Searching for a style?

Question

I want tot start out with Aikido but some say its soft and not aggressive enough. I need some suggestions please.

Answer 1

your best bet is something along the lines of muay thai and bjj. find a school that teaches both.

Answer 2

You should not really listen to other people's suggestions when it comes to choosing a martial arts style, mainly because of bias. Really take the time and think about what you want to learn and why, because you will be dedicating a considerable amount of time to a specific art. Decide if you are looking for combat effectiveness or wanting to learn traditional martial values. The art should fit and support your personality and interests; in addition it should be challenging enough without causing you too much hardship.

Be willing to try anything out and persevere in it for at least 3 months, which is the perfect amount of time to evaluate your feelings on the art and how it is improving your life and meeting your needs. Make sure that the instructor teaching the art you want to study is a good role model and a great representation of the art itself. Keep a high level awareness during your study and find out for yourself if the art is worth-while... no one can tell you better than yourself.

Answer 3

I agree that you should not choose upon the opinion of any other person than you.

I have noticed that people that practice a martial art that they really do not like it, they will give it up along the time. Usually, this happens when they practice a martial art focusing in one or more aspects such as "effectiveness"etc.

Choose the only you really like to train. The one you enjoy. Period.

Aikido is harder in the beginning because you will practice moves that you are not used to. It requires coordination and body/mind integration. After you get the feeling of Aikido, the training becomes much more fluid and fun.

If you need some info on Aikido, there are some texts at my site. It is in Portuguese, but you can translate via Google:

http://www.institutouniao.com.br/aikido/