Can Anyone Tell Me a Little about Aikido?

[El Jugo Buen0]

Was always interested in taking it, it looks like one of the simpler martial arts while still being very effective. Are there a lot of punches thrown in it? I had two shoulder surgeries and I try to avoid throwing a punch unless I definately have to. So if anyone can give me a brief summary about it, I'd appreciate it. Thanks

[chinups]

http://www.aikidofaq.com/

[stee]

i knew a guy years back when i was doing kung fu, he did 5 years wit aikido classes, he was pretty handy too, had a real effective kick, apart from that i dont know anything else about it really. i rekon it would be good to have a crack at. everything has the pluses. but while you mentioed about throwing punches i think its not how many you throw, its how you throw them. you will have to scour the earth to find a martial arts that dont throw punches or palm heel strikes, ridge hands etc.

[USfighterFC]

It's a whole lotta joint manipulation and to put it in their terms, use their energy against them. You ever watch a steven seagal movie? It's all Aikido with breaking peoples arms and wrists and using his opponents energy flows back onto them while using very little of his own. It's totally unpractical and it takes FOREVER to learn how to do it properly. It's fairly new and came out in the 1930's i believe. If you want something without punching it's pretty tough because grappling can be even worse if your having shoulder problems.

[RMBros]

Far from being simple, Aikido is one of the most complex forms of MA, from what I've heard.

All the demos I've seen look really, really fake, but I've only seen them on film, not in person.

You won't really see anyone on an MMA show with Aikido, because it's a reactive, non-agressive form.

Anyway, it actually looks fun to learn, but it's not near the workout that other forms can be. A lot of the "masters" are fat guys, but if that's your bag, go for it.

[Gettin Big]

not too sure about Aikido, but I am a Taekwondo Master, and in WTF olympic style there are very little punches and alot of kicks, so that may suit you well, and if you have one bad shoulder, for the little amount of punches that are thrown you can use your good arm, the cardio conditioning in wtf taekwondo is very good, might be what your lookin for.

[RMBros]

I should've said this in my other post -

Training for boxing/kickboxing actually really helped my bad shoulders. The only thing that ever seemed to hurt (as in injure, not workout type pain) me was missing a big punch.

Something about heavy bag workouts was really good for mine.

[Gmill13]

Take Judo or BJJ if you can. Preferably BJJ. However, I love Judo!