Hello everyone,

I am 17 and have been practising martial arts since I was 13. I train in 8 Step Mantis and Xingyi and love them both. Because I am very involved in both Japanese culture and the Japanese community in my city, I would like to become involved in Japanese martial arts.

Aikido and Aikijutsu both appeal as I think they would be sufficiently different to what I'm training in at the moment, but really I'm not sure which style to become interested in. I've heard mixed reports of Bujinkan Ninjutsu, and other styles (like Shintaido) I don't know anything about. I am not particularly interested in Judo or Kendo as they look fairly sports orientated and I would like to keep training in an unarmed style.

I am going to continue practising my mantis and xingyi but would be interested in if anyone has any advice regarding Japanese martial arts!

Many thanks!

S