34
What you're really asking for is insight into the strengths and weaknesses of Aikido pertaining to self-defense scenarios.
Aikido uses a small number of throws, joint locks, submissions, and strikes. There are some holds and submissions done from the ground. A number of breakfalls are trained. There is some weapons training as well, notably the 4-foot Jo ...
32
NO!!!!!
Get out. Get out now. As in, do not train there even one more time.
There is always the chance of being injured in any martial art. That's true of any active sport, of course--but "combat sports" have an intention of everyone getting hit, kicked, etc. The requirement for safety is therefore paramount. You need to train safely if you are going to be ...
24
Wing chun doesn't have to be bad for this school to be bad for you. It sounds like you're not comfortable there. I think you should stop training with these people.
23
"Harden up", "come on", "toughen up", "get it together", "just do it", and "let's go" can all be slotted into the same purpose. One could even reach for "osu".
I find the gist of the phrase comes more from elements other than word choice, such as volume, sharpness of tone, or accompanying the phrase with a loud clap.
22
Nobody cares if a man likes the idea of women-only classes. They're not for you. They're for women.
With some historical perspective, poo-pooing the idea of women-only classes becomes even more ridiculous. In my lifetime, women were banned from many karate and judo dojo. To turn around so quickly and say that women must train with men, not on their own, ...
18
In my experience as a male trainer and trainee the key for a hard, educational or maybe painful training is trust between all parts of the training group.
Female fighters have told me that they were beaten up in training after they told their opponent to slow down. Afterwards they felt violently abused.
So in such a case the trainer has the responsibility ...
17
Reasons to Study Weapons
I - improved coordination
Training with weapons improves your coordination in ways that only controlling something that you don't have nerve endings in can.
II - weapons of opportunity
It's not just a stick. It's also, potentially, a sword, or a baseball bat, or a lead pipe. By training with a stick, you're also training with ...
17
First, men who know nothing about martial arts may see a woman leading the class and immediately think that they (the men) could beat up the female teacher. So they think there is no reason why the woman could teach them anything about fighting.
Second, some men might not want to train with women at all (students or teachers), because it would be awkward ...
16
Yes, but... (and it's a big "but")
Two things stimulate bone density:
Damage
Generally our biological systems are set up so that if something is damaged, cells lay down more, tougher material since clearly what we had before wasn't quite tough enough. In other tissues, this forms as scar tissue which can reduce your mobility, however bone just gives ...
16
Absolutely. I was 27ish when I took my first lessons, and was so inflexible that when I sat on the floor and stretched my leg out I could only reach halfway down my shin towards my foot. And the splits? Fuhgeddaboutit. At 14 you'll also have an inclination towards trying hard and doing your best, unlike, sadly, many kids under 12.
TKD, probably like any ...
14
I am afraid you are looking for a unicorn and you do not even know what a unicorn is.
There's a world of difference between giving your daughter enough training to "survive" a date and her surviving walking back to base after crossing Mogadishu. No Nonsense Self-Defense is a good place to start looking at these issues but is by no mean exhaustive. As for ...
answered Nov 7 '13 at 8:47
Sardathrion - against SE abuse
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14
Yes, it's possible, but if you focus on that you're likely to be disappointed.
Most people who start (any martial art, or anything else difficult for that matter) tend to drop out after a short time, or simply not have the time or natural talent to rise to elite competitive levels. And that's ok.
It seems a little early to be caring about national level ...
14
Application of force. A weapon is a force multiplier. It lets you do
more damage to your opponent, with less effort and exertion, in a shorter
period of time, while exposing you to less danger of damage yourself. Having
trained with weapons can help you in a self defense situation. This is
particularly true if you have trained in weapons that can be ...
14
I have not been impressed with the stories I hear from people who have gone to these Asian martial arts retreats. These camps seem like a way to separate Westerners from their money while providing a bare minimum of services. Much like the explosion of "teacher training" yoga retreats, they provide an experience, not an education.
First-Person Accounts
...
13
Yes, I've been to China to train at the Shaolin temple at Songshan mountain in Dengfeng, Henan, China.
I did this only for a couple of weeks, mostly just for fun. My wife (then girlfriend) was training at a school in Houston where the head instructor was an actual Shaolin monk who had moved to the U.S. to start up a school. So the monk offered to arrange ...
13
Generally, no
This is generally not true - there are many defensive arts where you improve your fighting skills right away and reach a basic proficiency within a matter of a few weeks or months at most (skill wise, at least, fitness can take longer to produce).
Many weapon based arts that are close to their original use also have this same thing - if you ...
13
No absolute measure
I do not think an absolute measure can be determined as the skill, training, and physical differences between participants in addition to local environmental factors would make any measure meaningless.
However, I have a few ideas…
Woolly Measures
If those were more woolly, they would baa…
Simplicity
The martial art needs to be ...
answered Nov 3 '16 at 8:28
Sardathrion - against SE abuse
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12
I do BJJ/grappling and stand up jujitsu, and I've discovered the following works best for long hair:
Pull your hair into a tight, low ponytail on the side of your head, not straight back, else when you grapple it will get trapped under your head on the ground.
Quickly braid the hair and secure with a second band!
It's nowhere near the work of the full ...
12
It seems a number of females share your problems. I read a number of female BJJ bloggers, and they have expressed similar feelings. My suggestion is to read what they have to say and maybe reach out to them:
A tiny, shy woman who is mad keen on jiujitsu and gives a brutally
honest account of her journey.
A post a little while ago where she talks about ...
12
There are many valid reasons (fitness, self defence, enhance self worth, socialise, whatever...) why one goes to train but politics is not one of them. So, just smile and walk away. Avoid conversations dealing with it. If asked, say you do not care. If that means leaving the dojo/style, do so. It is just not worth your time.
Whether you are "rank and file" ...
answered Sep 1 '15 at 12:00
Sardathrion - against SE abuse
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12
Just as a women that trained in both women-only and mixed-classes:
Body issues - I feel more confident when I'm surrounded by women. In my gender-mixed training I always make sure I wear long pants.
Strength - I can't do push ups, which is totally accepted in women-only class but less accepted in classes where there are mostly men. This is of course even ...
11
There can be too much training, but everything you've described here sounds fine. If a student is overtraining they'll notice decreased performance on the mat, sluggishness all day, difficulty sleeping, persistent hunger, and other signs. Frequent training is fine as long as the student builds up training frequency slowly and remains on point with their ...
11
It all comes back to the question: What are you trying to do? If you're training in sword fighting, then use a sword. Just repeat the same sword cut over and over again. Try to go as fast as you can without losing accuracy. Repeat.
In some amount of time, your forearms will tire. When they tire so much that either you're starting to slow down or you're ...
11
You're answering your own question here.
In sparring they can't go light and hit with momentum and throw dangerous moves.
I have seen another guy get an elbow to on the back of his neck and haven't seen him in weeks
I got a very strong hook that gave me a huge black eye (after asking for them to go lighter).
Last week during a seminar in knee drills a guy ...
11
I would surmise that most of the fitbit type trackers will not work accurately enough for your purposes.
Most of these models rely either on accelerometers (devices that register the change in motion), or on GPS tracking/movement. I know from personal experience that even GPS watches that purport to sense treadmills based on hand movement are spotty at best,...
11
Accidents happen. However, when you have an accident with people you are not really trying to hurt - you make extra effort to make sure the accident doesn't happen again - otherwise it is not an accident.
If someone's ego at losing in sparring causes them to attempt to really injure someone, that is not a safe person to work with. Consider what you are ...
11
Of course you should quit!
From what you said, you are neither having fun nor learning anything. I know you are young but your time is valuable. There is no point in wasting your time with people who do not appreciate you and refuse to teach you. The shame is theirs. Find another martial art class to go to, one where you can learn, grow, and have fun.
If ...
answered Jan 5 '16 at 7:40
Sardathrion - against SE abuse
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11
The military doesn't care very much about your hand to hand skills, a few months isn't a lot of time to learn, and picking a gym is mostly about which specific gyms are available to you.
Your best preparation is probably focusing on running and lifting weights.
11
Martial arts are a journey on your own path, at your own time and speed.
I have (or have had) a number of students with wide ranging issues with co-ordination, flexibility and movement. As an instructor it is very important for me to take these things into consideration when running the class - perhaps demonstrating things more slowly - or giving alternate ...
11
Practicing on a mat is not sufficient.
If you do not progress to harder materials you will not have the feedback benefit harder surfaces provide. You might think you're doing well because it's (relatively) comfortable.
The phrase "safely fall" is nebulous. Will practicing breakfalls on forgiving surfaces transfer to concrete? Of course--you're learning how ...
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