tenshin_uke

i had almost 4 years in TKD before starting in Aikido. there is no sparring or striking in Aikido. most of the techniques we practice are from a wrist grab or throat grab, but there are also technques to deflect jabs, punches, or kicks. be prepared for lots of rolling. i disagree with the comment about students 'obediently' falling for their instructor. Aikido does have it's critics who state that there is no realism in the training. i can say that in my dojo, there is a very high level of realism. if you don't defend yourself well, you will be going down. without the realism, you can't see how effective your techniques are.

after taking TKD for almost 4 years, and after much abuse to my body, i started looking for an art that i could do with my kids. i visited an aikido dojo here and found out that they don't do punching or kicking, that it's more self defense. honestly, i thought 'how hard could this be'? WOW. very different from TKD, and it has been hard at times to learn some of the techniques. 9 months later, all in all it has been very rewarding. visit some of your local dojos. a lot of places will give you a free lesson, or sometimes a free week of training to see how you like it.

hello everyone. i was a tae kwon do student for 3 1/2 years, made it up to a 'recommended black belt' rank. i would have tested for my black belt, but could not justify the $250.00 testing fee. i have been studying aikido now for the past 8 months. i look forward to great discussions with all of you. _________________________________________________________ "there is no win or lose, only try"