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["Thomas A. Beckett" <thomas AT tbeckett.com>]

        I ought to answer my own questions, don't you think?  At this
particular moment I am pleasantly sore in all my major joints from an
Aikido seminar up in Greensboro.  And I'm going back for more tomorrow. 
It is really quite an experience to practice that kind of thing with
60-80 people all at once.  

        But I didn't start out in Martial Arts with Aikido.  Paula (my wife)
dragged me along to a Karate club she discovered on the UNC campus about
4 years ago.  It didn't take too long before I was hooked.  I have
historically been a most unathletic person -- stereotypical bookworm in
grade school, always last pick for kickball, you know the score.  

        Karate was a revelation for me because it was a very strenuous 
physical
activity which was also intellectually stimulating.  It was also cool to
be part of what was essentially an oral tradiition.  I love the kata
(practice forms) in particular because of that -- the way they've been
handed down through the generations -- and because of the multiple
layers of knowledge embedded in them.  

        It was Kyokushin-style Karate, one of the harder forms of the art. 
Training was extremely demanding, physically, and it pushed me well
beyond my own concept of what I could do.  Gee, after a year or so, I
realized that I was now physically strong.  Quite a revelation for this
bookworm.  The process also worked hidden wonders in my sense of
self-confidence.  

        I'm very grateful to my Karate instructor for that tremendous gift
which he gave me.  Unfortunately, there were some limits on his own
abilities as a leader, and eventually I decided to seek something new. 
I'd certainly go back to Kyokushinkai if the opportunity is ever
presented.  

        I joined the Choshinkan Aikido Dojo last fall, here in Chapel Hill.  
It
has been an equally stimluting experience, although quite different from
Karate.  Where Karate involves punches, kicks and blocks -- the direct
application of force -- Aikido focuses on getting out of the way,
grappling one's opponent, and redirecting their attacking energy in such
a way that they fall down.  Let's just say I had to unlearn a few
habits.  

        Aikido has no forms or kata, it is almost entirely partnered 
practice. 
This makes the learning process much more cooperative among all the
members of the dojo.  Sort of a one-room schoolhouse.  And Aikido has
this tremendous community of practitioners around the world.  Seminars
involving several dojos or entire regions of the country are a signicant
part of the training curriculum.  The seminar I am attending (part of)
this weekend has people from all over the South.  And a wonderful old
teacher came over from Japan to teach, too.  There's this tremendous
sense of affiliation.  I like it.  

        Paula, on the other hand, switched from Karate to Tae Kwon Do, which 
is
very similar.  She's having a great time training at Chapel
Hill/Carrboro Tae Kwon Do, with Donald Whittier.  That school, too, has
created a good sense of community.  They train hard, but it is a very
supportive environment.  I'd recommend it to y'all lapsed Tae Kwon Do
types, if you want to get back into training.  

        Maybe we can set up a sparring corner at the next INW gathering, eh? 
Bring your pads.  

TaB

"Thomas A. Beckett" wrote:
> 
>         I've been practicing Aikido for about nine months and really like 
> it.
> I've noticed that a significant proportion of the folks in my dojo are
> geeks of some sort or another, mostly computer and engineering types.
> It got me to thinking about that overlap on interest:  technology and
> martial arts.
> 
>         I know of a few people in this group who are active or past
> practitioners of arts including Taichi, Wing Chun, Aikido and Karate.
> Even Dykki was doing Capoeria for a while.  I wonder who else among us
> is a fighting geek?  What is it about your practice that keeps you
> interested?  Please share your experience.
> 
> TaB
> 
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