I know this will vary with club, but how much atemi, do you practice - both hands and feet. Also Some clubs practice the budo harder than others - i mean they do the techniques /training with the intention of street application, whereas others maybe train less physical (not sure if im getting my point across here) How do you train? For combat or less so?
In our club (I'm sure tosh will explain better being the instrutor..!) we train mostly for technical application and fitness. Obviously sparring is directed at combat, but there is much more time spent on the technical side of things...patterns, techniques, etc. We have been taught a limited number of 'real-life' techniques i.e. a little bit of role playing to allow for more realistic situations to be dealt with. Having said all that, it is hard to train for combat without the basics having been taught and the majority of our club (myself included) are new to the TKD game! I think that's what you're asking, anyway!
Our club practices atemi as a very prevalent part of our techniques. Not so much with the feet, but most of the applications have atemi to start before applying anything. Our style is one of the more middle of the road styles we`re not really a budo club but we`re not a club which spends half an hour just breathing. Tintin would be a better one to ask, he`s our instructor
see this is what always helps me, if im strikin an opponent smaller than me i hit them on a pressure point or hard enough in a soft spot to where they will fold over or wince....while they are tryin to recooperate i see how much it hurts them...if it takes them to long to recoop i hit them more in the same spot till they have to protect it then i use a combo to the face or a chop across the kneck or a direct blow to the temple or the side of the jaw where certain nerves are so that if i have a direct hit instant KO but if i was usin my feet...i would side kick to the gut and to the back of the knees till they had to drop their guard then try 1 to the chest or a toe-hold just to see how balanced they are...if they fend off my attax then i will try their hips and thighs....when u cant pick ur leg up then u cant kick so therfore i make sure i dont wear out qwikly on this so i break them down systmatically and i use their body to my disposal:woo:
Can I just point out guys (not you Spike, your alright), THIS IS THE AIKIDO SECTION!!!!! Of course Karate and TKD guys are going to be taught striking, they are striking dominated arts!!! As for sparring and realistic, one word... NOT! Col
From Andy Murray`s recent article: "go get yourself hit properly, and stop playing tag!" which isn`t to say that sparring is not a valid training tool or that sparring should only take place when a number of students stand in the middle of the class and the first one to kill another one is allowed to continue his training. As a last comment, I`m really skinny, it`s not like I could move someone at all without using an atemi of some sort
Unless you're attacking from behind you sneaky sod (see the photo gallery section if you don't know what I'm talking about)! Anyway, how much atemi? Lots. If you make contact, then great, if not, you at have at least caused the distraction allowing you to follow up. Geordie Boy, what's your definition of budo? To me it would simply be 'the martial way', and so in that respect I try to train in that way every second of my life. Assuming you are referring to actually applying techniques, then again we focus on this quite a lot. Otherwise you can become guilty of becoming just an 'art', with the 'martial' bit missing. I (and I try to make my students understand this) realise that Aikido alone won't save you in a street fight at 3am. No single martial art will, and I'm quite happy to argue with anyone about this. Confidence is a hugely important element, without which no amount of training can prepare you for the adrenaline dump of a conflict. Been there, experienced it, don't particularly want to go through it again thank you very much. I've not seen Andy's article, but from what Spike says, I have to agree. Learning to take a hit is exceptionally useful. And yes, Spike is skinny, with very freaky joints.
As it has just been pointed out to me....I was not anywhere near this planet yesterday....I do infact know that TKD is NOT Aikido and uber apologies where necessary <get's on knees...>! I'll just get back on my cloud now....
realism in the dojo cannot be fully carried out unless you actually want someone there dead.. like freeform said sparring is not real. as martial artists we have a severe disadvantage in a true fight.. we actually care about the outcome. i have fought poeple who dont. and as tintin said ait has a great deal to do with confidence. yes i used my aikido, and i am greatful to my master for showing me the things that quite possibly saved me. by 'things' i mean the way to train and the way to act not specific techniques. nothing is real except real life, so as long as you remember that in your training adn try and concentrate on getting good at this aikido lark then i promise your aikido will get better.. your combat skills depend entirely on your translation of what you have learnt from the dojo onto the street, unfortunately you cant get someone else to translate it for you
I have to agree with med. I have known great instructors to be humbled (actually much worse) by the 'common' man on the street. I have known mere beginners frighten off a group of 3 lads by focusing on the 'attitude' approach to his art. When the time comes (and to be honest 99% of us never actually want to use our knowledge despite our ego wondering every now and again) your training will either kick in or it won't. War is like that. Personally my aikijitsu knowledge has kicked every time but not in the way you might expect. On several of these occasions I used basic techniques (kotegaeshi, nikyo) to great effect, other times it is the discipline and self-awareness that my years of training have taught me which has saved me. I can take a punch to the head (sometimes quite happily ) and if need be I will do this to prevent a situation from escalating. I know I could hurt him and sometimes by just evading a blow or allowing myself to be struck I have negated a potentially worse situation. This approach may not be for everyone but my training has allowed me to have that option and after assessing my 'opponent' I will do what is required to resolve the situation as quickly and painlessly as possible. There is no place in conflict for ego.
Welcome Sc0tsg1t, I amazingly notice from your name that Scots appears in it, do you hail from Haggis Land per chance? I hope you enjoy the forum and look forward to hearing more from you.
Why thank you lady You are indeed an astute lady. I hail from a pokie little place known as Milnathort and began my martial arts odyssey there when I was 8 where I studied karate and Spirit Combat. After much journeying I now reside in Dartford and am trying to learn how to add the skills of JKD, Muay Thai, Vale Tudo and Kali into my Aikijtsu knowledge. It is quite an interesting pursuit. After years of teaching to be an absolute beginner again is quite refreshing (and sometimes exasperating ) It is quite interesting as well that most people who seem to post in this place are Scots. Are we really that interested in conflict? I apologise beforehand people as sometimes I can rant a little bit. Especially about something I hold so close to my heart as the study of Martial Arts.
I found that curious too, but I rather like it. The other boards I've been on are mostly visited by Americans. I'm American but I have a strong attraction to Scotland. Earlier this year I built a clubhouse for my kids (and me too) and painted it blue and white. You know, like the flag. My car has Scotish bumper stickers on it. The background picture on my computer is a shot of Newtonmore, Scotland, a place I haven't seen for 10 years but have dreamed about every passing day. I had planned out a wonderful vacation so that my kids could romp with me in the ancestral Highlands but then my wife announced that she was pregnant and due to birth just before the vacation date. Kids are great but that timing really rots!!
Congratulations Perhaps you should be more careful with that weapon in your trousers! Being away from Scotland does make me want to see more of it but I think I have too much of the old Scots wandering spirit in me. Like most Scots I feel the English need a decent education so I do my best to help them out I want to elaborate on an earlier point made by Andy concerning 'getting yourself hit and stop playing tag'. In my training of JKD & Kali I am getting hit an awful lot. I don't mind as I kind of get off on the pain which is another thing I find a common theme amongst Scots Aikidoka and other martial arts stylists. My point is, and this may be in an inappropriate thread so I apologise, how do you as Aikidoka mentally adjust to studying another style? When I first started I had a bit of a 'mare fighting my body from wanting to just lock my opponent up and as a result was getting caught flat footed as indecision stopped my flow in its tracks. Now however I find that I am easier able to add the knowledge of my aikijitsu to that of sparring and the new styles. I'm not yet truly happy with the combining of the various styles but I can see that the JKD I learn will be enhanced considerably by my previous knowledge and vice versa. Your take on combining Aikido with a fairly pure striking art please on the back of a soggy beer mat (for those in Edinburgh) or a blank cheque (for the rest of you).
"Your take on combining Aikido with a fairly pure striking art please on the back of a soggy beer mat (for those in Edinburgh) or a blank cheque (for the rest of you)." You certainly know us well. I`ve found that my Aikido helpsincrease my awareness of possibilities and stops me being too rigid, in Kung Fu. But i went from Kung Fu to Aikido, not from Aikido to something else
been around too many of you lot In my youth I frequented the student unions of most of the Uni's in Edinburgh and also enjoyed the rock/alternative nights in Madisons. Classy place. My friend transferred (for a nominal fee) from Shotokan to Aikido and he said it enabled him to generate more power in his techniques. I told him it probably just loosened him up and now his power could flow unchecked. He nodded then went to attack me with his new found 'power'. Kids eh? Anyone else (who isn't in a pub just now) with their take on this?
Re: Congratulations Ya, we Yankee rebels often feel the same way, excepting a few notable exceptions such as the Beatles, Elton John, Sting, Eric Clapton, Shakespeare, Margaret Thatcher, and whoever invented Newcastle Brown Ale and Bass Ale. I went from other stuff (jujitsu, escrima, kempo, some wing chun, JKD, other stuff) to aikido. At first it was difficult because I wanted to crash the line and attack. I was used to fighting at close range instead of keeping my distance and waiting for the other guy to come to me. Whenever I broke range I couldn't do the aikido technique. It just wouldn't work. Now I realize that aikido techniques are not made for crashing the line, or initiating the attack. Aikido techniques "work" as aikido techniques only when you begin from the proper range, let him initiate, and then move on from there. In time, however, as my aikido improved, I began to find openings inside the aikido technqiues from which I could insert something from escrima, or jujitsu, or muay thai, or whatever. And now I see openings all the time every time. Aikido "works" for me now in the sense that if for whatever reason my aikido technique fails, I have with 100% certainty opened the door for something else (wrestling takedown, muay thai kick, wing chun straight blast, something). Something is available and calling to me every time. Maybe I'll still get my butt kicked, but hey, at least I have made the transition. I cannot, however, go the other way. Perhaps it's my lack of skill, but once I start with, say, an escrima entry, I have never yet been able to transition to something purely "aikido." This is weird because escrima is full of the same jujitsu joint locks as aikido. Likewise wing chun has all those "lop sau" grabs that one would think that you could transition into a smooth grappling mode. My problem is getting the harmonious flow that makes aikido "aikido." What I transition to is more aptly termed "jujitsu" because it's always violent. Ex: instead of getting a sheonage that just makes the person fall, I get a sheonage that would break his joints. I consider that jujitsu or escrima, not aikido. Or instead of getting a gentle irimi-nage I'll get a true clothesline. Again, jujitsu. I hope that someday I'll be able to transition from chaos to harmonious flow.
'Ex: instead of getting a sheonage that just makes the person fall, I get a sheonage that would break his joints. I consider that jujitsu or escrima, not aikido. Or instead of getting a gentle irimi-nage I'll get a true clothesline. Again, jujitsu. I hope that someday I'll be able to transition from chaos to harmonious flow.' I do believe you have found aikijitsu. Knife_fighter, I experience the opposite in that I hold back. As I have progressed I see the opportunities now in Kali and JKD/Jun Fan to flow in to an Aikido technique but a part of my brain (or 'traditional' ethos) stops me and says 'Excuse me young man, but you do know what you are about to do isn't really in Jun Fan/Kali/Boxing/Clay Pidgeon shooting etc?' Once I've finally got it sorted out in my head I may start a new club entitled 'Broken Nose Sparring for the Martially Muddled'.
Sc0tsg1t Sorry to go off point here...(I was in the pub earlier, so I hope that doesn't count....) Where was Madisons? I've been in Edinburgh for about 7 years but have never heard of it?
Hey Tintin Madisons was by the Playhouse if memory serves me right. Basically you had a small entrance and you went upstairs past some very huge bouncers (who as usual were nice lads) and went on to a large dance floor. On various nights they had rock, hard rock, thrash, punk, hip hop etc. It was quite good and many a beautiful Edinburgh girl frequented the establishment. I went around 1988-91. Old sod that I am.
