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Old 07-01-2008, 03:11 PM   #1
mikeybrit
Location: new jersey
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aikido practice

I've done karate and I'm used to practicing (outside the school)on my own.I'm thinking of doing Aikido ,but I have a concern.Is there a way to practice what you've learned in the dojo by yourself at home?
Also ,is two to three days at the dojo training,sufficient for acquiring aikido skills?
Thanks for any info.
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Old 07-01-2008, 03:32 PM   #2
dalen7
 
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Re: aikido practice

Quote:
Michael Britton wrote: View Post
I've done karate and I'm used to practicing (outside the school)on my own.I'm thinking of doing Aikido ,but I have a concern.Is there a way to practice what you've learned in the dojo by yourself at home?
Also ,is two to three days at the dojo training,sufficient for acquiring aikido skills?
Thanks for any info.
Hmmm.

I would say that you need to practice with someone.
Karate is striking...you can hit a bag, etc.

Think of Aikido as wrestling...not going to get far without an opponent.

Also, I have practiced 2 times a week, for over a year now...I will say it feels that 3 should be minimum for someone wanting to advance. 1 wont cut it.

Aikido is a slow art.
But it makes sense as time passes on...

Peace

dAlen

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Old 07-01-2008, 04:06 PM   #3
mikeybrit
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Wink Re: aikido practice

Thanks for the info Dalen.Much appreciated.
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Old 07-01-2008, 04:26 PM   #4
DonMagee
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Re: aikido practice

I'm sure there are tons of things you could practice on your own. I practice judo by myself all the time (I tie a gi to a heavy bag and work on my uchi-komi). The trick is finding drills that help develop skills that you feel need work.

Perhaps you simply need to work on entering. Maybe find a tree or pole and pretend it is a person. Imagine the attack and enter in standing at the proper position with the proper footwork. Another example would be practicing the solo exercises handed down in some styles of aikido (usually the more ki focused styles). Even further could be a weapon kata such as the jo kata I was taught when I first started to teach proper extension.

There are many ways, it just takes looking to find them.

- Don
"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough" - Albert Einstein
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Old 07-01-2008, 04:37 PM   #5
crbateman
 
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Re: aikido practice

If you have the time, why not just spend it in the dojo? It will be much better for you, particularly as you are just starting, and need a good foundation in the basics that you cannot teach yourself. After a time, you will pick up some exercises, meditations, balance drills, and other things that you can do at home, but there is no substitute for training in the dojo with a partner and a competent instructor.
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Old 07-01-2008, 04:44 PM   #6
mickeygelum
 
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Re: aikido practice

Mr Britton...I would suggest you find a dojo and experience the training first. Then after you have become acclimated to the training, base your decision on your time available and level of progression. Also, whether Aikikai, Shodokan, Yoshikan or whatever..the necessary adaptations to learning will influence your decision to set a training baseline. Depending on your choice, there are skills that may be honed with solo practice. But as was pointed out earlier, most skill development involves a training partner

All-in-all, once you have spent a reasonable amount of time training, you will establish a training regiment that suits you...so , find a dojo and have fun.

Train well,

Mickey
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Old 07-03-2008, 09:42 PM   #7
mwible
Dojo: Aikido of Suenaka-Ha in Greater Richmond
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Re: aikido practice

Quote:
Clark Bateman wrote: View Post
If you have the time, why not just spend it in the dojo? It will be much better for you, particularly as you are just starting, and need a good foundation in the basics that you cannot teach yourself. After a time, you will pick up some exercises, meditations, balance drills, and other things that you can do at home, but there is no substitute for training in the dojo with a partner and a competent instructor.
The problem, i think, with this advice, is that many dojo's, including my own, are ONLY open 2-3 times a week, so that is the only time you can study. That's probably why he is asking the same question i asked in the begining of my own study of Aikido.

But. To the poster. You know all the techniques you study in class? nikkyo, sankyo, ikkyo, kokyu-nage, tenchi-nage.... etc. Since you studied Karate, think of them as Kata. Practice the techniques you learned in class by visualizing an attacker; you can go through the exact same motions as you do in class. Of course you can also do jo-kata if you have learned any, or taiso, but i believe that visualizing an attacker and practicing the actual techniques themselves to be the most benefitial.

in aiki,
morgan
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Old 07-04-2008, 10:59 AM   #8
crbateman
 
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Re: aikido practice

"Going through the movements" associated with techniques on your own is different than with a partner. Singular practice cannot adequately prepare you for executing those movements with another person's weight and momentum (and intent) in the equation. Could do you more harm than good. Simple positional movements such as tenkan are an exception and can be practiced alone. Movement drills, such as rolls or funkogi undo (rowing exercise) can be practiced alone, as can weapons kata and stretching drills. But your progress will be driven by the time you spend in the dojo. If your dojo meets only a couple of times a week, ask about adding another night. If your sensei's time is limited, maybe he/she would consent to an extra night under the supervision of a ranking student. Or perhaps you could find another dojo that meets on different nights, and train in both (with the approval of both senseis, of course). This will be an added expense, but the rewards may be worth it.
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Old 07-06-2008, 05:20 AM   #9
lbb
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Re: aikido practice

As a former karateka, I'm inclined to agree with Clark. The single most difficult thing for me in aikido was dealing with the (close) presence of another body: you can try to practice techniques on your own, but even the simplest things change when another body is involved. So, even certain basic movement drills are limited in how much they can help you -- you can practice by yourself for hours, and then you try it with a partner, and...things fall apart. There's nothing in aikido that I know of that's equivalent to karate kihon and kata, that you can really practice on your own and get significant benefit from it.
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Old 07-07-2008, 04:17 PM   #10
Shany
 
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Re: aikido practice

you can practice Aikido techniques with a boken/jo on your own, since the best way to make a technique much more clean is by doing them with one of the above weapons.
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Old 07-07-2008, 06:10 PM   #11
rob_liberti
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Re: aikido practice

If you are new and going to train with bokken, then I would suggest that one tries to do as many different directions as possible of cutting (thrusting and slicing not chopping) getting your wrists nice and strong as well as flexible. Try not to stop the sword to much, just let it flow and flow and flow.

Rob
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