Martial arts?

[nc-1701]

@nc-701: The FFAAA and FFAB (the two French Aikido federation) have to follow some rules to grant grade imposed by the French ministry of sports...

Hence the minimum time between grade.

FFAAA is my federation, and is close to Aikikai. The Aikikai representative in France is from the FFAAA, and he is the one who can recommend people to get the higher grades.

Huh?? The French Ministry of Sports regulates your Aikido organizations? Forgive me if that sounds extremely weird to me... And we also have the same minimum times between grades. I think it's from Aikikai, but it might be ASU (Our sub-organization)...

 

[Steph]

Huh?? The French Ministry of Sports regulates your Aikido organizations? Forgive me if that sounds extremely weird to me... And we also have the same minimum times between grades. I think it's from Aikikai, but it might be ASU (Our sub-organization)...

In France, to avoid the development of sects, the dan are "controlled by the State", in the meaning the State give the authorization to a federation to grant the dans. This "official" granting is important only if you want to teach Aikido and being paid for it, as then you need a state licence.
If you teach freely (or ask money to cover your expenses, like the location of the room for the dojo, without the goal of living from it), you don't need a state licence, except if you want to teach to young children, where you need one.
The French federation must respect the directive of the French ministry of sports, that ask the higher grade to be delivered by a jury that doesn't know the candiate before the exam. This is different from the Aikikai principle that requires a long observation of the candidate by his sensei.
Therefore, the French state doesn't officially recognize Aikikai grades before 5th dan, and Aikikai doesn't recognize French grades...
So what is generally done by French aikidoka is:
- They pass the French grade, with a jury of advanced Aikidoka
- They can then ask to pass Aikikai grade, with another jury, that must be lead by one of the two French Aikidoka who are authorized by Aikikai to do so.
For my federation, it's done by Christian Tissier, the Shihan designated by Aikikai for France.

After the 4th dan, there is no such restriction.

Consider it as a "local examination" within the French federations, with then a confirmation by Aikikai.

Perhaps it's more codified here because France is a large Aikido country. The largest after Japan it seems.

According to wikipedia, correct me if it is wrong, the ASU includes 90 dojos in North America. The Aikido federation of America has 140 more.
I don't how many Aikidoka you have in total in the US.

The two French main federations are the FFAB, with 694 clubs, and the FFAA with 737 clubs. We have a total of almost 1600 clubs, with around 60,000 Aikidokas. Yes, some clubs are really small: technically, it's possible to create a club with only 2 practitionners.
There are 3 different clubs in the city where I practice (a city of 40,000 inhabitants). In my club, we are 15 registered people.

 

[JohnRM]

Just to get some statistics. What martial art do you practise, if any? It would be nice to answer if you practice none, so we have some % of practicionner

I have inlcuded the main ones I add in mind, if you practise a specific style, just select the generic one and add precision.

I know the list is far from complete, but there's a max of 25 options!

For me, it's Aikido.

I am well-versed in the mysterious art of Glock 19.

Seriously though, I just decided the other day to take up some kind of martial art, though I don't know which it will be.

 

[Rambuchan]

I did Judo as a kid. Tai chi as a younger man. And, whilst I don't currently practice Tai chi often, I do apply its wisdom to life on a daily basis.

 

[Tank_Guy#3]

OK, a bit more clarificaiton on what martial art my dad is very experienced in:

Very similar to Shotokan.

 

[Angst]

Capoeira is imba on a disco dance floor

 

[Imrahil91]

I'm a newbie in Krav Maga. ¨
Used by the Israelian army and other special forces.
Made for use in the military, fast eliminate many opponents.
"It has been said that in Krav Maga we don't do head kicks - that's not true, we just do it after they have fell down."

 

[Steph]

Some thread necromancy.

In 3 weeks, I should take the exam for Aikido 3rd Kyu

 

[Zelig]

Hmm, I missed this the first time around.

I did karate for years, got my brown belt before moving away from home made it too inconvenient to continue.

Since then, I've been doing more MMA related stuff for the past few years, have trained in tae kwon do, judo, kickboxing and wrestling.

 

[GenMarshall]

Currently a Black Belt in Karate (first degree).

I do wanna have Pistol fu and Shotgun fu.

 

[Flying Pig]

I took up karate about ten years ago now when I *nearly* managed to retire, then stopped after realising that I, with 2 years exprience and non-MA based training was infinitly better than all the black belts. If you want self defence, my advice is join the Airbornes.

 

[Zelig]

I took up karate about ten years ago now when I *nearly* managed to retire, then stopped after realising that I, with 2 years exprience and non-MA based training was infinitly better than all the black belts. If you want self defence, my advice is join the Airbornes.

At the risk of jumping on the bandwagon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyoto_Machida

I'd post videos of his fights, but they probably fall afoul of forum rules, google them if you're interested.

That isn't to say that all styles of karate are useful in fighting situations, on average, I'd still rank it on the low end of the scale, but it can be incredibly useful.

 

[Flying Pig]

Useful maybe in one of the (fun) fights you get in pubs when some kid starts drinking and maybe brandishing a knife and (purely for the public good) those around him pin him to the bar and take his knife (maybe not in that order), but not against someone either sober or trained.

 

[Zelig]

Did you ignore the first part of my post?

 

[Flying Pig]

That's in 'ring fights', where the objective is slightly different, to say the least. When I was younger, I would have liked to do MMA, judging by the look of it. Most of the rules rule out, however, what I would call normal combat techniques.

 

[Zelig]

That's in 'ring fights', where the objective is slightly different, to say the least. When I was younger, I would have liked to do MMA, judging by the look of it. Most of the rules rule out, however, what I would call normal combat techniques.

That's a cop-out.

How is the objective different?

In a ring/octagon fight, you're trying to bring your opponent to a point where he can't fight you any longer.

In a real fight, you either try to bring your opponent to a point where he can't fight you any longer, or you try to escape.

Rules in MMA disallow techniques that would seriously injure training partners; you can't train the techniques in any case. There's nothing to indicate that someone with MMA training plus "normal combat techniques" wouldn't be more effective than someone who only has "normal combat techniques".

Alistair Overeem, heavyweight, ranked at about #10 in the world, recently got into a bar fight. This resulted in five bouncers hospitalized. Overeem eventually had to be hospitalized because his hand became infected from busting their teeth in.

 

[Flying Pig]

OK, you might be right. Bear in mind that MMA is basically a brawl in a box, while any given martial art is not - they like to think they're artists, philosophers and psychopaths all in one.

 

[fugazi]

I did Judo as a kid and did so pretty intensely. Lots of hours a week, even went to some national tournaments but I quit when we moved to another neighbourhood. Stupid stupid, but nowadays I'm still very hard to move when I don't want to be moved and I got an excellent sense of balance.

I've been thinking of signing up for whatever for a year or two now though. Tai Chi seems very interesting as I don't want to compete, I want to relax and find my inner calmth while becoming more aware of my surroundings.

 

[nc-1701]

Some thread necromancy.

In 3 weeks, I should take the exam for Aikido 3rd Kyu

Awesome good luck, I just took my 3rd Kyu test in February. Ironically I think it was the easiest test I've had yet, mainly because it was graded by another Sensei who is more laid back than mine, who is mildly sadistic (in a very good way).
I suppose I should have been happy to get an easy test, but I felt like I'de been cheated out of getting my ass beat
Odd what things you can come to enjoy...

OK, you might be right. Bear in mind that MMA is basically a brawl in a box, while any given martial art is not - they like to think they're artists, philosophers and psychopaths all in one.

Indeed, I'm not a huge MMA fan myself. To me it seems far too scripted, and certainly they need to lose the reality TV/drama crap that goes on in UFC and just make it about the fighting. But one thing they got right was trying to make it more grounded and scientific, a lot of the philosophy and ego that goes in other arts seems misplaced to me.
I think any art can be used effectively in real combat, but you need to be in shape (Airborns do that!), and you need to practice hard on a daily basis. Sadly none of those apply to me But hopefully I can expand my training in the future.

 

[Flying Pig]

What does 3rd Kyu mean?