Re: life (was Re: thanks for the references...)

[Michael Malkin <http://www.Theory.Stanford.EDU/~mikeym>]

::Wow, that's really interesting!  Cryptography is incredibly fascinating
::and is an ever-expanding field.
::
::Just don't work for the NSA!

Don't worry.  :)  I've heard that it's pretty hard to have a career after
working for the NSA, and they have all kinds of rules about talking to
non-citizens which seem really harsh.

::That's great.  I am taking a Tai Chi course now (partially for my hands).
::I would like to take an Aikido class for self-defense, but it depends on
::how the Tai Chi thing goes.

I've looked at a lot of books on Tai Chi, and many of the ideas are
similar to those in Aikido.  Even a lot of the techniques are similar.  

I think that there's a very high learning curve for Aikido.  That is, I
think it will take much longer to become proficient at self-defense with
Aikido than with something like Karate.  I think that after a few months
of Karate practice and sparring you could actually apply what you learned
to a real situation.  The goal in Aikido is much different (and I think
more difficult) so it can take years to get to the point where you can use
it in a real-life situation.

I'm not trying to discourage you from taking Aikido.  I obviously prefer
it to other martial arts, because that's what I'm studying.  However, if
you just want to learn to defend yourself quickly, it's probably not the
way to go.  If you want to learn how to stop confrontations peacefully,
use an opponent's energy against them, etc., then Aikido's a good choice.

- Mike


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  Michael Malkin                                      http://www.stanford.edu/~mikeym
  http://www.stanford.edu/~mikeym                       (650) 326-8286
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