Thoughts On Aikido?

Question

Just wanted to know fellow martial artists opinions on Aikido.
Having trained in Boxing,shukokai/shotokan karate,lau gar kung fu.
I investigated Aikido and jiu-jitsu in 1989 and was very impressed with the demo of Aikido I attended at the time but chose jiu-jitsu as at the time I felt it more practical for the street but recall when I fought freestyle in karate I tended to favour evasion and counter attacks hence my curiosity in aikido back then.
I still have the urge to begin studying Aikido but wonder if my age would work against me re: reflex evasion as I’ve not done any martial arts training in over 3yrs I’m 44yrs old and admittedly unfit at present although I’m quite keen.

Your thoughts please

Answer 1

I think you know what my thoughts on aikido are. Aikido is great stuff in any aspect. It's a bit of an outsider within the martial arts due to it's lack of offensive techniques and competition. but that is part of it's beauty. I read one of the other comments about not enough brutality and can only say that this guy hasn't really understood aikido. The point of aikido is not to hurt or harm It is truly as the founder , Morihie Uyeshiba, said it the art of peace The goal is to take away an opponents intention and momentum and to send him on his way without harming him. That said it must also be said that the techniques you learn can indeed do some brutal damage (aikido does not strike, it breaks bones, dislocates members, and even kills if need be) but that is not it's intention. The thing I love most about aikido is the way in which it tries to honour the ways of the men that went before them nl the samurai. Many of the ettiquette rules of the samurai are still upheld in an aikido class something most other japanese arts have watered down into disuse(many people state that aikido comes as close to the arts of the samurai as one can get). One of the other things I like is that you study the underlying arts nl. The way of sword and staff. They are what form the basis of aikido thus you are also taught how to handle them. I've been at aikido for nearly 10 years and can only say that I'll be at it for the remainder of my years on and BTW aikido does not rely heavily on the physical aspect you can take it as easy or intense as you want

Answer 2

Aikido is the first marshal art that I studied. After that I studied Shotokan and then Wing Chung and eventually Yang Style Tai Chi and I'm an instructor in these last two,

Aikido is not practical for self defence and if you have studied boxing and karate you will soon find out that whatever you practise only works in the dojo against a passive opponent. What Aikido has however is the philosophy of the avoidance at all cost of fighting or non aggression that they do by keeping a safe distance from the opponent no matter how much the opponent advances towards you in order to strike. This technique is the only one that I treasured from Aikido and the very basis of my self defence, However this said it can only work in open spaces not in narrow ones.

Classical Aikido totally lacks punches, kicks or blows of any kind. For this reason an Aikido master called Tomiki who was a pupil of Usheiba realising that Aikido wasn't very effective, at least for a non master of the art, founded the Tomiki Aikido that also includes punches and blows.

It is however a beautiful art and if you don't go into it expecting that you are going to find an unbeatable system it will enrich and polish your marshal art knowledge. Very much like soft style Tai Chi really that in itself is not effective but contains a huge amount of useful marshal arts knowlege and philosophical approach that can be extremely useful to a trained marshal artist.

Think of Aikido and Tai chi as two polishing schools for marshal artists rather than two effective systems of self defence,

Answer 3

Aikido is a spiritual art more than something that will make you a good fighter, it will probably give you the right attitude as a martial artist, just dont expect to kick anyones arhse with it

There are very few schools that teach Aikido realisticaly

Answer 4

I don't think someone interested in UFC, MMA and the like really has the patience for a traditional martial art. To truly master a martial art takes years. Most people interested in MMA want the easy/short way and do not want to invest years into training. So they dispense of learning the basic principles that define a technique. Look at the questions here on Y/A that pop up on a regular basis. They all want an easy answer and a quick way to get there. MMA satisfies this demand. These people have no use for Kata and do not understand it. Kata is the very fundamentals of a martial art vs a fighting style. People watch a fight on TV. They think it's cool, they hear MMA can get you there in a few years so they hit an MMA gym and learn a few techniques which can get the job done without really having to learn the principles and basics of that technique. The kids are usually 16 years old with the prospect of being in the ring as Professional fighters by the time they are 20. Traditional martial arts does not offer that. If you were up against a true martial arts master after only 4 years of training I guarantee you you still would not stand a chance. Nothing beats 30 years of training diligently. Techniques are learned painstakingly slow and the precision of a technique determines how well it works without applying a lot of strength. Traditional martial artists spend years to hone their skills. MMA is easier. The guys are young they lift a few weights and build the strength to make up for what they lack in precision of the techniques. It works, until they get old and then they won't be able to do anymore. Self defense Aikido techniques are quick and meant to use on the battlefield in hand to hand combat. You finish off an opponent quickly and move on to the next opponent. The techniques are not meant for fancy drawn out fights lasting several rounds. I saw several techniques Steven Seagal demonstrated that I am sure would not be allowed in UFC fighting but are great in the streets. Yes they could be adapted to fit into the rules of MMA fighting but their use would still be limited because of lack of the basics. It was easy to see that Silva used arms rather than body trying to duplicate Seagal's techniques. You could also see that Seagal applied his techniques with relative ease vs the arm strength Silva used. I am not saying one is better than the other. Merely that there are differences which serve different purposes but there just is no match for the hard work of a skilled traditional martial artist. Thanks for posting this. I always wondered about this and the videos really confirmed my suspicions.

Answer 5

I kinda like peter gunn's answer above and basically agree with most of his points. Just a word of clarification though, There are currently two majors schools of Aikido today. One follows the original art of the founder and is structured in the same way with it's various branches under the Hombu Aikikai system or more simply, the original Aikido Headquarters in Japan, it follows strict standards set by the headquarters and teaches practical basic techniques for self defense.
The other school founded by Koichi Tohei, a senior student of the founder advocates emphasis on the development of Ki over techniques and is usually more spread out in terms of school branches hence usually being the school one is most likely to run into first. They also tend to be the more spiritual of the 2 schools hence we hear stories about mystical superhuman abilities with the use of Ki. This school originally called Shin shin toitsu Aikido(Mind Body Aikido) is popularly known today as the Ki-Aikido school.

Answer 6

I studied Hakko Ryu jiu jitsu for over eight years straight, and then took a year of Aikido.

I liked Aikido and grew to respect its dynamism, but unfortunately the 'crunchy granola' liberal crowd have taken it over and seek spirtual enlightenment rather than brutal self-defense. Otherwise Aikido can do some serious damage in a street fight. I've gone back to Hakko-Ryu and Judo.

Answer 7

my dad is in his 50s and practices aikido due to it being a soft art he can practice it in his older age(not that 50s is old but it isnt prime like 20s) and with his arthritis. he likes it alot for its mental training, nonviolent nature, and physical conditioning.

however in the since of practicality its ok. dont get me wrong my dad has learned some joint locks and holds similiar to what you would see in jujutsu/bjj and some throws similar to judo but those demos you see are pretty choreographed in the since that on the streets people arent usually just gonna grab you and wait or throw single attacks. but have a furry of combos and probably slam you to the ground. also compared to other arts it takes longer to get proficient at it.

this is both my opinion through looking into aikido and my dad's opinion whom practices aikido

Answer 8

I've never trained in it, but given it's history and philosophy alone I certainly respect it.

I've seen practicioners training in it and it looks like it could definitely be a worth-while style to learn. If anything, it'd help you get some of your reflexes back and get you back into shape.

If you decide to take it up, good luck and enjoy it!

Answer 9

I think its a great card name