Aikido Practitioners

[Dazed and Confused]

I was just wondering if there are any aikido practioners on here. Its an art that has always fascinated me, as it is very impressive to watch, yet the martial element seems in doubt. I've always been bemused by the vast number of aikido demonstrations there are, both online and in the real world, yet they are always very staged. Does anyone have any experience of aikido in either a real world situation (on the dreaded "street" again!) or in friendly competition between martial artists of varying styles? And finally is there any randori as in judo?

Hope I've not offended anyone with this post, I'm just curious.

I don't know if this is the right forum for this, so please move it if appropriate!

[aefibird]

I used to train in Aikido, the only reason I stopped is my instructor was seriously injured at work and unable to teach and therefore had to close the club. The next nearest club to me is too far away to travel on a regular basis, so I had to give up my training.

I loved my training in Aikido, and I could see how it could help someone in a "real" situation. Aikido demonstrations often look staged because of the high possibility of injury if they are not carefully controlled.

I've never used Aikido in a "real" situation, but I've never used any of my MA training in a real situation and am thankful that that is the case. However, I found that my Aikido training certainly helped my Karate training, especially in terms of sensitivity.

The hours and hours spent practicing breakfalls and the like also came in handy once when I was horse riding and fell off after a bad landing from a jump. My instructor said it was great to watch - aparrantly, I bouced like a rubber ball!

At the dojo I attended we used to train in Randori. Sometimes it was 1-on-1 and sometimes 2,3 or 4-on-1. I remember that it was only my first or second lesson or so and the instructor invited me to take part in the randori. I said that I didn't know what to do but he said that it was the best way to learn real quick! I ended up with a split lip and a bloody nose, (I think I actually ended up hitting myself in the face as I had hold of an attackers arm ) but I loved it, and the introduction of Randori right from the start is one of the reasons why I became very addicted to Aikido very quickly.

[Shotokan Dan]

I've never trainined in Aikido, but some of the techniques look very effective, and I would imagine that an expert in the art would be a formidable opponent indeed. I think it's one of the lesser talked about arts.

Correct me if I'm mistaken, but I think a lot of the 'softer' arts such as JJ and Judo embody some of the same principles i.e. using the attacker's strength and force against him etc etc.

Like you, I find Aikido fascinating, and if I had more time and another free night in the week, I'd probably look for a club.

[okimura]

I know that in aikido demonstrations, it can often look like the attackers are throwing themselves. In part, that's true. What's really happening is that they are controlling their fall. For example, there's one technique where the attackers wrist will be bent at such an angle where the only way for the attacker to save himself from having his wrist sprained or broken is to jump over his own wrist and land on his back.

The only time I ever used what I've learned in aikido wasn't a real "street" situation. I was at a party and a friend of mine was drunk and getting rowdy. He shoved me up and had me pinned against a wall, but it wasn't a serious threat. He was just horsing around, trying to provoke me on purpose. I used an aikido wrist lock and had him on his knees pretty quickly. But I will say that in a real street situation, I would probably rely on my muay thai first, as most attackers are probably going to come at you swinging their arms around. A nice kick to his leg might be more appropriate to begin with, and then after that I might use an aikido technique to control him.

There isn't randori in the usual sense, like in Judo. In more advanced practice, you might have multiple attackers coming at you with unpredictable attacks, as opposed to beginning practice where you know what attack is coming and from which direction and you know what technique your supposed to respond with, in order to learn to apply the technique properly.

There are different schools of aikido. Some of the "softer" schools are really all about the philosophy of aikido and the physical techniques are very done very slowly and gently, and there are schools that lean more towards the martial end of things.

[cathal]

I trained in a soft style of Aikido called Shin-Shin Toitsu when I was very young, but don't remember much of it. I do remember having a lot of fun.

[kangaroo]

I have never trained in Aikido either, but a friend of mine does and he says it's quite effective. I have watched a couple of demonstrations by Steven Segal, and they are not staged!

[karateone]

i do. it is very effective. the throws and other techniques work in about any real world situations. i would highly suggest it if someone is interested in studying it.

[kangaroo]

Aikido is very traditional in a lot of schools (compared to other styles). Do you feel that this has an impact on it's effectiveness?

[ARADOX]

I'm an aikido practitioner, I've gotta say I prefer my karate training, the thing to bear in mind with aikido is that it relies too much on pressure points, there are the minority of people (quite a large minority too) that these techniques don't work on, that said, aikido also focuses too much on standing wristlock and armlocks, for a karate practitioner such as me, I will always go for the quicker more simple option, aikido is sort of, fiddly in that there is much twisting and turning to actually get a movement to work, once the hold is on there is no question, it works, and without a doubt it will help you in trining for a striking art as there are many moves in the kata I know, (bassai dai comes to mind) where a highly effective aikido movement is used, in fact in the kata it has been changed recently to an ugly grab and pull but it was in fact a nikkio wrist lock, this is definately an art for the patient yet determined, but remember always throw in a strike somewhere at the beggining or middle of a throw to distract you opponant or else the movement simply won't work. But you WILL have fun having your arm bent into positions it really was NEVER meant to have even heard of before, experiencing tons of pain and then moments later it is forgotton as you twist your parteners arm into yet more unholy positions

[NightOwl]

Aikido has gotten somewhat of a bum rap, but having been unexpectedly been put in one of those crazy wrist locks during BJJ (against someone who had practiced Aikido/Hapkido in the past...one of those) I can tell you that they can work if you use them properly. Expect a lot of break falling (a very useful skill), as well as lots of arm and wrist locks.

As far as 'the street' goes, Aikido will take longer than other MAs (on average) to gain proficiency in. If you are looking for SD/fighting applications, than be sure to look for a Dojo that has more resistance in its randori, as sometimes Aikido Dojos can shun this aspect to an unfortunate degree. Personally, I would love to learn how to break fall and a few good wristlocks....

(by the by...how'd the Taijitsu turn out?)