New aikido student

[Jon_Bahey]

Hello everyone My Names Jon just started as a member here looking forward to geting to know all of you. Little back ground, have been doing Karate and TKD my entire life (break in my life for a year with leg injury) back in it now. Im begining Aikido and Im really looking forward to it. My sensei is on his way to japan as we speak and my blessings are with him. A little nervous for him hope he finds whathes looking for (practicaly a second father that likes to hit me alot when we demonstrate in class). Im begining Aikido because it peakd an interest in me when I met an aikidoka and he talked me into trying it out. I downloaded some stuff off the internet (because its hear for a reason) such as O sensei videos and steven segaul (which by the way is amazing when he taught in Japan).
-Any suggestions you guys can give me on what to look for when I start checking out the schools. I currently have 4 schools in mind and going to be looking at them over the next week.
-Do you think I should tell my instructor I have had an extreme introduction to martial arts before this ;)?
-I have trained in 2 martial arts my whole life karate/tkd yes they are closely related (kind of) but do you think it will be hard to shut one martial art off to learn the other. More clearly do you think when I learn aikido I should put my TKD training to the side and learn Aikido (in a way block out tkd? but still hold it inside me).
Anyways thanks for reading I cant wait to begin looking forward to start browsing the site that i already havent looked at. Thanks again guys!

[Aikidog]

Hey Jon,

Welcome aboard! What are the 4 different schools your looking at? What are the different styles of Aikido? What do YOU want to get out of your training?

These are important questions to get out of the way before answering your questons.

That being said though, you will enjoy Aikido immensely no matter what style you do as long as your sensei does his job right. Its a very different martial art to TKD or Karate (I was 3 years in TKD myself) but just as effective.

[Jon_Bahey]

I definitly agree about how karate and TKD differ. I was refering to how I was taught. It was fairly similair in the way we would conduct our selves and how we trained etc...

One is called Quantum Aikido
Jack Wada-sensei, Chief Instructor

Aikido Yoshokai Association of North America home page
TAKASHI KUSHIDA-SENSEI

and the other 2 i have yet to check out.

I hope to become as good in aikido as I have been able to become in karate and tkd. I love martial arts and I love learning about them and the utlization of their techniques. I hope to actualy continue Aikido furthur then i have karate/tkd. I Look forward to what is called Randori and I hope to find a Sensei who sets the bar high allowing his students to work their hardest and not allow a technique to be done slopy and have a belt tossed our way for it. Thank you for your help aikidog i look forward to hearing from you and everyone else!

[Musubi Dojo]

Welcome John!

[Ron Tisdale]

I've heard of Jack Wada, but I don't know much about him.

Kushida Sensei, on the other hand...My teacher, Yukio Utada, was an uchideshi to him many many years ago. Some of my seniors at the Doshinkan tested under Kushida Sensei. If you like the Yoshinkan version of aikido, you should really enjoy the training under Kushida Sensei. He no longer belongs to the Yoshinkan, but I know you won't be disappointed. Expect difficult, martial training. Vitu vizuri sana...

Best,
Ron

[grondahl]

Altough I have a preference for a more structured approach to aikido and would jump at a chans to train with someone like Kushida sensei I would definitly also check out Aikido of San Jose. It seems that in addition to Jack Wada (who seems to be a Shingu stylist) Robert Nadeau Shihan is teaching one day per week at the dojo. It seems that in California you can´t swing a jo without hitting a rokudan or atleast a godan.

[Brian Dugger]

Jon,

To be honest, the aiki taiso or kihon dosa [as they call in in yoshinkan aikido] may be elusive for you in the beginning. Through experience, I remember the principle of whole body movement in circles at a coordinated center being difficult. For me, coming from "linear" hard movements to "soft" eight, s's, and ellipitical movements was challenging. Now, having done it for awhile, I look back and see how stiff and taut my mind and body were. Best wishes in the transition and good training.

[escalderon]

When looking for schools, I think it's a good idea to tell the instructor you've done a lot of martial arts. His reaction will tell you a lot about him. Plus it's important to be honest about yourself.

[Jon_Bahey]

So i have checked out 2 of the schools i didnt plan on looking at, and im checking out the other 2 tomarrow. When i talk to the new sensei and tell him about my past martial art experience. What kind of answer am i looking for? am i looking for him to ask questions about my training, what do i not want him to say? Just curious.