Do you respect Aikido as a worthwhile self-defense art? Why or why not?
Aikido, like Tae Kwon Do, and some other martial arts tends to be discredited as a self-defense art. Several people usually say it's garbage while others think it's good as any other martial art or even more so. What do you think?
I have usually made the opinion that I don't think it's the best self-defense art out there. It takes a long time to master, has no full-contact sparring, has no grounfighting, tends to be too complicated, etc. Now, despite saying all of that, it can be used effectiely for self-defense. It just takes a long time, complete dedication, a warrior spirit from the Aikidoka, etc. So, I tend to fall somewhere in the middle of it being utter garbage and a very effectie style of self-defense.
What do you think?
Comments
I think it is a great art. Is just as good as any other martial art. It is often misunderstood by people with no training or limited training. However no matter what those small closed minded people think of it it is still very effective for self defense. It is nor for sport or for mma, but it cam save your life it you stick ith it long enough to learn how to apply the techniques even against resisting opponents. I have found that much of what is taught you will also find in jujitsu, jui jitsu, judo, and karate. The biggest difference is their methods and their mentality in their training. They do not meet resistance with more resistance or strength with strength. They prefer to yield. The blend with the aggressor. It may not be your or my personal choice as the martial arts in which to train. But I have to go with history since history repeats itself. Police and military have used it for many years. There is a reason for them to continue to use it. I personally know an officer that is a 2ns dan and he has told me and other how it has saved his life many times on the streets dealing with harden criminals that resist arrest or that have attempted to injure or kill him.
Because if what I have seen and read I plan on learning more of this great art. Now my personal mentality ids quite different. I know they are the art of peace or harmony. I on the other hand want peace and will pursue peace. But I believe that there are time when the only way to obtain peace is through war. Therefore as I blend with the attack I will still give some punishing blows with the blending. My joint locks my go further than just containing. I believe I should render the joint useless.
I believe that any martial art can be effective with a lot of practice and hard work. It sounds really corny but it is the truth. But once you get past that, i think that there are a few thing to consider. Such as your body type and who you are athletically. Maybe you are on the stronger side of most people. That strength would be to your advantage. But at the same time, that could make a "gentle" martial art such as Aikido easier for you. Also, are you a person who has a quick reaction time. Certain martial arts involve blocking which works better for someone who is a little slower on their feet. In aikido, it revolves more around counters or reversals. You are using the opponents strength and technique against them. But this means that you must not only anticipate their attack, but use it against them and do all of this in the time of as low as 1 second. Aikido is also known to take longer to become proficient in. So if these classes are something that you plan on taking for a year to just get a background in self defense, maybe you should look for something else. But if this is something that you will be committed to, say as much to 5 years (the time it usually takes to become proficient) then definitely go for it. So, consider all the things above, and then make your choice. Remember, if you think Aikido isn't for you, then don't just settle for it because it is on your campus. There are tons of different martial arts out there. Good luck
I respect aikido very much as an effective martial art both for self defense and self development. It makes practioners a well rounded martial artists and a better person in general. I agree with you that Aikido does take a a long time to learn, but it is very effective for self defense. Aikido teaches the small details and fine points that make the techniques effective when applied properly. The philosophy behind aikido is on developing the inner self. There is no place for competition so thats why Aikido doesn't haven't sparring or any other point based system. Aikido is for the practioners to learn from each other and not compete against one another.
Aikido is a useful art so I do respect such, I say this words not because I'm having a cross training with it now, it was because I understand some of its application and methods, it only takes time to knows its worth and purposes, actual movements and positions are the very important role to adopt its effectiveness.
Misjudging something you didn't recognize what really is its main aim, are like giving up the value of certain thing, it has no reason to remain exist until this time if others didn’t emphasize its effectiveness on self pursuance, it is about discipline of any practitioners to gain good skills and knowledge, any style of Martial Arts need time to gain its importance, so same with Aikido, although it is being done on harmonious ways but it will become more fatal if certain knowledge will applied to its full extreme usage.
Good luck
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I thought it was OK, until I met Thomas Burdine in 1990. Burdine is an Aikido Master and was a Police Officer as well. I'm not easily impressed. Burdine Sensei convinced me when he was able to get me to get up out of a chair. He told me to sit and not get up. I sat and he was able to get me out of the chair by only touching the back of my neck with the tips of two fingers. No pressure points, no pain. Next thing I knew, I was standing and moving forward. We repeated this several times. I grabbed the underside of the seat and held on. That did not work. He got me to stand and start moving forward each time. To this day I don't know how he was able to get me to stand up. It was not a hold, lock, ...etc. A friend that is much larger came in about that time. I asked him to sit in the chair and stay there. Burdine Sensei did the same thing to him several times. My friend is over 6' and about 220-230 pounds.
Aikido like other arts is a valid self-defense style. All styles are only as good as the student, and what he has learned from his instructor. Aikido is very difficult to learn. It is not that it is complicated as much as it is difficult to teach students to relax. Aikido simply does not work if you can relax when learning it. As such it takes most people a lot longer to get good at it, than other arts.
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Yes I do and I have several friends that are quite good, one of whom is younger than me but very well respected in that community and he and I have played around before. He gives as well as he takes and it is very difficult to do things with effectiveness against him and I have to work twice as hard to. It is a very dynamic art and often not understood and not respected in my opinion like BJJ was until recently. It is also one of the hardest arts to really master I think and my buddy George has been doing it for over twenty-five years and would drive halfway across the country just for a two day seminar being put on by one master or another of it.
As for ground fighting I am not sure where you got that idea from as it includes among other things what they call pins or pinning your opponent to the floor or mat with a minimum of effort and if caught in one it in some ways is very similar to BJJ in that they use their body position together with the floor as a two sided barrier and limit your ability to move or escape from it all the while allowing them to create a lot of pain on nerves and joints with a very little effort. Some BJJ techniques do the same thing basically along with some jujitsu techniques. It also teaches attacks and defenses from a kneeling and sitting position on the floor.
let's start from the beginning, Aikido was made in the era of Samurai, it was made to fight people with weapons when they're not using any. if you look at the movements in Aikido, you can see it's all was meant to prevent / counter attacks from katana / naginata / bo and other short-range weapons.
so we can say that Aikidoka would be better fighting a man with stick than a man empty handed.
if you don't believe me, you can ask someone to fight an Aikidoka, first empty handed and then ask him to use a stick or bokken.
Because they do not train against a resisting opponent who moves realistically as an attacker would, they do not cultivate genuine skill that can be transferred into a real attack. (Yeah, I know some forms of aikido, such as Tomiki, do have "sparring against resistance"... they're still not attacking totally realistically.)
However, a lot of "bad" training will still give you options against a really, really lousy attacker. It's widely believed that aikido can prepare you to defend yourself against, say, a stumbling drunk who lunges telegraphically. And hey, statistically, most people who assault other people, have been drinking.
That said, if your objective is self-defence, why train in something that only works against someone that really, really sucks?
aikido is a self-defense art being that its based on counter-attacking off your opponents energy I've seen it practiced in person and its definitely a self-defense art
Aikido is a great art, but it takes years of patient study and training to get good enuff at it.
Muay thai or jkd will have you "street ready" in as little as six weeks!