Anyone take aikido?

[speedsuit721]

I guess this would apply to other martial arts too, but aikido has a lot of really intricate moves to memorize. I think my sensei thinks I'm retarded. I didn't think I would have so much trouble getting the basics of this class down, but between all of the Japanese names for the moves and the complicated foot and arm work, my confidence has taken a real blow, and I'm finding myself getting more and more intimidated in each class. I feel dumb, and it didn't help when sensei said, "When I started aikido, I wasn't the smartest person either, but I worked at it the hardest."

Anyone else have trouble gaining confidence in a martial arts class?

[gestalt]

I guess this would apply to other martial arts too, but aikido has a lot of really intricate moves to memorize. I think my sensei thinks I'm retarded. I didn't think I would have so much trouble getting the basics of this class down, but between all of the Japanese names for the moves and the complicated foot and arm work, my confidence has taken a real blow, and I'm finding myself getting more and more intimidated in each class. I feel dumb, and it didn't help when sensei said, "When I started aikido, I wasn't the smartest person either, but I worked at it the hardest."

Anyone else have trouble gaining confidence in a martial arts class?

If you want to move up in rank by all means memorize the details. Maybe you're getting hung up on that (mindset). But if you truly want to understand, first look to the physiological and spiritual principles. Do they jive with your personal philosophy? Martial arts are highly individualized despite the competition between schools.

I took Aikido for about three years so I'm by no means an expert. But my understanding was that most of it has to do with wrist control and the mindset that you will fully accept enemy aggression, the willingness to look death in the face. Indeed, the Japanese word "jujutsu" translates literally as "the way of yielding".

Look into the principles of water, Taoism, and strategy. Especially the idea that there are different types of knowledge and that you know more than you think, and think you know more than you really know (subconscious vs. realized). In my experience accepting the idea of "body wisdom" was the key to self-efficacy.

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[Valielen]

I did ju-jitsu which has the same throws, etc but less of the spiritual and traditional stuff.
How long have you been doing it? I found that a lot of females tend to feel like they have to prove themselves more than the guys. So when they struggle, it is taken a lot more seriously. The main reason why the class ratio was always 90% males and 10% females was because guys didn't really care if they weren't any good.
Also because of body mass differences, guys always have power to rely on. Girls have to get it right or it won't work at all on big uke's.
I can't tell from what you have written if this has any relevance to what you experience.

Do you get any guest senseis coming over sometimes? I found that my first sensei was amazing because he was rubbish when he started, so it was far easier for him to break down movements so that everyone could understand. The second one was naturally good and wasn't so good at explaining how to achieve the desired result.

As for the Japanese terminology, I used to carry a little card with all the names of throws, holds, locks and read them sometimes while imagining the moves in my head (or doing air moves in my room). Also, do the names get broken down for you? This often makes it easier as different throws will be combinations of the same words (eg. O-soto-gari = major outer reap... o-soto-otoshi = major outer drop).

Feel free to PM me if you like to just chat about it.

[kurokisakura]

I tried aikido and hated it. I had no problems understanding the mechanics of the moves, but I am naturally aggressive; when I saw an opening, my instinct was to exploit it in ways that differed from aikido practices--to take the offensive. It's too slow for me. The theory is a solid one, but the execution is passive; that's what I had the biggest problem with.

As for the Japanese, put it this way--I speak it to some extent. I've taken classes in conversational Japanese, and can even write in Hiragana and Katakana (the more basic written forms; Kanji is the ridiculously complicated one). I have a gift for languages; I'm lucky in that area.

[curiousgeorge01]

I guess this would apply to other martial arts too, but aikido has a lot of really intricate moves to memorize. I think my sensei thinks I'm retarded. I didn't think I would have so much trouble getting the basics of this class down, but between all of the Japanese names for the moves and the complicated foot and arm work, my confidence has taken a real blow, and I'm finding myself getting more and more intimidated in each class. I feel dumb, and it didn't help when sensei said, "When I started aikido, I wasn't the smartest person either, but I worked at it the hardest."

Anyone else have trouble gaining confidence in a martial arts class?

Well it could be lack of interest or that it goes against your natural instinct. The thing I didn't like about the art is that its sort of like a 'stunted aggression' which I feel like leads to more aggression rather than less! Arts like boxing, karate don't stunt the aggression and arts like tai chi embrace peace by trying to develop the emptiness.

Also I never felt like it was that different from other grappling arts, just heavier emphasis on spirituality and the more passive aspect. Besides that, mechanically, its very similar to arts like hapkido or jiu jitsu.

[Garfazz]

I did some aikido lessons, I found cool and all, but it was not something that I would follow for the rest of my life. I saw the senior making those sequences found super complicated and impossible to reproduce, then stood on the basics. In the few lessons I had learned the basic sequences, the basic legal defenses and can say that where I had less difficulty, were the names.

---------- Post added 12-28-2009 at 12:54 AM ----------

Now I'm doing karate, a martial arts most interesting from my point of view, as their emotional state (or something) should be different in each situation, I mean, you should know when to display aggressive, when to keep quiet and you got train the concentration, patience ... The contraction and relaxation ... :P

They say that I learn the sequences, the idea, these things easily, so I'm getting more confident, especially considering that in 2010 will be my year of competitions ... *-*

---------- Post added 12-28-2009 at 12:59 AM ----------

Continuing, I think learning a martial art is very important for the maturation of psychological more than physical, so is it for these reasons and more that I train hard and try to learn how each move should be performed so as to achieve greater efficiency, in other words, I'm cleaning technique, ending each movement unnecessary for me to waste time (I'm learning much about life with it...).

[Takeru]

Somehow I don't think your sensei was trying to demoralize you.

I don't know your routine, but I am quite sure most martial arts take a lot of dedication inside and outside of your class/dojo. There is dedication, and there is extreme dedication (these are the ones that might end up teaching said martial arts when they grow older.) The harder you work at it, the sooner you'll understand the concepts.

Find creative ways for you to remember the concepts(I find writing certain words/concepts easier to remember.) Practice certain basic moves from Aikido outside of the dojo, maybe in your backyard/park/front lawn. When he teaches a move, do it at home and before the next meet-up with your sensei. That way, you'll get the concept/move before you begin the next.

Most things are practice, practice, practice to get better at it anyways. :) When I was little, my friends older brother would often force him to do certain moves constantly to get it right. I would always watch them.

I don't know if you would consider Kendo a martial arts, but I have been thinking of taking it for about 2 years now (the cost for equipment scares the heck out of me.) I am quite sure I'll need a lot of discipline to succeed in learning Kendo.

[Firebrand9]

I took that for a year and Bujinkan Ninjutsu for 6 1/2 years. I didn't have that problem in either class (there was, however, politics and favoritism). Some degree of criticism is necessary in order for the teacher to help turn you into a better practitioner of any art form. I wouldn't judge yourself until you've been doing something consistently for at least a year.

[Locke03]

I've taken Jujitsu in the past and am taking Aikido currently, though the instruction is also mixed with elements of Aikijutsu, BJJ, Muay Thai, and good old-fashioned street fighting. You (the OP) sound a bit like me when I started and the best advice I can give is this: Quit over-thinking it, you are not going to memorize it the same way you do an academic exercise and (if it is a good dojo) everyone will be doing it slightly different.

Aikido needs to be learned by doing and a good uke is a must here; practicing with someone who doesn't know what they are doing is worse than no practice at all. It sounds trite and, I will admit, like BS, but empty your mind while practicing. Randori is great for this as it won't give you time to think and will be on the ground before you know what is happening if you try to.

[mrStevens]

As a kid I took 10 years of Aikido. Mostly once a week then in highschool I was up to 3 times a week. I never got the names down. Bad memory and all that. It's not so important.

There are different schools of Aikido. I trained in the Aikikai style founded by Tohei Sensei. Which one are you in?

Are there exercises at the beginning of class? The ones where you swing your arms around and stretch the wrists? The best thing you could do to speed up your advancement is to practice those exercises at home. I would do them at least 20 minutes a day. Those movements contain all the basics of Aikido.

The other thing is the breathing and meditation. If I remember correctly, the head of my school, Suzuki Sensei, used to do 1 hour of breathing and 1 hour of meditation every day or something crazy like that. At the time he was the highest ranking instructor outside of Japan. Figure out for yourself how much time you can do in each. Do them every day.

EDIT: Oh yeah. Most important thing to learn in class is rolling and falling. If you can be an impressive uke then you will be given a lot more leeway. If you can, watch how the black belts uke. The whole flying through the air and slapping the mat when you fall looks hard at first but it's not so bad once you get the hang of it.

[JediGlow]

I did for many years Yoshinkan style, since then I have moved to harder Ju-Juitsu styles. Currently I train in JoJutsu and love it. Not only is the Jo my weapon of choice but all my previous training has clicked or become one.


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[mrStevens]

^^ Nice. Which one are you? Cause the person on the right looks like he's about to kick some ass.

[Zodd]

Heavy reading (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.). :nerd:

I'm currently in the middle of that book, will finish it soon. So far he has talked about the very basics of swordfighting, warrior mindset and military tactics but a lot of stuff I can relate to other martial arts and a lot of problems in life. Guy killed 67 men, so he knows what he talks about.