Why does aikido work

Aikido alone is not sustainable for self-defense purposes. It does teach you many valuable skills you can use for self-defense. Or, you would have to be extremely high-skilled in Aikido to learn how to compensate for those weaknesses and use techniques in a way that prevents the opponent from capitalizing on those weaknesses.

In any other circumstances, you will need to use different techniques from other martial arts or at least street fighting if you want to get out of a fight safely. That might be boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, MMA, or any other methods.

When you combine them with Aikido in a practical way, only then could it be sustainable for self-defense. MMA is a combat sport that allows fighters to combine various martial arts techniques and use them under a lenient ruleset.

Every martial art has specific weak points. MMA will enable you to strengthen those weak points by implementing techniques from other martial arts, making you a virtually perfect all-around fighter.

MMA fighters always practice at least two martial arts simultaneously, one for striking and one for grappling. Learning how to blend striking and grappling together means you virtually have no weakness in your fighting skills, both offensively and defensively. No matter how the attacker engages trying to hit you, take you to the ground, grab you in a chokehold, etc. Blending in Aikido into your MMA fighting strategy might be very efficient in terms of movement and agility.

You would need to limit the techniques you use, though, because Aikido depends highly on small joint-locks, which are one of the few things not allowed in MMA. There are some apparent disadvantages when thinking about using only boxing in a street fight.

These are the individuals who people our armed forces not that there is anything wrong with that Those who have evolved past these stages can appreciate conflict at a much more complex level than "you didn't punch me right". Ok, so your friend didn't impress you with his aikido. You couldn't find a use for it. Practice something else. You don't sound like someone for whom this martial art fits anyway. My grandfather said: the way you ask the question suggests you won't understand the answer.

Best of luck in your continued training. I don't want to. I just want to protect myself. You can't lose if you don't compete. George S. Ledyard Visit George S. Ledyard's AikiBlog. MikeE wrote: This is in reply to Joey Sola. Ledyard wrote: Quote:. I would recommend that you seek out a good Jeet Kun Do school if you are interested in fighting. Aikido does not have what you are looking for. After you have spent many years learning how to fight and are good and beat up and very tough, come back and you might find something in Aikido worth looking at.

No, you did not see two high ranking Aikido practitioners in the UFC. The folks you saw were just mid level students of the art. To my knowledge, none of the senior teachers of Aikido has participated in this type of contest nor are they likely to. Couldn't said it better. I think it says a lot about the originator of this thread that they should post something so contentious but want to remain anonymous.

Giving no indication of their credentials or identifying any of their instructors. Just to reiterate what has been said before, go away and learn how to fight and come back when you want to learn how not to. There is a point, in that many people do practise Aikido without reference to the real world situations - however there are many that do not.

Both my previous instructors were 2nd Dan in Karate before going into Aikido and there are also many Judo people that come into it often through injury from both these sports.

I think a good knowledge of martial arts and fighting techniques including the speed and power with which a boxer can hit you is essential. Luckily Aikido should also be teaching you good strong Karate style attacks, and judo style strangle holds. After doing Aikido for only two years I managed to help the local karate instructor who was a friend who had been wrestled to the floor of a night club by a local bully.

A good strong strangle hold from behind, and withdrawing him into a prone position was enough to make him give up. You confuse Aikido with sports. Aikido is a martial art and it is an aid to your self defence. You do not 'Aikido' someone. If you are in a real situation you use everything that you can strikes, grapples, chokes etc but Aikido has the benefit of helping to maximise your body movement during such situations, to get out of the way of attacks, and to do things which people who do sports such as wrestling, karate or judo, would not be able to do due to these moves being illegal in their practise.

Their are no illegal techniques in Aikido, even though we usually practise in a formalised manner there is always room for a beginner to ask, but what if I did this? This is what I find frustrating about ground work in Judo, some things just aren't allowed. Joeysola, I would agree that ju-jitsu does dominate UFC, but do you not know that Aikido and ju-jitsu have similar roots? Aikido has been adapted to reduce injuries of your opponent and to enable full contact without damage.

However, there is definately an argument for making some Aikido clubs have a stronger martial attitude. Also, if UFC is no hold barred, what happens when someone comes in with a knife? Or what happens if there are three people attacking one.

What do you mean that doesn't happen? And I was into that whole scene. All times are GMT The time now is AM. AikiWeb: The Source for Aikido Information AikiWeb's principal purpose is to serve the Internet community as a repository and dissemination point for aikido information.

Follow us on. User Name. Remember Me? Mark Forums Read. Hello and thank you for visiting AikiWeb , the world's most active online Aikido community! This site is home to over 22, aikido practitioners from around the world and covers a wide range of aikido topics including techniques, philosophy, history, humor, beginner issues, the marketplace, and more.

If you wish to join in the discussions or use the other advanced features available, you will need to register first. Registration is absolutely free and takes only a few minutes to complete so sign up today! Page 1 of A real attacker will be violent, fully resisting, uncooperative, and fighting back. Therefore, training must necessarily include defense against such an opponent. Random attacks and resistance are not enough.

It's imperative that your opponent be fighting back! Cooperative training is of course necessary for learning techniques. For more information on functional training, see my training page.

With realistic training, many aikido techniques work very well. The key to successful application in self defense is having entries that work against violent, random attacks, followed by positive control to lead your opponent into finishing throws and locks.

You'll notice two initial controls listed below. While these are not part of traditional aikido, they are positions that can dramatically increase your ability to apply aikido techniques in self defense, and they do follow the core principles of aikido. In the following techniques, you'll see these controls used after functional, high percentage entries. Functional Aikido Aikido is an incredible martial art with awesome self defense theories and applications. Traditional Aikido is non-competitive and promotions do not come through besting an opponent, but through demonstrating understanding of basic exercises and techniques, which become more demanding or difficult as rank increases.

In Aikido we strive to work in cooperation with a partner, still employing effective technique against an energetic and realistic attack, yet doing so by blending with the attack and redirecting its energy back to the attacker.

We practice techniques against a variety of attacks such as kicks, punches, strikes, single-hand or two-hand grabs from the front or rear, chokes, multiple person attacks, and attacks with weapons. In all of these we strive to resolve the conflict in a non-lethal, non-disruptive, yet effective manner. Techniques may end in joint locks or immobilizations, or in dynamic motions where the attacker is thrown forwards or backwards across the mat, or through the air into a spectacular breakfall.

Rather than primarily linear motions, Aikido is comprised of blending, turning, pivoting, circling, and spiraling. We are learning to deal not only with our own energy, but with that of an attacker or another person or people as well. Aikido embodies concepts which are at the same time very simple, yet very complex.

Because of these and other differences, Aikido can be very challenging to learn, yet at the same time can be very rewarding because it is ultimately bringing us into harmony with ourselves and with our world, and helping us to become more complete and integrated human beings. Aikido is a very effective martial art for self defense, not only because it teaches us how to defend against a variety of attacks, but because it is also training our state of mind and physical condition.

Improved posture and breathing help us to fit better into our bodies; a positive state of mind affects how we move in the world and how we are perceived by others.

The ability to maintain physical center and mental calm helps us in meeting stressful situations or in resolving conflict in a variety of situations in the dojo, on the street, at school, in a business meeting, or at home.

Most martial arts can help us improve physical things like balance, timing, and reaction. One of the purposes of repeated training is to move these things from conscious processing to automatic reflex. Aikido also helps us develop our spirit, sense of well-being, awareness and compassion.