Tophat665

I've been taking Aiki-karate-jutsu. You sound like you are pretty much the same build as me (a little slimmer, and a little taller), and it suits me well. It combines the hard techniques from karate and some from tae kwon do (blocks, strikes, and kicks) with the soft techniques from aikkido and happkido (throws and joint locks.) It is not a competition sport, but an actual combat art, focused on disabling the opponent smoothly, efficiently, and quickly. It's taught by the black belts from the get go, so even the white belts know how to do some pretty wicked things, and can teach what they have learned.

Actually, now that I think about it, it's a good art for any build. There are three guys in the class my size, and four guys (young guys, like 12 to 14), in the 4' 8" to 5' range. Two of them are three belts away from black. We have a 12 year old, and a 60 year old (with arthritis). The black belts make sure to point out how to change techniques to suit your situation.

The drawback is that it seems to take a long time to get to black belt, because there is so very much to learn (as one might expect from a combined art like this). There are 10 belts, and it takes about 2 years to get half way. Our honshi is an 8th degree blackbelt who has been at it for 38 years.

Yes, they do teach Bo, Jo, and I think nunchaku technique (not so sure about that last - you don't find nunchucks lying around or normally carry them, and the art is focussed on being pepared to defend yourself anywhere at any moment.)

Disclaimer: I am a whitebelt. I have been at it for a couple of months. My gi is still on order. So take it with a grain of salt. On the other hand, as a whitebelt, they've already taught me enough to figure out what it's all about and even to teach some simple things, so that's something right there.

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