Thinking about Aikido

Discussion in 'General Martial Arts Discussion' started by Music Man, Dec 7, 2015.

  1. Pretty In Pink

    Pretty In Pink Moved on MAP 2017 Gold Award

    As someone who doesn't practice aikido I would be very comfortable fighting any pure aikidoka. Simply put even the few places that have good aikido still only train in one specific range. I'm better at all ranges.
     
  2. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    You are in serious trouble if you are facing more than one attacker. Any style. It is not a good situation to be in.

    I am glad you are exploring an art you like, but like John Titchen, I wonder if this is a wise choice given your music career and the emphasis on things like wrist locks that I understand Aikido has.

    Also, how many street fights do you find you get in? Are anticipating getting in? If you get in a lot, learn basic self defense ideas like de-escalation, where and when to pick places to be , trusting your spidey-sense more, etc. over picking a style of fighting. If you don't get in a lot of fights, pick an art because you enjoy it and want to spend time doing it.
     
  3. Chris Banks

    Chris Banks Valued Member

    For someone who doesn't practice the art you seem to know a lot about it.
     
  4. John Titchen

    John Titchen Still Learning Supporter

    As part of a forum cleanup I have merged the OP's 3 different recent threads on Aikido into one thread.
     
  5. Music Man

    Music Man Valued Member

    Do you mean boxing or Aikido being high on finger and wrist injuries?

    Honestly, I'm terribly indecisive on certain subjects. This is one of them. The high probability of hurting my hands or wrists when punching someone when I'm not wearing gloves is why I'm second guessing boxing and still thinking about aikido.
     
    Last edited: Oct 11, 2016
  6. David Harrison

    David Harrison MAPper without portfolio

    That doesn't make a lot of sense.

    The chances of you getting into a fight and injuring your hand by punching someone are tiny compared to the chances of you sustaining a wrist or finger injury while training Aikido.
     
  7. Music Man

    Music Man Valued Member

    Ok. I guess I was misunderstanding.
     
  8. David Harrison

    David Harrison MAPper without portfolio

    The potential for injury in training should be considered before the potential for injury during application in a violent encounter.

    You're going to be training every week, but you may never be in a fight.
     
  9. holyheadjch

    holyheadjch Valued Member

    A million times this!

    I've suffered far worse injuries during training than the overwhelming majority of people ever will in an actual confrontation. Training MA to avoid being hurt is like going swimming to avoid getting wet.
     
  10. John Titchen

    John Titchen Still Learning Supporter

    Boxing training with incorrect wraps/gloves can be high on hand and wrist injuries and utilising those techniques in self defence without the same leaves you very prone to them which is why it would not be high on my list if I was in your position career wise. I have talked through this earlier in the thread.

    Aikido in my experience can have a high incidence of wrist and finger injuries in training. There is a large focus on manipulating the wrist joint and if you are already having problems in that area and depend upon your wrists for your living once again it is an art that I would not recommend for you. This has also been covered in this thread.
     
  11. Dead_pool

    Dead_pool Spes mea in nihil Deus MAP 2017 Moi Award

    Did you ever take the free trial class of BJJ? There's loads of musicians (esp guitarists) who train, schools everywhere, and if you focus on nogi, very wrist and hand friendly.

    edit - also if you enjoy boxing, just go and do boxing! wrap properly, glove up properly and limit your time power punching a heavy bag and you'll be fine.
     
  12. Music Man

    Music Man Valued Member

    If you personally had to recommend a style to me considering my wrists, back and knee injury what would it be? Being that I'm looking for something practical that will work in a street situation I have to take that into account.

    I know any style comes with risk. I'm just wanting your personal opinion.
     
  13. Pretty In Pink

    Pretty In Pink Moved on MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Your chance encounter in an actual fight is like, less than 5% probably a lot less.

    Boxers are tough and they hit hard.

    Aikido doesn't really do anything.

    Now go and do BJJ.
     
  14. John Titchen

    John Titchen Still Learning Supporter

    Without knowing the precise specifics of your different injuries / problems that is a tall order.

    The lowdown is this. There is a difference between self defence and martial arts, though the two do have overlaps. A large part of self defence is related to skill sets and attitudes that many people develop naturally through the environment in which they've been brought up and 'life lessons'. Other (perhaps more fortunate people) often need teaching these lessons. The most important aspects of good self defence are avoidance and deterrence. The next tier of self defence, and perhaps the hardest to master, is good de-escalation skills (while some are more naturally gifted than others, this is an area that everyone can improve on). The physical tier you ask about is the least used element, the easiest to learn, and is often taught alone.

    What would I recommend? The best things for self defence will involve resistance, contact, and unpredictable training. All these things carry a risk of injury. All these things are likely to involve pain in class. There is no nice easy route to becoming proficient at engaging physical violence.

    I cannot recommend a style for you because in my experience a style is just a label. What is important is the nature of the class and the only way you are going to know that is by visiting and watching, or sharing videos from that exact club here.

    Considering your wrists, your back, your knee injury I would recommend seeing a physiotherapist and getting onto an exercise/mobility programme to fix these. Yoga, Pilates, Swimming or weightlifting may well be better right now.
     
  15. Music Man

    Music Man Valued Member

    The injuries in both wrists are long term problems. I've had 2 surgeries on my left wrist in 1999. They both are as good as they are going to get through physical therapy and surgery.

    I threw my low back out in 2012. I've had physical therapy for it and have daily exercises to help.

    I had surgery on my left knee in 08. It's good for the most part. It only hurts every so often.

    As for bjj, I do have concern about doing a style that focus mostly on ground fighting as that makes a person less mobile. I don't want to train to go to the ground as a first response because of the inherent dangers of going to the ground in a fight (getting my head kicked in by more then 1 person, The concrete is a lot worse then a padded mat in training, Etc.).

    So I'm weighing all this while still researching and trying classes.
     
  16. aikiMac

    aikiMac aikido + boxing = very good Moderator Supporter

    Tai chi. I already told you this.


    As a minor aside, I've trained in a lot of aikido at many different schools, and never saw someone get a hurt finger. Toe, yes -- caught in the mat crack. And wrist, yes, from being twisted too far. But not fingers. But anyway, that's not a big point.


    I've seen good martial arts and bad martial arts and in-between martial arts, and from what I've seen aikido can be as good or as bad as most anything else. (I might make an exception for BJJ, because of the emphasis on sparring in every class.) I don't have a problem imagining myself using aikido on the evil "street" after de-escalation and avoidance completely fail me.

    As for longevity, I think we've all seen old aikido guys and old karate guys doing their thing on the mat. I've been locked and thrown by old guys. But, myself, I've never seen an old boxer hitting the bags or jumping rope. Maybe I just haven't looked around enough.
     
  17. holyheadjch

    holyheadjch Valued Member

    Right now, you know nothing about fighting whilst stood up and you know nothing about fighting on the ground. Aikido will teach you very little about either. BJJ will teach you a lot about one and a little about the other.

    It's not a hard decision.
     
  18. aikiMac

    aikiMac aikido + boxing = very good Moderator Supporter

    :woo: :woo: :woo:


    Except that, the guy did say he has a bad back. I would worry about him rolling with guys in a BJJ class.
     
  19. holyheadjch

    holyheadjch Valued Member

    I misspoke, it will teach you a lot about fighting against pliant attackers. But only whilst stood up.
     
  20. John Titchen

    John Titchen Still Learning Supporter

    Funnily enough I don't think my karate would be the standard it is without the benefit of the techniques, principles and painful lessons I learned in my years of cross training in Aikido. I'd have no problem recommending Aikido for someone looking for physical self defence if they found a club that engaged in resistance, contact and unpredictable training. I would not however recommend it to Music Man in the light of his injuries.

    I'd have reservations accepting you as a student at my club with your injury history. Do you really NEED to do a martial art?
     

Share This Page