Karate vs. Aikido

Karate vs. Aikido

  • Karate

    Votes: 20 31.7%

  • Aikido

    Votes: 43 68.3%
  • Total voters
    63
(Yay, first post. Had to register to weigh in here.)

After two years of Ki Society Aikido and some basic DT instruction from an ex-LEO, I would say that Aikido is going to be more useful in terms of the mental end than the physical end. That is, the meditative/"anti-testosterone" (to quote an earlier post) parts are probably going to do you more good than the actual arts taught.

That being said, I think that, with a healthy dose of reality and a sense of what will work in the real world and what just looks pretty on the mats, the arts taught in aikido can indeed be useful in controlling people close-in. It all depends on what your objective is. I work as a campus safety officer, so I when I'm at work may choose to use aikido techniques to control subjects. On the other hand, if I'm just out on my own, I'll probably choose to disengage whenever possible, and if not go for something that's not nearly as ... friendly, as aikido.

On the third hand, I don't have much actual close-fighting experience, so...

-nk-
 
Any art or contact sport will do the job: it's the mind set that defines what it will get you. All serious martial arts as such have the same origin and will lead you to it sooner or rather later.

The surprising part for most people with questions such as this is that there's no way you can go out and buy 700 grams of MA. These are not goods and cannot be measured or tailored for the CQC consumer... :barf:

I'd say, try dedication and growing up some while showing it.
 
Karate vs Aikido

Though there are many paths at the foot of the mountain, all those who reach the top See the same moon.
 
The possible choices are too small to be meaningful. In fact allmost any training that is consistantly taken that works on addressing street encounters instead of forms or one on one tournament preparation will serve.
 
I'm partial to the grappling and striking arts of the late medieval Italians and Germans myself. They are well adapted to dealing with open handed, wrestling, and knife/dagger attacks without relying too much on ground techniques. Unfortunately, they are not as available as the Eastern martial arts, so finding a teacher is sometimes difficult.
 
Someone asked about JKD. I am a certified instructor in JKD Concepts (which, unlike other arts, is a VERY tough title to attain), and I think there is nothing better. There are some good progressive arts out there, but obviously I chose JKDC because I tried the rest and its the best.

I took Kenpo for a year before JKDC. I can honestly say that Kenpo made me a WORSE fighter by teaching me all kinds of useless crap that didn't work, and putting me into a static box. I would have learned more just gloving up and brawling with my buddies in my backyard for a few hours.
 
I can honestly say that Kenpo made me a WORSE fighter by teaching me all kinds of useless crap that didn't work, and putting me into a static box. I would have learned more just gloving up and brawling with my buddies in my backyard for a few hours.
Click to expand...

Amen to that. Not only Kenpo though but tons of other martial arts. I love all martial arts, but I think that many of them are studied too soon. My approach is to learn how to successfully defend myself from armed and unarmed assault as best as I can. Once I have those skills in place, only then will I move on to learn arts that may not necessarily increase my defensive fighting skills.
 
What he uses.

I'll take whatever martial art the lawyer who was shown on TV evading bullets from his insane client at point blank range by ducking and weaving behind a tree was using.
 
Not to start an argument, but I'd like to comment on the generalities I see concerning karate in this thread. First, "karate" has come to be a pretty generic term that many people associate with "a striking and kicking style primarity used for tournament fighting" or something approaching that. While some karate styles and schools do stress striking and kicking over other techniques and are heavily involved in the tournament scene, especially point tournaments, there are other traditional styles and schools that continue to stress the more classic influences that formed the basis of karate originally -- namely, a means of self defense against people trying to kill you, often with weapons.

I have trained in Goju Ryu karate for many years. It is a close-in style that includes not only striking and kicking, but also throws, take-downs, joint breaks and manipulations, linear as well as circular techniques, and is pretty versatile. While some Goju practitioners engage in sport fighting, Goju is better suited to combat application and can be very effective in practical self defense -- just how effective depends on the individual.

As for karate stances, deep and / or locked stances are not intended to be used at all times as primary fighting stances. A stance is locked at the point of impact with the target and in proper use does not detract from the fluidity required in a revolving fight. The low, wide stance is useful when fighting on rough terrain or the side of a hill.

The general term "karate" refers to many styles, some of which are more practical than others, and this post is not meant to promote Goju or any style as better than any other.
 
I have been training in Aikido for a few years now. The break falls have really saved my bacon a few times going off my motorcycle. The one time I got into a "fight" since I started training it seemed to work rather well.

Whatever you do what you put into it is what you will get out. I know some Aikidoists that couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag. I also know some that could rip your arm off and beat you with it. I have met people from both camps in all sorts of martial arts. Whatever you choose remember that there is a difference between training in martial arts and STUDYING martial arts. You shoudln't leave your Aikido/Karate/whatever you do at the dojo when you leave. You should be trying to learn new things about how to be an effective combatant at every opportunity.
 
Joel brings up a good point with breakfalls. I've saved my butt as well doing breakfalls that I learned in my year-and-a-half study of Aikido.
 
The dedication of the individual practitioner and his mind set are the most important elements in effectively preparing for self-defense. Blind faith in a name tag just because someone else thinks so is silly. There are way too many variables involved to pick a best for all label. Age of the practitioner, background, body type and general physical condition all matter and are all changing for each of us as the years go by. What may have been a solid choice for me at age 20 may not work well at age 50. What works for a 6 foot 190 lbs dude is not likely to work the same for a 5’-6” 220 lbs guy with a bum knee. You have to honestly evaluate where you are and what you are capable of in order to train effectively for likely attackers.
 
Started with Ishin Ryu Karate

and after dabbled with many others (Aikido, Bando, Kung-Fu (really hard!), Capoeira)...Well...there are components of any and all that are good(IMHO). Finding a good instructor is pivotal, and they're few an far between...If they know your goals, they should help you learn what you want. I probably lean towards karate(from a self-defence standpoint), but maybe because I had an outstanding instructor, and it was the first martial art I learned. As someone else pointed out, most all martial arts are derived from the same basics (Kung-Fu) but have been adapted in different ways. Also, as pointed out, beware of the "black-belt factories" out there...There are schools near me where you can get a "black belt" in less than a year.... My original instructor would find this laughable...In his school (and maybe that's why he gave it up and went back to the Orient) it would take YEARS of intense work to get a black belt...but it would MEAN something.
 
I am a practitoner of "Bushido", I am a Yondan (4th Dan) in Aki-jujutsu, I have studied and am Sempai (senior student of Hanshi Sichidan (7th dan) Louis Garcia, who studied under various masters in europe and japan. One important master he studied under for 2 yrs in New york under Hachidan ( 8th dan) Yoshimitsu Yamada. My Sensai has mastered over 8 diffrent Martial ways in his 30 yrs of training and has passed alot of his knowledge to me and his son. I'm not a live in student but do train 5 days a week or more sometimes, and at least 2 hours a day, not including meditation times. As a true Martialist who has studied Battodo, bodo, Iado, Kendo, koryu budo, Jujutsu, aikido, karate-do, and portions of other Bushido ways, have come to realize that all arts are created equal in some way, if you know only karate, and you fight some one that only know ju-jutsu, and are both equal in every aspect, who has the advantage? answer niether Karate is a striking technique which your opponent has to be outside of your circle and jujutsu the opponent needs to be inside and close, so the best thing for one to as kis not karate or aikido, which is better the question to ask is karate or aikido which one would I be better in. beside the fact that all striking arts have become comercial there are still some really good schools that focus more on the way than the art, more on spirituality than fighting, unless needed to defend yourself. I'm 22 yrs young 5'10 300lbs and have no problem performing any of my techniques, I just don't like to jump in the air and spin etc. so my answer for Karate VS Aikido is AIKIDO, because of my body style not that aikido is better or worse than karate.
 
As to Dfaugh i totally agree i have been studing for almost eleven years and just attained my Yondan one month ago, My Sensei will recieve his Hachidan in a month and he's been studying for 30 yrs. Also to recieve higher rank than Hachi dan he would have to found his own style.
 
Karate or Aikido

As a former police officer and now full-time Defensive Tactics Instructor, we teach a blend of Hapkido and JuJitsu for LEO and Civilains. We encourage cross-training and remain non-style specific.
 
Both

For a short answer:

Aikido should teach you awareness and non-lethal controling techniques and Karate (non-tournament) is the best martial art to learn quickly.

For a long answer, I would say that Bahadur has some very good points.

ML
 
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