# aikido questions



## drummingman (Dec 26, 2006)

as some of you may know im a drummer and i have tendenitis in both wrists.i have really liked aikido for years and have wanted to study it but have been afraid to do so because of fear that i will mess up my wrists to where it will effect my drummer career.do you think that this is something that i should worry about? if i mes up my wrists then my drumming is out the window and that can't happen because that is what i do for a living.
also,im looking at doing aikido that is really made for street self defense and that is about the self defense aspect and not the spirituality side of this.what is a good style of aikido for this?
and is there a style of aikido that has ground fighting in it that is good for self defense? i know that in the styles of aikido that i have seen they say that if you get taken to the ground you should do whatever you have to do to get back on your feet.i know that this is the best thing for fighting on the street anyway,but i do want to have the ability to defend myself on the ground when im there.
so what do you all think?


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## drummingman (Dec 27, 2006)

no takers?


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## morph4me (Dec 27, 2006)

I'll give it a shot.  I don't really know alot about tendinitis, but I can tell you that if you can learn the wrist stretches, you'll know right away if aikido will bother you, because the stretches that are done at the beginning of each class move the wrists in the same direction as the throws and locks will. If you can't find someone to teach you the stretches, PM me and I'll do what I can in writing.

As far as a style of aikido that is for self defense there are two styles that come to mind right of the bat, Nihon Goshin and Yoshinkan (sp?), but you can also find some instructors of other styles that are probably teaching a "harder" style than you usually see in the traditional Aikido dojo's. You might also look at Aikijutsu.  Good Luck.


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## Touch Of Death (Dec 27, 2006)

Study the Art.


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## SFC JeffJ (Dec 27, 2006)

I actually find that the wrist bends common in Jujutsu and Aikido help tendinitis in that area.  Great for carpal tunnel as well.

Jeff


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## bignick (Dec 27, 2006)

I sit in front of a keyboard all day.  I've never had carpal tunnel whily studying jujustu or aikido

Ancetdotal, i know, but that's my two cents.


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## drummingman (Dec 28, 2006)

well what do you all think of hapkido when it comes to this stuff?


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## Hand Sword (Dec 28, 2006)

Pretty similar. It won't bother you, you'll adapt to the training.


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## charyuop (Dec 29, 2006)

This is from a beginner like I am...

Aikido is a beautiful Art and when learnt will let you do amazing things, beacuse it is not a pure learn this technique and now you are ok. It is more learn the way the opponent moves and what to do with his body according to his movements. You can press with your hand in one point of the opponent arm and send him down, but you might try the same spot with the opponent in a slightly different position and nothing happens (exagerated example). By this you will understand that learning Aikido depending on the sensibility of the person can be a long process.
Personally I go through some frustration with it coz at a first look the movement seems so easy, but when I have to apply them it is a diffirent thing...but I am a slow learner hee hee.

What I want to tell you is that if what you look for is an immediate self defence Art you should look carefully before starting Aikido.
But Aikido is definately something I would raccommend to everyone, so just give it a try. I am sure you will love it like I do (it is actually kinda addictive hee hee).


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## howard (Dec 29, 2006)

drummingman said:


> well what do you all think of hapkido when it comes to this stuff?



With regard to stresses on the wrists, Hapkido will be very similar to Aikido.  Both arts use wrist locks.  As a couple of others have said, you'll be doing plenty of wrist stretches in either art, and over time the stretching, combined with taking the techniques in training, will condition your wrists to the locks.  I've trained for many years in traditional Hapkido and have never had any serious wrist problems. I also spend hours a day at a computer keyboard, and have no sign of carpal tunnel syndrome.

With regard to your interest in self defense and ground fighting, you may find Hapkido more oriented toward forceful self defense than Aikido, but it will take you a good while to get proficient at its techniques, just as it would in Aikido.  It's useful to bear in mind that both arts come from some form of Aikijujusu (perhaps the same art), so there are similarities in the techniques and in their complexity.

Ground fighting... not emphasized in most traditional Hapkido curricula, but we do have a valid body of defense techniques to be used when you find yourself on the ground.  Our objective, however, is to get back on our feet as soon as it's safely possible.  Hapkido is not BJJ.


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## zDom (Dec 30, 2006)

howard said:


> With regard to stresses on the wrists, Hapkido will be very similar to Aikido.  Both arts use wrist locks.  As a couple of others have said, you'll be doing plenty of wrist stretches in either art, and over time the stretching, combined with taking the techniques in training, will condition your wrists to the locks.  I've trained for many years in traditional Hapkido and have never had any serious wrist problems. I also spend hours a day at a computer keyboard, and have no sign of carpal tunnel syndrome.



Exactly same experience here: I'm a journalist and type all day long. No carpal tunnel or other wrist problems. Also was, several years ago, active as a musician (bass player) and it did not affect my playing, either.



howard said:


> With regard to your interest in self defense and ground fighting, you may find Hapkido more oriented toward forceful self defense than Aikido, but it will take you a good while to get proficient at its techniques, just as it would in Aikido.  It's useful to bear in mind that both arts come from some form of Aikijujusu (perhaps the same art), so there are similarities in the techniques and in their complexity.



Yep



howard said:


> Ground fighting... not emphasized in most traditional Hapkido curricula, but we do have a valid body of defense techniques to be used when you find yourself on the ground.  Our objective, however, is to get back on our feet as soon as it's safely possible.  Hapkido is not BJJ.



I agree with this, too.

(Great post/advice, Howard.)


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## howard (Dec 30, 2006)

Thanks Scott.

I'm not sure why it is that a fair number of people seem to think that Hapkido is much easier to learn than Aikido. Aside from the basic grab escapes and strikes, I don't think it is at all. The locking and throwing techniques in the two arts, after all, are very similar.


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## zDom (Dec 31, 2006)

Not to mention in some HKD, there is as much kicking (sometimes even MORE kicks) as some TKDs schools to learn and master!

And learning kicking is tough in and of itself.


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## charyuop (Dec 31, 2006)

I don't think that people think Hapkido is faster to learn, but maybe it looks more "effective" in the short term. To what I can see, not knowing Hapkido that well, so I can enter in the cathegory "people judgement", in Aikido you use strikes more in an Atemi use. I see strikes in Aikido more as a distraction/a way to lead the fight in the direction you want. While it seems to me that in Hapkido there is more striking meant as a damaging strike, thus even tho the grabbing/throwing part takes long time to master you can use the striking part in case of need of self defense. Now, in every moment of Aikido's technique it is possible to apply strikes to create damage, but they are just not practiced in everyday classes.
Hope my point of view is clear.

As per having similar techniques if a beginner like me sees a video like the following one would have problems to say it is not Aikido...iriminage, kotegaeshi, shihonage and others, are done exactly the way we do them in my Aikido class.


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## howard (Dec 31, 2006)

It probably depends on how close to Choi's original art the Hapkido you run across is.  The closer it is to Choi's yawara, the more similar the striking techniques are likely to be to Aikido (or Daito-ryu, for that matter).

Our style derives directly from what Choi taught a long-time student.  Our kicks are low kicks, often to the knee and lower.  Our hand strikes are very similar to those found in Daito-ryu.

That youtube video is the Hapkiyoosool organization, I believe.  If I'm not mistaken, their highest-ranking person in the US is a guy named Jeff Allen, down in Florida.  The head of the organization trained directly under Choi, I believe... and he may have had some training in Aikido at some point.  But I'm not sure about that.

Master Allen used to post here, I believe, as did at least one of his students.  Perhaps they'll chime in.


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## drummingman (Jan 1, 2007)

thanks for the info all.
im looking into combat hapkido right now.there is a school close to my house and i must say that this style looks like everything i have been looking for in a martial art.does anyone have any experence with this style?


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## charyuop (Jan 1, 2007)

I think this is a good demo and more over made in the nation where Hapkido was made. Of course like every demo I always say "don't let enthusiasm tace control of you" hee hee.


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