Anyone know a good place to start learning? I can't afford to go to classes, but I still want to learn if it's possible without them.
Oh, come on Ken! Run a search for "learn aikido online". They got videos and everything! lol Learning it from a book is hard, but seeing it makes it a lot easier! I think aikido is a wonderful martial art - I like the idea of using your enemy's force against him to make him look like a total idiot! Granny
Oh, I can't believe I didn't even think of stuff like youtube. My computer doesn't have sound, so I avoid it and my google searches didn't come up with anything I could tell was a good resource or not. lol Great idea, though.
Thought of that already... lol My computer really doesn't have sound right now. I've reinstalled, rolledback, etc various versions of the driver, made sure everything was plugged in securely on my motherboard, etc, but my audio device still comes up as unplugged. I think it's just gone out on me and I need to get a new sound card.
Aikido is an excellent martial art, very technical and flashy when done by an expert. Although IMO many of the techniques taught in most of the styles of Aikido are just down right impractical in real life situations. I think this is partly because opponents in aikido training do not resist and practically have to throw themselves and breakfall to avoid being severely injured from the throws, and the techniques that do prove to be useful take years to truely master to a point where you can apply them effectively. I believe this is probably why judo and jiu jitsu is generally more prevalent in terms of schools and also seen in use more in MMA and such. I also believe in terms of self defense it is wise to choose an art that is going to benefit you the most sooner than later.
I agree. Personally, I think eventually I'm gonna try training jiu-jitsu. I don do any kind of martial art as of now
I would pick a more practical martial art than aikido. I've sparred with lots of aikido, kung fu and ninjitsu (etc) practitioners and it was just... bad lol. There's absolutely nothing wrong with having these styles in your arsenal, and they will be useful, but I would highly suggest learning traditional boxing, muay thai, judo (preferably Kodokan) or even capoeira or TKD before aikido. You'll have better balance, strength, stamina and situational awareness/functionality. Oh and find a place to actually take classes, whatever style you choose. If you try to learn on your own there will be no one to correct your technique, and in turn you will pick up a lot of bad habits that could take a very long time to break if you take classes down the line. I've had a few video warriors in my classes and while they sometimes understand concepts faster than other beginners, they take longer to teach because you have to cover the basics while explaining the error in what they have taught themselves.