Question for those who started martial arts training from some other art and then switched to Aikido. Why did yo do this? I address especially those who thinks of Aikido as of their main art.
Hi netimen I turned to aikido from judo because I am not tall and powerfull and found aikido to be more effective for me however I still retain a great deal of respect for judo.ALL of the original aikido masters under whom I trained had a judo backgroung. These would include Kenshiro Abbe Nakazono shihan Tamura shihan Chiba shihan Noro shihan etc. Kendo also is an art that many of the original masters trained in. regards koyo
I would have to say if people have switched arts, and meant to, they probably came to Aikido from Judo. This is most prominent is countries like France and England, where the Aikido teachers were STRONG judoka. Here, for example, the Aikido was established by Seiichi Sugano, who like most Japanese people, studied judo at school, but when he left he took up Aikido. In Australia it is apparent that what he taught had no reference to judo. Others will change art from necessity. They move, or their teacher moves, etc. Regards,
I came to Aikido from Taekwondo and Taichi. I still practice Taichi, however i look upon Aikido as my main art. One of the reason i changed to Aikido from taekwondo because i wanted to learn another way to protect myself other than having an instinctive reaction to punch or kick people. My Taichi instructor also recommended Aikido suggesting it may help develop my Taichi. I also felt that Taekwondo was not addressing my aggressiveness. Since taking up Aikido i have had less Red cards playing football, and a lot less scraps outside the dojo.
When I started Aikido I hadn't done any martial arts since I was a kid. I did Judo and boxed. I choose Aikido because I was looking for something to do and I didn't really fancy anything else that was locally available.
I still train in Tae Kwon Do and started in an Aiki Kyusho Jujutsu (my instructor is a high ranking Aikido instructor as well as jujutsu) school because I wanted to work with locks and throws. But like all things in life it has changed, I now go because the atmosphere in the school is fanastic (we have no rank and no gradings), because of my instructor I am now a Reiki healer and have never felt more alive or more calm. My Tae Kwon Do is for fitness, my Aiki Kyusho Jujutsu is for living, my legs are to allow me to run away from a fight.
Since I don't know anything else about you, I won't presume to give advice to you personally. As a general comment, though, a lot of aggro-type guys deliberately practice tougher styles (like boxing, full contact karate/TKD/Kempo, or Judo with the right bunch) for exactly the opposite reason. If that's how an individual's personality is, it will come out one way or another. Rather than denying it, it may be healthiest to express it under the watchful eye of an experienced sensei by wailing on sparring partner who's willing, prepared, and able to protect himself. Oh, yeah, and wearing a cup. A few hours a week of exhausting hard sparring, chronic jammed toenails, hyperextended elbows, swollen knuckles, inflamed rotator cuffs, and you shouldn't have any more appetite for violence.
I was burned out from practicing killing and maiming and otherwise hurting people in escrima and ecclectic knife fighting. I just didn't want to do it anymore. "There has to be another way!" kind of thing. I immediately liked aikido, and years later I'm still liking aikido. I can't see myself doing anything else except kendo/kenjutsu -- and that would be on account of the sword foundation of aikido.
Many of the traditional martial arts of Japan were in danger of dying out so Jigoro Kano founder of Kodokan Judo planned to set up a section of the Kodokan to preseve them.Minoru Mochizuki was a great judoka and was chosen by Kano to study ancient arts such as Katori shinto ryu and kashima shinto ryu swordsmanship he was taken by Kano to see O SEnsei Ueshiba demonstrate his aikido which was based on ancient arts including Daito ryu jujutsu. Minoro Mochizuki went on to found Yoseikan budo. Another famous judoka Gozo Shioda also took to aikido, he went on to found Yoshinkan aikido. Modern arts like karate were not considered as budo by many traditional Japanese instructors therefor the emphasis was on kendo kenjustsu jujutsu and judo. When aikido was first promoted in the west the martial arts were not nearly as popular as they are today so the interest came mainly from those of us already training in judo. I had already studied a little jujutsu alongside judo and had only to see a single demonstration of aikido to realise that it suited my build and personality. The demonstration took place in all places, a football stadium< in Glasgow and was given for members of the REN BU Kan judo club by Abbe Kenshiro who was the first to bring aikido to Britain. He was a griend of Ueshiba and at his request O SEnsei sent Chiba shihan to britain to spread aikido. I bacame a student of Chiba shihan when he arrived. regards koyo Abbe Kenshiro
Have I understood you well? Unlike judo, modern arts were not considered as budo, so their adepts were less interested in such traditional things like swordsmanship, so they were less interested in aikido.
I think that the original shihan did look for a "link" to traditional arts when adopting a "modern" art such as aikido.In the early days they tended to speak of the individual art as a "budo" art suggesting that it had a connection to the other arts such as swordsmanship.It was rare to find a japanese teacher who had not also studied judo or kendo.There was certainly a feeling of brothership between practisioners of the martial arts then with no critisysm of other arts. I know it was the intensity of the training at seminars where the other arts were in attendance that instilled this mutual respect. regards koyo As far as karate was concerned a number of the shihan DID train in this art. Chiba shihan cross trained with Enoida shihan (tiger of shotokan) The art was held in high regard with all of the early aikido shihan.However I personally found it more easy to identify the principles of judo and kendo in my aikido training.
As for tradinitional MA, I've just finished Donn Draeger's "Classical Budjutsu", where he recommends adepts of modern arts such as aikido to try a classical art like "Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū"
I was told that aikido is a "modern" art which aims to instill traditional principles. So I can see the benefit. I train in traditional aikido which includes the aiki ken and jo as taught to Saito shihan by O Sensei. I also have friends who are kendo shihan.Their insights into martial arts have been of great value to me. regards koyo
It is of far more value to you to seak out your own weaknesses and overcome them than to seak out the weaknesses in others. regards koyo
