Why is Aikido looked down upon now days?

Question

I have never taken it but have seen matches between Aikido and other styles(i.e. tae kwon do and muay thai in sparring) and the aikido guy has no problem taking them down. so why is it seen as ineffective. All thoughts are welcome. Thank you

Answer 1

Probably because most people who grew up watching those testosterone filled punch and kick martial arts movies can't comprehend how a purely non aggressive defense system can be of any use to them. There is no attack in Aikido, just defense, if 2 aikido practioners decided to fight using their aikido skills, they'll just stare at each other all day and nothing would happen unless one of em gets impatient and charges at the other like a mad bull and starts swinging. Aikido is only effective if your opponent makes a commited attack, it's not designed for one on one matches in the ring. It was developed by the founder Morihei Ueshiba who was a Shinto Priest as a way of defending oneself without using excessive force. The throws and locks are not designed to maim or kill like the ones in Jujitsu, they are merely designed to neutralize and control your assailant until he either gets tired of kissing the floor or a cop shows up. He designed it to be effective only against an unprovoked attack making Aikido probably more effective in a rumble against multiple opponents than against a single well trained opponent. The first thing taught to Aikido practitioners is that when confronted with a choice to fight or not, one must always walk away. I'd suppose in today's UFC culture fed mentality, this would be seen as a real sissy way of defending yourself.

Answer 2

Aikido has an unique look unlike any other martial art. We do not harm anyone. In fact we only allow the other person to harm themselves, and only in hopes they learn that their actions are harmful to not only others but themselves. To use Aikido you could never attack anyone. There, always, has to be an aggressive attacker. I have trained in Aikido for many years now, along with B.J.J., Kali and MMA. Aikido is an art
ALL about not harming your opponent. Once you have "taken them down" you do nothing else to them. If the attacker is aware then the should know that they have lost and stop being agressive. I live in the real world and I know that a lot of the time this is not the case, hence my studies in B.J.J and other styles. Most styles of Aikido doesn't train for anything past taking them down and then backing away from them. Aikido is very effective for its area of expertise.

Answer 3

I've never heard of Aikido being looked down upon. So I don't really know what you are talking about.

But whoever does look down upon Aikido without actually taking some of the classes or atleast sitting in and watching a few, doesn't know what they are talking about and is acting on arrogance.

Answer 4

I can't really add too much to what others have said, other than that I study Aikido and it is indeed an effective martial art. However, in all fairness, it all depends upon who teaches & how it is taught...as with any martial art style. It also depends upon the student's abilities, interest & dedication.

Those folks who spend inordinate amounts of time debating "which martial art is better?" completely miss the point. I as an Aikido guy can easily berate Karate or TKD as ineffective and that may be very well true considering the prevelance of mcdojos and the low quality of students they produce (no offense to Karate or TKD guys, but most mcdojos are usually one of those 2 arts)...until someone very skilled in either of those arts gives me a good roundhouse kick to the head!

Answer 5

Well, I don't know who told you that it was ineffective. I'm sure it wasn't anyone who tied one up with someone who really knows it. I amaze people when I show them I can throw someone ten feet without hardly moving.
Aikido is based on a philosophy of humility. The gentle and unoffending are percieved as weak until action is needed. Let them think what they may. Aikido is not a competitive sport nor should it EVER be.

Answer 6

Well if he had "no problem taking them down" then he wasn't using akido...

Akido can be effective but you have to modify it. Akido trains against strikes that are (mostly) not common in this day and age which basically means that in a real fight it would be ineffective as trained. However if someone took the time to modify the techniques to use against straight punches and hooks akido could be very effective. But again you'd have to do some live sparring in which to learn to properly employ it. The matches you've seen we're most likely a case of someone doing as I've said or simply pre-planned demonstartions.

Answer 7

because the way most aikidoka train is in a compliant situation with uke's (thier partners) that practically throw themselves.

this says nothing about the techniques viability. merely that the way it is trained, it is not likely to work as it isn't trained realistically.

This does not mean howerver that there is not an aikido school somewhere that doesn't train properly (with a fully resisting opponent). Or someone that doesn't go out and spar with a sparring group to apply what they learn in class with full resistance (although that is a much more difficult situation as the teacher might not approve and be able to answer questions, and the teacher is not there to correct them on the spot- it is better than non resistance training, AKA dancing, though).

Answer 8

Aikido is a very gentle art. It's coined the "gentleman's fighting art" because there is very little force used. They use the attacker's own momentum against them. It's very peaceful in its nature, but an Aikido-ka can easily turn the tables on someone.

Answer 9

I wasn't aware that "people" outside of say, the BJJ/MMA-ist camps actually looked down on Aikido. Most people from outside of the martial arts community usually have nothing but positive things to say about this "pacifist" martial art....

But I know why *I* look down somewhat on it.

It's for the same reason other people look down on Pro Wrestling: It's *fake*.

*ROFL* =)) I'm so sorry....I had to say it. *lol*

But really, it's true. Professional wrestling is a very rough game, but for all that, it is in fact *staged*, fixed, and people follow a script. Only certain moves are used, only certain attacks are allowed, and people generally comply with whatever happens (and on occasion go out of their way to make the other guy *look good*).

And much the same logic, sadly enough, applies to aikido. I've seen it. Up close and personal. I've seen people actually have to *shift* their attacks at the last second and *give* their partner a hand (literally) in order for the throw to work. Never mind that the classic "broken bottle over the head" attack that most aikidoka train against isn't even in use in the barroom anymore....

Point is, you have to change a LOT about the classic, mainstream, Aikikai aikido curriculum in order to make it work at all against realistic attacks. Like hooks, straight punches, or anything resembling a tackle or double leg takedown. And while things are *slightly* better when it comes to weapons attacks, slightly better only means one or two degrees less unrealistic here.

Really....just as one small example. Have you heard of the hip-hopper Jay-Z perhaps? A common enough lyric of his is something about "keep my arms *greasy*". What is that about?

It's an anti-aikido tactic....it's a knife-fighter trick to slick up the wrists and forearms so that arm-grab, Control-the-Weapon tactics just won't work. And yet *nobody* I've seen or heard of in Aikido circles even takes the concept seriously, never mind that folks still *use it*.

So am I bashing Aikido? No. Because most street-level attackers are *not* going to be trained in much of anything, and the concepts of aiki are still counter-intuitive enough in this day and age that even a hardened, *natural* fighter is still going to be taken by surprise *on occasion*. If your choices are to train in Aikido and to sit on a couch munching Doritios while watching _American Idol_, for the love of god *go train*!

But, I am saying this: The art went *too far* in terms of being philosophical and pacifist. If you don't already *know* how to fight, Aikido won't teach you. And they are proud of this, so proud....

Personally, I'd say, learn something with harder contact and aliveness *first*, then come back to Aikido once you've figured out what resistance and what being hit are. Here is a hint: A lot of what passes for technique in Aikido, is a lot like what's in traditional Japanese jiujitsu, in that it works better if you *soften up* the worthy opponent first by knocking the piss out of them.

OSensei Ueshiba himself said this as an athletic young man: "One of the first things I do in a fight is reach up and *smash my attacker's face*." Or if you want to get techincal and untranslated about it, the words you seek are *shomen ate*, or the uppercut. A lot of what works in aikido works *better* after you smack someone with a *hard uppercut*.

So yeah....if you are still set on learning Aikido...ask about shomen ate. If the school cares about self-defense at all, they will answer the question. If they train for it at all, it will be one of the first things you learn.

I hope this helps....thanks for your time and patience. ^_^

Answer 10

It is all practice. They don't have real competition.

I mean come on who is going to throw a wide looping punch that is caught in mid air and turned into a flying armbar? Everytime I watch the stuff on youtube it looks like synchronized swimming.