Kensai

Another of those x vs y senerio's. Out of Wing Chun and JKD I would chose Aikido.

Yea i know But your log in name is not really a name. Its sort of lines.

-: What style of Aikido do you do? What grade are you. There does not seem to be alot of us Aikidoka that come to this website.

In my Aikido dojo we enter. Before getting onto the mat with bow to the gaku (Symbol of aikido). Remove our Zori sandles get onto the mat. Have a general chat and warm up. Then the senior student will enter. We all line up at the shimoza (lower seat). Going into Seiza (typical seating position), always looking forward to the gaku. Sensei leads the bow to the gaku we bow. Sensei then turns bows to us we bow. Train Well

At my Aikido dojo everyone comes in bows to our and does some casual warm ups and a general chat about anything really.

"you dont suddenly decide which martial art your gonna do." you have right? hmm....... lol! Good. But like I said Kung Fu is VERY varied. Tiger style has virtually no kicks at all and is all open palm strikes. Wing Chun has no kicks above the waist. I am sure you are thinking of the well know styles of Shaolin and white crane. Which are more aerobatical. Wado is a fine martial art and sticking to one through thick and thin will develope your character. However perhaps to say that you get the best of both Shotokan and Jujutsu is a little knave. Shotokan is a single martial art the same way that jujutsu (which I personally think is amazing). You wont get the best of both worlds, you will get watered down, but still very effective techniques. Train hard and stick to it

I dont mean to be little you. But you are only 15. Martial arts like wine gets better with age. Martial arts is all about preference, one is not better than another that is true. But you can always "prefer" one over the other. You might also be interested to know that ALL karate is basic on kung Fu. And to rule it out because of your body type is foolish and only really displays your lack on knowlegde of Kung Fu. Also you have only been to 3 lessons karate lessons. Thats not really a lot. Try and stick at it for a little longer atleast a few months before it starts baring fruit. So before knocking Kung Fu and saying that it is not for you then I suggest you go an try it. There are so many styles. If you are large and powerful which is what I think you are making yourself out to be then have a look at Tiger style and also Wing Chun. Kung Fu cant merily be catagorised because of ones body type. As there are Kung Fu styles to suit all. Also more fluidity is developed in Gung Fu than in Karate. You said that you dont feel as comfortable.................have you been to a Kwoon and had a lesson in Kung Fu? You said that you also want more advise. What are you looking for in a martial art Hard/Soft? Budo/Sport? Striking/Grabbelling? Japanese/Chinese/Korean? Weapons/no weapons? If you are looking for a style like Shotokan, might I suggest Kempo or Kenpo. Which are superior to karate to the point that you do more applications and locks etc, which are'nt done in Shotokan Karate. Also "not minding" is not really WANTING to do shotokan. Like all martial arts and anything in life you have to REALLY want to do it. Perhaps that karate styles in general are not for you. You said that you like Kick Boxing. Why not try and get very good at that before you jump into another martial art. Or perhaps look for a Mauy Tai kick boxing club. If you like that sort of full contact stuff, then perhaps go for Tae kwon Do. Which is sort of in the middle between Kick Boxing and Karate. Train Well

I understand what you are talking about. I like to call it the martial art "great wandering". Ananlysising each martial art in your minds eye, and looking for preferences. I did shotokan for nearly 1 year. It is a great martial art, but I feel that it had been to commercialised, and rigid, unfortunately losing the flow that Gichin Funakoshi had oringally intended. The kata are a great form of exercise and concentration, that do allow flowing movement, but all these great moves are lost in the Kumite. I like Wado, I did it for about a month or so. Its not a soft martial art in the traditional sence, but it has learnt from the other softer arts that smashing your way through an oppent will work for about 98% of the population, but not the 2% of skilled martial artists of other disaplines and martial arts. Shotokan is a great sport, but lacks some budo principles. Thats not to say that I would not be a little intemidated going up against a good Shotokan karateka. I then did Ninjutsu for about 6 months, but it lacked the early development of Ki that I wanted. This did come at dan grade. But I did not want to wait that long. I feel that the great martial artists have a good grounding in Ki, Chi or Qi at an early stage. But Ninjutsu is a TRUELY great martial art! Then I started Aikido. Which has the great techniques and even better philosophy. With a massive emphasis on Ki exercises. Which has helped me just as much outside to dojo as in the dojo. In terms of general health and well being. The ability to remain calm and understanding. If you are looking for a hard martial art, then perhaps look at Wing Chun. Which in my opionion is the top of the striking arts. Although I dont study it myself several of my friends do. Training with and against them is always challenging and great fun. Striking arts in general are done better by the Chinese arts than the Japanese ones. In the same respect that grappling is done better by the Japanese than the Chinese. Then thats only my opinion. If you can find yourself a good Kung fu club. All the styles are great. But then any martial art is good. If you have a good shotokan Sensei then you will learn a lot. Good luck in finding what you want Train Well

Daito Ryu, Aikijutsu and Aikido all the way. But then I could be biased! Train Well

Kata are an excellent form of practice. Although my martial art of Aikido does not contain them as such, they are one of the things I miss the most from Shotokan. However, when doing kumite, the thing that you use the most is the most basic and best trained technique. I think the moves in a kata are lost in the real world. But they are a great way of moving meditation and focus that calms the mind, which will help you in a real situation. train well

I agree seacher. All martial art styles are complete in all ways. They train you to deal with everything, but perhaps like Aikido not to kickk with the power of a horse. But to dispose of it. All systems are complete at there highest levels. To simply water them down into some sort of mutated Hybird mongral art to a farce on the great men and woman that created them. Train Well at one martial art, learn understand it in its entirity.

It is all Ki. The basis idea is the mosts of Jujutsu (Daito Ryu), with a large Ki (chi) element. My style of Aikido, Ki Aikido as the name my suggest has a considerable amount of ki exercises designed to focus it through ones oppents. -: do you have a name? Just a digretion. yes I also believe that O Sensei was quite clearly influenced by the internal arts. But also but the Japense Samuari arts. So what Chinese arts do you peple study. I have a great deal of resepct for them. Many of my friends study them and they are great to train and spar with. Train Well

I would rather get very good at Aikido, the rest is history. Train Well

I was just wondering weither anyone knows anything about Aikido and Chinese martial arts? I have seen some books published about it. But as this is the chinese martial arts section I was wondering what chinese arts could have effected Aikido. As O Sensei (Morihei Ueshiba) went to China. And it has been said that he fort against many opponents there. But there was never any doumentation of what happpen between them. I was thinking that I could have been effected by White Crane, Hsing I, Pa Gua and Tai Chi. Train Well

Pankration. A ancient Greek martial art. That could be the basis of Kung Fu, which some evidence suggests. As is was created in 628 BC. It is very simplar to modern day wrestling, with the basic rules of no eye gouging and biting. All else goes. It has highly developed kicking and punching techniques. Train Well

Ki Kung????!!!! Do you mean Chi Kung, should not be mixing names up like that? Train Well

Its not always about grade. I mean I want the best teacher that I cant get. But personality means alot. my Sensei wears a white belt and a white Hakama. He says that grade does not matter. I guess that the higher the grade the more modest and experienced the Sensei. So one goes hand in hand with the other Train well

These words all mean the same thing. Yet so short, but a thousand books could be written about them. As I study ki Aikido, I have seen a lot of its effects, and in some cases my unwillingness to believe that my sensei has taken me off my feet and I cant quite place where she touched me. Also after doing shotokan which in many cases is techniques and strength this Martial magic of Ki is really lost in its purest form. In short what I am trying to ask is what is it? Do people think it is the magic of the Universe within us that cannot be explained. Purely scientific phycological and biological phenomon that allows the smallest man to knock down the biggest. Any thoughts?

I very good question. I have had a few Sensei's over the last few years, mainly due to changing martial arts. However, my Aikido teacher is great. She is an 8th Dan and so has this great Energy about her. She always makes you feel at home and calm. A great teacher in my mind is one you respect and not fear. That has complete control of their abilitys. I think an older sensei is better, with the wisdom of age. Also can make the lesson interesting and varied (although this is hard with some martial arts). Also a sence of Humour is good. Enjoy.

Personally I prefere the japanesse Martial arts systems. But then thats my opionion. However the art of the ninpo is not to be taken lightly and requires hard training to live upto the martial arts hertiage. Remember to focus on the Taijutsu and the rest will follow in time. All the best Chris

I study Ki Aikido. There are some who say that it cant handle an other martial artist, or some one has to attack you like crazy. But I know in my dojo those rules dont applie like in ALL other Aikido dojos. Aikido teachs you to calm the mind to allow the techniques to flow. Its great that I know I'll be better at it when I am sixty than I am at 30. Because the techniques require no muscle or strength. Unlike the harder martial arts. (Not putting them down in anyway). All martial arts lead to enlightenment, no matter the path that one takes. Its one of the few martial arts that I have studied that I really cant wait until the next lesson. it helps that I have one of the top Sensei's in the country. All the best in what you study. Cheers Chris

I suggest that you read Soke Hatsumi's book on his diffinition of the "ninja". He is the 34th Togukawa master. More importantly a Ninja is one who upholds the ideals of the Ninja. So simply place them under the name of mercenary is farcical! Soke Hatsumi has never been hired by any Tashu or has has ever killed a man. And he is not of a ninja family. The reason why he started doing Ninjutsu was because he did not like the way that Heavier American AirForce men would beat him at Judo which he had been doing for longer. To say that Soke Hatsumi is not a ninja is quite obviously wrong. If you learn and believe in the arts of the ninja. Then you are one. Cheers Chris

As a practicing Aikidoka I realise that some of the moves to begin with look as though they could not be practiced in real life situations. However unlike Karate, TWD etc that give you a good martial ability after say 6 or 7 weeks Aikido takes time to grow. Like a fine wine it gets better with age. Some of the basic techniques look alittle drawn out. But once you get past the micky mouse grades and into Dan level it is all done very starply with no strength and always building on the basic principles learnt in the Kyu grades. Also alot of the techniques are done "on the move". After studying shotokan for a year, i found that none of it is done when someone is running at you. Which is also one of the uniques aspects of aikido. Aikido is not about taking life, its about living it. Cheers Chris

Stay pure to one martial art. you will learn it better. Focus on that training. Mixing Martial arts at an early stage which have conflicting ideas would effect the rate at which you would progress. Choose the one which suits your personality, make sure that the Sensei or Sifu is good and the class atmosphere is pleasant. Above all enjoy. Remember that no martial art is better than another its all about YOU. Cheers Chris

I ninja is some one who practices Ninjutsu. Simple Thanks Chris