern Shaolin Pa-kua Paper Tent Praying Mantis San Soo Shaolin Shuai Chiao Sil Lum Tao Southern Praying Mantis T’ai Chi Ch’uan Tang Lang Tiger White Eyebrow Wing Chun Wushu Xingyi Yal Gung Moon Ying Jow Pai (Quite a few huh?!)

I've been practising wing chun for six months now, so I'll try and tell you as much as I can. You will find it very awkward to change from karate to wing chun, and it will take about six months for you to break down your old habits. Wing chun does not rely on power or flexibility, or even great speed. In this way it can be taken much further than power arts like taekwondo or kickboxing. It relies on you being able to feel exactly what your opponent is doing, by maintaining contact with them at all times. Instead of trying to stop an opponent's attack dead you redirect it using a lesser force (following the yin/yang principle - central to wing chun). You are never in opposition to the person you face, you both form two halves of one whole. Technically speaking, all the kicks are kept below waist height to increase speed, balance and deception. The strikes and parries stay on the centreline and travel straght, meaning that they are more accurate and faster, and that you are never open to attack. Detachment from the fight means that your intellectual mind does not interfere with your instincts, and that your body stays relaxed. Power comes from timing, coordination and relaxed strength, not from bulging muscles. Finally I advise you to read this article http://www.stanford.edu/group/wingchun/path.html It helped me a great deal. Good luck and good training.

You scare me man. You're talking dictatorship. Can't you see how close that is to the Nazi's? If you think that it's ok to take away the freedoms of a nation that has been f***ed up for the most part by the West, esp. the US, because you think you can do a better job, then you need to start doing some serious thinking.

No killing is acceptable, whether in terrorism, war or vengeance. When you kill a person, even in self defence, you are saying that your life is more important than their's. That's just wrong.

I just like to put in an important (IMO) point ... at the place I am doing my work experience people are pretty right-wing, and are talking about 'carpet bombing' the countries where the 'rag-head' terroirists come from. But this is just another form of hatred and as dangerous as any other kind. Justice yes, vengeance no.

Good point, but what I meant by accuracy is being able to hit vunerable areas - the throat, groin, eyes, solar plexus (thus causing great damage without power). In a slugging match, a little guy won't win against a giant. But that's just my opinion, not a right or wrong answer. _________________ 4th Kyu Tomiki Aikido "What is defeat? Nothing but education, nothing but the first step to something better." Bruce Lee [ This Message was edited by: Aikidoka on 2001-09-11 09:10 ]

Thanks everyone. I feel more confident already. Good luck Angus!

I am thinking of leaving my aikido dojo to persue wing chun more fully. I have been at this dojo for a year and a half and I don't know how to leave without injuring anyone's feelings. Has anyone else had trouble with leaving their dojos? How do you tell your teacher that their art/style isn't good enough for you?

Either grappling/throwing arts (like BJJ, judo, shorinji kempo), or striking arts which rely on speed and accuracy (kung fu) rather than power striking (kickboxing). Good luck.

Self improvement, self defence, interest in the traditions/history.

Glad to be of service

Everyone seems to like the bo staff but I prefer the jo (about 4ft instead of 6ft). A wandering monk challenged Miyamoto Mushashi to a duel, katana versus bo, and got his arse kicked as it was just too slow. Then he had a 'vision' of the jo, invented some techniques and in the re-match he beat the Sword Saint - the only person ever to have done so! So my vote goes for either the jo or nunchaku.

Just a note .. not all the abilities attributed to ki are actually spiritual - we practise some techniques at our dojo such as making ourselves too heavy to lift or making our arms unbendable and even I can manage them. It has more to do with co-ordinating muscle and will power, but I don't know about the other stuff. Also I've heard about the kiai (a magical shout that stops an opponent dead in his tracks) and apparently this can also be attributed to instinct .. as apes we learned to stop dead and listen when a loud, sudden noise occurs at the right frequency.

Thanks guys, that's great. I know that black belts are overated in the west, where people think they make you a grand master, while in the east it is considered that the black belt merely marks when you can start to understand the art.

Get the "Art of Expressing the Human Body" by Bruce Lee. It has all you'll ever need to know about supllimentary fitness training for martial artists - flexibility, weights, isometrics, interval training, jogging, bagwork - the lot!

Some people think you should wait until you are black belt to cross-train because otherwise you could find yourself getting mixed up and doing the wrong martial art in the wrong dojo. I do two martial arts and am a black belt in neither but have had v. little trouble. Go for it!

Hi, I do Tomiki Aikido where it takes about 8 years to achieve 1st Dan. In the other arts about how long does it take to get a first degree black belt or its equivalent?