dawolfie

I think some critics of Aikido are so critical because of the length of time it takes for someone to understand the principles of Aikido, much less be able to use it.

It has some to do in how you view yourself and your own growth. The live in student in our dojo works very very hard at his AIkido, he wants to have a dojo one day and share what he has learned. Not because he is self conscious or afraid of the world, but because he wants to learn Aikido to the fullest extent.

Unless you are in the dojo for any amount of time, Aikido cannot be fully appreciated. After a handful of years, I still go in and find new things. There is just too many aspects of Aikido to be learned from a demonstration.

As far as fitness, that is also up to the student. We work out pretty hard. I lost over 30 lbs and a lady in our class lost 70lbs! Not because it is not a fitness workout, but because we push ourselves and attack as fast as we can be thrown. That is another thing so rarely overlooked, the ukemi. Where else can your learning be based on how well you can take a technique. Rolling and breakfalls are not easy, eventually they become natural, but never easy.