Should Aikido & JuJitsu Be learned at same time

Hi Guys,

Sorry if this kind of topic has been posted before but I have a question I was hoping you more experienced guys may be able to help me out with.

I am currently learining JuJitsu with the Abbeydale JuJitsu club, I have had about 8 lessons and really enjoying it. I have had experience of JuJitsu Martial Arts before as
a kid and after coming back to it after 10 years I have found that I have picked it up again fairly quickly.

However I have always been a great admirer of Aikido, In the past few weeks I have been shown I little glimpse of the basics by a black belt that I no. This is fairly few and far between though as his health & time mean that I am not always guaranteed a lesson each week.

My question really is this,

I am definatley going to stick with JuJitsu as I really enjoy it, I am also going to learn Aikido as like I said I am a great admirer of the art and have enjoyed what I have been shown. However I am caught in two minds on how to appraoch this.

1. I could spend how ever many years it takes (Im in no rush as I no its a journey not a destination) to get to a respectable level at JuJitsu by training 2 or 3 times a week. Then after this time I could start taking Aikido lessons also.

or

2. I could take up Aikido now and join a dojo where i have guranteed lessons each week while still training with my jujitsu club also at the same time.

Just wondered what your opinions are, maye some of you have done this also?

any advice would be greatly appreciated.

They could fit beautifully or not. It depends on you, your ability and taste.

It could also depend a lot on how the Aikido is taught. I spent a lot of years learning there are different styles of instruction. The teacher can explain what is happening in the moves, or he can demonstrate endless variations and let you figure it out for yourself. Some people are good guessers and pick things up quickly. I am not.

Shop around before you decide.

I train several martial arts, JuJitsu being one of them, they all seem to compliment each other according to my approach. When I roll I find I've learned things from other arts that subconciously are applied during my sessions. Bumps, set-ups, traps, etc...

The main thing here is do you have the time? Do you have the time to dedicate to both arts, or by studying one would you take time away from the other? If you are going to study both, but can only study Aikido once a week, then it will be more of a supplemental thing. I wouldn't do that expecting to gain any depth in the art, but it's fine if you want an 'overview' of sorts.

If you have the time to split between the two arts (say each one twice a week) go for it.

--Chris

Thanks for the advice guys.

To be honest I only really have enough time at the moment to dedicate all my time to one art.

I will have a look at the Aikido clubs to see how the style of training is, there are a few in my area so should be some good variations. After I have taken a look I can decide which ine to train at in the future when I do take up the art.

Regards,

Ryan

Hi,
well...they do compliment each other well, dependent on style of Aikido...

I'm of the opinion that jujitsu is perhaps more immediately (few years-5ish) applicable to defense of self and others and dedicated practice in time (immersion) in the style chosen is best, it's a lifetime after all, one may find that at more advanced levels the style of jujitsu will come to the same place Aikido practice would arrive...

"One who chases two rabbits no eat dinner" - not my quote

Peace. Karl.

"One who chases two rabbits no eat dinner" ha I like that!

Thanks karl314285.

I have decided to dedicate all my time and effort to Jujitsu. Maybe some time in the future I could pick up a 2nd style.

Although once I finally get to a very good level of Jujitsu I may be too old to start from scratch on another style

My advice, however late;

No. Stick to one art.

Jujitsu (from my experience) does not mix well at all with Aikido (again, from my experience).

~Donnie out

Interesting Taison. Why do you feel the two don't mix well?

--Chris

I think Aikido and boxing should be practiced at the same time.

Actually John, I think boxing is a good thing to crosstrain in whatever style you practice!

Hi,

I Feel JKogas got the right point,,,In class with Oshima Sensei/ at Seminars with a variety of style....

perhaps, 15% of students and (Sad) 30-50 % of Dan rank could punch or chop, drop the dan rank stats for kicking to 30%.

Oshima Sensei DID have half classes on striking as He must have seen sad @!! Aetemi as well as unfocused attacks, sure...attack beginners slower, but throw a good technique such that if they dont at least move they get tapped. I know I was Koncked during bokken-tori...

Karl. Peace.

I think you're right. Boxing's delivery system allows the interplay for other arts. I think it is having that delivery system in place, that allows for further extrapolation, in terms of making other arts work in a more alive setting.

Case in point: I used to train a lot of kali-silat in a more traditional manner. As a result, I couldn't make it work against someone coming in with a skilled boxing attack.

Then after I had trained boxing for a while, guess what? I started seeing openings for the more traditional material. I think it takes an understanding of boxing timing to make other material work in that setting.

Now how did this thread go from the OP to a thread about the merits of boxing training? Oh yeah that's right, this is FA.com.

Very productive input, Zach.

Hey no worse than hijacking the thread and turning to into "boxing advocate 101", what's good for the goose.......

Your input is totally unproductive here, Zach. If you have nothing to add, then don't.

The original poster asked about crosstraining JJ with Aikido. I gave a reply to that, and John gave his two cents. I don't really get the problem here? Care to enlighten me?

--Chris