Hello to all you Aikidoka

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[Shaolin]

Hi everyone,

I have always liked Aikido since I first became familiar with it in my early days of Karate and more so as I've matured. I've never studied Aikido but have done some reading on theory and observing of techniques - good stuff. So I thought I'd check out what's going on over here.

I have studied Wing Chun Kung-Fu for a number of years and have come to feel that the two arts have some connections - though also many differences. In a sense Aikido is like Wing Chun turned inside out. Both arts are concept based, both arts control balance, both arts use the Aiki concept, both arts stay in the center of a circle more or less, both arts face both arts seem to be questioning themselves regarding reality effectiveness and so on.

I may at some point choose to study Aikido or not I am not sure if it would fit in timewise and art-wise, etc. I think that the WC I have studied would be of help as I have had some luck teaching myself some simple Aikido moves that flow right out of WC and have used them on some partners much to their surprise. One of the most fun things to me in these moves is how little energy one can use and yet get big energy releases from the Uke as he goes flying - really cool.

Whether I ultimately study Aikido I can tell you I will always wish I could have but we all have our own choices and paths to walk.

Jim

[ian]

Funny - I had a look in at a Wing Chun class recently; seemed to me they are very similar, though in aikido we run around alot more!

Ian

[akiy]

Hi James,

Thanks for your introduction and welcome to the AikiWeb Forums! I hope you'll feel welcome to ask questions about aikido here and that you'll drop by an aikido dojo sometime to see if it fits you.

-- Jun

[Ta Kung]

Hi James!

A friend of mine also studies Wing Tsun, combining it successfully with Aikido. We spend a few minutes after Aikido class, analysing the WT techniques and thier similarities to Aikido. I've attended a class of WT aswell, and there are some major similarities, I agree.

If you have time, as Jun said, do drop by an Aikido dojo to give it a try. Life's too short to miss out! :)

Regards,

Patrik