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Martial Arts - Page 2

For a short time, I studied shotokai karate, while at BYU. Very interesting, in that it descends from the same teacher as shotokan. Most of his (Shoto's) students, liked the very "hard" form of his teaching, so when he died, they continued in this style. One or two of his students had grasped his (much more difficult) philosophy about a "soft" style.

Within our club at BYU, we had some people who had progressed a good ways in shotokan before learning about shotokai. They would use their hard style in demonstration, and the soft shotokai responses were devastating. Unfortunately, I took a very stressful, heavy load of classes in my last term, so had to quit the club, then we moved to Arizona. Couldn't continue at all.

In Arizona, I started to study UFAF (Chuck Norris' style). A friend of ours there is a black belt in UFAF, and ran a small school in the evenings. Three of my children also participated. UFAF is a very hard style, and I didn't really like it much because of that. And, we couldn't afford it.

Also while we were in Utah, my oldest son was diagnosed with ADD. He was very aggressive and big and strong. We were worried that the combination could be extremely dangerous, so need some intense discipline. My wife and I discussed it a good bit, and neither of us wanted him to learn how to punch and kick, not with his aggression. So, we sent him to Aikido. It was incredible. The sensei helped my son to not only learn how to handle himself, but how to focus on schoolwork, how to develop relationships, etc.

Now, he is a well-adjusted teen. He was once attacked at school, and used his knowledge of Aikido to just put the attacker down on the ground, without hurting him. The attacker got up and tried it again. Same result. My son didn't hurt him, tried to avoid it, etc, but was able to take care of himself in a bad situation. Of course, under "zero tolerance", my son was given the same punishment as the attacker. But I would rather this happen than have either one of them get hurt in the exchange.

Arts Martial

Thanks for sharing that experience. I always think that I would like my son to learn some kind of self-defense or martial art to defend himself, specially from bullies at school.

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I am firmly convinced that Aikido is the way to go to provide children with that type of protection.

The saying in Aikido is that the person who attacks first is the loser. Aikido is probably the extreme in "soft" styles, in that there are no punches or kicks, only defensive grappling and throws.

I have read a lot of stories by Aikido practicioners, about situations where they have used their skills, either in demonstration or in real-life situations. The stories are all similar in that they show how the art is extremely defensive and reactive, not offensive.

A particular story that comes to mind is of a great big, teddy-bear of a prison guard, who was extremely gentle and soft-spoken. Because of his size, he was often chosen to handle unruly prisoners. After studying aikido for just a few months, he was able to subdue a very violent prisoner, without either of them getting hurt seriously. Every time the prisoner would attack, the guard would just throw him against the wall. After 4 or 5 attacks, the prisoner realized he wasn't getting anywhere, and gave up.

Can you think of a better way for your child to be able to protect himself?

BTW, if your son were to study aikido, I would suggest you THEN consider having him learn a "hard" style. There are times when a good offense really IS the best defense, especially if a person were trying to defend someone else.

(I am trying, right now, to find a way for my youngest son and myself to learn aikido, in a way that we can afford to do it.)

Page 2 Arts Martial

Well, my son just turned 4 years old. At what age is good for them to learn Aikido?. I suppose it has to do with the personality of the child, my son watches Pokemon or the Power Ranger and he gets all hyper *rolling eyes*, I had to change the channel everytime the Rangers are on, he goes and do the same moves at school. He doesn't recognize fantasy from reality too well as yet so I suppose the child needs to be a bit more mature right?.

Arts Martial

I would say to find a good Aikido dojo, and talk with the sensei. He will probably say that about 6 to 8 is a good time to start, although some may start with a 4 year old, at least to teach the discipline.

After just a few episodes, we banned Power Rangers at our home. And breaking that ban brought punishment (it's amazing how a week without ANY TV gets their attention )

Martial Arts

Thats really cool night. you know im going to go out and reserch aikido and try to learn it. Hm i always thought aikido was training with a sword, i saw a book on it somewhere. What exactly do you mean by hard and soft martial arts. Are you refering to the type of training that the sensei uses?

Martial Arts - Page 2

Just for reference there was a thread started on the best defensive martial art style if you are looking for one to start: click here.

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There are sword forms that are associated with aikido, but the art itself is focused on grappling and throwing, along with strong emphasis on personal balance and being centered.

"Hard" and "soft" martial arts refers to the general style.

Hard styles are generally very closely associated (IMO) with competition. They focus a lot on striking, kicking, and blocking with hard, sharp motions. Karate, tae kwon do, and similar styles are generally thought of as hard.

Soft styles generally use more circular motions, are more relaxed, and are much more "personal". The power of the style doesn't come strictly from how powerful the punch or kick is. A block that is relaxed in the "soft" shotokai will literally throw a shotokan practicioner off his feet as he punches.

Kung fu has a lot of mixture of the two general styles. Aikido, tai chi, and judo are generally considered soft forms, although I don't know how I would class judo. Jiu jitsu is definitely a mixture of hard and soft.