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Old 08-14-2007, 11:12 AM   #1
hullu
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 10
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Who can start aikido?

What is worst shape I can be to be able to start aikido? What about stretching?
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Old 08-14-2007, 11:33 AM   #2
Ron Tisdale
Dojo: Doshinkan dojo in Roxborough, Pa
Location: Phila. Pa
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 4,615
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Re: Who can start aikido?

If you are not dead, you can start.

I don't know about finish...but you can start.

Best,
Ron

Ron Tisdale
-----------------------
"The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind."
St. Bonaventure (ca. 1221-1274)
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Old 08-14-2007, 12:48 PM   #3
Dewey
Location: St. Louis, MO
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 179
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Re: Who can start aikido?

Quote:
Paavo Nurmi wrote: View Post
What is worst shape I can be to be able to start aikido? What about stretching?
Well, the very concept of "being in shape" is quite subjective. However, in my opinion, I think that as long as you have a somewhat proportionate height-to-weight bodyshape (i.e. not morbidly obese to the point that it severely effects mobility) and your cardiovascular system is strong enough to endure sustained physical exertion...there shouldn't be any problems at all. That being said, Aikido will most certainly be difficult...but a "good" difficult in that it'll help you get into shape (whatever that means).

Stretching? Well, most of us would admit that we're stiff as boards (I know I am)! I'm most certainly more flexible now than before I began Aikido, but I'm still pretty stiff. Regardless, I can see & feel the differences in my flexibility.
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Old 08-14-2007, 02:38 PM   #4
Amir Krause
Dojo: Shirokan Dojo / Tel Aviv Israel
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 692
Israel
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Re: Who can start aikido?

I guess your definition would also depend on your definition of Aikido training. A teacher could devise lots of ways for beginners just starting to practice Aikido, one could start out with very simplified partial moves and only later on continue to practicing in the manner most here would consider normal.

Amir
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Old 08-14-2007, 07:50 PM   #5
Aristeia
Location: Auckland
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 971
New Zealand
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Re: Who can start aikido?

not rveryone can start Aikido.
You must stand outside your prospective sensei's house without nourishment or encouragement for three weeks (or until he calls the cops).

Theres also a handshake you'll need to learn.

"When your only tool is a hammer every problem starts to look like a nail"
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Old 08-14-2007, 08:54 PM   #6
Ryan Sanford
Dojo: Northwest Aikido
Location: Oregon
Join Date: Oct 2006
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Re: Who can start aikido?

Quote:
Michael Fooks wrote: View Post
Theres also a handshake you'll need to learn.
Yeah, the handshake... I'm still trying to learn that one, it's a real killer! These crazy Aikido people call it "Sankyo" of all things. Not only does their handshake have a silly name, it's quite painful!
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Old 08-15-2007, 12:32 AM   #7
batemanb
 
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Dojo: Seibukan Aikido UK
Location: body in UK, heart still in Japan
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Re: Who can start aikido?

Quote:
Ryan Sanford wrote: View Post
Yeah, the handshake... I'm still trying to learn that one, it's a real killer! ....
That's cause you're not doing it right. The handshake is Nikkyo

A difficult problem is easily solved by asking yourself the question, "Just how would the Lone Ranger handle this?"
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Old 08-15-2007, 12:18 PM   #8
Cordula Meyer
Join Date: Jun 2007
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Germany
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Re: Who can start aikido?

I think you can't practice Aikido, if you have got serious problems with your lower back, your knees or if you are not able to stand without help.
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Old 08-16-2007, 07:56 AM   #9
lbb
Location: Massachusetts
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Re: Who can start aikido?

I agree with Ron: anyone with a pulse can start...but that's a bit like saying that anyone can do the splits (they can...once). Unfortunately, I know a lot of people who decided to "get in shape" by signing up for something that was a little much for them -- in more ways than just the physical exercise -- and who ended up quitting, with nothing but a failure to further discourage them from ever getting in shape. So I think if you want to not just start, but continue, you need to consider whether there are issues to be dealt with first.

So, what are the issues (as I see it) that could stand in the way of someone starting and continuing aikido training?

- Fitness level. This isn't the real big showstopper. If you've been totally sedentary, then yes, the class will be a physical challenge. Make sure you find a dojo that's got a class that's truly geared towards beginners, so the challenge isn't so much that you get injured. Beyond that, the aches and pains are something that will...well, not altogether go away, but will diminish to a bearable level if you stick with it. However...

- Eating habits. If you (like many sedentary people) have poor eating habits, this is just going to undermine what you're trying to accomplish on the mat. You need to be willing to change your eating habits to support the new challenge that you're subjecting your body to.

- Sleep habits. Same as with eating, if you sit up until 3 AM every day playing World of Warcrack, you're going to have a hard time doing much worthwhile during the day. You have to be willing to turn off the idiot box and go to bed.

- Time. A lot of people drop out of martial arts training after a few months, not because they don't enjoy it, but because they can't give up two or three evenings a week on a sustained basis. This is the kind of time commitment it takes to really see progress -- an advanced practitioner could get by with once a week and maintain their skills, perhaps, but if you're just learning, I think you need to practice more regularly.

- Underlying physical issues. I have a good friend who joined the dojo where I used to train karate, and loved it. Unfortunately, she had been sedentary, didn't do things in moderation, got injured, didn't deal with the injury properly, etc. Now she flip-flops from sedentary and injured to (briefly) active and getting injured. She's never going to be able to train on a sustained basis until she stops pretending that she has a "normal", uninjured, in-shape body and deals with what she has. I'm in a similar situation: I've got chronic anemia. If I act like I've got a "normal" body and don't take iron supplements, I'll get severely anemic -- and trying to train like that is like trying to climb a mountain with a 150-pound pack on your back.

In summary, there's nothing magical about aikido. Can you start training if you're out of shape? Sure. You just have to be willing to do what's necessary to make training possible.
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Old 08-16-2007, 08:15 AM   #10
Ron Tisdale
Dojo: Doshinkan dojo in Roxborough, Pa
Location: Phila. Pa
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Re: Who can start aikido?

Very nice post Mary. Probably the most helpful one in the thread.

Best,
Ron

Ron Tisdale
-----------------------
"The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind."
St. Bonaventure (ca. 1221-1274)
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Old 08-17-2007, 09:47 AM   #11
arderljohn
Dojo: Manila Aikido Club
Location: manila
Join Date: May 2004
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Re: Who can start aikido?

Quote:
Cordula Meyer wrote: View Post
I think you can't practice Aikido, if you have got serious problems with your lower back, your knees or if you are not able to stand without help.
yes i do agree with your oppinion, this art is more developing in proper falling and proper executioning of techniques and thats it. If if your not physically fits, so sorry pal your not be the one... but if wanna try, then this is your destiny to be more in nage. and you will never learned the other side "UKE".

Calm down my friend, everything is under control.
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Old 08-17-2007, 09:24 PM   #12
Mark Uttech
Dojo: Yoshin-ji Aikido of Marshall
Location: Wisconsin
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,224
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Re: Who can start aikido?

I have seen people in wheelchairs start aikido. I have seen blind people start aikido. I have seen people with cerebral palsy start aikido. It is an amazing asset of the human mind to try, try, try.

In gassho

Mark

- Right combination works wonders -
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Old 08-18-2007, 01:44 PM   #13
Basia Halliop
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 711
Canada
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Re: Who can start aikido?

It might also depend on the dojo. For example, if they've got enough beginners to have a training class geared towards them, how comfortable (and knowledgable) they are with letting you adapt techniques or ukemi to be safe for your initial level of fitness, etc. The ukemi (taking other people's techniques, falling, etc) is IMHO the part where fitness comes in most.

Sit in on a class or better yet see if they offer a trial class so you can see for yourself.

Last edited by Basia Halliop : 08-18-2007 at 01:47 PM.
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Old 08-18-2007, 02:08 PM   #14
Kevin Wilbanks
Location: Seattle/Southern Wisconsin
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 788
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Re: Who can start aikido?

Quote:
Basia Halliop wrote: View Post
It might also depend on the dojo. For example, if they've got enough beginners to have a training class geared towards them, how comfortable (and knowledgable) they are with letting you adapt techniques or ukemi to be safe for your initial level of fitness, etc. The ukemi (taking other people's techniques, falling, etc) is IMHO the part where fitness comes in most.

Sit in on a class or better yet see if they offer a trial class so you can see for yourself.
I think a lot depends on the dojo. I've been to dojos where I have to pay rapt attention not to get injured, being in moderately good shape and bringing almost 10 years of ukemi experience to bear on the situation - part of that experience expressing itself as letting go or neutralizing some crazy thing someone was trying to do to me, stopping, and telling them to mellow out. The point being that you need to check the place out and make sure it's not too rough.

Otherwise, Mary's advice is good. Even better would be to take some time before starting and do some basic fitness activities: a few simple weight exercises and some endurance exercise, like biking or rowing. Better still would be to continue with this supplemental exercise as you go on to train Aikido. However, most people won't do this - even people who absolutely need to, like the person caught in the injury yo-yo feedback loop Mary described. I go ahead and tell people anyway, just so they can't say they never heard of such a thing.

Most people seem to do okay at Aikido without getting serious about building up a fitness and injury-prevention base... at least for a while. On the other hand, many people who have trained in Aikido for decades usually have one or more limiting chronic injury conditions. You do the math.
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