Moving to Aikido
 

Hi everyone,

I hope this is in the correct place to post this question. What would it entail to switch from Ju Jitsu to Aikido in terms of curriculum, organization/s to join, rank conversion (if such a thing exists in Aikido circles)?

Many may wonder the reasons to change as opposed to continuing to teach Ju Jitsu.

1. A big reason is the politics I find in Ju Jitsu which is often prohibitive to furthering the art.
2. Another reason is that when I can I am introducing Aikido principles and techniques in my teaching.
3. Over the past years I have definitely moved away from the hard styles of Ju Jitsu to the gentler, more fluid styles and in my mind I have adopted more of the principled embodied in Aikido.
4. My curriculum loosely correlates to what I first learnt when I began but now has taken on a new, "gentler" approach.

So I put this out there to hear what you may think or suggest.

Stephen Sheasby

Re: Moving to Aikido
 

Given the wide range of styles calling themselves "ju jitsu" worldwide, I wouldn't think that rank conversion would be an option. Coming from another style, no matter how close to aikido your personal practice may be, a sensible expectation would be to start as an unranked beginner. It may be that your sensei will choose to award you some rank at some point, but generally changing styles means starting over in terms of rank.

Re: Moving to Aikido
 

I think the first thing that makes sense to do is find a senior teacher who is part of an organization that can give you whatever organizational support you are looking for. Find somebody you get along with, see if you can get their help tweaking your skills and your curriculum. Take it from there.

Re: Moving to Aikido
 

If you want to study aikido, first step would be to find a specific teacher you want to study with, that seems to have the kinds of skills you'd like to learnn and who you feel you can learn from.

I wouldn't assume you would get any credit for training in a different martial art, even if it feels like a similar one. It could happen, but you'd kind of have to go into things ready to start at the beginning. In any case, any 'skipping' ranks would be something up to your teacher's judgement.

I'm not clear if by curriculum you're talking about yourself as a teacher? Again, your own teacher might have a certain amount of discretion in who they allow to teach in their dojo, but basically, I would expect it to be many years before you'd be qualified to teach aikido.

Re: Moving to Aikido
 

Also, about politics: anywhere you find a group of people, you'll find politics. Aikido is no more likely to be a haven from that than anything else. Though wha kind and how much will depend on the individual organisation you get involved in.

Re: Moving to Aikido
 

The best reason to move from one art to another: that green, green grass.

Re: Moving to Aikido
 

...and finding a low, low fence.

Stephen:

I think your questions can better be answered by the Aikido Federation of South Africa (http://www.aikido.org.za/afsa.asp) or another such organization (if there is one).

In your "Hi from South Africa" introductory post you said you've studied a little aikido and Daito Ryu over the last several years. Enough, perhaps, to understand that while aikido is descended from jujutsu and, to a beginner, seems to be a soft form of jujutsu, it is really a different martial art. So, to learn aikido, you need to join a dojo as a beginner and gradually learn the difference.

Re: Moving to Aikido
 

One note of caution: before you flee one martial arts club and head for another because of "politics", make sure the club you're running to doesn't have its own "politics". Aikido is in no way immune.

As for the rest, what everyone else said. Rank conversion is probably out and ease of transition depends on what style of jujutsu you're coming from.