You have good points Gravity. I think i'm going to try it just to pick up some good footwork and conditioning for falling, being thrown, etc. I think i'm going to go judo once i complete the 2 1/2 year contract.
Gravity you raise some good points but the truth is it doesn't work like that. Martial artists who sucessfuly cross train often have a greater understanding of martial arts, how a fight works, how not to lose and how to avoide a fight in the first place. Cross training isn't for everybody. But if people want to try it then they should. They will soon know if cross training is working for them. Incidently if you are placed in a position so bad that instinct takes over completly, then your primitive brain has 'complete' control. The conciouse mind would have to do a hell of a lot to interfear with that process. That's why people get the sensation of just watching and not being in control. Or they simply don't remember the episode at all.
Oh ok. It does make sense. Learning one martial art can be difficult. Learning more than would at the same time could cause problems.
My instructor started cross training in aikido when he was 2nd dan in TKD. Now he's 6th dan tkd, and is good at both TKD and aikido... He doesn't seem to have any problem. Just from one aikido class, my footwork during sparring in TKD was notiveably inproved. I usually am one to back up rather then around because my footwork wasn't very smooth. Whenever i'm fighting someone (without tkd rules), my intincts are usually to fight low. Kicks to legs, groin. If they get close, sweeps and punching. In taekwondo, when someone punches at you, you're supposed to evade and get around them in a cirular movement. In aikido, the same thing. The way i see it, aikido can't really be used long range, and taekwondo can't really be used close range (except basic punches and stuff), so i couldn't really get my instincts crossed. I've never been in a real fight though so i can't really say what i'd do.
I'm never realy sure what people mean by 'long range'. To do anything in martial arts short of throwing a weapon, you have to be within touching distance with a hand of foot or what ever. This to me is close enough to be short range. How you get that distance is another matter. Aikido like most if not all martial arts has it's ways of entering into striking distance. It also has it's ways of getting out of striking distance (which is always a good thing).I'm glad you found something useful in your Aikido training. Even if it was only one class. I hope you do well in TKD and return to Aikido later.
Actually it was just more like an orientation my TKD instructor gave us for Aikido. He was trying to encourage us to try aikido out. We only learned some basic footwork, basics of falling, and some rolling. I haven't been to an actual class yet, i still plan to when i can get time. There are also different types of self defense situations. So far i have never been in any situation where anyone has tried to actually threaten my life. Where i work, we have tons of teens that hang out and cause trouble. Many of them love to mouth off and will sometimes start fights, but i know none of them really know how to fight, they just start throwin punches and pushin people. If they were to try to start something with me, i would want to defend myself, but wouldn't want to hurt them. I think aikido would help in a situation like that.
lol ... yeah it would, it's pretty funny when you spin someone on the spot and watch them fall on their butt. Even better is the expresion on their faces when they can't figure out what you did.
that is exactly why I wanted to learn aikido, in case I encountered a fight situation I couldn't just run away from, I'm pretty sure a side kick to the knee would be considered excessive force. Ah well, hopefully nothing will happen.
Yeah. If i wanted to know how to kill someone 100 different ways i'd just join the marines or get a gun permit and not have to worry. Some people get so obsessed with how lethal their martial art is, maybe 300 years ago that was important, but now, no matter how good you are, if someone 10 ft away has a gun, nothing is going to help you except to run as fast as you can and dart back and forth, lol.
What I'd like to know is: What are some signs that an Aikido school is a quality school? I'd like to think I know what a quality TKD school looks like, but I honestly know very little about Aikido, let alone the different styles of it. I think Aikido and TKD could supplement each other on a self-defense level, because, at least how we train self-defense at my school, we rarely kick at all: It's all strikes, blocks and jointlocks. Aikido would just add throws and more sweeps to that, or so I imagine.
Hello all, new here, but I say combining TKD and Aikido is great idea and you should continue with it. I boxed thru high school, began with Shin Budo Kai Aikido in '98, took up olympic style TKD in 2000 and have been pracitcing and participating with each ever since. Some claim the philosophies are too contrasting, however philosophy can't be taught it has to be accepted. You decide if you use TKD to keep your lunch money or use Aikido to take someone else's lunch money. My experience with the TKD'ers is they're often wooden when it comes to floor work (falls, throws, general ukemi), and apprehensive with joint and pressure point manipulation. So it should help you to think round thoughts, and become friendly with the ground. TKD seems to be so sport driven these days and seems to loose alot of its effectiveness in my eyes, Aikido, for me anyways, instills a more serious approach to my practice. All in all its been alot of fun, and I hope you play around with it and learn what you will.
