Would judo and aikido be a good mix?
I would be very cautious of Aikido. It looks really cool, but a lot of it is catching and trying to control a punch. This is tremendously difficult and almost imposable. Judo is far more popular for good reason, it is tested and makes use of grappling. Not all Judo is the same to my knowledge. A lot of Judo are throws made by grabbing the other person's shirt. All Judo and Brazilian Jujitsu (BJJ=ground fighting centered Judo) do this to a degree, bit I would prefer doing this as little as possible. I would pick Judo first over any form of Aikido or Karate If you want (and can afford both time and money) to take two martial arts, take a punch and kick martial art. Personally, I would go with Mauy Thai. I don't THINK they memorized patterns like Karate, and most importantly they practice hard sparring. hard sparring=actually punching each other with protective equipment. To what amount differs from gym to gym. I do favor the philosophy of the people in MMA. They train in things that can work and if they thought memorized patterns would work, they would do it. If you love Japanese culture, then maybe Kyokushin Karate? They do memorized patterns, brick breaking, other "traditional" things I am not a fan of, but they do bag work and maybe hard sparring. Edit: Be careful of the people demeaning Judo as a sport. There are different Judo organizations and some focus on sport-ish stuff like gi grabbing more then others. It is an affective martial art and when Kano, the inventor of Judo, started teaching, he beat many Jiu-jitsu groups and beat them handedly. A lot of "sport" martial arts, like Muay Thai mentioned above teach practical training methods more so then "self defense" martial arts. The sport martial arts have full contact sparring (with safety equipment) and grappling like Judo has, you fully resist like in a wrestling match. Aikido is done with willing partner drills.
What would best complement my aikido?
I've been taking Aikido for almost a year now and have found it to be a mostly passive art. The form I study is closer to Daito-Ryu Aiki-Ju-Jutsu (where Aikido and Judo came from), so it's a bit more aggressive than most other forms of Aikido. If you study a more passive form, I'd look into something more aggressive as far as striking and ground fighting. Kickboxing is a great compliment, but I'd get into MMA which incorporates a lot of Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Boxing, Wrestling, BJJ, and Judo. You need to learn to fight on the ground. BJJ is good, but it's mostly submissions, Ju-jutsu (Japanese form) is great as it is a combination of submissions, grappling, striking and weapons, Kickboxing is good for stand up only, Systema is good, but there is a lot of hype behind it and have found it to be not much different than Krav Maga, Tai Chi is more a form of meditation than a martial art, Kendo is good if you're going to be defending yourself with a long object, I don't know what Kiaido is unless you mean Iaido which is good if you want to become a master with a sword, and Dim Mak isn't a martial art, but is rather a concept and sets of techniques in martial arts which concerns itself with debilatating and lethal blows. Hope this helps.
Should I Take Aikido or Eskrima/Escrima?
I've been looking online for lessons on either of these great martial arts... But I can't choose which! Aikido: It is about 20 minutes from my house, and school... And offers private lessons at $25 per person, per lesson. BUT, I've been reading up on Aikido, and it seems like it is very defense oriented, and has a few offensive moves... Eskrima/Escrima: I was so entranced by this since the first time I saw it. I want so much to learn this, but I don't know how much the lessons are... But it's just 10 minutes away from my school, but about 27 minutes from my house. Eskrima seems to have great defense, and offense... And plus, I'm a Filipina, so I'm leaning towards this more. Other details: - I am planning to take one or the other with my friend, or by myself. - We are both 7th graders, middle school. - I used to go to a tutoring center, which was $110 per month, $1,320 per year. But I am just going to take it every other month, which will be $660 per year. So, I'm going to go to both of these places, and see how the lessons go. But if you guys/girls talk, then I will listen. I will be reading the answers, and will be talking into account what you say. So a single answer can change my view completely, and may change my life. No pressure! Lol. AND, which ever answer helps me choose, then I will mark that as the best answer.
Kenpo Karate Or Taekwondo?
Good choice. I have a 3rd Dan in Kenpo and currently only teach Wing Chun. The practical application and training methods of Wing Chun are far superior.
Is Aikido an effective martial art?
It can work on the streets, but only after spending many years in practice. When I use to train at the Hawaii Aikikai many many years ago (When I saw Steven Segal in "Above The Law") there were many Honolulu Police Officers who trained at the dojo. I would ask them if they ever used Aikido in a situation and they said "Yes, many times, but mostly to control a suspect and cuff them." I switched to Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu after training Aikido for 8 years when a good friend who trained Jiu-Jitsu beat me in a sparring match 10 out of 10 times after training Jiu-Jitsu for just 6 months. I was never taught how to defend against leg kicks, defend against a double leg takedown slam, and once on the ground I was clueless to what was happening. I would say 95% of all Aikido schools do not train realistically for the street. Most don't even practice defense against kicks. Look at the United States Aikido Federation Testing from 5th Kyu to Shodan (1st dan black belt) there is no testing for defense against kicks. Randori (multiple attackers) is not trained realistically as well. Most of the time your attackers are taking turns one at a time and only try and grab you half *** because they are more concerned about taking ukemi (falling). Sorry I'm just pissed because I trained for 8 years religiously (5 days a week for 1-2 hours) and my Aikido failed me in a sparring match against a different style. What if it had been a real street fight? Aikido is still beautiful to watch and practice. You do get a good workout running around taking ukemi, but I would choose something else more street effective.
Which martial art should I study: Taekwondo, Aikido or Muay Thai?
Thank you for the A2ARight now I'm studying Aikido and I'm enjoying it so much! That's why I present you the:3 reasons to choose Aikido over other martial artsIn Aikido there's no size and no force involved. Whether you're small or large, Aikido offers you a framework of pins and throws which were studied to be highly effective even if you're not phisically strong. Imagine what you can do if you strengthen up, if you become more muscular and flexible.Aikido is based on circular movements and foot work. The basics of Aikido is Ashi Sabaki. If you master the few steps required and practice them again and again you will be able to escape almost any attack, a punch, a grab, a knife and so on. Tenkan is a wonderful and swift movement that allows you to place yourself behind your opponent. That's an advantage.Aikido helps you become more confident in many situations. Practice in Aikido involves many repetitions of techniques between an Uke (the attacker usually) and a Tori (the one who performs the technique). You will be thrown, you'll get pinned and, most importantly, you'll know that you're not invincible. If someone attacks you, you can die. That's something you must understand when learning a martial art. The attacker is going to hurt you very bad or, in the worst case, he is going to kill you. That's why you should be fast in your movements, avoid attacks, and reflect the strength against the attacker.As Morihei Ueshiba (the creator of Aikido) once said:Always imagine yourself on the battlefield under the fiercest attack; never forget this crucial element of training.Regarding technique, from ancient times it has been said that movements must fly like lightning and attacks must strike like thunder.