Weekend

[nekosensei]

This weekend was fairly pleasant. Yesterday, doomsey, skulde13, limiter3118, voidness and I went to Graue Mill in Oakbrook to do some hiking. We must have been there about two to two and half hours. It was a lot of fun and I got plenty of exercise. Afterwards, voidness had to leave, but the rest of us went to anitachan and Rich's house to see their new baby. We also watched a Scottish movie called Gamerz, which was pretty cute.

So...I think limiter3118 is trying to get me interested in doing aikido. You know, I was pondering getting into a martial art for awhile now. I was thinking that it would help me get back into shape. I'm leaning more towards karate since I took some classes in it when I was in fourth grade, but aikido sounds like it could be doable too. Any thoughts out there?

Today, I finished up some grading, got ready for class tomorrow, and then went outside and did some work in the garden. It's been years since I weeded my parents' garden as a kid, and I have no idea whether some of the things out there are weeds or actual plants. I took some pictures earlier today in the hopes that someone on my friends list will know. Hmm...I guess this means I'm going to have to get off my butt, get the camera, and upload them, huh? Yeah...I'm really wiped...

Comments

[tambreet.livejournal.com]

I'm currently studying both aikido and karate, so I guess I should put forth an opinion and knowing me, it will be long (edit: it is).

Karate is a harder, fighting-type art, kind of (but also not) like boxing or kickboxing. You will spend a lot of time kicking, punching, sparring, etc. The classes (at least where I take it) tend to be fairly intense and tiring - a phenomenal workout, but you'll end up with considerably more wear and tear for your efforts.

Aikido is all about harmony and blending. Instead of facing force head-on, you are redirecting the energy. We don't spar, and we rarely block, kick or punch. In aikido, you'll have an attacker and a defender, each of whom has a role to play. You can (and will) spend just as much time learning how to be "attacked" (i.e. how to fall) as you do learning how to throw/pin people with the actual techniques. At times, it's almost like a cross between fighting and dancing.

Because of those aspects, aikido is sometimes criticized as not realistic and not useful in real-life or mixed-martial art settings. If you want to be a badass, karate is definitely the way to go... and if a karate student and an aikido student of equal experience were fighting and I had to pick a winner, I'd bet on the karate student almost every time.

Aikido will, however, teach you awareness and how to redirect attacks, both mentally and physically. Karate is all about being able to kick someone's ass. Aikido is about being able to win a fight without injuring your attacker - or even before the fight begins.

Aikido classes are still a very good workout, but are not as intense as karate. Also since it's a softer style, you may not get as sore or as many injuries (don't worry, you will get plenty sore with either one.) You may also find it more frustrating or slower in the beginning - for me even after a year, I was still kind of going through the motions, but with karate I was throwing decent kicks and punches after just a couple months.

That was all rather long, but my number one recommendation is: do some scouting. Go watch a class or two of each and possibly other martial arts. Talk to the instructors. If you find a school that looks good, try a class or two of each and see which you like better. Make sure you get along with and can learn from the instructor and also the other students... like anything, there are good an bad schools/instructors.

*Glassy eyed look*

[limiter3118.livejournal.com]

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