Vausch said:
I studied Bujin-Ryu Karate for 8 years but I'm planning a move soon and didn't want to stick with the same art since I'd rather finish under my current sensei if I had to. The place I'm moving to has several dojos I checked out and after searching about them I found most of them were actually accredited and the teachers were very good, so they weren't McDojos.
I'm trying to decide between Tae Kwon Do or Aikido. Tae Kwon Do looks like a great art with some very dynamic movements and kicks but what turns me away is that it's usually used as a sport style rather than the actual martial art style, IE self-defence (That is not to say sports cannot be used in self defence but my Karate teacher always told me not to go to places that refer to the art as a "Sport") while Aikido is also of interest to me for the throws and grapples it practices.
If I had my way I'd be looking for Muay Thai or Pencak Silat but neither of those are available at the college I'm going to.
Anyone studied one or both styles and think they could offer some first-hand insight?
Don't just look at the college you're going to. Look at nearby colleges and just MA styles in the area. My college only offered Aikido(Which I hate because I don't like grapples or ground work, but more on that later), but a nearby college offered MMA and straight-up self-defense, and there was a Tae Kwan Doe School in the area. That said, I don't think self-defense should be your focus right now. Frankly, if 8 years of karate isn't enough self-defense, 4 years of whatever martial art you find catering mostly to college students won't be either.
I think this comes down to whether you like strikes or grapples(strikes go Tae Kwon Doe, grapples go Aikido). I personally hate grapples because if you're attacked by 3 guys grappling one is a good way to get kicked while you're down by the other two, but this is mostly a preference thing. Strikes fit my nature, so I would never practice say Aikido or Pancration because they're too grapple focused. While I would like to practice some grappling techniches to cover that weakness in my Marital Arts education, in an RL situation grapples are about as far from ideal for me as being shot at from 300 yards.
I do think that Tae Kwon Doe will go better with what you know now since it's a close cousin of karate, most Tae Kwon Doe styles have some karate mixed in, point of fact(mine does).
Now, beyond theory and onto first-hand stuff. I am a relatively recent member of a Tae Kwon Do style(it's an off-branch common only to North Eastern US, and I love it. If I had the option, I'd rather be doing Muy Thai, or Krav Maga, but my school is a lot of fun. As I said, my instinct is strikes, even if I'm already in a grapple, I'm more likely to pull an opponent into a hard knee than I am to throw him(not to say I don't know throws, as the assistant instructor at my class learned the hard way,
funny story), I just prefer the distance and versatility offered by strikes.
Truth be told, I wouldn't recommend my school for someone who's primary goal was self-defense, 90% of what we are taught for self-defense is pain compliance, which I am wary of in the best of circumstances, let alone a real self-defense, but that's a product of the demographic of the school. Well over 3/4 of the school is made up of young people who don't have enough strength to pull of most techniques that aren't pain compliance. However, it's a great school if you are focusing on getting in shape, mental discipline, or sparring(once both sides know a fight is coming, as opposed to self-defense where you hope to have element of surprise).
Like I said, I think the decision you need to make is grapple(aikido) vs strike(Tae Kwon Do). Neither one of them is going to teach you much in the way of actual self defense that wasn't covered by 8 years of karate, the're either going to refine you're striking technique or your grappling technique.
If you want my opinion on which to go with, I suggest Tae Kwon Do, simply because trying to out-grapple 3 opponents is a fool's errand, but with strikes it becomes possible. Further, if you're grappling an opponent and they pull a knife simply falling on it(common in grapples) could be life-threatening. Grapples are also dangerous when rolling around could put you in the path of cars or who knows what.
Anyway, that's my $0.02, for whatever it's worth to you.
