Asian Martial Arts

[Xanthippe]

So I need some advice. Constructive input is appreciated.

I want to join a martial arts group at my university, and I have difficulties choosing between aikido and kung-fu. Do any of you have any experience with either art? Even if you don't have any practical experience, what are your views on them?

Right now, I'm more inclined to kung-fu. I feel it's more versatile, and your taught more basically. The downside is that I feel it's more violent in contrast to aikido, and aikido is way more elegant (my personal opinion) than any other martial art. Also, I'm more in favour of the philosophy behind aikido.

And an Islamic question at the end here; there's much Asian philosophy/spirituality behind most Asian martial arts. Is that problematic with Islam or can I perform martial arts without jeopardizing my faith?

[IbnMardhiyah]

What's your main reason / intention for wanting to learn martial arts?

[Xanthippe]

I think it's a good way to get in shape and build(more?) confidence. Also the martial arts portrayed in old samurai movies are quite
And yes, kung-fu isn't japanese, but still...

[IbnMardhiyah]

Movies are movies, don't ever take them as inspiration for martial arts.

If you want to take martial arts just as your preferred way of getting fit and building confidence, that's cool. Public speaking will also help out on the building confidence part, and just make sure you don't ever mistake your martial arts training as being adequate for the street.

My martial arts experience is with judo and krav maga, both informal. A friend of mine who I've known for many years taught me the more effective moves from both disciplines that would be of any value to me out on the street, and that's really the only reason why I bothered. For getting in shape and keeping fit, I just work out and ride my bike.

[Xanthippe]

I do work out, mostly cardiovascular training, but I also want some technique and group work.

No, there are tons of other sports I can do but I've really set my heart on the martial arts, and specifically aikido or kung-fu. Not just because of some old Kurosawa movie but also because it fascinates me. It's fascinating how the human body can become a weapon, and although (insh'allah) I wont be in a situation where these skills are required, I would like to learn them just for the sake of knowledge, and fitness of course.

Whoah, you know krav maga, isn't that the jewish martial art? That's definitely helpful on the street.

[IbnMardhiyah]

Xanthippe said

Whoah, you know krav maga, isn't that the jewish martial art? That's definitely helpful on the street.

I'm not an expert in it by any means, though.

There's a lot of philosophical difference as well between KM and other disciplines. And its not really a Jewish martial art, its just that the IDF took some of the most effective and deadliest moves from other different martial arts disciplines and combined them into one. And some of them aren't even really "art" but more like gruesome, sickening, and brute force moves.

[dreamdeferred]

Cool!

I've done a bit of training in both...... not extensive enough to offer an "expert" opinion but when has that ever stopped us on islamicaweb?

I now mostly train kickboxing with some informal jiu-jitsu training (though I hope to start taking up jiu-jitsu more seriously)

Aikido is pretty beautiful and philosophically you'll find a lot of food for thought. There are a number of different schools within Aikido but the majority will not focus on combat application (meaning the "street value" is pretty low.... can't really use what you don't train). You will learn how to break your fall like a champion within a few short months, comes in pretty handy in all kinds of situations. In terms of calisthenics you won't find much here, usually just a short warm up and a lot of stretching. There's quite a bit of formalism in Aikido and many senseis will discuss bushido and encourage zen meditation etc. Breathing correctly is also a big focus (ki) and if nothing else you will walk away from Aikido training with a much better posture and more natural breathing.
Training-wise it resembles practicing a dance routine... very precise.....and tons of repetition. Controlling/redirecting your opponent's momentum is the primary focus, along with joint locks, throws and evasion. IMHO In the real world it takes many years to become effective with this martial art from a self-defense standpoint. It requires a lot of precision and patience. It's certainly not useless but if your main goal is to get fit and learn how to defend yourself adequately in a short period of time this is not the art for you.

Pros:

• Deep philosophical tradition. The founder of the art (Morehei Ueshiba sp?) was a martial arts genius and a lot of his personal philosophy is woven into Aikido. You can busy yourself with his reaction to the Samurai mythos for years and not get bored.
• Because Aikido is committed to being a non-violent means of self defense you can effectively control much larger people (untrained people ) without doing much harm unless you choose to do so. This is important from a moral and legal standpoint.
• You can be clutz and fall off your bike without breaking your jaw... I can personally attest to this

Cons:

• Excessive formalism. Includes a full bow that resembles our sujood sometimes made to a picture of of Morehei. This is not meant to denote worship as it is simply a traditional Japanese show of respect but it's a little too close to shirk for my liking.
• Too many years to achieve proficiency. You're looking at about 5 years of full time training to become somewhat effective in a real combat situation. There are always exceptions but this isn't the martial art to take if time is of the essence.
• No one thinks Aikido is cool. Hahahaha.... I kid but I'm serious at the same time. And my class was filled with the biggest dorks around. (except for me ofcourse)

I'd like to go over Kung Fu as well but it would almost be useless without knowing what style you're considering. There are so many and they're wildly divergent. I took Wing Chun and it was pretty awesome.

Generally most styles of Kung Fu, excepting the internal styles (Ba Gua, Tai Chi etc) have a pretty heavy calisthenic component so you'll definately get a better workout with most hard Kung Fu styles compared to Aikido.

Let me know if you want to hear about my experience with Wing Chun.

[Wolfn]

I've wanted to learn Bujinkan for the past couple of years, but not so much now.

[Xanthippe]

Danke danke schön brother/sister (?) dreamdeferred, that was really helpful!
I don't have time to do additional workout at a gym aswell as aikido, so if it's really not that beneficial in terms of getting fitter, then I might have to drop it.

The university offers Kung Fu Tao, are you familiar with that? There is another institute that offers Kung Fu Wing Chun, much more expensive though, are the two styles very different?

[dreamdeferred]

Xanthippe said

Danke danke schön brother/sister (?) dreamdeferred, that was really helpful!
I don't have time to do additional workout at a gym aswell as aikido, so if it's really not that beneficial in terms of getting fitter, then I might have to drop it.

The university offers Kung Fu Tao, are you familiar with that? There is another institute that offers Kung Fu Wing Chun, much more expensive though, are the two styles very different?

No prob sis..... and I'm a dude who happens to have a pretty ghey username. I thought it was cool when I registered. Then...surprise I'm getting marriage invites via pm.

Not really familiar with Kung fu Tao so I can't say much about it. Wing Chun is usually pretty expensive since it draws a big crowd (being the original style Bruce Lee trained before he developed his own MMA called Jeet-Kune-Do). Two great things Wing Chun has going for it are ease of learning (you can competently defend yourself in about 6 months or so.... it was designed to train people to fight effectively in a short period of time. Conversely the style is deep enough that you can spend many years refining technique etc). Also many schools have aggressive work outs and real-world application drills which seem to suit your needs.

At the end of the day though the best thing to do would be to visit each of the schools you're interested in and take a few free classes. Each dojo/dojang has a different culture and instructors of different caliber and no amount of reading can replace direct experience.

Good luck!

[Revert]

I trained in Tiger Style Kung fu for many years. Kung fu tao is probably a local style or organisation.

Wing Chun is a close quarters style of Kung Fu utilizing quick kicks and punches. Its good for exercising too.

dreamdeferred said

No prob sis..... and I'm a dude who happens to have a pretty ghey username. I thought it was cool when I registered. Then...surprise I'm getting marriage invites via pm.

Not really familiar with Kung fu Tao so I can't say much about it. Wing Chun is usually pretty expensive since it draws a big crowd (being the original style Bruce Lee trained before he developed his own MMA called Jeet-Kune-Do). Two great things Wing Chun has going for it is ease of learning (you can competently defend yourself in about 6 months or so.... it was designed to train people to fight effectively in a short period of time. Conversely the style is deep enough that you can spend many years refining technique etc). Also many schools have an aggressive work out and real-world application drills which seem to suit your needs.

At the end of the day though the best thing to do would be to visit each of the schools you're interested in and take a few free classes. Each dojo/dojang has a different culture and instructors of different caliber and no amount of reading can replace direct experience.

Good luck!

What he said lol

[Xanthippe]

Yeah, I guess I'll go and visit them, again thanks for the advices brother
I'll report back insh'allah!

I'm going to check out these:
The Wing Chun School Norge
Oslo Wu-Tan - Welcome (About our club) (they offer an islamic style, promising!)
and OSI Kung Fu, Kung Fu Toa (it's in norwegian, so I guess it's gibberish to you guys)

[Revert]

Xanthippe said

Yeah, I guess I'll go and visit them, again thanks for the advices brother
I'll report back insh'allah!

I'm going to check out these:
The Wing Chun School Norge
Oslo Wu-Tan - Welcome (About our club) (they offer an islamic style, promising!)
and OSI Kung Fu, Kung Fu Toa (it's in norwegian, so I guess it's gibberish to you guys)

Thats cool I've never seen Islamic styles taught in the west

[Kona_Silat]

Xanthippe said

And an Islamic question at the end here; there's much Asian philosophy/spirituality behind most Asian martial arts. Is that problematic with Islam or can I perform martial arts without jeopardizing my faith?

Look up Pencak Silat (Indonesian-Malaysian)..its spiritual base is from Islam.

Revert said

Thats cool I've never seen Islamic styles taught in the west

Al-Azhar Pencak Silat Indonesian Martial Arts