Things you like and dislike from styles you have tried

[nocturnal_]

I'll start with styles I have tried:

Shotokan Karate

• Things I Like:
  • Great Workout, Good amount of physical conditioning makes you very fit
  • Movements are not complex, easy to learn
  • Right amount of discipline & philosophy stuff (not too much, just enough)
• Things I Dislike:
  • Size and strength matter in this art
  • Movements a bit rigid and predictable
  • Yelling 'kiai' all the time makes me feel silly

Judo:

• Things I Like:
  • Great workout
  • Most throws feel very natural for me
  • Plenty of sparring makes it an effective style.
• Things I Dislike:
  • Ground techniques.
  • No comprehensive training against striking styles. This tend to create a habit of leaving the face and groin open for strikes in street situation

Shaolin Kungfu:

• Things I Like:
  • Right amount of the discipline and philosophy stuff (not too much, just enough)
  • No need to wear gi in training
  • No belt system, which means most students come to learn the art, not to show off. The attitude that what matters is your ability, not your belt.
• Things I Dislike:
  • Extreme Physical Conditioning. You need to suffer some pain if you want to excel.
  • Need a great amount of flexibility to perform some of the advanced techniques.
  • Speed, strength, stamina and flexibility matter a great deal in this art

Wing Chun Kungfu:

• Things I Like:
  • No need to wear gi in training
  • Fast, efficient, practical and nothing fancy. Great system for the street
  • Size doesn't matter, although speed matters
• Things I Dislike:
  • The internal system (power generation) takes quite some time
  • Many movements are counter-intuitive. Takes time to get used to.

BaguaZhang Kungfu & Tai Chi Quan (different arts, but I found the things I like and dislike very similar):

• Things I Like:
  • Doesn't need much power
  • Can be performed until old age
• Things I Dislike:
  • Many movements are not natural, takes a very long time to reach a practical self defence level.

Aikido (I've done trial classes only in this one):

• Things I Like:
  • Contrary to popular opinion, it's not that soft. Many joint locks can be performed as joint breaks. Many throws, if the partner is not compliant, can serve as breaks.
  • Amazing footwork
  • Throws & Joint Locks are visually pleasing
  • Does not require much physical strength
• Things I Dislike:
  • Too much time spent on the philosophical & ritual stuff
  • Too much time spent on training against attacks (wrist grabs, some sword movement attacks) that aren't typical street attacks.
  • Too little time spent on training against common street attacks against male. Not a practical street self defence for male.
  • Compared to other martial arts, movements are not simple and takes more time to perform. Until a certain degree of proficiency (which takes much longer time to master than other martial arts) has been reached, it's not practical to perform Aikido techniques in street situations.

 

[Argus]

That's a very impressive list of arts to have trained in!

One thing to keep in mind: I'm sure though that someone's impression of an art will depend highly on how long trained, and who they trained with.

 

[Takai]

One word...Politics.

 

[Touch Of Death]

One word...Politics.

Oh, you mean real world scrutiny? It can get in the way.

 

[Aiki Lee]

OK, keep in mind these are just my preferences from thespecific schools I attended and other people of these styles will have haddifferent experiences:

Isshin Ryu Karate:
What I liked:
-Connection to a respected and undisputed tradition
What I didn’t like:
-Teaching methods in my dojo were subpar. I was there for 12years and learned very little of value. The dojo was a kind of sink or swimmentality and I’m not very intuitive to martial arts.
To Shin Do:
What I liked:
-Kata practice is paired with a partner so you can actuallypractice techniques against people.
-Concept of fighting from an “elemental” attitude and how tofight appropriately from your current emotional state.
What I didn’t like:
-Lack of consistency from school to school.
-Testing consisted of prearranged demos, some of whichlooked to contain no martial skill at all.
Northern Shaolin Kung Fu:
What I liked:
-Great exercise and conditioning.
-Respected historical lineage.
What I didn’t like:
-Little time spent on self-defense or paired training.
-Teacher seemed like a bit of a nut.
Aikido:
What I like:
-Not dependent on size or strength or speed.
-Practical self-defense concepts
-A teacher who cares and values his students.
Things I didn’t like:
-Grading seems arbitrary
-Teacher can be hard to understand because English is nothis first language.
Banzenkan Aiki Ninjutsu:
What I like:
-Applicable self-defense strategies including not only whatto do during a physical confrontation, but what to do before and after oneoccurs.
-Focus on attaining measurable skill opposed to ranks witharbitrary meaning.
-Contains every element of martial arts I wanted to studyfrom unarmed striking and grappling, to ground defense, weapon training (modernand traditional), meditation.
-Pressure testing.
-Connection to ninjutsu and its related systems
-Instructors who care about progress and giving a martialarts education.
There is nothing I don’t like about Aiki Ninjutsu, exceptsometimes it seems we have so much to work on that it can be hard to decidewhen you should work on refining something or move on to something else for awhile.

 

[Takai]

Oh, you mean real world scrutiny? It can get in the way.

Just the opposite actually. The close-minded my style is better than yours. As my sifu is apt to say,"The truth is the truth wherever you find it."