Aikido as self defence

singloud

Evening all, I was just wondering how effective Aikido is as a self defence.

You hear the usual stores of "My martial art is better than yours" and usually I hear how Aikido wouldnt last 5 minutes etc etc, then again, I've also heard it was tauht to Tokyo police or something.

Is Aikido any good for self defece? I recogise it would take ages to learn anywhere near enough to be able to use it, but does it have merit?

filament

singloud wrote: »

Evening all, I was just wondering how effective Aikido is as a self defence.

You hear the usual stores of "My martial art is better than yours" and usually I hear how Aikido wouldnt last 5 minutes etc etc, then again, I've also heard it was tauht to Tokyo police or something.

Is Aikido any good for self defece? I recogise it would take ages to learn anywhere near enough to be able to use it, but does it have merit?

no

this video says it all :P
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BEFyswBe4x0

jim2008

Any art can be good, just depends on the effort and time you put into it. Give it ago and see if its for you.

singloud

What are the specific strengths and weaknesses of Aikido (if any)

filament

singloud wrote: »

What are the specific strengths and weaknesses of Aikido (if any)

i can't speak for strengths but some weaknesses:
refusal to compete or test the art
little to no full contact or even light contact sparring
moves that rely on your opponent hitting you a certain way or just plain running at you with your arm out so that you can grab it
lack of knowledge of how fighting has evolved
failure to acknowledge that a human punches faster than a snake strikes and therefore their moves that require jingling about with an extended punch are useless

strengths? dunno... tradition?

Charlie3dan

singloud wrote: »

Evening all, I was just wondering how effective Aikido is as a self defence.

You hear the usual stores of "My martial art is better than yours" and usually I hear how Aikido wouldnt last 5 minutes etc etc, then again, I've also heard it was tauht to Tokyo police or something.

Is Aikido any good for self defece? I recogise it would take ages to learn anywhere near enough to be able to use it, but does it have merit?

If you go into any dojo or gym, you'll find a few guys that nobody wants to mess with, the guys who are coming up the ranks getting better and better, the guys that love to train but don't always go for their next belt or compete reguarly, and some guys who just aren't getting it. (and god knows how many other examples)

Why isn't everyone in the place a "Hard Fecker"? Why isn't everybody the same? People are not the same!

Try out a few things and get a feel for what might work for you. Always question what you are doing and don't ever get so cocky as to think that you're way is the best and other arts are useless. The rest is down to you......

Roper

Charlie3dan wrote: »

If you go into any dojo or gym, you'll find a few guys that nobody wants to mess with, the guys who are coming up the ranks getting better and better, the guys that love to train but don't always go for their next belt or compete reguarly, and some guys who just aren't getting it. (and god knows how many other examples)

Why isn't everyone in the place a "Hard Fecker"? Why isn't everybody the same? People are not the same!

No I don't agree. In any well coached discipline, including martial arts, everybody will have the fundamentals after a given period of time. Usually the "some people just don't get it" excuse is trotted out to cover up poor material or poor method. In those cases you'll usually find that the people who "got it" are the people who'd pick up anything, natural athletes, people with good physical learning skills.

"Hard Feckers" are rare enough. I can think of 3 guys I know who would be tough if they trained origami, but that shouldn't be the measure of a gym; how tough the toughest are. The measure should be how good the average guy gets after consistent training.

Charlie3dan

Roper wrote: »

In any well coached discipline, including martial arts, everybody will have the fundamentals after a given period of time. Usually the "some people just don't get it" excuse is trotted out to cover up poor material or poor method. In those cases you'll usually find that the people who "got it" are the people who'd pick up anything, natural athletes, people with good physical learning skills.

"Hard Feckers" are rare enough. I can think of 3 guys I know who would be tough if they trained origami, but that shouldn't be the measure of a gym; how tough the toughest are. The measure should be how good the average guy gets after consistent training.

Yep that's fine roper but i'm not using any of that to judge a gym or dojo. I'm just making the point that different arts/styles will yeild different results for different people.

so I think the guy should try things out for himself and see what works for him. I've also given some advice in the hope he won't get mislead or end up thinking that what works for him is the only useful method.

singloud

Thanks lads, yeah I went to a few Aikido sessions, I found it quite well, as despite being tall with a reasonable build, I'm bendy which really seems to work to my advantage.


It seems I'm suited well enough for it, I was just wondering if objectively it works at all well in self defense.

I know a bit of boxing too so the throws Aikido teaches seem useful.

TKD SC

Hey,

Your best bet re aikido info is to contact Maeve who posts here. She's a black belt and also teaches BJJ and defence type seminars with defendu, so I'd say she'll let you know aikido's usefullness if you pm'd her.

My brother is a black belt in aikido but left as soon as he got his black belt. He always sort of wondered would it really work or not in real life! I did a few classes in some different dojos and although I enjoyed them it never clicked with me enough to be interested in doing it. I will say that some dojos can be a bit "peace and love" and have no concept of resisting opponents.

If you enjoy it though, do it! Would be very interesting for you to try out a judo class also to compare.

All the best,

Simon