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Re: Contrasting Krav and Aikido

As a second degree black belt in Yoshinkan Aikido I can say that aikido has evolved and changed drastically. When Morihei Ueshiba, also call O Sensei, the founder of aikido first began to develop aikido it was after years of training in Aiki Jutsu. As he progressed he incorporated techniques from various styles of martial arts quick later became aikido. As O Sensei grew older he realized that aikido needed to adapt to his age and physical state. True aikido from its roots is a very effective form of self defense and incorporates some basic striking. One of O Sensei’s top students.Kenji Tomiki was one of Japan’s top judo practitioners when he began to study aikido. Sensei Tomiki later developed his own “style” Tomiki Aikido which involved competition. Another top student, Gozo Shioda, also developed his own style known as Yoshinkan Aikido. Yoshinkan Aikido is a very linear, hard style of aikido that includes various strikes. Additionally, there are countless variations of aikido including Aikikai Aikido which is more circular and in my opinion much softer than both Tomiki and Yoshinkan Aikido.

I’ve studied Yoshinkan Aikido for well over 10 years and have a very good understanding of the angles of attack. Last night I took my first Krav class and I was having difficulty with the angles. I’m more accustomed to positioning myself at very specific angle in relationship to the attacker. In my first class I soon realized that the angles were completely different and I found myself moving into a position that was too far off the line of attack. Of course with using a wider angle I often discovered that I was not in a good position to complete the strikes as instructed. I believe my aikido training can be a benefit to learning Krav, but as a complete beginner I also realize that it can also hinder my ability to properly place myself in position for defense/attack.

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Re: Welcome -cmon Introduce Yourself

Hello, I’m Jim from Charleston, West Virginia. I’ve been a long time practitioner of martial art and currently hold a rank of Nidan in Yoshinkan Aikido. I’ve been very interested in Krav Maga for a long time. However, with West Virginia being a rather small state population wise there was only one Krav training facility about 3 1/2 hours away. Anyway, Krav finally made its way to Charleston and I attended my first class last night. I loved it. I’m very excited to learn more and improve my skills and physical fitness at the same time.

I’m also very glad I found this forum and look forward to reading and learning from the more experienced forum members.

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