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Old 10-18-2010, 07:05 AM   #25
amoeba
Dojo: Aikido Netzwerk
Location: Düsseldorf, NRW
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 80
Germany
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Re: Crosstraining Aikidoka: A Survey

1) How long have you been practicing Aikido?

7 years

2) What is/are the name(s) of the other art(s) you are currently practicing?

Goju Ryu Karate

3) How long have you been practicing the other art(s) concurrent with your training in Aikido?

about 6 months

4) What ratio of time do you devote to each art (ie. how many days a week are spent practicing Aikido, how many days in the other art(s)?)

Aikido 3-4 times, Karate 1-2 times

5) Is the focus/goal of your cross training:
a) to complement your practice of Aikido
b) to broaden your knowledge/overall skill as a martial artist in general
or
c) other (if so, what?)

Probably all - I'd like to get my attacks (kicks and punches) a little sharper, I'd like to see some more of what's "out there", but most of all, it's just fun!
My aikido teacher has been in competitive karate for quite a few years prior to starting aikido and I think you do see it in her attacks... I find them quite impressive. So I think it might help there...

6) If you believe that the current art(s) you are cross training in is/are benefiting or complementing your practice of Aikido, could you please describe how?

See above. Especially when we do kicking techniques. I always hated those earlier. Punches, too... They're still a long way from perfect, but training kicking and pnuching for an hour once a week should help!

7) Can you think of any ways that your current cross training may actually be detrimental to your practice of Aikido and if so, please describe how.

Might be, because they do have different "movement schemes" - in karate, you normally stay quite straight and block (though goju ryu does have some of the circular-moving-out-of-the-way-techniques). But I haven't felt that I brought that into my aikido, I guess I've been training long enough to be able to seperate. I do occasionally have problems in karate because of my "aikido reflexes", but nothing too serious!
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