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Old 11-28-2013, 03:10 AM   #1
Derrick JHB
Dojo: None
Location: Johannesburg
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 1
South Korea
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Which Style?

Hello all, My name is Derrick and I stay in SA. I want to start aikido, but there are a few things I am not clear about e.g how can there be different styles of aikido, if there are different styles which style is the best, are these all different styles, what is the difference? Tomiki, Shodokon, Yoshinkan, Shinbu.

Thank you. Derrick.
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Old 11-28-2013, 07:18 PM   #2
Mario Tobias
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 261
Philippines
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Re: Which Style?

There are no best styles, but there are best teachers.

Rather than search for the style of aikido that's perceived as "best", seek a highly competent and respected teacher as your primary prerequisite to choosing a dojo.

The art is only as good as the teacher teaching it.
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Old 11-28-2013, 11:39 PM   #3
robin_jet_alt
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 716
Australia
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Re: Which Style?

Quote:
Mario Tobias wrote: View Post
There are no best styles, but there are best teachers.

Rather than search for the style of aikido that's perceived as "best", seek a highly competent and respected teacher as your primary prerequisite to choosing a dojo.

The art is only as good as the teacher teaching it.
I completely agree. I have done 4 different styles now because of this philosophy.
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Old 11-30-2013, 07:13 AM   #4
Mary Eastland
 
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Dojo: Berkshire Hills Aikido
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,476
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Re: Which Style?

If you dig around Aikiweb a little you will see that this topic has been talked about a bit.

I have trained on just one path for my whole training with a little wander of 15 years into self defense.

You could look at the dojos in your area and do some research. Trust your gut. At a thriving dojo there will be people of all ranks and and at least 3 or 4 women.

That would be what I would look for...of course you may be looking for a different kind of training...so ask yourself what your looking for and go find it.

Mary Eastland

Dare to Tenkan
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Old 11-30-2013, 08:38 AM   #5
philipsmith
Dojo: Ren Shin Kan
Location: Birmingham
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 362
United Kingdom
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Re: Which Style?

Having trained with people in all styles my feeling is that the stylistic differences become smaller with experience. After all you can only move the body in certain ways and they all share the same fundamental root.
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Old 03-02-2014, 02:53 PM   #6
kuzushi
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 5
United_States
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Re: Which Style?

Who knows Tomiki?

Rollo
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Old 03-02-2014, 02:55 PM   #7
JP3
 
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Dojo: Wasabi Dojo
Location: Houston, TX
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Posts: 290
United_States
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Re: Which Style?

I do Tomiki, and I love it, but I have a friend who practices what I might call the Traditional, Ueshiba aikido (showing my ignorance), Hambu style and he flat loves it.

I like the TOmiki stuff (I started Hambu as a kid) because the teachning method flows out from judo's educational background, and it's easier to intake as a western mindset person, IMO. Some folks disagree, and there you have it.

I find it interesting that the kanji character for kuzushi illustrates a mountain falling on a house.
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Old 03-02-2014, 03:09 PM   #8
Larry Feldman
Dojo: Atlanta School of Aikido
Location: Atlanta, GA
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 387
United_States
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Re: Which Style?

You should narrow the question down to what styles are available to you.

But even within styles there can be a large difference in instruction - you can get generalities (Stereotypes) about the styles, but a trip to the local practitioner will e required.
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Old 03-03-2014, 11:09 PM   #9
Sojourner
Location: Adelaide
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 202
Australia
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Re: Which Style?

There is a good book for beginners of Aikido called "Aikido for Life" by Gaku Homma, in it he has a chapter called "Fried Rice" where he explains that you might call around to several chinese restarants and buy a serving of Fried Rice from each, that if you then put them next to one another on a table you would notice obvious differneces as each Chef has their own recipe and way of making Fried Rice, yet despite all being differnet styles, they are all still Fried Rice. The same is true of Aikido. I am very much still learning also about what the different styles are and as above, the only real way to know is to go and train in one of them and learn about Aikido in general and then be in a position to judge. Some styles of Aikido are considered soft styles and others like Yoshinkan are considered hard styles if that is any help to you.
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Old 03-04-2014, 06:37 AM   #10
lbb
Location: Massachusetts
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 3,202
United_States
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Re: Which Style?

Quote:
Larry Feldman wrote: View Post
You should narrow the question down to what styles are available to you.
This. Style differences are entirely a matter of academic discussion if you don't have a choice. Even if you do, don't expect that as a beginner you will find the differences really meaningful. It's not like buying a car, where you know what a car is and what it does and can make some intelligent decisions about what features you'll like/need, even if you've never owned one before. For a beginner, aikido is a new experience, conceptually. You can look at the brochures of the different models all you want, but it won't tell you much.
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Old 03-11-2014, 11:12 AM   #11
Edgecrusher
 
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Dojo: Tampa, FL
Location: Tampa, Florida
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 86
United_States
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Re: Which Style?

Like most have stated above, style differences are rarely indicated at a beginner level. Once you have been practicing for several years and attend seminars regularly you will begin to see the differences. Tomiki and Shodokan are the same, btw. I do find that you will be successful in aikido if this is the art you really want to learn.
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Old 03-13-2014, 02:07 PM   #12
jbelly
Location: sf bay area, ca
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 12
United_States
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Re: Which Style?

It would be great to find a dojo with many classes/day. I noticed that some dojos have morning, noon, and evening classes.
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Old 03-18-2014, 03:12 PM   #13
Shadowfax
 
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Dojo: Allegheny Aikido, Pitsburgh PA
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 948
United_States
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Re: Which Style?

Quote:
Derrick Fischer wrote: View Post
I want to start aikido, but there are a few things I am not clear about e.g how can there be different styles of aikido, if there are different styles which style is the best,
How can there be so many different flavors of ice crea, kinds of cars, ways to skin a cat?

People like to do, own, eat the thing that appeals most to their individual tastes. I think i the end there is only one style of aikido. The one that YOU as a individual develop for yourself over years of work. Do't worry about the style just worry about finding the right teacher for you. Whatever style he/she does will be your style until you find your own.
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