Hello.
I want to know what akido is like.
is it simular to judo or more like karate.
What I mean to say is, is it graphling were you try to trist your oponent up, or do you strike whith your limbs.
I once heard that it is important for a karate-ka to study akido but why?
please help me clarify this.

Hmmm... youtube would be the first place that I would check to get some general idea, but here's a bone.... Christian Tisseir sensei, one of the top aikikai shihan from what I gather.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBp4KI94CPw

Enjoy!

The usual answer is find a local aikido dojo and ask if you can watch a class.

The Aikido I have practiced for the last 14 years is a bare foot, stand-up, non-striking style. It is a blending circular misdirecting art where you use the attacker's force and inertia against him/her by applying joint locks, throws and pins.

(Dang! That's wordy!)

You are best to check the links on this forum for info.

But in the interest of getting you started:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aikido

Hey thanks for all this info.
I thought it was something like you just said, moreover it was very interesting. I would like to look at this in a dojo, but there is none.

P.S. your not to redundent

I tell my students that Aikido is a choice...to not injure your attacker. Is it different than Karate......

I've seen Karate demonstrations that looked just like Aikido Techniques with one exception, the attacker was struck with a punch or a kick, where as Aikido, the attacker was simply subdued by his own attack.

Aikido is considered a soft style because you don't have to strike your opponent to end the fight. This means that it's soft on your body, so older people tend to enjoy this kind of training.

While I was in Japan, the oldest student I saw start Aikido was 84 years old and had never done martial arts in his life.

Could an 84 year old do Karate...yes but without any sparing or contact.

With Aikido he just has to start a lot slower and be more careful on the way down to the ground.

I hope this helps a bit in understanding. But there is nothing like experience. If there is no dojo in your area, think about taking a trip to a city that has a dojo and is having a weekend seminar. That would be very helpful.