DNForrest wrote:
If you do look in to taking Aikido, take it from an actual Aikido dojo (Ki Aikido is also acceptable). No offense to the MMA folks, but never take Aikido lessons from an MMA instructor. It takes a minimum of a decade to get a black belt in Aikido, even with constant training, which is something few, if any, MMA instructors have accomplished.
Without being an Aikidoka myself, I am not a big fan of this whole "you need at least X years of learning to achieve rank X", especially when concerning "black belts". First degree black belt in most budo styles (if they use that whole Judo-belt thing, to begin with, which holds not true for all styles of Aikido as far as I know) means nothing but basic mastery of all kihon (=basic) techniques. If I need ten years to reach mastery of basic techniques, I'd dare to question the efficieny, and in this regard the effectivity of a style. If I recall correctly, yoshinkan style aikido has a certain course in its honbu dojo, 11 months of highly intense training, after which shodan is awarded (Senshusei was the term, I think).
Now, without wanting to put the strengths of Aikido into question (after all, japanese riot police trains it), I have sparred with long term practitioners of Aikido, and while the techniques might work in a self-defence situation, like every other style, it has its limits against someone who knows what he is doing.
21 Mar 2012, 5:50 pm
