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Old 09-12-2006, 05:14 AM   #12
Jane H
Dojo: Bishopston
Location: Swansea
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 7
Wales
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Re: Do men and women do aikido differently?

When I started doing judo a fifteen I was tough and aggressive and never thought about being a woman. I mixed it with the guys equally. Most of my aikido years have been the same although I am a lot less aggressive these days, age and the martial arts have mellowed me. (I'm in my 40's now)

There have been times when I have been treated differently because I was a woman. Stuff like 'I wouldn't want to hurt a woman'. I Did my best to ignore this, and for the most part the people I have trained with have been great. I think being small has had more effect on my aikido than being a woman.

The area I train in has very few women, for the most part I didn't really notice. Being in the changing alone was, missing out on all the news and information cause the guys just forgot they had had the conversation whilst changing is just the way it is. On the mat we were all it was fine.

Now in our own dojo I try to make no distinction between man and women. I still have a mat full of guys (who are great to train with) but although women come and try it, they are just not staying.
I think if I'm really honest with myself, I tend to be very slightly less demanding of the beginner women as they seem to want to start off more carefully. Most of the guys I had start over the years tend to throw themselves in, where as the women want to study carefully. I know this is a generalization and I do try to work with the individual. I am just thinking out loud here for the reasons we have so few women. It is not just our club, there are also only a couple of women across the other dojos in the area. There seems to be loads of women training happily out there.
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