Aikido a good choice?

Yes!!

An excellent choice, go for it.

Good luck and Best wishes :)***

Aikido is a fantastic choice, and it doesn't take that long to pick up if you have a decent instructor (we used to teach a limited Aikido curriculum to Juvenile Detention Officers and Sheriffs Deputies and they would be pretty proficient in 4 types of controls and how to employ each for the 4 most common attacks after 2 days of training... but the sweet spot usually hits after about 40 hours).

Another alternative may be Judo, although it's more contact than Aikido. You can also learn a style that incorporates Aikido, I know Lotus does, it's based on Thai Boxing with a lot of Aikido and Karate to augment it. It gives a well rounded method and is quick to pick up, but there aren't many schools around for it.

When I was in school, the teachers didn't mind a bit of a scuffle if a bully received his just desserts. In today's politically correct world you just can't do that, even using Aikido you could still face suspension or expulsion so make sure that you've already made a fuss to the faculty about the bullying so you have legal leverage later should you need to use your martial arts to defend yourself (because if the authority won't protect you, any reasonable person would understand the need to protect himself from injury).

All that being said, try to reason with bullies and walk with confidence (bullies typically lack confidence themselves, that's why they act out), otherwise if you fight, they may just bring more bullies the next time. At any rate, it's always a good thing to take martial arts, they're great for building a person up physically and emotionally and a fantastic confidence builder!

With Aikido you will almost always find two extreme opinions of it: #1. It is horrible and a waste of time for self-defense. #2. It is great and wonderful for self-defense. Where is the truth? I think somewhere in-between. I have just started Aikido. I have studied a lot about it. I have also taken it's father art, Aikijiujitsu for 2 years. So, that's where I am a drawing from. There are at least two great Aikido contributors o here. So, definetly listen to these guys that have been Aikidoka for years. You can learn a lot from them. Anyway, my 2 cents...... Aikido is complicated. The moves and movement take a while to get down. How long? The big question! I'd say for a total beginner, 3 years minimum, 5 years average, 8 years max. It relies little on strenght and is big on graceful, ballet-like movement. It goes against your natural instinct for aggression and force. It also has no full contact, opponet resists against you, competitive, sparring. Now, this does not make it useless. But, I must admit, I have taken martial arts with competitive sparring and ones that do not. The competitive sparring does help a lot, and you learn how to use your art quicker. But, it also: gives you temporary and sometimes permanent injuries, encourages strong competitiveness/a win or lose mentality, sloppy technique, sport/fighting with rules mentality, etc. Aikido has sparring but, it's more cooperative and technical. So, without competitive sparring or competitions (which Aikido has neither), Aikido will take longer to learn and use compared to those who do like: Brazillian Jiujitsu, Judo, Sambo, Muay Thai, etc. But, with time and dedicated practice, you can make it work I believe. Aikido relies on you being a person who is interested in defense only. If you are a type who can be provoked and respond by willing to fight with someone then Aikido won't be a good choice. If you are an aggressive/bully type person and attack people, Aikido is not for you. If you are a guy who tries to be diplomatic, peaceful, considerate, descalate fights, and defend yourself ONLY when physically attacked, Aikido is for you! Many of the movements are desigend as a defense against an attack. It's strategy and mentality is geared for defense only too. So, if you are an aggressive type, Aikido's not going to be a good choice. Aikido is also mainly a grappling sytem. Striking is part of Aikido, but, it really is a minor part of it. Grappling with an attacker and putting them face first in a pin or throwing them and escaping are most of what Aikido does. If you are comfortable with that, Aikido may be for you. Aikido's groundfighting ability is limited. If someone can get you on the ground, Aikido doesn't seem to teach any defenses. So, Aikido is limited here. Aikido is more about staying upright. As I said I am taking Aikido as a white belt newbie. I believe Aikido will provide me with self-defense ability in time. But, I do realize it's limitations. They are all the ones I mentioned above. If I go plan to slug it out with some guy in a parking lot because he called me an insulting name, hey, Aikido isn't for me. Aikido works off that defensive mindset, not aggressive. So, if he took a swing at me, it's more my Aikido training would kick in, and hopefully end with guy thrown or down face first in a pin. I do realize this type of ability will take a while. So, be aware that your skills won't be full matured until a while. If you realize Aikido's strengts as a self-defense art, and realize it's weaknesses, and work around them both, I belive Aikido can be a right choice for you. If you cannot accept it's strengths and weaknesses, it's time to look at another martial art.

It will all come down to the master. Aikido, Tae Kwon Do, Karate, perty much the same thing just different countries of origin. Personally Gung Fu or Tae Kwon Do, Tae Kwon Do they will teach you the various pressure points, Gung Fu San Sui will teach you fighting in various positions, from the floor. Even boxing, really all this will do for you is give you confidence, when it comes down to a fight there are many variables, often never one on one, and some weapon will usually be introduced. Learning a martial art with the intent to whoop some but is not the ideal behind it. Just don't think that by being proficient in martial arts is going to stop them from messing with you, it just may start a war and they may get ideals and break out knives, chains, or worse.

Instead of Aikido, go for BJJ. Aikido is a nice martial art in order to develop your inner side, and it´ll possible work in a street fight after some years of training. But, since you need quick results, go for BJJ. I´ll bet after a week of lessons you can face one of those kids and take a win over him.

BJJ is also blood-free, no punches, no kicks, just some very effective submissions. The sparring is close to 100% which is very close to a real fight.

Aikido is pretty good; my brother is a lifetime fan of that martial art. It is different because you use the energy of the attacker to gain control over him. It has very few punches and kicks, so it's a non-violent kind of self defense technique. It works very well in real life as long as you use it with discretion.

That would be a great choice, You woulden't be made to look as if your the one on the attack.

Making the attackers worse enemy, His energy itself is an excellent method and would pay off most definitly in any much needed self defence moment.

Just keep this style of defence in mind at all times and don't injure unless VERY necessary, Remember that this defence ISN'T to go out and purposly injure the attacker ... It's to simply put them in a lock physically and gain total control over both their mind and body.