Posted: 11/7/2011 11:00:34 PM EDT
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I recently joined a fantastic workout facility and part of their group exercise offerings included in the cost of admission is basic and intermediate Aikido.
I took some Tae Kwon Do as a kid at the YMCA and really enjoyed it. Anyone here into Aikido? I plan to give it shot, if I really get into it I may go for a more focused effort at a local dojo. There is one in my area taught by a very old school sensei from Japan who actually was schooled by the founder of Aikido. He teachers both Aikido and Karate. Anyone? |
| I take Aikido. In general I like it a lot and I think it's a pretty decent system of self defense. Keep in mind however, that it is 100% defensive. Additionally give it some time to learn some things before you make up your mind about it. At first you'll do things that will really make you question why you have to do this or that, but after you start to delve into it you realize the reasons why. |
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I trained in Aikido for 15 + years. Very good style as it is both defensive and offensive in nature. I will say that Aikido is definately an art that will complement other styles. What works for me may not be right for someone else. So, be flexible in your training, ask questions and try to have Sensei explain why you are doing a particular movement.
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Thanks for the perspectives guys,
Something that stood out about the philosophy the founder of Aikido was "Ōmoto-kyō is its emphasis on the attainment of utopia during one's life. This was a great influence on Ueshiba's martial arts philosophy of extending love and compassion especially to those who seek to harm others." I'm sure my personal philosophy is not so compassionate that I would be concerned with inflicting pain or bodily harm on someone intent on harming me or my loved ones. But it is an interesting passive defense philosophy. |
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Thanks for the perspectives guys, Something that stood out about the philosophy the founder of Aikido was "Ōmoto-kyō is its emphasis on the attainment of utopia during one's life. This was a great influence on Ueshiba's martial arts philosophy of extending love and compassion especially to those who seek to harm others." I'm sure my personal philosophy is not so compassionate that I would be concerned with inflicting pain or bodily harm on someone intent on harming me or my loved ones. But it is an interesting passive defense philosophy. Osensei might have told you that correcting someone's negative behavior via kicking their ass is sometimes a great act of compassion. It sounds better in Japanese. 
In other words, there are plenty of techniques capable of inflicting tremendous pain and/or damage in the style. The beauty of it is you will also learn some that stop the problem without lasting pain or damage. Balance in all things. |
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Thanks for the perspectives guys, Something that stood out about the philosophy the founder of Aikido was "Ōmoto-kyō is its emphasis on the attainment of utopia during one's life. This was a great influence on Ueshiba's martial arts philosophy of extending love and compassion especially to those who seek to harm others." I'm sure my personal philosophy is not so compassionate that I would be concerned with inflicting pain or bodily harm on someone intent on harming me or my loved ones. But it is an interesting passive defense philosophy. I cross trained in Aikido (in a karate school) for about 5 years in the late 70s and early 80s. Aikido is cool in a lot of ways, but I question its utility as a fighting art, particularly if it is the sole MA studied. I have used taisabaki several times to advantage, not in any type of fight, but in several events where I moved my body well (and in one case someone who saw it was impressed, or so they said). I can see an advantage to studying Aikido. But I think there needs to be a reality check on its street value. I do know of several instances where Aikido students used it for self defense (of a sort) with success. These were not real full blown fights, one was an unwanted grab (IIRC, I'm going back 30 years with this) on an ice rink, and I don't recall the details of the others. I think some of the techniques have the potential to be useful, I wouldn't want to rely on the art as my only style of unarmed self defense. |
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I have practiced Aikido for a little over ten years. I love the art, but not the hippies that tend to infest it. Unfortunately the hippies and new agers are so thick on the ground it is hard to find a dojo that does any sort of real martial arts training it is mostly a large amount of moving meditation and self delusion.
I really love the art and will always train in it, but I would advise you to learn to fight before you start learning Aikido. I grew up in a rough neighborhood and had a pretty good idea what violence was all about going into Aikido, so I was able to apply what I had learned to good effect in real fights, sparring matches, and even a dojo challenge in Kuwait. Aikido works if you put the work into it. If you do not put in the work, well see my comments above about self delusion. |
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I have practiced Aikido for a little over ten years. I love the art, but not the hippies that tend to infest it. Unfortunately the hippies and new agers are so thick on the ground it is hard to find a dojo that does any sort of real martial arts training it is mostly a large amount of moving meditation and self delusion. I really love the art and will always train in it, but I would advise you to learn to fight before you start learning Aikido. I grew up in a rough neighborhood and had a pretty good idea what violence was all about going into Aikido, so I was able to apply what I had learned to good effect in real fights, sparring matches, and even a dojo challenge in Kuwait. Aikido works if you put the work into it. If you do not put in the work, well see my comments above about self delusion. Big +1 My thoughts exactly on both points. |
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I do not mean to sound negative here but from my experience it would take a lot of work to make Aikido an effective form of self defense. I studied JKD, Muay Thai and Silat while several of my buddies studied Aikido. We would have Open Gyms on Saturdays where all the students could come and spar with one another. Non of the Aikido students not even the black belts faired to well against any of the other students.
I think this was due to the nature in which Aikido trains, with the slow scripted attacks. I would watch the Aikdo students practice and they always used very loopy or round strikes against each other, no combo attacks or straight shots at all. This caused a lot of trouble for them when a Muay Thai trained fighter would step up against them, using boxing combos and clinching which they were not use to dealing with. The JKD guys would also pick them apart with jabs and long range kicks and the Silat specialist would simply lure them into thinking they could get a lock or throw and then counter it. Even when someone would rush them like a brawler they had a difficult time with the volume of strikes coming at them. I'm not saying it can't be effective, I'm just saying it would take an instructor willing to break from the Aikido norm and start incorporating realistic attacks. An instructor who was experienced in boxing, muay thai or some other striking art would help. I'm sure someone out there has already done this but from what I have seen in my area it's the same old training methods which Akikbiker mentioned of moving meditation and self delusion. |
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I do not mean to sound negative here but from my experience it would take a lot of work to make Aikido an effective form of self defense. I studied JKD, Muay Thai and Silat while several of my buddies studied Aikido. We would have Open Gyms on Saturdays where all the students could come and spar with one another. Non of the Aikido students not even the black belts faired to well against any of the other students. I think this was due to the nature in which Aikido trains, with the slow scripted attacks. I would watch the Aikdo students practice and they always used very loopy or round strikes against each other, no combo attacks or straight shots at all. This caused a lot of trouble for them when a Muay Thai trained fighter would step up against them, using boxing combos and clinching which they were not use to dealing with. The JKD guys would also pick them apart with jabs and long range kicks and the Silat specialist would simply lure them into thinking they could get a lock or throw and then counter it. Even when someone would rush them like a brawler they had a difficult time with the volume of strikes coming at them. I'm not saying it can't be effective, I'm just saying it would take an instructor willing to break from the Aikido norm and start incorporating realistic attacks. An instructor who was experienced in boxing, muay thai or some other striking art would help. I'm sure someone out there has already done this but from what I have seen in my area it's the same old training methods which Akikbiker mentioned of moving meditation and self delusion. Yes, in my experience Aikido starts from the perspective of what they want to do, then "uke" uses attacks that play into it. When several Aikido instructors were at my school, one actually asked the other what he'd do to counter an opponent leading with fast jabs, and his answer was to roll into the guy. |
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I do not mean to sound negative here but from my experience it would take a lot of work to make Aikido an effective form of self defense. I studied JKD, Muay Thai and Silat while several of my buddies studied Aikido. We would have Open Gyms on Saturdays where all the students could come and spar with one another. Non of the Aikido students not even the black belts faired to well against any of the other students. I think this was due to the nature in which Aikido trains, with the slow scripted attacks. I would watch the Aikdo students practice and they always used very loopy or round strikes against each other, no combo attacks or straight shots at all. This caused a lot of trouble for them when a Muay Thai trained fighter would step up against them, using boxing combos and clinching which they were not use to dealing with. The JKD guys would also pick them apart with jabs and long range kicks and the Silat specialist would simply lure them into thinking they could get a lock or throw and then counter it. Even when someone would rush them like a brawler they had a difficult time with the volume of strikes coming at them. I'm not saying it can't be effective, I'm just saying it would take an instructor willing to break from the Aikido norm and start incorporating realistic attacks. An instructor who was experienced in boxing, muay thai or some other striking art would help. I'm sure someone out there has already done this but from what I have seen in my area it's the same old training methods which Akikbiker mentioned of moving meditation and self delusion. A lot of that also rest on the student of Aikido. We only really practice three basic attacks and those are based on swordsmanship which you really don't find much of in a street situation. It's up to the student to translate those to the real world and this is a problem with Aikido; we're so wrapped up in the "mat experience" that we really don't try to take the time to adapt these skills to a more real world environment. The other issue that Aikido faces is that we try so hard not to hurt Uke that we really don't train to the speed, precision, or skill level that we need to. Again, I blame a lot of this on the students. At my Dojo there are several of us that try to train as hard as we can. This is mostly a couple of guys beating the hell out of each other because we guys but in my opinion it's also important because the more we hurt on the mat the more prepared we are for the real world. I'm lucky that most of my instructors don't get all New Age and hippie on the mat. Lastly, I think a lot of people get so wrapped up in the idea of a defensive art that suppose to be non injurious that they tend to tone down a lot of their training and learning to accompany this philosophy of not hurting someone. Personally, I don't think that's what O'sensei believed but Aikido should be but rather what it should strive to be. |
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Judo guy here, don't waste your time with aikido  Aikido = all the benefits of submissions and chokes without the gayness of mat love that is judo 
I'm not sure of "all the benifits". In real force on force grappling you actually learn how to make the chokes and armbars work. You don't really learn that when working with a compliant uke. |