Taking two styles, Should I?

[Bluetulipx]

Samuel, I have noticed that you are in Derbyshire and are planning to train in Aikido. What neck of the woods of Derbyshire do you hail from?

I live in Derby and train in Aikido in Long Eaton, but our club has national courses in Derby.

Also, I noticed your comment about ikkyo being more painful than nikkyo. I have not found that to be the case. Ikkyo is an 'arm pin' and the attacker will end up lying on the floor with their arm stretched out. Nikkyo is a 'wrist turn in' and this can bring on a lot of pain if not done correctly.

Anyway, good luck with both of your styles.

[Zorbasan]

as long as you are able to differentiaet between the two, there is nothing wrong with starting them close to eachother.

i have done tkd for years, and when i started shotokan i was going a lot of old tkd stuff. as i was starting to get that out of my system, i took tkd up again.

now i am doing both i am starting to be able to do tkd stuff at tkd and karate at karate without mixing them up too much.

cross training is great. i would do more if money and time allowed it.

[Jiffy]

Enjoy your cross-training experience!

[KarateK]

If you have the time and energy to commit to two styles then fair play to you - although I cant help but think that as you progress through the grades one style may slip slightly. I would have thought primarily training in one art and suplementing it with another would be more beneficial than equally training between the two?

[Samuel]

Well, For karate I have two sessions. Two hours on a friday, and another two hours on a sunday, where aikido I just have the one session on a monday.

So ill most likly be concentraing more on training my karate supplimenting it with Aikido so that 'technically' I end up with a mix heavy on striking complimented with grappling and body movement.

From an true aikidoka veiw though, you could argue that having the grappling and pins should come first and compliment it with strikes (I was told that aikido uses atemi to confuse the attacker as to perform technique eaiser)

But in my veiw, I think neither should suppliment the other, That I should try and train my Karate with Aikido principles and my Aikido with Karate principles, get the best of both worlds, Like incorporating the body movement from aikido into karate, and the strikes from karate into aikido, something along those lines.

With me being novice in both arts, I guess I have alot of time to see how I can intergrate to the two.

Bluetulipx, I live in Belper, practicing my Wado-Ryu at a local club, and my Aikido at Milford under Rafe Hock 1st Dan (?)

[bushido_man96]

As you advance in your styles, you may start to see areas within your striking where you can begin to enter into the locks and redirections/joint manipulations that you will learn from aikido. I would not rush into this, but it is something that you can build up to. I think you will be amazed at the combination of the two.

[Bluetulipx]

Samuel,

I know Rafe and I have trained with him. He is a nice guy. We have national courses in Derby and sometimes I see him there and also sometimes he will visit the Long Eaton club that I attend. (However, I don't think he would have any idea that I'm on here and that my name is Bluetulipx!!!).

As far as training in different martial arts though, I find it best to keep things separate (but that's just me). However, I am also British, American, born in W. Germany, so I like 'threes' ... (and have to keep them separate too).

I find that it is best for me to select days to do things, e.g. Aikido is on Tuesday so if I want to study more Aikido then I will do so on a Tuesday. Kick boxing is on Wednesday and Thursday and I only study kick boxing on those days. I also have Tae Kwon Do on a different day and only study that particular art that day.

If in one week I need to study more then I pick one of my 'free' days and select a theme for it, whether it be Aikido, Kick Boxing or Tae Kwon Do and then keep that for the day.

I find this very helpful, but each person has their own way of doing things.

[Jiffy]

Niether style is better than the other, they are different. While I think one should suppliment the other, that shouldn't be based on which is the better style, rather should be based on which is the better style FOR YOU.

While you may prefer one side, another person would prefer the other more and would therefore choose that as their primary.

[Semaj]

That is kinda wierd I'm having (almost) the exact same problem. Right now I take aikido, but I haven't even gotten my white belt. Still, I am also hoping to take karate. I don't know about all the different kinds though.

[Chuilli, Kyo Sah Nim]

I train in two but i have been at it for quite a while, and they compliment each other quite nicely. but if you think you can handle it without one suffering go for it.

in tang soo,

k.chuilli