Praying Mantis Kung Fu or Aikido

Which is a better form of exercise? Which would have the most schools in the US if I decide to move next year and want to stay with the same discipline?

Thanks,

Tae-Bo, for ultimate workout. <tm>

<< Which is a better form of exercise? Which would have the most schools in the US if I decide to move next year and want to stay with the same discipline >>

My off-the-cuff, methodically unsubstantiated guess is that there are a lot more aikido dojo than praying mantis study halls-certainly there are several very large, international, well-organized aikido organizations, like the IAF, which have gone to some lengths to ensure that they present a homogenous body of teaching in their many different schools in the US. I would guess that you'd probably have some difficulty both finding a mantis school in general in a new city, and also in finding one that taught the same style of mantis gungfu as your prior school. Just a guess, though.

Jack Forster

Although there are a heck of a lot more Aikido schools than mantis, the Aikido I've taken didn't give me a very good workout. The mantis I've taken, on the other hand, just wrecked me. It depends on what kind of shape you're in and how hard of a workout you want. If you take mantis you'll probably do a lot more strength training than you would in Aikido.

I missed what city you are moving to, but you can visit my school's site to find a link to directory of Praying Mantis schools. I don't have much insight to offer on Aikido. I took it for a few months in college and it wasn't really for me (I felt like I had to wash my hands all the time, just a personal thing). I had a cousin who acheived a high rank in Aikido though and it was pretty impressive.

I didn't get much of a workout in terms of cardiovascular activity at first from my Mantis - too much to learn technique wise - a lot of figuring things out. Just some basic conditioning. As time progresses, however, it is extremely challenging. Just the 2 hrs of practice I do a night - no conditioning, just fighting techniques and the like - are a good workout for me. I sweat so much, it's almost a joke. There is a lot of conditioning of all sorts, skill developing exercises of all sorts, seems limitless almost. The serious students (not clowns like me) are... um... very formidable.
www.authentickungfu.com

Humbly / IM

Before you buy.

You will find a lot more Aikido around, as the other posters have said, but as for the workout - that depends on the school.

For Aikido, try Yoshinkan.

All the best

: year and want to stay with the same discipline?

Aikido is not a form of exercise.

<< Aikido is not a form of exercise.

-Justin >>

By what criteria?

By the way, aikido can be an extremely grueling workout, but it depends of course on how hard you want to train. If you start with 1000 cuts with a heavy bokken, do some warmups, and then spend an hour continuously practicing alternating uke and nage, then you're going to get a very vigorous workout.

If you're a beginner and you spend most of your time practicing taking ukemi (breakfalls), of course you'll work up less of a sweat-it's a little hard to really train vigorously until you are comfortable with falling and rolling.

Regards, Jack Forster

By the definition of the art. I do not mean that aikido does not involve exercise, I've been practicing for almost four years and I know how physically strenuous it can be. 'Aikido is not a form of exercise' in the sense that it should not be taken up only as a form of exercise. If one is not interested in the other components (as the original poster seemed not to be) then one should not pursue the art.

I may have inadvertanly represented what I am looking for. I am looking primarily for a good martial art, but because i have a tight schedule, i would like to get a decent workout at the same time. i didnt want this thread to be one of those 'which art is better' ones, so i included my question on exercise. I am also not sure what city i may move too. whatever city gives me the best offer is where i will probably head.

Thanks for the input, Blue

<< By the definition of the art. I do not mean that aikido does not involve exercise, I've been practicing for almost four years and I know how physically strenuous it can be. 'Aikido is not a form of exercise' in the sense that it should not be taken up only as a form of exercise. If one is not interested in the other components (as the original poster seemed not to be) then one should not pursue the art. >>

As I recall, the original question had to do with which martial art was a more strenuous form of exercise. I don't believe there was any explicit statement on the poster's part that he regarded aikido as a 'mere' exercise. In any case, exercise is a fairly general term, unless you want to contrast it in some sense, as you seem to want to, with practicing mindfully.

It may be useful to frame the distinction not as exercise vs. 'other components' but rather as practicing mindfully vs. practicing -what? Mindlessly? Inattentively? If you allow this distinction, why might mindful practice be important?

regards, Jack Forster