I know, the question does have a slant to it, as one should be comparing arts such as Karate and Aikido more by complimenting them than opposing them. Still, having said that, let us discuss how the fist should fit into the glove. No guns or knives, just an honest viewpoint for your education and enlightenment.
Karate is supposed to be a linear martial arts, and Aikido is supposed to be designed for the purity of the circle. Yet, if one looks at Karate one will see that perfection of linearity is loose, at best. If Karate could actually adhere to the linear concept, considering how the bones, joints, muscles and so on fit together, the body would probably explode, or, at least fall apart from stress.
And, on the other hand, if Aikido tried to adhere to the perfect circle, except in the most theoretical of classes, the art would not work. And, to be honest, aikido is not your best art for down and dirty combat. While Aikido is pure and wonderful, and can evolve the practitioner to high levels, one should use a martial art like Karate to enter the fight, then apply aikido.
Think about it this way, a fight is the collapse of distance. The length of the arm, and the circle being made, the lever of the extend arm is too long. However, if you want magic, use karate to kick, punch, find yourself on the inside as the distance collapses, and then use a shorter lever.
Instead of stepping in and tying a three foot arm circle to a wrist twist, try a hard middle block, slide in and turn the waist. As you turn the waist, bring the arms up to a short position and catch the elbow, shove your shoulder in and go with the flow. Go ahead, try this technical adaptation with a friend, even gaze at a little youtube to get the idea of the arts involved, and you are going to find an instant blend of karate, even the hardest of karate, like Kyukoshinkai, with even the purest of Aikido, even the soft taught by Morihei Uyeshiba.
Now, the above technique being attempted, the big weakness of Karate is that it is limited, in most modern classes, to destruction. It has been altered to fit the tournament, gloves are used for more violence, and freestyle is given over to fighting for fighting sake. But, maybe you have heard me say it before, while there is an art to destruction, the true art is in control.
Thus, a study of Aikido, with the advices I give you here, will enable you to confront the fiercest violence, and transmogrify that violence into the most magical and wondrous of techniques. You kick, you punch, maybe soften the fellow up, then you simply embrace the arms and learn how to go with the flow.
A last word on this subject, don't mistake the throws of Aikido for those throws espoused by such arts as judo or jujitsu. While techniques of the jujitsu methods are quick and workable, we want to move from hard to soft in a conceptual sense, and a certain amount of hard is still needed to make most ju techniques work. That all said, I wish you the best with this new art you are creating, whether you call it...karido...aikate...your choice. - 31497
Karate is supposed to be a linear martial arts, and Aikido is supposed to be designed for the purity of the circle. Yet, if one looks at Karate one will see that perfection of linearity is loose, at best. If Karate could actually adhere to the linear concept, considering how the bones, joints, muscles and so on fit together, the body would probably explode, or, at least fall apart from stress.
And, on the other hand, if Aikido tried to adhere to the perfect circle, except in the most theoretical of classes, the art would not work. And, to be honest, aikido is not your best art for down and dirty combat. While Aikido is pure and wonderful, and can evolve the practitioner to high levels, one should use a martial art like Karate to enter the fight, then apply aikido.
Think about it this way, a fight is the collapse of distance. The length of the arm, and the circle being made, the lever of the extend arm is too long. However, if you want magic, use karate to kick, punch, find yourself on the inside as the distance collapses, and then use a shorter lever.
Instead of stepping in and tying a three foot arm circle to a wrist twist, try a hard middle block, slide in and turn the waist. As you turn the waist, bring the arms up to a short position and catch the elbow, shove your shoulder in and go with the flow. Go ahead, try this technical adaptation with a friend, even gaze at a little youtube to get the idea of the arts involved, and you are going to find an instant blend of karate, even the hardest of karate, like Kyukoshinkai, with even the purest of Aikido, even the soft taught by Morihei Uyeshiba.
Now, the above technique being attempted, the big weakness of Karate is that it is limited, in most modern classes, to destruction. It has been altered to fit the tournament, gloves are used for more violence, and freestyle is given over to fighting for fighting sake. But, maybe you have heard me say it before, while there is an art to destruction, the true art is in control.
Thus, a study of Aikido, with the advices I give you here, will enable you to confront the fiercest violence, and transmogrify that violence into the most magical and wondrous of techniques. You kick, you punch, maybe soften the fellow up, then you simply embrace the arms and learn how to go with the flow.
A last word on this subject, don't mistake the throws of Aikido for those throws espoused by such arts as judo or jujitsu. While techniques of the jujitsu methods are quick and workable, we want to move from hard to soft in a conceptual sense, and a certain amount of hard is still needed to make most ju techniques work. That all said, I wish you the best with this new art you are creating, whether you call it...karido...aikate...your choice. - 31497
About the Author:
Al Case has analyzed Karate and Aikido, and other arts, for 4O+ years. A writer for the magazines, with his own column, since'81, Al is the originator of Matrixing. You can learn more about combining arts, and Matrixing, by getting his free ebook at Monster Martial Arts.
