Sarahs Weightloss Blog

Hey Everyone,

A while back I said I was going to take up a martial art as a hobby to help maintain an active life style.  I tried ju-jitsu and karate but didn’t really like these since they involved a lot of contact and I bruise quite easily, plus there were not any beginners present, or hardly any women, which was very intimidating.

However I recently found a really nice martial arts school that specialises in Aikido and I have now committed to a year membership there.  I really prefer Aikido to the other martial arts I’ve tried for a few reasons: firstly there is no striking, it consists of spinning and grappling movements which act to redirect the attackers force back upon them and as such does not need any real strength on the part of the defender.  It is also really pacifistic, since there are no attacks, it is all defensive moves and as such is perfectly legal under self defence laws in the UK.  Also when I tried the introductory lesson I found that the moves where really natural to learn and very effective.  There are also lots of beginners at the school and you don’t join the crowd till you have mastered the basics, which reduces a lot of stress of having to perform in front of people.  Finally there are loads of women there, it is very popular with us since it does not rely on physical force and strength, only technique, so there are loads of high ranking female instructors, which makes me more comfortable when practicing the moves.

Unfortunately I am really sore after training for this triathlon on saturday and so have no news on improvements in time and distance.  Hopefully after not training till the day, I will feel better enough to complete it all, but I am having my doubts . . .

Till next time . . .