Brisbane Boxing and Kickboxing
Boxing and Kickboxing would seem to be as far removed as possible from aikido, however common ground is to be found. Both arts feature light footwork and develop an awareness of distance from your opponent, Howver whilst the focus in boxing is on striking, aikido chooses to subdue the opponent using their strength. Aikido is a martial art and thus is not confined to the rules or space of a boxing arena, thus you can expect to learn to deal with many different attacks (that are often the precursor to punches) such as grabbing and grappling, as well as how to subdue an opponent without causing them injury - these make it an excellent art for self defence. Aikido practice also focuses on weapons training of the sword and staff.
Aikido student and former boxer Charlie gives her thougths on studying these two different martial disciplines, Charlie trained in a boxing gym for three years in New Zealand but had trouble finding
a gym that would train a female when she came to Brisbane and so took up Kickboxing at a gym in Annerley for 3 years. Charlie had never heard of aikido until a friend took her
to an aikido dojo five years ago. She has been training ever since.
My boxing and kickboxing experience was a great help in the beginning of my aikido training. The stances are very similar.
In boxing the stance is side on to give the opponent the smallest possible target, in aikido the hanmi or stance is much the same with the front foot pointing forward and the rear foot on a 45 degree angle. The weight is on the balls of your feet as with boxing, Ive noticed in my aikido training that this does not come naturally to the general population and that my experience in keeping my weight on the balls of my feet kept me solid during attacks. Finally my boxing experience meant that I was used to having fists coming towards my face and therefore I was able to concentrate on what I needed to learn rather than flinching.
The reason that I enjoy aikido is that I had found in my other martial arts training that being a small female was a disadvantage. I could be beaten by people even if I was the technically better boxer. This was mainly due to my shorter reach; Id have to take more risks to get in close. Aikido blends with the other persons power, giving credence to the old term, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.
Falling is another benefit of aikido, learning to take a fall in such a way that you can immediately get up again is a great skill to have. Finally, there is never any reason to get bored. With boxing I found that once you had sorted out the punches, all you could really work on was timing, ducking and weaving. With aikido, after five years in the dojo, I can still go to class and learn something new.
Whilst the art of aikido on the surface perhaps has little in common with boxing, it can offer the boxer some complementary skills.
Aikido
A modern martial art developed from the traditional Samurai class of martial arts in Japan. Aikido has no blocks or punches but instead redirects the attackers energy to throw or immobilise them. Suitable for men, women and children. With a good mix of aerobic and weight bearing training its a good way to maintain inner and outer health and pick up some handy skills as well.
Griffith Aikido
A dynamic martial arts club that has been operating on Brisbanes Southside for over 25yrs offers regular beginners courses for newcomers, classes for kids and advanced training for the old hands. Men and women of all ages enjoy training in a co-operative atmosphere under the guidance of Japan recognised instructors and benefit from regular visits by senior instructors from Japan. Start Today
