From my experiences with a variety of martial arts (I have been studying and teaching Pa Kua and Chin Na Tsen for over twenty years)I believe that Aikido is what I would term an advanced art in that it is beneficial to learn the fundamentals of self defence from another art, particularly one in which punching and kicking are more essential, before taking it on. After all, the inventor of the art did not start from scratch, but from a basis of sound knowledge of fundamentals.

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