Hello from the Middle of Nowhere

[Please visit our sponsor:]

[Canine]

I wanted to give an introduction for myself before I jumped in, so here I am. Not really sure what to post though :) I guess to start, I'm formerly a Krav Maga student and level 2 in MAC (waste of time IMHO). I'm a paratrooper in the US Army 82nd Airborne Division currently deployed to Afghanistan, and I've had an interest in Aikido since I was a kid (I remember having a T-shirt when I was 8 that said Masters of Aikido) :P

In my free time I'm either working on my degree in Asian Studies through a correspondence college, watching movies, or playing games on my laptop. I'm an animal rights supporter, a less than talented artist, and a hobbyist computer programmer.

I've just recently decided to commit myself to Aikido. KM is fine and all, but the dual physical and spiritual aspect of Aikido really appeals to me, much more than something based purely on fighting to win like KM. I'm still four months away from getting back to the US, but I'm working on locating a good teacher to start learning when I get back. In the meantime, I ordered a few books on Aikido that were highly recommended from various online sources, and I'm impatiently awaiting their arrival :)

But anyway, I'm glad that I found Aikiweb and I hope it will be a positive experience for me, and maybe I can find something to contribute as well.

Thanks for reading, if you've made it all the way down here. Looking forward to everything Aikiweb has to offer.

[akiy]

Hi Matthew,

Welcome to AikiWeb. I hope the rest of your deployment goes well and that you find a good aikido dojo when you return to the States.

-- Jun

[Michael Hackett]

Welcome, and thank you for your service!

Semper Fi!

[Michael Vlug]

Hello Matthew and welcome! :)

[Larry Feldman]

Thank you for your service.

Try to stick with 'history' and 'philosophy' on the books, and don't worry about techniques just yet.

Is there a way to find out if anyone near your deployment has practiced Aikido, they would probably welcome a practice partner.

[danj]

Assuming you come up dry on Larrys suggestion or want to do more than the other guy wants to. Some solo sword and staff exercises and learning to roll/ breakfall might get the muscles and basic co-ordination going and give you a leg up into the art. Probably the dojo you end up will do it all a bit differently but its a start

Plenty of stuff on youtube assuming you have the bandwidth and time to sort the wheat from the chaff.

best,
dan

[ninjaqutie]

Hello from the sunny spot in Oregon :)