martialman101

actually, since this post i went to a class, it was an inspiring event. I found myself finally grasping the material. Its an amazing art and i am beging to see the woth in it. Many practitioners say that it takes more work to master and aply, but once you reacht hat level, its one of the best martial arts around!

interesting... My input would have to be, try a new art, it might be time any way, and this may be the perfect opertunity. Its always good to learn anew, and a fresh beginning might be just the right medicine.

HOw can you have a passion for something without even being involved with it first? i think you were using the wrong context. Fascinated would be more appropriate. As for kendo. I just stated taking since it is taught along with aikido at most aikido schools. IT is a nice solid weapon art, but its usually even more gipping when paired up with something more traditional.

wow, i had to put my two cents in here! TRAIN FOR AT LEAST 7 YEARS! no joke, even if you master it in the first 3 years, there is always something more to build off of and you will be suprised to find how much you truely didnt know. I say to be able to call youreelf a black belt at all, you need to have at least 8 years under your belt of meaningful anf heartfelt training, not crud!

lol your doing it at USSD arent you, if not o well, any way sounds simular. Shoulin kempo isnt exactly an art, more like self defence. Its just tactics and strategies on how to defeat an opponent when faced with one. Whatch ur spending, that was my primary art for years, and i gotta admit it was a good foundation for the arts to come, but i was lucky and signed up with a good school. USSD is crap, dont go near it with a ten foot pole. They are quite bad most of the time, though it all depends on which dojo you go to, some arent bad, but none good. I suggest you stay away from dojo chains, like every thing else like that a franchise is all about money. From my experience chains care more about making money than teaching. I suggest you do research and find a well respected teacher for the art, thats your best option. But thats just myopinion!

Well recently I started aikido at a rather good dojo near my home in San Rafeal CA. Now i know having been doing it for only a month doesnt seem like a long time, not near long enough of course to give imput on it, but I have(not to brag). Tending to be insightful on these things i decided to begin picking out all the pros and cons of my dojo and aikido in general, and here are my discoveries: 1.) No matter how good the sensei, the class mates can affect your training greatly, esspecially because in the beggining the other students are usually the ones teaching you the basics any way. IF that student is ever unsure of himself or a bad partner, it actully hinders your learning, since you cant asist in making the technique better, it all lies in the other students conductor skills. Be warry of this, because of this, privae leassons are always good when starting out so you can master the basics quicker and a lot better. Unfortunately, most dojos dont offer this, so it is often hard to catch up or get the material all together. All instructors out there pay attention to this, it may help to know this for your school. 2.)Aikido is a graceful art, meant for those with pacients and an interest in the culture behind the art, not for the brutal warrior types, though it may have benifits for those too hot headed for their own good. 3.) Aikido has little visible aplication at first, after reheasing many of the moves on my sparring partner at home, who does varios hard style arts, ive learned only 1/3 of the techniques taught are affective, but also you must take into account that when enough skill is aquired then most techniques are probably more aplicable. Also, aikido is a very good booster for other martial arts, like health based tai chi is. It also helps pratitioners implore a new method of thinking when sparring or in a fight, i have noticed more creative thinking while sparring my partner, as if a whole new door of opertunity has been opened by this unique art. 4.)It also implores weapon training (depending on which variation you practice) like the jo, and even kendo (samurai sword fighting). 5.) but aikido is not a competitive art, and cannot be used very affectively on its own, it can be, but it just requires a llittle more work. Even so, i dont nessisarily suggest aikido as a primary art, but it might be worth mastering to you. Even so, its a great booster. You may love it and want to learn it to its full extent. That is all I have to say about aikido, well all that aplies universally that is, this next segment is about my experience in my aikido dojo so far. -Im searching for a new dojo, since i was tired of my prior art and felt i had mastered it to a reasonable degree, and was doing extensive research on the next art i would want to take on. And aikido sounded like a good choice. So i looked for a dojo near me, and found one pretty easily. The dojo even had a great teacher with over 30 years of experience. So i went to do a trail lesson. What i got was basic but fact filled info taught in a small class of 4 students, the teacher carefully observed us and was active in participating with us also. I like this, the enviornment was good and the atitude seemed ajusted towards learning. So i signed up. The next class i went to, the room was full of about up to 10 students( a lot for this one room) and most of them a good amount of ranks higher. Some were also new to the school, which seemed comforting at the time, to have others to learn with is always a good thing. But when he told us to pair up, i was stuck with another novice... OK no big deal. He came around and instructed us on how to do the form. Problem being neither of us had a good feel for aikido, big deal we worked it out and got through it pretty easily, he was a good partner. But then my next partner was a higher rank, like a 8th kyu. I thought I was getting a good deal here, i could master the forms easier with someone who already knew the art fairly well... Not so, for some reason he didnt get the form either, to my anoyance it was the same for the next two partners, none of them were used to teching forms and found it difficult to teach me, since as mentioned above, you are truely in your partners hands when youre new to the art. This was disapointing and embarasing. I felt weird at messing up so often and totaly out of place. I was always used to being a good student, one who always knew his material and was used in almost all the demos at his old classes. Any way, it went on like this for 3 more classes, but then i finally got the hang of it. I wish the teacher there wuld offer private lessons so new students could get a grasp faster. Any way, now im more confident and getting it easier, but the transition was hard, and still my partners feel weird helping me straighten out a technique. -i guess the reason im posting this is for some input, any would be nice, some advice, what do you think of this? have you experienced something simular before, whatever. Go ahead and discuss, im all ears!

lol, thats what i was saying (this is in responce to the guy who responded to me). I meant that if you do get hurt thats fine, but not to the extent were one person isn't prepared or the sensei is taking advantage of someone, or an idea of revenge is ever placed. The point I was trying to get across was that people shouldn't consider "getting back at their senseis"

ya, i think i might try it depending on the response i get from someone i e-mailed about it. It looks pretty cool and i like the philisophical base! I'll look into the free trial lesson!

listen, ive only read two pages of the forum (its so damn long) but here is what i have to say. -You guys obviosly dont have a good student to sensei relationship. no one should be getting back at any one. if you ask me, it is an honor to be demonstrated on by your sensei, and if you work hard, and are good at the art, the more he shall demonstrate with you. I find this the most rewarding thing of the martial arts. And rember to respect your sensei, for if he is good, he deserves it a lot more than you guys seem to show! (and no, im not a sensei)

Alright, if you read my last post, you would know that i was considering switching my practice. I decided Aikido was a good bet. II would like to know all of your opinions and knowledge on this art. please, input is very welcome!

thx for the input, but as i stated before, i am looking for a more philosophical one any way wich means ill be moving for those reasons. so the depth isnt a problem. THZ!

thx for the info, i would like to conider a more defence oriented art, but this is gonna be my life here, im only 14, but i plan to be a literal martial artis. not just for competition. so i am looking for something i can really carry on all my life. An eastern practice is a must and a spiritual side of it too, i wouldnt mind from there.

listen, im not trying to be picky but, you should post more on how to choose an art that is right for you, this is the most challenging part in my mind, since you'll be dedicating a lot of time and energy into it, it beter damn well be something you like!

ok thx for the info, but i still want a new art...shoulin kempo just deosnt exactly suit me, but im not gonns make any irrational choices

by the way, how does the rank system work on this website?