What Do You Think Of Akido?

[LightHevyWeight]

Everyone knows Aikido is based on defenses, philosophy, and religious beliefs. There are absolutely no attacks in Aikido. Which is a weakness in this martial art. I am actually a big fan of Aikido myself, but my sensie told me that Aikido is weak, & if an Aikidoka <Aikido practitioner> went up against a boxer he wouldn't be able to catch the boxers punches and convert them into jointlocks/throws. I also heard that it is absolutely usless in a street fight. But judjing from the Steven Seagal Videos & Movies that i saw, it DOES work in a streetfight.

Okay Martial Artists, what are your thoughts on Aikido?

[jubaji]

Other things I love: Of all the martial arts, Aikido probably has the closest link to the Samurai. .

Er, I don't know about that...

[jubaji]

A boxer is probably (along with wrestlers) the best fighter in the world.

This is just an excellent statement!

[Tom Yum]

Er, I don't know about that...

Agreed. I think Jiujitsu has the closest link to Samurai - since it was designed as a method of fighting without the sword.

[ScottUK]

Okay Martial Artists, what are your thoughts on Aikido?

I think it is a slowly-learnt art (i.e. not one you can get good at quickly) and 90&#37; of the aiki I have seen has not been good - ukes flying across the mat and being too compliant to make the demonstrator's job easier etc etc.

However, it is a good art - albeit not so effective against a skilled fighter/brawler etc - but an art doesn't have to be 'street-effective' to still be a good thing to learn.

[jubaji]

Agreed. I think Jiujitsu has the closest link to Samurai - .

Wouldn't a form of kenjutsu of some sort be a more reasonable choice for that?

[jonbey]

But judjing from the Steven Seagal Videos & Movies that i saw, it DOES work in a streetfight.

Choreographed fighting is not the best example of what works, and what does not. Snake will not always triumph over eagle*

I did try Aikido many years ago, and it did not appeal to me for the reasons mentioned above. The style I learnt was called Ki-Aikido, and there was a lot of emphasis on not harming the aggressor, just carefully taking them down. This seemed a little odd. Also, the main thing I just could not grasp (sorry for the pun) was that each technique (at least for a beginner) started with the aggressor grabbing you. I know that to some extent this is to help develop sensitivity, feel the energy flow etc. but it just did not seem to be the right way to go about learning a fighting art.

I am sure there are plenty of good aikido fighters that could kick my arse, but I did get the impression that it had to some extent gone the same way the Taoist Tai Chi has gone, in that the martial side has been degraded as a result of too much emphasis on form, balance, peace, qi etc.

One thing, you never see an MMA fighter introduced as being an aikido/boxing student. It is almost always BJJ, submission wrestling, boxing, etc.

There must be some Youtube clips out there of geniune aikido in action.

I found this, which is again a demonstration, and it is not in English. Everything I could find seemed to be demonstration. The strikes are pulled, so all realism is thrown out the window.

[YOUTUBE]_cBg2tTCYL0[/YOUTUBE]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_cBg2tTCYL0

*reference to the Jackie Chan film, Snake in Eagle's Shadow.

[fighter11111]

Muay Thai guy sucked.

[jonbey]

I guess that ultimately no-one will ever fight "in form", so someone experienced at aikido will not fight in a way similar to that of the demostrations they may do. I guess that is one problem of any demonstration - the people demonstrating are so keen to ensure that their form is perfect, that in a way they fail to show how their skill would really be used. I guess this goes back to that other thread about forms in chinese martial arts - by practicing forms, the techniques should just flow when required without the need for you to consciously make a decision to perform the technique. With aikido, when the oponent is in a position to be thrown or locked, then it will happen. Maybe. I seem to be rambling again...

[Tom Yum]

Wouldn't a form of kenjutsu of some sort be a more reasonable choice for that?

Sure, but the initial thread talked vaguely about aikido with no reference to weapons and then Arieson made a claim that aikido was the art used by the samurai, so I assumed we were talking about which empty handed martial art resembled the samurai's since weapon arts weren't mentioned...


yes, I assumed

[LightHevyWeight]

Thanks for all the info guys...

[jubaji]

You should study the actual history a little more. You might find it interesting.

[Tom Yum]

For our own edification:

Aikido

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aikido

Developed by Ueshiba as an expression of universal peace and reconcilliation aikido was synthesized primarily from Daito-ryu Aiki-jujitsu.

Additional styles incorporated into the system: Ten-jin shinyo ryu, Gotoha Yagyu Singan-ryu and Judo.

Its technical structure is derived from kenjutsu (jubaji and Arieson were right all along).

Weapons include staff, spear and bayonet.

Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daito-ryu_aiki-jujutsu

Its translated as the "great estern style" and stylisticcally described as the 'harder' father style of aikido, the art also includes sword techniques from a style called Ono-ha Itto ryu.

Jujitsu

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jujutsu#Origins

[ScottUK]

Why is everyone so enamoured with samurai?

[jubaji]

Coolness factor.