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Old 11-29-2007, 01:23 PM   #1
delcpa
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Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

If someone were training in Tae Kwon Do and wanted to cross train in another Martial Art in order to round things out, what would be your recommendation? The purpose of the training is personal self-defense and general health and well-being. No tournaments. Time constraints are such that it is only feasible to choose one.

I'm drawn to Aikido because it gives you less severe options to deal with an attacker. Which, in my experience, would probably be better most self defense situations.

However, I am definitely leaning towards BJJ because it would cover ground attacks. So it seems to me that TKD and BJJ would be a more well rounded package than TKD and Aikido.

Peace.

P.S. Switching from TKD to something else is not on the table.

P.P.S. I'm not trying to start another "which is better" thread.
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Old 11-29-2007, 01:36 PM   #2
Nafis Zahir
 
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

IMHO, it depends on what you're looking for. I am an Aikidoka. People who took BJJ on the side said that it was excellent for ground work, but more suited to one on one encounters. Aikido is better suited for multiple attackers. By you having a TKD background, you have to take that into consideration with what you've already learned and go from there. I respect all of the arts. I studied Kung Fu before and when I asked my old instructor what I could take to be more well rounded, I thought he was going to name another style of Kung Fu, but he told me to take Aikido and I have been every since!

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Old 11-29-2007, 03:04 PM   #3
Aristeia
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

I think there are benefits to both. BJJ certainly gives you plenty of non severe options - just as aikido does. BJJ will give you a large amount of confidence very quickly in terms of applicability but Aikido does more work on things like multiple attackers. Personally if it were me and self defence were the driver, I would go with BJJ. If you were interested in a traditional martial arts environment and using the art to express a particular philosophy Aikido is fantastic.

"When your only tool is a hammer every problem starts to look like a nail"
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Old 11-29-2007, 03:50 PM   #4
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

I concur with both posters in their comments. It depends on what our goals are.

I don't really buy the whole multiple attacker analogy as criteria. It is an over simplification of both arts.

If I had to over simplify it would center around the distance at which both arts start with and train with 90% of the time. Aikido would be akin to training the same distance as TKD, but not really, whereas BJJ typically focuses closer in.

If I were a TKD guy, i'd look seriously at BJJ, since one weakness I find TKD guys have is that they are not very comfortable in the close in range...really that both Aikido and BJJ deal with...but more specifically BJJ.

I would concur that if you are primarily looking at rapidly learning to deal with self defense or heavy into non-compliance, i'd start with BJJ.

I study both Aikido and BJJ, studied TKD and Karate years ago...for what it is worth!

It really is an individual call and I would recommend going to several dojos and styles to see what you personally seem to connect with!

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Old 11-29-2007, 04:58 PM   #5
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

I would just double up on my aikido training time.
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Old 11-30-2007, 08:02 AM   #6
Pierre Kewcharoen
 
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

If I had my choice and/or win the lottery, I would try to learn every martial art possible.

But for function and such I have only 3 that would probably be main concentrations:

Aikido-for above stated reasons

Jujitsu/BJJ-Ground attacks because once your aikido doesnt work and someone grabs and tackles you into the ground you are pretty much screwed.

Muay Thai-Conditioning and actually learning to strike with fists, elbows, knees, and shins.
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Old 11-30-2007, 10:15 AM   #7
Larry Feldman
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

Something else to factor in your decision is the availability of quality instruction in your area.

There is a very good argument that says find the best instructor you can.
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Old 11-30-2007, 11:48 AM   #8
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

best advice in this thread so far = go try a few classes of both.

The one that is best to do is the one you will enjoy enough to get along to class.

"When your only tool is a hammer every problem starts to look like a nail"
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Old 11-30-2007, 12:50 PM   #9
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

The last two posts are really excellent advice...not to take anything away from the others.

Best,
Ron

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Old 11-30-2007, 05:10 PM   #10
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

I'm 4th dan Tae-Kwon-Do. Traditional TKD. is a great medium to long range art but gets a little "ify" short range and on the ground.So learning some other styles to compensate for this is certainly beneficial . I trained with a professional boxer years ago because TKD short range hand techniques are "ify" As far as BJJ vs Aikido. I can tell Aikido has helped me with Joint locks ect, but is also helping me learn a different philosophy of self defence. It's more than just pounding someone with speedy strikes and kicks. Yea, I can still do it but not like I could when I was 24 yrs old. Aikido is a little more like " fight smart not hard" and I also find it much more challenging.
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Old 12-01-2007, 01:07 PM   #11
Amir Krause
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Thumbs up Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

Quote:
Aristeia wrote:
best advice in this thread so far = go try a few classes of both.

The one that is best to do is the one you will enjoy enough to get along to class
Quote:
Larry Feldman wrote: View Post
Something else to factor in your decision is the availability of quality instruction in your area.

There is a very good argument that says find the best instructor you can.
Personaly, I added some time of learning TKD to my Aikido. But, it too was very dependent on the teacher (I found a TKD teacher with actual S.D. experaince from L.E. work. And though he was young, I could see he was of the thinking and analyzing type).

In his class, we did quite a few "reality based simulation exercises". One of the things I found out from these, was that my Korindo Aikido studies have definitly made me think and have a different approach then most people, much more strategic S.D. and movement based, compared to others.

I would be careful of attributing anything to the art, and put most of the importance on the teacher.

Amir
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Old 12-02-2007, 02:02 AM   #12
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

I don't know if there are many BJJ schools around that focus purely on self defense. I think most teach tournament grappling. The problem I see in a lot of tournament martial arts is the weight class limitation. Techniques you practice in your own weight class sometimes don't work on larger stronger opponents. In self defense situations you have to deal with multiple opponents of different weight, sex and weapons. To be very fair to BJJ/MMA standard aikido is limited to telegraphed strikes, non resistant grabs and choreographed falling. However it is possible to find good aikido and bjj/mma schools that concentrate on self defense. Self defense compared to sports have a different mind set as you know. In MMA/randori or BJJ/TKD sparring etc your forced to fight. In self defense your goal is to survive and escape. If you have to fight you use every dirty trick in the book. But you have to ask yourself, will that kind of training keep you interested in the long term?
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Old 12-02-2007, 02:48 AM   #13
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

One further minor point.

AS I said before, the teacher and class are more importent than the system, still:

I have only seen BJJ in a very short seminar, and in very few TV\internet clips. And, from what I have seen, the technical\mechnical approach for S.D. of both Aikido and BJJ is very similar, same locks, same throws (this is true for several other systems). And, teachers of both M.A. strongly suggest anyone who has to fight in S.D. to stay on his feet and not get into ground-grappling.

The differences are in the training methods and focus.
The Aikido approach calls for learning to get to the ideal, by simulating it from the start, hence, symbolic attacks are often used and Uke are supposed to be co-operative for most of the road (the exact tuning depends on the teacher). Aikido places lots of focus on stand-up movement, a point I found to be rather weak with TKD practioners (you do not get points for hitting someones back).

From what I have heard of BJJ, a lot of focus is given to Ne-Waza, this is the styles strong point. From S.D. oint of view, all you need from this part is the ability to get the hell out of it (and I am quating BJJ people). Much less focus is given to stand-up.
The BJJ learning pardigam seems to have much more resistence and contests in mind, though I do not know if this also holds true for stand-up practice.

Once again, a fair recomendation would be to look for yourself, check the available teachers. And see where would you learn more.

Amir

Last edited by Amir Krause : 12-02-2007 at 02:51 AM.
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Old 12-02-2007, 11:33 AM   #14
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

I was swinging by to see if anyone replied to my gi thread and I saw this thread. So I'll give my insights. As background most of you know that I"m a judo/bjj (Brown/Blue) guy who does striking with kickboxing/mauy thai every now and then (actually more like the now because I'm getting ready to do some mma fights this spring.) I've also studied TKD as a child/teen and have done some krav maga for about a year or so. I've a good deal of time training in aikido, or hanging around guys who seriously train in aikido.

I don't train for self defense, but I do consider it's implications as I may one day have students who do. I'll break it down below.

TKD: The way I was taught, 100% worthless. The way my friend Chris was taught, very effective. The difference? He trained in full contact sparing, I trained in point sparing. I've been forced to completely re-learn every thing I thought I knew about striking in order to defend myself from attacks, and hit people back with any measure of power. I recently spared with my friend chris, he beat me senseless with only TKD striking training and bjj that he used to keep it standing up. The problem is that most TKD does not train the way he trained, thus most TKD is like what I was taught, very ineffective (at least in the good old USA)

Mauy thai/Boxing/kickboxing - very effective in the striking range, almost always trained properly. You really can't go wrong here, especially the mauy thai, unless you are a smaller person. Striking is size dependent. I know a small woman who is a 3 or 4th degree black belt in some kind of karate. She can get very scrapy and take lots of shots, but against someone my size (average build) she has a very hard time putting me away. On the other side of the coin, I know a very large man with a huge reach advantage on me. He has almost no training and I am not even closed to skilled enough to strike with him. The strikes I do land appear to not even phase him. This is why I tend more towards grappling for large opponents.

BJJ - Very effective for learning how to end a fight on the ground, or learning how to stand back up. Very sport focused, but that does not mean much in the training side of things. Most bjj gyms also have mma fighters, so you will have a chance to learn some stand up. Plus most bjj gyms rotate sparing partners, so you will not be practicing against only your weight class. I've had sparing matches against guys with 30-60 pounds on me (especially after getting my blue belt. The coach will have you spar these hulks to teach them that you don't have to be strong and muscle though everything, and that technique can help you a lot.) We did an inner-school tournament yesterday, I (at 160) was paired up with a 6 or 7 month white belt who has a major strength advantage and at least a 40 pound weight advantage. I was picked because nobody his size was there for the tourney. I could of ended the match in just a couple seconds, instead I decided to let him work, give him chances and allow him to have a good fun time. If our training was purely for our weight class, then the majority of my techniques would not work. Instead the majority of my techniques do indeed seem to work on people of all weights. Why? Because the best techniques are the fundamentals, and if you use the fundamentals, you can't go wrong. Sure that fancy stuff you delve into a purple belt might not work on a huge hulk of a man, but at that point you are more that good enough for anything but another very highly skilled grappler. But good fundamentals and a solid base will ensure you are on top and that you feel like you weight a thousand pounds.

Aikido - Well, I've met guys that have developed interesting and possibly useful skills who train in aikido. However, I've also met completely ineffective individuals as well. This is something you do not see in contact sport arts. I'd venture to say you rarely see bjj belts that cant' man handle most noobs that walk in the door. But I have seen guys with years of exp in aikido that I am confident could not use their skills. The ones I met who could usually fall into two category's. 1) They are very large strong men, 2) They have previous sport training like judo/wrestling/kickboxing/etc) and all of them have close if not over 10 years training to get to that point. I'd say that from a self defense standpoint 1-3 years in bjj/mauy thai can make a much larger difference than 1-3 years in aikido. I feel this is because the training method. There are other problems inherit to this training method. Students without hard sparing will not know what to do when they are struck. I spent a long time in TKD and then moved to krav maga. We learned many ways to disable/kill an attacker quickly, how to kick/punch/throw/etc. Within 7 seconds of my first kickboxing sparing match, I was turning my head away and running. I simply did not know what to do after I got punched in the face. This is a huge problem most aikidoka I've met do not acknowledge or at least in my opinion do not train for. I personally look at aikido as a finishing school, a place to refine basic ideas with complex low percentage movements. Kinda like being a purple belt in bjj vs a white belt. You start to learn very iffy movements that require a high level of skill, when a simple basic technique would suffice. As a judo man, what I see in most aiki demos is a lot of wasted movement to look cool. Kinda like what I see at a lot of high level bjj demos. Can it work? Sure, if trained properly there is no reason it won't work, but it will not look like those demos.

Judo - Judo is a sport based on high efficient throwing from a clinch. It also has very effective ground escapes and top controls. It has some submissions (at the very least most of the submissions a white/blue bjj student will learn). And it will develop good balance. I really think this is the best art for someone interested in basic self defense to learn. Skill is developed slower then bjj/mauy thai, but the skill that is developed is a lot harsher. I can't think of many people that would get up from a harai goshi on the pavement. Combined with a striking art and you are set for self defense. This also helps you develop the ability to not get taken down, because the who sport revolves around not getting taken down. A good replacement for this would be greco roman wrestling. If someone asked me what to train in self defense, I'd say if they don't have a black belt in judo, they should focus on that for grappling, and some form of full contact (with strikes to the head) striking. The downsides to judo is the strict if it's not judo it sucks culture, and the fact that if you want to be successful on the ground, you are going to have to find the right club. A lot of clubs are abandoning doing any ground work at all and instead focus on ways to stall for the ref to stand you back up. But there are good clubs out there that have a nice 50/50 or 70/30 split between standing/ground. What you don't want is a 90/10 or 95/5 split. Although you could always jump between bjj/judo but your learning process will be slower. The ground game of judo and the ground game of bjj are very different. BJJ is more aiki in it's approach focusing on leading your attacker and taking advantage of his mistakes. Judo ground work focuses on escaping bad positions as fast as possible, and making sure you are on top from the throw and submitting as fast as possible.

Anyways, I hope that helps. I'd highly suggest reading http://aliveness101.blogspot.com/ and watching some Matt Thornton videos before you decide. Then trying out at least a judo/bjj/some form of full contact striking (with punches to the head) and aikido. A MMA gym would also be a good place to try out. Tell them honestly what you want, and get your hands dirty. You will find what you want.

Remember generalizations are not rules. There are always things that go against them. Don't listen to me, get out there and try these things. Take a few classes in each one, do some sparing with the practitioners, ask a lot of questions, and make sure you are getting valid answers.Then take stock in what you want, and make a decision.

- Don
"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough" - Albert Einstein
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Old 12-02-2007, 12:38 PM   #15
Aristeia
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

Quote:
Darin Hyde wrote: View Post
I don't know if there are many BJJ schools around that focus purely on self defense. I think most teach tournament grappling. The problem I see in a lot of tournament martial arts is the weight class limitation. Techniques you practice in your own weight class sometimes don't work on larger stronger opponents.
A common misunderstanding. In BJJ you train stuff that is designed to help you deal specifically with larger and stronger people. I regularly get huge guys come into my club and when it comes to sparring they clearly want to test the art out. Generally I have no problem subbing them out.

where the confusion comes in is the fact there are weight divisions at comps. But comps are not general training. And the reason they divide by weight is that they also divide by skill level. In other words, when skill level is approxiamtely even, of course size makes a difference.

"When your only tool is a hammer every problem starts to look like a nail"
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Old 12-03-2007, 08:05 AM   #16
Ron Tisdale
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

Two very nice posts above.
Thanks Guys,
Ron

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Old 12-03-2007, 03:24 PM   #17
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

All tournaments I go to, including IFBJJ/ CFBJJ (AKA the "Federation"). Have Absolute or Open classes. That is, there is no weight limitation.

In the BJJ world, it is much more of an honor to win the absolute division than it is to win within your weight class.

Infact, any of my guys that ever went to the tournament have been "highly encouraged" to enter both classes, absolute and weight.

Comments by Don and Michael as above are spot on as usual.

We don't roll or train in class by weight, unless there is a huge disparity or a particular teaching point is being made. You roll with who ever happens to be there!

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Old 12-03-2007, 06:17 PM   #18
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

be interested to know whether the aikido varients that have competition also have weight classes?

"When your only tool is a hammer every problem starts to look like a nail"
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Old 12-03-2007, 06:26 PM   #19
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

I guess the question I'm wondering is, why do you want to cross-train at all? You've said some things about effectiveness against this and that attack, but have you ever been attacked? If so, was an empty-hand martial art the best way to deal with it?

I don't mean to dismiss the self-defense value of martial arts training. I do think, however, that if self-defense is your primary objective, there are better, faster, more effective and less costly methods than an empty-hand martial art. For that reason, I'll go out on a limb and say that I feel in general, self-defense is a bad reason (or perhaps "insufficient reason" is more accurate) to study a martial art.

So why else would you want to study? Well...a lot of people want to branch out because they want to try something new. I think that there are pros and cons here. It is very hard to understand where the value of a style lies until you have studied it, seriously and sincerely -- going to a couple of seminars or watching a couple of demos isn't enough. If you do this, you will almost certainly take away something of great value -- as a former karateka who took up aikido when I moved away from my karate dojo, I don't feel that I like aikido more or less than karate, but I do feel that I appreciate both and maybe understand both more. But the "something" I have isn't really a tangible thing. Yeah, I'm probably somewhat more able than the average bear to do something about it if someone decides to get wrong with me, but I just don't expect that to happen. It's not why I train, and if it were all I got out of training, it wouldn't be worth it. Simply put, I do it because I love the doing of the thing. I love the training, period.

Would I like to be able to continue training karate as well as aikido? Sure, in an ideal world. In fact, I actually do have such an opportunity -- about three months after I started training aikido, I got a job that takes me to Boston three days a week, where my old karate dojo is located. I could pick up and train karate for a night or two a week. Maybe I'll do it some day, but probably not. I'm not independently wealthy, which means I have to work and I have other obligations -- I just can't give two arts the time they deserve. I would rather just do a decent job of training one, than make a botch of trying to train two. So...think about it. There are a lot of martial arts out there, maybe you're lucky enough to have access to two good schools in different styles. Whether you have the proper amount of time to devote to them is another matter.
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Old 12-03-2007, 08:48 PM   #20
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

I certainly concur with your comments concerning self defense! I have made the same argument here myself over the years. If Self Defense is a primary goal of training, then empty handed martial arts are not a very efficient delivery mechanism for accomplishing that goal!

To me it is a much more complex topic that deals with many, many aspects of training.

TKD, BJJ, Aikido all offer a different perspective and different methodologies for training. Each person has a different reason for training.

Sort of like a being a potter I suppose. To many it is important to explore the full range and skills of pottery and the joy of making pots in various techniques, shapes, sizes, mediums etc.

To others it is all about having a bowl to eat your cereal out of. (endstate).

For those individuals it would seem to make much more sense to simply go to the store and purchase the bowl already made than to go through the trouble of making it!

I think many might say the are interested in the endstate of having the pot (self defense), but really I think they are more focused on the journey and looking at what it has to offer than anything else!

Otherwise they would spend their time and money on more efficient self defense mechanisms.

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Old 12-04-2007, 01:33 AM   #21
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

Quote:
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be interested to know whether the aikido varients that have competition also have weight classes?
Shodokan Aikido does not.

Peter Rehse Shodokan Aikido
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Old 12-04-2007, 11:23 AM   #22
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

thanks Peter

"When your only tool is a hammer every problem starts to look like a nail"
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Old 12-05-2007, 09:26 AM   #23
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

have you ever been in a situation that demands your life?

Before you drive or steer your vehicle, you must first start the engine, release the brake and find gear!
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Old 12-05-2007, 06:29 PM   #24
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

Quote:
Michael Fooks wrote: View Post
A common misunderstanding. In BJJ you train stuff that is designed to help you deal specifically with larger and stronger people. I regularly get huge guys come into my club and when it comes to sparring they clearly want to test the art out. Generally I have no problem subbing them out.

where the confusion comes in is the fact there are weight divisions at comps. But comps are not general training. And the reason they divide by weight is that they also divide by skill level. In other words, when skill level is approxiamtely even, of course size makes a difference.
Thanks for the correction. I think as with any art it comes down to skill. As you said if skill level is the same or not good enough then size makes a difference. I was wondering how that transfers to self defense. The dude who started this thread is making his choice based on that. Does generic BJJ differ a lot from say BJJ tailored for self defense?
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Old 12-05-2007, 10:26 PM   #25
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Re: Recommended Cross Train in Aikido or BJJ?

Quote:
Mathew McDowell wrote: View Post
have you ever been in a situation that demands your life?
Speaking of life and death situation;

Once upon a time while snorkeling off a Tropical Island (Pulau Tioman in Malaysia), I underestimated how strong the under-current was. I was swept down and out towards open sea. Only my most determined will to live saw me swimming frantically towards the boat while trying to get the attention of my guide to rescue me.

What appeared to be a couple of minutes in desperation, seems like an eternity.

Boon.

SHOMEN-ATE (TM), the solution to 90% of aikido and life's problems.
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