Aikido a good MA to learn?

[Studiobuddy]

I have two trial lessons of Aikido coming up from Van Binh Self Defense Academy with instructor Master Hanh and Grandmaster Van Binh. I was wondering if this art was great to learn. I have TKD experience but I really want to get into MA and maybe later on do NHB like in 10 years or something. Is Aikido really effective in a streetfight? What are the benefits? Or should I try out the JUDO. Or mabye Kung Fu like WC

[Studiobuddy]

*bump*

[EmptyneSs]

aikido isnt effective in a street fight at all. in order to even be able to use aikido u will have needed to train in it for many years, as the learning curve for aikido is very high.

i think u would like judo better. judo is a sport and isnt really for self defense, however if u get good at judo u can for sure use it for self defense.

the best arts i think that are usefull for self defesne are boxing, wrestling, muay thai, jkd, and kajukenbo. bjj aint bad either, although i wouldnt take it if self defense was what i was interested in.

[Jmac]

Aikido does take a long time to become competent. If you are very good at Aikido, it is one of the most effective MA's out there. The problem is that few people stick with it long enough to achieve that.

[Aikiguy]

With a Name Like Mine ...

... you'd think I'd be the first to advocate aikido, but no. After about 5 1/2 years of it, I have to say there are some definite benefits (learning balance, coordination, flexibility, timing, flowing and blending with an attacker, etc) but to this day I still don't feel as if I could handle myself in a real fight. We learn how to handle attacks like wrist grabs, shoulder grabs, and overhand stirkes ... but nothing like a wrestler's takedown, a boxer's jab, or a TKD high kick. My experience has told me that aikido - at least the style I learned - was not realistic in terms of what attacks to expect. Again, after years, I still think I'd get whooped by some guy with 6 months of boxing under his belt.

However, I *do* think aikido would be really beneficial to a MA practitioner as a side study ... it does teach good theory, but takes a long time to implement practically.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents. EmptyneSs has some excellent suggestions and I would second them. That's what I'm going into now after a bit of a hiatus. (Though I am curious why he wouldn't choose BJJ as a self defense art?)

[Tom Yum]

All of the full contact fight sports make good self-defense. But there are other styles that sometimes produce very effective and fierce MAists that are not into mainstream competition. However, the lack of this competition is made up for with challenge matches or street experience.

It boils down to the instructor and the student, not so much the style. If the instructor teaches an intense and realistic setting and the student trains hard and keeps up their conditioning, they will be able to handle themselves fairly well.

[Nothingness]

Learn the hard first, then the soft. Otherwise, it will take more than 10 years to cultivate.

Learn standing fighting first, then ground fighting. Otherwise, your standing fight skills will become very sloppy. Don't flame me on this, I think Jigoro Kano once said that. Although he also said "Nage waza 10 years, Ne waza 1 year."

However, the bottom line is to get serious in anything that you train. If you are in time constraint to fight, probably your best bet is to learn Muay Thai. I am willing to bet, given that you train seriously, that you'd be a much better fighter in just 6 months.

Forget about the forms and the spiritual aspects for a while. Just learn to hit and kick as hard you can while making your body as hard as possible.

Any style doesn't really matter at this point as long as it makes your body hard and be able to make you hit hard.

In martial arts, there is a saying "Bravery first, power second, gong fu (the results of training) third."

Best wishes!

[Thai Bri]

studiobuddy - would you have been able to twist that kids wrists as his fists were pounding your face? No, I didn't think so.