Aikido

[Beestie]

Originally Posted by MaggieL

Interesting comment. My own thought is that as a noob you can't understand what someone's black belt test--or any rank test, really--is really about just by watching it. (I would also imagine it takes longer than 3-5 years to reach ni-dan.)

Are you Aikidoka, beestie?

2 years of KF (Northern, hard style), 1 year of Wu Shu and 3 years of TKD. Four months ago, I was 2 months away from my TKD black belt exam when the school shut down over a problem with the lease. The school had been operating under the same Master since the 80s so it took everyone by surprise. I've been agonizing over whether or not to get back into it. Its not easy to change to another school after something like that. 3 years of training up in smoke.

I'd like to go back to my first KF school - the Sifu there is a Grandmaster from old-world China and is regularly featured in KF magazine. But the school is 30 miles away so that won't work (I used to live close by). He was my best teacher.

I could go back to the WuShu school - most of the instructors are visiting instructors from the Beijing WuShu Institute (where Jet Li learned the craft) but its a very acrobatic style and it doesn't suit me very well.

So, basically, I'm in the same boat as BigV - looking for a school.